"I know you have a lot of talent for performing," Hiko said with conviction. "That's why I believe in you! The audience will definitely be captivated once they see your live performance!"
"Eh... I don't really have any talent..." Ai felt embarrassed hearing Hiko's exaggerated praise.
"You need to be confident. If you're still not confident, then I'll have to put you through special training," Hiko sensed from their previous conversations that Ai lacked confidence, often resorting to self-deprecation.
He knew it was because she had never been on stage before, never seen an audience turn into fans, which made her so unsure of herself.
This won't do.
Hiko thought for a moment and said, "If you still don't believe me, then starting tomorrow, I can give you special training related to performances."
"Oh, no, not special training..." Ai's first reaction was to refuse, but then she regretted it and immediately corrected herself, "For special training, please don't lower your standards for me."
"Very good."
Hiko was satisfied with Ai's correction, so he said in a joking tone, "Why don't you just ride this momentum and debut as a solo Idol?"
"Please don't tease me. I think my singing is terrible, and I can't dance well. If you really make me perform alone, I'll only make a fool of myself."
Ai, hearing Hiko say this, clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture. "So please don't make me perform alone."
"So unconfident, huh? Then starting tomorrow, I'll have the other four practice with you too, okay? Otherwise, if only you perform perfectly on stage while their performance is terrible, that wouldn't be good." Seeing her plead, Hiko said this, taking advantage of the situation.
'Why does Hiko-kun seem to have planned this all along?'
'But as long as it's not performing alone in front of a huge crowd, it's fine. And they'll also practice with me. Hiko-kun, well done!'
Ai felt a huge burden lifted when she heard that others would be training with her.
If there were many people, even if she didn't sing well, the chorus could cover it up. So if the other members performed with her, she just needed to practice her solo lines well, and her dance steps could be a bit more natural.
The young girl calculated her thoughts and replied, "I think that's a great idea! Please make sure they train with me!"
"Sharing the hardships, huh?" Hiko quipped.
"Hiko-kun, you're wrong there. It's clearly me sharing the good fortune with them," Ai retorted. "That's a stage for hundreds to thousands of people. An underground Idol doesn't easily get to debut on such a large stage. They have to slowly build up their popularity in live houses. So this is clearly a blessing."
"Ah, right, right, everything you say is right," Hiko replied perfunctorily.
After he finished speaking, he walked ahead of Ai to lead the way, entering the station to wait.
Although Ai heard Hiko's words of agreement, it sounded to her like her blood pressure was rising. "Honestly..."
"Let's go check out Shibuya. We should be able to find a suitable venue there," Hiko turned to Ai and said.
"Okay~" Ai followed behind Hiko.
The two boarded the train.
As it was nearing rush hour, all the seats on the train were taken, but there was still some space in the carriage.
"Go stand further inside. It'll get crowded soon," Hiko knew their current station wasn't very busy yet, but in a few more stops, it could be full. To avoid Ai getting jostled, he told her to move further inside.
Ai also knew it was nearing quitting time, and some companies had already closed, so the number of people taking the train would inevitably increase soon.
"Mm," she nodded in agreement, then walked to the inner side of the train by the window.
Hiko stood a little outside of Ai's position.
After the train passed two stations, people got on and off, and the number of people in the carriage gradually increased, becoming crowded.
Sato Hiko could only spread his arms and brace himself against the wall to protect Ai, preventing her from being caught in the swirling crowd.
The train stopped at another station, and the surge of people getting on and off made Hiko feel immense pressure from behind. If he hadn't braced his hands against the train wall, he would have been crushed into a corner by now.
"Next time, we can't come here at this hour." Hiko sighed.
Normally, he intentionally avoided the rush hour, but this time, it was an impromptu visit. Even though he missed the 6 PM peak, it was still quite crowded.
"Mm," Ai replied briefly.
Due to the pressure of the crowd, she was very close to Hiko, even able to feel the slight warmth radiating from him.
When Hiko spoke, she could feel the air from his words gently brush against her face, which made her turn her head away.
She also didn't want to talk to Hiko, to avoid her breath brushing against him.
"Shall we go check out the gymnasium over there first?" Hiko discussed the itinerary with Ai.
Ai controlled the shape of her mouth as she spoke, trying hard to avoid letting her breath touch Hiko, while secretly hoping he wouldn't speak again.
"My arms are so sore," Hiko, who had his arms spread out to create a small space for Ai, gradually felt the strain. The train was now packed, and as it moved, almost all the passengers inside were standing, inevitably causing swaying.
The burden on his arms was gradually increasing, and he couldn't help but complain, "My arms are so sore... I really want to rest for a bit..."
"We're almost there, just a little more effort," Ai encouraged Hiko.
"But there are still three stations left... My arms are almost dead..." Hiko whined pitifully.
However, the actual situation was not as bad as he made it sound. His arms were a bit tired, but not nearly that much, because he was bracing himself against the wall, he wasn't really that tired.
He just wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Ai. Might as well give it a try.
"Are you that tired?"
Ai looked at the carriage, which had become packed with people, and felt that Hiko wasn't lying. So she extended her small hand and gently massaged Hiko's arm, trying to alleviate the fatigue. After massaging for a while, she asked, "Does this help reduce your fatigue?"
"The fatigue seems to have lessened a bit, but your strength is a little too light. You need to add more force... This feels great, just this amount of force... Not just my right arm, massage my left arm too... Both of my arms are tired."
