The Game of Imitation

-Isao-

It’s a game I don’t want to play. But I have to for the music. Today, the band and I are giving an interview. The reporter looks fresh out of college. She flipped back her hair.

“So how long have you been doing this?” she asked.

“I would say… Twelve years tops,” I said.

“Wow!” she said. “What’s your secret?” Oh. It’s going to be that kind of interview.

“Chemistry and music,” I said. The guys tried not to laugh. Yeah, we’ve done this before. This isn’t our first rodeo. She gave us the standard questions. Who were your idols? How did we get into music? Who would you like to collaborate with? Blah. Blah. Blah. These questions were so boring.

Then the reporter just had to go there.

“Are any of you seeing anyone?” she asked.

“Yes!” Katsuya excitedly said.

“No,” Honda said.

“Yes,” Hideki said. All eyes fell on me. Well-played, lady, well-played. I dropped my shoulders.

“Yes,” I said. She and my boys looked stunned.

“Really?” she asked. I couldn’t believe this was happening. We were really going down this rabbit hole?

“Yes,” I said. “I am sort of dating someone.” I hoped she would ask who so I could give a non-answer. But no! You know what’s coming next.

“Is it Usami Mai from Lady Dragon?” the reporter asked. Hideki, Katsuya, and Honda stared at me. Damn it! I should’ve known. I clenched my fists.

“Yes,” I said as my jaw tightened. My band stared at me. I could tell what they were thinking. I glared at the reporter. She stared amazed.

“So it is true!” she said. She quickly covered her mouth. I think I might die a little inside. This wasn’t like me. I lived for the truth. This was not the truth. This was our record labels doing this. Remembering all of this made me want to punch something.

“Since when?” Katsuya mouthed. I shook my head. I was going to have to explain everything later. I braced myself for more questions. Lucky for me, the reporter moved on to other questions.

The rest of the interview was supposed to silly and fun. I wasn’t having fun. I was annoyed. This reporter and our label made me lie. I just wanted to get up and walk out of the room. But no! I had to sit through this stupid interview. Lord help me.

I was the first one out of the room when the interview was over.

“Isao?” Hideki asked. I waved him off as I kept walking down the hall. Playing another show would calm me down. Thinking about that calmed me down.