Girlfriend Live Part 1

Ian arrived at 4 P.M. on the dot and backed his van up to the garage door. Linda and Danielle had already arrived and were waiting in the studio with Mike and Xiang Ling.

"Ian is here. Just a heads up, Linda, Ian doesn't know about Xiang Ling. You and Danielle are the only ones that know. Please don't mention it to him yet. Have you all got your gear sorted?"

"Just my bass, cables, and the GR-55 for me," Danielle replied.

"I've got my guitar, cables, and the GT-1000. Should I bring my Strat as well, as a backup in case I break a string or something?" Linda asked.

"You have it with you?"

"Yes, it's in my car."

"It won't hurt, just grab it on the way out."

"We have more gear to take this time." Xiang Ling noted.

"We'll be using the venues mixing desk and PA this time, so that's a saving."

"Are you okay to drive my car, Xiang Ling?"

"Of course, I'm a licensed driver now."

"There are only 3 seats fitted to the van, I'll go with Ian."

"I'll go in the van too." Danielle offered.

"Looks like you're with Xiang Ling in my car then Linda."

Ian wandered in from the garage.

"Hi Linda, good to see you again."

"Like wise Ian, I'm a band member now as you can see."

"That's great. I'm planning to keep acting as roadie/sound guy so I'll be seeing you often."

"How's tricks Ian?" Danielle asked.

"I can't complain, busy working on DLC for the game. It's been very popular. I miss seeing you around the office."

"Yeah, sorry, but it was time to close that chapter. I'm glad you'll keep working for the band."

"So this must be the real Xiang Ling," Ian noted.

"Oh sorry, I should have introduced you."

"No need Mike, Ian and I talked at the first gig. I'm sorry for pranking you with the android body, Ian."

"That's all right. It was a bit of fun. Are we all ready then?" Ian inquired.

"Yes, Danielle and I are with you in the van. Linda is going with Xiang Ling in my car."

Ian's eyes glanced around the room.

"I don't see the drummer."

"She's in the big flight case." Mike gestured to the stack of gear on a trolley.

Xiang Ling and Linda grabbed their instruments and headed to the garage.

Danielle grabbed her bass. Mike and Ian started wheeling the trolley loaded with flight cases.

"At least we don't need to take the PA and big mixer this time."

"Yeah, those buggers were heavy." Ian agreed.

Xiang Ling and Linda sat in Mike's car and waited for the van to finish loading and move off.

"Why did I get stuck going with you?" Linda complained.

"Well I'm sure Mike and Danielle just wanted to catch up with Ian."

"Can you even drive properly? Didn't you cause Mike's accident?"

"I got 100% on my driving test, I'll have you know."

The van was finally underway and Xiang Ling started off.

"Please stop by my car. I need to get my Strat."

"Sure."

Linda got out and returned with another guitar case.

"Let's go."

"Are you intending to be so unpleasant for the whole drive?" Xiang Ling asked.

Linda sighed. "I'm sorry. If I think you're fake, then there is no point being snarky. If I think you're real, then it's just being mean. I'll try to do better. I'm just getting pre-show jitters."

"Apology accepted. Let's just all chill out and have some fun."

***

"Xiang Ling is really pretty in person," Ian observed.

"I thought Linda was more your style?" Mike joked.

"I don't know how you managed to recruit such beautiful band members, present company included."

"Aw, shucks." Danielle playfully punched Ian's arm.

"Yeah it's a mystery to me. Somehow my peaceful, contented life turned to shit."

"Come on Mike, you don't mean that." Danielle was irked.

"Where in Brunswick are we going?"

"Stay Gold band room on Sydney Road."

"Ah, I know it. Not much parking. I might have to double park and just dump the gear out of the van and go looking for a parking spot later."

"Did the organisers mention how to get our gear into the venue, Danielle?"

"No they didn't really give me any additional information. I've played there before though. There is access via the laneway, I'll go to the front desk and get someone to open it for us."

"We haven't had time to discuss the sound. I know they have a good PA so you didn't bring your own. The band line up is a bit different now, I haven't heard you since that first gig."

"Drums and keys are the same. Four vocal mics now. Linda's guitar is through an amp sim pedal so there is no cab to mic up. Danielle's bass is the same. Xiang Ling's other instrument is a MIDI guitar playing a guitar VST, so it can be treated like Linda's guitar."

"Okay, that's clear."

"I've brought a compact mixer so we can mix it down a bit before it hits the house desk, if we want to stop their sound guy messing with us too much."

"I'll have a chat with the house engineer. They will know the desk and venue acoustics better than me. I think we should leave it to the venue. I'll ride shotgun on the soundcheck to head off any problems."

"We're here, let me out and go park in the laneway." Danielle leapt out of the van as it halted. Ian drove the van into the laneway. He parked by the side entrance. Mike got out.

"I'll go see how Danielle is getting on."

Danielle was still by the front door tapping on the glass trying to attract someone's attention.

"No luck?"

"The doors don't open till 7 P.M. Problem is our soundcheck is supposed to be 6 P.M."

"Those Anime Music Festival guys aren't that organised are they?"

"I guess not."

