Mendol - Ikemen Idol!
Chapter 25
author's note: woooo!
it's been a while since I've given language notes, but here you go:
happi - (from wiki) a traditional Japanese straight-sleeved coat usually made of indigo or brown cotton and imprinted with a distinctive mon (crest)
wota - otaku. if you don't know... then you just need to look it up.
wotagei - the dance of the otaku. youtube it and you'll see what I mean
"Tiger! Fire! Cyber! Fiber! Diver! Viber! Ja jaa!"
Kuu waved enthusiastically at the girl in a happi decorated with the names of Persona's members with words like 'fighting!' and 'Number ONE!' doing wotagei in the crowd, despite the audience around the wota sort of shunning her. Persona was singing '3 Seconds' to a crowd of mainly girls, all of them screaming excitedly, but none of them as loud as the wota. After the performance and the boys were cooling down backstage, Kuu kept on peeking back out.
"Man, that was awesome! That wotagei was so awesome!" Kuu yammered away. "Did you see her? She totally did Romeo! And OAD!"
"She annoyed the hell out of the fans around her." Kai pointed out wryly.
"Hey, wotagei takes courage! I admire her spirit!" Kuu defended the wota fan. "And female wotas are as rare as unicorns! We have unicorns in our midst!"
"She's also the head of your official fanclub and helped us organize this secret meet." Saeko suddenly appeared and the three jumped a bit in fear. "So show some appreciation."
"We have a fanclub?" Riku was stunned.
"She's the head?" Kai gaped. Kuu pushed Kai a bit, annoyed with the blonde.
"So? What's wrong with her being the head?" Kuu was indignant. Being part of the lolita community meant that she rubbed elbows with the otaku community quite a bit. Hinata had quite a soft spot for them since they were always very nice to her.
Kai put his hands up in surrender. "Nothing's wrong! I'm just... surprised by the whole thing. Not that she SPECIFICALLY is what I'm surprised about, but just, a fan club... stop glaring at me, I really didn't mean it like that."
"Hmph." Kuu crossed his arms, not all too convinced.
"No fighting, boys." Marilyn tsked. "Okay, we've set up a table for the handshake portion of this little publicity stunt..."
This 'secret' meet-and-greet with the fans wasn't that secret at all. Marilyn had contacted the head of their fanclub and told her to spread the word. The wota was pretty connected and had managed to contact a lot of other well-connected people. This event had depended solely on the fans to spread the news and the turn-out today, well, Saeko could see that Persona was hugely popular. The small venue, a small outdoor theatre they had booked, was crammed with people. Security had to stop more people from coming in because it was becoming a safety hazard. Even then, there was a huge crowd outside the area, waiting to get a glimpse of the stars.
"It's all because of Ruby-san and the Three Sisters drama." Marilyn was pleased. "With the first episode of the Okinawa story-arc out, there's already a lot of love for the characters you play!"
"Excuse me, everything's been set up." Sayaka ducked into the small tent set up for the management and informed them. "Whenever you're ready."
"Alright, one more drink and lets go!" Marilyn urged the boys to get some more liquids in them before shooing them out. Loud screaming from the fans heralded their reappearance, with the wota girl at the front of the line-up for handshakes, looking at them with stars in her eyes.
"Try to go fast, there's a long line-up and we want to try to get to everyone before our time at this venue is up." Saeko whispered to the boys. "But be gracious! Smile!"
The boys all smiled at their fans and the screams grew louder. There were settled behind a table so there was a physical boundary for the fans, making Sae and Sayaka's job a lot easier. There were other security personnel around, but Sae and Sayaka were Persona's personal bodyguards and took their jobs seriously.
Riku was first in line for handshakes, then Kai, then at the end, Kuu. The first one to go up to Riku was the head of their fan club and she approached shyly, her face blood-red.
"Um... uh... uh..." She held out her hand.
"What's your name?" Riku smiled and didn't make a face even though the girl's hand was really sweaty. The girl seemed to realize her hand was disgusting and her expression changed to one of mortification.
"S-S-Sashihara R-Rino." Rino said weakly. "Y-Y-You're-"
"I'm Riku." Riku nodded, speaking slowly so as not to upset the girl. "It's very nice to meet you. And thank you so much for everything. We know what you've been doing and we appreciate it a lot. Thank you for your support."
Sashihara was so overwhelmed, all she could do was bow, her forehead touching Riku's hand.
