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ENTRY ONE:  Ari

“I Like Who Again??”

 -OOO-

My head was spinning.

My friend Viva and I were on a trip in New York for summer break, and there was just way too much to see. My neck was straining as I tried to see all the way up to the top of the skyscrapers, and Viva was tugging at my shirtsleeve.

“Ari, let’s go! Everyone’s moving!”

“Okay, okay.” I lowered my head, wincing, and shuffle-ran to catch up with her and the rolling crowd of people. We passed a whole line of caricature artists, who were so amazingly talented that it was hard to accept that they only charged five bucks. I grabbed Viva randomly and got her to pose with me for a picture by the glass-covered samples of the guys’ drawings. Before the dude I asked to take the picture could press the shutter, Viva had realized that there was no way she could allow the picture to be serious. So she tried her best to make me laugh while I struggled to stay upright with all of my shopping bags weighing me down and my laughter threatening to split my face.

“Okay, say ‘Apple’!” The dude yelled. We looked at each other, totally weirded out, before grinning at the camera, doing goofy poses. When the guy gave me back my camera, I asked him why he asked us to say ‘apple’ instead of ‘cheese’. He told me, laughing like a maniac, that it was because we were in the Big Apple, dude!

He left. Viva and I glanced at each other and promptly busted out laughing, clutching our stomachs and gasping for breath. We hailed a cab, rubbing our arms with our hands and trying to stay warm despite the cold New York wind. Our scarves fluttered in the breeze as we shoved our bags and things inside and onto the cool leather seat, ourselves collapsing with exhaustion against the backrests. Soon, we arrived at the hotel we were staying at. It was relatively normal, I had commented as soon as we’d seen the place the night before. Viva had scoffed at that, stating that my definition of ‘normal’ was way under the bar. Viva and I shared a bed, which was no problem since it was huge- fluffy and soft and sinkable, like a cloud. Not that I know what a cloud feels like. But you get the drift. Floaty and wonderful, kinda like rising slowly on a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

We checked in, some guy we hired in the lobby bringing up our bags as we went. Once in our room, we spent the next half hour or so comparing outfits and other purchases, getting things organized, and chatting about what we had seen so far. When Viva and I were in control of our lives again, I threw out all the tissue paper, kept the store bags (you never know when you’ll need a cute bag to hold swimwear or something) and we got ready to shower and change. We had fun choosing each other’s outfits before taking turns to shower- as it was late afternoon, and a bit chillier, we dressed for a cool wind.

I was stumped, but Viva threw me my new leather mini- the zippers were too hot to resist, baby. I paired it with tights and knee-high black buckle boots. Andandand I had the perfect black scrunched leather sac-purse to go with!! I knew there was a reason we’d gone to Nine West.

“Top? What top?” I frantically searched the walk-in closet, accidentally whipping Viva in the face with a Missy Elliot-style pageboy cap. “Ah. Sorry.”

“…You need to calm down…” Viva rolled her eyes, picking the cap up off the floor and returning it to its peg on the wall. “Look. There’s that stretchy little peach-colored top you got at Mossimo. Add it to the mix and wear your knee-length trenchcoat. Leaving the snow white scarf out. Dangly earrings with a black diamond stud in the second piercing on the left ear.”

I stared at her. “…How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Read my mind.”

“Oh. It’s nothing. I just know how your brain works, that’s all.”

“Hmph.” I walked airily past her grinning face. “Stalker.”

“You bet.”

“Eat my socks.” I replied oh-so-wittingly as I made my way towards the shower. I love showers. They’re so relaxing and steamy and stuff. I do have such a way with words.

After the shower, I brushed my razored side-bangs and left my long layered hair down. I put on a peach-colored soft-knitted beanie as a last resort.

“Help me now.” Viva demanded after her own shower, her hair blown dry and straightened, and her body wrapped in a waffled hotel robe. “I’m not going to be young and gorgeous forever.”
”Where did that come from?”
”No idea.” Viva sat on the bed. “Now go. Do the magic.”

“Oh, sigh. If I must.” I whipped out a warm blue Miss Sixty minidress and paired it with a silvery cropped bomber jacket and dark leggings. “Oh! And your moccasins! And a necklace with a silver key!” I giggled and threw all of the items down onto the bed. Viva got the joke and pumped her fist in the air, shouting, “Hail to the Almighty Key!”

“Oh my, we nearly forgot jewelry- put on your silver bangles and silver stud earrings. Add black silk scarf and black beanie?”

“Yeah. Okay, now let’s make-up and go, puh-lease!”

After which we grabbed our purses, swiped on some lip-gloss, and made our way out of the hotel and onto the sidewalk.

“Where should we go first?” Viva asked in a businesslike tone, doing a three-sixty and taking it all in. “There’s Broadway, there’s street entertainers, there’s the Cowboy…” I punched her shoulder.

“Let’s wander around until we find something interesting.” I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets to keep warm. “I don’t really care at this point.” She agreed, and began to walk, occasionally buying a cute piece of merchandise for a souvenir or taking a picture. Soon, Viva stopped.

