(Story takes place in between seasons 1 and 2.)

. . .

"Good news everyone!" President Maple announced as he stepped into the café.

All the members of Plasmagica and ShinganCrimsonZ were gathered around, enjoying their dinner after a long day of writing and rehearsals. Well, almost all of them, anyway. They all turned at Maple's declaration.

"I have just hired the newest member of Banded Rocking Records!" he proclaimed.

"What do you mean newest member?" Crow asked.

"You don't mean another member for our band, do you?" Retoree asked with anxiety in her tone.

"Nothing of the sort, my dear," Maple assured her. "You all had just expressed concerns about coming up with new music lately, and so I hired a writer!" he told them excitedly.

"You what?!" Rom demanded.

"A dark god such as myself does not require any assistance in writing beautiful music," Aion said through his hand.

"Yeah, no offense Mr. President, but I'm not really diggin' the idea of preformin' a song written by someone else," Chu Chu commented.

"Oh, she won't be doing everything all on her own. I just thought you all could use a little extra help. A new perspective to bounce ideas off of. She's very creative, and she can do the work of putting pen to paper, while you guys practice on your actual playing. Not to mention, she's very tech savvy. We could use someone with skills like that around here," Maple explained.

"Perhaps this newcomer can at last ascertain why this dark sun god's amplifier continues to suspiciously cut in and out," Aion commented.

"Yeah, having a techy around could be pretty useful. I wonder how she is with concert effects?" Crow wondered aloud.

"Well, you'll be able to ask her when she gets here. I'm expecting she should be arriving soon," Maple said, checking the time.

Retoree didn't really care much about what kind of technical skills she had. Just as long as she didn't expect to horn her way into Plasmagica. No matter what they tried, no one was going to be able to replace the gaping void Cyan had created when she left.

. . .

Ryuka stood on the street just staring up at the rundown building that was supposed to be her new home. The large neon letters displayed along the front were shining down on her, BRR – Banded Rocking Records. One of the R's was off-center, and the other was sparking disconcertingly. Not ghetto at all! Although, considering who she was, she couldn't really expect much more for her first official job.

When she peered in through the window, she could see people inside sitting at tables. Some were eating. It looked kind of like a restaurant? The small sign over the door confirmed that – Angelica's Bar and Café.

It made her wonder if this was really the right place? She didn't see any other entrances, so she shrugged and pushed open the door.

All eyes shifted in her direction as the door dinging signaled her arrival. Ryuka took a quick stock of the room. There were a total of five other people. Two guys were sitting at the bar, another two were at a table, and a tall, blonde woman was standing behind the counter. At the same time, they took this opportunity to take a look at her.

Usually, the first thing anyone would notice about Ryuka would be her striking, red hair, which was pulled back into a spiky ponytail, sticking out down the back of her neck. Her long bangs, hanging around her eyes, only slightly obscuring her vision. The next thing would always be her fin-like ears and suspicious antenna flowing out the top of her head. Those would always receive questioning glances, not to mention the long, spiny, reptilian tail dragging along on the floor behind her.

She was dressed in her favorite rock-star jeans, and an oversized black hoodie. However, even that was barely obscuring the abnormally shaped lumps that ran down either side of her back. It was, again, suspicious, but it was the best she could do.

Everything would always change whenever anyone saw what was under her hoodie, which is why she would try to keep it hidden for as long as possible. The black duffel bag she had slung over her shoulder was helping a bit as well. She also carried a violin case in her left hand.

After a moment of awkward silence, Ryuka decided she should make her way over to the bar to ask the woman about where she could find President Maple. However, she never actually got the chance, as the woman seemed to anticipate her.

"Well, hello there dear. You must be Ryuka," she guessed. Although it wasn't too hard of a guess. Not many people would be visiting a café with luggage, after all.

"Yep, that's me. I'm supposed to be meeting President Maple," she explained, moving closer towards the counter.

"Yes, he's been expecting you for some time," she commented.

"Sorry 'bout that. Traffic on the treble was murder!" she joked.

It elicited a halfhearted smirk from the woman, as well as the sandy-blonde haired guy sitting at the bar next to her, surprising!

