In Deep Kimchi (17 page)

“He can’t do that,” Ichiro replied. “They are in love.”

Satoshi headed toward the door, and Ichiro and Yori followed. “It would make your life a little easier. Your career is on an uphill climb. Having a wife will only put pressure on you.”

“I’ll think about it,” Yori said as they walked into the lobby and headed out to the van.

Kenshin spoke to them as they entered and all conversation ceased. Ichiro climbed into his seat and fixed his seatbelt. If either Yori or Satoshi thought he believed anything they said, they didn’t know him very well.

* * * *

“I’m coming to Tokyo.”

Yori stared at the phone as he sat in the restaurant. Maybe he shouldn’t have lied earlier. “Why?”

“What do you mean why, Yori? I’m coming to see you.”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Amaya. We’re very busy with rehearsing and I won’t have much time to spend with you.”

Satoshi made a surprised look at him from across the table. Even Ichiro stopped eating long enough to gawk.

“That’s okay. My parents are coming with me. They have some business in town and they want to see your concert. They’re very excited about it.”

Yori grimaced. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. “How did you manage to get tickets? The concerts are sold out.”

“My father called Mr. Niigata. He arranged everything.”

Great, they will probably be seated next to or very near Shaundra
. “When will you be arriving?”

“In a couple of days. Father has to finalize his plans. Mr. Niigata suggested that we stay at the Dome Hotel since it is close to the concert site.”

And close to him. Yori laid his head back against the seat. They were moving over to the Dome Hotel tomorrow so they could be close to the Dome to practice and for dress rehearsals. “Okay, let me know so I can arrange some time off.”

“You act like all you do is practice and Mr. Niigata doesn’t allow you time to sleep.”

If she only knew. There were times when they went days without sleep and practiced to the point of exhaustion. Ichiro had been hospitalized twice for dehydration, and not to the mention the constant broken body parts and colds. To the fans, everything seemed perfect, but for the singers, it was hard work.

“I’ll call you later after I talk to father. I’m so excited.”

They ended the conversation, Yori slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and went back to his meal. He grimaced again. His noodles were cold. He pushed the bowl of ramen aside.

“Sounds like she’s planning a romantic weekend,” Satoshi said as he picked up a piece of sushi with wooden chopsticks.

“More like a shopping excursion if she’s brining her parents along. They will also be attending our concert, which is odd since they never showed an interest in my work before.”

Satoshi put down the chopsticks. “Smells like a set up to me. Maybe they’re coming to get you to set a date.”

“Then they are wasting their time,” Yori said before he could stop himself. “I won’t be pressured into doing something I’m not ready to do.”

Ichiro stopped eating his soup. “What has happened in the last couple of weeks that has made you change your mind? Have you found someone else?”

“No, not exactly. I think maybe I’ve been too hasty. How do I know Amaya is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with?”

“You were sure about it up until now,” Ichiro replied, watching him with those all-knowing, cool blue eyes. “That must mean you have met someone else recently. Since the only time we’ve been out of each other’s sight was the other day at the fashion magazine, it’s safe to say something happened there.”

Yori sighed. “I think I prefer the silent Ich. The one who minds his own business.”

“You are my business. You are one-fourth of Aomori. If you’re in trouble, we’re in trouble. If you break up with Amaya, we break up with her too.”

“Ah, that’s so sweet,” Satoshi teased.

“On the other hand, if Amaya shoots you for cheating on her, you’re on your own.”

Satoshi laughed. “You sure are.”

Yori called for the waitress, who’d been shyly peeping at them from behind a counter. Luckily, she wasn’t one of those fans who gushed and screamed just because she was in the presence of a celebrity idol. It was bad enough fans were gawking at them from outside. Apparently, someone had found out that they were dining out.

“Yes, Mr. Morioka.”

“We would like to settle our bill,” Yori told her.

She gazed over at Ichiro. “You have lovely eyes.”

Ichiro blushed and looked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Satoshi told her. “Ichiro is shy.”

“And gorgeous.” She giggled and went off to get the bill.

“You are too old for blushing,” Satoshi told Ichiro. “Learn to take a compliment.”

The waitress returned.

“My treat,” Satoshi told them. “Since this may be Yori’s last meal.”

“Funny,” Yori replied. “I can’t wait until this situation is reversed.”

Satoshi paid the waitress and she went away starry-eyed and smiling. “That won’t be for a very long time. I have no immediate marriage plans.” He rose and called for the guards. They hurried over to escort them out of the restaurant.

Yori and Ichiro rose and followed them through the restaurant, past the other diners who had stopped eating to watch them leave. The wait staff waved good-bye courteously. Everyone in the place knew who they were, but were smart enough not to beg for autographs.

Unfortunately, the crowd of fans outside was not so generous. They lunged toward Ichiro, but the guards held them back.

“I love Ichiro,” one of them screamed. This set off a round of giggles and shouts.