“What’s that?” She pointed at a huge colorful poster pasted on a bakery shop window. We ambled over to check it out. Suddenly, I saw six very familiar letters stand out on the shiny paper.

KAT-TUN.

What. What. What. WHAT??!! Shizcakes, I think I just swallowed a gulp of air. I hate that. So much. Wait, no. WHAAAT???

With a tiny shriek, I nearly knocked Viva over in my haste to get to the poster. She stumbled and shoved the back of my sweater. “What the heck, Ari? What’s your damage?” She grumbled as I hastily apologized.

“You person, do you understand what this is?!” I practically yelled.

“No.” Viva said bluntly.

“Well frankly, neither do I. But I will in just a few seconds!” I read the small print, feeling my eyes widen more with every word I read. Viva gathered around, all like ‘what is she doing?’

Finally, I turned around, in complete shock. I was too excited to even move. Fer serious.

“What, Ari? What is it?” Viva tilted her head. “Are you okay?”

I suddenly found my voice. “Okay? Okay?! I’m better than okay! My beginning favorite J-Pop band is performing live in just two hours! Holy Xiah on toast, my dreams have come true!” I blissfully began to twirl around, hugging Viva as tightly as I could as I went. “I. Am. So. Happeh!”

Viva sighed through the hug of doom. “Riiight. This is probably a trick. And even if it is, you’re gonna drag me to this thing, is that it?”

I pretended to think about it, before grabbing her shoulders. “Let’s think about this…OF COURSE YOU’RE COMING WITH ME! These people-” I pointed wildly at the poster, earning some freaked-out stares from passing people. “-are some of the hottest guys ever to walk the planet, so we are going to go see them! And you’re gonna like it! Comprende?!”

“Well,” said Viva. “I am never one to miss out on seeing hot guys, so I’m in. But! What if this journey of youth is an utter fail?”

“Then we sulk.”

“Great.” Viva moped. “Oh, whatever. This should be an experience, right? Something to tell the other foreign pop fans back home.”

I stared at her. Just stared.

“Oh, right. There aren’t any besides us.”

“Yep. That might be a slight issue…” I trailed off.

“Still, I’m in.” Viva supplied, removing my clutching hands from her jacket. “I want to hear some music, darn it! I’ve been deprived since you idiot dropped my precious iPod nano down the subway toilet. And I was not about to stick my hand in there and rescue it.”

I shot her a guilty look. “I said I’d pay you back!”

“It’s not like you don’t have the money, but my playlist took me forever to sort out on iTunes.” She shrugged. “Whatevs. The point is, if this concert turns out to be faulty, we are leaving pronto. Really, no sticking around. You don’t want to have to re-buy all my songs from iTunes as well, do you?”

“Nooo, goodness forbid. It’s a deal. Let’s go.” I tugged her hand and we went into the bakery for directions first.

It smelled soooo good in there! Like fresh bread. Yum. With our mouths watering, we asked the shopkeeper how to get to the concert hall where KAT-TUN was to perform at today. He told us cheerfully, wiping his hands on a flour-dusted apron.

“Just turn down Forty-fifth, and continue going straight until you see a large fountain. The fountain is right in front of the hall.”

We thanked him, and since we wanted to thank him for his niceness (and we were dying of hunger and the delicious smells in there…) we each bought a pastry and left, the door ringing happily in our wake. We passed another poster as we went by. And another. And another. Jeez, they were everywhere!

“Okay, Forty fifth. Just keep going straight…” Viva led the way, and soon we got to the fountain. It was gorgeous. And the concert hall was pretty big. It was all outlined with black reflective panels. We walked up to the ticket booth, seeing that there were people (mostly teenage girls…hmmm...) all lined up there. We waited a decent amount of time, talking to a few people in front of us as we were the last people in line. It seemed like KAT-TUN really was performing. A girl wearing an I Heart Kame-chan shirt told us that they were here on a U.S tour for a week because of World Bank 2011. It was supposed to be some sort of convention with foreign artists. Heck, I wasn’t complaining. I was just like…Junno…me…want…

When we finally got to the ticket counter, Viva stepped forward to talk to the guy sitting there. “Excuse me, um, can we get two tickets please?”

The guy looked up. He was Japanese, I could tell by his features and by the way he moved his mouth when he said, in poor English, “Eh, you would like a seat nia the frohnt oa the balcony?” Viva stood there, blinking because she didn’t know what he said. I felt sorry for the guy, who realized that she hadn’t understood him and was trying to express himself in better words. I double-tapped Viva, and she looked at me, lost.

“Ari, I dunno what he said…” She confessed in a whisper.

“Step aside, man. I got this.” Sort of… I hesitantly took Viva’s place. He was cute, I thought subtly as I laid eyes on him properly. He wore a beanie topped with a pompom, his choppy long bangs stuck out of the bottom, half covering his shining eyes. He wore a Quiksilver track jacket and slouchy blue jeans. He nervously pushed up his silver-rimmed rectangular glasses as I stepped forward.

