Author's note: I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it took a while, I usually try to update quickly but I had a lot of stuff going on. Thanks again to Sparda4 for the idea and also your expertise in Japanese sword stuff (maybe I should just write the thing that you're an expert in before every chapter)! This chapter is a little different because it focuses more on Ally's perspective, but I like it. I hope you do too!
P.S. I am aware that not that many people are reading this, but I'm going to keep writing for a) Sparda4 and b) myself, because this is really fun! :)
Ally's POV
Team Austin has been really focused with the whole Gavin issue these couple of days. It's been three days since the concert where he attacked the fan. The fan's okay, he's being released from the hospital tomorrow. But it definitely got Austin some bad publicity, but he has another concert that's about to start. Jimmy decided that Austin is doing a month of concerts in Miami, and then we can think about a national tour. Trish has actually been working really hard for a while, Dez has been really supportive of everyone when we're tired and feeling down, and he's super helpful with planning, too. Obviously, I've been busy writing songs, but lately, I've been worried not about Austin, but about Gavin.
I had a crush on him at first. I don't think I've ever fallen for someone that fast before, not even Dallas. But I soon realized that Gavin wasn't really my type of guy, he's kind of aggressive and overall just really flirty with me. We told him that he should be more assertive and less aggressive, and we'll see what happens during this concert.
"Ally!" I hear someone exclaim, stopping my train of thought.
It's Trish, and she's signaling that Austin's about to start performing. I run to the wings, right behind the curtains so that no one can see me. I have awful stage fright; I would freak out if I saw the crowd out there. But I know Austin loves it.
"Hello Miami!" he announces on stage.
He's greeted by thunderous applause and cheering.
"Tonight I will be performing two of my newest songs, Illusion and A Billion Hits!" he continues. "I hope everybody likes it!"
As the music starts, I can't help but watch him in awe. He's so confident on stage, and he's not nervous at all! I could never do that!
"Hey, Ally!" I hear from behind me.
I know it's Gavin even before I turn around because of that accent.
"Hey, Gavin, how's it going?"
"It's going fine, no crazy fans tonight, I guess!" he laughs. "And don't worry, Ally, I remember what you told me. Assertive, not aggressive."
I nod and smile before turning my attention back to Austin on stage. Trish and Dez are cheering, like the fans out in the crowd. When I look at Austin, I see this look on his face that I don't usually see. Usually, when he's performing, he looks super happy and relaxed, but also super excited at the same time. He told me that big crowds get him excited, which I don't really understand, but we're kind of different! But today, I see a slightly different expression. It's so subtle, no one would notice except for anyone who's as close to him as me. There's a hint of sadness and worry in his expression, but it's masked by his smile and energetic demeanor.
After a few moments, he turns his head to see me watching him, and he smiles again. There's no more sadness in his expression, just the usual happy Austin. I smile, too.
I watch the rest of his show with a smile on my face. There's always been this charm to Austin that's always made me feel so happy to be his friend, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Seeing his smile always brightens my day, hearing his voice cheers me up no matter what, and just being with him makes me so happy. Okay, I might have a little crush on him, but I'm sure he doesn't like me that way. We dated for a bit before, but then we broke up because we decided that we just wanted to be friends. I guess things have changed a bit, but that's okay.
"Hey, Ally!" his voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Great job, Austin!" I exclaim, hugging him.
"You did amazing, bro!" Dez exclaims, joining the hug.
"Yeah, that was better than your last concert." Trish says.
We all laugh.
"Hey guys, is it normal that I hear voices in the hall again?" Gavin asks.
"Yeah, normally there are people out there. Usually Jimmy and his guys, but sometimes fans too. It's fine, don't worry about it." Austin replies.
To confirm his statement, Jimmy walks in with a couple of other people dressed in suits.
"Austin, I need to have a meeting with you and Trish tonight. Meet me in the meeting room in around a half hour. Also, Gavin, you can go home for the night after all of the fans leave." Jimmy says.