Someone finally came to the door and opened it.

"The doors don't open till 7 P.M.. What do you want?"

"We're Girlfriend In Your Luggage, opening band for the Anime Music Festival. We were just wondering about getting our gear into the band room. Our van is in the laneway."

"Oh, that's okay. You're a bit early. The organisers were going to be here to let you in a bit later. I'll get someone to open the side entrance and show you where to stow your gear. Come in."

Xiang Ling and Linda arrived.

"Hang on Mike, can you take my instruments, I need to move the car to a longer term parking spot."

"Sure." Mike grabbed the light gig bags for the Ztar and YouRock from Xiang Ling.

Linda followed them in with a guitar bag over each shoulder.

"Can I take one of your guitars for you?" Danielle offered.

"Yes." Linda passed her the Strat. "You can take the heavy one."

"Ha, it's nothing compared to a bass."

The staff member led them backstage.

"One of tonight's bands is here early, can you open the side door and show them the ropes." He called out to another staff member.

"Yup. Hi I'm Pete. First time here?"

"First time with this band, I've played here before." Danielle replied.

"So an old hand then. What band was it? I know most of the bands that have played here."

"It was a long time ago. I think you were newly opened then."

"I've been here since the start. Who was it?"

"LuvMuff." Danielle reluctantly replied.

"Oh ho! You must be Danielle Peterson. I remember LuvMuff very well. You never made any public statement about why you left the band. I believe the band is still going, but you never hear anything about them these days."

"You kept quiet about that, Danielle," Mike remarked.

"It was a long time ago. It doesn't matter now."

"I know LuvMuff, you were really big back then!" Linda exclaimed. "No wonder you are so good on the bass."

"I'm glad you think so Linda."

Pete led them to the door to the alleyway and unlocked it.

"There you go. Take your gear straight to the stage and set up. Leave the cases and stuff in the spot marked band one in the storage area."

Mike exited the door and waved to Ian. Ian proceeded to back the van up closer to the doorway. They proceed to offload the gear onto their trolley. Xiang Ling arrived back from parking the car.

Pete was still hanging around.

"We have a ramp for the step. I'll go get it."

Ian and Mike wheeled the heavily loaded trolley up the ramp and through the door. Once the van was emptied they set about setting up.

"If you're okay here, I'll go move the van. I'll try to find the sound guy and have a chat."

"Yeah, the four of us can get the set up done no worries."

They quickly set about the simple physical set up of the drum kit, drum stool and keyboard stand. Xiang Ling tested the drum setup. Xiang Ling bot wouldn't be needed till the second song and was still reposing in her flight case.

"Hey we should give the Xiang Ling bot a name." Danielle suggested. "How about Ai-chan? Get it?"

"Sounds good to me. We can work it into the banter when she gets out of the flight case."

Mike worked on cabling everything up to the mixer. They could decide later with Ian how many channels they would run through to the stage patch bay.

Ian returned with the sound guy in tow.

"Mike, this is Steve, the venue sound engineer."

"Hi Steve."

"Hi Mike, can I show you what's what with the stage patch panel?

"Sure, I've plugged all our gear into our own mixer, so we can mix down some things if that is easier. We have enough outputs to give you a direct feed of everything if you prefer."

"I'll take everything. I've talked it over with Ian, he will be helping me out so I don't mess up your sound. That's a nice mixer you have there, good mic preamps, it's fine to send the vocal mics through at line levels to the house console. Avoid the first 4 XLR inputs on the patch bay, they're for mic level. Just plug everything into 5 onwards. If you go mics from stage right, drums, bass, right guitar, left guitar, keyboards in that order it will make my life easier, but we can work it out during the soundcheck."

"Thanks Steve."

"No worries, your setup is pretty neat, the second band is more trouble, lots of cabinets to mic up and acoustic drums. I'm glad we have a big patch bay we can leave the stuff for both bands wired up and not have to change anything in between. You don't use fold back speakers right, just IEMs? Can we leave ATC's cabinets and fold back speakers in position while you perform? We can wheel their drum kit out of the way on a movable platform."

"Yeah that's fine. Should make for a smooth changeover."

"Great. Talk to you again at the soundcheck soon."

"I really didn't consider how much work it was to set up with a full band." Xiang Ling sighed. "I'm glad we came early."

"This is nothing," said Danielle. "Mike's setup is very streamlined."

"Have you performed with a full band before, Linda?" Xiang Ling enquired.

"Yes, but I was just the vocalist. Plug in my microphone and I was good. I let the guys handle all the heavy lifting."

"We're all set for the soundcheck now. What's the time?"

"5:30 P.M. We still have 30 minutes, Mike." Danielle replied. "Pretty slick getting set up so fast."

Steff and Rachel from the organising committee arrived and entered through the front door.

"Ahoy, Girlfriend In Your Luggage. You're super early. Already set up, I see. Good work! Sorry we weren't here to greet you. We should have said 5:30 P.M.."

"No problem, Steff. The staff looked after us and I've played here before," Danielle responded.

"ATC should be here soon. We'll get them set up and your soundchecks done, then you can kick back till 7:30 P.M. show time."

