Chapter 11

Yuko had dinner at Emma's house and stayed until around eight o'clock. When she saw that it was almost time, she prepared to say goodbye.

Mikey and Draken had left before dinner, and Draken said goodbye to them before leaving.

Emma escorted her to the door, and Yuko was about to get into her car when a motorcycle with its headlights on shone so brightly that both Yuko and Emma couldn't open their eyes and couldn't see who it was.

The other party honked their horn and then turned off their lights.

Emma then saw clearly and said with some surprise, "Brother Shinichiro, you're back so early today."

"Why is there an unfamiliar car blocking the entrance?" Shinichiro parked his car and strolled over slowly. He was still dressed in a T-shirt and work pants, looking like a mechanic.

Emma explained to him, "It's Emma's friend who came to visit."

Yuko was about to greet him when she looked at his face and a memory was stirred in her mind. Wasn't this her brother's friend, Shinichiro?

“Yuko?” Shinichiro recognized her too. Although almost a year had passed, Yuko’s appearance was very distinctive, and it was impossible to forget her.

"Do you know each other?" Emma asked curiously.

"What a small world!" Shinichiro exclaimed, explaining to Emma, ​​"I'm friends with Yuko's brother."

“Yes, Mr. Shinichiro, how have you been?” Yuko said with a smile. Suddenly her phone rang, and the caller ID showed it was her brother, Genji Takiya.

Yuko answered: "Brother?"

"Yuko, why aren't you home?"

"Brother, you're home?"

"Yeah, Ruka got two tickets to Ayumi Hamasaki's concert. We didn't have time to go, so we wanted to give them to you. Where did you go? Why aren't you home yet?"

"Um..." There were too many questions, and Yuko didn't know which one to answer first. Then Shinichiro took her phone away. "Genji, your sister is at my house."

Because of this sentence, I started imagining my beastly friend seducing my sister behind my back: ...You, Sano Shinichiro, I'm going to come and kill you right now.

Unaware of the danger, Shinichiro continued, "Aren't you surprised that Yuko and my little sister are friends?"

Genji: I put down the knife in my hand.

Genji Takiya wasn't keen on chatting with Shinichiro. He cursed a couple of times on the phone and told Shinichiro to quickly return the phone to Yuko.

The brother and sister exchanged a few words. They usually talked on the phone, but one was still a child while the other was an adult who had left home and was independent; the ten-year age difference between them inevitably created a generation gap. Adding to this the difference in gender, how could a 20-something brother possibly understand what his 10-something sister was interested in? Thus, their conversation was reduced to nothing more than dry, unspoken concern.

"Please say hello to Ryuka-neechan for me." After saying this, Yuko and her brother ended the call. She then said goodbye to Shinichiro and Emma, ​​and Shinichiro said he would welcome Yuko to come again next time.

When Yuko returned home, her brother Genji had already left, leaving only two tickets for the maid to give to her.

Yuko felt a pang of regret that she hadn't been able to see her brother.

She looked at the two tickets in her hand.

It's a very good spot, at 8 PM this Saturday night, at the National Yoyogi Stadium in Shibuya.

Yuko wasn't particularly knowledgeable about celebrity worship, but having watched a lot of TV, she recognized most of the currently popular stars. Moreover, her two best friends, Nono and Emma, ​​liked Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki respectively, and they had often talked about it to Yuko. However, they were both middle school students; they certainly didn't have the money to go to concerts.

Yuko thought for a moment and then called Nono.

–

The next day, after school, Yuko asked Mr. Kuroki to drive her to the park near Nono's house, as the two had agreed to meet there the day before.

But when Yuko found Nono in the open space of the park, there were actually many people there.

Keisuke Madoka, Chifuyu Matsuno, Draken, Mikey, Emma, ​​and Nono—these classmates gathered together.

"Yuko."

"Xiao You".

Emma and Nono greeted her, and Yuko responded somewhat guiltily. Then, she subtly moved next to Nono and whispered, "What's going on? Emma's here too." Didn't we agree last night to have Emma arrange a private meeting with Draken-kun...?

Ye Ye explained, "It was an accident, it's okay, let's proceed as planned." She and Emma only discovered Mikey and the others were there after they arrived.

Yuko sighed, thinking to herself that there was really nothing she could do.

"What are you two whispering about?" Emma asked them curiously.

Yuko tensed up for a moment, then explained, "No, we were talking about this..." As she spoke, she took the two tickets out of her bag.

Emma glanced at it and exclaimed, "It's a ticket to Ayumi's nationwide concert! And for the Shibuya show!"