Poor Ichiro looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.

“Let’s sign a couple of autographs and get this over with,” Satoshi suggested.

The fans squealed, pushing toward him. Takumijo was usually the crowd favorite, but lately, Satoshi’s popularity had been quickly soaring off the charts. Ichiro’s too. A girl pushed a stuffed animal at Ichiro. He accepted it, bowed to her and quickly ducked behind Satoshi.

“He’s so shy,” someone shouted. “I just love him.”

An older woman pushed an autograph book at him. Yori took it, asked her name, and wrote some meaningless drivel onto it.

The woman thanked him and pulled a younger girl off with her.

After satisfying all the fans, the guards pushed the singers into the waiting limousine. Ichiro climbed into his seat and put the stuffed animal in the seat next to him while he buttoned his seatbelt.

Yori and Satoshi got into their seats and buckled up just as Kenshin pulled away from the curb. The van with their security followed.

Satoshi picked this opportunity to toy with Ichiro. “You certainly were popular with the fans today. I think I actually saw you smile at a couple of cute girls.”

Ichiro’s cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Satoshi reached over and played with Ichiro’s hair. “They love you and those baby blue eyes. I think I’m jealous, Yori. Our baby is discovering girls and using that alluring smile of his to hypnotize them into giving him gifts.”

Yori agreed. “Yes, before we know it, he will be coming to us for advice on dating.”

The pink in Ichiro’s cheeks turned beet red. “Stop teasing. The fans were just being generous with me since Takumijo wasn’t there.”

Satoshi released Ichiro’s hair and settled back in his seat. “I don’t think so. They were very much coming on to you. After all, you are a gorgeous and desirable young man.”

Yori agreed with him again. “Maybe we need to go out more often without that fan-hogging Takumijo. Who knows, Ichiro might meet the future Mrs. Yoshida soon if this keeps up.”

Satoshi disagreed with him. “I think Ichiro has already found the future Mrs. Yoshida.”

Ichiro lifted both hands to his face to hide behind.

“Ah, come on, we’re not blind. We know you like Ms. Morrison.”

“I do not,” Ichiro said from behind his hands. “She is a nice lady who I like to talk to.”

Satoshi wouldn’t let it go, even though Yori shook his head and rolled his eyes at him to get him to stop. “You never wanted to talk to any other women before. What is it about her that brings out your voice?”

Ichiro lowered his hands. “She smells like sunshine, and I get this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever she’s around.”

“Ooh,” Satoshi teased. “That’s lust. Do you hear that, Yori? Ichiro is hot in the pants for Shaundra.”

“Stop teasing him, Satoshi. We’ve been in that position before a time or two.”

“But I like to see Ich blush. Makes me feel so warm inside.”

Ichiro couldn’t help but smile at Satoshi’s statement. “I don’t do men.”

Satoshi pretended to be hurt by Ichiro’s slight. “But I’ve been saving myself all this time for you. I’ve been looking forward to the day when I have you on my bed with all that hair of yours spread out on my pillow.”

“You are one sick puppy, Satoshi,” Yori replied. “The fan girls would go crazy if they heard you say something like that to Ichiro. You’d be the star of YouTube.” Of course, all of them had starred on YouTube a couple of times since they debut. Especially Ichiro. His fan-made videos were renowned and had been ever since the first time he had been mistaken for a girl. They’d paired him with Takumijo before, but never Satoshi.

“They’re already writing fan-fiction about us,” Satoshi replied. “I saw it the other night. They especially like you, Yori. You should read some of it.”

“No,” Ichiro said, positively shocked.

“Don’t tell me you never go on the Internet and Google yourself?”

“No, I don’t,” Ichiro replied. “I’m not as vain as you are, Satoshi.”

“I am not vain,” Satoshi said, flipping his hair.

Ichiro smiled. “You spend more time in the mirror than Takumijo.”

“No one stays in the mirror more than Takumijo,” Satoshi corrected. He turned to Yori. “Are you going to check out your fan-fiction?”

“No thanks. I don’t want to see what man they have me screwing.”

“Why do you think they have you paired up with some guy?”

Yori stared at him. “I’m not dumb when it comes to the comments I’ve heard from reporters. I know they think I look like a girl too.”

“We all do, but that doesn’t make us so.” He paused. “I wonder how Takumijo’s lunch date with Osamu Nakaumura went. Takumijo is always excited to see him.”

“I hope Mr. Niigata does not find out. He’s afraid Osmau will lure him away from singing and try to make him an actor,” Yori said.

“I don’t see why he can’t do both,” Satoshi replied. “We’ve starred in mini-dramas before and it hasn’t hurt our careers.”

“But we’ve never starred in a full-featured film before and I think Osamu wants to make a movie with Takumijo. I think if anyone can persuade him, Osamu can.”

“I don’t really care for acting,” Ichiro replied. “Too much trouble and too many lines to rehearse.”