Lucy's POV
"Are you okay?"
Staring at the male vocalist before me, there stood the man who I met a few days ago. It was Taka. It really is Taka. He looks down at me with concern in his eyes, planting his large palm on my cheek making sure if I was alright. I was speechless, incapable of uttering a word from my mouth. So I instantly nod my head, telling him that I'm fine.
Taka gave a quick smile and face to the large crowd. "Okay guys," he says on the microphone getting the people's attention while grabbing my hand to lift me up from the ground. "Before we start the show, I want everyone to look around you to see if anyone fell so you can pick them up. Can you guys do that for me?"
The audience follow what he instructed them to do. Once helping the fallen fans from the ground, Taka scans the area to see if everyone is up from the floor and nobody was injured. The fan girls surrounding me were all shrieking in a high pitched, excited tone that they were close to the famous vocalist. However, I was not capable of focusing on my surroundings but the man who stood in front of me. I was still in awe, suddenly discovering something so shocking yet absurd about Taka. He glances back at me and squeezes his grip on my hand. I gaze up at the man holding my hand. He continues to keep his genuine smile plastered on his face before letting me go.
"YOU GUYS OKAY?" he shouts at the mic, his voice echoing the stadium.
"YEAH!" the large audience yells back.
"ALRIGHT NEW YORK! LET'S GET STARTED!"
And with that, mind-blowing screams and shouts erupted the whole stadium once the music starts to play.
I watch Taka leap five feet above the air, aimlessly twirling and bouncing around the stage. Lights in the stage flashes randomly at the crowd while they vigorously dance around. The audience jump in the air and bob their heads up and down to the roaring music and the fan girls start to squeal when Taka shows off his dance moves.
You would expect me to jump and sing along to their songs.
Nope.
Not at all.
I stood there, no movement at all with a blank expression across my face. I was still dumbfounded, unable to process in my head of what is happening right now.
Taka...is in a band? More specifically, a Japanese band?
The Taka.
Takahiro Moriuchi.
That I just saved a few days ago.
And kissed.
That Taka?
No wonder he could sing so well. Because he is a singer!
I could almost feel my brain exploding into a million pieces. It seemed so unbelievable that I am dating a famous vocalist from a band. I even recognize the three guys who were playing the instruments. They're the guys who were in the phone call the other day.
An hour has passed by and their show ended once finishing the song We Are. Sudden eye-splitting screams and cheers were heard from all around the stadium as the band says their farewells. Ryota and Toru threw their guitar picks and Tomoya threw his drum sticks at the crowd. People start to exit the stadium, however I only remain in my spot, looking for Taka.
Peering at the crew on the stage made me assume that Taka is still in backstage. I attempt to head to the main stage until a security guard blocks my way.
"Ma'am, you're not allowed in this area. It's time to leave the stadium." the man informs me, pulling me away from the stage by the arm.
"B-But I have to see Taka." I tell him while he obnoxiously laughs at my response.
"Yes because every girl wants to see him," he sarcastically remarks, rolling his eyes. He points at the directions where a group of fan girls screaming, trying to jump onto the main stage as a bunch of security guards tries to push them away.
"Nobody sets foot into the backstage without backstage passes."
He roughly pushes me back away from the stage as I almost lost my balance.
"Hey!"
"Time to go, tiny girl! Go now!" He shouted in an abusive manner.
"Don't worry," says another man behind the security guard, placing his palm on his shoulder. The man's voice halt the security guard and loosening his grip on my arm. I glance up to face the man. He was a lot taller compared to Taka. His voice was deep and raspy, and his damp brown bangs hovering his eyes from the sweat.
It was Toru.
"She's with me." Toru informs the security man.
And with that, the security guy nods his head and went off.
"Thank you."
Toru only nod his head and began to walk away from me.
"Wait a minute," I call out to him, following the guitarist. He turns around to face me.
"Have you seen Taka?"
He was hesitate to speak up. He scratches his head in deep thought for a minute before answering my question.
***Speaking in Japanese***
"He's speaking with our Manager at the moment." He answers.
Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what he was saying since he spoke in a different language.
I furrow my brows in confusion.
***Speaking in English***
"Pardon?"
"Sorry," Toru apologize while running through his wet hair in frustration. "My English...isn't good."
I wave my hands in defense. "Oh no! It's fine. I can understand you. To be perfectly honest, you speaking English is better than Taka speaking English."
Toru lightly chuckled at my confession. Thankfully, the guitarist knew what I was saying at least.
