Bangers on the Beach

"What's up, Japan? I'm Yoko Umori, that's my co-host, Isao Nakatani, and this is Bangers on the Beach!" A few meters behind them, some three hundred people in beachwear whooped loudly, their backs to the gentle waves lapping up against the shoreline.Ranko swallowed in dread, standing behind the cameraman in her new black swimsuit, skirt and wide-brimmed hat, waiting for his signal. She bounced on the balls of her feet with nervous energy. Holy shit, okay, this is happening. Fuck, I wish Akane could have been here. I could really use a hug right about now. It's okay, Ranko. We're good. We got this."Hey, Ranko!" A barefooted male intern in board shorts and a red tank top with shaggy bleach-blond hair jogged up to her in the sand. "Director needs you to lose the hat. Sorry."She cringed, turning to the well-tanned young man. "Are you sure? It's awfully bright out here."The runner nodded. "Yeah, that's the problem. It makes your face one huge shadow, and the camera won't be able to see you."Nodding, Ranko took her white wide-brimmed hat off, tossing it into the blue canvas folding chair behind her. Immediately, she felt the sun begin pounding down on her bare shoulders, and sweat drops beginning to form on her forehead. At least the production's staff cosmetologist had used waterproof makeup when he'd gotten her ready, so it wouldn't run in the heat.The shapely brunette co-host in the cerulean bikini crossed her legs in her dark blue lounge chair, turning her head to her partner across the empty chair between them. "We've got a fantastic show for ya today! We're gonna do a countdown of our top twenty summertime jams and buzz through the latest news from the music world. But, first, let's welcome our musical guest! Her new debut album, Phoenix Rising, is going crazy on the airwaves and at the record store. Give it up for Ranko Tendo, lead vocalist of Ranko and the Dapper Dragons!"The director gave Ranko a little wave, and she walked out as she'd been instructed, slipping in behind the three chairs and waving to the cheering crowd that stood in the background of the set before taking the middle seat between the two hosts. She prayed she wasn't blushing too terribly."RAN-KO! RAN-KO!" came the chant from the crowd, until the shirtless man in the green bathing suit seated to Ranko's right began to speak. "So, Ranko! Welcome to Bangers on the Beach! It's great to have you out!"The redhead flashed him a winning smile, crossing her ankles. She lay her left hand in her lap, covering it with her right. Try to look casual. "It's an honor to be here, Isao!" I watch these people every week while I fold Akane's laundry. How the hell am I on a first-name basis with them? What is even happening to my life right now?The show's hostess smiled widely in Ranko's direction. "You've had quite the Rise lately, haven't you?" The crowd laughed behind her at her wordplay. "Three songs on your debut album have cracked the top ten in radio plays, and the new CD is flying off the shelves. And you're not even out of high school yet! How does it feel?"Ranko fidgeted in her blue lounge chair slightly. Dammit, now I know I'm blushing. "It's… it's honestly just incredible. Like, I can't even believe I'm sitting here right now. But it's been like that from the beginning. Every week, there's a new 'that'll never happen to me' moment that happens, and I just want my head to stop spinning long enough to even get through a song sometimes! I'm just a regular girl, ya know?" And you have no idea what it took to get there. "Like, I'm the wrong kid to be in this fairy tale, I think, but I'm so grateful for it."Isao sat up in his chair a bit, letting out a small, constrained laugh. "Well, you're making it look easy, that's for sure!"Yoko nodded. "It hasn't always been easy, though, has it? The story you tell in Rise… that's all true, isn't it? You kinda had a rough go of it for a minute there, didn't you?"Ranko nodded, trying her best to smile through it. "You could say that, yeah. I, um…" She exhaled heavily, trying to get her breathing under control.The hostess reached over the gap between their chairs, placing her hand on the back of Ranko's. "It's okay, honey, take your time."Staring up at the television mounted on the wall above the back booths of the Phoenix, Akane winced and sucked air in through her nervously-clenched teeth. "Pull it together, Ranko. You got this.""I, uh," Ranko continued, trying to focus on the story and not the feelings. "Yeah, I was sleeping in a park by the subway station for a couple of months last year. No money, just the clothes on my back. Couldn't get a job, wasn't in school, just sort of, nowhere to go and all day to get there, ya know?"Isao nodded. "But you sure managed to get yourself turned around, didn't you?"Ranko shook her head. "Myself? Not even close. But I had some incredible people who helped. They gave me a job, a home, and a purpose. They wouldn't give up on me, and they taught me how to stop giving up on myself. They let me be a part of their family when I had nobody. And I just want to say something, if I can, in front of the whole country. Mama Hana, Yui, Izzi, Mei, Aya – and Akane – everybody back home at the Phoenix – thank you. You changed my whole world when you didn't have to, and I owe you everything. I love you all."Hana squeezed