I kept quiet about Fuji's remarks about Aki, deciding to trust the things that Aki had voluntarily told me about his life before we met. He was transparent about everything, and while he didn't always offer up information until I asked him for it, I believed that it was, like he said, the result of what he considered important and what he didn't. I recognized that our trust in each other was a recurring subject that was challenged in our lives, but I didn't understand why the outside world wanted so badly to find some evidence that we weren't trustworthy. I supposed it was the cost of being in the limelight, and being someone that everyone else either wanted to be or wanted for themselves. The idea that somehow hurting the image that was presented to the public eye made the person less sought after, and easier target, was terrifying.

The last label in Osaka was like the others. They offered Guardian a contract, and enjoyed a complimentary performance. The magazine journalists were waiting for us in a conference room, bowing and shaking hands with every one of us as we filed in to join them. Although the interviewers had specific questions targeting each of us, they invited us all together, making the experience a group discussion. I wondered if it was a strategy to study the reactions and expressions of the other band members when a question was asked to gauge if the answer was the truest representation. I was worried, and I wasn't sure why. It was as if their tactics to turn us against each other were working before they even began.

"Get out of your head." Aki said to me as we sat down with the journalists. He leaned in close to me to speak into my ear, keeping his comment just between us. "Just sit here with me." He lead me with the hold he had on my hand to the chairs furthest from where the journalists sat. I knew it was a purposeful decision to take the spotlight off of himself, since he was aware he would be the hot topic of the interview.

"Aki, we have a lot of questions that are directed at you personally." One of the journalists said, while the room settled into the atmosphere. "And some that include Natsuko as well. Should we start there?" Aki nodded, but folded his arms across his chest. It felt like a gesture that said he was on guard. The interviewer nodded in return with a smile. She seemed like she would approach the questions gently, but her colleague didn't have quite the same energy. "Congratulations on your recent marriage. One of the topics that comes up frequently is Natsuko's age. It became public knowledge early that she's a university student, and you celebrated your twenty-seventh birthday with your fans in November."

Aki half turned in his chair toward me. "Maybe you should take this question." He was turned away from the interviewer, and I knew the amused expression on his face was for me only.

I wasn't entirely sure what the question was. I wasn't used to the way the interviewers asked for information indirectly, and I was suddenly nervous I would say the wrong thing. I wasn't sure if I wanted to disclose information about the intimate life I lived with Aki, but I told myself I was being hyper vigilant because of the comment Kota made.

"I'm twenty years old." I said.

"Aki, she's too young for you." Kota chimed in, leaning over to slap Aki's knee, in an attempt to take the pressure off. Aki laughed, but lowered his gaze.

The interviewer spoke up again. "Natsuko, you've been on the scene with Guardian for a couple of years now. Did Aki keep you a secret for a while?"

"Not at all. He started introducing me to everyone right away." Somehow I found myself becoming excited to talk about the small details, despite having been nervous about it only a few moments before.

"Had you already started university when you met Aki?"

I looked at him, seeking his approval, hoping he would understand without asking him how much he was comfortable with disclosing. "You tell them whatever you want, love, I'm not going to deny anything." He said.

"I was in high school when we met. I was eighteen."

Fuji joined in with Kota teasing Aki. "Aki! You cradle robber."

"I didn't know how old she was." Aki pointed at Fuji accusingly, even though he was the one being accused. "And you guys knew that already, this isn't news." He address the interviewer. "Natsuko has been part of the Guardian family from the beginning. These guys take care of her like a little sister, and I'm grateful for it. We don't have any secrets from each other, and we take care of each other like any other family does."

"Aki, did you say you didn't know how old Natsuko was when you met?" The interviewer asked, seeming overly curious about the passing comment.

"When you meet someone for the first time, do you ask how old they are immediately?" Aki replied with his own question. "It wasn't a deciding factor in my desire to get to know her, and I was already in love with her when I found out."

"That sounds like it took some time before you were aware of your age difference."

"I fell in love quickly." He waved his hand dismissively. "It's only seven years. I feel like that's a common kind of age gap these days."

I realized they were good at turning difficult questions into common topics of conversation, a skill they must have perfected from all the years they spent dodging attempts to force them to reveal sensitive information. "Of all the rumours that I've heard and formulated questions from, there is absolutely no information about how you and Natsuko met."

"You're right, I don't think we've ever talked about it publicly." Aki said. "We met at the shrine in Kamakura, quite by accident. It was actually me that approached her. I was taking pictures, and I saw her by herself drinking coffee, and I thought she was so beautiful and perfect. I wanted to get to know her."

