A black limousine sped through the Japanese countryside on the way to its vaunted destination, the famed Kanzuki Estate. The occupants of said vehicle, however, were far removed from the foreign dignitaries and business tycoons that would be expected to make such a journey.
In lieu of that rode a certain quartet of 16-year old Minnesotan hockey players turned band mates that made up the somewhat famous boy-band Big Time Rush.
One of its members, James Diamond, rather obsessively stared at his pocket mirror, comb in hand ready to catch any imperfection in his brunette mullet. Unfortunately, one of the others was making focus impossible.
It wasn't Logan Mitchell, the smart one of the group, who had long since passed out to some sort of medical audiobook, or the group's leader, Kendall Knight, who was out as well cradling his favorite hockey stick as a young girl might do with a teddy bear.
It was none other than Carlos Garcia, looking bored out of his mind, pelting the side of his head with the wrappers of his favorite snack, Fruit Smackers.
This behavior was far from unusual for him, as even his own parents acknowledged that as sweet and sociable as he was, Carlos tended to act about half his age at the best of times.
In reasonably short bursts, the boys happily joined in on it. Contending with it for hours on end as a captive audience on a plane and limo was another thing entirely. Looking back, he couldn't blame the boys' rather irritable boss, Gustavo Rocque, and his assistant, Kelly Wainwright for taking a separate limo. Nor could he blame Kendall's mother (who was also their current legal guardian) Jennifer and her daughter Katie for going the same route, though he suspected that the latter really wanted a break from all four of the boys' antics.
After the fifth wrapper, James leveled a warning glare at the Hispanic boy, stopping him...for about two minutes before he started up again.
At the tenth, he looked with a small amount of jealousy at his friends, wishing he could join them in dreamland.
"Stop it," the pretty boy hissed instead.
He got a nonchalant shrug in response. "But I'm so bored..."
His mouth opened to scold Carlos for what seemed like the billionth time in recent memory and tell him to find something else to do...except there really wasn't anything else to do here.
Instead, he would have to take a different approach. "Look. I'm sure there's gonna be lots of stuff to do at this big fancy mansion place we're going to, so would you please just-"
"DOGS!"
Two previously unconscious heads instantly popped up in the sound of their "master" Gustavo's infamous shouting. It was kind of ironic that they were called that when he was the one usually doing the barking...
James was quick to shoot the awakened band mates with glares, to which he got back individualized apologetic looks when two and two was put together.
"NOW! THIS IS THE SINGLEHANDEDLY THE MOST IMPORTANT GIG OF ANY OF OUR LIFETIMES!"
Everyone in the limo cringed at the sheer volume of the voice. Even after all this time in the band, they never quite got used to that.
Gustavo would've carried on with his ranting, but thankfully, his much more reasonable assistant took control instead.
With a sigh, she began. "Let's get this over with so he doesn't have a heart attack. Performances aside, there's supposed to be a party tonight. Kendall, keep the other two and yourself from doing anything stupid."
Kendall exchanged looks with the ones she was referring to, Carlos and James, the former giving back a nervous smile.
"James, this isn't a contest to see who can collect the most girls' phone numbers."
The brunette boy in question raised an eyebrow. "Are there even gonna be any here?"
"Not sure, but considering your past, I figured it'd be better to warn you in advance."
The pretty boy just shrugged.
"Carlos," there was a pleading edge to her voice this time. "Be less...yourself."
"Couldn't have told him that before we had to put up with hours and hours of...?" Kendall shot James a look that reminded him that the person he was mumbling about was still in the car with them.
"Logan, make sure the others don't do anything stupid..."
"Roger." the raven-haired aspiring doctor darted eyes to his band mates.
Suddenly, the band's manager was back on the line. "LIKE SHE JUST SAID, YOU DOGS ARE TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR AT ALL TIMES, AND THAT INCLUDES BEING CALM AND POLITE!"
