Handshake Event

March 3, 2012, Yomiuri Land, Tokyo.

Tokyo in March still carried the tail end of winter, with a chill in the air, but the entrance to Yomiuri Land was already bustling with people.

Today was Nogizaka46's first nationwide handshake event since the release of their debut single, "Guruguru Curtain." More than 5,000 people flocked from all over the country, crowding the entrance.

Xia Mo stood in the queue, clutching a thick stack of handshake coupons. Forty coupons—he had spent all the money he had saved up over the winter.

Her father paid for her plane ticket to Tokyo and she also stayed at his house. But the money for the forty handshake tickets CDs was saved up penny by penny by him while teaching Chen Yijun piano and Japanese.

Before leaving, Dad was still muttering in the living room, "Where will we put all these CDs?" Xia Mo didn't answer. She carefully tucked the forty coupons into her passport and stuffed them into the deepest part of her backpack.

The handshake event was held at the EAST open-air theater in Yomiuri Land. The stage was set up in the center, surrounded by concentric circles of people waiting to shake hands.

This was Nogizaka46's first nationwide handshake event. Fifteen handshake lines were set up, with two members in each line. Fans lined up with handshake tickets included in their CDs, and each person could only shake hands for a few seconds each time.

There was a mini LIVE before the handshake, four songs - "ぐるぐるカーテン", "会いたかったかもしれない", "Left Chest No Brave", and one song I don't remember the name of at the end of summer.

Feiniao and Huahua stood on the stage, both dressed in matching white uniforms, their skirts swaying gently with their dance moves. Xia Mo stood in the audience, watching their performance quietly among so many people for the first time.

Hua Hua played the piano, and Fei Niao stood in the second row and danced quite well. The whole team gave people a feeling of youthful energy.

After the live performance ended, the handshake event officially began. More than 5,000 people rushed to the fifteen queues at the same time. Xia Mo stood in the middle of the crowd and was pushed forward several steps.

He pulled out a queue chart from his pocket—the one given to him when he entered the venue, which showed the members of the fifteen queues.

Erika Ikuta is in the 3rd column, and her group is Yumiko Iwase. Asuka Saito is in the 11th column, and her group is Mai Fukagawa.

Xia Mo looked at the queue list and took a deep breath. He had promised Fei Niao he would hold her hand, and he had also promised Hua Hua—thirty tickets for Fei Niao and ten for Hua Hua. He sorted the tickets and walked towards the 11th queue.

The 11th column was shorter than I expected.

Although Asuka has gained some attention—her mixed-race appearance, the youngest age in the group, and her unique translucency—she is still too petite and hasn't fully matured, so her popularity is far less than that of the top members.

At this point, the younger girls were no match for the older girls, including Mai Shiraishi and Nanami Hashimoto.

The queue moved quickly, there weren't as many people in line as those top celebrities, and the atmosphere was quieter.

Xia Mo was in line. Right in front of him was a bespectacled nerdy guy. The two of them were one in front of the other, with no one else in between, and the line moved forward quietly.

The bespectacled nerdy guy was probably bored, so he turned around and glanced at Xia Mo.

"Is this your first time here?"

Xia Mo nodded.

"Who should we push?"

Can't you tell we're in line?

Summer hesitated for a moment. "Saito Asuka."

"Oh, that youngest mixed-race girl." The boy's tone carried a seasoned nonchalance. "I heard she's going for the mainstream idol route, and her responses are quite sweet."

"This guy's obviously a pro," Xia Mo thought to herself.

"Where are you from? Tokyo?"

"Taipei," Xia Mo said.

"Taipei?!" The boy was shocked.

"You flew here specifically? You must be a true fan. I used to be like that too, traveling to Nagoya and Osaka for AKB. But I've gotten tired of AKB lately, and I heard there's a 'formal rival' here, so I came to check it out."

Xia Mo glanced at him. This person's T-shirt had the AKB48 logo printed on it, and the badge on his chest was also AKB, but the handshake ticket he was holding was Nogizaka48's.

"Then who do you push?" Xia Mo asked.

"I recommend Erika Ikuta, Mai Shiraishi, Nanami Hashimoto, Nanase Nishino... I recommend them all." The boy counted on his fingers. "Since we're already here, it won't hurt to shake hands with a few more."

"Do you know what DD means?" Under the influence of Asuka and Hana, Xia Mo has also learned some common knowledge about idols.

"Of course I know. Anyone can."

"I'm talking about you."

The boy paused for a second, then laughed, a very open and honest laugh, without the slightest embarrassment.

"If an idol otaku doesn't dine, can he still be called an idol otaku?" He patted Xia Mo on the shoulder, his tone carrying a philosophical air of someone who's been there.

"Young man, you'll understand after you come a few more times. Pushing one person is too tiring, but pushing a group of people is just right."

Xia Mo didn't refute. He took out the stack of handshake coupons from his pocket and glanced at them.

Thirty sheets—he'll probably never learn what "just right" means.

The queue slowly moved forward. The otaku turned back.

As summer faded, Xia Mo looked up and, through the gaps in the crowd, saw Fei Niao at the end of the line. She was shaking hands with Xia Mo, a standard business smile on her lips, neither warm nor cold, neither too close nor too distant.

Then she looked up, her gaze quickly sweeping across the queue—her eyes stopped, and she saw Xia Mo.

In that instant, the expression on her face changed. It wasn't an exaggerated change, but rather like a lamp being slightly brightened from the inside: her eyes widened first, then curved into crescents; the curve of her lips remained the same, but the overall feeling was different—from "going to work" to "waiting for someone."

