Aki started the show with a call to the audience, introducing Guardian and asking everyone to gather. He talked about the summer tour while he waited, getting everyone excited to attend as many shows as they could. "We're going to open softly tonight with a song that I wrote a cappella." He said. "Those of you in the front row may be able to see that I'm still suffering with healing broken ribs." He tugged the front of his yukata open slightly more to show the audience the bruises. "I'll be sitting down as much as I can during the show, but I will sing with all my heart, I promise." He clapped his hands together in a prayer and bowed to the audience, earning himself a gentle applause, and retreated to the stool.
He sang with everything in him. Even sitting still, he commanded attention and I along with everyone else couldn't take our eyes off of him. He closed his eyes, he swayed his body, his hands floated on the imaginary bars of music in the air, and he drew us into his secret world with every song. They played together in perfect harmony, the skill they had from ten years of playing together polished and glowing. They were seamless, knowing each other's cues and subtle body language, and I watched with ambition to learn how to fit them perfectly as well. The sun began to set as the night grew longer, the shrine behind them reflecting the golden light, the cherry blossoms in high contrast against the sky. And Guardian framed in the middle of it.
Between the last few songs, Aki addressed the crowd. "How is the show so far?" He asked, laughing, but it was apparent he was becoming breathless. Kota handed him a bottle of water from behind him. He took a drink from it, pausing a moment to catch his breath before coming back to the microphone. He faced my direction, and I knew he was about to call on me to sing with him. He leaned forward slightly, folding his arms across his chest as if to give his aching ribs some support. "Natsuko my love?" He said. Some soft clapping came from the crowd. He looked directly at me, and even though he was speaking into the microphone, performing for everyone else, his voice was for me alone. "Will you sing with me?"
I stepped up to the microphone, meeting Aki bowing to me, the audience applause in the background of my mind. All I could hear was Aki as we stood together, facing each other at the microphone, leaning in so closely to each other he could have stolen a kiss from me and no one would have seen it. I fell into step with him so naturally, as if the only thing we had ever done together was sing, but I realized as easy as it had become, it was because each time we sang together, I knew him better. I had more experience of him to guide me through his motions, allowing me to match them, and every time I felt closer to him. When the song finished, he reached for the back of my neck from where we stood, and pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed. He took a few deep breaths there, and I held his hips as if I could help support him. I blocked out everything else around me, every sense I had honing in on Aki. He was damp with sweat, the spring warmth and humidity closing in around us, his injury causing extra strain on him as he tried to breathe through singing. He smiled wide in that moment with our foreheads together, an expression of true happiness, and I couldn't help but be infected by it.
His grip on the back of my neck was steadfast as he reached his other hand to grab the top of my obi to pull my body closer, kissing me in that way he did with hunger, breathing me in deeply. The audience was already applauding the song, and I couldn't be sure if they noticed. "Natsu, that was perfect." He said so every time.
The rest of Guardian joined us at the microphone, hooking arms around each other, all of us framing Aki. "We look forward to seeing you all during the summer tour." He said to the crowd. "I'll be screaming again for you in no time." He grabbed the microphone with both hands and I felt him brace himself, every muscle in his body tensing. He took a deep breath and from somewhere deep within the last of his energy, his animalistic scream came. "We! Are! Guardian!"
The crowd dissipated slowly, and the band made time to say goodnight to everyone who made an effort to get their attention. Aki remained seated, nodding bows and waving to fans as they passed. I had begun to help Fuji take apart and pack his small drum kit. "The show was so amazing." I said to him.
He nodded proudly, agreeing with me. "Thank you. I thought it was too. And your songs with Aki are always something to see." He said. He stared over my shoulder, and I turned my gaze to see what he was looking at. "Thief alert." He laughed quietly, making sure only I could hear his comment.
Rinna had joined us lingering in the darkening evening, and had embraced Aki in a congratulatory way. I looked back to Fuji. "Do you think she really could steal him?" I was more jealous than worried.