The blonde of the group crossed his arms. "Sure, we can do that. Can you?"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
Logan spoke up. "Well, you're not exactly known for being calm...or polite...or rational."
"Ooh, which one are you talking about?" James quipped, "Was it that rich kid's birthday party, or the incident with the punch bowl?"
"Punch Bowl's the most recent..."
"THAT WAS A FLUKE! THE GUY WAS ASKING FOR..."
Gustavo trailed off unwillingly as the inevitable happened.
Appropriately, Kelly was back on. "Since he won't be talking above a whisper for a while..."
"Voice?" came a chorus of four voices.
"Yup," the assistant rattled off. "He means that you should be in your best behavior and more importantly, have fun..."
"Yeah..."
--
Upon finally getting out near the estate, the boys met back up with their bosses, as well the two female Knights. Katie looked like she was going to be sick, while it was clear from the way Jennifer was gripping her hand and glaring at her that it wasn't from the ride over.
The boys knew that look. It was the one the matriarch gave Kendall when he accidentally put a hockey stick through the neighbor's window, or when Carlos had tried to turn the Palm Woods (their residence as a band) into a water park.
She wasn't just grounded if this went south; she might never see the sun again.
When Katie looked back at him, her elder brother gave her a pitying one in return.
Gustavo gave the boys a withering glare of his own through his sunglasses. Apparently, they wouldn't be much better off either.
To be fair though, he was likely in a pretty bad mood in general. When wasn't he?
"Voice?" Jennifer asked. It was asked rhetorically. She knew the music producer well enough herself.
The African-American assistant was typing away on her phone as she responded. "We read them the riot act in the limo. If they screw up, Gustavo'll ensure that they never make it back to the West."
The red-haired woman's grip on her daughter's arm tightened instinctively. "Oh, trust me. For once, I can relate."
The boys flinched at the deadly calm in the mother's words.
Soon, though, everyone's attention was taken up by the scene around them: falling cherry blossoms overlooked a beautiful yet rustic wooden bridge.
James whistled approvingly. "You weren't kidding about this Kanzuki lady being filthy rich. How much did all this cost?"
"No idea," Katie answered. "She says she's got connections all over the world. She..."
The young girl cut herself off, as if she'd almost blown some kind of secret. Before anyone could question that, however, an odd rustling of nearby trees caught Logan's attention.
"Hmm..." Looking closely, he didn't see anything, but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
After the boys followed his eyes and saw nothing, Logan rubbed the back of his head.
"Just my imagination, I guess...?"
"Hey, you lot!"
--
A rather large, dark-skinned rocker with a blonde mowhawk and a prominent gut ran over to him. Chains attached to his hands clinked as he moved.
"We ain't scheduled to have any guests today! That means that you're trespassing..."
No one moved, as they were unsure of what to make of the person in front of them.
The punk balled up his fists, to which Kendall followed suit out of instinct.
James, while clearly nervous, found his voice first, approaching the man. "Look, we came all this way. I'm guessing Ms. Kanzuki's your boss, right? Maybe we should just call her up and get this thing sorted out. Sound like a plan?"
A silence that seemed to stretch on forever followed.
Then, a response.
The next moments were a blur of action. Lightning fast, the thug's chain extended towards them. With a hustle that could only come from almost a decade of hockey practice and strength that could only come from a life-or-death reaction, the boys forced the others to hit the floor, with the chain winding up swiping at the air above them.
With all the non-combatants safe, Kendall in particular ran to his opponent, aiming a fist at his face.
"What the hell was that for?"
The chain that was just aimed at them now swung wildly in the man's grip. "We'll 'sort this out' alright, but first, I gotta tie you guys up, good and right!"
Kendall wordlessly told the others that he would handle this before facing the assailant.
"Fat chance, but if it's a fight you want, you're gonna get it!"
A haughty laugh broke through the air just before the two could rush each other. "That won't be necessary, Mr. Knight. Birdie should know to actually pay attention to that schedule I gave him. I apologize for his rather...uncouth actions..."
