LOVE & ANIME

Chapter Eight

Darren stepped into Natsuo Tengan's office with Mimiko in tow to see Natsuo talking with a younger woman. At first, he thought the woman was one of Natsuo's employees he was speaking to. However, the casual and overly-friendly way he was talking to her suggested she was anything but an employee. Darren began thinking that maybe this was a mistress of some sort judging how younger and cute she looked. But then, as Darren himself had noticed since he'd been in Japan, there didn't seem to be a shortage of women in that country who looked younger and cute. But whoever this young woman was and why she was there in his office wasn't really any of his business. Natsuo turned his head and smiled when he saw Darren standing there.

"Oh, Darren," he said to him. "Konnichiwa."

"Konnichiwa," Darren replied as he bowed his head. He then turned to Mimiko and said, "And this is Mimiko Suzuki."

"Oh," Natsuo said, his eyes wide, "you must be the member of that group that Darren has been seeing."

"Hai," Mimiko replied politely. She then bowed and added, "Hajimemashte."

"Hajimemashte," Natsuo answered politely as he bowed in return. "And this is my wife Yumi."

Yumi gave a great big smile as she bowed respectfully at them and replied, "Hajimemashte."

"Hajimemashte," Mimiko said again as she bowed again.

Natsuo turned to his wife and spoke to her in Japanese. She smiled as she responded. Natsuo then pointed at Mimiko as he spoke some more in Japanese. Yumi looked excitedly at Mimiko, especially when she handed her the autographed band photo Natsuo had asked for his wife. Yumi happily took the photo as she bowed her head repeatedly while she and Mimiko kept conversing. While Mimiko spoke with Yumi, Natsuo began speaking with Darren.

"So I saw that viral video of yours," Natsuo said to him.

"Which video are you talking about?"

"The one of you stopping that chikan from touching that girl on the train."

"Oh."

"You know, that should bring some more publicity for your show."

"Well, I wasn't thinking about any of that when it happened. I was just wanting to stop that bastard from groping that girl."

"Yes, I know." He nodded. "Listen, I have a daughter of my own, and if some chikan ever touched her like that, I would want to rip his filthy arm off."

"Yeah."

There was a pause between them, and then Natsuo gave him an update on the creation of his show. While they were talking, Darren would glance over at Mimiko talking with Yumi. Yumi was understandably excited to meet and be speaking face-to-face with her idol Mimiko. And Mimiko couldn't have been nicer to her. He marveled at how well she interacted with other people and not just her fans. She had certainly treated him well since they had first met. In fact, if it wasn't for her, he likely would have been holed up in his hotel room when he wasn't doing interviews. And he was grateful to her for it. After they left Natsuo's office, Darren turned to Mimiko and asked her, "Do you have anything planned right now.?"

"No, not really." She gave him a curious look. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I thought I'd make it up to you for being such a buzzkill yesterday."

She shook his head. "Listen, you don't have to apologize for anything. I understand."

"Still, I think I've found the perfect way to make it up to you."

"Oh really?" she replied, sounding intrigued. "What do you have in mind?"

He grinned at her. "It's a surprise."