Will new nightclub "Eclipse" the competition?

Nightclubs are becoming more and more common in the downtown scene of Anjiro. As the city grows, so does the city's culture. We have clubs like The Anime, which seeks to blend nightlife with pop culture, and The Temple, which uses a more traditional theme. But opening soon will be a more aggressive competitor.

Eclipse is the brainchild of Meixiu Nao, once a performer for the Peacock Fan circus. The interior as you walk in is deceptively simple; dark walls with little decoration, a spacious dance floor skirted by a raised stage. There are dancing cages here, but you need to be especially athletic to reach them--each of the four cages is ten feet up the wall, accessible by ladder.

But as you explore the club, half-hidden nooks are revealed. There are a series of small rooms on the second floor, with "windows" to allow the occupants to observe the dancers below. Each of these rooms is lavishly--and sometimes garishly--decorated. One is a gothic fantasy, with faux ironwork grates over the window. Another is like stepping into the cover of a heavy metal band's album cover. Each room is furnished with an assortment of chairs and tables.

Nao explained that the rooms are meant to give people a place to relax and socialize, a place to enjoy the club and the food and drinks that will be served there. She also said the rooms reflect what the club is really all about--the music.

"Many of the clubs in town only play techno, or remixes of popular music. There is a lot of music that gets overlooked, and that's what we'll be playing here. Goth, metal, punk. Underground stuff. I'm hoping to be able to host local bands, as well. I want Eclipse to be a focal point for that subculture."

It's not hard to see the former fire-dancer as the owner of a goth/punk club. She seems at home in leather, pierced and tattooed. She admitted that she wished that city ordinances would allow her to put a tattoo parlor in the club, but allowed that alcohol and tattoo guns rarely make for a good mixture.

The Eclipse grand opening will be next Saturday, with drink specials that will change every hour and and DJ Hideko visiting from Tokyo.

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Zhizhu grabbed a stack of flyers from the box strapped to the back of her motorcycle. She smiled at the young reporter; she thought his name was Hachiro. He looked a little shaken from his ride behind her, but smiled back and pulled out his little micro-cassette recorder. Inwardly, she was annoyed, but he'd wanted the damned interview despite having to come out with her.

She had hoped she'd be able to put off the overly-earnest young man. She'd done several interviews already, mostly for various websites dedicated to the nightlife of Anjiro. She didn't particularly like talking to the so-called reporters. So she'd told him that she needed to put up flyers in the park; he'd responded that he'd enjoy walking in the park. He'd seemed thrilled by her "dedication" to the advertisement of her club.

She tried her best to be charming as he asked his tedious little questions. He wasn't important, and neither was this interview. At best, it would be read by 10 or 15 people, another dead-end article on the web. Then again, she didn't want any kind of bad press. She'd invested three months of her time and all her resources into Eclipse. So she smiled, and told him what she wanted her potential customers to know.

It caught her completely by surprise when she saw Shin. She was taping a flyer up on a lamp post and had looked over her shoulder to answer Hachiro. Sitting on a bench across the park was the demon hunter. He didn't appear to be looking her way, but she knew that he'd seen her. How long he'd been there she had no idea, and that bothered her.

He looked up at that point, and their eyes met. Some strange emotion washed over her--it wasn't fear, but was somehow kin to it. She felt it in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't embarrassed, but she felt the hot rush of blood in her cheeks.

"Miss Nao? Are you alright?" Hachiro was looking at her strangely, and she realized she'd completely forgotten the reporter for a moment.

"I'm fine. What was that last question?" She glanced past Hachiro's shoulder again, to see Shin give her a little wave. She gave a curt nod, then answered Hachiro's question. She diverted the reporter away from that part of the park, walking them back towards her motorcycle. Now was not the time to deal with the hunter, and a part of her was grateful for the presence of the annoying young reporter. She was not quite sure what had just happened, but she knew that the next time she saw Shin, it would at the very least be an interesting encounter.