The ATC female singers came in through the front door and immediately squeed with delight as they caught sight of Steff and Rachel. After a glomp, the four sat down at a table and started chatting animatedly.

"I guess ATC were certain to play tonight, no audition for them." Danielle griped. "These otaku are a bit incestuous."

"We'll just have to show them who's boss then." Mike laughed. "Should we put 'Don't Say Lazy' on the set list just to rile them?"

"No, we don't need to stoop that low. We'll slay them anyway."

The ATC guys had entered through the side door and were hauling their amp cabinets up on stage.

"I've got another favour to ask, Ian. Can you film some footage of the show for us? I've got a gimbal and you can use my iPhone Pro."

"Yeah, no worries Mike, Steve will have running the desk covered. I've arranged to record a stereo mix off the desk so you can get good audio."

"Great, I'll be recording all the separate instruments and vocals off our mixer too. One special Girlfriend In Your Luggage concert Blu-ray coming up!"

Steve's voice echoed out from the PA.

"ATC are almost finished setting up. Can we have Girlfriend In Your Luggage on stage for a soundcheck now."

"That's us."

"I'll go sit with Steve to make sure everything is okay." Ian took his leave.

The band took their places on the stage. Linda felt cramped by the huge pedal board the ATC guitarist had set up next to her more modest multi effects pedal. Noticing her discomfort a stagehand told her, "Don't worry, we'll move that aside after ATC do their soundcheck, it won't be in the way for your performance."

Steve ran through all the instruments and mics rapidly. The check was over before they could blink. "Okay thanks, ATC soundcheck please."

"You can go backstage and wait in the greenroom now if you like." Pete indicated the way. "The restaurant staff are here, you can order some food and drinks."

Mike grabbed a menu from the pizzeria counter.

"I don't want to eat too much before going on, but I need something. How about we share a family size vegetarian and some soft drinks?" Danielle suggested.

"I don't think they serve anything so prosaic, Danielle." Linda looked at the menu over Mike's shoulder.

"There is no vegan cheese option. Looks like I'm on fries and salad." Mike made a sad face.

"Maybe the croquets and aioli would be nicer, Mike," Linda suggested.

"Okay I'll give them a try. I'll get the fries and rocket salad as well."

"These boutique pizzas don't look too large. Let's just go halves, Linda."

"Broccoli okay with you, Danielle?"

"Yes that sounds nice."

"And some mineral water, let's stay hydrated," Mike added.

They retired to the greenroom and waited for the food to arrive.

***

Steff and Rachel were sitting at a table with the ATC band members, who were in the audience to watch Girlfriend In Your Luggage perform. There was an anime song DJ set in between the bands, so they had plenty of time to get backstage and prepare.

"I'm looking forward to seeing them perform." Petal, one of the ATC singers told Steff. "Why didn't you introduce them to us before the show?"

"I'm sorry, I got distracted catching up with my precious ATC friends and I sort of forgot." Steff looked embarrassed. "They should be at the after party, you can meet them then."

"Did you actually invite them to the after party?" Rachel inquired.

"Oh shit. I'm so lame. I'll catch them backstage when they finish their set."

The houselights came down and Girlfriend In Your Luggage made their way onto the stage, under the cover of darkness. With the fuss Linda had made about Xiang Ling, they hadn't had got around to agreeing on band costumes. Xiang Ling was wearing a white Chinese style blouse with a bamboo motif and black calf length trousers. Linda was wearing aqua, a tight top and short shorts. Danielle was in her trademark jeans, boots, and green roll neck sweater. Mike was wearing a very drab looking olive green hoodie and brown pants. He was hoping to go unnoticed behind his keyboard rack.

Xiang Ling was seated at the drum kit. The stage lights came on and a spotlight was trained on Xiang Ling. Mike had overlooked preparing lighting directions for the venue staff. He was unused to live performances. Fortunately they had arranged for Ian to make a few spotlight changes during the show.

"We are Girlfriend In Your Luggage." Xiang Ling announced. "This is 'Rose' the opening of the anime 'Nana'."

Linda started the chugging guitar intro and they were off. Xiang Ling fired up on the drums in sync with Danielle's driving bass. Since there was no keyboard part in this song, Mike was playing the lead guitar part on the synth.

Xiang Ling's powerful vocal rang out supported by Linda's harmonies during the chorus.

Ian and Steve had got the sound perfect, almost studio session quality.

They finished the song. The audience was momentarily stunned by what they had just heard, but then burst out in thunderous applause and whistling.

"Steff, what did we hear just now?" asked Petal.

"A pretty good cover of a great song, Anna Tsuchiya herself couldn't have done any better," said Rachel.

"That's not what I mean, the audio quality was just so amazing."

"They brought their own sound engineer, see that guy sitting with Steve?"

Xiang Ling started running through the band member introductions. Mike did the gag, playing the Bach organ toccata. The crowd laughed appreciatively.

"The Asian girl is Chinese then?" Asked Ami, the other ATC vocalist.

"Born in Australia to Chinese parents. She said she had lived in Japan for a while when she was young," answered Rach.

A voice started echoing over the PA, "Let me out!".

