Practice for the tour began bright and early the next morning, and as everyone expected, Ichiro was a no-show.

Shaundra's condition was improving, and the doctors expected to discharge her later today. Still she hadn't spoken a word, even though preliminary tests didn't show any brain damage and both a stroke and a heart attack had been eliminated. The medication given to her had lowered her blood pressure back down to normal. Ichiro had come home briefly to shower and change, but other than that he kept a vigil at his wife's side.

Masaaki had arranged rehearsal at the Tokyo Dome since its stage was comparable to the one they'd be performing on in China. Mr. Niigata had called this morning to check on Shaundra and to tell them that tickets were selling fast and for Aomori to try to stay out of trouble and scandal. He and Mrs. Niigata were still having the time of their lives touring China and meeting with dignitaries.

John Sampson, their music arranger, had prepared all the new songs Ichiro had written and had hired a mini-orchestra to accompany them. Aomori's costumes had arrived and needed to be tried on tomorrow, and York kept his fingers crossed that everything would go off without a hitch. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," he told everyone.

Takumijo ended his telephone conversation, and Satoshi left John's side and walked to his mark on the stage. They left Ichiro's mark open next to Satoshi, and it was obvious that Satoshi missed looking over at him, since they had been lining up the same way since they were kids.

"This is going to get a bit awkward," Satoshi said. "Who is going to sing Ichiro's part?"

"We'll stick Kenshin in if we have to," Yori answered.

Kenshin looked up from the book he was reading while sitting in the front row.

"You heard me right. You still know how to sing, don't you?"

Kenshin had once been a part of another boy band managed by Mr. Niigata, but he didn't like the hustle and bustle of touring. Mr. Niigata assigned him the duty of Aomori's driver after that since he was still under contract.

"I think so, but I might be a bit rusty."

"We're not asking you to come out of your self-imposed retirement, just come up and stand on Ichiro's mark so Satoshi won't feel so lonely. I know you know the steps and the songs." Kenshin always joined them for rehearsal whenever he wasn't busy chauffeuring Masaaki around.

Kenshin put down his book and walked over to the stage and climbed up the stairs. He was about the same height and build as the rest of Aomori, but he wore his hair shorter because of his chauffeur's position.

The practice began. Kenshin missed a couple of steps, but it was hardly noticeable. And if push came to shove and Ichiro could not make the tour, Kenshin would be able to fill in. His voice wasn't as unique as Ichiro's, but he still could carry a tune. Halfway through the routine, he had to get out of his uniform jacket because Takumijo's dance routines had him sweating like a horse.

"I see why you guys are so skinny. These dances shake the fat off of you."

Takumijo chuckled. "You can stand to lose a pound or two.

Sitting in a car all day and eating junk food have made you lazy. From now on when Aomori trains or goes to the gym, you're going with us."

"Aw, why?" Kenshin whined.

"Because women love slender men."

Yori and Satoshi nodded.

Kenshin protested. "But I have a girlfriend."

"It doesn't matter. You want to keep her, don't you?"

Kenshin nodded his head briskly.

"Then she'll just love you with tighter abs." He raised his shirt and showed his stomach to Kenshin.

Both men and women in the orchestra pit whistled.

Yori glanced away. Takumijo had a spectacular body, toned and defined, while his and Satoshi's frames were slender and svelte like... Don't think it. Maybe he should work out a little more at the gym. It was bad enough he thought he looked like a girl.

The practice resumed. Hours passed without a word from Ichiro. Mr. Niigata called again to check on Shaundra and to tell them that Aomori's paraphernalia were flying off the shelves.

Besides the concerts, Cristal and Masaaki had booked them on talk shows, which Yori hated because his Mandarin was horrible and so was the rest of Aomori's, except for Ichiro who adapted easily to foreign languages. His English was also improving, thanks to his coming out of his shell talking to Shaundra. He still clammed up around strangers, but not as much as he used to. Yori wondered how he managed to open those restaurants and to host all those business meetings without talking. Yori frowned. Lucky little fairy. Shaundra had taken Ichiro's virginity, and from what Takumijo had told him, she was insatiable and tiring poor Ichiro out. That part was both funny and enticing. Maybe he'd volunteer himself as a surrogate lover once or twice a week if Ichiro needed a backup.

Ichiro's solo came up next. Kenshin began slowly at first, and then he got into it. Yori noticed that Kenshin had an amazing voice and could hit quite a few high notes. It was a shame he'd given up singing. Maybe he could talk Mr. Niigata into adding Kenshin as a soloist to open for them on their other tours. It was a pity to let all that talent go to waste.