Everyone except Birdie and Katie looked befuddled at the voice that seemed to come from everywhere, yet had no visible owner. Birdie's expression turned to one of dread while Katie whispered in awe," She's here..."
In a flash of energy that made the visitors' eyes go wide, two figures appeared out of thin air. One was a rather serious-looking butler, but the other was clearly the main event.
Blonde curls adorned the head of this Japanese woman who exuded elegance in her movements and a slightly condescending tone in her expression. She dusted off her red and blue business suit before turning around...and swiftly booting the rocker out of sight despite the massive size differential between the two.
Mouths were agape at the display of power.
It took the butler, a Japanese man, clearing his throat to snap his guests back to reality.
"I must apologize on his behalf for his rudeness," the woman said, bowing. "My name is Karin Kanzuki, this is my assistant, Shibasaki, and you must be Big Time Rush, the band I've heard so much about."
The music group exchanged looks before simultaneously uttering the affirmative. She glanced at their large employer and his assistant.
"And this is Gustavo Rocque and Kelly Wainwright, am I correct?"
The two nodded.
"...and finally Jennifer and Katherine Knight." The mother greeted her as pleasantly as she could under the circumstances, while Katie looked more antsy than a Kindergartener forced to take a school photo. Despite this, she managed a polite greeting.
"Why so nervous, young Katherine?" the heiress prodded. "This couldn't be your first run-in with royalty like myself, could it?"
The girl was desperately trying to look at her mom, who had on a painted smile of her own. "Believe me, that's not the reason..."
A tug at her arm indicated the remark didn't go unnoticed.
Thankfully, Karin either didn't notice or didn't care about the obvious tension. "Anyhow, this clearly isn't the place to talk. Shall we continue over to the pond?"
The group did so, but not before Katie quickly made up an excuse to break away from her mother's iron grip and pull her elder brother aside.
Her tone seemed hurried. "Do me a favor, Big Brother? Whatever she tells you to do, just go along with it, okay?"
Alarm bells instantly went off in the elder brother's head. "Katie, what exactly did you sign us up for...?"
"Nothing bad," the younger Knight assured, waving her hands around for emphasis. "She can be kind of...eccentric, is all. You guys will get to perform like usual after she's through evaluating you."
Kendall raised an eyebrow at this, but chose not to press the issue. Through their time as a band, they'd been through stranger things. "Okay, Little Sister. I guess I'll trust you on this. Besides, your head isn't the only one that's on the chopping block if this goes wrong..."
"Gustavo?"
"Gustavo."
After a quick look around to ensure no one was watching, Katie quickly embraced her brother. "Thanks a lot, Big Brother."
He offered a quick smile. "No problem. Let's catch up with the others."
--
As the young mogul kept talking, she seemed to fixate more on the band's time as hockey players, and in particular, how many fights they got into. By the time the group got to their destination, everyone was either confused or suspicious regarding this.
"And here we are."
A red, wooden pathway sat over an expansive lotus pond with cherry blossom trees trailing their blooms from overhead. Regardless of everyone's thoughts on the owner of the Estate, no one would debate the beauty of what she had built, especially the scene in front of them.
Even the boys, who, Logan aside, normally wouldn't have any sort of an eye for this kind of thing were impressed.
Even Gustavo Rocque felt something move in his self-professed "cold, dead heart".
Karin paused for a moment, clearly soaking in their reactions, before continuing on.
"If you're through taking in the obvious beauty, I'd like to move forward with the boys' test."
The helmeted bandmate briefly panicked. "Test?! But I didn't study!"
"No need to worry, Mr. Garcia. This test has nothing whatsoever to do with with arithmetic."
While Logan filled his confused friend in on the meaning of the word "arithmetic", Karin stood in the middle of the walkway and took a fighting stance. She briefly turned to the girls and Gustavo.
"If you would please give us some space..."
She turned back to the boys.
"Now, who would like to go first?"