Chapter eighteen. A find, a sister and a new song.

In "Bright Smile," Ko-chan did not just get the role of "genkan" — a cheerful, cheerful, life-loving girl.

Ko-chan was rarely afraid of anything. Being the only and beloved daughter in the family, she received enough parental love from a constantly hard—working fatherless mother who tries not to stay at work — more. But she always felt needed and loved. Therefore, her somewhat childish cheerfulness remained until the middle of high school. And now she didn't have much time to be scared. More precisely, I thought that everything was fine. That she could handle it. After all, you don't need a reason to help someone. And they will definitely help her; it's worth asking. After all, most people are not bad at all.

The fact that everything is not quite as she thought it was, she realized in a very bad way. At first, she got a little lost and tried to find her way at least towards the square, where there was a stage for their future, already close performance. The first problem was that her phone did not connect to the network at first — because of the large number of people at the festival, the cellular connection was overloaded. The second unpleasant moment was that no one wanted to help her when she got lost.

— Tell me, please…

— Do you know where, please…

— How to get to…

Kochan was struggling to find someone to help her find her way.… Well, at least someone. And she has almost reached the point where she starts grabbing passers-by by the hands.

— Hi, cutie. Are you lost or something? — A tall, rather handsome guy who was walking with a couple of friends, a little older than her, addressed her; they all looked like high school students.

— Yes, I need to go to the stage, urgently there will be a concert of "Bright Smile" soon.

— So you're a fan of Bright Smile? Those idols who sing about youth and love?

Ko-chan decided that it was not worth talking about the fact that she was an idol and confirmed it.

— Then let's go faster.

At first, Ko-chan thought that she was finally lucky and would be helped, but life very quickly put everything in its place. A few minutes after she went with a group of guys, she noticed that there were fewer people, and the stage was in a place where there were quite a lot of people, and according to her calculations, their number should only increase.

She realized that several guys who seemed to agree to help led her to a less crowded area of the festival stalls and did not let her leave, inviting her to go to karaoke, "that one around the corner."

— Then we'll go straight to the stage, we'll be in time for the concert.

But the place was not very crowded anyway, and although Ko-chan was not afraid, common sense was not alien to her, and she did not want to go anywhere with strangers. But her attempts to call for help were thwarted.:

— Come on, we're just walking. — And for all the passers-by around, it was enough to ignore her attempts to escape. That was the day when Ko-chan realized that in order to act destructively, no real reason was needed, but in order to provide at least some help, she still needed it.

Passers-by turned away, passed by, and no one even tried to ask what exactly was going on. Once, a simple shout from the window, "Leave the girl alone!" briefly saved Kitty Genovese. This did not stop further tragic consequences by introducing the girl's name as a description of the witnessing effect — indicative behavior of human indifference. And Ko-chan had every chance to become another such textbook example in her native country that day.

But Ko-chan was lucky that day. There was a person among her acquaintances who had a reason to help her. Even if it's from the category of "helping a friend/ colleague of a girl's younger sister."

— Konata-chan, sis, you're stuck somewhere again, and your phone is dead. I almost called the police, but I heard your voice from afar, and I dropped the call.

—You, guy..." One of the "escorts" began, "but when they heard about the police a second ago, the guys, so confident and impenetrable, hunched over and faded a little and released Ko—chan, who was held by both hands. Hideki defiantly unlocked the phone and, still defiantly ignoring the guys, continued:

— Come on, little sister or I'll have to call and say that you, a junior, got lost in the company of two guys — and Hideki continued the description of the guys.

— A junior?! One of the guys hissed with some horror, looked at their leader, and released Ko-chan's hand. The second of those who held Ko-chan's hand also released it in surprise.

Ko-chan, hesitantly at first, but with each step, she walked more clearly and confidently towards Hideki, and this time, no one dared to stop her.

— Come on, sis!

— Whatever you say, big brother! Ko-chan smiled sweetly. She came close to Hideki, finally came to her senses, and took Hideki's hand, "Lead me, Hideki's older brother."

Hideki looked at the guys with disgust mixed with contempt. The fact that there were three of them and they were older did not frighten him.

— Oh, there's no time. All right, get out, you freaks," he whispered rather. That was enough for the guys; they evaporated like ice in a frying pan. Hideki turned to Ko-chan:

— Are you okay? Did you rub your feet? — The latter would be extremely inappropriate for an idol very shortly before the performance.

"It's all right, Hideki-kun. Thank you, Hideki-kun. But I need to figure out where to go.

"It's okay, Ko-chan. And if you're willing to trust a guy you've known for less than a day…

— Katari and Kyoko trust you, so I'll trust you too. Please take care of me, Hideki-kun. Ko-chan bowed slightly.