After practice Masaaki treated the group to dinner at Ichiro's restaurant.

"I've always wanted to see the place," Satoshi said, eyeing the pretty young waitress who greeted them at the door.

Ichiro's brother Daichi, who managed the restaurant, came out of his office to greet them. It had been some time since Yori saw Daichi. He was shorter than Ichiro, but older, and he bared a striking resemblance around the eyes, though Daichi's were brown and not blue.

"I have reserved a private room in the back for you," he told them.

Satoshi kept looking at one of the waitresses. It did not go unnoticed by Daichi. He waved the young woman over. She had long black hair which she wore in a ponytail. And she wore a traditional white kimono.

"Etsuko, you remember Ichiro's friends, Satoshi, Yori and Takumijo?"

"Etsuko?' Satoshi asked. Etsuko was Ichiro's baby sister.

The young woman nodded. She had grown into quite a beauty. She bowed and blushed. Yes, definitely Ichiro's sister Daichi pointed to the hostess. "And that's Hana."

Ichiro's other sister. Damn, both had turned into beautiful young women. Yori tore his eyes off them, bowed and followed Etsuko to the private room. The restaurant was packed even for early evening, and the place had a warm, friendly atmosphere. Meats roasted on open spits; chefs prepared meals directly at some tables, and traditional Japanese music serenaded the diners through hidden speakers.

"This place is nice," Takumijo said as he got comfortable on the floor with the others.

Satoshi pointed to a picture of Ichiro and his family on the wall. It looked current, but Shaundra was missing. Hadn't the little idiot introduced his wife to his family yet? No, he supposed not, since they just got back to Japan and Ichiro and Shaundra were married in the United States.

Yori wondered what they would make of her. She was far from the common Japanese sister-in-law, and he couldn't image her being docile and walking several steps behind Ichiro. She was sure to set some tongues wagging at family gatherings, but if they could deal with Ichiro and his many quirks, then they could certainly deal with having a hot African-American writer in the family.

Daichi kept the food and the sake coming, and everyone except Kenshin was pretty much drunk by the time the meal had ended. Yori's head throbbed. He hadn't drunk sake in a long time for obvious reasons. One, it made him foolish, and two, it made him randy. If he just kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't say anything that popped into his head. Amaya, he mused, could take care of the other problem.

She barely spoke to him when he returned from the hospital. He couldn't say he much blamed her, since he literally left her on the doorstep and went charging off with Shaundra in his arms like a prince rescuing his damsel in distress. On some level he understood what Amaya was going through. But in reality Shaundra still claimed a big part of his heart. It was something Amaya would just have to deal with it. Hopefully she would forget all that tonight and be a loving wife.

"Ichiro's really got a sweet place here," Satoshi replied with a slur. "And two very beautiful sisters."

Masaaki chuckled drunkenly. "Be nice to him and he might let you date one of them." He hiccupped. "Then maybe you'll stop macking on his wife."

Takumijo keeled over with laugher. "No, you didn't go there, Masaaki. Where did you learn that from?"

"You guys think you're the only ones who are cool? I get around."

Everyone laughed except Satoshi. "That's not the least bit funny, and it's untrue. I don't mack on her. We're friends, and I don't want you guys to sleaze it up."

Even Kenshin laughed this time. "We're not sleazing it up.

I keep telling you that she's hot for Ichiro. When they're in the limousine they steam up all the windows and she just has her way with him." He continued to chuckle. "But I like and respect her, and I hope she gets better."

They raised their cups in a toast.

"To Shaundra," Masaaki said. "Speedy recovery."

Yori swallowed the sake down. She'd never steamed up any windows with him. He smirked. Even though they did heat up a massage parlor once. The more he thought about her, the more his body encouraged him to get home to Amaya, hopefully before any of the guys noticed.

Unfortunately Satoshi did.

"At least you have a wife to go home to."

Yori blushed, and Satoshi chuckled at his discomfort.

"There's always Cristal."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm not the total sleaze everyone thinks I am. If I can't have the real thing, I won't make Cristal her sloppy substitute."

Kenshin managed to get them into the limousine after Masaaki settled the bill and drove them back to Osaka.

The farmhouse was completely empty when Ichiro brought Shaundra home the next day. Aomori had driven back to Tokyo to practice, Cristal had gone into the KiNii office to finalize some of her public relations work and to visit with Harper Kehoe, and Amaya thankfully was off visiting her parents.

Ichiro carried her things into the house first and left her in the car until he could come back and get her. He'd brought her one of her button-up dresses and clean underwear to the hospital to change into, as he knew she wouldn't be caught dead coming home in a hospital gown. She managed to pull her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail to keep it from rubbing against the small bandage on her forehead.