Uh…shiz. How do I do this… “Ah, hajimemae. Watashi no namae wa Ari desu, yoroshiku. O…otona ni-mai onegaishimasu.” I really hoped that I had said all that correctly…if not, I will be embarrassed times a googolplex.

His jaw dropped. “Sugoi!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “You have good Japanese!” I stared at him. What? Really? Seriously? I thought I was speaking gibberish. What the heck? But okay, if he wanted to be a nice gentleman about it…

I laughed politely. “Maji de? Īe, heta desu. I’m still practicing.” I realized then that I still didn’t know his name, so I switched back to Japanese. “surei desu ga, o-namae wa?”

“My name is Shogo Nakajima. I am nineteen.”

I nodded. “I’m nineteen as well.” Shogo had such a cute smile! He reminded me of Teppei Koike. I told him so, and he laughed.

“So I have been told.” He used his fingers to ruffle his bangs a bit. Aha, we have a Jonghyun here! Call the authorities, he’s going to start screaming at random crowds of people next! …Haha not funny, sorry about that.

“Viva and I…” I pulled her into the line of fire with me. “Love your language. I will work hard to perfect my accent and my grammar. It needs work.” I said sheepishly.

“This is good. I am practicing my Engurish. I am not too good but I try. I thought maybe this job will be help.” He grinned through struggling with his words.

“It will! I was thinking of getting a job in Japan for a while, you know.” Viva told him. I nodded. We’d both wanted to do that at some point, even if just for a little while, to enjoy the sights and culture and J-Pop. Always the pop, baby.

His eyes traveled from Viva’s to mine, and back. “You have place to stay while you are there?”

“Eh, nope. But we can always get a room in a hotel or-”

“You could stay at my house.” He interrupted. “Boku wa Tōkyō kara desu.”

I stared at him. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? What the hey?! Yeah, he was a nice guy and all, but wasn’t it a bit too early in the ‘relationship’ to be inviting us to stay at his house? We just met him, for HoHo’s sake! (Nickname for the host of Star King, Hodong.) Maybe it wouldn’t hurt just to get his number and take it from there.

“Wow, um…arigatou gozaimasu!” I clasped my hands in front of me and gave a slight bow, before straightening. “You’re cool, man.”

He laughed in that adorable way that Japanese teenage guys laugh. However you perceive that to be. “You say you want two tickets?”

“Yeah. I’m Ari, by the way.”

“Viva. And how much do the tickets up front cost?” She leaned over to glance at the price list Shogo held out, me glancing over it as well. Soon pleased, I glanced back up at him. “Are wa kōka ja arimasen!”

He shrugged. “News of the concert has not spread much yet. It is only the first day. It is too bad, but maybe better in the coming week.”

“Hai, mottainai.” I glanced sadly at the non-existent line.

“A waste? You are a real fan, I see.” He sounded none too happy.

“I enjoy their music.” I said vaguely. And to get him out of his disappointment, I took out a post-it from my purse and scribbled down my number. “Call me, Nakajima-kun! Okay?” I fricken loved meeting new people. It was like…a hobby. Seriously.

He stared at the post-it as if not believing that it was real, before grabbing it from my hand as if it would disappear.

“Hai. Denwa o e kudasai.” He wrote down his number for me as well, and we stood there grinning at each other. It was awkward.

Viva finally broke the spell by coughing slightly. The native was getting restless.

“Well, we have to get going. See you around?” I asked, praying for the positive.

“Mochiron.” Of course. He handed Viva and I our tickets, he making his hand brush softly and purposely against ours. We pretended to ignore it, only exchanging the smallest of sideways glances. He bowed a little in farewell, retracting his hand and leaning back into his chair. He gazed upward, grinning. “Wait until I tell Akanishi that I got an American girl’s number!” He threw a fist in the air.

Viva and I laughed, smiling back and returning the gesture.

“Ja, mata!” I waved energetically at our new friend, opening the concert hall doors and feeling like I had just conquered a nation.

“Su. Geh!!!” I yelled once the doors had shut. “I know Japanese, I know Japanese!” I was on a total high, and Viva was flipping out and bombarding me with questions.

“How do you know Japanese?! What the heck was all that? He was so cute! You got his number! We freaking have his number!!”

“…You sound so desperate. Wait.” I stopped, rounding on her. “I’d told you at least three times a day that I practice Nihongo. Don’t you remember?! I was freaking out every day, testing out all the words on you…”

“Oohhh, so that’s what language it was?” Viva slapped her forehead. “I had no clue what the heck you were on about! I thought it was just gibberish made up to annoy me! Come to think of it, I do remember you telling me something of that sort all the time…” She rubbed her forehead in thought. “Yeees…I remember now!”

I hit her upside the head. “You are a complete-”

“Baka, I know.” Viva quipped. “That’s the only Japanese word I actually remember because you called me by that name all the time. So, what does it mean?”

I groaned, continuing to walk down the red-carpeted hall. “Idiot.”

“Hello? Ari, don’t ignore me! What does it mean?”

