In Deep Kimchi (34 page)

Shaundra sat down next to her. “Yeah, it couldn’t have happened at the worst time. I was preparing for bed myself.” She looked over at Ichiro.

“You’re fighting a losing battle,” Dorothy replied, getting her drift. “The fates are fucking with you.”

“Yes, I know.” There was no way Ichiro could sneak back to her room tonight with this ruckus going on. Yori walked over with Amaya. She’d bet the two of them had been together getting busy when the alarm had gone off.

The firemen exited and told them that it had been a small electrical fire in the restaurant and that it was safe for them to return to the room. She walked back inside with Ichiro and the others, stopping just outside her door. He looked at his watch. “It’s very late.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Do you need me to come tuck you in?”

“No,” Satoshi answered for her. “It is very late. Time for you to go to bed.”

Shaundra rolled her eyes at Satoshi, knowing there was no way she could invite Ichiro back in without drawing suspicions. Masaaki had probably ordered them to keep a close eye on him. Ichiro smiled one of those devastating smiles at her.

She nodded and used her key to go inside her room. Her phone rang shortly after she undressed and crawled into bed. “Yes, Ich.”

“It’s not Ich.”

“Yori?”

“Yes, I just wanted to make sure that you’re back into your room safe and sound.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“And alone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I saw the way Ichiro was looking at you while we were outside.”

“So what does that mean?”

“Nothing, good night.”

“Good night.” She hung up. That man, she decided, was so strange.

Chapter Eighteen

“You see, that wasn’t so bad,” Harper said as he unstrapped her seatbelt when the plane landed in Osaka.

Shaundra opened her eyes and unglued her hands from the seat rest.

Ichiro sat at her right, smiling at her discomfort. “See, flying’s really not bad. You have made it here alive and in one piece.”

“This time,” she muttered as she stared down at her white knuckles. Ichiro had convinced her not to take the anti-anxiety medication before she flew. The knots in her stomach began to ease.

Ichiro rose first, giving her a delightful view of his behind encased in a pair of khaki shorts. She slid out of the seat next, and Harper slid out after her. Their group had lessened by three. Riley, Jackson and Dorothy had returned to the United States, leaving her to fend for herself with Harper. Of course, Juanda had a fit once she learned that Shaundra wouldn’t be returning for another two weeks.

“What’s wrong with her?” Takumijo asked as he walked up from the back of the plane.

“She’s afraid of flying,” Yori explained.

“Crazy fear. There’s nothing to it and it’s the fastest way to get around.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You are always having concerts all over the world,” Shaundra replied.

The Kansai Airport was just as busy as the one in Tokyo with businessmen, tourists and daily commuters. It didn’t take quite as long to get their luggage or get through Customs as it had when they’d first arrived in Japan. The only thing that was really different was the scores of screaming girls and young women who were there for the arrival of Aomori and the security guards who kept the crowds at bay while the band entered and left the airport. Throughout it all, Ichiro held her hand, ignoring the calls and shouting of his name. Like the other three, he now donned a hat and sunglasses, as if their six-foot frames could slip by unnoticed. A few of the girls brazenly took pictures and videos with their digital cameras and cell phones, and a few even tried to touch them.

“Look, it’s her, Shaundra Morrison,” someone shouted. “Yori’s new girlfriend.”

The crowd pushed forward, knocked down the barricade and headed directly for her. Ichiro and Yori jumped in front of her like they could stop a crowd of charging women. “Get her out of here,” Yori shouted at Ichiro.

Ichiro forced her to run the rest of the way through the airport and out into the waiting limousine van while the guards held back the mobbing fans. Satoshi, Yori, and Takumijo arrived next, followed by Harper, Mr. Niigata and Masaaki. John Sampson and Kenshin were the last to arrive. Kenshin changed places with the young man who had arrived with the van. The other young man jumped out and helped stack the luggage and instruments in a second van, then they climbed into the other van while the guards continued to hold back the crowd. Ten or fifteen minutes later, both vans moved out of the parking spots and drove out the airport.

“Man, that was close,” Takumijo said, removing his cap and sunglasses. “It hasn’t been this bad in a long time.”

“Do you mean you’ve been through this before?” Shaundra asked, still trying to catch her breath.

“Yes, it happened a lot after our debut,” Takumijo explained. “The girls would go crazy, pulling at our clothes and hair, and a few of them have even thrown themselves at the hood of our vans.”

“Sorry,” Shaundra apologized. “This wouldn’t have happened to you if I hadn’t been with you.”

“Don’t be,” Yori said. “Without those fans, we’d be nothing.”

“True,” Satoshi agreed. “They are our fan club, they buy our records, and they care for us better than our parents. They just get a little crazy at times when they think we’re in danger.”

“So they’re attacking me because they think I’m a threat?”

