Smoke and Mirrors

"So… you ready to become Mrs. Tendo? I mean, again?" Akane giggled, squeezing Ranko's hand as they walked down the sidewalk. Her other hand shielded her eyes from the rising sun, her black sunglasses proving insufficient to protect them from its orange-red glare.

Ranko blushed, swaying her arm and Akane's with it. Their clasped hands swatted the skirt of her embroidered white sundress down against the cool morning breeze off the harbor. "I told Aki the day he proposed to me that I'd marry him every single day if he asked. I meant it." She sighed, pausing her stride for just a moment to look up into Akane's eyes. I want to kiss her so bad. Scanning the street, she saw an old woman in a green kimono walking her Shih Tzu and a middle-aged man scurrying away from the coffee cart with a steaming foam cup in one hand and a newspaper tucked under the other arm. It's not safe. Especially not today. With a quiet sigh, she wordlessly turned back toward the sidewalk and resumed walking.

Akane's shoulders slumped slightly, and she squeezed Ranko's hand once more. "I know," she whispered glumly.

"I just hope this works," Ranko said as she reached for the vertical brass handle of the glass door, her eyes lingering on the recently-repainted red firebird logo. "I can't live like this much longer."

"I know that too," Akane replied with a sadness in her voice. She caught the door as Ranko passed through it, but couldn't step all the way into the room because her bride - and also bride-to-be - had stopped short just inside the door. 

"Uhh, Yui?" Ranko blinked in surprise as her eyes scanned the bar room. She looked up at the bleary-eyed blonde sitting at the bar counter with a paper coffee cup in her hand, a forlorn expression clouding her face. "Did, uh, you and Sakura like, forget something?"

Yui yawned, brushing her bangs to the side with her slender fingers as she turned on her stool. She wore a pair of black leggings and a red crop top printed with the Jack Daniels logo in black. "I mean, you said you were embarrassed and wanted something simple. I aim to please, baby sister."

"Yeah, but…" Ranko turned her head this way and that, surveying the room she had spent most of her life in for the last few years. There was not a single decoration. No signs. No streamers or flowers. No balloons. No ramp leading up to the stage. All the way down to the regular arrangement of round tables dotting the main floor area, the bar looked as if it would open on schedule in a few hours. 

"I thought you guys were gonna do the decorations last night." Ranko's voice had a hollow ring of dejection to it, but her eyes also betrayed her growing concern. Kondo is never gonna believe this was a real wedding, she fretted as she frantically searched the venue for even a single rose. She found none.

"Akane, what the heck are we gonna do?"

Akane shrugged, turning to Yui with a perplexed, and more than a bit irritated, expression. "That's a good question, baby."

Yui yawned again, more loudly this time, holding up a finger until she finished. She took a large gulp from the paper cup in her hand, emptying it into her mouth and setting the empty cup on the wooden countertop. "Relax, would you? It's gonna be fine."

"Yuri, babe? I need a… Oh!" Sakura bustled through the front door of the bar in a pair of torn jeans and a white peasant shirt, nearly slamming into Akane's back in her rush. "You girls are here early!" She craned her neck over Akane's shoulder, looking at her partner with wide eyes and a bit of a cringe on her lips. "Very early!"

"And it's a good thing, since the place is nowhere near ready!" Ranko whirled back to Yui, panic in her eyes. "Yui, you promised me you were gonna take care of the place! We are so screwed! This is my whole career on the line!" She whimpered, turning back to Akane and clinging onto her torso through the taller girl's gray Minato University Athletics tee shirt. And we needed this day to be perfect so badly, after everything we've been through lately, she lamented in her mind.

Sakura sighed, throwing her hands up in exasperation and letting them fall to her hips with a loud clap. "Should we…"

Her partner shrugged. "I guess we're gonna have to." There was a resigned defeat in her voice. She groaned, slipping off of her stool to her feet with a loud flrrp sound as her legs unstuck from the vinyl seat. "C'mon, ya little fuckers. I swear, if you two could just sleep in like normal people for a change…" Yui rolled her eyes, slipping out the open door that Sakura held open with her backside. "Let's go." She motioned with her arm for the young couple to follow her as she turned right and made for the sidewalk.

"Uh, Yui? Where are we…" Ranko blinked, both in confusion and to block out the glare of the morning sun, as she followed her sister down the sidewalk. It only took her a moment to get her wordless answer, though, as Yui reached for the aluminum handle of the building next door to the Phoenix. 

Akane was first to follow the blonde into the cavernous room that had once been a discount store, though it was unrecognizable as such in its current state. She froze so suddenly that Ranko bumped into her back mid-stride. "Oh. My. Gods," Akane muttered, her jaw agape.

Yui stepped out of the way to admit Ranko into the room. "The guys worked on it all night."

"Yui, it's…" Ranko covered her slack jaw with both of her trembling hands, her eyes darting from one corner of the space that, come New Year's Eve, would be known to the Minato area as Club Firebird at the Phoenix. 

While the construction was far from finished, the interior of the room had been entirely transformed from its state the last time Ranko had seen it a week prior. A new, glossy black laminate flooring dotted with flecks of glittery color had been laid throughout the entire main room. The walls had been painted a vibrant crimson. The main lighting system had yet to be installed, but strands of bright white Christmas lights zig-zagged overhead to brighten the space, all connected with an orange industrial extension cord that had been tucked behind a small black nylon curtain. They twinkled gently in and out, giving the entire space an almost candlelit ambiance. More black curtains shrouded the unfinished balcony seating, as well as the private VIP balcony off to the right, from view. 