Akane's shoulder, standing behind her daughter's seated fiancee as she watched the assembled beachgoers cheer behind Ranko on the television. "We love you too, little star.""So," Yoko continued, "how'd you get from there, to here? And so fast?"Ranko blushed. "You can thank my sister Mei for that one. The Phoenix is - well, was, I guess - a karaoke bar. We were having a slow night, I was waiting tables, and Mei comes and drops a microphone in my hand like I even know which end of it to sing into. I thought I was being hazed, 'cause I was the new girl, right? Next thing I know, I'm covering ten, fifteen songs a night, getting invited to join my friend Crash's band, and in my spare time, trying to figure out what to do with all these overwhelming feelings and all the gratitude and everything.""And that became Rise," Isao said in an understanding tone.Ranko nodded, adjusting her pink-framed sunglasses as they slid slightly down her sunscreen-slick nose before folding her hands in her lap again. "Yep! And Mei started sending recordings to every record label she could find until she got a hit, and the rest is history, I guess."Yoko smiled. "And what a history it was! Your second song, Sneak, was an even bigger hit on the radio than Rise. Take us through how that one happened?"Cringing internally, Ranko nodded, recalling the answer she'd rehearsed in case her second, and third, songs came up. "Well," Ranko said with a blush. "Not long after I started singing at the Phoenix, I… met someone. We kept our relationship a secret for a while, 'cause everything was such a mess for me and all. It was the right move, but I wanted to tell everyone who would listen how crazy in love I was, and finally, Sneak was how I asked for it. But it wasn't the right way to ask, and it caused all kinds of problems, and so Call Me Pandora was me just trying to say how sorry I was."With an understanding nod and an interested, tell me more expression on her face, Yoko prodded. "And, did he forgive you?"Ranko cracked a smile, brushing off the hostess' assumption that her partner was male. I wasn't supposed to do this, and Amaya's gonna have a stroke, but I don't care. She moved her right hand from where it lay covering her left in her lap and held up the back of her left hand to the camera, letting the sunlight sparkle as it refracted in the small princess-cut diamond mounted on the scrollwork silver band around her third finger. "I think so."Akane gasped audibly, covering her mouth with both of her hands as Ranko's sisters whooped excitedly around her. Oooh, the label's not gonna be too happy about that, babe. But I love you, too."How exciting!" Yoko tittered stiltedly. The hell?! They didn't tell me about that one in the pre-show meeting! "When's the big day?""This summer," Ranko said into the camera, beaming proudly. There, Akane. I told the world. On live television. I told them I'm yours. Forever. They can't take that away from us now.Isao chimed in, seeing an opportunity to divert from the curveball Ranko had thrown the hosts. "Sounds like it's going to be a busy summer for you indeed, isn't it, Ranko? I understand you have some more news to share today?"Ranko nodded, glancing off beyond Isao to her right, where Crash and her bandmates were finalizing the preparation of their instruments on the weathered wooden platform that served as the show's live music stage. She turned back to the camera, beaming ecstatically. "Yep! I'm proud to announce that, early next year, my friends and I will be releasing our second full studio album! The new contract with Yokai Records was just signed last week, and we're already in the studio recording the first few songs!""What?!" Yoko jumped in her seat in affected shock. "Already? Your first album hasn't been out a month yet! That's amazing, especially considering some people thought you were gonna be a one-hit wonder with Rise!"Ranko giggled, scrunching her nose and shaking her head. "You ain't gettin' rid of me and the boys that easy! Hey, speaking of which, you wanna hear something from the new record?"Isao clapped his hands excitedly as the assembled beachgoers behind their chairs roared in their enthusiasm. "I know I do!"The camera zoomed in on Yoko's face as Ranko hopped out of her chair out of view, jogging over to the platform where Crash and the others waited, all of them dressed for the beach. Man, it must be absolutely killing Shin to not be wearing all black leather, but he'd roast like a potato out here in it, she thought with a grin. Emi and Hitomi rushed to the edge of the stage, squealing excitedly in their matching red bikinis as they hugged her together."We've gotta take a quick break to pay some bills, but when we come back, it's Ranko and the Dapper Dragons with the worldwide debut of the first song on their second album!" Yoko waved to the camera until the red light atop it blinked out."Aaaand, we're in commercial! 