"Taka is busy." He explains to me.
"Ah, okay. No problem," I simply say and pull out my hand. "I'm Lucy by the way. I'm not sure if you recognized me."
He accepts my handshake and gave me a small smile.
"I'm Toru."
"Toru. You guys were really great out there."
A sincere smile spread across his face.
"Thank you, Lucy."
***Speaking in Japanese***
"Oi! Toru!" the drummer shouted from backstage, walking along side with the bassist.
"Ah, guys. Lucy is here."
Ryota and Tomoya stared at me and form a wide grin on their faces.
"Hi Lucy-chan!" Tomoya waves at me as a greeting.
"Wow! She's even cuter in person!"
"Idiot. You have Michelle."
"It was a compliment!"
Tomoya looks at me and grins, pointing to himself and Ryota, trying to introduce themselves. "Tomoya. Ryota."
"Nice to finally meet you guys!" I said in English. It's a relief that they at least understand my language.
"By the way, have any one of you know if Taka is done speaking with the Manager? Lucy's here to see him." Toru pointed his thumb at me to his members. I assume he was discussing with them where Taka is.
"Ahhh. Can't wait to see him already, I see?" Tomoya smirks, cocking his brow at me and laughs loudly. I was unsure what he was laughing about but I let it slide. "Yeah, he's already done talking to Goto-san so Taka's in the dressing room."
***Speaking in English***
Toru faces back to me and bobs his head towards the backstage.
"You can see him now. He's in the dressing room," Toru informs me, placing his hand on an unfamiliar guy's shoulder getting his attention. "His name is Justin. He'll take you there."
"Thank you so much, you guys."
With one of the stage crew members assisting me, I headed to the dressing room to wherever Taka is.
"You're pretty lucky, you know that right?"
Unexpectedly hearing Justin suddenly speaking to me, I whip my head to face the man smiling down at me.
"H-Huh? W-W-What are you t-talking about?"
I was uncontrollably stuttering. Not only because I am currently dating someone famous but I'll be meeting him after finding out he's actually a famous vocalist.
The man chortle as my reaction. I felt embarrassed.
"Thousands of girls would kill to be you right now. Getting saved by Taka in front of the audience and now calling you to the dressing room? I'm just saying you're very lucky."
The apple of my cheeks flush, flustered by his sudden remark.
We both stopped at a certain door with a sign that says, 'ONE OK ROCK'. Justin politely knocked on the door and turned the doorknob. He creaked the door open, getting the man's attention inside the room.
"Your visitor has arrived."
"Thank you."
I slowly stepped inside to face the famous vocalist, Takahiro Moriuchi. He wrapped his sweaty towel around his neck as the beads of sweat form down to his neck. His eyes locked on mine.
"Hi."
I gradually approached him, shutting the door behind me.
Taka smiled.
"Hi."
There was a moment of silence.
"You're...okay, right?"
He was recalling the time when I hit my head during the concert.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine now."
"Mm."
At least he was being thoughtful of me. But...why did he hide the fact that he was a famous vocalist?
"So..." I began, slowly approaching the male vocalist. "You really are a singer. More specifically, in a band?"
Taka bit his bottom lip. He was hoping I would't go straight to the topic.
"I can explain, Lucy..."
"Why haven't you told me this, Taka? Why keep this a secret?"
Taka became silent. He only lowers his head in thought, fiddling his thumbs.
"I...forgot to mention."
"'Forgot?'" I replied doubtfully, unbelievable that he did not mention that he's a talented vocalist in a band. At this point, I was doubtful of his explanation. "So you didn't even bother mentioning this to me and kept it a secret?"
"Are you mad?"
"I'm not. I'm just...upset. Maybe."
"Is this..." he spoke up with a serious tone of voice. "...going to affect our relationship?"
I hesitate to even utter a word.
"Is that why you've been hiding this from me?"
Taka didn't answer my question. He continues to keep his mouth shut.
"Of course not. Surprised? Yes. But you're still the Taka I know."
"Really?"
"Yes."
He gaze into my eyes with affection. Gosh. I love the way his eyes shimmer every time he looks at me. It makes my heart melt inside. I slowly form a smile across my face. Truthfully, I'm a bit petrified of the fact that I'm dating someone who's in a famous band. But I knew deep within my heart that dating Taka isn't a wrong decision. I honestly like the guy. And I shouldn't let these unnecessary thoughts affect the relationship I have with him now.
"So...are you a fan of us now?" Taka says with full confidence, back to his normal cocky attitude self.
