Track 01

A small single bedroom apartment. It is dark and empty besides the two beds on either side of the bedroom. The door opens, letting a small bit of light inside from the hallway. The door closes and the lights of the bedroom come on as a female snow leopard Myumon enters the room holding a box with "Hikari's things" written on the side in black marker. She sets the heavy box on one of the beds and makes her way to the giant window in the center of the wall. Below, many bright, colorful lights can be seen. Hundreds of Myumons roamed the streets, even at this late hour. No matter which direction you looked, it seemed there was always some kind of concert in progress. She opened the window, the faint sound of the music of the nearest concert filling the room. She closed her eyes, pretending to play the song on the window sill as if it were a piano, hearing the sounds of the screaming crowd, imagining herself on a stage in front of thousands of fans.

Her dream was to become one of the greatest songwriters Midicity had ever seen, so moving into the city was the first step to reaching this goal. If you could make it in Midicity, you could be seen as one of Sound World's greatest musicians. Lots of the World's most well known bands were located here. Bands like Trichronika, and Tsurezurenaru Ayatasuri Mugenan were just a couple. There were other bands that were also located in this city, whose names had just started to be known. Bands like Plasmagica and Criticrista were in this category. Hikari remembered watching a battle of the bands between the two on television just a few months ago. She wanted to be in a band that surpassed all of these bands, though this wasn't a dream she spoke of often. It wasn't long, however, that this daydreaming was interrupted.

"Hikari! Hikariiiiiii~!"

Footsteps could be heard quickly approaching the apartment from outside the hallway. Hikari quickly closed the window and shut the curtains. A white lioness Myumon stood in the doorway, breathing heavily looking as if she had just ran a marathon to get there. Holding something behind her back, she started jumping up and down, obviously excited over something, though it was hard to tell. Her best friend, Kamiko, was almost always this energetic.

Hikari smiled, relieved that she hadn't walked in on her little rock out session. "What is it, Kami?" she asked with a chuckle, putting her hands on each of her shoulders to stop her from jumping so much.

Kamiko settled just a little before waving two small pieces of paper in the air. "It's time to take a break from unpacking!" Hikari folded her arms, looking around the room, only seeing the one single, still packed box sitting on her bed. Clearly, it wasn't even close to time for a break, but she let her continue. "I just scored super awesome seats to a band that is just starting to get popular here in Midicity! They're are from the same record label as the band we saw on T.V. recently, Plasmagica! It's an all boy rock band that goes by the name ShinganCrimsonZ! They sound so cool!"

A concert? Perfect! Hikari glanced out the window, thinking back to the thoughts she was having earlier. How could she say no? It was the perfect way to see how the competition was going to be, right? "Okay, but as soon as we get back, we are staying up all night to unpack!"

Kamiko giggled, twirling in place. "Okay, 'Mother,'" she teasingly called her. Hikari was always trying to keep her out of trouble, earning this nickname. She flipped open Hikari's box throwing clothes all over the room, finding a black dress with a leopard print stripe going down each side and held it up. "And this is what you will be wearing!"

Hikari shook her head, seeing the mess the lioness had just made of her things, glaring at her just a little before swiping the dress from her and leaving the room to change, hearing her call out "You know you love me~!" She simply smiled and changed into the cute little dress. When she returned, Kamiko had on a black dress with a white lacy trim.

"Well aren't we both just sexy!" Kamiko yells as they start down the hallway, earning a facepalm from Hikari. Way to be embarrassing.

The two made their way to the concert, their seats in about the third row, directly in the center. They had a perfect view of the stage. The band entered the stage as the crowd cheered loudly. The lights went out, as four spotlights came on, showing each of the members of the band. A red hedgehog Myumon stood center stage a guitar in his hand. To his left, a yellow fox Myumon with a bass that was shaped like a sword stood. On the right was a lion Myumon holding a second guitar. In the back, a leopard Myumon sat behind a set of drums, Hikari's heart skipping for a moment, not expecting that. A leopard Myumon… Just like her...

