Kota's apartment was a few stops away at the other end of Omotesando, and although it was a walkable distance on a nice day in optimal health, Aki and I took the train carrying a couple bags of take out food and bottles of strong cold tea. Unlike the building Aki and I lived in, Kota had chosen a high-rise, and it reminded me of a hotel. Although the rest of Guardian had been around to visit us at home, I had never seen where any of them lived after we had all moved to Tokyo.

Kota opened the door after Aki knocked to reveal himself shirtless, his face looking pale and his hair tangled. "Look who it is." He said. "Angels. I must have died after all."

Aki reached for his shoulder to clamp his hand atop it and give him a small shake, pushing him back into the apartment. The space was small, just like a hotel room would have been, and everything was decorated in matching shades of beige and light gray. It was uncharacteristic of Kota to be neutral, but I thought he might have chosen the palette to contrast his personality.

Kota had set the bag on the kitchen counter and fished for a bottle of tea as he struggled to pull a large t-shirt over his head. "This is going to bring me back to life!" Aki started opening containers of food, and Kota armed with his bottle of tea, became excited to be alive again. Most of what we brought was hangover food, oily noodles and grilled meat, but we also brought a balance of salads and raw vegetables.

Aki handed me a bottle of tea, and my stomach growled as I began to smell the food. Kota pulled up a few folding chairs around the kitchen counter, and set utensils down. "I don't really have a dining table or anything, no one comes over to eat." He said. I sat and started putting a serving of food for myself onto a plate, but Aki remained standing and leaned against the counter with his arms folded. Kota and I both watched him with the same expression. "You look like you have something to say."

"What Yamada told me on the phone was astounding, and I'm angry about it." Aki began, looking as though he didn't know how to experience anger. I could count the amount of times I had actually witnessed him navigate harsh emotions on one hand, and every one of those instances were in my defense. "There's a pretty hefty rumor in the label right now that I'm involved in illegal activity, and a gang of some kind."

Kota put down his utensils and seemed to completely loose interest in his food, giving his full attention to Aki. "Just you? Or Guardian?"

"It sounds like it's only concerning me. Only my name was being thrown around." He paused to cast his gaze toward me with a forceful expression. "Yamada also said there are a lot of quiet accusations circulating about you and I."

I had heard Aki mention before that my endeavor to go dark had lead to him getting questioned about our relationship, but I had assumed that he cleared up any doubt of whether I was still in the picture immediately. "Is it just within the label? People see me there all the time."

"No, that question always comes from the fans." Kota inserted himself back into the conversation. "We all get asked if you're still around. No one trusts that Aki would tell the truth, because he answers so quickly."

The thing that struck me the hardest about the accusation was not what was said about Aki. "Guardian doesn't belong on this label." I said. "You are all so down to earth, and the rest of the bands under the label have so much drama."

Kota pointed across the table at me, but looked at Aki. "She's so right."

Aki hesitated a moment. I could tell he wanted to spit his rebuttal instantly, but he also wanted to think about if he was going to change his opinion. "I wonder if it's possible to change labels now." He said. "We already made our major debut with the tour."

"That's a dangerous idea, Aki." Kota offered. "We worked for ten years to get signed to a major label."

"Now you have evidence of all your success though. Any other label would recognize that and want to take you on, wouldn't they?" I wasn't entirely sure how label jumping worked in real life. My university education on the matter only covered the logistics of signing to one label.

Aki sighed heavily, looking up at the ceiling. "Life was really just getting so simple. We have to talk about this all together."