"Steff, What's going on?" asked Petal.

"Mike, did you forget to let Ai-chan out of the flight case again?" Xiang Ling asked.

"I thought she was waiting backstage," Mike replied. "I'll check."

Mike hurried over and unlatched a large flight case that had been left on the stage. Suddenly a woman burst forth from the case.

"Mike, you baka. How dare you leave me in there!" Ai-chan flailed at Mike ineffectively with her drum sticks.

The crowd laughed uproariously.

"Never mind that now. People are waiting for the next song. Get on the drums."

Ai-chan flounced across the stage and took her seat on the drum stool. Xiang Ling picked up her Ztar from its rack and slung its strap over her shoulder. She advanced to the centre front of the stage. Meanwhile, Ai-chan was performing tricks with her drumsticks, distracting the audience.

"The fill in drummer is an AI android. It works via MIDI like a drum machine. It just looks cooler. They use it on songs where Xiang Ling plays that MIDI guitar thing," Rachel explained.

"This is next level cool, Steff," said Petal

The spotlight fell on Xiang Ling. "Next song is 'Nameless Name' from 'Girls Band Cry'."

Xiang Ling started singing the a cappella part, Joined by Mike's electric piano on the synth. Xiang Ling's fret board bust forth with a vivid light show matching her notes as she started playing.

"What's that, Steff?" asked Ami.

"I don't know, she played a different instrument at the audition."

"She's like an angel with a flaming sword of light. Her voice is perfect, her Japanese is perfect. I'm in love!" exclaimed Petal.

"Still feeling happy to go on after them?" asked Steff.

"Sure, all our usual fans are here, they won't be seduced away so easily," said Ami.

The applause for 'Nameless Name' was louder if anything.

"While we are doing 'Girls Band Cry', the next song is 'VOID'."

Linda and Xiang Ling posed back to back during the guitar solo.

"Those two are hot together!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Keep your knickers on!" Steff complained. "I'll get jealous."

"Does anyone here like Bandori?" Xiang Ling asked the audience. "I can't hear you."

The crowd roared yes.

"Who is your favourite?"

A few people in the crowd yelled out, "Poppin' Party".

"Raise A Sulien." others yelled out.

"RAS? I'm sorry we don't have a DJ deck. Perhaps the next act will play some for you."

"Roselia?"

"If you want Roselia you'll need to be LOUDER."

Girlfriend In Your Luggage launched into 'LOUDER' by Roselia.

"Wow, they are really putting in the effort with their MC’ing tonight, they seemed a bit flat at the audition," said Rachel.

"They're rocking so hard, no pop songs on their setlist?" asked Ami.

"I don't think so, it's all from band anime too. Not what some of the people here tonight would be looking for. No songs from the more popular current anime," said Steff.

"It doesn't matter, I think they have captured the audience. They just play so well and sound great."

Danielle came to the front of the stage and whispered in Xiang Ling's ear. They traded places. "Since we have some Popipa fans in the audience tonight, we're adding an extra song to the setlist. 'Returns' by 'Poppin' Party'." Danielle announced.

Danielle was singing the lead vocal in a style similar to the Tae Hanazono version of the song, but with the full band arrangement. Her lower voice was injecting a melancholic feeling. Linda, Xiang Ling and Ai-chan were harmonising perfectly.

"What's wrong with my eyes? They're leaking, Steff. This is beautiful!" exclaimed Rach.

The song finished to thunderous applause. Xiang Ling exchanged places with Danielle again.

"Final Song. 'Noroshi', MyGO!!!!!"

Linda and Xiang Ling started the heavy wailing guitar intro. Linda was performing the lead vocal on this song and Xiang Ling was taking the unfeasibly high harmony part.

"Gods!" Steff exclaimed. "How can they possibly sing like that!"

As 'Girlfriend In Your Luggage' wrapped up the performance and were saying their goodbyes, the shouts of encore started gathering momentum as the audience started stamping their feet in sync.

Xiang Ling apologised to the audience. "I'm sorry the schedule doesn't permit us to play another song." The band started moving off stage.

"Steff, the crowd is still worked up. Can we let them play another song?"

"It's not fair to the other acts if we let them play an encore, Rach."

"We don't mind," said Ami. "One more song won't hurt," said Petal.

"Get up and have a word with them, for crying out loud, Steff!" exclaimed Rachel.

Steff climbed up on the stage and grabbed Mike as he was just about to depart.

"You can do another song if you like."

"We don't have anything prepared, you said no encores."

"You must be able to play something."

"We could do 'Don't Say lazy' but I don't think ATC would like that." Mike laughed.

"Come on help us out here, keep the audience happy, just one more song."

"Okay, we'll sort something out."

Mike hurried backstage to fetch the others.

"We're allowed one encore, but it can't be 'Don't Say Lazy'. I think 'Haruhikage' would work. Are you all up for it?"

"I'm good," said Danielle.

"What about Ai-chan?" Xiang Ling asked.

"I've got the MIDI file on the iPad, it's not a problem. We'd better plug her in though."

"Linda?"

"If the tabs are on my iPad I should be okay."