"Thank you, thank you..." Sashihara babbled as Sae gently told her to move along. The next person Sashihara shook hands with was the ever-eloquent Kai. The blonde gave the timid girl a wry smile.
"So you're the head of our fanclub, eh?"
Rino had the sense to wipe her hands on her pants before shaking hands with Kai. Kai did one, better, reaching over the table to squeeze Rino's shoulder.
"Thanks, Sashi. This couldn't have happened without you." Kai said seriously.
Sashihara Rino couldn't decide whether to burst into tears or melt and decided to do both at the same time. "Kai-san!"
"Chotto, chotto, chotto!" Kai patted Rino's shoulder awkwardly now. "No tears or else Kuu's gonna think I'm bullying you. And call me Kai."
"Kai...-san!" Rino just couldn't drop the -san. It was Kai! One of the gods of Persona! The next guy she went up to beamed at her and it was literally like looking at the sun. Kuu's smile was just so bright! Grasping her hands with both of his own, Kuu pumped it up and down not knowing he was causing Sashihara's brain to explode.
"You were awesome, just awesome!" Kuu expounded. "I can't believe you knew the whole mix!"
"You... know the wota mix?" Rino was in awe. She always knew there was something special about Kuu!
"Of course!" Kuu grinned at Rino. "And you did it perfectly. I'm glad I have fans like you, Rins. Can I call you Rins?"
"You can call me whatever you want, Kuu-sama!" Sashihara exclaimed.
"Thank you for everything." Kuu's words were warm and full of feeling. "Really, thank you."
"Excuse me, Kuu, ma'am." Sayaka addressed the both of them. "We have to keep the line moving..."
The people in line were glaring at Rino. She was taking forever!
"See you around?" Kuu asked hopefully. Sashihara could only manage to nod, she was too choked up. Her idols! They knew who she was!
The boys found that most of their fans were girls, or young guys who thought they were really cool. To these guys, Persona would grin at them and act manlier, appeal to the image their fans had of them. Kuu would give these guys strange advice and Kai would just shake his head and chuckle.
"Hey, you got the time, bro?" Kai asked one young male fan who... sort of looked like Kai, really, with dyed hair and everything.
"Yeah, sure, sure man!" The fan fumbled for his phone and held it out. "It's like 6ish. You got somewhere to be?"
Kai's thoughts strayed to Ray. It was almost time to meet but Kai couldn't even send off a mail to Ray... "Just hungry, man. Was wondering when dinner was."
"I getcha." The blonde fan chuckled, his laugh sounding very much like Kai's. It seemed this fan had modelled himself after the shortest Persona member. Kai shook the fan's hand and moved on to the next fan, trying to not let impatience show on his face.
"Ummm..." Riku was trying not to look down the obviously low cut shirt of a female fan. She was... hot. Really hot. But annoyingly so. Asahi was slightly jealous at how well put-together this woman seemed.
"It's a PLEASURE to meet you." The woman batted her eyelashes at Riku and the tallest member of Persona tried not to let an annoyed grimace show on his face. Instead, he pasted on a generic smile.
"Nice to meet you too." Riku took her hand carefully in his, jumped a bit when she squeezed it softly. How could someone squeezing your hand feel so... dirty?
"THANKYOUFORYOURSUPPORT!" Riku squeaked out as the woman's thumb rubbed circle patterns on the back of Riku's hand. When she left, casting Riku a lustful look, she also left a piece of paper in Riku's hand.
"Give me that." Sae muttered. She reached over and grabbed the scrap of paper out of Riku's hand, giving the woman who had passed it to Riku a scathing look before throwing it in the garbage. A phone number. Typical. Kai and Kuu also received the same treatment and while Kai looked uncomfortable, Kuu was playing the game quite well, responding to the woman's advances.
"She's nice!" Kuu beamed at Kai, having completely misunderstood the woman. Kai shook his head, having heard most of the conversation while some of the fans that were listening in chuckled at Kuu's innocence. The woman had asked about Kuu's performance in bed and Kuu had replied blithely, unaware of what the woman had of the fans were about the same-except for the few odd exceptions-asking the same questions, thanking them in their own special way. Persona knew that there were presents left for them in a box that Saeko and Marilyn would collect later, and they were all quite eager to check those out ASAP.
"Thank you for your time!" Finally, they had stopped people from coming up, the groan from the crowd was thunderous. There was still plenty of people that had yet to shake hands with Persona!