I punched the elevator button and yelled over my shoulder in frustration as she struggled to catch up with me to get in. “It means idiot, idiot!” She pretended to sulk until we got back onto the topic of Shogo for a few more minutes as the elevator rose. And then I realized something.

“Wait a minute.” I muttered slowly, recalling Shogo’s last words as we parted. Viva looked my way. “Remember what Shogo said before we left? He said ‘I can’t wait to tell Akanishi that I got the number of an American girl’.” I whirled around to face my friend, shocked out of my mind. “Akanishi, as in Akanishi Jin of KAT-TUN?!”

Viva looked disgusted and awed all at once, and then she shrugged. “It could be another Akanishi back in Japan.”

I shook my head and leaned against the mirrored elevator wall, shaking. “It’s not such a common last name, Viva. And it makes perfect sense! Shogo said he was from Tokyo, and that he came here to New York just to do this job for the day…he must have flown in with them!”

We looked at each other, shocked. We had just met a guy who was good friends with the KAT-TUN members. How crazy. Now I was really freaking out. “Ohmigawd. I know a friend of the band members. That can be awesomely useful in the future.” I trailed off.

Viva clapped her hands, ecstatic. “I love your Japanese-speaking skillz! Maybe we’ll actually get to meet them!”

I just looked at her, grinning my head off.

-OOO-

The concert hall was flooded with a sort of hazy light as people came in to find their seats. Some had come with their girlfriends or boyfriends, some alone, but mostly there were little cliques of teens (mostly girls) who sat giggling and comparing the signs they were going to hold up during the concert, or listening to iPods, or chatting on their phones. Some adults had come as well. All different kinds of people were filling up the huge room slowly but surely, finding their seats. The humungous stage was impressive, with a glossy wooden floor and huge screens up high so the people in back would be able to see the enlarged version of the KAT-TUN members. I squeezed Viva’s hand as we walked until she yelped in pain.

Our seats were in the third row from the stage! Aaaaahh! GD fries on a sandwich!! Yeah I don’t know why that just came out…

We strode to go put down our bags and things before Viva announced, “I need to pee.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shall I accompany you, little baby?”

“Yes.” Viva said stoutly, ignoring my jibe. I sighed, getting up.

“Okay, we’ll leave our coats by our seats, but take our purses. Let’s ask those girls to keep an eye on our stuff for us and tell them we’ll be right back.” Viva and I asked the group I indicated- a cute-looking group of three. They were really nice about it. I waved at them and took off with Viva down the aisle.

“We’re lucky we came an hour and a half early. We got the best seats ever, and you needed to respond to nature’s call anyway, so…”

It was Viva’s turn to smack me upside the head. “Can it, Jap.”

I smiled with pride. “That is not an insult to me. That’s a compliment. Thanks.” I ran ahead of her towards the bathroom outside the hall so that she couldn’t smack my head again. “Jeez, you’re just like Koki Tanaka. He also likes to smack people’s heads.”

Viva caught up with me, reaching out to open the door of the bathroom. “I thought Koki liked to kick Junnosuke Taguchi in the . That’s what you said.”

I acknowledged that. “Yeah, but that’s because Junno acts like an idiot at the beginning of every Cartoon KAT-TUN episode, going all ‘cheeeck it out, yo’! Everyone thinks it’s funny, anyway. But I can’t stand it.” I rolled my eyes at the bathroom door as it opened.

“What? Why?” Viva paused. “Oh yeah, you like Junnosuke the best and you hate that Koki gets to feel his and not you?”

I spluttered. “Wh-what?! No! It’s because Junno-kun gets hurt, you moron!”

Viva was laughing, and I wanted to give her a good kick myself. But I didn’t get a chance to even react, because the bathroom door continued to creak open and there was unfortunately someone on the other side.

He looked mildly down at us with dark intense eyes, his preppy black hat pulled down over one eye. His teased dark brown hair was perfectly in place, his outfit also preppy as anything. Popped white collar, loose black tie, and the works- but wore those combat army boots that he wore in the music video of  ‘Rescue’.

We were staring at Jin Akanishi.

Personally, I was frozen to the spot. I kindasortamaybe hated his guts and cursed the air he breathed, but in the end of the day, he was still a star. And so…I was speechless.

Okay, I’m done freaking out now.

Viva, like the nice little dummy she was, stared at him and said bluntly, “Who are you? And why are you in the girl’s bathroom?” She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, the very picture of calm.

You, my friend, are a moron.

Wait. He didn’t know English, did he? No, none of KAT-TUN did. Relief rushed over me. Oh, thank the lord…

“This is the men’s bathroom, actually.” Jin said coolly. “Why were you about to go in?” He looked amused. I wanted to scream.

Oh, perfect. I thought sarcastically.I’d forgotten that Jin was the only one who knew a bit of solid English. He’d gone on hiatus from 2007 to 2008 to study English in L.A…as if it made him cool or something. Why oh why out of the six members of KAT-TUN did we have to get the one who speaks the best English?! Why?