"I'm only a fan of yours." I reply sarcastically.
"Wow. Bet the others are jealous of me then, huh?"
I laugh it off, deliberating Taka was only joking.
"We're not that famous in America," he stated. "But today's festival went surprisingly well."
"Yeah but you're pretty famous with the amount of girls you have..." I noted while I caught his flirtatiously smirk plastered on his face.
He cocks an eyebrow.
"Jealous?"
Truthfully, I couldn't help but feel slightly ticked off of how many girls adores Taka. How much they want to touch or perhaps even marry him. And he probably doesn't mind their affection towards him and allowing them to touch him because they're his fans. But why do I still feel a hint of jealousy in me?
I scoff in a joking matter. "Pfft. Me? Why would I be?"
"Oh yeah? Jealous that I might fall in love with one of them?"
Taka is definitely teasing me. It was like he could read through my facade. He continues to keep his smirk. He rests his head on the palm of his hand, fascinated by the view he's intently staring at—me. Why must he play with my feelings like this?
He was starting to get into my nerves.
"Go ahead if you're feeling that way. Who's stopping you?" I huff in annoyance, crossing my arms and faced the other way. Taka releases a chuckle at my behavior and smiles.
"My feelings for you."
His bold response made my heart stop.
"You're the only girl I look at, Lucy."
My face turn deep red, flustered by his sudden response.
"R-Really?"
"You're so cute when you're shy."
I pouted. "S-Stop."
I lower my head to avoid his captivating stare. His eyes never left mine. A light laughter escapes from his lips by my shyness. Taka stood up from the couch and gently took my hand. His fingers softly stroked against my skin as they gradually intertwine into mine. He lifts up my chin to make me gaze into his eyes once again. He gently brushes my rosy cheek with his thumb. His ever smiling eyes glitter with affection as the corners of his lip tug up with amusement. I return the smile, holding his hand tightly and yearning to press my lips onto his. Taka begins closing the space between us by leaning his head forward.
SLAM!
Interrupted by the loud noise, we both startled, spun around to the older man who barged inside the room by slamming the door wide open.
***Speaking in Japanese***
"Guys, we've KILLED it tonight! You guys were on television a few minutes ago and I already scheduled interviews for you guys!" The man intervenes in exhilaration.
Manager Goto blankly stares at the both of us, noticing the atmosphere in the room.
"Oh shit," the Manager abrupt, bowing his head in an apologetic manner. "Sorry for interrupting..."
I release a chuckle from my lips and slowly pull away from Taka. I approached to the Manager and politely bow before pulling out my hand for a handshake.
***Speaking in English***
"Nice meeting you again, I'm Lucy from the phone call."
Manager Goto's jaw drop open, accepting my handshake, unable to utter a word.
***Speaking in Japanese***
"Holy fuck," he curse out loud, pointing at me. "She's actually real! Unless you paid this girl to pretend she's your girlfriend...?"
Taka has a deep frown on his face, glaring at the Manager. "We were having a moment, Goto-san."
"Now isn't the time to have a boner. You'll have it later, Taka," Manager Goto added while looking behind his back. "Guys, come in!
Taka drops himself onto the sofa and grunts in aggravation once the other members entered the room. I followed suit and softly landed on the sofa beside Taka while the others came into the room.
Instead of listening to what Manager Goto has to announce, Taka wraps his arm around me and lays his head on my shoulder. He lifts up one of my lock of hair and playfully strokes it through his fingertips in boredom. I told him to stop but he refuse, shaking his head like a little five year old kid.
****Speaking in Japanese****
"Alright, you guys," Manager Goto spoke up, silencing the others. "Great job tonight! Tomorrow, we're heading back to Japan! At the end of November, you guys will arrive at New York for a recording with Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots. You guys will be working on your new song for the upcoming album, correct? So, your flight will be approximately at six in the morning so get plenty of sleep and be prepared. Sound clear?"
The band including Taka nodded. "Yes, Goto-san."
"Can't believe we're finally doing a song with our friend Tyler!" Tomoya exclaims enthusiastically.
"I'm so excited meeting him again. And Mori-chan will be singing with him!" Ryota pointed out, glancing over at Taka.
"Yes, so you guys better not be late again, you hear me, Tomo?" Goto stated, looking suspiciously at Tomoya as he nodded and apologized.
"Good. We're done here, everyone. Also, Taka has an interview with one of the press."