"Okay," we all say, and then Jimmy leaves.
"Hey, do you guys know where Austin Moon is?" a high-pitched voice says in the hallway, presumably talking to Jimmy and his guys.
"Why do you want to know?" one of the business people asks.
"I'm a huge fan!" the girl replies. "I really want to meet him!"
"I'm sorry, but Austin is currently busy. Maybe you'll meet him at his next CD signing." Jimmy says sternly but not angrily.
"Oh, okay!" she says, probably skipping down the hallway to leave.
"Are there usually a lot of fans who want to meet you, Austin?" Gavin asks.
"Well, sometimes there'll be tons of people who want to get in! Other times, I could walk home and no one would notice me, even if not everyone's left yet!" Austin replies.
Dez opens his mouth to say something, and then the door is practically crashed open.
"Is Austin Moon in here?" a blonde girl asks energetically. It's the high-pitched voice we heard in the hallway. "Whoa! It's Austin!"
She starts running towards us, but Gavin blocks her path.
"I'm sorry, young lady, but I'm afraid this is strictly no-entry." he says professionally. "I would ask you to please leave. You can meet Austin at one of his CD signings."
"But I want to see him!" she persists, jumping up and down to try and look around Gavin's enormous figure.
"You can see him on posters and in pictures, and you can see him in concerts. But security does not allow for you to get through. Technically, you aren't even supposed to be inside this door."
He starts slowly walking forward, forcing the girl to walk backwards towards the door. She starts to punch at Gavin, but he shows no signs of being affected. He doesn't even attack her back, but he simply lets another security guard take her and escort her down the hallway. Eventually, we no longer hear any high-pitched screeching.
"Great job, Gavin!" Austin exclaims. "That's weird having two intruders in two concerts. This stuff rarely happens! But you did a great job handling that girl."
We all nod to signal our agreement.
"I think you can go home, Gavin." Trish says. "I mean, there isn't anyone left here, so you deserve to have a good night at home."
"Thanks so much, everyone!" he replies, and walks out the door.
"That was cool, Gavin totally changed!" Dez exclaims once he's left. "I think we were right in giving him a second chance."
"I still don't trust that guy!" Trish objects. "I think we should still be wary around him. Who knows, he could totally betray us!"
"I agree with Trish," I say, "even though he was good today doesn't mean he'll be good tomorrow, or the next day, or next week. Don't put too much trust in a person who's already disappointed you."
"Fine, if you guys don't believe in him, maybe you should spy on him!" Dez suggests, probably sarcastically.
"Well, it's not a bad idea!" I reply. "You know what, I'll see if I can still catch up to him, and I'll try to figure out where he lives, and maybe I'll learn something about him."
"But Ally, that could be dangerous! If you don't trust him, why would you follow him to his house in the middle of the night?" Austin exclaims, wrapping an arm around me protectively.
"I know!" Dez exclaims, holding up his camera. "We can attach this camera to Ally, and we can connect it to Skype. That way, she can broadcast everything that she sees to us. If anything happens to her, we'll know where she is."
"Austin and I have a meeting with Jimmy so we can't stay up to date on your whereabouts." Trish says. "Do you trust Dez in taking that responsibility?"
"Yeah, I do." I reply, surprising her. "I can trust you, Dez. And it's not like anything's going to happen to me, but just in case."
Twenty minutes later, I find myself walking down some street I've never seen before, in the middle of the night. My dad doesn't know where I am, although I don't think he'll worry much. He never knows where I am, but this time, only Dez does. And it's because I'm following Gavin. Where's he going? I assume to his house, but who knows?
I feel a bit uncomfortable and uncertain, but not in danger. Although Gavin's had a few aggressive encounters, that doesn't mean that he's necessarily a bad person. I'm simply trying to find out more about him, and the only way to do that is apparently to follow him home. Plus, I have Dez's camera, so he's seeing everything I'm seeing. Even if he's sometimes silly, I know that he always stays by our sides and he wouldn't let us down if anything went really wrong.