"Okay let's do it."

The audience roared in approval as 'Girlfriend In Your Luggage' returned to the stage.

"The organisers will let us play one more song." Xiang Ling explained to the crowd. "'Haruhikage' MyGO!!!!! version."

They finished the song, thanked the audience and took a quick bow.

"Any regrets inviting them to play, Steff?"

"None what so ever. This is going to be great boost to the reputation of the festival, Rach."

"Did the Animaga committee people show?"

"I think that's them over there on that table."

"Good. Hopefully they'll get the nod for Animaga too."

Ian joined the band on stage and helped them get the gear offstage as quickly as possible. "Here's your phone Mike, I think I got some decent footage. I'll just leave the gear in the staging area for now, we are inviting it to be stolen if we put it in the van unattended."

"Let's go sit in the audience and watch ATC perform." Danielle suggested. "We can order some more food and drink while the DJ is on."

"Sounds good." Mike replied.

They made their way back into the venue proper and headed for the pizzeria.

Steff intercepted them. "Hey guys, I hope you are coming to the after party. I'm sorry I forgot to mention it sooner."

"Where is it?"

"The Cornish Arms, just up the road. They have full vegan and gluten free options. They're going to keep the kitchen open a little longer for us."

Ian, Linda, and Danielle indicated interest.

"Not my thing." Mike declined.

Xiang Ling whispered to Mike, "I'm sort of curious, but I'll stick out like a sore thumb, not eating or drinking anything. I'll go home with you."

"I'll take Mike home." Xiang Ling volunteered. "That way there will be room in the van for the three of you."

"Ah that's a shame Xiang Ling." Steff sighed.

***

The show was over and they all pitched in to load the van. Mike and Xiang Ling bade the others goodnight and walked to where she had parked the car.

"You two, can walk to the pub, it's just over the other side of the road one street up." Ian told Linda and Danielle. "I'll go find a secure parking spot for the van and I'll meet you there."

Ian drove off in the van, while Danielle and Linda made their way to the pub on foot.

On entering the building they noticed some helpful signs, indicating that the festival party was up at the rooftop dining area. Danielle immediately spotted Steff and Rachel.

"Hey Steff." Danielle went to join them.

Linda grabbed a table and started perusing the menu, the kitchen wouldn't be open much longer and she was getting hungry. The half broccoli pizza had long since been burned off.

Ian arrived at the rooftop. Sighting Linda he went to sit at her table.

"Hi Linda, can I sit here?"

"Of course! Thank you so much for your work tonight. The sound was fantastic!"

"No worries, I had fun. It was a fabulous show. I'm amazed at you ladies, to think Mike would get such a high calibre band together and he'd be performing live. I don't know what happened to drag him out of his studio, but it's great."

"I think Xiang Ling happened. From what Mike says, she was the one that pushed him into forming the band."

"Ah that makes sense. They seem close, they went on that trip to Japan together right?"

Linda was getting anxious discussing Xiang Ling. She felt like something would slip out if this topic continued.

"Yes, they did. How did you get involved with being a sound engineer?" Linda changed topic.

"Oh, I'm not a professional sound engineer or anything. I used to have some mates back in university that had a band. I helped them out for a while and I learned a bit as I went along."

"Ah, so how did you get to know Mike, you work together now right?"

"Yeah, Mike and I go back a ways. We meet while we were both working at the University. I managed to get a job in the video games industry at ImagineSoft. A bit later I landed him a gig there too. Different roles though."

"Back when I first met him he seemed kind of gloomy. He was still unhappy over his girlfriend dumping him. We had a common interests in video games and music. I was into the live band scene whereas Mike was more into making his own music. He was saving hard and bought that old wreck of a house with a mind to having his own studio at some stage. His parents died suddenly and he inherited quite a lot of money. He was able to pay off the mortgage and renovate the house. I helped him setting up the studio. I loved to hang out and see bands he had in for recording sessions. He got more cheerful once he had the studio."

"Did you ever meet his ex?"

"No, that happened before we met, when he was still a student. Whatever happened with her, it's still affecting him today. He's been avoiding making connections with women. I keep trying to tell him that relationships don't have to be so heavy, that he should lighten up, have some fun and get laid, but he pays no heed. Colour me surprised that he has three women in his band."

"I tried to get to know him better, but he pushed me away."

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"What about you, Ian, do you have a partner?"

"No, I'm currently single. I don't seem to be lucky with dating."

"Oh, that's a surprise. You have a good job, tidy appearance and seem quite nice and personable."

"Ha, I'm glad you think so. One thing I often get is that a lot of women find my work is a turn off. They think gaming industry equals gamer. They imagine I'll be sitting on the sofa playing 'Call of Duty' with my mates while they do all the child rearing and housework."

"I'm not that stupid, I know developers work hard and long hours."

"The hours are a bit of a problem too. If you're not readily available to meet when you first start dating, they lose interest pretty quickly."

"Are you on a dating app?"

"No, I just try to meet people through friends, work, social events."

"Isn't that a bit limiting in this day and age?"

"I don't think so, look around, I've met you, Danielle, Steff, Rachel and the ATC singers."