"Well, my name is Angelica. I'm the band manager here. Very pleased to meet you," she said, politely shaking Ryuka's free hand. "Now, if you'll please follow me." Angelica then led the way up a staircase in the corner, to which Ryuka followed.

After they were out of ear shot, Rom flipped around to address the rest of his band.

"So, what do you guys think?" he asked.

"I don't know, she didn't look like much of a rocker. . ." Crow commented.

"As long as she can keep the equipment running at adequate levels of functionality, I believe she could acclimate with little difficulty, so hence," Yaiba reasoned.

"Yeah, but what was she carrying in that case? The world's smallest guitar?" Crow scoffed.

"Simple minded rodent! It was obviously an instrument of far more sophistication than a simple guitar," Aion lectured.

"There's no instrument better than a guitar! Besides, what would fit in a case that small?" Crow argued.

"It was a violin case, genius!" Rom snapped.

"Whoa, really? Aren't those things, like, super old?" Crow continued.

"Well, it's true you don't see them around much anymore," Rom consented.

"She obviously adheres to a higher level of musical prowess. Hence, I can offer respect for that," Yaiba added.

"I can see that there is something else percolating within the reaches of your subconscious. It did not escape the notice of this dark monster," Aion said, addressing Rom. "Does it have to do with the girl?" he guessed.

"Yeah, I was wondering, just what kind of Myumon was she, exactly?" he wondered aloud.

"Some kind of lizard, right?"

Crow said it like it should be obvious. However, Rom privately wondered if maybe there wasn't more to her than that.

. . .

Ryuka followed Angelica into a hallway on the second story, and then through the first door they came to. Inside, President Maple was seated at his desk, looking over some sort of paperwork. Even though she had seen him before, the little egg-man still looked peculiar to her. It had been even more so when they first met.

Ryuka had always had an interest in music. Her parents had made sure of that, both being talented musicians themselves. Even so, this was Sound World after all, who didn't have an interest in music? So when it came time for her to leave the nest and find work, she knew she couldn't just dive into the music industry without a gimmick. No one would hire her with no experience. Not to mention, she had doubts about getting a job due to her other – 'situation'. That's why she had tried to pass herself off as a simple sound and tech expert. However, Maple had seen though that almost immediately.

. . .

She had just exited another small-label music company after a less than encouraging interview, when she heard someone clear their throat. Ryuka peered around, but didn't see anyone. She heard the sound again, and this time it sounded like it was coming from below her, so she looked down and was a bit started to see a small, egg-shaped man smiling up at her.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're looking for a job," he chimed merrily.

"Uh, yeah. Do you know of an opening for a sound technician?" she asked, albeit a bit skeptically.

"Perhaps, but what about that?" He gestured towards the violin case she had strapped to her back.

"What about it?" she inquired, continuing to play the pronoun game.

"Do you play?" he asked.

"I know how to play it, if that's what you mean." Ryuka wasn't real sure if she liked where this was going. She really wanted to make music, but wasn't real sure about the possibility of actually preforming.

"How about writing? Have you ever tried your hand at writing any of your own music?" he continued.

"I – well, a bit," she admitted reluctantly.

"Would you mind showing me some examples?"

Ryuka stared down at him looking perplexed. "And just – who – are you, exactly?" she asked.

"Oh, forgive me for my rudeness. I should have introduced myself sooner! My card!" He brandished a business card out towards her.

Ryuka took it and peered down at the large, black font.

"Maple Arisugawa, President of Banded Rocking Records," he declared to her.

"You're the president of a recording label. So, are you actually looking for a sound tech, or just more musicians?" she wondered.

"Possibly both," he replied.

"Okay, I suppose I should probably make this clear to you right now, then. I don't perform," she stated flatly, thinking he'd probably turn her away after hearing that.

"Oh, well, that won't be a problem. You see, my currently signed bands have been in a bit of a slump lately. I thought adding some fresh talent and new ideas might help," he explained.

"You want me to help write music for your existing bands?" she clarified.

"If you would be interested, and depending on what you've already done. Plus having a sound tech would be very helpful. Some of the equipment isn't working quite the way it used to," he further elaborated. "Now, let's see those samples."

So Ryuka consented to showing him some of her work.

. . .

And now, she was sitting in his office.

"Glad you finally made it. We were starting to get worried," he told her.

