Chapter 52: Ko-chan’s Carnival (3)
"I came to get you, Ko-chan~" Hinari came up to me as I watched various people try the obstacle course either with the play wings or the real ones. Plenty of people succeeded with the play wings and earned a little pin showing a tutu and a pair of wings, but no one managed to clear the secret level. See? I'm way more amazing than you all thought!
"Ah, Hinari-chan. Is it time to move onto the next station?" I stood up and dusted myself off. It was time to play and show off even more of my amazing skills!
"Sakari-chan said she had some people to deal with, so I'll be running the next demonstration. Let's get a move on, some people are already doing the challenge." I nodded and followed her to the "Armbinder Cuddle Dodge" event.
As I got closer, I could see a girl try to dodge but fail and get embraced by a girl in a tutu. "Aww, so close, she almost had it!" "Only five seconds away" "Maybe the next person will be luckier?" The crowd was already bustling at the fourth challenge stage.
"Who will be our next challenger? Oh, wait, is that a wild Ko-chan I see in the audience? It is! Let's give a hand for Ko-chan, who came to see us~" The assistant pointed me out and the crowd divided to let us easily approach the stage.
"Wow, can we see Ko-chan do the challenge now?" "I can't wait to see her dodging performance~" I smiled slightly at the adoration and felt a little flutter in my chest.
Hinari took over the microphone when she got to the stage and started to work the crowd. "You've been waiting, have you? Well, watch closely, because you won't want to miss this!" She beckoned me over from the side.
Hinari walked over to a large circle on the ground about five meters in diameter. "Remember, in this challenge, you must stay inside this circle for two minutes and dodge our chasers, whose only goal is to give you a little cuddle. If you can survive for the entire time, you will earn this cute pin to go with your others." Hinari held up a little armbinder pin and showed it to the crowd.
"There are no other rules, you can do whatever you want to avoid getting hugged. But we're going to make things a little harder for dear Ko-chan. She must hold her arms behind her back, and if she separates them for any reason, she is disqualified." I wasn't wearing my tutu, so I didn't have an armbinder easily accessible. It didn't matter, as I could already press my arms together without any assistance.
I placed my arms behind me and pressed them together. I did a little fashion twirl and showed off to the audience that I did in fact have my arms in reverse prayer, then went into the circle. "I'm ready, Hinari-chan!"
Hinari smiled, "Now, let's meet the cuddlers. They are professionals at their job, so you have your work cut out for you~" Three assistants in tutus appeared at the edges of the circle and bowed slightly to me.
Hinari walked up to a large digital timer on the wall and pushed a big button. "3..2..1..go!" The assistants immediately started to close in on me, but I was quite experienced at this game of cat and mouse after months of being chased by the fan club. I would dodge, jump, and roll around to avoid their lunges, always staying one step ahead of them. I even played up for the audience and let them get close to catching me a few times.
After two heart-racing minutes, the buzzer sounded loudly and I stopped moving. The nearest assistant didn't stop in time and still hugged me at the end. "I caught you, young miss." She whispered in my ear and smiled. I shook free. "Hey, you were too slow, it doesn't count!"
Hinari clapped her hands, "Wow, a thrilling chase! Now, does anyone feel like they have what it takes?"
"A crock of shit! Those are your people, they obviously wouldn't make Ko-chan look bad on stage." A loud voice came out of the crowd.
Hinari smiled as if expecting such a heckler. "It sounds like you are quite confident in your assertions. What do you want us to do to prove our authenticity?"
The girl came out of the crowd followed by two more girls behind her. "Let me and my friends do the chasing. We will expose your little play."
Hinari looked over to me, and I shrugged. "An excellent idea! Fan interaction is the name of the game, after all. Come up to the stage then, if you can successfully catch little Ko-chan, you can cuddle her for the rest of the time period to your desires."
The girl climbed the stairs while almost snarling. "I don't need to cuddle her, I just want to rip that fake mask of cuteness off her in front of everyone." The girls came to the edges of the circle and I also put my arms behind my back again.
Hinari went back to the timer. "Well, we'll see if you have the skills to do so.... Start!" She pressed the buzzer and the chase was on again. This time I didn't play any games, so they didn't even get close to catching me. I ended the game by doing a beautiful backflip over a girl who was lunging at me at the last second.
