Darkness surrounded her, punctuated intermittently by beams of colorful light dancing through the shadows. The roar of the crowd was deafening, but it couldn't drown out the thrum of the music or the voice of Kanamin's band. Rise let her body move to the rthym, feeling as much as hearing the music pulse through her. Yes. This was what she had needed. The perfect way to pass her day. The intense feeling of the music seeming to replace the beating of her heart, the heat and press of the crowd, the room alive with energy. She had forgotten how much she loved it. In those moments especially it was possible to forget who she was and simply meld into the sound and the crowd and bask in the shared experience. She had loved that as an idol, and she was finding it so much better as a spectator. All the fun and glory. None of the bullshit. Granted, it was fun to be the center of attention, but right now it was better to be annoymous, just another face in the crowd, who she was impossible to guess in the dark and the-
"Hey! Watch it, lady!" A nearby dancer exclaimed as Rise bumped into her while swaying to the beat.
"Ack! Sorry! Sorry! I just got lost in the-" Rise began.
"Whoa! Holy shit! Are you Risette??" The man said, his irritation suddenly forgotten.
Eep.
"Wha? What? Hahaha! No, silly! I do get that alot, though." Rise said nervously.
The man paused. Then grinned broadly.
"You totally are! Hey, shiki, check it out!" The man elbowed his girlfriend.
"No, really, your making a-" Rise protested, only to be interrupted again by a squeel of delight from Shiki.
"Oh my god! I'm standing next to a celebrity! This is so awesome!" Shiki and her man immediately dug into their pockets and before Rise could protest shot several pictures on their camera phones.
"No! I...uh...uh....All right! All right!" Rise pratically tackled the pair in desperation.
"Okay! You caught me." She whispered, grasping their elbows and talking to them conspiratorially. "Hi! I'm Rise Kujikawa. And you must be some of my fans?"
The response she received wasn't exactly anything coherent in any known language, but it certainly sounded affirmative.
"Okay! Listen. I'm happy your excited to see me, but I'm trying not to make a scene. I'm just here to enjoy my friend's concert like you are." Rise said.
"That's soooooo cool! I have to tweet about this!" Shiki said.
"WAIT! If you do that everyone's going to know I'm here and it'll be a big disruption!" Rise said, not mentioning her worry that it could turn into a riot.
"But no one is going to believe this otherwise!" The man protested.
"I don't mind if you tell everyone about it after the show, but could you just wait a little while before letting the cat out the bag?" Rise asked. "Pleeeease? For me?"
The man shrugged, but his girlfriend looked unconvinced. Then a rather evil looking smile appeared on her face.
"What do we get out of it?" Shiki asked.
"Errr....you can say you got to talk with Risette in person?" Rise offered.
"I dunno. Sounds kinda lame. I mean, you are the one asking for the favor. Its not our fault you decided to sneak in here...." Shiki said in mock skeptism.
Rise sighed. "You have something particular in mind? An autograph?"
Shiki smiled. "I'll pass. But now that you mention it....I really like those shoes."
"My....shoes?" Rise asked, caught off guard.
"Uh-huh. You have good taste. I bet they're pretty expensive, too."
"Y-yeah. They are." Rise said. She had a bad feeling about this.
"So how about it? A shoe for each of us, and we don't say a thing? That's a good deal, right?" Shiki said with a smile.
"Errr....I...."
"Its your call. All I need to do is press this little button on my phone and everyone's gonna know your here." Shiki said, waggling her phone back and forth.
"Jeez! Fine!" Rise said, bending over and pulling off her shoes. "Why do you even need these?"
"Celebrity shrine." The man answered.
"Ebay." Shiki said.
Rise muttered to herself.
"Good luck, Mrs. Risette! We won't say a word. Might wanna figure out what to do about them, though."
Rise looked in the direction Shiki was indicating and whimpered at the sight of four or five people looking at her in stunned silence. What the heck was she supposed to do now?
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