A/N: I know it seems like I dropped off the face of the earth, but as you can see, I haven't quite yet. I wanted this to be all one part, but I realized that it was going to be way too long for me to do it in the time frame I wanted. The next part has to be out by tomorrow, but I don't know if I can get it all done by then. Now maybe I'll update faster because I won't leave a fic unfinished. Good, not good? Let me know. -KG

Oh by the way, this is AU.

Disclaimer: As usual, I still got nothing to anything I used except for my original places and ideas and such.

The Name Of The Game
Part One: The Thirteenth Step

Six o'clock: The start of the evening shift at The Thirteenth Step.

Nanao Ise had been here since five, knowing that tonight would probably be a busy night. It was only Thursday, but this place had some of the best entertainment around. It didn't seem to matter what night it was. The competition never stood a chance, she realized, after finding out who she was working with. The thought made her smirk inwardly. It served them right.

There weren't many here now, but she knew that people would start filling in very soon. It didn't get very busy during the day, so she rarely worked the afternoon shift. The tips were so much better at night.

The side door was partially ajar, letting some of the last threads of light into the large room. It set the scene like a haze, seeming like a blanket of smoke. There wasn't any smoking here though. The owner had once said that there was enough of it everywhere else, and that it bothered his lungs. He had slightly shaky health sometimes.

The misty air threaded itself through tables and chairs, wrapping around anything it could. It floated over to the dance floor, and it even drifted up on stage, where one of her best friends would be performing in an hour or two. Even though it seemed like any other night, Nanao thought that something felt different about today. Maybe something interesting would happen tonight after all. She chuckled to herself on this thought. It was amazing what you came up with behind the bar.

That's what she did here: she ran the bar. Sure, she'd only been here a little over a month, but she had become used to it. Even when new, she found others looked up to her leadership already. That was completely fine with her. She had a neat, organized way of doing things, and she was glad to know that others also believed that things went smoother when done in that way.

She was currently drying out a glass she had just washed, setting it upside down on a towel next to the others in a neat line. She automatically reached for the next one, repeating the process. At times, she had to remind herself that this was not just a bar. Then again, it's not like she was actively involved in the other aspects of this club.

That's what it was, a club. At least that's what it was at night.

Sure, a lot of people came here to drink, but what kind of club wouldn't have refreshments? During the day it was just a normal bar, but in the evening, it livened up quite noticeably. Here in Karakura, the nightlife was very active. This was one of the newer hotspots on the block, drawing in large crowds even on the weeknights. There was dancing every night, but even if that wasn't your thing, it was still a nice place to just sit and relax. Three or four times a week they had professionals put on a show.

No, these dancers were not strippers, pole dancers, or anything along the lines. Nanao had to sometimes enforce this strongly to people, advising makers of snide comments to rephrase their words. Usually she was agitated enough to take off her glasses to explain this to them. By the looks of surprise and terror on their faces, she thought she did a pretty good job at it.

The thought of being too harsh to a customer came to mind, but she didn't worry too much about it when her friends' reputations were on the line. Her superior had made it quite clear that his beliefs were that the employee's well-being came first. Even if somebody did complain about her, she doubted that he would do anything anyway. Her best friend happened to be one of those dancers, by the name of Rangiku Matsumoto.

And speaking of Rangiku, here she was.

She slid into a chair across from where Nanao was rearranging the glasses. When she looked up, she smiled at her. Her strawberry hair contrasted with the garb of her practice clothes, also making her pink scarf stand out. Nanao couldn't think of a time when she hadn't seen her wearing this particular object. She asked about it once, but Rangiku only said it was her good luck charm.

"Hey, Ran."

"Hey, Nanao." Without even asking, Nanao set a drink in front of her. She knew that was what she was going to ask for anyway. It was always the same: Sake.

"How's the show coming along?"

The dancer laughed. "Well, Toshiro's been hard on all of us, but that's nothing new. Sometimes I think he's overstressed, you know?"

Nanao nodded her head in agreement, trying not to have that blank look on her face.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was in charge of The Thirteenth Step's entertainment. It was his job to recruit available performers and make sure that they were all doing their jobs. Nanao had heard once that he studied dance and theater at a university, and progressed from there to here. She could understand why he would be so aggravated all the time though. It wasn't easy keeping track of that many people, especially when one of them was Rangiku. Sure, she was good at what she did, but Nanao knew her to be slightly lax on the working side of things when they told her to.

"So, with all your hard work, the show tonight is bound to be a success, right?"

The performer smiled. "Absolutely. I mean, he may work us all really hard, but he certainly knows what he's doing." She had a distant, glazed look in her eyes, looking over towards the stage. That deep look of admiration could not be mistaken.

That could be bad.

You see, in a bar sense, Rangiku could be the one considered 'Trouble'. Trouble was the kind of person that gets carded because they looked way younger than twenty one, only to find out when they show their ID, that they're actually closer to fifty. She wasn't that old though.

Trouble usually went home with different people all the time, although Rangiku wasn't like this at all. She just happened to have a horrible taste in men, which all seemed to be deeply attracted to her all the time. Gin Ichimaru was a good example of this. Nanao remembered that one clearly. It wasn't that Toshiro was a bad guy, she just didn't want to see her best friend go through heartbreak again, should it come to that. They both had their careers ahead of them after all.

Nanao followed her hazy gaze. That's what she thought.

Nanao spotted the slightly shorter, white haired man from across the room. He had a scowl on his face, like usual, although it seemed that he was in an upsetting mood more often than not these days. He turned to look at Rangiku, waving his arm in an agitated way. Rangiku groaned.

"Uhh, there he goes again. Well, I'll see you later. I'm assuming he wants us to practice." She sighed. "But the show's not for another couple of hours!" She had a slight wine. "Oh well."

With that, she downed the rest of her drink at an alarming rate and bounded off. Nanao smirked when she saw Rangiku give Toshiro one of her famous 'death squeezes', increasing the frown and crease on his face and forehead. Okay, so he was just a tad bit shorter than she was, but she didn't have to rub it in so much by glomping him all the time.

She laughed quietly to herself as she heard a 'You're so cute when you're annoyed' followed by a 'That better not be alcohol on your breath. Go get to work.' It was widely known that he didn't particularly like the substance that much, claiming that it made the performers sloppy and unfocused. Nanao agreed with him mostly, except when it came to Rangiku. She could probably drink half the night away and still perform flawlessly. She was either that good, or else she had a liver made of steel. Nanao didn't really know which, for either was possible.

Although sometimes a hassle, it was small moments like this that made the nights worth while.

Even though, she sometimes found herself wondering what she was doing here, working in a club, when she could be doing bigger, better things. She had gone to school in Karakura for Finance, finding that she had quite a knack for calculating and completing large amounts of work quickly. This should have been ideal for potential employers, but she found that her applications had gotten her nowhere.

Instead, she had found herself out of school, in a non-familiar place, with no job and rent to pay.

There was still a little bit of schooling left for her to do, but she fell into the trap that so many others seem to. Work became more important than school, so instead, she found a job at a different club so she could survive. School was put on hold, and she had yet to go back and finish it. The other club she worked in brought up particular memories that she'd rather not think about. Needless to say, she was now here. Granted she should have a decent job based on the schooling she completed, but if she could have that, she doubted that she would be here right now.

Sighing, she shifted out of her memories and into her working mode as she heard the small buzz of the place starting to liven up. A few people sat down on the far end of her side of the bar and smiling, she went over to greet them.

-End of Part One

A/N: Seriously though, I did meet Trouble. I was collecting money for a benefit and I had to card her because she looked 19. She was really 52...

I don't own "Tokyo Drift".