One Two Let's Go

Riku never thought she’d ever have a world famous popstar in a recording booth, singing to his back-up track. She’d revealed to him before exactly what the plan was. A single release, with songs from both Yuuji and himself forming both sides of the LP.

But she definitely had growing pains, trying to adjust to his style.

“Boo-wop, ba-ba, boo-wop,” Riku sang. “So you wanna ease into the rhythm. Bossa-nova vibes, but we don't want it to be kitsch, just sing how you usually do.”

The Ice Princess could only huff clutching her headphones, one ear cup slightly off. “You do realize that is not my brand at all.”

“Well, this is all you have to work with and that I came up with, so…”

“Do you wanna lose?” she replied flatly.

“Hey, I didn’t realize you spent the past few years trying to make me into something I’m not. You know how creepy that is, right? To come onto me like that.”

“You could have pushed me away.” Kagayaki came back.

“You know how rude that’d be? You initiated it!”

Naomi sputtered. Even through the tinted glass, Riku could see her face turn the color of a strawberry. “That’s— That’s, uhh, beside the point!” she stammered. “You invaded my personal space! I was in shock!”

“Shock, sure.”

“I was! And besides,” she deflected desperately, “you are… y’know. You aren’t exactly hard to look at. How do you think a girl is supposed to react when a…” She trailed off, realizing what she was saying.

Riku blinked. “...When a what?”

“Shut up!” Naomi huffed, turning her back to him. “I’m just saying, objectively, you have decent bone structure!”

Riku couldn't suppress the smirk. “Why thank you, Miss Kagayaki. Coming from the National Idol, that’s high praise. For the record, you are very beautiful, too. In a stakeholder-approved kind of way.”

Kagayaki spun back around. “I… well…” She cleared her throat, fixing her bangs. “You also look, er, adequate. For a shut-in.”

Riku chuckled, but it was only half-hearted. He looked down at the mixing board, sliding a fader up and down aimlessly. “That’s beside the point, though. I’m not in the same league as you at all. Why would you even find me interesting? I have no experiences to bring to the table. Naomi… I have not even been outside of Japan.”

The playfulness vanished from the room. Kagayki watched him through the glass with a look he couldn’t place.

“Barely,” she said softly.

“Huh?”

“I’ve barely been outside of Japan, Riku,” she admitted. “Physically? Yes. Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei. But I may as well have been in Tokyo. It’s airport, van, hotel, venue, van, airport. I can’t do normal touristy stuff. I’ve never seen the beaches either. I’ve only seen the inside of green rooms.”

“Oh, boo hoo. The poor caged bird. So tell me. Am I living up to your memory sufficiently for you? Is this why you dragged me here? You want to go back to a simpler time, don’t you?”

Kagayaki’s eyes flashed with genuine irritation now.

“Nope!” she declared, popping the ‘P’. “I didn’t drag you here for nostalgia. I just needed to grow up. I needed to see why you ran your mouth so much without accomplishing at least half as much as me!”

“I’ll give you that… but you’re a nepo baby. It’s easier when the path is paved with gold.”

“And I thought you’d go places despite that!” Naomi shouted, cutting him off.

She looked at him. Like, really looked at him, to the point he felt she could see his very soul.

“Seriously,” she whispered. “I thought… despite that, you’d be standing on a stage opposite mine. Putting me in my place not in spite of but because of the advantages I had. Ugh. Nevermind.” She turned away, grabbing her headphones. “Enough! Let’s just start."

Riku sat there, stunned. Was she looking down on him because she had believed in him, and he hadn't believed in himself?

What did that say about the kind of character he had?

He hit the ‘Arm Record’ button. The metronome started clicking. But before the music kicked in, he pressed the talkback button one last time.

“We can… catch up later, as well.”

Naomi froze, her back to the glass. “What the—?!”

“After this. Just… catch up.” Riku rubbed the back of his neck, feeling stupid. “I’m not flirting, I swear. Just... maybe I have some stories. I wanna hear some of yours, too,”

“You’re right, but…” Naomi didn't turn around. But he saw her shoulders relax, just a fraction. “Just start the track, idiot.”

Riku hit play. The smooth Bossa-nova beat kicked in he played as a backing track earlier kicked in. Naomi started to sing.

He didn’t expect her to near-immediately throw a wrench into things.

“Stop. Stop!” Naomi ripped the headphones off, letting them clatter onto the music stand.

“Why? You can’t hear it? Sorry, it’s my first time doing this—”

“Sorry, I can’t do it. It’s just… this isn’t you!” she cried, glaring through the glass.

Riku threw his hands up. “What were you expecting? Kagayaki to scream? I’ll lose out for sure then!”

“But I can tell your heart is not in it!” she argued, stepping closer to the glass. “And if your heart isn't in it, it’s garbage to you. Why put out something when you know in a few years time you’ll regret it?”

“Yeah, well, I do anything otherwise, and I will lose.”

“I don't care about the public right now. I know you. You obsess over everything, you do it for the love of the game. And you care far more about what you think over what other peole think.” She narrowed her eyes. “Pull out your demos. You brought your laptop with you?”

“You think I think like that? You built a different person in your head.”

“Answer the question.”

“No, but I saved them on the cloud.”

“Access them, pretty please."

Riku sighed, logging into his drive. He hesitated, his cursor hovering over a folder labeled ‘Junk / Venting’. “Yeah, uh, this is… I’m warning you. it’s going to be basically the anti-thesis of your brand.

Kagayaki’s eyes widened. She didn't say a word. She just clicked her fingers and pressed a nondescript red button on the console.

SLAM. The studio door flew open.

In thirty seconds, a team of five musicians—a drummer, two guitarists, a bassist, and a keyboardist—rushed in. They were sweating slightly, clearly having sprinted from the break room.

They all stood in line and bowed in unison. “Good afternoon, Miss Kagayaki!”

“What the—?!” Riku shouted.

“My on-site recording musicians. I pay them 24/7 on days I'm in the compound recording.”

“All that wasted money could have gone to starving children in Africa, you know.”

“Musicians in Japan suffer the same thing, so that's a moot point.” She turned back to the speakers. “Play it again.”

Riku clicked play. The garage-rock drums kicked in. The bass line was dirty and almost squelching, yet also driving.

“Yeah! Yeah yeah!” Kagayaki screamed happily. She started jumping up and down like a bunny reaching for a treat, pumping her fist in the air. “Woohoo! That’s more like it! And whew—nice aggressive dynamics, too! I like how I can hear the bass so cleanly too!”

Riku stared.

Her ponytail bobbed with every jump, her eyes were sparkling, and her smile was wide and goofy and she looked more like emoji than person.

She spun around to the band, clapping her hands. “Now listen, memorize it. We match this energy, but keep it distinctly K-pop, mmm 'kay?”

“Of course, Kagayaki-san.” The lead of the session musicians turned back. “You all heard her.”

It took them exactly two plays before all of them nodded, exchanged glances, and proceeded into the booth.

Kagayaki marched up to the glass, slamming her hand against it. “Now gimme the lyrics on the monitor.”

“But... the key might be too high for your chest voice and—”

“You don’t get to where I am with having a shit sense of melody. I’ll make it work,” she commanded. “Let’s keep singing until you are satisfied. Got it?”

Riku was stunned. He watched her walk back to the mic, grab the stand, and signal the drummer with a sharp, confident nod.

Holy cow, Riku thought, his heart sinking and soaring at the same time. Kagayaki is everything I never was.

“And a one, two, one two three four!” The band kicked in, and Kagayaki, for the first time in her recorded music history, let out a scream.