Viva looked startled, before gazing at the signs again. “Oh. Oops. Ari, why didn’t you stop me? That wasn’t very nice, you know.”

I felt a headache coming on. I really did. Stress, leave me now. Leave, I say! “Ugh… Viva…you were the blind one who lead us to the men’s toilets.”

Jin actually gave a small laugh, before condescendingly patting Viva on the head with a silver-ring filled hand. “Go use the bathroom next to this one. I’m sure you’ll find it a lot more convenient.”

Why does it feel like I’m I siding with Jin? I wondered briefly. Oh, right. Because Viva had screwed things up big time and my first impression towards one KAT-TUN member…the first one I had ever met…was going really badly. Oh, little Viva-chan, you are getting zero sympathy. (Death Note reference!! Had to be done!)

I turned to Jin. “Seriously, though? Are you suggesting that we did this on purpose? Because we didn’t.”

Jin didn’t hide his canine-baring grin, his jawbone making an appearance. “Maybe I am suggesting that, little ert.”

…

Wait. I’ve got to be dreaming.

…I pinched myself and it hurt. I am not dreaming. And therefore, that means that…

Jin freaking America-loverAkanishi called me a ert.

“What?!” I yelled at him, shoving his toxic hand away from my friend and discreetly wiping my own hand hard on the side of my clothes. “I’m not a ert, it was a mistake!”

Viva was getting annoyed at him too. Nobody calls her friend a except for her. “Who do you think you are?”

What. The. Heck. She still doesn’t know?? Leave it to Viva to finally see a J-Pop idol and not even recognize him. Ah, well. It’s good for Jin’s ego.

I calmly walked over to Viva, speaking as if it was just any old day. “Jin Akanishi, Viva. Jin Akanishi.”

Poor Viva froze immediately. “Um…haha? Funny joke?”

Jin squinted at me. “You know me?”

Well…in a manner of speaking… (coughchainsawcough) “Eh. We’re here to watch the concert.” I was suddenly really glad that it was Jin I was talking to, crazily enough. If it had been Junnosuke or Koki, I would NOT know what to say. I decided that it was time to leave the spoiled J-brat, so I began pulling Viva towards the girls’ bathrooms. But suddenly, an idea came to me.

I took a deep breath. If Jin liked me, maybe we could get close to the other members! I can use this guy, I reflected as I saw Jin in a whole different light. He was our doorway, in a sense, to J-Popness. That alone made it sort of worth tolerating him for a while.

“Good luck. Do your best!” I held out a fist, enthusiastic as always. But I was shocked out of my wits when Jin tapped his fist gently against mine. Whoa. I didn’t expect him to do that. I stared at him, stunned out of my mind.

“You are as cheerful as my friend Taguchi.” Jin smiled before nodding my way. “I will try my best to please everyone. Thank you for your support.” He gave a slight bow, and I returned it with ease. Jeez. He was pretty serious outside of reality shows.

He turned to leave, and Viva was urging me away from the scene. We couldn’t communicate telepathically, after all, so I couldn’t have told her my awesome plan.

“This isn’t over.” She muttered at his retreating back. He turned his head a little, and the last thing we heard from him as he disappeared around the corner was…

“I’ll see you around, little ert.” He threw me a smirk over his shoulder before vanishing from view.

SCREW IT ALL.

I gaped, then growled, struggling to escape from Viva’s suddenly restraining arms. She obviously expected such a response from me. “That little piece of-”

She tugged me into the bathroom- the right one- before slamming her up against one of the stall doors. “Are…you….insane?!”

I stared at her sullenly. “He called me a ert.”

“SO WHAT?! That entire thing just now…that was…that was…completely…” Viva shook her head, at a loss for words. I swiveled around and banged into a separate stall. All the excitement made me need to pee. And I’m sure you really needed to know that.

Viva spoke from her stall. “He is such a total arrogant jerk-face! Oh my god all your stories were true! He’s a…a…freaking man-diva!”

That made me giggle, for some reason. “I thought that was Key.”

“No, cuz Key’s not all male. Anyways, this one’s meant as an insult.”

I banged my knee with my fist. “He was so…AAAHHH! I want to shoot him and throw his remains into a garbage disposal! Messy, but efficient.” I sat there a minute, plotting other nefarious ways to murder the J-Pop star using the most painful procedures possible.

Viva made a sound, as if the revulsion had finally caught up with her. “Oh my god. That was Jin. And I didn’t even realize it until you told me. OH my god!! He patted my head, Ari! He patted my head! As if I were his freaking dog or something.”

Ew. I shook off the disturbing image and began to think back on every word of the conversation. “Hey Viva…he said ‘see you around’. You think he’ll look for us later?”

Viva shuddered. “I hope not.” She thought that over. “Actually, I hope he does. I wanna punch his lights out.” She sounded sadistic, like she was feeling his perfect jawbone under her fist already.

I flushed the toilet, realizing something as I went to wash. Squirting alot of pink soap onto my hands (I’d had to touch Jin, after all), I looked around at Viva, who was coming out of a stall. “Veev…you know that he probably heard every word we said about Junnosuke and Koki.”

