Music Masters: CD One

RETURN OF THE SPACE COWBOY: PART TWO

Tokyo was such a massive city. Nami felt like she could walk into every arcade in all the city's nooks and crannies and still she wouldn't have seen even a fraction of it.

With what little money they had, Arashi and Nami rarely left their district. Nami didn't want to admit it to herself, but as she waited in her seat on the train to Minato, she knew that Arashi was the sole reason they could even afford to go in the first place.

She played with her hair as she sat between two large businessman, fidgeting in her seat despite the lack of space.

The train was very crowded, and unfortunately for her, they traveled so infrequently that Nami was not at all used to it. She shifted from the discomfort of being so close to these square-shouldered men.

A few feet in front of her, Arashi stood silently. Hand on the train bar, he was almost like a statue in both expression and posture.

Like all Music Masters, Nami could clearly hear the sound of music coming from his headphones. Whatever Japanese rock he had playing, it never seemed like he ever actually enjoyed the music, and she could only wonder if he was just mentally preparing himself for any trials to come.

Craning her neck ever so slightly, Nami tried to distract herself with the cityscape behind her. Her brother insisted that she not listen to music on the train ride.

She relented, but it still annoyed her beyond words that he had so little faith in her self control.

In another twenty minutes, they would be at their destination. The bullet train never failed to disappoint, hitting high speed but with a ride as smooth as butter.

Meanwhile, Arashi seemed beyond confident that they would have the job and be on their way to America by the end of the day.

Nami leaned back as her mind drifted. From what she remembered, this had all started when Arashi had borrowed a significant amount of money from the Osaka-based Ensemble known as God Symphony. It's all that had been keeping them afloat for the last few months. Now, God Symphony was expecting full repayment of said loan.

But there was a way out of their problem, and it was undeniably simple.

If they successfully captured one of the most dangerous Trackmasters in the United States, then that would be enough to make all their problems disappear.

Simple, but certainly not easy.

Even Nami wasn't so arrogant to think otherwise.

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"Don't say anything."

She of course had initially balked at the notion, but Arashi insisted before they'd even gotten to the street corner.

"I mean that, Nami. Don't say a single word."

That had been Arashi's single request of her once they had arrived at the Zero Beat Symphon in Minato. Situated underneath the prefecture headquarters of EMI Music itself, it represented Zero Beat's largest powerbase in the entire country.

Once they'd made it inside the main foyer, the doormen seemed to instantly recognize who they were. And once they were accounted for, a young lady graciously welcomed them both, before leading them to an elevator that previously housed music stars and executives alike.

A plastic smile remained on their escort's face as Arashi and Nami stood by.

With a quick motion, she pressed the elevator buttons in an odd, abstract formation. Once finished, their metallic surface glowed a faded teal, before the elevator itself descended with sudden speed.