"Are you feeling well enough to take a walk with me?" he asked.

Shaundra nodded.

Ichiro took her hand and led her around the side of the farmhouse to the garden area. Spring had arrived, and the garden was awash in color.

Shaundra gasped. "Cherry blossoms."

They were the first words she had spoken to him in a couple of days.

"You told me once that you would like to see the trees in bloom."

Shaundra nodded. "They're beautiful."

He caught the sadness in her voice. "I'm sorry, baby," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

Shaundra shuddered.

Oh God, she's depressed. It didn't take a doctor's diagnosis to tell him this. He'd never seen her so sad before.

"Please forgive me for being jealous and acting like a bitch."

Shaundra moved out of his arms and walked over and sat down on a bench beneath the trees. Tiny cherry blossoms fell out of the trees and floated down around her and into her hair.

Ichiro took out his cell phone, turned on the video and recorded the sight. She looked so lovely he had to capture it.

He turned the video off and sat down next to her on the bench. "I don't know what I have to do to make this right.

Maybe we can go away somewhere together after the China tour ends. Or move back to the United States. Maybe I was wrong to ask you to leave your home and family and follow me. Just tell me what you want me to do."

Shaundra put her hand on top of his and patted it. "It's not you, Ich, it's me."

Ichiro groaned. The words no man wanted to hear. It was like the kiss of death to a relationship. Shaundra could not mean they were over. He knew he'd messed up, but not this bad.

Shaundra yawned.

"Maybe I need to take you in."

She smiled weakly at him and rose.

Ichiro rose and led her back to the porch, swept her into his arms and carried her over the threshold like he should have the first time they came to the farmhouse as man and wife.

He carried her up to their bedroom, undressed her and helped her into bed. He put on one of her favorite CDs by Silk, chose a song, "Freak Me Baby," and began to strip while she watched. He climbed into bed after the song ended and another song played. He had to snap her out of her funk the only way he knew how. "I love you, Shaundra," he said, taking her into his arms and kissing her tenderly. "Don't give up on us yet."

Shaundra looked deeply into his eyes and then stared at his naked chest, shuddered, and finally turned her back to him and cried herself to sleep.

Masaaki hired someone to sit with Shaundra the next day so Ichiro could go to practice, even though Ichiro didn't like it.

He didn't want to leave her with some stranger, but he needed to practice and at least get out of the house to think after yesterday's little fiasco. She'd never turned down sex with him before, and he didn't know how to deal with it. As much as she drained him, he actually missed those private times.

Takumijo's new dance routine left him winded, and Kenshin teased him about being an old man, which got to him since he was younger than all of them. He hadn't slept well for a while and needed to get back in shape if he expected to make it through the tour. He would have to go back to the gym and get plenty of sleep, which shouldn't be hard since his wife didn't want to be bothered with him at the moment.

At the end of the rehearsal he was so tired he just sank down and lay flat on his back on the stage.

Yori and Takumijo were polite enough not to bother him, but Satoshi couldn't resist.

"What's the hell's the matter with you? You barely kept up!"

"Tired." Ichiro sat up.

Satoshi sat down next to him and began stroking his hair.

"I didn't realize that Shaundra was feeling that well again."

"She's not. I guess I just need to get a good night's sleep and hit the gym." He was too tired to slap Satoshi's hand away.

"My surrogacy offer is still out there." He stopped stroking.

Ichiro chuckled. "Go on and joke. I'm too tired to kick your ass."

Satoshi rose and offered him a hand. "We'll go for a run this afternoon like we used to do."

Ichiro nodded. "That sounds doable." Satoshi was thin but he could sprint. Maybe he had his own demons to get rid of.

Satoshi brushed the hair out of Ichiro's eyes. "Why weren't you born a girl? Life would be so much easier."

Okay, Satoshi was back to his old self again.

"Why weren't you?" Ichiro asked. "Then I would have lost my virginity a long time ago."

"Okay, ladies, let's get out of here," Takumijo said. "You two can continue mating when we get home."

"Bite me," Satoshi told Takumijo. "You're just jealous."

Takumijo feinted hurt. Everyone laughed, even Yori. They hadn't had this type of fun in a long time, and it felt good.

Maybe it was time to put past mistakes behind them. After all, they weren't kids anymore.

"You guys want to get something to eat before we go home?" Kenshin asked as they walked outside the Tokyo Dome.

Everyone looked at Ichiro. "I have steaks thawing for dinner, but if you guys want fast food..."

"No," everyone said in unison.