Viva shrugged. “Maybe he did. So what?”

I turned off the water slowly, totally horrified. How could I not have realized??

“Viva! He heard me say all that stuff about Junnosuke!”

Viva abruptly slapped both hands over , her eyes full of sympathy. “Ohhh.”

“What am I gonna doooo?!?” I hit my fists on the marble counter. “My life is over.”

Viva laughed. “No, it’s not. He’ll be too busy dressing up in his gaytard preppy clothing for the concert to even give us a thought. So yeah. Don’t flatter yourself. C’mon, let’s go back. We’re only pathetic fangirls anyway.”

I pouted, but went back with her. “Wait. Then who’s your fave of KAT-TUN, if you hate Jin and Junno’s taken by me?”

Viva smiled. “My favorite is…none. I’m here only because I like you.”

“Aw, I’m touched, seriously.”

“Yeah, I know how much you love them and I kinda want to freak out with you here. I even know your ‘order’ by heart, you know.”

“My ‘order’?”

“Yeah.” She waved a hand airily. “It goes like so. Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Yuiichi Nakamaru, Kazuya Kamenashi, Tatsuya Ueda, and last…Jin Akanishi.” She sounded smug. “Told ya.”

My jaw dropped. “Holy shmeck, man. You knew all that?”

“Yep. And I know that the things you like best about Junnosuke are his hilarious personality, huge smile, tallness, and acrobatic skillz.”

“Wow. I have a new respect for you.” I led the way back to where those three girls were talking in their seats and waiting for us to return. “And you know all this…how? Ohmigatsun…you stalker!”

“Because you talk about them all the time.” Viva went and sat in her seat, while I stood there in shock.

“I do not talk about them all the time!” I said indignantly. My so-called friend looked up.

“Uh, Ari? You do.” Viva stifled her laughter behind her hand at my expression. “But we love ya anyways.” She grinned at me.

I fumed. “Urg. Nice friend you are.” I sat down, crossing my arms in a sullen manner. “Anyways, you should talk! Little Miss Jaejoong…” I stuck out my tongue at her. She blushed. What a mush-pot.

What the heck. Silly little fangirl…although I must admit that I do get the same whenever a Xiah Junsu is mentioned.

“Never stopped you before!” I sang out, slapping her on the back. Payback for all the times she’s hit me without warning.

Viva coughed. “Ari? All I have to say is…what the shiz?! Do you speeka da language? OUT. OF. REACH.”

“Nuh uh!” I said stubbornly. “We are getting married to Hero and Xiah. They just don’t know yet.”

“Riiight, and Jonghyun is the humblest man on earth.”

“Hey, it could happen!”

“Doubtful.”

“…Yeah. You’re right.” I told her, after thinking about it for a minute. “Still. Xiah’s mine. We shall see about this. MINE.”

Viva waved her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Same goes here, so I get what you’re saying. Personally though, I kinda think that the lead singer dude…what’s his face…Kame-something? He’s okay looking, I guess…”

I rolled my eyes. “Kazuya Kamenashi. At least get his name right if you’re going to start being obsessed with him.” Viva was tapping her lip in contemplation.

“Yeah, the rest of them aren’t my type. Kame is the manliest, I think. And he has nice eyebrows and hair.” Viva nodded. “Okay, it is done. I am now officially going to start stalking him.”

I shot her a weird look. “So? What’re you gonna do about it?”

Viva cupped her hands around , and screamed at the top of her lungs, “GO KAME-CHAAAN!” The Kamenashi fans in the huge echoing room (the majority) all shrieked in unanimous agreement, before starting to cheer for him.

I was about to say something not-very-nice to Viva about that, when the lights started to slowly dim. Shizcakes. It was starting!

The hundreds of people in the room began screaming, especially the girls.

I heard a gaggle of trendy girls to the back left of us begin to hold up their signs. They all said things like ‘We Heart U Jin!’ and ‘Akanishi is Adorable.’ Gag me. They were all chanting his name. Viva rolled her eyes, and poked me in the side. “This cannot be good for his already inflated ego.” I cracked up. Then it really hit me.

“Oh! I just realized something huge!” I whispered urgently.

Viva shrugged. “What? The concert’s about to start!”

“…I’m about to see KAT-TUN live. Oh my god. I’m going to faint.”

“Faint later. Right now it’s time to partay!” She whooped. I forced myself to begin cheering with everyone else. Colorful lights began to flash all over the room, coming from rotating spotlights which only made everyone more excited.

The swell of cheering grew louder, and just then, a disembodied voice began to sing, echoing through the room with a cool and clear treble. “Aieru, aieru…”

The crowd was literally going wild at that point, glowsticks out and banners flashing glittery phrases. I contemplated going over to the stage and glomping a member, any member, but decided that I’d come across as somewhat insane.

I told Viva, whose eyes were shining, “That’s Kamenashi.”

“And a cool voice too! I think I’m in love!” She pretended to faint.

