"What is this?" Kaz interrupted as he burst into the cramped room. "We have a gig to play in an hour, why aren't you girls getting ready?"
"We were just discussing some very unpleasant business" Yumi frowned looking at the magazine "What's this about a gig?"
Kaz beamed with pride "I got us a big one!" Kaz announced making the girls smile with hope "I talked the owner of the nautical themed motel down by the sewage treatment plant to book us in his lounge!"
"The Ship Creek Motel?!" Yumi and Ami exclaimed in unison but not with the enthusiasm Kaz had hoped for
"That's right!" Kaz smugly replied "The owner has agreed to let us pick over the continental breakfast leftovers after the gig as payment" Kaz's joy was met with a rolled up magazine smacking him in the face as Yumi reached for something else to throw.
"That place is a total dump!" Yumi screamed readying a pillow to throw "There is a reason they only charge four dollars a night to stay there!"
"And it smells like you know what..." Ami added holding her nose.
"Ai yah- you girls are to picky.." Kaz dismissed as he dodged a lamp by ducking, as Kaz shot down to dodge his eyes came into contact with the magazine already thrown at him "Eh? What's this?"
"Our replacement..." Ami sighed
"Isn't that Julie?!" Kaz said dumbfounded "She's huge!" Kaz flipped the book open thumbing to the page showing Julie standing with her guitar held in the air in a pose eerily like one of Yumi's famous poses. Kaz read aloud "New pop sensation Julie talks to us about her recently found stardom. This Japanese American girl, tells us how her career really took off after being signed to the Fa-slo Record Label... oh" Kaz trailed off in thought
"Fa-Slo Records contacted me a year ago" Kaz said quietly still in thought "They wanted you girls to jump ship from your old label and come work for them. But their contract was very cloudy, they refused to explain what the 'changes' they wanted to make to you girls would be until I signed."
"And where were we exactly..?" Yumi asked tapping her foot "I don't recall being asked to attend any meeting concerning the very future of my career!"
"Eh-heh heh heh" Kaz laughed nervously "Y-you wouldn't have liked it" He waved his hand trying to back away "They were very boring, just legal stuff, you know..."
"Kaz...." Yumi said getting cross
"Yumi let him finish." Ami said putting a hand on Yumi's shoulder before she had a chance to pummel their manager
"yes well..." Kaz said dusting himself off "They we're very insistent upon having you girls and that you agree to their terms before any negotiations could take place. It was very suspicious so I passed. They didn't seem to pleased, They swore they would find someone else to fulfill their role and we would be sorry..."
"So they found Julie!" Ami burst out stating the obvious
"Julie's career took off when she signed to their label?" Yumi pondered "Julie wasn't exactly a super star by herself, And even if a more relatable star is easier for American society to accept you'd think parents would be afraid to let their children idolize an overweight singer what will all the social stigmas surrounding obesity these days."
"Not to mention all the money I made off you girls from young horny boys" Kaz thoughtlessly blurted out "Even for a pair of young rockers... sex sells" Yumi and Ami shot Kaz a dirty look "What?" Kaz shrugged "That's a compliment"
"Something's not right" Ami sighed "That label must have done something that made her popular, so popular we'd be totally forgotten about!"
"I'm on it!" Kaz declared
The girls exchanged puzzled looks "On what?"
"Finding out what's going on here of course!" Kaz told them "I may not be the best manager in the world, but I won't let my meal ticket fall into obscurity to some beached whale!"
An hour later the girls were in the front of the bus listening to one of Julie's CD's. Kaz had downloaded and burned all of her albums to go over with a fine tooth comb. While he did Ami and Yumi went to listen to a few of her songs to see if they noticed anything different.
"Well her voice sounds deeper" Yumi signed and leaned back in her chair "All that fat wrapped around her neck... If that's all it takes I can just take up smoking"
Ami made a gagging motion and looked at Yumi
"Yeah I don't like it much either but what choice do we have?" Yumi huffed "Even as has-beens we can't find work" Yumi's stomach gurgled loudly. Absent mindedly she reached down and picked up a half eaten bag of stale chips and started to munch on them.
"Um Yumi" Ami said taking an interest in Yumi's choice of snack "That bag of chips..."
