Another new spring was here.
After somehow squeaking through that reckless, thoughtless, and relentless joint prom with about a hundred yards of elbow grease, a hundred yards of talking, and a few inches of sweet talk, it was finally spring break.
Then, before long, the new semester was upon us.
There was only a little bit of the break left, so I was enthusiastic to make effective use of it, thinking, I’ll power-snooze my way through it just like Meng Haoran! But such wishes were in vain, and Komachi took me out first thing in the morning.
“Bro, hurry, hurry!” she said. “The fest is gonna start!”
“Yeah, yeah…,” I grumbled.
With Komachi shoving me and prodding me in the back, we walked from the station.
We were headed to a certain music festival. That was probably why Komachi was going all out that day, dressed up in a punk black leather jacket, a casual T-shirt, damaged jeans, and boots.
This is a completely trivial fact, but just like the old saying that goes “Chiba is famous for festivals and dancing,” Chiba is what they call a fest mecca, and a number of famous music festivals are held here. Apparently, we were marching off to one of those.
I was just an escort here, so I didn’t really know the details of the event, but Komachi said it was a pretty big concert.
And Komachi’s word was validated by all the hollering, extroverted party types on the way to the venue, even though it wasn’t open yet.
I see—it really was the right choice for me to escort her…
Fests aren’t just filled with fans who are purely there for the music—I’ve heard through the grapevine that there are also scoundrels who come for pick-up-related ends.
If a tender, young, and pretty girl like Komachi were to dive in there alone, the concertgoers loitering around the venue would chat her up with a chain of disconnected remarks like Whooo! You’re cute, huh? You in school? How old are you? Where d’you live? So, like, d’you have LINE? and then before you even know it, she’s getting asked on a date. And then afterward, they’ll keep going with, like, Do you have a dream? Do you know you can get income like royalties? We’re having a barbecue later—wanna come? and then she’s canvassed straight into an MLM.
I can’t have Komachi getting caught up in some weird online salon! That’d be a disaster! I have to protect her and keep her from suddenly going hollow-eyed and contacting every single one of her old classmates!
Burning with this sense of mission, I strolled along the way to the venue.
There was still quite a lot of time before the show started, but the concertgoers were pouring in, and groups of people wearing band T-shirts and uniforms were starting to stand out here and there. It really had that fest feel—this is a common sight in Chiba, in particular around the Makuhari area. Makuhari has a large event hall, a baseball stadium, and a beach, so it’s perfect for a variety of events.
I’m sure some people got tricked by the name Makuhari Messe today, as usual, and got off at Makuhari Station… You have to either get off at Kaihin-Makuhari Station or take the bus from Makuhari-Hongo Station…, I thought as we continued on, and then we came to the venue.
It was just slightly past when they’d opened the doors, and the lobby was thronging with crowds. I’m sure some of these people tasted despair at Makuhari Station…
With this kind of concert, generally everyone knows that the time right after the doors open is the most crowded.
But though I may not look like it, I’m rather practiced when it comes to concerts. When you get to my level, what rarely but often happens is you get to the venue anticipating that the concert start will be pushed back by five minutes, leading to your completely missing the opening act. Whoops, that’s no good… The useless terminal otaku has the tendency to read too deeply into the schedule situation based on the expressions of the staff listening to their headsets.
But judging from this turnout, we could anticipate even greater crowds inside the venue. I honestly wanted to avoid getting pushed around in a sea of people as we waited forever for the show to start. If I were alone, I would have gotten a Max can first before casually strolling over, but this time, I’d come purely as Komachi’s escort. I had to ask what she wanted.
…Well then, what do we do? Go home? I asked her with a look, and she pat-patted my shoulder and urged me on.
“Bro, hurry, hurry! Let’s go, let’s go!”
Komachi-chan seems quite enthusiastic.
Hmm, okay. Today, Big Brother has come to relax and enjoy the music… I’m more in the mood to stay in the back… It’s standing room only, so if you’re in the front, the trouble from the back moves forward in a wave, you know? I really don’t want to get involved in that…
I considered saying something like that to gently guide her with my apparent expertise, but when I looked into Komachi’s sparkling little eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything so boorish.
As a result, I wound up being really vague. “Like, okay. It’s not time for it to start, right? Don’t we have some more time?”
Komachi pouted and wagged her finger at me like, No, no. “What’re you talking about? The fest lasts until you get home, right? Which means…the fest has already started once you’ve left the house, too!” she declared, puffing out her chest as she pumped a clenched fist into the air. She was so aggressive about it, she won me over by default.
“O-oh. Yeah! That’s true! …I think?” Is it? Is it true? I agreed automatically, but I feel like that was a pretty irrational argument. Like “If you do it till you win, then you’ll never lose!”
But Komachi thought nothing of her brother’s look of skepticism, preparing to barrel ahead. “It is! Never mind—let’s just go, let’s go! If not, we’ll miss hearing the preshow announcement!”
“Y-yeah… Okay, then let’s go…”
Aha, so she’s the type of umamusume who’s good at taking the lead from behind? She totally blew right past me at the end. Well, the atmosphere created by the announcer or the narration before a concert starts is part of the live show experience. As expected of my little sister—she’s got a sharp eye for these things.