Warning: Slight OOC-ness up ahead.
The next evening, Sougo resumed his duties--mixing drinks, cleaning up after drunk customers, stopping bar fights, and explaining the circumstances behind the missing singer. It seemed as if the customers were even rowdier than when Madao was singing live. He actually wanted the owner to come back sooner to deal with this mess.
To his relief, about three hours later, the owner unexpectedly returned. With one loud swing of the shoji door, the room quietened down and everyone turned their heads toward the menacing aura flowing from the entrance.
"Good evening, everyone." Otose formed her mouth into a smile that was not quite a smile. "It seems you were all enjoying yourselves while I was gone. Mind if I join in?"
A few nervous laughs were heard from the crowd, except for one curious drunk who asked, "Where's Madao's replacement?"
"I'm glad you asked." Otose moved aside from the entrance, revealing the person behind her.
From where Sougo stood, he could see a tall, hooded figure a meter away from where the owner stood. The figure's hands were outstretched as if trying to catch every drop of rain in mid-air.
"Kagura-chan! It's time to work." Otose barked.
The figure ran towards the entrance, pulled off the hood of her yellow rain coat, and greeted the crowd.
"Hello everyone! I'm Kagura. Please treat me kindly." Kagura bowed.
The crowd turned silent once again. Everyone at the bar was entranced by her features. Her long, vermillion hair, deep blue eyes, and pale skin were reminiscent of a porcelain doll.
"Otose-chan, are you sure you didn't kidnap some rich kid?"
"Is she one of those fancy robot maids?"
"No. Must be an illegal immigrant."
"She may be pretty, but can she sing?"
"It's no use if we keep standing around here. Kagura-chan, head to the stage and prove them wrong." The owner ordered.
"Do you have a piano?" Kagura asked. "It's better with an accompaniment."
The owner thought for a moment before recalling that one of the backdrops hid a piano and asked Sougo to pull it out. He complied. He pulled off one of the black cloths covering the piano at the back of the stage and pushed the portable piano closer to the edge of the stage while Kagura adjusted the stand for the microphone to her height.
"So, if you're going to be singing there, who's going to play the piano?" Sougo inquired, intrigued at their eccentric, new singer.
Kagura whistled and soon, a plain, glasses-wearing young man appeared panting at the entrance while rubbing his right ear.
"No worries, Bartender-san. Megane will do it." Kagura answered while signalling for the man with glasses to come onto the stage.
The young man climbed up the steps towards the stage while Sougo descended from the stairs. Both of the men exchanged glances and nodded towards each other in acknowledgement. Sougo resumed his position behind the bar table, glancing every so often at the whimsical girl setting up the stage.
"Testing. Testing. One-two-three." Kagura smiled. "Guess it works. As you know, I'm Kagura, and on the piano is my loyal dog...err...assistant and back up vocals, Shinpachi. I personally call him Megane, so feel free to do the same."
Ignoring Shinpachi's protests, she continued.
"I heard you all love listening to emotional songs so I decided to sing one tonight. It's called 'Erase'. Now, Megane, play whenever you're ready."
As the piano started to play, the owner dimmed the lights to create a gloomy atmosphere, only leaving the center light focused on Kagura.
(Posted By: starshipTV)->Turn CC on for captions
(Shinpachi sings the unbolded words while Kagura sings the bolded words.
Rap is sung by Kagura, too.)
(Hello)
I changed a lot. My short hairstyle,
(Hello)
And dark make-up make me look like a different person.
(Hello)
I know I mean nothing to you now, I feel it.
The crowd earnestly watched her performance, swaying to the beat at which she snapped her fingers, completely captivated by her melodious, melancholy voice. Aside from Kagura's singing, only Otose's footsteps could be heard as she walked towards the bar table and seated herself in front of Sougo.
"Never heard anyone quite like her before?" Otose determined from Sougo's still body.
"Ah. Yes." Sougo blinked away his trance and filled a shot glass with the owner's favourite wine. "Where'd you pick her up from?"
"I met her by the vending machine where I buy my cigarettes. She said that her parents kicked her out of the house because she was too much of a glutton so she needed a job."
Otose paused, seeing the disbelief in Sougo's eyes. She also noted the genuine interest on his usually expressionless face.
"Frankly, I don't care about my employees' past as long as long as they do their job properly, but Kiyotomo-kun, if you're so interested in the young lady, why don't you ask her yourself?"
Her answer surprised him. Right now, was his face that easy to read?
Sougo shook his head and reverted back to his expressionless self. She misunderstood his intentions, he was simply following the protocol of his mission, nothing more.
His thoughts were interrupted by the cheers, whistles and applause of the crowd. She instantly gained uncle fans, of which a few commented along the lines of "Who's the b*****d that dares leave you? Tell oji-san and I'll beat them up!"
"Alright. Alright. Calm down. You'll scare the young lady." The owner shouted.
Instead of growing silent, the crowd yelled louder, "Encore! Encore! Encore!"
"Thank you, everyone! " Kagura bowed before turning to her assistant. "Play something else, Megane."
Reluctantly, Shinpachi obeyed.
The rest of the night was filled by Kagura's voice.
+++End of Chapter 2+++
Author's Note
If you hadn't already guessed, Hyolyn's Erase was the reason I wrote this fic~ I hope you all fall in love with her voice, too. Her comeback is amazing!! I'll be using more of her songs in the future. So let's all pretend Kagura sings in Japanese and that Shinpachi is talented enough to play the the piano and sing well (since his seiyuu, Daisuke Sakaguchi, can sing well anyway). ^_-
If anyone is wondering "Another anti-climatic chapter?", it's because I had to set everything up. Promise, the next chapter will be fun.
YOU ARE READING
Mr. Bartender, Don't Lie
Fanfiction[Gintama AU] After a year, Okita Sougo has fully adjusted to his late night shifts as a bartender at a small O-Edo bar. That is, until the regular, sunglasses-wearing singer was no longer able to make it to work and was replaced by a certain vermill...