***Speaking in English***
"It's nice meeting you again, Lucy," the manager says with a grin. "I'm the Artist Manager, Yoshitaka Goto."
Oh. So he's the manager.
"Pleasure meeting you, Goto!"
"Take care of our little Taka, okay?"
I nod in agreement while Taka remain still, shooting a glare at Manager Goto.
"Don't call me 'little'." Taka reminded him with an attitude.
"I won't call you that if you would get your ass up from that couch and come with me to your interview, now c'mon. The reporter and the cameraman is waiting for you."
I tilt my head at Taka. "So what were you guys discussing about?"
"My band are doing a recording in New York at the end of November," Taka mentions with a smile. "So I can have time to visit you."
Ah. I see. It is September after all and I won't see Taka in two months. I couldn't resist but feel slightly disappointed. But at the same time I was grateful since this isn't the last time I will be seeing Taka.
Taka notices my sudden change of emotion. He smirks.
"Don't miss me too much."
"Stupid."
Taka laughs at my response and plants a small kiss on my cheek. His eyes sparkles when I smile at him.
I lightly place my hand on his cheek and lean closer to him.
"Are you wearing make-up?" I suddenly ask while Taka pulls away and immediately covers his eye in shame.
"It's to hide the bruise!"
I burst out laughing at him when he frowns displeased. But he quickly wipe it away with a small smile.
"I'll be back soon."
Once I nodded, he heads out the door with the Manager for the small interview.
After they both left the room, Ryota smirks, raising his brows in amusement. "He really loves you, Lucy-chan."
My eyes stick out in disbelief, my heart racing a million miles per second.
"W-W-What? N-No way!" I stutter, anxiously clenching onto my shirt.
"Did...he say it?" Tomoya asks me in English. His accent was sorta thick but I still understood what he said.
I simply shook my head and Tomoya clicks his tongue. "No good."
"Mori-chan should hurry up and say it." Ryota remark, lighting up a cigarette.
I shrug. "It's alright. We decided to take things slow."
Tomoya and Ryota sighs in disappointment while Toru sat on the sofa in silence, uninterested about the topic.
"Anyways, is there a restroom nearby?" I asked them.
Tomoya and Ryota both paused and thought how to explain the directions to me in English. However, Toru beat them to it and pointed.
"It'll be near the storage room," Toru guided me. "You take a left, leading you to a long corridor and it'll be on your right side."
"Thank you." I politely bow at him and went out of the room to head to the girl's restroom.
I did as I was instructed to do by going towards the storage room and making a left to the extended and dark corridor. The corridor reminded me of a scene where the victim gets killed in a horror movie, but immediately I shook the small fear off and headed to the bathroom.
While I was doing my business in one of the tiny stalls, I hear a group of females walking inside the restroom as well. They were chattering and discussing about the band One Ok Rock.
"Oh my god, girls!" says a girl with an enthusiastic tone. "They were SO amazing! I cannot believe it's over!"
"Ugh! I know! Toru was so fucking hot on stage. I wish I could've caught his sweaty towel."
"Are you kidding me? Have you even seen Ryota and Tomoya? I love the way Ryota has his shirt off all the damn time and Tomoya hitting those drums like YAS, TOMO HIT IT HARD!"
Overhearing the conversation between the girls made me assume that they were without a doubt fans of One Ok Rock.
"But we all know Taka is the best one out there!"
The three girls agreed in sync.
"I just wish Taka would grow his hair. He looked way manlier back then."
"Right? He should grow his facial hair so I can feel it beneath my—"
Okaaay. Perhaps their conversation was a bit too graphic for me. Considering that I'm secretly dating Taka, I was a bit bothered by their dirty fantasies about Taka. But the girls were his fans after all and I couldn't do nothing about it.
"Taka's still single, right?"
"I hope he is. The band members are pretty good at keeping secrets when it comes to relationships. I know that for sure when Tomoya announced his engagement and Ryota having a child. But yeah, obviously Taka wouldn't be a virgin."
"Shame. Did he had girlfriends in the past?"
I flushed the toilet and walked out of the stall, pretending that I never heard their conversation. My sudden interruption caught the girls' attention. The three girls glanced at me but continued to chatter while I went to the sink to wash my hands.
"Taka once said that he dated a girl in middle school but she broke up with him. What a bitch."
"Who would want to break up with Taka? What the fuck?"
"Right? But there's a rumor going on that he had another girlfriend in the past. She's Japanese too."
"Really? Who?"
