Chapter 2 

I had my stage outfit on. It was a one-piece dress with a mini skirt. I had less glitter and neon colors on my outfit as it was supposed to be sophisticated in a way. My stylists tried to bring down my glitter a bit without making me lose my style. I still had a colorful make up and my hair was let down and straightened with light pink highlights. I sighed and entered the studio with my guitar in one hand. 

After my manager sent in the questionnaire they had asked for me to bring my guitar. Since I couldn’t play an electric guitar on the show without plugging it up, I brought my acoustic guitar instead. 

I first spotted the Arashi members. They were talking with the other two emcees of the show. They seemed like friendly ladies. I was ushered towards my waiting room by a staff member and they took my guitar. 
After they shot the opening I stood behind the veil waiting to be called. 

They were going through my first impressions. 

“Ohno- ‘His voice is amazing.’” 

“Well that’s normal,” one of them said. 

“Aiba-‘he needs to stop getting bullied by other members.’” 

“That’s not bullying. It’s how we show our love.” I believed the voice belonged to Sakurai-san. 

“Matsujun-‘he seems like a DoS.’” 

Everyone laughed aloud at this while Matsujun said “Eeehhh?” 

“Sho-‘he seems intelligent. But doesn’t act like it.’” 

“That’s true.”I believed Nino said. 

“But most of her impressions are normal.” Ohno added. 

“Nino-‘his sarcasm will one day bite him back’” It read. 

“EEEHHH?!” Nino said, sounding mad. Well, I hated sarcastic people like him. I was sarcastic, too but his remarks seemed a bit hurtful. 

“Well, other than the leader, she had pretty much negative impressions about us!” Sho said in a perfect MC way to keep the show going. It was obvious that he was experienced with hosting shows. “Let’s welcome today’s VIP guest- Akemi-san!” he shouted and the curtain in front of me blew open and confetti started flying everywhere. I walked down the stairs with a smile on my face as the guests screamed happily. 

“Hello. Akemi-chan desu!” I said happily, towards the audience. I was surprised to see some people in the audience with a visual-kei appearance. I thought only Arashi fangirls were allowed in here. 

“There are many things we don’t know about Akemi-chan, ne?” Aiba said. 

“Yes, is this your first variety appearance?” Sho asked me. 

“No. This is my second time actually. Well, I’m actually very nervous right now so yoroshiku onegaishimassu.” I said as politely as I could. I was on TV after all. Well, I wasn’t really rude in reality either I just was not fond of these hosts. 

“So your impression on Ohno-kun is nice but the rest is just, what’s the word- bitter.” Matsujun said. 

“Yeah, would you care to elaborate on your impressions?” Sho added. 
Exactly what I was waiting for. I was going to prove them that I meant no harm with those impressions. 

“Well, Sho-san is really smart but dorky and well that’s what your fans love about you. This is not something negative. It’s your charm.” 

“Well for Matsumoto-san,” I looked at him for a second, “he really seems like a DoS person. That is his nickname by the fans.” 

I turned towards Aiba with a smile, “Aiba-san seems very nice and naïve. So on TV it seems like he gets abused by the crew. I mean his Aibaland experiments were awesome in my opinion but they all ended up as deleted scenes.” 

“For Ohno-san well he has a really nice voice. I would love to sing a collab with him.” I sighed, “As for Ninomiya-san, well, his sarcastic remarks seem a bit mean to me.” I said. He was the only one that I could not think positively of. 

“Well, those videos sure did make me look really mean,” Nino said jokingly referring to the VTR they showed. 

“So you just have a negative impression of Nino but like everyone else.” Ohno concluded, smiling sheepishly. 

“Hai.” I said with a bright smile and a nod. Nino was throwing daggers at me with his eyes while smiling. How could he even manage to have an expression like that? The other members just saw this as a way to tease Nino, as he usually was everyone’s favorite. 

“Well, then, It is my mission to make you change your mind and choose me at the end of the show!” Ninomiya said for the sake of variety. However it seemed like deep down he was really determined to do so. I threw that thought out the window; a sarcastic guy like him wouldn’t be able to feel hurt after my simple criticism. 

After this talk we moved to our seats and they brought in a cut out cardboard of my body which was the cover photo of my latest single. It had five stickers on it and they all read certain titles. 

“The thing she despises the most is-“ 

“A factor that she looks in a guy is-“ 

“Her surprising is-“ 

“A musician is not a musician unless he can-“ 

“The thing that she wants to accomplish before she dies-“ 

These were the titles that read on my cardboard. Aiba-san seemed excited to pull one out. The female emcees introduced the subject which was to “Get to know the Mysterious Akemi-chan!~” It seemed a bit lame but what else could they do? No one knew anything about me. Aiba got up and pulled the first one. 

“The thing that she despises the most is—‘A women that doesn’t know how to cook’.” 

I heard a few “eeehh???”s from the audience and Matsujun remarked “ii-na.” 

“You don’t seem like the traditional type now Akemi-chan!~” Aiba said. 
When did we get on the chan terms now? 

“Well, you must know how to cook since you are so brave enough to say this,” Nino remarked. This kid. Of course I did. Why would I say that if I did not know? 

“Of course. Well, my family was very traditional so I grew up with those values. So I cannot forgive women who cannot cook. They don’t have to be perfect at it, but they need to be able to feed the family after all.”

“So for this we actually brought in a set to have a cooking contest between Arashi and Akemi-chan!” One of the MCs said as the staff brought in the equipment. 

“Sure.” I said, and the boys acted excited as ever. 