"Thank you for coming out to this event, everyone!" Kuu waved to the crowd and they waved back enthusiastically, suddenly forgetting their disappointment as Kuu grinned at Persona's fans. Girls screamed out Kuu's name, vying for his attention. "Thank you!"
"KUU, WE LOVE YOU! YOU'RE SO COOL!" The scream from a group of well-organized fans reached the boy's ear. He noticed Sashihara in the mix and gave the group a wink. There was frenzied screaming and Kuu could see some fainters.
"Thank you EVERYONE!" Kai shouted out. The roar changed to high-pitched squeals and articles of clothing were thrown on stage. Catching one quizzically, Kai tried not to freak out as he realized they were... bras and panties. Ew.
"We hope to see you again at our next event!" Riku shouted out and the calls for Persona sounded like... a gigantic roaring tsunami. It washed over the three young idols, who enthusiastically embraced the love the crowd was showing.
As they were hustled away, the crowd continued calling for them, but one look from Saeko told the boys that they didn't have time to prolong their meeting with their fans. The three regretfully left the stage and were hustled into a van to head to their next thing.
"What's our next thing?" Riku asked curiously.
"You three are having dinner." Saeko turned from her place in the front passenger seat to smile at them. Sayaka was driving and Sae sat in the back with Marilyn and the boys. The three guys were changing into clothes that were a bit more comfortable. They had been sweating in their jackets and shirts, so those came off until they were only in their binding tops. Marilyn passed them some clean shirts. Kai was kicking off his boots-which had hidden inserts inside to make him a bit taller-to tug on his beat-up adidas'.
"You three are going out to dinner with Katsuyuki-san."
"What?" They blinked at their manager while slipping into their tops. Kuu wore a light aqua t-shirt and slipped his comfortable zip-up white hoodie on. Like Kai, he had brought a change of shoes, a pair of canvas slip-ons. Kai was finishing buttoning up his collar-less red shirt, before slipping into his leather jacket. All the boys tried to layer up a bit, since their physique was still girl-ish despite the padding in the binding top. Jackets and sweaters helped cover for the fact that their shoulders were quite slim.
"Yes, he was quite insistent." Saeko drawled out as all eyes, except Sayaka's, turned to Riku slyly as he finished buttoning up a nice casual shirt and threw on a tan-coloured jacket.
"What?" Riku was blushing hotly. "Stop looking at me like that, guys!"
"Ooooo! Katsuyuki-san!" Kai teased.
Kuu nodded, covering his mouth to stiffle the giggles. "Katsuyuki-san's sooooo gaaaaaay for Rikuuuuu!"
"He wants to make babies with Riku!" Sae added, grinning at Riku. "Lots and lots of babies!"
Sayaka didn't say anything, but her grin reflected in the rearview mirror told Riku the usually stoic bodyguard was laughing at him too!
"Guys, shut upppp!" Riku screeched. They arrived at the restaurant they were going to be at in no time at all, all of them heading into the restaurant to meet with the young director. Katsuyuki-san was sitting there playing with a candle, having been there for a very long time. When he heard Kuu call out to him, he accidentally knocked the candle over.
"Shit!" Katsuyuki stood up quickly as the tablecloth caught fire and threw the contents of his glass of water on the flames. The boys and their entourage arrived, grinning in amusement at the smoking table and Katsuyuki's flustered face.
"Well, Katsuyuki-san. You boys have fun." Saeko grinned and bowed to the young director.
"What-you're not staying?" Persona's turned to look at Saeko.
"No, Marilyn and I are taking a short break." Saeko declared. Her eyes pierced the boys. "BEHAVE."
The three in question gulped and nodded timidly, knowing that they would be in a world of hurt if they didn't obey. Sae and Sayaka bowed to the manager and her secretary as they left, then moved away from the table to stand guard a discreet distance away.
"Please, sit." Katsuyuki-san motioned to the seats. The boys all took their seat, shooting glances at each other. In a situation like this, what were they supposed to do?
"So... how was your event?" Katsuyuki asked them politely, his eyes mainly on Riku.
"It went pretty well," Riku said diplomatically. "We didn't we had so many fans-"
"Or a fan club!" Kuu added enthusiastically. "The head of our fanclub is so amazing!"
Conversation slowly got started, with Katsuyuki mainly posing all his questions to Riku, while the de-facto leader would answer and then try to draw his bandmates into the conversation. It was while everybody had started talking about Persona's CD that Kai took the opportunity to check his cellphone and saw that he had a message from Keigo.