"Huh?" Yumi said snapping out of a trance "Wha? Oh..." Yumi said surprised, she didn't even realize she had picked up the chips "Yeah I did say they were to stale to eat yesterday, weird... They seem fine now."
"No it's not that" Ami leaned over towards Yumi
"Then what?" Yumi asked confused
"Share" Ami complained and tried in vein to take the bag from Yumi.
Yumi stood and backed away "No way find your own!"
"Fine!" Ami pouted "Then I get those week old donuts Kaz hid under the sink!" Ami said and raced off
"Hey!" Yumi cried out and poured the rest of the chips in her mouth quickly before running after Ami "You gotta share!"
The girls reached the kitchen and Ami dove for the sink cabinet. Yumi leapt on top her and started to pulled her out. Ami was pulled out already stuffing two of the hard stale fried dough rings in her mouth and removing another three with the other hand. Yumi grabbed the box and snagged three more trying to bit into the tough exterior. Ami took the chance to grab the last donut left and ran into the living room. As Yumi choked down the nasty donuts she realized where Ami was headed. In the living room Ami threw the seat cushions aside revealing a half eaten hot dog beneath them. It was old and had been sat on at least once, surely a left over from a week or so before that Kaz had clumsily dropped. Ami wasted no time in stuffing it in her mouth. Yumi watched from the door way furious Ami had beat her to it.
Yumi moved as quickly as she could to the front of the bus into the driver's cab and opened the glove compartment. Lucky for her a partially eaten pretzel had been left in there for a few weeks. Yumi wolfed it down without a second thought. Returning to the kitchen she found Ami hopelessly rooting around the cabinets.
"I'm still so hungry..." Ami moaned as she shook an empty cereal box and shook it over her mouth for a few more crumbs.
"I know what you mean..." Yumi sighed as she rubbed her flat stomach which gurgled loudly. "I've gone without a meal before, I can deal with a little hunger. But right now I would kill for a cheeseburger..."
"I'd dye my hair puke brown for a plate of fried chicken!" Ami sobbed
"I'd play disco music to get a chili dog" Yumi frowned still rubbing her empty gut
"I'd star in one of those naughty movies to get a slice of cake" Ami said slumping down into seat
"I'd give up music forever... just for a real meal right now" Yumi cried out
"You're that hungry?!" Ami gasped
Yumi simply nodded
"Yeah... me too" Ami quietly sighed and looked down at the floor
"Girls! Girls!" Kaz yelled excitedly "I think I found it, I think I found the secret of Julie's success!"
"You did?" Ami perked back up
"What was it?" Yumi looked up from her gloomy slump
"Her music! It's in her music" Kaz said getting eager
"So she is a better musician?" Ami asked puzzled
"Like hell she is!" Yumi shouted out
"No no, IN the music!" Kaz said "Come on!"
The girls followed Kaz to the music mixing room where Kaz had set up. "I was at a loss for what was different until I ran the music through the filter. I thought maybe if I split it up into each instrument I could listen to just her voice, you know see if there was anything special about it vs you girls."
"And?" Yumi asked impatient
"I got an extra file" Kaz said "I had each instrument separated and her voice but their was one more file I didn't know where it came from. The play back on it sounded empty, I thought the computer messed up. Until I changed the frequency!"
"What happened?" Ami asked curiously
"it sounded, like this!" Kaz said and tapped a key on his console. A loud hum vibrated from the speakers making the room shake and Caused Ami and Yumi to howl in pain as they covered their ears.
"Shut it off!" Yumi screamed over the hum
Kaz complied and flicked the button again and the room went silent "That is her secret" Kaz announced
"What? a faulty amp in their recording studio?" Ami asked sarcastically
"No! Subliminal messages!" Kaz screamed as he made his eyes turn in opposite directions
"What? Seriously?" Ami was shocked
"Figures she needs to hypnotize her fans into liking her giant butt" Yumi scoffed
"I think that wacky label has been adding this in the background to her music so people will love it no matter what." Kaz mused "So if we used this thing..."
"What? No way!" Yumi exclaimed "I do not need this cheat trick to rock!"
"Yumi's right Kaz" Ami nodded "This would just be cheating, we shouldn't stoop to their level"
"But girls!" Kaz pleaded "You can't beat her if your fans are being stolen away! If you use it too then she'll be forced to match her skills against yours. This is just evening the odds! Leveling the playing field!"
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