"I don't think you'll have any luck with Steff and Rachel. They appear to be a couple, and including me, is that some kind of pickup attempt." Linda laughed.

"You know what I mean. I meet enough people without trying to match with randoms on an app."

"Anyway we should order some food before the kitchen closes. I'll try and attract Danielle's attention. She seems a little too involved in chatting up Rach at the moment. I can see steam coming out of Steff's head." Linda chuckled.

Linda called out to her and Danielle sauntered over.

"Let's order some food," Linda suggested.

"Oh, okay." Danielle looked a little peeved.

"You do know that Rachel is Steff's partner don't you?"

"Oops, what a blunder! I'm hopeless at reading social cues. Rachel seemed so interested though."

Danielle sat down and grabbed a menu.

"Have you met all the ATC band members yet?" Danielle asked.

"No, I've just been chatting with Ian. I suspect they are too otaku for me. Shouldn't Steff introduce us anyway?"

"Steff is a complete airhead, don't rely on her for anything. Just go talk to them after we eat."

***

Xiang Ling effortlessly turned the car and backed into Mike's garage.

"Safely home again." Xiang Ling reported.

"Thanks for driving me home, I could have taken an Uber. I didn't mean for you to miss the party too."

"It's fine, this way we can have a quiet chat about the gig and chill out before bed."

They headed upstairs to the kitchen. Mike fixed himself a warm chocolate almond milk and some ginger nut biscuits.

"Milk and cookies? You must be in a hurry to get to sleep."

"I need to relax a bit, I'm still hyped up."

"We really killed it tonight. Even an encore!"

"Fingers crossed the Animaga people liked us as much as the audience."

"Thank you Mike. You promised me a band and you've delivered."

"How are things with Linda now?"

"She was really bitchy in the car, until she had some sort of epiphany. She decided it was a waste of effort being mean to something that has no feelings and if by some chance I was real, it wasn't nice to be so mean."

"So no sign of acceptance then? Just armed neutrality?"

"Pretty much, it's better than nothing."

"I wonder what time the party will wind up? I assume Linda and Danielle will come back here to pick up their cars. Ian needs to drop off the gear but that doesn't need to be tonight."

"They might just go straight home if they have been drinking."

"Should we stay up a while in case they show up?"

"Let's sit and watch something, Mike."

"Okay, we could start Ave Mujica, but I'm sure Danielle would want to watch that with us."

"Ian shot some footage of the gig didn't he? We could watch that."

"No, let's review it together with Danielle and Linda some other time. I'll find something else to watch. 'Days With My Step-sister', I haven't watched this in a while."

"No bands this time?"

"No, it's just a high school romance."

"Okay." Xiang Ling snuggled up against Mike on the sofa. Mike offered no resistance and lazily draped his arm over her. They started watching the show.

He's more comfortable with me now.

Soon it was 1:00 A.M. "I think we should go to bed now. It's good place to stop, we are halfway through." Mike yawned.

"I quite like this. It has similarities to our situation."

"Huh, last I checked our parents weren't married to each other?"

"I don't mean the exact details. The step siblings are struggling with their feelings, unwilling to take a step towards each other. They don't want to make trouble for their parents. You won't move forward because the band is like a family and you don't want to upset Linda or Danielle. He has trouble trusting women because his mother abandoned him. You have trust issues because of your ex. Like Saki, I offered you my body and you declined."

"You're not like Saki, you have already confessed."

"True. Danielle is like his colleague from the bookstore. She's typecast herself into the teasing older sister role. It's too late for her to realise that she has feelings for him."

"I can see that."

"But look at us now, you have your arm around me. That's not normal for friends, yet you don't want to be my lover."

"I was being considerate of your feelings. I didn't want to push you away."

Their discussion was cut short by the arrival of Ian's van.

"Must be Ian wanting to unload. I'll go give him a hand."

Mike opened the garage door and headed down stairs and out the studio exit. Mike was greeted by Ian, Danielle, and Linda.

"I thought you guys would get your cars and go straight home, it's rather late."

"I thought I'd invite myself in for coffee," Danielle answered.

"Sure no worries, are you all staying for a bit?"

"Because you left early we didn't get to have a post gig debrief. We should have a short talk," Linda requested.

"I'll give you a hand emptying the van, Ian."

Mike loaded the flight cases onto the trolley and they wheeled them into the studio.

"I won't stay, Mike. I want to get to bed." Ian climbed back into the van.

"Alright, thanks for your work tonight. It was a big help."

Ian waved to them as he drove off.

"Come on up to the kitchen. I'll make some coffee."

Xiang Ling was still sitting on the sofa as the group came upstairs. Danielle waved hello. It seemed Linda was in the mood to snub her again.

"So how was the party, Linda?" Mike enquired.

"Pretty dull, I guess I don't really do otaku. I did have a nice chat with Ian though."

"Ian is a top guy."

"I've met worse."

"How was your evening, Danielle?"

"Very ordinary. I wished you'd stuck around. I tried to hit on Rachel. I didn't realise Steff and her were a couple. Rachel didn't mind but Steff was about to burst a blood vessel."

