Chapter 96: The Moon is Beautiful
Inside someone else's eye? Even if Kira had such a guess, there was no way he could verify it in a place like this.
But, unexpectedly, Kira spotted Momo, Uraraka, Jiro, and Tsuyu in a corner of the crowd.
They were some distance away. Kira could see they were completely immersed in the concert and decided not to go over. He had been about to leave quietly, but Tsuyu, feeling a bit of a crick in her neck from staring up for so long, happened to look his way.
Tsuyu and Kira's eyes met. She was about to call out to Momo and the others, who had just been wondering where Kira had gone, but she saw Kira put a finger to his lips in a "shushing" gesture. She nodded, giving up the idea.
To be honest, Tsuyu felt a little jealous. Whether it was Yaoyorozu, Jiro, or Hagakure and Ashido who weren't here today, all of them had shared some form of close contact with Kira during the Sports Festival. But she had been like a forgotten frog, sitting alone in her well, staring at the sky.
If there's a Frog Prince in this world, then there must be a Frog Princess, right? I'm the only one in this crowd who found him. Does that mean this is a secret that belongs just to us?
Tsuyu liked making friends. Even with a snake, which was a natural enemy of a frog, she would become friends without hesitation if the other party was willing. But even between good friends, it was okay to have a little secret, right?
Kira saw that Tsuyu hadn't made a sound. He pointed to his own phone. Kira understood. He pulled his powered-off phone from his pocket.
(Because so few people ever messaged him, Kira had kept his phone off for the past two days to better focus on his training. After all, he had no family who would be urging him to come home for dinner.)
But the moment Kira turned his phone on, he saw that his missed calls and texts were at 99+. He habitually ignored all the messages from Inasa, and in an instant, the message count dropped to just over a dozen.
Hagakure, Momo, Ashido, Midoriya, Camie, and Satomi had all sent him one or two messages. Hagakure and Ashido were asking if he was free this weekend; Momo was asking why he was at the concert and where he had gone now; Satomi said she wanted to take him to dinner to thank him.
Kira didn't reply to any of them, instead looking at the new message that had just come through from Tsuyu. (Incidentally, her icon was a cute frog sitting on a lily pad.)
"After the concert is over, can we talk for a bit? Alone?"
Kira was surprised. He looked up at Tsuyu. It clearly wasn't a hacked account; the message had been sent of her own free will. Her eyes were fixed directly on Kira, waiting for his reply.
She wants to talk to me alone? She probably just wants to ask why I'm here.
"No problem. I'll message you after it's over."
Kira nodded in understanding and sent the message, giving her a smile in return.
Seeing Tsuyu nod and wave, Kira melted back into the crowd, hoping to find any proof that Killer Queen had been there.
"Tsuyu-chan, who were you waving to?" Momo glanced over, a little curious.
"No one," Tsuyu replied, her face as impassive as ever.
Momo had just seen a blond-haired figure in the crowd and had thought it was Kira, but since Tsuyu-chan said it was no one, she must have been mistaken.
"Yaomomo-chan," Tsuyu said suddenly, "could you make me a hat?"
"A hat? Oh. Okay." Momo was surprised, but she nodded and agreed.
As Kira had expected, he never found what he was looking for, even as the band finished the concert with a final encore of "We Are the Champions."
"Kira, it's all over. Aren't you going to go on stage for a curtain call?"
Camie Utsushimi was lounging in the cramped backstage area, chugging cocktails mixed by Hitomi Mishima as if they were water. After finishing one, she would smack her lips, as if trying to discern the difference between it and the last one.
Camie was the band's manager, but in reality, she was more like their investor. The venue, the modified truck, and even the DJ (who Kira thought sounded suspiciously like Present Mic) had all been arranged by her. Kira had merely offered a few suggestions.
If you had to describe Camie in one word, it would be: "Sugar Mama."
She had always had a wish to drink as many of Hitomi's cocktails as she wanted, but since Hitomi was an employee of Aya Hibikiya, she'd never had the chance. But at this concert, Hitomi was working as staff and was thus obligated to fulfill any and all reasonable—and unreasonable—requests from the manager. And so, Hitomi could only wear an expression of utter despair as she skillfully mixed the dozens of liquors Camie had hoarded, trying to satisfy her endless greed.
Kira leaned against a metal equipment case, swirling a pale blue cocktail in his hand. He looked out at the massive crowd and gently shook his head. "No, that's not necessary. My wish has already been fulfilled."
"Your wish was just to have David Bowie and Queen sing a duet on stage?" Camie started to giggle. "I never knew you were such a sentimental person."
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, physiological needs are only the lowest level. Kira's usual philosophy was based on the premise of living a peaceful life. However, higher-level needs can suppress and control lower-level needs. Kira's desire to fulfill this one wish had overridden his philosophy of living a quiet life, which is what had led him to do something so conspicuous.
Fortunately, this was just an underground concert. Aside from die-hard rock fans, not many people were paying attention. Even though Momo and the others now knew, it probably wouldn't have much of an impact on his future life.
But if he had the chance to do it all over again, Kira wouldn't regret it.
"Rock and roll... a name that, for some unknown reason, has been lost to history. We may never know what the governments were so afraid of all those years ago. But our pursuit of rock, our yearning for freedom, will never be erased by time! Thank you all for coming..."
On stage, Makoto Hibikiya looked at the cheering crowd, feeling a wave of emotion. If it hadn't been for Camie's sudden investment, if it hadn't been for Kira coming to revise their performance, they never would have received this much applause.
But it was a pity. The two people who deserved the most credit were backstage, while he and the others were guiltily accepting praise that didn't belong to them.
The show was over. The beach, which had been packed with people moments ago, began to empty as the audience slowly left. Like the tide going out, it once again returned to its peaceful state.
Because they had used a mobile stage in a van, all they had to do was have the driver return the truck to its original state, and the cleanup was done. The instruments on stage would be taken home and sorted out later.
Without much effort, the truck's headlights flicked on. It looked just like an ordinary cargo truck as it drove along the road and quickly disappeared from sight.
The DJ, perhaps afraid of running into Jiro, had ended his radio broadcast the moment the concert was over and had hurriedly left.
"Kira, you're not coming?" Camie asked, surprised, sitting in a seven-seat van.
Makoto was in the driver's seat. Camie, Jodo, Kansou, Dave, and Hitomi were all seated in the back. Everyone was staring at Kira, waiting for him to get in.
"I still have something to do. I'm not leaving just yet," Kira said, shaking his head.
Makoto didn't ask any more questions. He closed the window and drove away.
Kira sent a text to Tsuyu. "Where are you?"
"On the beach, behind the stage." He received a reply almost immediately.
Kira put his phone away and, without much effort, found Tsuyu standing silently by the edge of the sea.
Unusually, she was wearing a simple sundress and a straw hat. She was standing with her back to him, staring out at the water. She had her hands behind her back, and her bare feet were letting the gentle waves wash over them.
Perhaps the sound of Kira's footsteps had startled her. She turned around. At that exact moment, a gust of wind blew past. Tsuyu quickly clamped her hat down to keep it from flying away, but the hem of her dress fluttered like a curtain caught in the breeze.
Now, the entire Seaside Park beach was empty, save for a few audience members still buzzing from the concert and a few young couples walking hand-in-hand along the sand.
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