Fuji shook his head, laughing loudly, then hushed himself, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Absolutely not." He said, as if it was the most obvious answer. "Aki only sees you."
"That's what she told me as well."
"Besides." He looked at me sternly, like a father scolding a child. "They had one drunken night together more than ten years ago. If anything were to come of that, it had plenty of time."
I nodded reservedly. "One night with Aki is really all it takes though." I laughed to myself.
It was midnight by the time Aki pulled the car into the driveway at his house in Kamakura. I took Aki's bags from him and brought them to the bedroom, quickly making my way back to the kitchen to start making tea. I had a determination to do as much for Aki as I could to let him rest. I poured the tea at the kitchen counter, and felt his body closing in on me as he leaned into my back, reaching around me to take a cup.
"It's really too bad my house doesn't have a bath." He said, letting his weight rest against my back. I could feel how warm his skin was through the thin cotton of the yukata.
"Is there an onsen still open?"
"At midnight in Kamakura?" He chuckled. "I thought you said you lived here your whole life. Anyway, have you forgotten what I look like naked? I will gladly remind you." I knew he was referring to his tattoos not being allowed at most public onsen, especially in a town like Kamakura which was still very old fashioned.
I turned to face him under his weight, wrapping my arms around his back. I knew how much pain he was feeling, but I held him tightly anyway, pressing my cheek into the front of his shoulder. He seemed to take the cue from the desperation in my hold on him, and pressed one hand into my back, the other cradling the back of my head. "I know." He said into my ear, as if answering my unspoken thoughts.
We decided we had both had enough of the day, though it was already turning into the next one, and stripped off our yukata to retreat to bed. Our skin was still slick with the sweat of the hot day, and we lay atop the blankets on the futon, myself in my sports bra and bike shorts that I had on under my yukata, and Aki in his boxers. Aki had turned on the air pump in the room and it softly blew cool air over us during the night. I slept soundly in Aki's arms, against his body, the familiarity of how he felt, how he smelled, how he rhythmically drew breath, allowing me to relax.
Aki didn't stir all night. No 2am phone call, no movement at all, and we woke in the same position we had fallen asleep in at seven am. Aki was excited to drink coffee and eat breakfast at the same little cafe by the shrine that we always seemed to find ourselves in when we returned to Kamakura. The setting of what had secretly been our second date.
As we walked to the entrance of the cafe, Aki handed me his phone. "Hang on to this for me. If it rings or I get a message you can answer if you want to."
I held the phone out in my hand, confused at the gesture. "Why?"
He held the door open so I could enter the cafe first. "I'm just tired of distractions." Was all he said.
I sat down at a table in the corner while Aki went to the counter to order. I watched him as he interacted with the barista, a young girl who seemed to recognize him. They chatted happily, smiles on both of their faces, for a moment. Aki turned halfway around, looked for a beat until his eyes landed on me, and he pointed. The barista waved and smiled wide at me, and I returned it to her, deciding that she must have asked Aki if I was with him.
He returned to the table setting down a coffee cup in front of me, and one in front of himself. "She recognized me." He said. "She's a big fan of Guardian. She likes my hair black too."
I laughed at him faking timidness. "I figured that's what was going on. What did you order?"
"Eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, salad, and fruit. I thought we can just share it all."
I nodded, content with his decision, and was startled by a vibration against my thigh coming from my bag. I peered inside to see Aki's phone ringing, Kota's name on the screen. I held it up so Aki could see. "It's Kota." I said, and he smiled, leaning back with his coffee cup in hand. I answered the phone. "Good morning Kota."
"Natsuko?" I was surprised to hear the voice on the other end of the phone was a woman's, not Kota's at all. "Ah, it's Rinna."
"Rinna?" I repeated, having a hard time understanding the situation. Aki looked hard at me from across the table, seeming just as surprised as I was. "Are you using Kota's phone?"