The lead vocalist, the hedgehog Myumon, stepped forward to his mic as the crowd started to quiet. "With our crimson gaze, we keep watching you and loving you." His voice was very smooth, causing both of the girls to blush ever so slightly. Hikari shook her head, removing the thoughts from her mind. This is not what she came for. She was here to see what the music was like.

He continued, shouting for everyone to hear, "Let's go, you cattle!" At this, strangely everyone in the audience cheered. Cattle? Wasn't that kind of rude? She shrugged, deciding it must be something they just didn't understand. She looked over at Kamiko, who was instantly drawn in to this group, even if the performance hadn't begun. She didn't seem to think the cattle comment was insulting in the slightest. She thought it was actually kind of interesting. They were definitely a unique group.

The concert started with a song titled "Crimson Quartet," which was the moment Hikari decided she couldn't just judge them by their introduction. They were actually pretty good. It was easy to see that Kamiko felt the same. She smiled as she saw how hard her friend was fawning over the group. She was definitely more open about how she felt about certain things, while Hikari kept most of her feelings to herself.

After the show, the two girls walked home together, Kamiko failing to keep all of her squealing inside. "OMG! Wasn't that just the best!? They were so good, and such cuties, too!"

Hikari shrugged, strolling along with her hands behind her back. "They weren't bad, I guess. I do believe I could have written a better song, though," she said, trying not to sound too impressed. "The drummer wasn't half bad, at least."

"Oh come on, Hiki! You can't be-wait! OMG you are totally in love with him. That's gotta be it!" she pounded her fist into her palm. "Not that I blame you! That guitar player was pretty great, too~!"

Hikari's face instantly grew red. "What? You got something like that out of what I just said? You can't be serious... I don't have time for things like that." She crossed her arms before bumping Kamiko with her hip teasingly. "But I definitely saw you checking that guitar player out. You're so predictable!" she joked.

"Hey! No fair!" She pouted. "Well say what you want, but I think they were great! We definitely need to meet them."

Hikari raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "How so? They are obviously like celebrities around here. It's not like we are gonna just run into them having dinner one night. Unless we spend all of our Sound Dollars on backstage passes next time, it's not going to happen."

"Pfft, please... We are obviously going to have a performance of our own, and it will be so good that they will be the ones buying the backstage passes to meet us!" Kamiko said with a determined gleam in her eyes.

"What? We don't even have any of our own music yet. How on earth do you plan to get something like that ready so quickly?" Hikari questioned.

"Well obviously we have to cover ShinganCrimsonZ songs, of course!" she shouted as she pumped her fist into the air. This caught Hikari off guard, causing her to stop walking, as Kamiko kept speaking, but Hikari wasn't listening anymore.

"Wait, what do you mean cover their songs? Isn't that kind of like cheating?" she interrupted. That wasn't how she wanted to start out her career. She wanted to earn it fairly to prove she could make it on her own.

Kamiko shook her head. "Of course not! Lots of bands start out covering others. They find groups that play songs by their favorite artists and next thing you know they have fans of their own who get them recognized! It's no different than all the times you and I would play during karaoke night at the diner down the street from our home!"

"Your home, Kamiko," she corrected her. "And I don't know if I could consider those karaoke nights. Sure, everyone else might have done karaoke, but we were the only ones who brought our own instruments..." she said with a chuckle.

"We definitely stole the show," Kamiko responded. "Of course that wouldn't have been possible for me without you." When the girls were younger, Kamiko had a hard time deciding what her musical talent was. She always wanted to sing, but her parents, who just before she had been born were some of the most famous rockstars in Sound World, had bigger plans for her. They made her try just about every instrument out there. She finally developed a passion for guitar, but always had that dream of being able to sing.

Hikari's passion, however, was piano. She always found herself playing the beautiful white grand piano in the studio at Kamiko's mansion when she was feeling sad, and through her emotions, she began to write her own songs. Not that she ever shared them with anyone, of course. She was never really the type to really show her feelings, so these were too embarrassing.