Dude, we cancelled. saw Ray and she said she was busy.
Kai let out a little breath of relief at Keigo's message. Kai had been a bit worried since he was already kind of late to their little coffee date. And for some reason, the thought of Ray and Keigo alone together just didn't sit too well with him. The waiter came over to take their orders quickly, then left them to their own devices.
"Are you guys having any trouble adjusting to idol life?" Katsuyuki asked, genuinely interested. Usually, he didn't care too much. These idols all worked for him, under his label. They did well or they did not... but Katsuyuki was slightly invested in this group for some reason. They made him feel... good.
"We're doing alright." Kai shrugged, while taking off his jacket and throwing it over the back of his chair. It was hot. "It's just a lot of work. But we're getting used to it."
"Yeah!" Kuu nodded enthusiastically. "I love singing! And we're doing really well with our songs. Riku's yet to write one of his own yet, though..."
"What? What do you mean?" Katsuyuki looked over at Riku with interest as the boy scowled.
"Well, Kuu started this first... He wrote one song tht was purely just Kuu, it's called 'Water'. Saeko let us have free reign on the creation of one song when his turned out so well. 'Water' has more of an R&B feel to it, most of the bass is, surprisingly not drums or the bass guitar, we're using a contrabass."
"No synthesizers or the usual instruments used in popular music nowadays." Kuu leaned forward excitedly, always happy to talk about 'Water'. "I've decided to go pure strings and piano on this."
"Kuu's voice is central in this song and we're sort of back-up." Kai grinned. "It's actually worked out quite well."
"What about your song, Kai?" Katsuyuki asked, interested.
"His song is ROCKIN'." Riku extolled. Kai grinned a bit at the praise. "He had this tune stuck in his head on the way back from Okinawa and Kuu helped him write down the notes. Our crew helped us expand on it and build the song into this MONSTER. Candy's drumming is crazy on this track! Kai's song has the instrumentals down already, a bit of the lyrics but no title."
"It's an angry song." Kuu leaned in to whisper to Katsuyuki. Kai narrowed his eyes at Kuu. It wasn't an angry song! The music was just... fast-paced.
Katsuyuki nodded, pleased that Persona was fitting in and working well.
"What about you, Riku?" Katsuyuki asked. "Do you have a song yet?"
"Still searching for my muse." Riku shrugged, grinning.
"But Riku's great." Kuu took a sip of water. "Without him, I don't think our music would be as organized. Riku gives really good directions."
"Hear, hear!" Kai raised his own glass of water, agreeing with Kuu.
"Guys," Riku grinned charmingly at the compliments. It was always nice to know that he was appreciated.
As their appetizers, soups and salads came; Kai's phone started ringing, playing Persona's '3 Seconds' song.
"Sorry," Kai slipped his phone out of his pocket and hung up without even looking at the caller id. The blonde attempted to start eating his tiny salad when his phone rang again, insistantly.
"Sorry, sorry," The blonde apologized again, taking out his phone. "I'll just take this..."
Kai flipped his phone open, irritated at whoever was on the other end.
"Moshi-"
"Kai!" Hiro's voice interrupted him. "Yo, is Ray with you?"
Kai frowned. "No... I'm out with Kuu and Riku. We're having dinner with Katsuyuki-san. What's up?"
"She's not with you?" Hiro's voice was worried. "Ray gave us the slip. Masa sorta read your message to her over her shoulder when you sent it... he said you had asked her out for coffee?"
"With a friend." Kai pushed away from the table, smiling apologetically at the people he was eating with. "But I'm not with her right now... and we cancelled this coffee get-together."
Kai walked away from the table, Sae followed after the young man.
"Damn it. And she turned off her phone." Hiro cursed. "We're gonna get in so much shit... just in case she's there, can you tell me where you were gonna meet her?"
"Sure," Kai gave the information readily. Before Hiro could hang up, Kai stopped the man. "Hey... could you call me back and tell me whether you find her or not?"
"Sure, man."
Kai went back to the table and shook his head to his friends' silent inquiries. Kuu and Riku shrugged, knowing that it was best to leave well enough alone. Conversation continued flowing easily, but Kai looked significantly ill at ease. Trying to not seem rude, he took out his phone, keeping it under table and typed out a message to Ray.
where are you
Ray's reply time was pretty quick, especially if she wasn't doing anything so Kai felt justified to be more than a little bit worried when there was no immediate answer. Ten minutes later, Kai's phone rang and he jumped up to take it away from the table.