60 seconds!" came a yell from the balding middle-aged producer."You did great," Crash said quietly as Ranko got her microphone situated more comfortably around her loose ponytail."Thanks, bud. I was scared shitless." Ranko grinned, turning to face the front of the stage and waving to the crowd that had moved over from behind the interview seats, joining the significant crowd that had eschewed being within earshot of the interview for a better view of the performance. There had to be, conservatively, two thousand people buzzing with excitement on the hot white sand surrounding her and her friends."Is it always gonna be huge like this, Crash? With all these people?" Ranko beamed at her audience, trying to make eye contact and wave to as many of them as she could in the minute before the live telecast resumed.The guitarist smirked, taking his mark. "Nope. It's gonna get bigger. Way bigger. And quick. Buckle up, kid."The hostess, now standing near the stage, waved to camera one. "Hey, everybody! We're back for more Bangers on the Beach! Today's musical guests are Ranko and the Dapper Dragons, and they're back for more, too! Here's the first song on their newly-announced second studio album: Back for More!" Yoko cheered into the camera as red lights flickered on atop each of the other two cameras facing the stage, and the one facing her panned up to center on Ranko.Ken struck the rim of his snare drum sharply with his twin wooden sticks. "One! Two!"Jacob's synthesizer began blasting a staccato electronic tone, dancing up and down the scales rapidly for the first two bars of the song. Shinji and Crash's guitars joined him as he repeated the same rhythm again, building the composition with a soaring, exciting frisson. Ken kicked the bass drum into the tune, laying a thumping floor under the rhythm.This left only one instrument remaining to be activated. Ranko switched on the small battery pack clipped to the back of the black skirt she wore over her floral swimsuit and immediately launched herself into the first verse."After the last time, you thought that I was done with you? The thing about it is, I'm having way too damn much fun with you! Everyone relaxed, thought I was makin' my exit..."She turned on the stage, stomping forward in her fuchsia flip-flops and exploding her arms into the air threateningly. Hitomi and Emi both jumped like startled cats, leaping back nearly half a meter."... but now I'm back like a jump scare, when nobody expects it!"Ranko turned back to face the crowd, shaking her head and shrugging with an expression of disbelief on her face. "Come on, did you really think I'd walk away from my band when everything I ever wanted's in the palm of my hand? Thought I pushed it to the limit, but there's just no chance…"Ranko bent low at the waist, leaning to her right with one hand on her hip and one on the wooden platform, dragging her left foot on the stage behind her. Her motions were echoed to perfection by Hitomi and Emi, flanking her on either side from just behind."... I'm gonna go another minute without making you dance!"Hitomi and Emi stood, fanning themselves with their hands as if they were overheated. Given the blazing sun overhead, even under the partial shade provided by the trusses and other stage equipment above, it didn't require much acting on their part."People drop from hot flashes when the Phoenix starts to sing, but baby, rising from the ashes? That's kinda my thing!" Ranko snatched off her sunglasses and winked cutely to the audience, which roared to life around her.Ranko and her backup dancers extended their arms forward, palms outstretched in a stop gesture as they rolled their hips in perfect synchronization."Don't change the channel! Don't touch the dial!" Ranko lowered her hand, pointing down at her feet. "I've decided that I'm gonna stick around for a while!"The redhead raised both of her arms over her head, crossing her wrists, letting her body wiggle across its entire length. "Don't jiggle the antenna, or adjust your set. Though I'm the best you've ever seen, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"Ranko's backup dancers both raised their hands to the sky as if trying to hold up the mesh shade that comprised the roof of the amphitheater. As Ranko sang, they lowered their hands in unison until they were pointing down at the stage itself."Gonna make you hit the ceiling when you hit the floor…"Ranko stretched her arms out wide as the stage lights turned a deep crimson, focusing on and highlighting the four musicians behind her."We are Ranko and the Dragons, and we're BACK FOR MORE!"Hitomi belted between the verses in her higher range as she walked across the front of the stage. "Ooooh, yeah! Watch your back!"Emi crossed behind her from the opposite direction, and the roommates high-fived as if Hitomi were passing the baton. Emi sang in a lower octave as she crossed to stage right, where Hitomi had begun. "Oooh, yeah, babe, Ranko's back!"Ranko beamed, sliding to her mark on her feet to begin the history lesson that comprised her second verse, not that anyone in the riotous crowd in front of her needed a recap of her first album."After sneaking, after freaking, after flying and rising, that we'd drop a second record shouldn't really be surprising. Shoulda known that it was coming, though you didn't know when. Nobody else could do it better, so we…"All seven band members sang at once. "DID IT AGAIN!"Ranko crossed her ankles, bending her knees and holding up the hem of the flouncy black lycra swimsuit skirt, curtseying like a ballerina. "I can't keep following directions and behaving like a lady, though! Instead, you get the resurrection of the…"She released her skirt, throwing her right hand in the air with her index and pinkie fingers extended. Hitomi and Emi did the same as the music paused, permitting the next few words to be sung by both Ranko and Shinji as they were in the chorus of the song they referenced."