Dominating the back wall of the room was a raised black platform, two meters tall off the floor. It jutted in a trapezoidal shape away from the wall, its sides draped with more black cloth to obscure whatever was underneath. The left and right sides of it were all but buried with a hedge of white roses, meeting in a white wicker archway at the center of the stage, a holdover from Ranko and Akane's first wedding. It, too, was woven with flowers as well as more of the twinkling white lights. Two massive speakers sat on the far wings of the stage, both connected to a portable CD player that Ranko recognized as Ariel Wright's with cables fastened to the stage floor with black gaffer's tape. 

A long red carpet runner, almost two meters wide, formed an aisle down the center of the room toward the stage. It ended a meter from the stage, with another similar carpet jutting to the left running along the edge of the stage to a set of wide steps ascending to the stage platform. It passed the stage, where it disappeared under a black drape that hid the remainder of the unused roll from view. On either side of the aisle were three rows of eight folding chairs made of white-painted wood, as well as a series of brass stanchions on weighted bases bearing swooping red velvet ropes to cordon off the aisle. The ropes were braided with what appeared to be vines of white flowers; Ranko wasn't sure what kind. Positioned in the middle of the entrance to the aisle to block the path was a wooden easel bearing a large white cardboard heart trimmed with white lace. It was almost identical to the ones Mei had made for Ranko and Akane's first wedding, save that the gold foil lettering read Aki & Ranko: The First Day of Forever instead of using Akane's true name.

Off to Ranko's right, a tall A-frame aluminum ladder ascended almost to the start of the second floor, and as her wide eyes fell on it, a khaki-colored boot began its descent from the top rung. In a moment, the figure of Kaito Sando appeared from the rafters, and he brushed his hands off on his dusty blue jeans with a smile. "Mornin'!" he said with a chipper voice. "Sorry we don't have everything all the way put up; we weren't expecting you for a few hours ye… oof!" He grunted loudly as fifty-four kilograms of pop star slammed into his ribcage at maximum velocity. 

"Kaito, thank you!" Ranko squeezed her sister's husband tight around the waist. "It's perfect! It's just… it's perfect!" 

Chuckling, he threw his arm over the young bride's shoulder, returning her embrace. "I'm far from the only one responsible, so don't give me all the credit. Kage, Crash, and your mom were here with me until almost four in the morning, but I finally had to send them home to get some shut-eye so they don't keel over during the reception. Jake and Zoe were here for a while, too. I don't think they've ever worked so hard; poor Zoe passed out on the floor over by the stage at one point and Jake had to cover 'em up with one of the curtains and let 'em sleep for a while."

I'm so glad Akane talked me into adding Kaito and Kage to the wedding party, Ranko thought as she squeezed her brother tightly again. I'd have really looked like an asshole if we didn't, after they did all of this.

"Just don't poke at things too much," Kaito continued with a chuckle as Ranko finally released him and Akane took her place in his embrace. "Like I said, the place is far from done; we'll be lucky if all the paint is dry. It's very much a facade right now."

"We'll be careful," Akane promised. She released Kaito after one final squeeze, looking up at him with a guarded expression. "Has there been any sign of…" She swallowed hard, remembering the intruder that had almost derailed her first wedding day before it began. Not that he'd know we were doing this, but…

A booming voice answered her in English from the doorway. "No, ma'am. Nobody's gotten within fifty yards of the building since nightfall." 

Kaito chuckled, motioning to the enormous man who entered the nascent nightclub behind Sakura, clad in black from head to toe. "And this big lug was here all night with us, too. Wouldn't even take his eyes off the place long enough to get a cup of coffee."

Ranko flitted over to her friend, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her fingertips barely met behind his back. "Thanks, Lance! I really owe you one, buddy. But you should go get some sleep now. There's enough of us here, we'll be okay."

The muscular American rested his strong hands on Ranko's shoulders, extending his arms to create separation between the two so he could look down into her eyes. "I'll sleep when you sleep, honey. Until then, I'mma watch your back, okay? You don't worry about a thing, and just enjoy your day. Ya got me?"

Giggling, Ranko lifted her hand to her forehead in a poor attempt at a military salute like she'd seen in any number of American action movies. "Yes, sir!" She blushed at the gentle giant's merry belly laugh.

"Lance, can I get you another…" 

Ranko's head of security turned to Sakura, his grin widening. "Jesus, please?!" He smiled in gratitude as Sakura turned and scurried back out to the sidewalk. Turning back to Ranko, he shrugged his massive shoulders, chuckling. "You got me hooked on those energy drinks, girl. They can't be good for ya, but damned if they don't keep your eyes open in a pinch."

Giggling, Ranko nodded. "Just be careful, okay? No pizza ovens for you today, got it?" She blushed when he offered her a blank look in return. "It's… a long story," she said, glancing down at the faded burn scar on her palm. She turned to Akane, an ear-to-ear grin painted across her cheeks. "So, lover boy, what do we do now?" 

As she spoke, a sliver of light on the floor expanded to a rectangle as the door opened behind her and admitted the early-morning sun. A tall silhouette crossed it, and in a moment, Ranko felt a firm hand on her shoulder and saw its mate land on Akane's. She looked up, beaming at their owner. 

Hana leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on her youngest daughter's forehead. "You go get all princessed up, and you get yourself married, little star." 

The matriarch of the Phoenix clan chuckled, turning her tired but joyful eyes to Akane. 

"Again."