"Yes." Her reply was hesitant. "My phone isn't working right now, so I asked to borrow Kota's. I was trying to contact Aki. Are you with him?"
Silently, I pointed to the phone then to Aki to signal to him that she wanted to talk to him. Aki mouthed the words 'hang up'. I quickly hung up the phone, not sure what else to do, and looked to Aki for some kind of instruction on what to do next. He held his hand out, and I put the phone in it. "What just happened?" I asked him.
He had the phone to his ear already, and gave me a side glance to tell me he knew exactly what happened and was annoyed by it. "Fuji, are you with Kota? Good, put him on." He was silent for a moment. "Kota, Rinna just used your phone to call me, because I was dodging her. Natsuko had my phone, she picked up because she thought it was you calling." He paused between thoughts, listening to what Kota was saying. "I'm just turning my phone off until we get back to Tokyo, so if you guys need anything, call Natsu, and don't give her number to anyone."
He hung up the phone definitively, turned it off, and handed it back to me. I put it back in my bag, offering my own phone to him. "Do you want to hang onto mine?"
He held up a hand to stop me. "No one's going to call." He said. He sipped his coffee a few times, seemingly thinking about the conversation. "She started sending me messages last night right after the show." He said to me after a while, beginning the explanation. "I replied once telling her I obviously wasn't interested, but she took the fact that I replied at all as a green light. Messages and calls all night. I had turned my phone off just before we went to bed last night."
"That's why you didn't talk to Kota at 2am."
He nodded. "I guess once she realized I wasn't going to talk to her, she tried to see if I would answer a call from Kota." He leaned forward on the table seriously. "I'm sorry, I gave you my phone because I didn't want to deal with her, but I shouldn't have put that on you. I also wanted her to know that we're together out here, so I kind of hoped she would have called and you would have answered. I shouldn't have put that on you either."
"What does she want?" I knew the answer before I asked the question, but I wanted him to confirm my suspicion.
He laughed. "You know what she wants." He said. "And she won't take no for an answer. She was the same way ten years ago."
"How did you make her stop back then?" I couldn't understand the desperation Rinna must have felt, but I wondered what kind of story she told herself in her mind to convince herself that she could still earn a place at Aki's side. It scared me to think of what she might try to do to get rid of me, her only competition.
"I got her drunk and brought her to bed." He was embarrassed by the answer, I could tell, but his desire to tell the truth to me was winning over saving face. "Rinna is desperate at times, but she's not like Aya Sato if that's what you're thinking." Aki said. "On Monday I have to help teach her about what's going on in the studio and start rehearsing for the tour, so I'm going to talk to her." I hadn't been aware of my train of thought, but when Aki was able to pinpoint it so easily, I realized I had been more traumatized from the attack and the events leading up to it than I thought I was. "In any case, it's eight in the morning and it's our one year anniversary, so let's just focus on us today."
I nodded in agreement, glad for the chance to change the subject. I held my coffee cup with both hands, suddenly feeling shy to talk to Aki. "Do you consider the day we met to be the beginning of our relationship?"
He laughed with his breath, leaning onto his elbow atop the table to rest his chin in his hand. "After spending time with you that day, I kept making up excuses to stay with you longer. I gave you my phone number to test how interested you were in me, because I was already interested in you."
I looked into my coffee cup, still cradled between both my hands. "It was either the first day we met or the day I invited you into my apartment."
I could see his smile grow wider out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't look up at him. Thinking back on it, I was embarrassed that I had acted so quickly. The event that I had initiated changed my life, but it could have also changed it in a different way. "Natsu, don't be embarrassed. You knew what you wanted." Aki said, interrupting my train of thought. "I knew at the time you had already made up your mind about me. Although that night did kind of seal the deal, didn't it." He tilted his head back slightly, looking down at me, still resting his chin in his hand. He winked.