“Yes,” Satoshi explained. “Each and every one of those girls dream of being that special one to us. Now they think you’ve stolen Yori away from them.”

“That’s crazy,” Shaundra replied. “It’s a one in a trillion chance that one of them will end up with one of you.”

“Didn’t you have someone you idolized when you were their age?” Takumijo asked.

“Yes, I dreamed of marrying one of the Jackson Five, but as you can tell, that didn’t happen.”

“Which one?” Ichiro asked.

“Never mind.”

“Sooner or later, they will realize that you aren’t a threat,” Harper replied after listening to them talk for a while.

“I doubt that,” Shaundra replied. “You don’t know women. We are prone to jealousy and we’re very vindictive.”

“Really?” Yori asked, acting like he didn’t believe her.

“Yes, haven’t you heard the old adage, ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’?”

“No, and I don’t like it. Why is it used?”

“It’s usually used when a man breaks the heart of the woman he loves.”

“Oh, oh, Yori,” Satoshi teased. “You’re going to be in so much trouble with Amaya.”

Yori feigned indifference. “Amaya is not the vindictive type. Why would you think she would do something to harm me? We’ve been friends for years.”

“Has another woman come between you before?”

Yori stared at him with eyes that just wanted to kill.

“Let me rephrase that. You better watch your back.”

Ichiro squeezed her hand. “He’ll be all right as long as I’m by your side.”

The look Yori gave him could have soured milk.

Shaundra winked at Yori, forcing a smile out of him. “Don’t worry, Yori. I won’t let her get to you.”

Takumijo was right. Osaka was very beautiful with lots of tall buildings similar to Tokyo, but with less people milling about. Aomori didn’t exactly live in town. They lived in an area called Sumiyoshi, a rural ward that reminded her of down south in places like Mississippi and Alabama. The hotel Kenshin took her and Harper to was located just down the road from where the band members stayed. Ichiro offered to give her his room at their home, but Shaundra politely declined for all the obvious and right reasons. After an exhilarating nap, Shaundra got dressed, met up with Harper in the lobby and then went outside to wait on Kenshin to take them to Aomori’s place for dinner.

Kenshin arrived and she and Harper climbed inside a utility vehicle this time, which she thought made sense since the band lived nearby. He drove away from the hotel and down a long highway road for about ten minutes, turning onto a dirt road. The house sat behind a secured gate manned by two guards. The gate opened and Kenshin drove up to a large farm house. There were lush lawns, a little bonsai tree, and on the front door was big letter A.

Harper got out of the car, helped her out and then Kenshin drove the car around to the side to park. She followed him up the stairs and waited while he knocked. A few minutes later, Yori appeared and welcomed them in.

In typical Japanese fashion, she and Harper removed their shoes and put on slippers that Yori provided them. They followed him through the foyer. The house was immaculately clean, she discovered, as she peeked into rooms with modern furniture and brightly painted walls.

The tantalizing aroma of food greeted her somewhere in the middle of the house.

“Ichiro has been busy in the kitchen all evening,” Yori explained. “He made us stop at the store so he could have all the right ingredients.” He escorted them to the back of the house where they found Satoshi and Takumijo huddled around a video game while Masaaki watched a soccer game on a big screen television. They looked so much like a true family with Masaaki watching over them like a big brother. He turned off the game and walked over to greet them. Yori walked out of the room.

“Welcome to Aomori’s domain,” he said. “This is where they hang out when they are not rehearsing.”

Satoshi said something to Takumijo in Japanese about the game they were playing and Takumijo responded very loudly. They shouted and Satoshi rolled around on the floor, obviously after winning the game.

“Pay no attention to them,” Masaaki said. “This is how they unwind when they’re home.”

Shaundra remembered those days quite fondly when Clarence and Earl had been younger. They’d begun with Atari and, as far as she knew, the both still played video games when they weren’t working.

“Would you like to play?” Satoshi asked Shaundra when they finally noticed her.

“No thanks. I never developed a skill for such things. I have enough trouble manipulating my laptop and cell phone.”

“Dinner should be ready shortly,” Masaaki said. “Why don’t you go say hello to Ichiro while I talk to Mr. Harper?” He pointed in the direction of the kitchen and sent her off like a child while the men discussed business.

She found Ichiro washing dishes and wearing an apron. “Hmm, just the way I like my men.”

Ichiro spun around at the sound of her voice. He dried his hands on a red and white checkered towel and walked over and hugged her. “Welcome to our home.”

“What are you cooking?” she asked once he released her. Something simmered in a big wok that sat on a countertop grill. All four burners of the conventional stove were set to low and there was also something baking in the oven.

“Dinner,” he answered sarcastically. He backed her to a red kitchen cabinet and lowered his lips to hers. Suddenly, the atmosphere around them got very hot. His tongue pushed past her lips and into her mouth. He tasted so sweet.