"Did Steff and Rachel have anything to say about Animaga? They must know the organisers. The Melbourne otaku community is pretty small."

"Nah, Steff is useless. She didn't even introduce us to anyone."

Mike poured out the coffees for Linda and Danielle and fetched a pack of ginger nut biscuits. "The biscuits are good for dunking."

"So how did we all feel about that performance?" Danielle asked.

"It was good. I can't really point to anything we could have done better," Mike replied.

"I agree with Mike, we all played and sang well. I felt Xiang Ling and I were meshing perfectly. I'm ashamed to say, she felt like a human band member, maybe I've got it all wrong."

Xiang Ling came up to the kitchen bench. "I felt we were a real band tonight."

"Is there anything on the social media yet?"

Danielle pulled out her phone and looked at the official festival accounts. "Not much, a few positive comments on the festival accounts."

"I haven't looked at the footage Ian shot yet. I'll edit it tomorrow."

"I'll come round and help," Danielle offered.

"I assume you're all good to drive home tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah. We behaved ourselves this time." Danielle waved her hand dismissively.

"I suggest we wrap this up and get some sleep. We can organise a band meeting when Danielle hears from the Animaga people."

"I'm tired," admitted Linda.

"I'll help you with your guitars," Mike offered.

The three of them went back down to the studio to grab their guitars and bass.

They headed off down the steep driveway. Mike walked between Linda and Danielle, carrying Linda's Strat.

I should have made some excuse to come around tomorrow too. Linda thought. She just wasn't getting any chances to be alone with Mike. Not only was she friends zoned, she'd managed to band mate zone herself too.

"Well, goodnight you two. Safe trip home."

"Goodnight Mike."

"Later Mike."

***

Xiang Ling wanted to continue her conversation with Mike but the mood was gone now. She felt pleased though, that she had managed to chip away at Mike's armour a little.

Mike was heading to bed from the bathroom. Emboldened by the sofa snuggles, Xiang Ling tugged at the sleeve of Mike's dressing gown.

"What?"

Xiang Ling reached up and planted a gentle kiss on Mike's cheek.

"Goodnight."

Xiang Ling walked on to her bedroom.

***

Mike rose early and made a start on editing the concert video straight after breakfast. Xiang Ling had stayed in her room a little longer. She had no real need to sleep in. Mike figured she was still trying her best to simulate normal human wake / sleep cycles.

"You got up early. I figured you would sleep in a bit today."

"I woke early and thought I'd make a start on the video. We need to get something up on our channel as soon as we can."

"How is it going?"

"It's looking good. Ian shot a lot of cool footage. I have the sound from the desk and our mixer. The audio from the iPhone mic isn't bad either."

"So you can mix in some audio of the crowd?"

"That's the idea."

"Danielle said she was coming over to help, do you really need her?"

"She has a game designers eye for editing and is more savvy than me with the social media stuff."

The front doorbell rang.

"She is very early. I'll go let her in, you can keep working."

Xiang Ling headed upstairs to get the door.

"Hi Danielle. Come in. Mike is down in the studio working on the video already."

They descended the spiral stairs into the studio together.

"You're here early, you must have pulled up okay from the party last night."

"Hi, Mike. I told you we didn't drink much. I'm keen to get our social media in order after the gig. I'm taking my role of managing it seriously."

"There's not a lot we can do with it because it was all shot from one camera."

"True, but we can do some digital effects a bit of panning and zooming, colour correction etc."

"Sounds like I should stick to working on the audio and leave the video work to you."

"Of course! I used to direct all the cut scene videos for the early ImagineSoft games, before we could afford to hire people to do that." Danielle bragged. "You don't have Final Cut?"

"I use Luma Fusion, because it runs on my iPad as well as the Mac. Final Cut is overkill for me."

"It seems to work like most video editing software, I'll cope."

"I'll leave you two to it, I'll go work on my song on the other Mac." Xiang Ling left the control room went over to the Mac on the workbench, in the studio proper.

They worked until noon, when Mike called a break for lunch.

"Hang on Mike, I'll just upload the Noroshi video we finished to YouTube. We can release a song each day to keep viewer interest up."

They all headed up to the kitchen.

"I assume I'm getting fed today, or am I pushing my luck?"

"It's fine, but I really am running out of new things to cook for you."

"You don't have to try so hard to impress me, I'm already sold on you."

"I'll make hot and sour soup."

"I'll help prep." Xiang Ling volunteered. "It will go faster with both of us."

Xiang Ling started chopping the celery. Mike began boiling some water to cook the rice noodles.

"It never ceases to amaze me how smooth you two are in the kitchen together. I don't understand why you aren't sharing a bedroom yet. I guess Mike is just a prude, hung up on the fact your body is artificial, Xiang Ling."

"Do you want to be fed or not?" Mike looked a little peeved.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop."

Mike heated up the stock and Xiang Ling added the chopped vegetables.

"I'll just leave that to simmer for a while."

"How was Linda in the car?" Danielle asked.

"I think we have a ceasefire for now." Xiang Ling answered. "It's better than nothing. Did you get all the video editing done?"