"Ray?"
"No, it's me." Hiro didn't sound happy at all. "I went to the coffee place. They said there was some tall girl there meeting with some guy. They had a coffee than left together. I'm not sure if that was Ray... has she called you?"
"No." Kai's heart was beating furiously now. Someone? Who? Where the hell could the Diva have gone? "I mailed her but there was no reply. Can you guys find her?"
"We're trying. She does this pretty often, sorry if we're freaking you out." Hiro blew out a breath in frustration. "Really, nowadays she's been so much better with you around. Usually she just sneaks off to try to see you."
"So where is she?" Kai was trying to calm himself down... why was he so worked up over this... And... he couldn't help suspecting that Keigo had a hand in Ray's disappearance.
"I dunno. Don't worry, Ray's probably sitting pretty somewhere laughing it up." Hiro replied drolly. "Just enjoy yourself, man. If you see her, give us a call and we'll do the same."
Kai was not at all reassured. Making up his mind, he went back to the table to say good-bye.
"Sorry," Kai smiled at Katsuyuki-san. "I have to go do something. It's a bit of an emergency."
"Where are you going?" Riku asked. Kai leaned over to Riku and whispered to the other man, who nodded grudgingly.
"Okay, but just call us when you're done. We can go back home together." Riku waved good-bye to Kai who practically ran out of the restaurant, Sae following close behind.
"He's still working?" Katsuyuki was impressed by Kai's work ethics. Riku smiled weakly.
"More like he's responsible for something he really doesn't want to be responsible for and he has to go deal with it." Riku explained mysteriously.
"Oh, his jacket!" Kuu got up and grabbed Kai's leather jacket, running out after the blonde with Sayaka quickly following after him.
"Kai!" Kuu caught Kai just as he was about to jump into a taxi with Sae.
"Yo." Kai paused to look at his friend anxiously. He had to go!
"Here!" Kuu threw the jacket into the car. Kai nodded his thanks and shut the door, calling out directions to the taxi driver. Kuu watched the taxi pull away and was about to head back in... when he suddenly saw Sashihara Rino inside a convenience store across the street.
"Rins!" Kuu grinned excitedly. He was about to head over when someone pulled him back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow at the boy.
"Aw, I'm just going across the street to the convenience store." Kuu whined. "Come on, nobody's really looking for ME."
"You're still an idol. And a pretty popular one at that!" Sayaka leaned forward to hiss. "What if you get jumped by crazy fans?"
"I'll be fine. You should watch Riku." Kuu pushed Sayaka back towards the restaurant. "Go on! I'll be back in a few!"
Then Kuu started walking away, putting Sayaka in a bind. It was either go after Kuu who had significantly less risk, or stay with Riku who had the Yakuza on his heels. She and Sae had been told to always keep an eye on Riku and Kai, since the two were in the greatest danger with dangerous people looking for them.
"Damn it, Kuu." Sayaka jogged towards the young man and passed him her large sunglasses. "Sunglasses on, hood up. Come back as soon as possible."
Kuu nodded, pulling up his hood and wearing the sunglasses, then he was gone, heading towards the convenience store. Sayaka watched until he had entered the store before turning back, relunctantly inside. She bet that Ray's bodyguards, known as the best in the industry, never had problems like this!
Kuu, meanwhile, had skipped into the store and looking around, quickly located Sashihara Rino standing in front of the magazines. She was flipping through an idol magazine that had Persona featured on the cover, still in her Persona happi. Kuu wandered over next to her, reading over her shoulder. Rino didn't notice a thing and continued flipping through the magazine happily for a couple more minutes before she sighed and put the magazine back on the rack.
"You're not going to buy it?" Kuu asked curiously.
"No," Rino answered, still in a pleasant Persona-induced haze. "I have three copies already and I think my parents'll really kill me if I buy another copy."
"Well, who's your favourite member?" Kuu continued asking gleefully, wondering when Sashihara would turn around.
"Well, it's hard to choose but I guess it would have to be Kuu," Rino finally turned to face whoever was speaking to her. "He's really nice in real life and he's so genuine in... person... and... he's..."