"You're all from Kamakura, aren't you?" The interviewer followed up. Everyone nodded. "But Aki, I've heard a different story about you."

Aki looked surprised. "What did you hear?" He wasn't ready to give away information that wasn't already common knowledge.

"I hear a lot of talk about you being from Chiba. Would you care to confirm or deny?"

"I don't know how that rumour started, because that's certainly not something I ever talked about, so I'll put to rest now." I was sure he was going to deny it. He had told me long ago, the first time he had brought me to his house in Kamakura, that he was originally from Chiba. I wondered if even the rest of Guardian knew the truth. "I'm from Chiba. I went to live with my grandparents in Kamakura when I was very young. I didn't do any growing up in Chiba."

I stole glances at the rest of Guardian to determine if it was new information, but they were stoic. I decided they already knew. "There was a recent scandal with you and another musician from your label. He made some serious accusations about you, and he received consequences for his actions." The interviewer pressed forward. "I have to ask if any of those accusations were based in truth."

"I'm not part of any gang, and my tattoos are not associated with Yakuza or anything like that." Aki said. "The person in question was drunk when he made those accusations, and he was angry with me because he was interested in Natsuko. That's all."

"Some rumours say that your father was involved in the Yakuza."

The interview had become rapid fire. "I never met my father personally, so I don't know who he was or what he did." It was a definitive answer. "What other rumours have you heard about me? Are all of your questions based on rumours?"

The interviewer laughed nervously, and looked like she was caught off guard but Aki's forwardness. "I think it's better to have the opportunity to set the record straight on these kinds of things, don't you agree?"

"Some of the rumours that I hear about, honestly, I just ignore them and they usually go away." Aki wasn't usually harsh when he spoke to others, but he was protective about his image and how it reflected on Guardian. He cared about Guardian's success more than anything else.

The interviewer turned her attention to me. "Natsuko, you're studying the music industry in university right now, is that right? And you've used what you learned to mix songs for Guardian."

"Well, not exactly." I said. I reached to discreetly put my hand on Aki's thigh for some kind of solidarity, and he took the hint. He leaned back in his chair and put his arm around the back of mine. "Most of the practical skills I learned from Guardian. I studied with them, recorded with them, rehearsed with them, and that was the most valuable knowledge of the industry I got. I want to be able to offer that knowledge to other newcomers to the music industry who don't have the same chance I got to experience what it's really like."

She nodded in understanding, and I felt like she was extending gratitude for giving her a real answer after Aki effectively put rumours to rest and answered no questions at all. "You have a history if being bullied, with one of those incidents involving Aki as well. Would you like to expand on the experience?"

I felt a surge of anxiety as she recalled the event that changed the way I looked at the outside world. It had taken more of me than I had ever expected to recover, and I hadn't even received the worst of it. I gripped Aki's thigh a little tighter than I meant to, and he pulled me against him with his arm around my shoulders. He pressed a kiss into my temple, and I heard him breathe in deeply through it. "It's okay." He said quietly to me. I knew he wanted to tell me, "I'm here."

"I was bullied in school a lot at the beginning, when it first became public knowledge that Aki and I were together. Sometimes I got hurt physically, sometimes other girls just tormented me to scare me. Eventually, it stopped, and people just stopped talking to me all together. I lost a lot of friends."

"Were you upset that you basically ended up trading your friendships for a life with a band?"

"No." I didn't hesitate to answer, but I took a moment to consider how I would explain. "The friends I had easily cut me out of their lives. That must have meant I was never that important to them, and when it became challenging to interact with me, they didn't want to put in the effort. My life that I started to build with Aki and Guardian was much more important to me than losing a few friends who showed their true colours."

"Here I go again with my rumours, Aki." The interviewer laughed, trying to bring lightness into the conversation. "Rumour has it that you were being bullied by Aki."

"Aki was never the source. He may have been the reason, but only because those people were jealous of me. All Aki has done is show me a beautiful life with unconditional love."

The interviewer motioned toward Aki. "Anything to add to that?"

"It has not always been with the purest of intentions." I couldn't help but gasp at his comment, and I quickly reached up to cover his mouth with my hand as the interviewer laughed with embarrassment.

I couldn't believe, recalling the events of my life with Guardian, how much I had grown up. There were so many chances I had been given that I took, and I barely recognized myself. In a previous life, where I didn't know Aki existed, I had craved a world like the one he had shown me, but the previous me never had the courage to seek it. Aki always said he never handed me anything, and I was finally able to see what he meant. He loved me, and I trusted him, and that was enough for me to know I could take any leap of faith I wanted, because even if I failed, he would be waiting with his arms open.