Yuko knew Emma would like it, and she exchanged a glance with Nono.

Nono said, "I pass. She's completely devoted to Namie. You and Emma go see her, Yuko."

"What is that?" Keisuke, sitting on a park bench, couldn't understand what they were saying at all.

Mikey, slumped beside him with his limbs outstretched, wasn't listening at all. He was looking up at the leaves above, lost in thought.

"Hey, they're talking about a pop star," Qian Dong explained considerately.

"You don't even know Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki? They're very famous." As expected of Draken, who grew up surrounded by women, he was very familiar with their songs because of the older women in the shop.

"Why should I get to know them?" a straight man in the room asked.

Yuko, afraid that the topic would be steered astray, quickly interjected and explained carefully: "I have to go to my cram school on Saturday, and Nono doesn't want to go. I'm also worried about leaving Emma alone. Ayu's concerts are always packed with empty seats, and even if we're just being conservative, there will probably be more than 10,000 people at Yoyogi Stadium that day."

It was a little past three in the afternoon, which was the hottest time of day. Fortunately, the park was well-maintained with greenery, and everyone was standing in the shade of the trees. There were also gentle breezes that helped to dispel the heat.

However, Yuko's constitution was less tolerant of heat than most people, and with her hair down, her long black hair covering her back looked like she was wearing a down jacket. She regretted not bringing a hair tie, otherwise she could have tied her hair up.

Just then, Ye Ye handed her a bottle of water and whispered, "Here, I know you get hot easily, have some water first. Why didn't you tie your hair up? Did you forget your hair tie again?"

Yuko said she was fine. She decided in her heart to persevere and wait for things to settle down.

Although everyone noticed Nono and Yuko's little interaction, they didn't pay it any mind. Draken said, "There are so many people and it's so crowded, it's okay if we can't go. We can watch it on TV anyway."

Nono immediately retorted, "How can TV and live performance be the same? You probably don't know how much a ticket to Ryuguji Temple is worth; it would be a waste not to go."

Yuko tucked her hair behind her ear; sweat was already trickling down her neck and into her collar, and she felt her back was soaked. She continued, following Nono's words, "It's not that expensive, but these two tickets are in a relatively good spot, right next to the stage. Together, they'd probably sell for 30,000 to 50,000 yen."

"What?!" This was Draken.

"That's enough to buy so many servings of fried noodles!" This is the venue.

"That could buy so many dorayaki!" That's Mikey's question.

The three spoke at the same time, and Draken immediately retorted to the other two: "Do you guys exchange money for food here?"

Nono stared at the group of people, then suddenly had an idea and said to Mikey, "Sano, why don't you go with Emma?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he attracted Yuko's attention.

The two communicated telepathically.

Yuko: Didn't you say to send Draken and Emma? Nono, you…

Ye Ye: Don't worry, he'll definitely refuse.

"No, it's too boring. Jianzi, you and Emma go." Mikey, as expected, refused. Not only that, he also made a brilliant assist.

Yuko mentally clenched her fist: Good job! Sano-kun!

“I said, don’t push things onto me,” Draken said, sounding reluctant, but he noticed Emma, ​​who hadn’t said much since earlier.

If you've ever seen a child standing in front of a toy store window, wanting to go in but knowing they can't be a burden, only able to watch longingly, then you've seen Emma with that same expression. Looking at her, Draken, for some reason, couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh. He clicked his tongue, sighed, and asked in an unfriendly tone, "Time and place?"

Emma's eyes lit up instantly.

It's done!

Nono secretly nudged Yuko with her shoulder, and the two exchanged a knowing smile.

Mikey stood up, wearing his flip-flops and summer school uniform. He wore a white shirt with a black jacket over it, which looked like a cape because only the top button was fastened.

Yuko felt hot just looking at his outfit, but he lazily put his hands in his pockets, and his blond hair was fluffy and dry, so he didn't look hot at all.

"Are you leaving, Mikey?" the venue asked him.

Mikey yawned and said, "It's so hot. Who suggested coming here anyway?"

"Is that you?" The person on the field stood up.

"Really?" Mikey looked at him with an expression that said, "I don't remember."

“That’s right, that’s why we went to the park to rest because you said you were tired,” Draken tried to jog his memory.

LOL, it's completely useless.

Seeing this, Yuko secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had already given away the tickets and was just worried about not having a reason to leave. After all, everyone was there, and it would seem impolite for her to leave alone. Now it was perfect. After saying goodbye to everyone, she returned to her car with the air conditioning on, the cool air making her pores open up comfortably.

She was thinking about Emma and Draken's date on Saturday and hoped she had been helpful this time.