Rino's brain was trying desperately to process what was in front of her eyes. In front of her, in sunglasses and a hoodie, was a young man. But not just any young man. Rino recognized THIS young man INSTANTLY.
"Kuu-sama?"
"One and only!" Kuu took off his sunglasses and grinned.
"He ran off too?" Riku was slightly irritated as Sayaka reported back to Riku. The tall bodyguard had the decency to look ashamed.
"I... couldn't stop him short from dragging him back. I apologize." Sayaka apologized. If there was one thing in her training that was lacking, it was that she wasn't very good at putting her foot down. She never wanted to take away someone's freedom. Sayaka had always been under the impression that her job gave her the opportunity to give the people she protected MORE freedom.
"You don't have to apologize, just," Riku winced, thinking of what would happen to all three of them if shachou found out. "Don't tell shachou. Or Marilyn. They would kill us."
"Do you have problems with Saeko-san?" Katsuyuki asked, not liking what he was hearing at all. Was Riku's management bullying him? Was there any way he could help? "Can I help?"
"Oh, no, no. She's great." Riku said truthfully as Sayaka backed away so she could stay close, but not hover over them. "She's just strict with us. And she does worry about us a lot, especially Kai and Kuu, since they wander off a lot. Hold on, I'm just going to pop Kuu a message..."
Riku's fingers flew across his keypad, his message short and succinct.
WHERE ARE YOU
Within seconds, Kuu had replied.
Convenience store! I bumpd into someone so we'r gonna go for yakitori have fun with katsuuyuuki-ssan! I'll bee back real soon, don't leave without me
"That brat!" Riku growled and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "Honestly..."
"Well, we don't need them to have a good time!" Katsuyuki-san was actually quite happy about this turn of events. It was exactly what he wanted from the very beginning! Just him and Riku, on a nice date-dinner. Just dinner. Between friends. This definitely was NOT a date!
"How was Okinawa?" To distract himself from his runaway thoughts, Katsuyuki immediately changed subjects.
"Okinawa?" The thing that stood out most in Riku's head was one, Oshima Yuko.
"Kissy-kissy, Nyan-nyan! I. Love. YOU!" A little image of a pixie-like Yuko with her trademark dimpled smile appeared in Riku's head and the young man's eye twitched.
"Oshima Yuko." Riku almost snarled. "Tricked me into dating her for a time."
"What?" Katsuyuki leaned forward, incensed. Someone had been dating his Riku? Oshima Yuko? He tried his hardest to remember which actress in Three Sisters was Oshima Yuko, finally settling on dimples-girl. DIMPLES. His eyes narrowed. "What happened?"
"Basically she got me drunk," Riku muttered, feeling that it was okay to tell Katsuyuki-san just a little bit about his situation in Okinawa. Hopefully, he'd be a little bit more sympathetic. It was better than Riku expected as Katsuyuki slammed a fist down on the table at the end of Riku's censored re-telling.
"THAT FIEND!"
"I know, right?" Riku nodded angrily. "She TOTALLY took advantage of me!"
"I'll have my people ERASE her from the entertainment world!" Katsuyuki seethed. Riku started in alarm. That would NOT be good!
"Nonononono! Don't do that!" Riku placed a hand on Katsuyuki's arm, successfully stunning the man in mid-rant. "We cleared up our differences. We're still friends and if anything bad happened to her... I wouldn't want that."
Thinking of Yuko's stupid face and her big dimply grin made Riku smile a bit in exasperation at the thought of the insufferable actress. "She's my... friend. Even if she has... ideas about us. Which are completely untrue."
Katsuyuki nodded stiffly, withdrawing his arm from Riku. That whole appendage felt numb, like Riku had shocked him with electricity just by touching his arm. Katsuyuki-san grabbed his glass of water and gulped down the whole glass, trying to cool his hot face.
"But since it's just the two of us," Riku caught the attention of a waiter with a look. "Maybe we can get the kitchen to keep Kai and Kuu's food in the oven?"
"Yeah, of course." Katsuyuki told the waiter to do just as Riku suggested. The immaculately dressed waiter also filled Katsuyuki's water glass again.
"Again, I'm so sorry that they've run off-"
"No!" Katsuyuki blurted out, leaning forward. "I'm glad that I get some time alone with you. Because... I... enjoy your company."
Both young men were blushing at what Katsuyuki said.
"Well..." Riku blushed. He was a young man! Why was he acting like a girl? It was unprofessional! But... he did like Katsuyuki-san. The young director was successful, rich and handsome. And Katsuyuki-san seemed genuinely interested in him...
