ʏᴀɴɴɪ | ᴏ.ꜱʜᴏᴛᴀʀᴏ

-You Just Intrigue Me-

"We're here." Shotaro stopped the car right outside the doors to the restaurant, glittering gold under the lamps lighting up the overhead sign reading, "London Chop House."

You under-eyed the sign with slightly quirked eyebrows. "The fuck is this place?"

"It's a restaurant, obviously." He unbuckled his seat belt.

"This ain't what I meant..."

"What did you mean? Like somewhere to...have sex?" Shotaro's eyebrows furrowed a little.

"Well, no shit." You blinked. "The fuck did you think this was finna be?"

"I didn't think this was gonna be anything..."

"So what was the reason for bringin' me here?" You grew annoyed.

"I'll explain that if you come in with me." Shotaro gestured to the restaurant opening.

You stared at him – a look you'd give to someone as if you didn't believe and/or trust them – but then directed your gaze at the floor. "Fine..."

"Thank you." He got out and walked around to open your door, stretching his hand to help you out.

Warily, you placed your hand into his, grabbing your backpack with the other. When you stepped out, you actually caught a glimpse of the boy's face in the lighting.

His baby face, plump lips, doll eyes, dirty blonde hair, and designer-brand outfit gave the boy a certain presence that felt...familiar to you.

Familiar in a good way, but you couldn't tell then – you just knew you had to have seen him from somewhere.

You subconsciously began to reach into your backpack pocket to grab the pill bottle and tucked it away in your sleeve.

"Hi, we'd like a table for two." Shotaro greeted the hostess at the front of the restaurant.

You kept your eyes glued to the patterned carpet while you waited.

"Can I have your name, sir?" The hostess inquired.

"Shotaro Osaki."

"Great. Right this way, you two."

The hostess led you to a booth for the two of you and placed a set of menus on the table. "A waiter should be with you shortly."

"Thank you." Shotaro sat across from you, placing his phone on the tabletop.

That was when he picked up on your stare – drooped eyes with a dark glare that would've made him nervous if he wasn't so enraptured by you.

"What's with that look?"

"What look?" You murmured.

"Well, you're looking like something's wrong." Shotaro pointed out. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Why the fuck am I here?" You brought up your question from earlier.

"Ah, right, that..." Shotaro sighed. "Look, this is gonna sound weird, but does a place called Bangerz ring a bell to you?"

Your gaze lowered and then narrowed. "Why're you askin'?"

"I'm the son of the guy who runs that club." Once he said those words, he saw a subtle, yet noticeable shift in your eyes. "Ahhh, that seemed to spark something..."

"So what?" You leaned back in your seat. "That supposed to woo me or somethin'?"

Shotaro chuckled. "Nah, you didn't let me continue. What I was gonna say is that I'd seen you battle that one dude a while back, and I wanted to talk to you afterward..."

"About?"

"Signing you."

You scoffed. "Yeah, okay..."

"Hold on, stay with me," Shotaro placed his hands on the table. "My dad owns this entertainment company in Japan, and I run one of the subsidiaries..."

"English, my nigga..." You squinted at him.

He chuckled again. "I own a record label under my dad's company...He has his label too, but he doesn't pay attention to it. Meanwhile, I do with mine; I take my shit seriously."

"Sure, you do." You nearly rolled your eyes. "How is that supposed to impress me?"

"Well, that wasn't my goal, honey." Shotaro shook his head. "You see, I have a shitty attention span; it takes a lot for me to focus on something long enough to care about it – I didn't kickstart my label until I was sixteen, and I'm twenty-one now. In that same breath, though, the moment I set my eyes on something, I'm doing whatever it takes to get it. And that right now is getting a contract in your hand."

You scoffed again. "What's the catch?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean; a sleazy-ass 'business manager' preys on a youngin' with no type of guidance, pressures them into signin' some shit they don't understand, and then turns around and abuses them, threatenin' to end their career if they squeal. I want no part in that bullshit."

Shotaro's eyebrows slowly furrowed at your small outburst, but then his gaze softened.

"I don't know who you had to deal with before, but if there's one thing I picked up on from being in the industry is that corruption gets you nowhere – it can look like it, yeah, but them bastards always get caught in the long run. I've seen it all happen way too many times, just no one wants to ever admit to that...Can I see your hand?"

Your eyes wandered down to his palm, traveling up to his ring-decorated fingers – he had one ring on his thumb, two on his middle finger, and one on his pinky, almost matching the two black bands wrapped around your own thumb.

Slowly, you showcased one of your hands on the table, and Shotaro took it upon himself to clasp over it gently, looking you directly in your eyes.

"That's why I told myself that no matter how much money we make, how many albums we sell, I'm gonna continue to work for my artists, not force them into like slave labor or some shit. And you..." He picked up your hand and placed it into his.

"With the talent you got, I will move mountains to bring you the success you desire. You got something in you, Yanni, whether you know it or not. If you choose to sign with me, I can help bring that outta you."

Shotaro reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet, scanning through its contents.

"There's no rush with this; take as long as you need to think. In the meantime, if you need anything,"

He pulled out a small white card, his label's logo imprinted on the back, and he handed it to you.

His full name was scribed on the front, along with a ten-digit number.

"That's my personal number..." You shot your eyes back up at him. "My phone's always on; you can call me, or text if that's what you're comfortable with."

"Why...?"

Shotaro made a small, barely audible, confused noise. "I just told you why. That, and..." He smirked a little bit.

"You just intrigue me. I wanna know more about you."

Then, your gaze at him softened, and a switch had flipped in your brain – Shotaro quickly noticed.

"She told me the same thing..."

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