Chapter 85: The Band Members
Jodo Chenjie walked over and bowed gratefully to Camie. "Ms. Utsushimi, I really don't know how to thank you. Not only did you help us find a place to hold our concert, but you also helped me find my benefactor!"
"Well, I just happened to run into this guy by chance. Don't worry about it," Camie said with a smile, waving her hand. "Besides, helping you guys is just a personal hobby of mine."
Camie took a yellowish piece of paper from her wallet and handed it to Jodo. "Didn't you want to tell him yourself? Don't miss this opportunity."
Jodo nodded heavily. He held the yellow ticket with both hands, palms up, and bowed formally to Kira. "Kira-kun, thank you so much. If it hadn't been for what you said back then, I might still be rotting in a prison cell right now, instead of being here with my friends, making the music I love. Please, do us the honor of coming to our concert the day after tomorrow."
Kira didn't immediately reach for the ticket. "Mr. Chenjie, I believe I've told you before, I didn't do anything that you need to be so grateful for. The only reason you're here is because of your own restraint. You didn't attack me or my classmates. Otherwise, even if Makoto Hibikiya had gone to Detective Tsukauchi himself, he wouldn't have been able to get you released."
"However," Kira said with a shrug, accepting the ticket, "I am very interested in your performance. I really need this ticket. Thank you."
Jodo Chenjie looked up, pleasantly surprised, and said confidently, "We will definitely put on an amazing show for you!"
"Chenjie, aren't you going to introduce us to your benefactor?" a man with shoulder-length, curly blond hair said, slinging an arm around Jodo's neck and smiling at Kira.
"Ah, right!" Jodo snapped out of his daze and smiled at Kira. "This is our band's bassist, Kansou Eruto. He's also a skilled artist."
Kansou extended a hand to Kira. "I've wanted to meet the person Jodo talks about all day for a long time now."
Kira shook his hand. "And I've wanted to meet the bassist of 'soul'."
Jodo looked at the shy person behind him. He had curly brown hair and wore large, round glasses. "This is Dave, a big-hearted American boy. He's our drummer. He might seem a little shy, but he loves to sing, dance, rap, and play basketball. He has a lot of explosive energy when he's performing."
Dave, holding his drumsticks, just smiled at Kira and said nothing.
Jodo then gestured for Kira to look at Makoto Hibikiya, who was leaning against the doorway, smoking. "You've already met our band's leader. He's our pianist and lead singer, Makoto Hibikiya."
"And as for me," Jodo pointed a finger at himself with a self-deprecating smile, "I'm the guitarist. The one who's holding everyone back."
White paint secretly appeared in Kansou's hand. He smeared it on his face, and his hair, at some point, had turned red. He patted Jodo on the back, and when he turned around, Kansou made a face at him like a real clown.
"You're a member of our team. We'll never give up on you. So, don't talk like that."
Dave quietly placed a hand on Jodo's shoulder. Although he didn't speak, his actions showed his support.
Camie crossed her arms, bumped Kira's shoulder, and gave a knowing, fujoshi-like grin. "They're really close, aren't they?"
Although Kira agreed, he ignored her. "Wipe that smile off your face. I'm starting to regret standing next to you."
Makoto Hibikiya stood in the doorway, breathing in the fresh air, trying to expel the frustration that had been building up inside him for the past few days. The concert was the day after tomorrow, but he still felt the rhythm wasn't smooth enough during the transitions between songs.
He let out a deep breath, the smoke forming a ring that drifted upwards. He glanced at Jodo, who was surrounded by his friends, a silly grin on his face, and the lines of his own face softened.
Jodo was one of the most important members of their band. He had been with him since the very beginning. After the band was fully formed and had started to gain some recognition, for the sake of the band and some secrets that couldn't be spoken, he had taken a mission with several other Pro Heroes five years ago. After that, he had suspended his career as a Pro Hero to focus on performing and collecting songs.
But Jodo had misunderstood his reasons for stepping back. He thought Makoto had forgotten his original dream of being a hero. After a fierce argument, Jodo had stormed out of the band in a fit of pique. Since then, the band 'soul' had been mostly inactive.
Although Makoto had wanted to teach him a lesson, to show him that the band could go on without him, the other two members would rather not perform at all than accept a new member.
Fortunately, Jodo had now returned, and with more passion than ever, as if he had found a new goal worth fighting for, bringing more vitality to the team.
And all of this was thanks to Yoshikage Kira.
During their conversation, when Jodo heard that Kira liked their classic style of music, an idea suddenly struck him. "By the way, Kira-kun, would you like to watch our rehearsal? Our practice space is right downstairs."
Camie also chimed in, "Kira, aren't you interested in this stuff? Want to go check it out?"
"I've been meaning to ask," Kira said, narrowing his eyes at Camie. "What exactly is your relationship with the band 'soul'? You seem to know everything."
"Hehe, I just happen to know what I need to know," Camie said, originally planning to laugh it off. But seeing Kira's scrutinizing gaze, her voice softened. She smiled. "Actually, I'm their manager."
"You? A manager?" Kira wasn't surprised by her words, just by the fact itself. After all, she had been introduced as the poster girl for Shiketsu High. Adding "manager" to her list of titles wasn't that much of a stretch.
(Kira, who was surprised that a peer had already become a professional manager, would never have guessed that the girl quietly working behind the bar was on track to become a company president in her first year of high school and hire her own father...)
Camie puffed out her chest, spread her legs, and suddenly struck a pose as if she were ripping open a shirt. "I, Camie Utsushimi, have a dream!" she said earnestly. "To become a band manager and one day lead my band to the Budokan!"
Kansou poked his head over. "Ms. Utsushimi, you've only been our manager for half a month, and you've never said anything to us about performing at the Budokan."
Jodo also gave a wry smile. "Ms. Utsushimi, I don't want to burst your bubble, but we're an underground band. We probably won't be invited to perform in public."
Camie, despite being called out, didn't even blush. "This performance is the first step to conquering the Budokan!" she said stubbornly. "How can you succeed if you don't have any ambition!? So what if it's a niche genre? Weren't all the popular music styles now considered niche in the past!?"
Jodo opened his mouth, then just shook his head with a wry smile.
He couldn't argue with that.
"It's getting late. Don't you all want to go get a late-night snack?" Makoto Hibikiya walked over and nodded to Camie. "Ms. Utsushimi, we are very grateful for your help. But for now, I think you two should rest. If you don't mind, you can come and watch our rehearsal tomorrow morning."
Makoto didn't give her a chance to interject. "Hitomi, you can go home too. Thank you for your hard work today." He paused. "I'll tell my older sister not to work you so hard just because of your Quirk."
"Then I'll be leaving," Hitomi Mishima nodded. She walked out of the bar with a slightly unsteady gait.
Jodo and the others weren't worried about her. Her apartment was only half a block away; she could get there in a few minutes.
The lights in the bar were turned off, and the windows went dark. Makoto and the others followed behind Hitomi, heading for the main street, leaving only Camie and Kira standing there in silence.
Suddenly, Camie blinked and said, "Kira, want to go get a room?"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!