My new Neighbor's an Idol!?

Concert

He knew something was up with the girls. It's not as if Ishi was blind to things happening around him. Especially not when after he had returned, something seemed to have rattled Youna. They didn't do anything physical to her, so whatever was said during his time gone was not liked by that girl.

However, he decided to hold back on his revealing his suspicions for once. Normally, the boy would consider confronting one of them, isolating one of those girls to get to the bottom of things. However, now was a terrible time to do so. Both Rinse and Chiana had to perform tonight and he'd rather not disappoint every person here just because of his own situation.

For now, he was going to bite his tongue and leave it be for the time being. It's not like they were running out of time, so he would be able to find the opening eventually. Either that, or it wouldn't matter at the end of the day, but his curiosity was going to get the better of him one day.

"We'll see you two after the concert." Otoya bid farewell to the idols as they made their way backstage. Meanwhile, the others were going to be finding some decent spots to watch the performance. Though unfortunately for Ryugi, that spot was not going to be near Ishi at all. The gal's friends had finally caught up to her and they didn't seem all too happy to see her.

"You went and, like, decided to ditch us again." Ritsuko complained to her as the other two grabbed both of her arms.

"Well, I just thought that it might be fun to roam around a bit." Ryugi replied, nervously laughing as they dragged her away.

"Looks like that's the last time I'm seeing her tonight." Ishi commented as he witness this silly display.

"Wow, a popular girl abandoned her friends just to hang out with us." Otoya took this sight positively. "Aren't we lucky? I bet she just couldn't resist my charm."

"Or she probably just wanted to be able to hang out with some professional idols." He reminded his friend of the company they kept. That made the most logical sense to him, but if she was willing to ditch her friends instead of asking them to come along. What was that supposed to mean? It didn't seem like she disliked any of them, so getting an edge didn't seem like her. Perhaps there really was more truth to his best friend's words than they knew.

So now this only left him with just Otoya and Youna. Chiana's dad had also left them to go backstage to presumably help out with the production. Now most people would want to get as close to the front to really get the concert experience. Ishi wasn't most people, but his friend was.

"I'll just sit back at those tables." He informed Otoya right before that boy rushed in. Now that only left Youna, who was now nervously realizing that she was left alone with Ishi again. "I'm guessing you want to join me?"

"J-join you?" After her conversation with the girls, she now had the thought in her mind again that maybe he did like her. Sadly, that only filled her with more anxiety about spending any alone time, or even just talking with him. "Wh-what makes y-you think I want to come with you?"

"Because I know you don't like large crowds?" He answered, confused that she was jumping at the opportunity. "What's wrong? You usually don't mind being with me."

"No, I'm fine." She tried to calm her nerves. Now she was nearing that edge that if he found out the truth about her feelings, he was going to give her an answer. Considering the current times, it was likely she would have to suffer rejection. So she needed to not tip her hand. "Let's go."

Being assertive to try and throw off the trail, she took his arm and led him to the spot for once. This was a new feeling for him, since she had never done something so bold before.