... demon in your ra-a-di-o!"Ranko rested her chin cutely in her hand, turning to face her left side to the crowd. "You might think nothing much of me, but best not judge!"Hitomi reached her hand out toward Ranko's chest, but Ranko slapped it away. "Still not yours…"Ranko leaned backward and Emi wrapped her arms around the redhead's shoulders, exploring the front of Ranko's swimsuit with her hands."... but if you're nice, I'll letcha touch."The audience went berserk."DON'T change the channel! DON'T touch the dial! I've decided that I'm gonna stick around for a while! Don't jiggle the antenna, or adjust your set!"Hitomi smiled lovingly at her friend, the wayward red-headed vocalist that had plucked her from Takao Tashima's hellhole of a talent agency and placed her on the world stage. "Yeah, she's the best you've ever seen…"Emi shook her head, waving her hand downward dismissively at the audience. "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"Hitomi harmonized in the high fourth octave with Ken, singing into the microphone mounted over his drum set. "Gonna make you hit the ceiling…"Emi and Shinji responded to the callback in a lower octave. "... when you hit the floor…"Ranko spread her legs into a solid stance, thrusting her right fist into the air in her customary pose from the end of Rise. "We are Ranko and the Dragons, and we're…"All seven musicians finished the line as one. "BACK FOR MORE!"Ranko giggled into the microphone suspended from the metal band over her ears. "What about you, Habushiura Beach? Are you ready for more?!"Taking the crowd's thundering roar as an answer in the affirmative, Ranko shook her head, holding a finger up to her lips."I can't be silenced, and I can't be sanitized. Started in the Phoenix, and now every club's been franchised. The haters might've tried it, but there's just no stoppin' me takin' over every dance floor, like it's Monopoly!"Ranko set her feet in a wide stance, holding up her arms as if holding an invisible table over her head. "And now that I've got everybody out of their seats…"She threw her arms forward as if casting the phantom object in her hands out into the crowd. "I'm droppin' houses on 'em, like the Wicked Witch of the Beats!"Ranko shrugged her shoulders to the crowd, holding her hands up at her sides in a welp sort of gesture. "So I hate to disappoint the folks who hoped we departed, but they'd better get comfy…"Hitomi and Emi joined her in the last five words of the verse, huddling into her with their shoulders from either side. "... 'cause we're just getting started!"Launching directly into the song's last verse, Ranko cupped her hands together in front of her chest, as if holding a butterfly she'd captured. "Started off small, and we exploded like Chernobyl." She flung her hands apart as if the ball she was holding had exploded like a hand grenade.She gestured to the crowd with both of her hands. "Big in Japan, but now, this band is going…"Shinji's voice boomed out with a bass tone that rumbled the speakers. "... global!"Ranko shook her head with a smirk. "You thought I'd be content to pay my rent and stay home, but now…"She held up her closed right hand. "I'm gunnin' for London, and Paris, and Rome." She popped up a finger with each capital she listed, touching each newly raised finger with the index finger of her left hand as if counting them off."People talk about, Ranko? She only plays in bars." The redhead scoffed at the idea. "Give me a rocket, and I'll rock it all the way to freakin' Mars!"Ranko made a gesture of a plane taking off with her palm."We're inviting everyone, in every club, in every nation, 'cause if we didn't, well, it wouldn't be…"Crash and Shinji bellowed the last two words of the line. Shin, in particular, had waited a long time to say them. "... world domination!"Again, the three girls extended their arms in stop motions to the crowd. "DON'T change the channel! DON'T touch the dial! I've decided that I'm gonna stick around for a while! DON'T jiggle the antenna, or adjust your set! I'm the best you've ever seen…"Ranko pointed out to the crowd to call for their participation. Hanging from the trusses above the stage, out of view of the cameras, two large screens flashed a prompt to the crowd, telling them what to do for the live television performance. They responded to their instructions enthusiastically, singing along with Ranko."YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET!"Ranko waved to the crowd, a winning smile on her lips and in her eyes. "Gonna make you hit the ceiling when you hit the floor!"The entire band joined into the last line of the final chorus. "We are Ranko and the Dragons, and we're back for more!"Jacob's synthesizer danced playfully down the scale, leading to the final coda, which Ranko sang alone with no musical accompaniment at all."So when they're linin' up around the club and record store, it's 'cause we're Ranko and the Dragons, and we're BACK FOR MORE!"Ranko raised both her arms to the crowd as a huge bass hit punctuated the end of the song, and the audience began chanting her name. They didn't stop until long after the producer had cut to commercial.