With Kamiko's dream to sing and play guitar, Hikari ended up following behind and taught herself to play the drums, which was her way of showing support to the lioness. In her mind, it was more important to help her best friend reach her dreams than to go after her own. Because of this, she was never fully content, but learned to live with it as it made Kamiko happy.

When Hikari told her she was taking her to a karaoke night, she was way too nervous to go, so she decided to pack up their instruments and told her it would be just like their jam sessions at home, and that she had nothing to worry about.

Hikari smiled, reaching in her bag for the key to get into the apartment. "All I did was push you. The talent was always there." She unlocked the door and started toward her bed, gathering the clothes Kami had tossed on the floor earlier along the way. She still planned to spend the rest of the night unpacking.

"And now I'm trying to push you!" She reached into Hikari's box, knowing that would have been where her drumsticks would be. "We can do this, Hikari... I know we can." She handed them to her friend with a big smile on her face. "Now... what do you say?"

A few moments of silence passed before Hikari finally took the sticks from Kamiko's hand, a sigh of defeat escaping her lips. "Alright, fine. But we have to make sure we work hard and work on our own music in the process. I can't play some other silly band's music forever."

~ Two Months Later ~

In a small cafe in the basement of one smaller recording label, sat three Myumon, Crow, Aion, and Yaiba of ShinganCrimsonZ. Just as they had almost every night, they spent their evenings as a group for dinner, though as usual, one was running just a little late. Angelica, the manager of their recording agency and also the cafe's owner, washed a few dishes while listening to the boys' typical bickering. It never failed that just one of them could say something to set the others off. Most people believe that if it weren't for the fourth member of their band, that these three would have long ago killed each other, but after knowing these boys for as long as she had, Angelica knew that it was nothing more than simple brotherly arguments. Each of them cared for the others just as they would a member of their family, even if they all had different ways of showing it, and were able to express this through their playing.

Suddenly, the door burst open, all three boys turning around hoping to see the final member of their band, but it was only just Maple, the president of their label. "I have some very interesting news for you gentlemen! There is a new, unsigned band that is rising in popularity around Midicity. They are very small, just having two members, but these girls are very good! I think you boys would really enjoy listening to-"

A bottle of milk was slammed down on the counter, interrupting the short egg-shaped man. "Wait, us? You want us to come listen to some girly band with you and think we would enjoy it? We already have Plasmagica, so if you think we need another group just like them, then why don't you take them with you?" an annoyed Crow responded, obviously cranky over whatever argument he and the others had gotten into this time.

As Maple started to continue, the door opened again, Rom finally making it back from his full time job, plopping down in the nearest booth to the door, exhausted. "Don't worry, I've invited them as well! But I'm telling you boys about this because this group has earned their popularity by covering your music." At this, Rom sat up, turning to the president with a questioning look on his face. There was another band out there that is trying to steal their music? This wasn't exactly something he was okay with. "The fans can't get enough of their versions of these songs, and the Myumons who had never heard of you boys are becoming more and more interested after hearing these girls sing. I'm thinking about asking them to sign with us here at Banded Rocking Records. They can work with you boys on improving, and start working on their own music."

"Well obviously they chose to sing our songs because I have such an amazing talent when it comes to writing lyrics. Those Cattle must have secretly fallen in love with-" Crow continued blabbing on, while Aion and Yaiba discussed a plan, ignoring the hedgehog's lame speech about himself. They both nodded and turned back to Rom, who had a look of irritation on his face.

"What do you think, man?" Yaiba asked, hoping he had been listening. Crow stopped talking, putting his hands on his hips and giving Yaiba an annoyed glare for interrupting, then looked to Rom.

"Whatever... I'd really rather not get dragged into something like this, but let's go." He pushed away from the table and went out the door, the others slowly following behind.

The girls sat on the edge of the stage in the small venue they had just performed in. The show went pretty well and some of the audience members even stayed behind to talk to the girls and get a few pictures. Most of their nights had ended like this, recently.

Once things started to die down, Hikari sat quietly, scribbling some notes on a napkin, just barely listening to Kamiko gush about their growing popularity. She just had to use it in a song... Unfortunately, she just couldn't think of the words to go along with the way she felt when she heard it. How could she become the greatest songwriter without great lyrics?