Hideki did not suffer from topographical cretinism and did not enjoy it, so he got to the entrance of the square relatively quickly. But then the problems started.

— Holy shit! I didn't think that in this town, so many people would come to listen to us," Ko-chan summed up the situation.

To say that there was a dense crowd in the square means to underestimate it greatly; there were a little more than ten minutes left before the performance, and a lot of people gathered, and it took a lot of work to get through.

"Big brother Hideki, what should I do?!

"Just a second, Ko-chan, just a second. Hideki peered into the crowd; it was quite dense, but you could still see that most of the people were huddled in groups. All that's left is to walk between them.

— Come on, Ko-chan, — Hideki finally figured out the route, took Ko-chan's hand tighter, and, like an icebreaker in the ice, cut into the crowd. They managed to get through pretty quickly. In some cases, like now, his size was good for him: he made his way through the crowd and pulled a much smaller Ko-chan who no longer had to make his way. Finally, they got there and, under the incredulous gazes of several guards, approached the entrance to the dressing room trailer, which was already closed with a screen. The manager of Bright Smile calmed down after seeing them, but she still brought down some of the "typhoons and whirlpools" on Ko-chan's head. He was restrained, however, so as not to make the artist too nervous before the performance.

— Where have you been, Ko-chan? Ten minutes before the performance! I'll handcuff you to someone next time! So as not to get lost! Akari-san kept telling her off.

"Whatever Akari—sama says, if it's you or Hideki's older brother, I don't even mind," Ko-chan playfully stuck out her tongue. Thank you very much, Hideki's big brother;— Ko-chan jumped closer to Hideki for a second, pressed her chest, stood on tiptoe, and kissed her cheek — Thank you for helping. And I'm not a junior! Ko—chan wagged her pretty ass and disappeared into the back room to change clothes.

A little surprised by Ko-chan's maneuvers, Hideki looked up and met the rather angry gaze of Kyoko, who was already dressed in a performance suit:

— Hideki-kun! What did you do?

— I didn't do anything. Several idiots molested konata-san; I scared them off.

Kyoko sighed. She also came closer to Hideki and sighed:

"It's right that you helped Ko—Chan, and Hideki, and you did well. I didn't expect anything else from you. And here's Ko-chan's kiss… I'm afraid that's not right, and it needs to be corrected. However, it will turn out to be an indirect kiss with Ko-chan. It's still the wrong kiss. We need to rewrite it. Kyoko—chan hugged Hideki by the neck, forcing her to bend down a little, and first kissed the same cheek as Ko-chan a little earlier, and then again, almost to the corner of her lips.

Then, embarrassed, she also disappeared into the back room.

Hideki remained where he was, dumbfounded.

"Ara—Ara, you're a playboy, Hideki-kun," Akari-san said, pressing her hands to her slightly flushed cheeks. — And most importantly, such a cute little bear boy in appearance.

Hideki decided to remain silent. There was no point in denying and refuting. And, despite the obvious exaggeration, it was rather flattering.

The concert was announced at six o'clock, and about forty minutes before the start, when Hideki rushed after Ko-chan, the crowd around the stage was not very large; then, ten minutes before the start, it was already difficult to push through, five minutes before it was almost impossible, and by six o'clock in the evening it was possible to move around a small area in front of the stage It was only over the heads. If the crowd had been like this ten minutes before the performance, Hideki definitely wouldn't have been able to get to the stage. He had no idea that "Bright Smile" would be so popular.

— Good evening, everyone! — After a couple of words from a representative of the local administration, Katari, already in the stage image of Kikari, decided to warm up the audience a little;— "Bright Smile" will sing for all of you today! But we have a little surprise! Today, Ko-chan, Rina-hime, and Hana-san will sing with us;— all of the above girls took a few steps forward, leaving a dimly lit figure behind the stage. — And by myself, my little sister!

— It's not true! The girl, hidden in the shadows at the back of the stage, walked forward, "You're my little sister."

The audience saw the same girl, with the only difference being that the hairpin holding Katari's hair on the left of Kyoko was on the right. Strictly speaking, the girls were slightly different in height; Katari's higher heels offset this. The hair length was slightly different, which was corrected by a pair of artificial curls from Kyoko. However, small differences in facial features were compensated by cosmetics. Hideki would have been able to tell them apart from five steps but not from ten. Unless, of course, facial expressions are taken into account.

— Today, — pleased with the effect, Katari continued, — as part of the "Bright Smile" there will be a rare performance of the "Kikari Twins," so you will have a double dose of sweetness;— With these words, Katari and Kyoko took synchronized steps to the sides and brought their hands together in a gesture showing a heart, — And we will start with "My love is as gentle as the blue sky."