"I'm sorry about that, I—" she was going to try and explain before he stopped her.

"Oh, that's no problem. Just glad you're here safely. Now to business," he pushed some papers into the vacant spot on the desk in front of her. "We just need you to fill out some paperwork before you get started. Did you decide if you'll be staying in the dorm?" he asked.

"Yes, I would, thank you. If – you don't think anyone will mind?" she wondered, before starting on the paperwork.

"No, of course not. We have plenty of space," he assured. "You'll just need to fill this out too." He handed her another form.

After they had taken care of the business side, President Maple then led her out of his office and down the hall to show her to her room.

"We do have one that is fully furnished, but it's not being used at the moment, so I'm sure it'll be fine for you to take it," he was saying as they strolled down the hall.

When they came to the room he was talking about, they were suddenly halted by a group of teen girls. Probably members of one of the bands he had mentioned before. He had told her several of the members lived here in the dorm.

"Ah girls, good to see you. Come to welcome our newest member?" he guessed.

"Of course! Hi, I'm Chu Chu," The bunny girl with the purple hair told her. "And this is Moa and Retoree," she gestured toward the sheep and puppy girl, respectively.

"We're members of the band, Plasmagica! What's your name, pyuru?" Moa asked her cheerily.

"Ryuka," she told her flatly.

"Oooo, what a cool name," she praised.

"Thanks," she told her with a half-smile.

"It's nice to meet you. Were you – going to live here in the dorm with us?" Chu Chu asked as she eyed her bag.

"Yeah, President Maple was just showing me to my room," she confirmed.

"Wait, it's not this one, is it?" Retoree suddenly spoke up, sounding concerned.

"Is there a problem with this one?" Ryuka asked skeptically.

"No, there's no—" Chu Chu tried to say, but Retoree cut her off.

"Yeah there's a problem! This is Cyan's room. It isn't available!" she declared forcefully.

"Oh, come now Retoree. Cyan's gone back to her own world. She doesn't need it anymore," Maple tried to tell her gently, but she wasn't having it.

"That doesn't mean she's gonna be gone forever! She'll still need it when she comes back," Retoree continued to argue.

"Yes, but—" Maple tried to say, however he was cut off when Ryuka went over to open the door.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Retoree demanded, bristling and flushing with clear indignation.

Ryuka, however, ignored her comment as she swept her eyes back and forth across the room. She then closed the door and turned back to President Maple.

"I'll be alright with having one that isn't as furnished. Besides, this is way too much pink for me, anyway!" Ryuka assured everyone. "Wouldn't want to soil the great Cyan's room, after all," she added in a haughty tone, before sauntering past them further down the hall.

It took a moment for everyone to recover from the snide remark. President Maple jumped and trotted after her when he realized she was making her way all the way down to the end of the hall.

"Well, that was, different," Chu Chu commented, not really sure what else to say.

"Jeeze, she didn't have to be so snooty about it," Retoree grumbled with a scowl.

"Maybe you made her feel bad?" Moa guessed.

"Whatever, she still shouldn't have Cyan's room! Not when we've got other empty rooms she can stay in," Retoree defended.

"So much for makin' a good first impression. Oh well," Chu Chu sighed.

At this point, President Maple had finally caught up with Ryuka right as she stopped at the very last door.

"Is this one open?" she asked him.

"Well, yes, but –" he huffed, trying to catch his breath after running. "Wouldn't you prefer to have a room closer to the other girls?" he suggested.

"No, thank you," Ryuka told him, opening the door. It was pretty bare aside from a bed in one corner and a wardrobe sitting in the other. "This will be just fine," she reassured him, stepping across the threshold and tossing her suitcase onto the bed.

"So, what time do I start tomorrow?" she asked.

"What? Oh, no. We don't have any set time you're required to start. Besides, you should take your time settling in. We'll have plenty of work for you to do before you know it. Don't you worry," he assured her. "Now, have a pleasant night, my dear," he said, before exiting and closing the door behind him.

"Uh, yeah. You too," she called after him.

She peered around the room once again, before her eyes rested on the bed. She was pretty beat, maybe he was right. It would feel great to get some sleep in a real bed. She would worry about unpacking and everything tomorrow. So with that thought, she flipped off the light and climbed into the bed, and was instantly asleep.