Hinari couldn't stop grinning as she watched me show off. She knew how much I had trained to gain this level of agility. "Well, it looks like our champion stays on top. Are you convinced, girls?"
"I'll never be convi--" The girl started to rant again, but then a chorus of boos rained down. "Boo, get off the stage" "You suck, you didn't even get close!" "Bring out someone with more skill!"
Hinari put on a professional smile. "Looks like the crowd has spoken. Move along, ladies, we still have a lot of challengers left. Ladies, one more round of applause for the amazing Ko-chan~" Assistants came and forcefully guided the three troublemakers from the stage while I sat down at the side to watch the show.
"Who's next? Surely you weren't all scared off by Ko-chan's smooth moves, were you?" Hinari goaded a little into the crowd and finally got a bite. "Um.. I'll try it." A smaller girl came up, but she looked quite nervous. About thirty seconds in, she got caught and hugged by the assistant before she was carried out of the circle in a princess carry. She ran down the stairs blushing, leaving the stage empty yet again.
"It's my turn! This time, I will definitely earn the right to kiss you, Ko-chan!" A girl already in mittens, boots, and a tutu came up to the stage.
Hinari flinched. "Ah. I heard about your quest to kiss Ko-chan. Are you ready for your next attempt? I should remind you that this challenge is called 'Armbinder Cuddle Dodge'. Even though normal challengers do not have any restrictions, if you intend to attempt the secret level, you will have to do it after your arms are bound. Do you understand?"
The girl thought only for a minute before nodding, "Anything is okay as long as I can succeed in my quest!" She was guided to the side where the assistants pressed her gloves together and locked them. After that, they unfolded the armbinder already in the back of the tutu and laced it up over her already bound arms. A zipper and a pair of straps were locked over the laces and the girl was shoved lightly back towards Hinari, blushing softly.
Hinari looked at the struggling girl and smiled as the first fish was caught on the hook. "How is it? No time to waste, please go take your place to start." The girl nodded, and moved a bit awkwardly into the circle. Three assistants positioned themselves around the edges of the arena and waited for the timer to start.
With a loud beep, Hinari started the timer. The assistants moved in quickly, surprising the girl who was still a bit unsteady on her ballet boots. She dodged a few grabs, but then one of the assistants got a hand onto one of her wings.
"Ah! Wait!" She jerked, but she did not have the leverage to get her wing free from the assistant before another grabbed onto her other wing. She quickly found that she was stuck in place, unable to move in either direction.
"Wait! Stop! This!" She yelled out, but the assistants were quite efficient, straightening her out and lifting her up so her feet no longer touched the ground. The third assistant smiled and opened her arms wide, slowly walking towards the immobilized girl.
"This..c-c-cant be... I can't do anything..." The girl flailed madly, but her armbinder held her completely trapped, and the wings kept her immobile and dangling off the ground. She was utterly incapable of avoiding the third assistant's slow menacing embrace.
"Is...this...how Ko-chan felt?..." Her eyes teared up as her fear and desperation overwhelmed her and she started to tremble.
Finally, the third assistant came in and hugged her gently. She whispered, "Got you~" in the girl's ear before releasing her after a few seconds. The other two assistants lowered her to the ground and retreated from the circle. She slumped to her knees as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Hinari announced the result. "Our first secret level challenge was a failure! Let's still give her a hand for a valiant effort!" The crowd cheered and applauded wildly. The girl staggered to her feet then walked over towards me. She fell to her knees again in front of me, still crying.
"...Ko-chan...I'm so sorry...I had no idea...that's how it felt on the other side..." I understood the girl's sadness and despair, after all, I felt it often back then. I had even more than three people chasing me sometimes, and it wouldn't end in one three second hug if I got caught. I would be held and teased until I orgasmed, sometimes more than once.
I kneeled down in front of the girl too and gave her a hug. "It's okay. I forgive you. Also, don't worry too much, wearing an armbinder all the time gets easier after a while." I smiled and helped her to her feet and gave her another hug.
"Wait, what do you mean 'all the time'? Wait!" She yelled back as she was led from the stage by an assistant.
The crowd's attention was drawn to another girl wearing a tutu and wings, who shot her arm up. "ME! Me next!"