Hideki was standing in a place invisible from the square, to the right of the stage, behind a screen; even though he could see the girls from the side, due to the rather close position, he saw the performance perfectly. And it was impressive. After "Blue Sky," "Find Love in My Smile," followed, followed by "Lonely Songbird," performed by Kyoko and Katari.

"But she is the happiest of all,

The one who always sings alone," Kyoko sang the last verse, and Hideki felt somehow bad at heart. Was Kyoko really better off without him? And all her attempts to get him to date, all her siege and onslaught, were simply out of jealousy or from the "loss aversion syndrome," and now that they are together ... he may not be needed. But his doubts were dispelled as soon as possible.

—Thank you," one of the "Kikari twins," said, and Hideki, preoccupied with his thoughts, did not immediately understand whether it was Katari or Kyoko. "I really thought so once. But now we have prepared a new song. This song will be in public for the first time, and its title is "Let Me Give My Love to You." The "Kikari twin" smiled, and it was already clear to Hideki that it was Kyoko. Those standing on the square did not notice that Kikari began to sing, looking for some reason at the right side of the stage.

"I know that love is hard for you,

But I can't keep her in myself..." Kyoko began, and Hideki felt that all his doubts and fears were dispelled. And she also accused him of shamelessness. Although… No one will understand anything anyway. But he knows.

The song ended, but Hideki was still impressed; he had heard several performances of "Bright Smile" before, and "Songbird" was even very good. But rarely has music left him so deeply impressed. It could be because her words resonated with his feelings.

Stunned by such additional pressure, Kyoko Hideki barely waited for the end of the performance, and now he has been waiting for a quarter of an hour for Kyoko to change clothes again. However, his expectations were rewarded quite quickly. A platinum blonde in a short, light dress, low silver boots, and tight-fitting white stockings fluttered out of the trailer. She was also wearing a rather long silver jacket. The girl was brightly made up in a gyaru-like style to such an extent that it was difficult to see her facial features properly. She went straight to him and grabbed his hand:

"Come on, Hideki-kun— and smiled. The latter was enough for Hideki to recognize her finally.

— Kyoko-chan, why?.. Even as he was asking, Hideki realized that the question was stupid.

— I think that too many people could remember my face, and I wanted to change my style a little. How do you like me, Hideki-kun?!

She spun around, and so the short skirt in front shot up for a split second, showing her legs in white stockings entirely.

—That's impressive, Kyoko-san,— Hideki said, blushing terribly.

Kyoko first looked at Hideki in disbelief, then at her skirt, muttered something like, "Csr, I'm not used to such short skirts," and slapped her cheeks, so it was impossible to tell if she blushed from spanking or naturally.

The idols' performance was an important moment of the festival, but the food and entertainment stalls were open until midnight. Before the fireworks, which were scheduled for about eight o'clock, they still had time to take a little walk. And eat festival food. And Kyoko was determined to compensate herself for all the time she was holding back in the run-up to the concert. She was not attracted to Yakisoba, but the numerous types of takoyaki were very much so.

—Ugh, I'm full," Kyoko said, more pleased than upset. "Shall we move on to the sweets now, Hideki—kun?" Oh! It's even more interesting," She waved her hand, pointing to the inscription on the stall, "sweets for the most accurate."

Darts for five throws cost three times less than sweets, and you had to be pretty accurate to earn sweets on points in five attempts, but you could buy more throws and throw until you earned sweets.

— And the last one! There is!

— Cool, Kyoko-chan!

— Congratulations, dear customer, you succeeded on the first attempt. Would you like a banana in chocolate or an apple in caramel?

Kyoko looked at the chocolate-covered banana, then, unconsciously, at Hideki-kun. Then she realized exactly where she was looking, did not lower her gaze and became even more embarrassed, just waved her head and decisively chose:

— I want a chocolate-covered banana. Hideki—kun, should I knock out another one? Or do you want me to share," she teased him a little.

— I want you to share it, — Hideki grinned, thinking that this game can be played together.

They wandered around a little more and returned to the performance site, climbed to a place specially reserved for them by the organizers of the festival, as both hoped, remaining unnoticed by the general public.

— Boom-boom, — the first sounds of fireworks rang out. Kyoko jerked and would have fallen if Hideki hadn't picked her up, pulled her towards him, and it so happened that he practically hugged her. Embarrassed, Hideki tried to jump away, but Kyoko's hands intercepted Hideki's arms around her and did not give him the opportunity to move away.

"Let's stand like this, Hideki-kun," he heard a low whisper against the background of the "booms" of fireworks.

—Okay— he didn't argue. The date was successful. And whatever awaits them further in school, they will have a few more good memories. And perhaps they will help them to move on.