Another day walking the streets of Tokyo heading to my first job as a JE Dancer. I swear I couldn’t get enough of this place. Its so busy yet filled with so much beauty, I thought to myself. Today I was meeting Johnny so he can assign me to one of his groups for his upcoming project so once more, I had to go to his office. His assistant greeted me kindly as she always did and lead me to his office. There he was standing inside as if he was going to lead me to my assignment.

 

“Good Morning Kitagawa-San, how are you today,” I said while bowing.

 

“Good morning to you too. I want to apologize on behalf of Jun last night. He tends to be one of my difficult stars out of the bunch but, I didn’t think he would get that out of hand. He will receive discipline for his actions upon you. I was going to originally have you work with his group but, because of his manners I am going to sign you up with one of my other more prominent groups, “ Johnny said.

 

It was truly of nice of Johnny to do that I couldn’t imagine working with Jun and the rest of Arashi after what he was done. I couldn’t imagine being partnered up with him because, I feel like I would tremble just by him being too close to me. I shook the thought out of my head and followed Johnny as he headed to a building about two blocks down from the headquarters.

 

“The first studio to your left will be where you shall start working with. Their practice shall be starting in about 40 minutes from now. You can warm up and stretch in the meantime. Seeing that you are already in your dance gear,” Johnny joked.

 

“Thank You again, Kitagawa-San...I won’t you let you down,” I said as I made my way into the building.

 

I was so excited that once I got inside I ran to the elevator door; it was taking far too long so I didn’t wait for it. Instead I ran up the staircase then opening the large doorway to the second floor. It seemed that this floor was specifically to one of Johnny’s group. I wasn’t sure who they were just yet because, I was still learning all the names and faces. This particular group’s photos were plastered all over the wall. There were scenes from music videos and magazine articles all over the place. To my left I saw the doorway leading to the large dance room so, I figured I would make my way in for the time being.

 

As I opened the door there was not a single dancer in the studio except a man practicing beat boxing in the mirror. The sight of me seemed to startle him and he stopped beatboxing. He turned to me with a not so pleasant face; I felt bad for opening the door so loudly.

 

“Who are you,” he said angrily.

 

“ I am one of the international dancers...my name is-”

 

“Okay and do you realize that you are here too early. Dancers usually come about 20 minutes from now,” he complained.

 

“I am sorry I had no idea. Kitagawa-San directed me here just a few moments ago,” I said embarrassed.

 

“Well...go over there for now please...Since he led you here I am not gonna bug about it. Just keep it down...I am trying to practice my beatboxing since the sound is good in here,” he sighed.

 

Ugh, can I ever catch a break with these moody men, I thought to myself. I just sat on the side stretching my legs and arms. As a dancer warming up your body like this helps prepare for the long day ahead and it also feels good to just stretch out a bit from time to time. While stretching I tried to look at the file on my phone to see which group I was working with but, I figured the clicking of the buttons would irritate the beatboxer so I kept to myself just staring out the large window in the meantime. As I was doing so I could hear footsteps in the hallway; maybe some of the other dancers were finally making their way in.

 

There was a young guy who walked in and he had a smile from ear to ear going across his face. He patted the back of the beatboxer and they began to chat on the side with each other. They seemed to be good friends joking with each other and when they spoke with each other their voices were a bit loud together. A moment later it seemed another member of the group walked in. His entrance was rather quiet and he waved to the other guys. There was a piano in the far corner and he began to play it as the two continued their conversation on their own. The song he played was so soft and gentle; I was truly mesmerized by the sounds.

 

“Already playing eh,” said another man walking through the door.

 

He was skinnier than the others and seemed to have the more of an edgier look then the rest. Unlike the three other men in the room he had more of a hip hop style going on. I wonder if he was the rapper of the group. Then the door swung open and two more came in. These two seemed close and greeted the other members as well. How many more were there or is this it and where are the other dancers. I feel so out of place, I thought to myself. I could hear them whispering amongst themselves and I thought they were probably talking about me. After all they were the singers and I was the dancer...the elephant in the room. I just continued to practice my stretching to make it seem like I was just sitting there listening to them. They continued their conversations for several minutes so I figured they forgot about me which was good. I really didn’t want to make things awkward in the room.

 

“HI THERE,” exclaimed one of the members.

 

He jumped in front of me as he screamed so loudly, I stumbled back a bit at his sudden actions. He laughed knowing that he was able to frighten me a bit.

 

“G-g-ood Morning,” I managed to say.

 

“THE NAME IS TAGUCHI JUNNOSUKE! BUT YOU CAN CALL ME JUNNO! YOU ARE ONE OF OUR NEW DANCERS RIGHT,” He said loudly.

 

“Yes, I am. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Jen.”

 

“WELL JEN LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE REST OF THE GROUP SINCE YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE HERE,” Junno continued, “GUYS THIS IS JEN! WE SHOULD ALL INTRODUCE OURSELVES SHE IS THE ONLY ONE HERE RIGHT NOW!”

 

They all laughed at his crazy actions but they bowed and were willing to introduce themselves to me. I couldn’t believe Junno was making this all happen so suddenly.

 

“Hello there, my name is Kamenashi Kazuya,” bowed the man to the left.

 

“Hi, I am Koki Tanaka.”

 

“ Hello Jen...my name is Ueda Tatsuya.”

 

“I’m Maru...that’s all you need to know.” said the angry beatboxer from before.

