Upheaval

I take my time getting to Dance Studio-1 with Barney walking slightly ahead of me.  He had to slow his pace considerably as I was in no hurry to start learning the new choreography that I was sure would be made more difficult just for me.  I mean, I know if some new guy was taking over my group, I would have been doing some serious research to find out what makes them tick, or what could make them break. 

There isn't much I haven't mastered in the Idol world. I can sing better than most and can hit some pretty high notes.  My rap style is hard to imitate and my fanservice is pretty believable, depending on my ship partner.  Dancing was my only downfall.  It wasn't that I was uncoordinated or that I couldn't remember the routines, it's that I'm dyslectic when it comes to my mind and my limbs. 

When I know I'm supposed to go right, I convince myself that I'm supposed to go left and then second guess myself again, going in the wrong direction because the right direction couldn't be correct.  That's why Naka always designed our group's choreography to have my rap solos or our fanservice displays during some of the most intricate dance moves for each song.  He protected my inability to keep up with everyone behind those moves.

Entering the studio, I notice my old groupmates are milling about the room.  Two of Tachi's group members are also wandering about, on the other side of the room.  Tachi stands in the center of the room wearing sweats and a towel around his neck.  I cross the threshold into the room and hear the door close behind me as Barney makes himself scarce.

"Ah!  Sobata!  It's about time.  Come in, have a seat." Tachi says to me as he guides me to the chairs at the back of the room.  The rest of the guys follow, still keeping a distance between them. 

After everyone is seated, Tachi claps his hands and looks around at everyone.  He is acting a bit differently from what I'm used to but I realize that he is among his groupmates and this must be his personality when they are working, not the yakuza boss that I have seen over the last week.

"Okay!  So, first thing.  We have changed the name of the group.  With me stepping down and the company absorbing Troy and Sosaki's contracts, this just isn't the same group anymore.  The general consensus is that the new group will be well received after the standard debut hype and promotion."  As Tachi pauses, his members stand and start walking towards the door, shaking their heads.

Tachi says nothing, just standing there watching them walk away.  Hede grabs the door handle and tries to open it but finds it locked.  He turns and glares at Tachi, "Hey man, this isn't what I signed up for.  We have worked hard for our group to succeed and now you want us to start over? With them?" Hede flails his hands at everyone still seated.

Troy stands up, knocking his chair back.  "Dude!  We are right here and, seriously, we don't suck!  If it wasn't for the scandal, we would be on a world tour right now."  I roll my eyes at his statement because he's not wrong, but not particularly right either.

Shawn scoffs at this and steps forward while Hede smirks behind him, still trying to pull the door open.  "Hey, that's not what Hede means.  We have been through a lot.  And Tachi, where are the other guys?"  Shawn says and shoves his hands into his sweat pant pockets.

Tachi turns back to the group and takes a seat.  "Both of you come back over here and sit down.  Everything will be explained once you stop acting like brats and behave yourselves."  Tachi's statement causes Troy and Sosaki to laugh and point at the other guys, "Burn!"  They both announce at the same time.

I look at both of them and point my finger at the chairs, "Sit!" 

Both of them flop into a chair and cross their arms while Hede and Shawn follow suit.  Tachi and I both sigh and say, "Children."

"The group's name is "Upheaval" .  'A violent or sudden change or disruption to something.' " Tachi continues.  "It fits the sudden change in the group and the name."

Hede pulls his black hood over his head and slumps in his chair. "Where are the others?" he grumbles out.

Tachi walks over to Hede and pulls his hood back, tightening it around the back of his neck, lightly choking him. "Not that it's any of your business or that I have to tell you anything, but they are back on the job.  Which is where you will be if you don't settle in and do your own fucking job which is to support this group and all of its members!"  Tachi jerks Hede out of his chair and lets him fall to his knees.

"Understood, boss, I'm good.  What is my job?" He breathes out trying not to cough.

I just sit there with raised eyebrows and glance at Troy and Sosaki.  They both are looking down at the floor, hands in their laps and feet crossed under their chairs.  This causes me to look back at Tachi with a stern expression on my face.  He had better not have treated Troy and Sosaki this way.  I can tell by their demeanor that they have seen this before.

"Enough of this male posturing.  Can we get started now?" I say while waving my hands about and acting like it's perfectly normal for the choreographer to manhandle their members.

Tachi releases Hede and straightens his clothes.  "As I was saying, I think the name perfectly fits the climate of this group.  Roles are assigned as follows." 

He proceeded to list off each of the members and their assigned personalities which, for the most part, fit the personalities they have been displaying, or at least as far as I could tell. 

Tachi also mentions that there will be 'fan cams' in and around the studio and dorm.  None of these will be live and content will be edited prior to release.  The group has social media accounts that are managed by the PR and legal departments and all content will be approved by the members involved before release.

We are not to have our own private social media accounts.  That was a nonnegotiable item and we all agreed that there probably wasn't going to be time to mess with that sort of commitment.

"Next we have the NDA.  Everyone will read every line and will sign it.  This is to protect you, your public and personal personas and the company.  If you are ever unsure of what you can say or do, then don't say or do it.  You are all adults, I trust that you know the difference between public and private information."  Tachi makes sure each of us look him in the eyes and nod before he moves on.

He takes the stack of folders and hands one to each of us before he puts the rest back into his bag.  "Okay, that's it for today.  Each of you will be emailed a list of responsibilities and timelines for completion.  Your schedules will be updated to reflect the training schedule for the debut MV and press conference.  No one is to leave the compound or have any outside contact.  Am I clear?" 

It was more like a statement, a prison sentence but we all nodded and collectively sighed in acceptance. 

"Sobata, you stay with me.  We have a lot to talk about." Tachi looks at me and I just nod, knowing that I'm going to hate the next few hours.

Everyone else heads to the door which is now unlocked and I hear Shawn teasing Hede about him being too weak to open a simple door.  Everyone else laughs and they leave together, as a group.

"Well, I guess they will get along.  Not like you gave them a choice.  What the hell was that with Hede, Tachi?"  I turn to see Tachi holding back laughter as he busts out and grabs his stomach.

"Oh man!  You should have seen your face.  You looked like you were going to stand up and hit me or something."  Tachi barely laughs out before he falls to one knee, still trying to control himself.

"Hm, yeah.. It was a bit much but I figured Hede could kick your ass if he felt that threatened.  He is a monster, Tachi.  What dirt do you have on that guy to let you treat him like a scolded dog?" 

Tachi calms down enough to get back to his feet.  "It's not about having anything on him.  He knows where I found him and where he will return to if he doesn't appreciate and respect me."  He shrugs and walks off, looking over his shoulder.

I chuckle and follow after him, making sure to grab my folder on the way to the door.  "I'm not discussing all of this on an empty stomach.  Naka has been cooking all morning and will tan my hide if I don't bring you to the house for dinner." 

My mood brightens ten fold, "Naka has been cooking?  I will beat your ass if you don't take me to the food!"  We both laugh and head for the main hall that leads to the garage.  Naka learned to cook for us in the dorms, with limited ingredients he could still make a masterpiece.   I can't imagine what he could accomplish with top shelf ingredients but I aimed to find out.