"Are you going to fix those little potatoes?" Takumijo asked. "The kind with the little pearl onions and chives?"

"Only for you, Takumijo," Ichiro told him, patting his cheek with his hand and then sliding into the limousine. The others followed them in. Masaaki sat in the front seat with Kenshin.

"And Kimchi Bi Bim Pap?" Satoshi asked.

Ichiro nodded. He turned to Yori, lifted his eyes to him and waited.

"Seafood gumbo," he replied. "Louisiana style."

"I think I can handle that for a friend. I think I can even scrounge up some Louisiana hot sauce and season it just the way you like it."

Yori smirked. "The hotter the better."

It was the second decent thing he had done for him this week. The first was rushing the woman they loved to the hospital.

"Hmm," Satoshi said. "Maybe I should forego my date with Ichiro this evening and let Yori have him."

Yori stared into Ichiro's eyes. Ichiro knew that look.

"Tempting," Yori said and nothing else.

Ichiro blushed. These guys were too much. He pulled out a fan and opened and fanned it in front of his face.

"Look, he's blushing," Takumijo said. "Now that's the Ich we all know and love."

"Bite me," Ichiro told Takumijo.

Takumijo moved to the edge of his seat.

Ichiro gulped. Wrong member to tease.

"If I thought you were serious I'd be all over you. I have a thing for big blue eyes."

Yori and Satoshi laughed at his discomfort.

Masaaki laughed from the front seat. "Ichiro, it is not nice to tease a tiger. Sometimes they do bite."

Takumijo continued to gaze into his eyes, and then he ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

Ichiro melted into his seat. Shit.

"Ooh, something smells good," Cristal said, entering the kitchen later that evening when she came home from work.

Ichiro was busy at the stove stirring something in a big pot. "Gumbo," he replied. "For Yori."

"I haven't had gumbo since I was a child."

"It's Shaundra's mother's recipe."

"How long before dinner?" She looked at her watch.

"About an hour," Ichiro answered.

This had to be the longest conversation she'd ever had with him.

"I'm waiting on the steaks."

"Do you need any help?"

Ichiro stopped stirring. "Can you cook?"

Cristal nodded. "Why does that surprise you?"

"I don't know. You pal around with Satoshi and Takumijo.

That equates to not domestic."

Crystal chuckled. "You're gorgeous and you have a sense of humor."

Ichiro blushed at the complement. "Thank you. Would you like to fix the salad?"

Cristal nodded.

"The vegetables are already washed and sitting in a colander in the refrigerator."

Cristal bowed, continued into the kitchen and went to work on the salad. An hour passed quickly as she advanced up to dessert fixing and wine chilling.

Ichiro was an excellent teacher and quite amusing, even though she could see in his eyes that he was tired.

"What is this?' Satoshi asked as he stepped inside the kitchen.

"What does it look like?' Cristal asked, retrieving a beer from the refrigerator, screwing the top off and handing it to Satoshi.

"It looks like you're cooking."

"She's very good at it," Ichiro said as he removed the potatoes from the oven.

"You've been living here how long, and I've never seen you cook?"

Cristal shrugged. "That's because all you and Tak eat is pizza and takeout food.

"Gross," Ichiro said.

Satoshi saluted her with his beer. "I like the apron; it makes you look like a little housewife." He touched the material. "I think I like this look and your giving me cold beer when I come home from work. Makes me feel all warm and tingly inside."

"You are so full of it, Satoshi," Cristal told him.

Ichiro chuckled. "Yes, he is." Some of his hair fell in front of his eyes. Ichiro took off his gloves and removed the band.

The hair cascaded down his back and face. He pulled it back again and secured it in a band, and then he washed his hands.

Satoshi's eyes lit up and zoned in on Ichiro's hair.

"Kinky," Cristal said.

Satoshi drew his eyes away from Ich and put them back on her.

"Takumijo told me about that, but I didn't believe him."

"What are you talking about?" Satoshi asked, taking another swig of his beer.

"Your fascination with Ichiro's hair."

Ichiro turned around and stared at Satoshi. "Gross."

"I like to fondle it too," Satoshi told her.

Cristal took the beer from Satoshi and sipped it. "Let me know when the two of you get together. I wouldn't mind being the cream in the center of that cookie." She handed him back the beer and walked away from him.

"You are one sick puppy," Ichiro told Satoshi. "Now you're getting Cristal all hot and bothered and freaky. Don't you think I have enough hot mamas in this house after me?

You're bad enough, and now Yori and Takumijo are looking at me like I'm delicious."

Cristal nearly screamed with laughter as she washed her hands. "You guys are a riot."