“Yeah, and you didn’t want to come at first.” I said, grinning. “Haha, no backing out now! This song is called Yorokubi no Uta, by the way. It’s the very first song of KAT-TUN’s that I ever heard.” Viva stared at the stage, mesmerized. The pull of J-Pop, man. I was freaking out, which was understandable as I was about to see KAT-TUN live.

“Sore igai, mitsu karanai!” With that low baritone, the lights slowly came on. Through a cloud of smoke, the shadowy bodies of six people were able to be made out onstage.

I bit nearly through my tongue as I was grabbed by a mesmerized Viva. She stared with wide eyes at the stage, looking like a deer (Max Changmin!!) caught in the headlights.

A single spotlight shone down…on the single person that stepped forward. The leader.

Kazuya Kamenashi.

He stood with poise and grace, singing into the microphone as if he’d been born to do so. He wore a mix of clothing, as usual, over-the-top and latest in Japanese men’s fashion. Viva began to spazz.

As Kame sang, the rest of the members added the background vocals as the light was eventually shed upon each one of them. They danced on beat and efficiently, and they looked at each member of the audience with such a heated gaze, it seemed as if they were acknowledging every person there. It was that specific trait they had that made the KAT-TUN fans in the audience scream all the louder. Fists were in the air, people were dancing for all they were worth. A mix of color and sound, and the first song was halfway done.

“Wow!” Viva sounded impressed, yelling over the thumping music. “They’re good.”

I whooped in agreement, punching a fist in the air. And then I saw him. Junnosuke Taguchi was flipping across the stage, so it’d be sort of difficult to not see him at that point. He hurtled through the air with dynamic force, making the crowd scream. His white-toothed grin was unmistakable. I gaped for a few minutes, before I heard my favorite voice, and my head whipped towards the left side of the stage.

It was Koki Tanaka, stepping forward and throwing himself into his breakdance number, hurtling his legs through the air as well as any American artist I’d ever seen. Then he jumped up, throwing the hood of his white sweater over his head, raising the mic and beginning his rap.

“Bokura no machi de kimi to matsu ressha-” He twisted and rapped, using his hands to express himself like he always did. I was spellbound, watching his movements closely and singing along for all I was worth, Viva and I both screaming our heads off.

When the song was finally over, the music dwindled off into nothing as the crowd cheered. All the members were grinning and waving at the audience, cool as ever. Jin came forward and slipped his mic in a stand.

“Thank you very much. We’re excited to be here in New Yorktoday, and we hope our concert will move you.” I was glaring at him the whole time he spoke.

Suddenly, a girl behind us (one of the Jin fans) screamed out, “You already did!”

Jin heard, and laughed his low laugh into the mic, the laugh that always made girls tremble. All the girls shrieked again, this time saying things like ‘Oh my gosh he’s so hot!’ and ‘Marry me, Jin!’

Viva groaned loudly. “Ew…”

Jin looked her way, and smirked at her. After all, we were in the third row. He could probably see us well from up there. I punched Viva. “You idiot, he heard you!”

Viva glanced at me, and then looked back up at Jin. She shrugged. “Good.”

Junnosuke took the mic. I stood at full attention, before realizing they were going to sing another song. The sound of computerized beeping filled the hall.

“They’re going to sing ‘Signal’! Yes!” I yelled.

KAT-TUN began to do their synchronized dance, and Kazuya and Junnosuke began to sing. “Chika chika ahhh! Hey girl, oshiete…donna, yume mitte…” Junnosuke and Kazuya tilted their heads as they sang, like they were contemplating something. Jin spun and pulled his hat over one eye as he did a twist-to-the-floor dance with Tatsuya Ueda. Everyone cracked up when Koki jumped on Nakamaru’s shoulders, grinning his rare Koki grin. The song finished all too soon, and they went on singing all the songs I happened to love, such as ‘White X-mas’ and ‘Smile,’ ‘Real Face’ and finally ‘Rescue’. When they sang ‘White X-mas’, fake snow fell from the ceiling, and the crowd was silent. Some girls in the audience cried. They all just looked so mournful and innocent, like snow angels or something. When they sang ‘Rescue,’ the lights were dark and gray, the stage filled with smoke.

“I’ll rescue you…” Bakanishi murmured.

“With this vibe…” Nakamaru rasped into the mic.

Then Kame continued. “I don’t wanna cry alone-” The music started with a techno pop bang, they burst into dance with a dark and street-teen sense.

I love it how they try so hard to speak English when they have no idea how to. By the time Koki began rapping, the crowd was so loud...jeez… And soon enough, they each did their solo dances.

Taguchi’s was peppy and upbeat, totally his personality. Kamenashi’s was professional and full of sharp emotion. Ueda’s was smooth and girly and it made me want to cry.

“What is the man’s issue??” Viva screamed in my ear.

“I have no idea!” I shouted blissfully back. I was in J-Pop dreamland.

When they announced (well, Jin really, because he was the only one who knew some English) that the time was now eleven o’clockand the concert was ending, the crowd all groaned one solid, “NOOOO!!!”