"Katsuyuki-san-"
"Riku-"
They both stopped and blushed again. Sayaka watched the scene apprehensively, shaking her head. Persona was creating drama for themselves left and right! And really, she did NOT know the director of Sunny Music was a big gay-mo!
"You can call me Ryouga." Katsuyuki broke the silence. "When we're like this in private, alright?"
Riku smiled at Katsuyuki-san, touched that the director had asked Riku to use his first name. "Ryouga-san."
"Just Ryouga is fine." Katsuyuki felt himself glow a bit at how his name sounded rolling off Riku's tongue. "And... can I call you by your real name?"
Riku froze, suddenly panicked. What WAS his real name? He remembered Saeko and Marilyn had given him one, but he totally forgot-
"Just call me Riku, really." Riku grinned nervously. "I'm, uh, used to my stage name, actually. I actually find it hard to answer to my real name nowadays, so I don't use it. Even my FAMILY calls me Riku! Hahahaha! Ha ha..."
"Yeah, you know, a lot of idols tell me that too." Katsuyuki mused, taking Riku's explanation quite well. "Being an idol, you guys create a new identity for yourselves... it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel like the real person gets lost in the process some times."
"Really?" Riku blinked. Was this a common occurence?
Katsuyuki took a sip of water. "Yeah. It's not usually a bad thing, but... lets take you for example."
Riku sat up straighter as Katsuyuki studied him carefully. The young director didn't get to where he was just because of his father; the elder Katsuyuki had seen that his son had an eye for young talent, even when he was younger. Unknown to Ryouga, his father had picked idols back in the old days by asking his son about them. If Ryouga seemed disinterested, the elder Katsuyuki wouldn't sign the idols.
"I'm happy that Saeko-san is your manager." Ryouga said after a brief study of Riku.
The young idol blinked. "Why?"
"You'd get eaten alive if you had any other manager." Ryouga's thoughts wandered to Sarukawa Keiji, Ray's manager. Ray was in a good place because she knew how to deal with Sarukawa, but these boys were too naive. "She's managed to nuture you guys pretty well, keeping all your quirks. That's what's important, I feel. To make sure you guys stand out from every other idol around."
"We stand out?" Riku asked subconsciously. How?
"You guys are genuine." Ryouga smirked at Riku, calming the 'boy's fears. "Most managers try to push their talents into a cookie-cutter mold. All the idols that come out of some agencies that shall-not-be-named, are the same. Same kind of hairstyle, same kind of attitude... but not you three. Your voices and your personalities are all very apparently distinct. Kai is the bad boy. Kuu is the playboy. You, you are the leader."
"Kuu's the playboy?" Riku gaped. When did his friend get that moniker?
"Of course. He has a way with the ladies. Not that Kai and you don't, it's just he's... really smooth, you know? It's like he doesn't feel at all like girls could be threatened by him and he's entirely unthreatening. THAT'S how he gets them." Katsuyuki settled into his professional role unconsciously. "Kai, brash and passionate. He'll do whatever the hell he wants, as he's shown so many times. I heard about his first meeting with the Diva," Katsuyuki chuckled, remembering how his jaw had fallen to his chest as someone passed him that little bit of gossip. "And now, I heard that they're... friends."
Riku grinned a bit and held up a finger to his lips. "Kai... doesn't seem to dislike Ray-san, but he doesn't know what to do about all the attention she's showing him."
"It's surprising that Ray is so... attached to Kai." Katsuyuki lowered his voice, both men grinning like mischeivous schoolboys. "She doesn't really have any friends, you know."
"Ray-san?"
"The Diva is notoriously private." Katsuyuki-san shrugged. He had tried hitting on Ray when they had first met, but the woman had firmly and expertly rebuffed him. He hadn't known he had been 'friended' until he left her presence. "Since I've known her, since she's started in the industry... honestly, people respect her. She's a damned powerhouse, she's a veritable gold mine. She's wildly popular but her image is completely different from who she is, really."
"Huh." Riku sat back in his chair. "Well, what's your opinion of her?"
Katsuyuki shrugged. "She's Ray. She's the charismatic Diva and that's all she's ever shown the world. I got the feeling that she didn't want me to dig deeper and I'd rather not offend the woman, really. People don't get far when they get on Ray's bad side."