As I watch Gavin several feet in front of me, passing what seems to be the thousandth street light, I finally see him turn to a house, which I assume to be his. He walks in through the front door, so I hide in one of the bushes near a window. After a few moments, I see him enter the room with the window that I can see through. Everything looks normal, so I wait patiently and try to look inside the room that he's in. That's when I see something strange on the wall at the back of the room.
Hanging on the wall are two long swords, one longer than the other. Instead of running away, I keep watching. The swords look like Japanese swords, which supports Austin's theory about his accent that sounds Japanese. The swords look vaguely familiar, but I can't place it. I decide to text Dez to see if he knows.
Dez, what are those swords?
He replies immediately.
They're a Daisho pair, basically two matching Japanese samurai swords: katana and wakzashi
Why would he have swords?
Who knows maybe he's a samurai
I put away my phone. This is definitely out of the ordinary, but not dangerous. It might be unusual that someone has Japanese samurai swords in their house, but that doesn't mean that they are a Japanese samurai. I mean, Dez collects random things, maybe Gavin collects swords.
I peek through the window again. He picks up his phone, because it's ringing. I see that he puts it on speaker, and then he puts it on the table in front of him and sits in a comfy-looking armchair. I decide to eavesdrop on this phone call.
"Gavin Young," a deep voice on the other end rumbles. I can't place the accent but it sounds a little familiar.
"Hello, Sergei." Gavin replies. Sergei. So it's Russian.
"How is life in America? Surely you regret leaving Russia." Sergei says scornfully.
Gavin was in Russia? He lived in Russia? He never told us anything about this. I hear him sigh.
"Sergei, I've already told you, Russia is not my homeland. I went there to train with you, and I am eternally grateful for that, but my heart rests in Japan." he says.
Gavin is from Japan? Not a surprise, considering his accent and his swords, but still a surprise to hear from him. He continues to speak.
"Life in America is pretty good, you know that I've landed a few good jobs."
"Yes, I know." Sergei replies. "Including your current job, being the bodyguard of that pop star Austin Moon. Did you know that he is now famous in Russia? It's crazy. All of the teenagers here sing his songs."
"That's interesting, I didn't know that-"
"But how many times have I told you that Sambo is only to be used for defense purposes?" Sergei interrupts. "Yet you still attacked some crazed fan. I don't care about the man, for sure, I've heard that he's already out of the hospital. You must learn to respect the art of martial arts! You treat Russian martial arts like your everyday attack methods. There is an art to martial arts, you should not be simply attacking people! Have you not listened to anything I've taught you?"
"I'm sorry, Sergei." Gavin replies. "But may I ask, how did you find out about it?"
"I have my ways, young Gavin." he says simply.
"I've told you multiple times, my name is Gavin Young! Not Young Gavin!"
"Yes, but you are young and inexperienced. That is why you are young Gavin."
I almost laugh out loud at this, but I know better. I'm dead meat if Gavin finds me. I decide to text Dez.
Do you think I should get out of here?
No, stay for a bit longer and see what you can find out. You're not in real danger, unless Gavin decides to go outside and look in his bushes.
I put away my phone again. I see that Gavin's put away his, too, so his call with Sergei must be over. He pulls out his laptop, and it's turned at just the right angle so that I can see it. Perfect. He pulls up his email and opens his inbox. I can see that he has a new email, and he clicks on it, and after reading it, he clicks reply. The email is in Japanese, but he begins typing in English:
Good idea. I agree with all your plans, especially the first one. I have already secured the trust of Austin Moon and his friends, after the first unfortunate mishap. I have not told Sergei about any of your plans. He doesn't know anything.
Then he clicks "send". What is going on? Who is he emailing? And what are his plans, and why does he need our trust?
Author's note: I hope you liked it! Sorry for taking so long to update, I know some people update way slower, but I like to update regularly. Unfortunately, the next chapter might take a while, as well, because I have a ton of exams and a really big economics project coming up.
As always, feedback is appreciated!