 

They all turned to the couch on the side and the last member was resting on the couch. Kame cleared his throat and the last member of the group sat up and realized that the rest of his group were introducing themselves to me.

 

“My Apologies...My name is Akanishi Jin. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am sorry I was sleeping I didn’t catch your name. What was it,” he asked.

 

“My name is Jen. It’s truly a pleasure to work alongside all of you. I promise to work hard and not let any of you down,” I smiled while bowing to them.

 

I talked with them for a bit getting to know them. Now that I knew all of their names I realised that I was working alongside KAT TUN. I couldn't believe I was working with one of Johnny’s biggest groups right now. It was so cool to get to know them on this kind of level. I always perceived celebrities as snobby people; there might be a few like that but, not all of them were that way. A little while later many other female dancers came into the room and I went amongst them to get to know a few of them as well. They too introduced themselves to the group as our dance instructor entered the room.

 

Everyone sat down before as he introduced himself to everyone in the room. He explained that he wanted all of us to have fun and treat each other like family. He felt that if we were able to treat each other in such ways then working together would be fun and also when its all said and done we would feel like we weren’t alone since we were from all over the globe. The crazy thing about getting to know some of these dancers I was the only one from America; everyone else was from European countries I was kind of surprised but, I felt even more honored to be here considering I was the only one.

 

All the dancers and KAT TUN began to warm up together before working on our first assignment. We gathered in small groups to see who would have dancing chemistry with each other the KAT TUN members. From there it would be decided who would be a back up dancer and also the six lead dancers for each member. I wondered if I would be a lead dancer or a back up dancer. We all watched the instructor as he gave us an example dance to learn and in a hour we would all get a chance with the members of KAT TUN.

 

 The first member I got to dance with was Maru. He was a rather difficult person to work with. He tried to speed up the dance and he would ignore all the steps. He wasn’t listening to the music so whenever he was wrong he would give me a nasty look and moved me out of his way. I hated when he grabbed my arm like that; was he my new “Mini-Matsumoto”? When the dance was over with him I was relieved to finally get away from him.

 

I worked with Junno next and he was a fresh breath of relief. I noticed that he was super bubbly when he dance and his smile stayed across his face as he worked with me. He would make silly faces from time to time and I couldn’t help but laugh at all of them. I noticed he did this with all the other dancers too. He is just a truly lively guy who can’t help himself. I know whoever would be paired with him would have a blast.

Following Junno I worked along Koki. Koki was a different kind of person to work with. Unlike Junno and Maru his dance moves were very steady and he made great eye contact with me. Even though he seemed to be an edgier guy he truly likes dancing. I also like how his style is smooth which is good for him since he is the rapper of the group and it matches him perfectly. I then worked with Ueda. Ueda was a simple dancer and his touch was very gentle. He gave that kind of manner already so I figured his dance style would be the same.

 

Kame on the other hand was the hardest person to work with. All his dance moves with me were rather weak and awkward. He acted as if he never worked with a woman before...let alone touch one. Whoever worked with Kame was surely up for a challenge; I don’t think I could be his partner.

 

Finally, it was time to worked with Akanishi. I wonder what kind of dancer you will be, I thought. We started off lining up together in front of the mirror. He swayed side to side with me. Every moment was exact and we were able to slow down and also speed up when the dance needed us to leaving us in perfect sync of each other. There was a point where we would dance face to face and he also had amazing eye contact. Then he spinned me and dipped me back into his arms and I was so in shock of how well of a dancer he was. Akanishi was truly an amazing dancer.

 

A few moments later the instructor called for an hour break so he could evaluate all the dances he saw as he worked out his notes from his clipboard. I was so exhausted but I also felt so exhilarated from it all. I enjoyed working with Junno, Koki, and Akanishi the best; if I were to become a lead dancer I would be happy with any of them. For now I enjoyed the ice water that I was given from one of the other dancers. It was a refreshing thing even though things were so intense.

 

After break the instructor gathered everyone in a large circle. He began to speak about things we all needed to improve on that he recognized during his observations. Also from all that he watched he was able to establish who would be working along side who and which girls would become back up dancers. He made it clear that this decision was not easy and that we would have to respect and enjoy the place we were in. If for any reason someone was unsatisfied with his choice the instructor said the door was straight ahead and there would be no turning back.

 

He began to call girls to each member of the group. Some of them giggled in excitement as they were placed with a KAT TUN member. It was so good to see all these girls happy to be with them; each one was told why they were chosen and they seemed truly grateful

 

“Jen D. I am placing you as a lead dancer. You will be partnered with Lead Vocalist, Akanishi Jin. The reason for my decision is very simple; the chemistry you two have in undeniable. The both of you dance so well together from being in sync to your transitions,” he explained, “That is all for today everyone. We will resume practice on Friday. If you would like to meet with your partner during anytime in the week you may. Exchange numbers so you can match your members schedule. As for the backup dancers, I shall see you first thing in the morning.”

 

“I guess I should get your number then, huh,” Akanishi said.

 

“Yes, what is your number,” I asked.

 

He took my phone from me and placed his name into my cell phone. I also took his and followed the same actions.

 

“See you soon, partner,” Akanishi said leaving the room.

 

“Goodbye Akanishi-Sempai...have a good evening!”

 

I packed up my things and began to head home to my dorm. Today was truly an exciting practice and also I got to be chosen as a lead dancer. I couldn’t believe that this was actually happening to me. For now all I could do was wait for the next practice with Akanishi.

   ✪

  -END OF CHAPTER 2-