"We uploaded a video for 'Noroshi' already. The plan is to release one song a day. I've grabbed a copy of the project files on my phone, I'll take them home and work on it through the week."

"If you're free after lunch we could work on my new song."

"Sure, I'm in no rush to get home."

"Great, I'd like your input on the bass line."

A kitchen timer went off. Mike added the noodles, lemon juice and some cornflour as a thickening agent.

"It's almost ready, I'm just heating the noodles through."

Mike grabbed some bowls and ladled out two serves of the soup.

"There you go." Mike placed a bowl in front of Danielle and handed her a soup spoon.

Danielle tucked in. "I can't believe something so quick and simple can taste so good."

"It's quite filling for a soup too." Mike added. "All those noodles."

They finished eating.

"I'll go grab the bass from my car."

"Do you need me to work on the song yet, Xiang Ling?"

"No, just Danielle for now."

"I'll go have a nap in my room then, still a little tired after last night."

Mike headed to his bedroom.

***

Mike sat on his bed and pulled out his phone. He shared the YouTube video of Noroshi to Ichinose-san via Line.

"Video from our first live gig with the full band lineup."

He had no idea what she would be doing at the moment. She might even be in flight.

"Martin-san! I was beginning to think you had forgotten me. Your women are all so beautiful. I don't know why you waste time on dowdy old me."

"I still owe you some photos of the house too."

"How are you?"

"A little tired from last night. I think I'll take an afternoon nap soon."

"I'm at home, bored. Not flying today."

"I'm glad I'm not disturbing you."

"You're not playing the keyboard during that song."

"It doesn't have a keyboard part. We'll be uploading more videos during the week."

"I wish I could see your band live."

"Don't miss us when we tour Japan!" "smile emoji"

Mike's phone beeped for an incoming video call.

"Ichinose-san!"

"I'm sure I'll regret this, letting you see me without my face on, but I really wanted to see you again."

"Your beauty is inherent."

"Flatterer!" Ichinose smiled.

"I wanted to see you too. I wasn't sure we would ever get the chance to talk again."

"You could have video called me through Line anytime."

"I thought it would be too forward of me, considering our brief acquaintance."

"I don't mind. We are friends now. Just text message me before in case I am working."

"The band is hoping to get another gig soon at an anime and manga festival."

"Oh, so it's like you will be performing at Comiket? The crowds will be huge!"

"Animaga is not on such a grand scale, but it will be good exposure for the band. I'll send you the details if we are selected."

"I hope you are successful. I'm looking forward to your Japan tour." Ichinose smiled.

"Well, it could happen, I guess. I'm not sure that the Japanese audience would be into an Australian band singing Japanese songs, though."

"Think positive, Mike. We have to meet again."

"I'd still like a Japanese holiday someday. Maybe we will meet then, if your circumstances allow."

"You mean if I marry before you get around to it?"

"I wasn't going to say it."

"Marriage is unlikely, I'm convinced there are no good men left in Japan."

"Anyway I was going to take a nap."

"Oyasumi Mike-san. Please stay in touch."

"I'll update you when there is some more band news. Bye bye."

Mike ended the call and put his head down on the pillow, it wasn't hard to close his eyes and he drifted off to sleep.

***

Mike awoke to Xiang Ling gently nudging him.

"Mike, wake up. You should have some dinner."

"Oh, Xiang Ling. Is Danielle still here?"

"No, she went home. We nailed down the bass part, you were still asleep so she left."

Mike hauled himself up to a vertical position.

"I've made you some sandwiches."

"Thank you. I'm feeling a bit hungry."

Xiang Ling left the room and Mike followed her to the kitchen. Mike sat up at the kitchen bench and Xiang Ling handed him a plate of salad sandwiches.

"Thanks, I'll get spoilt if you keep this up."

"It's part of my master plan to make myself an indispensable part of your life."

Mike glanced at his phone to check the time.

"It's later than I thought. I've slept for ages."

"I guess you don't really feel like going back to bed now?"

"I'll have to stay up while this food digests a bit." Mike took another bite of a sandwich.

"We could watch some more anime, I don't mind."

"Finish 'Days With My Step Sister'?"

"I'd like that, I want to see how they end up."

"The story isn't completed in the anime, it's from a light novel series."

"Oh, I guess I'll have to read them later then."

Mike finished the sandwiches and they moved into the living room and sat on the sofa. Xiang Ling snuggled up beside him again. Mike raised no objection. Clearly some progress had been made, Xiang Ling thought. If Mike treats this as normal perhaps I can be a little bolder in future. Mike started the show playing.

They watched the remaining episodes.

"Okay, My food has gone down. I'll grab a quick shower and go to bed."

Xiang Ling uncurled herself and sat up straight. "So he finally decided to take a step forward and they are going to face their feelings for each other together. That was a very moving scene when they just held each other."

"I cried."

"I bet you did, you old softie. Have you read the novels?"

"No, they haven't all been translated to English yet. I have been reading the manga adaption though. It does go a little bit past what was shown in the anime."

"I'm here for you, for when you want to take that step forward, Mike."

"I know."

"Goodnight, Mike."

"Goodnight, Xiang Ling."

***