She rushed up the stairs before anyone could object. "I want to challenge the secret level, but I have a special request!" The girl was panting heavily and her face was flushed, which made sense, since she had just run over in ballet boots and a corset.
Hinari felt like this one would be trouble, but replied anyway. "Aren't you the girl from the last stage? Who didn't want to get too close and watch from afar? What changed your mind?"
Her breath was heavy and she was having trouble holding still. "Nothing changed! I have to challenge this level!"
Hinari sighed. "Alright. Go get your arms done up and come back." She pointed to the side where two assistants were waving.
"Be right back!" She ran over at a surprising speed, and seemed like she was enjoying the process of getting her arms restrained quite a bit. She came back squirming her arms the whole way.
"Ah... this feeling..." She seemed a bit distracted, but was pulled back by Hinari's address.
"Alright, you're ready to go. So, what's this request of yours?" Hinari was getting more curious by the second.
The girl blushed even more. "Umm... I don't want to try and dodge, I want the assistants to hold me in the air like that last girl and kiss me!"
Hinari's face twitched and she couldn't work up the words to respond to this request.
The crowd started to gossip, and after an awkward silence, Hinari sighed. "Fine, do what you want. You heard the request right? Grant her wish, would you?"
The assistants all smiled professionally and bowed. They surrounded the girl and grabbed her wings, lifting her in the air helplessly.
"This..this feeling...this is how...Ko-chan felt..." Her words seemed to become even more labored as the third assistant came close.
She was kissed gently on the lips, but the girl tensed and released erratically as her legs quivered in pleasure. Hinari, watching on, realized what was happening.
"S-she... wasn't panting because she was out of breath, was she..." She covered her face with her hand and wondered if they were really doing the right thing.
After a minute or two, the girl was let down, but she couldn't stand at all. She was eventually carried from the stage by an assistant who seemed to be trying to hold back her laughter.
Hinari tried to regain her composure. "Okay, please, can I get a normal challenger that isn't just trying to get off?"
"This is pathetic. The first challenger lost in seconds because she couldn't walk stably and the second one didn't even bother. There's nothing there that is leading me to believe this is actually a difficult challenge." A girl in a tutu, mittens, and boots crossed her arms as she stepped forward.
Hinari smirked. "A new challenger approaches. Let's hope she has the skills to back up her big words. Ladies, let's get this young girl ready for her attempt." The assistants came forward and locked the girls arms together before lacing them into the armbinder. A few locks later and she came back, still looking smug.
Hinari pointed to the timer. "Well, good luck, your time starts...now!" The chase began, and the girl actually stood up to her boasting, she was doing the best out of all challengers so far. Still, about 45 seconds in, her wing was bumped by one of the assistants throwing her off balance, and her other wing was caught. Seconds later, her other wing was also caught, and she was held dangling in the air and embraced.
After the third assistant let go, she started shouting, "This is bullshit! The assistants are cheating by grabbing onto my wings! What kind of dodging challenge is this? If I didn't have these wings on you never would have caught me!"
The assistants didn't release her from the air, and instead, pulled her down, forcing her to kneel down and sit on the ground.
"Ah goddamnit, let me up already! This isn't fair!" she continued protesting until I came over. I just couldn't let her off after saying all those things.
I kneeled down in front of the sitting girl who was being held down. "Hey, why do you say it's cheating? If you want to do the challenge without the wings, just do the normal version, no need to do the secret level."
"The normal version doesn't mean anything! I want to prove you're nothing special! I would have cleared this challenge without the wings!" The girl didn't let up
"But...I had wings back then, when everyone was chasing me around. They held me up by my wings many times, and I couldn't get away at all. And when I got caught, it didn't just end in a quick hug." I tried to explain my feelings.
"See? This challenge is bullshit, even you couldn't clear it." The girl looked like she won the debate.
"Ah, well, that was back then. Now there's no way I'd get caught. You should get some more practice, maybe you'll be better at it after that." I smiled and waved before standing up and going back to Hinari. "I'm ready to move on, Hinari-chan."
Hinari frowned and looked at me a bit sadly. "It's okay, Ko-chan, she has no idea."
I smiled softly, "It's okay. They don't have to understand. As long as you guys and Matsuko understand, that's enough for me."
After that I headed for the stairs.