Hiko initially felt Ai's massage and found her strength too light, so he asked her to gradually increase it until it felt just right.
"Phew, we finally arrived!" Hiko moved his right arm. He could hear a creaking sound as his wrist moved.
"Was it really that tiring?" Ai saw Hiko exercising his arms constantly after getting off the train, and she felt guilty, so she used her small hands to massage his arms again.
"It's alright..." Hiko replied out of habit.
"'It's alright'? Does that mean it's similar to 'not bad'?"
Ai heard Hiko use similar words and thought it might mean it wasn't good.
"I don't know how to explain this to you, but you don't need to worry," Hiko replied truthfully.
He thought for a moment about the map he had seen and the information he had checked, then began to plan the route. "Let's go."
Hiko naturally took Ai's small hand, which was still massaging his arm, and led her away from Shibuya Station, heading towards the hall venue he had found.
"Where are we going?" Ai's hand was held by Hiko, and her heart was restless, but she didn't resist. Instead, she followed the pull of his hand and walked with him.
"How could you forget? Didn't we agree to go look at venues?" Hiko was puzzled by Ai's repeated question. They had already decided on the day's objective before getting on the train, so why was she still asking?
"I know we're going to look at venues, but where?" Ai replied, clearing her head after Hiko's answer.
"Of course, we're going to check out the place where music festivals are held here in Shibuya first, but it's not the time for an event right now," Hiko said, recalling the information.
"That place... if they hold performances there... it'll be packed with people!" Ai had an impression of the place and hesitated.
"We're just going to look, not actually hold a performance there," Hiko, holding Ai's hand, felt her hand resist slightly when she heard the destination.
'She seems nervous?'
Hiko noticed Ai's hesitation and reassured her, "We're just going to look. We're not actually going to hold a live performance there, don't worry."
Hiko remembered coming here with Ai last time, and how a small impulse of his led to an unpleasant end to the day. He reminded himself to be careful this time and absolutely not to get carried away. "Besides, it's rare to come here. Of course, we can't miss places related to music performances."
"Are we really just going to look?" Ai looked at Hiko and asked again.
Hiko heard Ai confirm with him again, feeling as if she was waiting for his promise, so he said, "I promise, this time when we go to the place where the Shibuya Music Festival is held, I absolutely won't let your next performance be held there."
After receiving Hiko's assurance, Ai remembered today's objective. "Since it's not an on-site inspection, then there's no need to go, right?"
Hiko didn't immediately answer Ai this time. He continued to hold her hand and said, "Let's go see if there are any live performances there."
"I've watched plenty of performance videos this month," Ai obediently followed Hiko.
Hiko understood Ai's subtext and said as he walked, "I estimate the videos you've watched are all of good quality. The bad ones wouldn't be recorded and made into DVDs at all. So, let me give you a taste of amateur Idols with average skills."
"Isn't it usually better to watch good ones?" Ai was full of doubt.
"Because you're too unconfident," Hiko sighed. "Amateur Idols, even those who sing off-key and have average dance steps, dare to perform on stage. And you, after a month of training, are already far superior to amateur Idols."
"Can you gain confidence like that?" Ai was shocked to hear Hiko's words.
"As the saying goes, no comparison, no harm."
Hiko led Ai through the crowd and soon arrived at their destination.
At this time, there was no stage set up in the plaza. Many people were scattered around, some waiting for others, some chatting, but no one was performing.
After Ai and Hiko arrived at the plaza and saw the situation, she said, "No one's performing here either. That's rare; you actually didn't know."
"Ah, well... After all, I've only been to Shibuya two or three times, so it's perfectly normal not to know much," Hiko showed an awkward yet polite smile.
"Two or three times? Including last time?" Ai tilted her head and looked at Hiko. "But last time, I saw you were very familiar with this place?"
"It's just that I happened to have been to that particular place before."
Hiko answered Ai's confusion.
"So where are we going now?" Ai pulled her hand out of Hiko's grasp.
"Do you see that girl in pink over there?" Hiko pointed next to Ai.
He pointed to a very large cardboard box in the distance, inside which was a young girl in pink. She held a ticket and occasionally peeked out of the box, saying something to passersby.
But due to the distance, neither Hiko nor Ai could hear what she was saying.
However, based on the ticket in her hand and her attire, Hiko guessed she was probably selling tickets to her own concert.
"What is it?" Ai followed Hiko's gaze and also saw the girl in pink.
Hiko didn't continue looking that way but looked at Ai and said, "She should be an underground Idol."
"She's also an Idol? Why does she have to sell tickets herself? Where's her manager?" Ai became more confused the more she heard.
"Because she hasn't signed with any company yet, so she needs to sell tickets herself. This is the reality for some underground Idols," Hiko explained.
"Is that really true?" Although Ai sounded doubtful, she already believed it in her heart.
"Then let's go ask her," Hiko suggested, seeing that Ai seemed unconvinced.
"You're not trying to help her out, are you?" Ai asked, feeling that the girl in pink was quite cute.
"How could I possibly want to help her?" Hiko shook his head, feeling that if he didn't say it right, she might get angry again, so he said, "If you don't want to confirm, then we won't ask."
"I also want to understand underground Idols who have to sell their own tickets," Ai, instead, took Hiko's hand and pulled him towards the girl in pink in the large cardboard box.
'Huh? What's gotten into Ai? She's actively holding my hand? That's unusual.'
Hiko started walking, following Ai's lead.
The two walked over to where the girl in pink was crouching in the large cardboard box.