I looked at the ingredients before me. I had to cook something fast and tasty. I decided to make Yaki Udon. I quickly started to boil the Udon in a pan while I diced and fried various vegetables and meat. Arashi, well, Matsujun mostly were cooking but experimenting a weird food. But it did smell good. 

Not the time to get distracted! 

I continued on with my cooking. After adding the soy sauce I tasted it. It came out pretty good. 

Arashi boys came and tasted my food while I tasted theirs. Even thought it wasn’t technically a real food it tasted surprisingly good. 

“Ume!” Ohno said and ate more. The rest also expressed their liking for the food. 

“Oishiii.” I said, “Surprisingly, Arashi can cook,” I gave them thumbs up. 
The next one was Sho-san’s turn. He chose the third one. “Her is the lover arms of guys.” 

“Eh? Why not the upper part? Isn’t it where all the muscle is?” Aiba asked shocked. 

“Well, I like the lower part of the arms and the inside part where the veins are visible.” I said blushing deeply. I had never talked about my es out loud like this. 

“So what kind of arm does it have to be for you to like?” Sho asked. 

“It needs to be firm but the veins need to be visible, you know when it kind of pops up,” I tried to explain. 

“Well let’s see whose arms are to your taste.” Some were already wearing short sleeves and Aiba and Nino had to pull up their sleeves. This was embarrassing, staring at their arms which were extended towards me to see. I liked Ohno’s the most… Oh! Sho’s were nice, too. The other three’s arms were too skinny. 

“Um…” 

“Tell the ones that you don’t like first.” Matsujun suggested. 

“Yours, Aiba-san’s and Nino-san’s are just… yada…” I said, shaking my head. “But I do like Ohno and Sho-san’s” I continued. 

“yatta!!” the winner duo said at the same time. They seriously were dorky and… cute. The loser trio just pouted. 

It was Nino’s turn to choose a sticker. “A musician is not a musician unless he can play an instrument.” 

“So are you saying that Aiba-chan is not a musician?” Nino joked. 

“Eh?! No I didn’t mean it that way. You guys are pop singers. I mean for the people who are in bands or doing rock music. I think even the vocal needs to be able to play you know.” 

“We actually have her guitar here so if you could play a song for us…” Matsushima Nahomi, the blonde MC, said. 

“Sure.” I said. They had told me beforehand that I was to play an Arashi song to surprise them. I had chosen “Love So Sweet”. It had to be an acoustic song so it was easier to convert this one plus it was a popular song. When I started playing they seemed extremely happy and surprised that I had chosen their song. They even started to sing along. 

But then, Ninomiya suddenly stood up and went backstage. He was such a rude person! I did not stop playing of course. How could he leave in the middle of filming? But then a few second later I saw him walk back to the stage with a guitar in his hand playing along to the song with me. I was extremely surprised! And I was moved by his actions. 

So this is what he had meant when he said he would make me like him at the end of the show. No, I was not going to give up. But… he played it so well… And, he matched my rhythm so perfectly. Well, after all he has been in this business for 10 years now. I did not need to be shocked. He suddenly looked at me directly in the eyes and my heart did a crazy flip inside. I did not reflect my emotions on my face but what was wrong with me?! 

Next, after our little performance, it was MatsuJun’s turn to choose a sticker. 

“A factor that she looks in a guy is, glasses. Eh? Hontouni?” He asked surprised. 

“Not that they need to wear it all the time but you know while they are at home, or reading or even just for fashion when guys put on glasses I think they look very attractive and cute.” 

“Well we all know MatsuJun and Nino looks good in glasses.” Sho said. 
Then, the two tried on the glasses. They did look pretty good in them, especially Ninomiya. I told them they looked better with the glasses and we moved on to the last one. It was Ohno’s turn. 

“The thing that she wants to accomplish before she dies is to become number one in the Oricon charts. Oh, her single ‘PINKxxAGONY’ is on sales right now so check it out!” This was the last one and it included the promotional information. Every guest needed to have one after all. 
And then they asked me to choose my favorite Arashi. 

Everyone probably thought that I would choose Nino. After all he did sing a song with me. Plus, he was the best looking one with the glasses… 

I lingered behind Ninomiya for a bit but then jumped towards Ohno and flung my arms around his shoulders really quickly and pulled back. He stood up with his hands in the air with a victory pose. I looked at Nino who looked a bit annoyed so I looked away. Why did I care about what he thought anyways? 

I thanked Arashi and the MCs and we concluded the show. Once the cameras stopped rolling I bowed towards them thanking them for having me on the show and leading me along the way. After all it was nice and a custom to thank them right? 

I looked up and met Aiba’s gaze. “It was nice meeting you Akemi-chan. I was wondering the whole time, is that your real name or your stage name?” he asked. If you were wondering why did you not just Google it? He was a very nice guy and I did not have anything against him so I did not dare say my remark out loud. 

“It’s my real name.” I said. 

“Hontou? What does it mean?” 

“C’mon Aiba-chan it’s a very famous name.” Ohno said, “It means ‘bright beauty’” He smiled at me and I blushed. I thought it was an embarrassing name. Then, I met Ninomiya’s gaze. I looked at him firmly in the eyes but my heart did that weird flipping thing again. As if he knew the dilemma I was going through, he smirked and looked away. That little— 

“Don’t mind Nino, he can seem like a cold person but he is actually a nice guy.” Ohno said defending s, as if he had seen the disappointment in my eyes. 

“Oh, no I don’t really care.” I said trying to fake a smile. 

I thanked everyone and went back to my house. 

What a day! Now I needed to see my boss the next day and talk about this apartment of mine.