Katsuyuki had personally seen some young idol's career die or take a turn for the worse when it seemed like they wanted to compete with Ray. It might not even be Ray's fault... Katsuyuki kind of suspected that Sarukawa might have a hand in stomping out the competition but he had no proof, so...
"I'm just glad you guys are on her good side, though." Ryouga said honestly. He wanted Riku to stay around, for as long as possible. Beyond all the confusing feelings, the young director of Sunny Music was sure of one thing: with Riku around, he felt really good.
Riku shrugged. "We try our best not to offend the Diva. She's actually easy to deal with, as long as we throw Kai at her."
"I don't know what's going on with your friend and the Diva, but tell Kai to try and keep it hidden and if there are developments and they want to come out, they need to be sure to inform Sarukawa-san and Saeko-san. Relationships like these are always like a minefield: you don't know how to navigate it and all of it might just blow up in your face." Katsuyuki said seriously.
"We're trying our best. Kai doesn't really want this. And I'm hoping it's not our association with Ray that'll define us as a group-"
"You guys are doing great." Ryouga assured the young idol. "A big part of that is because you three seem pretty close. Some idol groups don't last long because the chemistry between members isn't exactly right. But you three fit together really well. Like brothers."
"They're my... best friends, I guess." Riku's ears heated up bashfully.
"Just friends, right?" Katsuyuki suddenly felt anxious. What if they were MORE THAN FRIENDS? But no, no, Riku wasn't gay. That thought, however, depressed Katsuyuki.
"Good friends." Riku replied, nodding his head. "With this whole Persona thing, I couldn't have done it alone. Couldn't have done it without them."
"I'm glad the industry hasn't changed you guys." Katsuyuki sat back as the waiter finally came with their food. "A lot of people change as soon as they come in. For the worse, always for the worse. But you guys are still innocent. I guess I have to thank Saeko-san and Marilyn-san for that."
Riku gave Katsuyuki-san a confused smile, unsure if them being innocent was a good or bad thing and decided to instead change the subject. "What about you, Katsuyuki-san? Have you changed?"
"It's Ryouga," Katsuyuki reminded gently. He wanted Riku to use his first name. "And... I guess I have. I party a lot, I drink a lot more. It wasn't until I officially took the position as director that I started going to Fast Club more frequently."
Riku's scowl at the mention of the club made Katsuyuki quickly try to add to that. "But I haven't been going as often, really, just once in a blue moon when I have people I need to take out... you didn't like that place much, huh?"
Riku tried to lie, but finally, he settled on a sheepish shake of his head. Ryouga sighed.
"I'm sorry for taking you there."
"No," Riku protested, disliking the depressed look on Katsuyuki-san's face. "It was an experience. It's just that we've never been in a club like that-"
"I'll stop going to Fast Club, i-if you want." Katsuyuki-san said desperately, wanting to please Riku. "Does it bother you?"
"It's none of my business, really, what you do-"
"But I care about your opinion." Ryouga blurted out, before blushing and looking down at his food. Riku, not knowing why, was red-faced also.
"Um... lets eat." Katsuyuki desperately found another subject. He didn't want it to be awkward, he didn't want it to be awkward...
"Sure, um," Riku raised his glass to Ryouga tentatively. "Thank you for looking out for us, by the way. You're really kind, Ka-Ryouga-san."
Katsuyuki Ryouga had been called many things, but being 'really kind'... well, this felt like the best compliment he had ever received.
"Thank you. And, just Ryouga." Ryouga raised his glass and clinked it lightly against Riku's, nervously wondering if he should ask his next question. "Ano..."
"Yes?"
"Can we..." Ryouga was aware that his palms were sweaty. "I-I, um. I... like hanging around you. Like, in a non-professional setting. When I told you before about only having sycophants and two-faced people around me... I want to change that. I want to have someone like you by my side. Could we possibly, well... could we be friends?"
"I don't know," Riku's first words made Ryouga's face fall, but the next words picked him back up significantly. "I was under the impression we were already friends."
The smile on Ryouga's face was heartbreaking as he raised his glass and clinked it lightly against Riku's glass.
"To friends, then." Ryouga tried to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of his head that told him that he didn't just want to be friends... but he pushed those thoughts away. He wasn't gay. he just liked hanging around Riku. Really REALLY liked hanging around Riku.
endnote: Kuu and Kai have run off! Where are they and what are they doing? Do you know? Cuz I DO NOT! Wheeeeee!