The girl pulls out an old yearbook in 2008 from the Keio High School. The girl began to rapidly flip through the pages where they see the faces of the students who graduated in Keio High School. She stopped at a certain page and pointed her finger at the Japanese girl with short hair.
"Here she is. Nakamura Mai."
I halt myself from exiting the bathroom door. My stomach turns when I heard the girl's name. I recalled the time when Taka had a nightmare last night when he was calling out to Mai.
It's not important.
Taka lied.
It really was something important. Mai was his ex-girlfriend no doubt about it.
I knew deep in my gut that I should not listen to these sort of rumors. But once the girl said Mai's name, I couldn't help but be curious.
"Can I see her?"
I suddenly ask the young girls holding the yearbook and they all lift up their heads to face me.
One of the girls politely smiled. "Ah, yeah. Sure. Why not?"
I casually walk towards the girls and stared at the yearbook to find the young girl. Nakamura Mai's picture was placed at the second row to the right side of the page. She had pale creamy skin, no blemishes were found on her face. Her silky brown locks cut down to her shoulders and she had an unbelievably gorgeous, radiant smile.
She's beautiful.
"Fuck," one of the girls cursed out, cringing in disgust. "She's too cute."
"I think Taka has a thing for pretty Asian girls more than white girls." the other girl commented, disappointed that she wasn't Asian.
"Well...I'm Pakistani. Does that count?"
The girl stared at the other girl with half-lidded eyes. "I'm talking about pale Asian girls who are unbelievablely gorgeous. No offense."
"How'd you hear about this rumor?" I ask to the fan girls.
"Well, we don't know if it is true that Mai was one of his previous girlfriends. It is a rumor after all. But one of the fans went to the high school one day and found out about the rumor. So it's possible it can be true."
One of the girls frowned. "What if that person made this shit up?"
"Even if they did, why would that person pick this particular girl?"
The fan had a point. But whatever they believe, the girls had no idea that Nakamura Mai is certainly Taka's ex-girlfriend in the past.
"Where is she now?"
"Who knows. They said they couldn't trace her anywhere like she instantly disappeared or something. Weird, right?"
That is definitely odd. Why couldn't they search for her?
"Lucy!"
I turn my head to the direction of a man's voice who called out my name. At the end of the corridor, the man sprinted to me and grabbed my wrist to pull me away from the girls.
"Let's go." Toru casually says.
As Toru pulls me away, the three girls let out a loud shriek, and pull out their phones to chase after Toru and me.
Once Toru lost the fan girls, he released his grip around my wrist to breathe from running too much. He faced me with a concern expression.
"I thought..." Toru paused, trying to search for the right words in English. "...you were lost."
"Sorry."
"Why were you with them?"
I glance down at the floor and bit my lip.
"Was Nakamura Mai Taka's ex-girlfriend?"
Toru looked at me appalled once I blurt out the girl's name.
"How'd you know that name?"
I glance back behind Toru, searching for the fan girls in the corridor. Toru knew right away as he ruffles his shaggy hair in aggravation.
Toru pull out his point finger at me to wait. He quickly pull out his iPhone from one of his pockets. He's trying to translate his language to English in his phone so I'm able to understand what he has to say. He rapidly texts the words and shows me the phone screen.
'It isn't my right to tell you. But I know Taka won't say shit about Mai.' It says.
"What do you mean?"
He types again.
'Don't ever tell him I told you. You deserve to know the truth.'
"What are you talking about? What happened between Taka and Mai?"
Toru paused and texts in his phone.
'Mai is Taka's dead ex-girlfriend.'
What I read in his screen was an eye-opener. I couldn't believe it. Mai's dead? What happened? Were they still together when she died? How did she die? The unsettling feeling in my gut began to increase as I held both my hands to cover my mouth.
"Where's Taka? I have to apologize to him."
'Don't bother apologizing. It's better to act like nothing happened and keep your mouth shut.'
That was a bit harsh considering it was coming from Toru to shut my mouth about the topic. But I wouldn't blame him. He has a point. Toru knew Taka for over a decade now. Last time I mentioned about Mai to Taka, Taka ignored me and gave me the cold shoulder. So I only nod in agreement.
But I couldn't get off my mind about Nakamura Mai. The lingering questions still remain inside my head that it was impossible to get rid of until I get answers.
As we both casually went back to the dressing room, I spotted something that caught my eye.
I found Taka.
He just finished the interview.
However, he was standing in front of a woman.
And to my surprise, the woman turns out to be Nakamura Mai.
~End of Chapter Six