Kamiko continued on, looking up from where they sat, noticing a group near the back of the venue. Her eyes grew wide as she recognized their faces. Without looking away from them, she reached next to her to tap Hikari on the arm, wanting her to look up, but all she said was "Kami! Hold on, I can't lose this melody I have in mind! It's perfect. If I can just get the right words to go along with it, we can use it for sure!"

Just as she finished speaking, the remaining audience members grew silent, which suddenly caught her attention. "Hm... What's going o-" Next the lights went off and a single red spotlight lit up behind her. Out of curiosity and confusion, she turned around, finally noticing the look on Kamiko's face, as music started playing. "Well… the melody is gone now. Great."

"A miracle born in a wavering moment clad in crimson scarlet, Crow has arrived!"

"Shaken by darkness, disappearing into darkness, clothed in a forbidden wave of black. Black monster, Aion."

"He is after the spirit to rule over all the savage living things on earth. The way of Ryukomuso Kamui, hence, Yaiba appears bearing his legendary Ryukenden."

"Grown men have a spice called secrecy. That is the true reality. I am Rom!"

"Sing, you cattle, be dyed in crimson, your eyes will change fate. ShinganCrimsonZ! ShinganCrimsonZ!"

The lights finally came on, and everyone in the venue broke out into cheering. Kamiko started jumping up and down, squealing with excitement. "That was awesome! I told you we'd run into them at some point!" she whispered to her friend.

"They really can't help themselves sometimes, can they?" a golden retriever Myumon with glasses and long pigtails commented. "Always showing off…"

The girl next to her, a rabbit Myumon with long purple hair sighed in response. "Oh well… It's not like we could stop them even if we tried."

"It looks like one of the girls is enjoying herself, pyuru!" the third girl, a pink sheep Myumon, noted, referring to Kamiko's excited reaction. "At least they grabbed their attention!"

Hikari looked from the boys of ShinganCrimsonZ behind them on stage, to the group of girls, who she recognized as Plasmagica, that were now standing in front of her with a look of confusion on her face. Why were these two bands at their show? Had they really gained that much attention? She wasn't exactly sure what to say.

The sound of heels approaching behind her snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned around to face the boys once more, seeing the vocalist, Crow, had his own guitar in hand. What did he do? Pull that thing out of thin air? "Hmph, you girls weren't too bad, but it's time we showed you cattle how it's really done-"

But before he could finish, he was cut off by the rabbit and guitarist of Plasmagica. "Would you give it a rest? That's not why we're here, you know!" She placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "I'm sorry girls, those boys can be a little full of themselves. Anyway, my name is…"

"Chuchu!" Hikari finished, trying to hide her excitement. "Retoree and Moa, too, correct? And well… those guys kind of already introduced themselves. We are familiar with all of you! But you're here for a reason?"

"Of course they are, silly!" Kamiko responded. "They came to see our amazing show!"

"Kamiko! Don't be rude…" Hikari said with a glare.

Before Hikari could scold her friend any further, a voice of a much shorter Myumon interrupted. "Good evening, ladies. My name is Maple. I am the president of Banded Rocking Records, the label that has these two bands signed. I've been watching your shows for a while now, and after what I just saw, I think it would be great for you two to sign with us." He held out a business card for both of the girls and Kamiko snatches it out of his hand.

"YES! Definitely~!" she squealed, holding the card to her chest as if she were hugging it. Hikari's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to feel excited as well, but this was a lot for her to take in at once. Plus, even if she was excited, she wouldn't show it on the outside as much as Kamiko did. She wasn't sure if it was actually the best idea to accept it right away, since they didn't get to read any information on a contract or anything, but this was their shot. She would do anything to make this work.

"Great! Then pack your bags, girls! We have a dorm just above our studio, which is where you will be living. We will see you both bright and early Monday morning!" Maple said, walking toward the exit of the venue. The members of Shingan and Plasmagica followed behind him, ready to head back home.