Guarding Your Heart

The Event

My name is Michael and i've been working for a private security company for almost five years. We mostly handle VIP and high profile escort gigs. Needless to say, when this assignment came over the wire i was not looking forward to it. This is a recounting of how i ended up in a relationship with a girl named Suzuka.

"Who or what the hell is Babymetal?" I asked begrudgingly as i tossed the dossier to my partner. My company had been contracted to do private escort security for some Japanese pop stars or something while they were in New York for part of their world tour. We had worked many concerts for visiting artists but this was my first overseas act. I had never heard of them before but apparently they were a big deal. They had their own guys too but they wanted to contract out some local talent that was familiar with the venue and city in general. Enter my company.

"No idea man, apparently some crazy Japanese band. A pop idol metal band or some shit like that. Leave it to the Japanese huh?" my partner Terrance responded with a laugh. The two of us would be the ones taking this assignment so we started to do a little research. We hit the internet and looked up Babymetal on YouTube. "Jesus this is crazy." Terrance said as we watched the various live clips and music videos. "They're just kids. We're going to be fucking babysitters?" He exclaimed with heavy sarcasm.

"I'm kind of actually looking forward to it now." I said after having seen the 2019 festival vids. Yeah they were children when they started but damn if they aren't entertaining. Now they were quite beautiful and crazy talented. I had always been a metal head so i was totally into the music immediately but the girls did take a bit to grow on me. The tall one who seemed to be the lead was especially talented and very pretty. "I mean what kind of threats could a band like this have to deal with? Should be a cake walk man, easy money." I reassured my companion. "Worse we'll have to deal with is pasty fanboys. Like Comicon or some shit." I added.

"Is this an armed gig?" Terrance asked as he opened his locker pulling out his vest.

"Just batons and stun guns it says here." I responded as i flipped through the contract we were given. "But risk of actual threat is apparently supposed to me minimal." I added before putting the papers away in my gear bag. "Like i said man, total cake walk." Terrance and I finished suiting up. The contract requested we be "visible but not threatening" so we opted for the concealed vests with simple button up shirts and slacks. All black of course. We strapped on our equipment belts, climbed into the Suburban and headed out for the venue.

I had been to Terminal 5 many times at this point both for work and as a concert goer. I was quite familiar with the layout of the backstage and surrounding areas. We weren't too sure what to expect as far as their personal entourage or if they even spoke English. Luckily their road manager did and met us in the parking garage with their head of security.

"Kon'nichiwa. Thank you for coming, my name is Satoshi San. Your company came very highly recommended." Their manager said in perfect English. He was a shorter man, even for a Japanese guy, and dressed in a fine suit with a clipboard and earpiece. Their head of security was a bit bigger but still small compared to Terrance and myself. It's New York, what do you expect? We have a rep to uphold. He shook our hands and bowed slightly. We followed suit. "We can talk while we walk." he said as he turned and headed towards the exit.

"What can we expect as far as threat level and security risks?" I asked, cutting straight down to business. Satoshi San led us into the back hallway towards the green rooms.

"We do not expect anything too crazy. So far there have been no real threats at any of our previous shows but we like to cover all of our bases. Better safe than sorry yes?" he explained as we walked. The head of security remained silent the whole time. Guess he's a speak when spoken to kinda guy, maybe ex-military?