The KAT-TUN members all looked at each other and laughed. Jin raised the mic. “We thank you sincerely for coming.”

I made a face and mimicked him in a baby voice. “We thank you sincerely. What a dope.” Viva giggled and shushed me.

“-hope you enjoyed the concert! We look forward to coming back in the future, but for now we will be leaving in a week to travel back to Tokyo. The best to you all. Good night, New York!” He jerked a nod at the crowd before the lights went out with a roar from the crowd. Everyone began filtering out of the hall, murmuring loudly and excitedly. Viva and I just sat there in our seats, faces flushed with exhilaration and throats aching from screaming so much. We didn’t want it to end.

“Ah, well.” Viva said, making me jump. “I guess we’d better head back to the hotel.”

I stretched my arms over my head. “Weren’t they great, though? Except for Mr. Baka. But otherwise, I applaud them on a job well done.”

She nodded dreamily, still in a haze, before snapping out of it and looking around. “Hey, everyone’s left. We’d better get going.”

We got up reluctantly, straightening our clothes and picking up our purses. Just then, one of the girls from the group behind us- the ones who had watched our stuff when we’d gone to the bathroom- spoke. She was petite and fair-skinned, with large cerulean blue eyes. “Hey…do you really dislike Jin that much?”

“Yes.” I said stoutly, earning an exasperated look from Viva. “What? I’m sorry if it’s blunt, but it’s true! The man bothers me by breathing.” And then a thought occurred to me. What if this girl was a part of the ‘Prince Jin’ fanbase? Seriously! I did NOT want my life to end early. “I mean…he’s quite…uh…”

“It’s cool.” She told me, grinning. She had white, even teeth. “To each her own. I’m Claire, by the way. Eighteen and here on vacation. You?”

“Ari McKenna, commonly known as Ari. I’m eighteen and here for the same reason- with my homie Viva, of course.”

“Ari, shut up.” Said homie turned to Claire, ignoring my scandalized look. “Yes, I’m Viva Brent.” She rolled her eyes at me. “And Ari is naturally like this. Don’t ask me why, she’s just special.”

I wanted to hit her, but decided it wouldn’t be ladylike or considerate. Anyways, I was so above all of that. (Right.)

“Pleasure.” Claire gathered up her long straw-colored blond hair into a high pony, snapping an electric blue scrunchie into place. “I’m staying here with my two friends also- hey, people! Get over here!”

The two girls sitting a little down the row, who were ‘ooh’ing and laughing at the pictured they’d taken on their cameras of the concert, glanced up. “What, Claire-bear?”

“Don’t call me that.” Claire stomped her foot, looking like she dealt with this every day.

“But you’re so cute and cuddly.” The one with the short dark hair cooed. She wore a fitted leather jacket with dark wash jeans and a white lacy tank top. When she crossed her legs, I could see the sleek black flats she wore, which had little bows by the toes.

The girl with the auburn hair slung into two low pigtails nodded, putting her fists to her cheeks in utter aegyo. “Yes, just like a teddy bear.”

“Casey and Kiri, I’m gonna kill you two in your sleep!!”

“Jeez. Okay, okay, coming.” The one with the auburn hair muttered, stashing her camera away in her (Hollister, I noticed) bag. She had on a deep purple minidress paired with black leggings that had purple designs down the sides. Purple and black bangles adorned both of her wrists- and I could not even count the number of rings on her fingers. “No one can make jokes around here anymore.”

“Kiri, that was old. Old jokes do not apply.” Claire rolled her eyes, turning back to us. “The one wearing purple and has the pigtails is Kiri. The one going for the rock-star-gone-sophisticated look is Casey. I’m sorry. They’re children.” She confided this in a mock whisper.

“Hey!” The two said ‘children’ cried out in unanimous protest.

“Ooh! So is Ari!” Viva clapped her hands over in simulated shock.

“Oh em gee! Twins!” Claire squealed, hugging Viva. Casey, Kiri, and I just stood there with our mouths open.

“What the heck.” Casey finally managed to squeak out indignantly. I nodded vigorously in agreement. What the heck, indeed. Conspirators!

“How could you say such things?” I told them, Kiri joining my side and pouting.

“Oh, it was easy.” Viva smirked. Then we all dropped the joke, laughing and beginning to talk about the concert. Turns out, they were also interested in things of the J and K variety. We chatted until the hall was nearly empty, finding out that Claire, Casey, and Kiri were staying at Casey’s older sister’s place and that they were all eighteen, and also that their favorite bands in the history of the planet were 2PM and Super Junior. This was totally okay with me. No clashing crushes. Whoozah. Well, except maybe Nickhun. Or Taec. Or Wooyoung or Junho or Eunhyuk.

OKAY Ari, just shut up now...jeez…anyone with abs…

“Here, let’s trade numbers.” I said, taking out my phone.

Everyone else followed, and we hugged goodbye with promises of going out one night in the city.
 

-OOO-

K-Pop coming soon...

~Jaiya~