She even sat up slightly straighter, and her right hand unconsciously moved to the side, as if to make room for someone.

Mai Fukagawa, standing nearby, didn't notice this small gesture; she was focused on clasping her hands and dealing with the fans.

Xia Mo's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't move. He just stood there quietly, watching her through the crowd.

Asuka lowered her head and continued shaking hands, but her rhythm changed. After shaking hands with one person, she would quickly glance up at the queue to make sure Xia Mo was still there, and then lower her head to shake hands with the next person.

Her lips remained curved, and her smile was much wider than before. It wasn't a trained smile, but a genuine one, a smile that made her radiate light.

The otaku in front of Xia Mo also sensed the change in atmosphere. He turned around and lowered his voice to Xia Mo.

"Look, Saito-san is in such a good mood today! She's been smiling the whole time! Did she just glance at me? I think she did!"

Xia Mo opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

He couldn't say, "She was looking at me."

His expression was probably quite subtle, so subtle that the otaku glanced at him and assumed he was jealous of being at the front of the line and receiving all of Asuka's attention, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, it'll be your turn soon."

There was no explanation given at the end of summer.

The queue continued to move forward. There were two people ahead of the otaku, then one more, and then it was his turn. He stepped forward, and Asuka shook his hand, her big eyes sparkling with laughter, and said with a smile, "Keep supporting Asuka!"

The otaku felt as if he had been struck by an invisible light. His body, which had been leisurely just moments before, was now trembling. He muttered, "I will always support you," his voice shaking.

Asuka smiled and nodded, but her gaze went past his shoulder and landed on the person in the dark gray hoodie behind him.

The otaku was completely oblivious, still caught up in a strong sense of self-pity. He let go of her hand and was forcibly guided to the left by the staff, floating away from the queue as if he were walking on clouds.

Summer took a step forward.

Feiniao looked up at Xia Mo and smiled slyly.

She opened her mouth, about to say "You've arrived," when Xia Mo pulled a stack of handshake vouchers from her pocket and handed them to the staff member next to her.

Thirty sheets.

The staff member paused for a moment, took the tickets, and started counting them. The staff in the next queue also looked over, and someone whispered, "Thirty tickets."

People behind Xia Mo in line craned their necks to look this way; some were laughing, while others had expressions that said, "Is this guy crazy?"

As Fukagawa Mai was shaking hands with the next person, she caught a glimpse of a thick stack of coupons being handed to her from the side, and paused for a moment.

At this time, Nogizaka46 was still in its early stages, and most of its fans were still in a wait-and-see state. It was quite rare for them to gain so many fans at once.

She turned her head to look, her gaze lingering for a moment on the faces of the stack of coupons and Xia Mo, before glancing at the flying bird.

She didn't say anything, then turned back to shake the hand of the next fan.

Asuka looked at the stack of coupons being collected by the staff, then at Xia Mo. She swallowed the words she was about to say and asked in Chinese, "What are you doing?"

Xia Mo also replied in Chinese: "This is my first time attending your handshake event, so I'll definitely shake hands for a while longer."

"That's still too much," Asuka said in a low voice. "How long have you been saving it up?"

"Not long," Xia Mo said. "Anyway, it's worth it."

Asuka lowered her head, looked at their clasped hands, paused for a moment, then looked up and changed the subject: "How have you been lately? You seem to have lost weight."

"I'm doing alright. How about you? Are you adjusting to life as an idol?"

Asuka thought for a moment. "It's much better than at school." Her voice softened. "The members are all very nice people, unlike back in school..."

She didn't finish speaking, but Xia Mo understood.

"That's good," Xia Mo said.

Asuka looked at him and suddenly smiled. "You've grown taller. I almost didn't recognize you just now."

"...Is there?"

"Yes. You used to be about the same height as me," Asuka gestured, "but now you're almost half a head taller than me."

A rustling sound came from the side. After shaking hands with the last person beside her, Fukagawa Mai turned her head and her gaze fell on the two people.

She saw Asuka talking, but the rhythm of her lips was off—it wasn't Japanese. The boy was responding with the same rhythm.

What language was she speaking? Fukagawa Mai listened for a few sentences but didn't understand, but her gaze lingered on Asuka's face. Asuka was smiling, not the business smile, but a different kind.

Mai Fukagawa said nothing, just watched quietly for a few seconds, then looked away, preparing to shake the hand of the next fan.

"What are you talking about?" she couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Asuka turned her head and replied in Japanese, "It's nothing, just a classmate. He just complimented me on how tall I've grown."

Mai Fukagawa gave a suspicious look and simply said "Oh," without asking any further questions.

The bird turned back and said in a low voice in Chinese, "Alright, you should go now. Go and hold Huahua's hand."

"what?"

"Don't pretend with me. Hana told me everything. How could you not go see Hana on your first handshake event?" Asuka rolled her eyes.

Xia Mo glanced at the queue behind her and nodded apologetically.

"I'll come find you with Huahua after this is over," Feibiao said.

"it is good."

"Keep supporting Ashulin (Asuka's self-chosen name)." Ashu waved to Natsume, trying to suppress her shyness.

Xia Mo let go of his hand and was guided to the left by the staff. After walking a few steps, he looked back. Fei Niao was watching him, her ears red, as red as the Taipei summer evening sky from the side.

He turned around and walked towards the third column. He had used up all thirty bills, and had ten left in his left pocket.

He's going to hold the flowers.