Chapter 98: An Unknown Past (End of Volume Two)
Kira never expected that, just two days later, he would be back at Satomi Ishihara's apartment. Her home wasn't large, but it was warmly decorated.
At this moment, Kira was sitting on the sofa in front of the television, watching the broadcast clips of the concert with a speechless expression.
Satomi Ishihara carefully handed him a cup of coffee, her face calm and professional, as if the other night had never happened. "Kira-kun," she asked curiously, "was it because of your performance at this concert that my boss was so desperate for your contact information?"
Today was her day off. Her weekend routine usually consisted of reading detective novels, watching some comedy variety shows, and browsing the internet for hot-button news and gossip. She had heard about this concert, but since it was an underground band, she hadn't paid it any attention, believing it lacked the potential to become a trending topic.
Her judgment had been correct. Before Kira's performance of "Killer Queen," the 'soul' band, despite their high level of skill, had only been known in niche circles. But the moment they were attached to the still-simmering hype of the Sports Festival and a U.A. student, it was only a matter of time before they spread across the entire web.
"That's probably it," Kira nodded. He didn't exactly feel regret. He had known before he went on stage that he might attract some attention and had already taken precautions.
What he hadn't expected was how fast Camie Utsushimi had moved, immediately using him as a promotional gimmick and selling the concert footage to the TV stations.
However, there was one thing she did that satisfied him: all the footage had his face completely pixelated. While a dedicated person could probably figure out his identity by comparing it to the Sports Festival footage, those kinds of people were few and far between.
Pro Heroes received attention and appeared on various television interviews, and many people would quickly recognize them by their unique costumes but wouldn't pay them much mind—they simply weren't gossip-worthy.
But Hero Course students like Kira and Bakugo, who had been involved in major incidents, were different. Their exploits became topics people loved to talk about. But even then, people were just familiar with the name, not the students themselves, who wore no special identifiers. If you had Bakugo walk down the street, it wasn't guaranteed anyone would recognize him (though many might still avoid him).
During his chats with Jodo and the others these past two days, Kira had learned that Camie Utsushimi was the concert's organizer. She had funded the entire thing herself, so naturally, she would be taking the lion's share of the ticket money. She had also mentioned arranging for photographers at several key locations during the show and was planning to contact a manufacturer immediately after the concert to press Blu-ray discs, hoping to cash in on the hype.
Neither 'soul' nor Kira thought the discs would sell very well, but something was better than nothing, so they had let her do her thing. But looking at the situation now... he would definitely have to ask her for a larger cut.
Satomi let out a sigh of relief, then said apologetically, "Kira-kun, I'm so sorry. Your concert just ended, and I immediately called you over here. I hope I didn't disturb you."
"Not at all. I'm just glad you're okay," Kira said, shaking his head.
(After the concert, Kira had stayed to chat with Asui. He had given her a simple explanation for why he was on stage: he was a fan of Makoto Hibikiya's band, and they had come to him, a die-hard fan, for information about the original song's arrangement. As thanks, they had let him make an appearance.)
(This half-true lie hadn't aroused any of Asui's suspicions. Asui, in turn, had explained why her group of friends was at the concert, clearing up Kira's own confusion. After that, the two hadn't spoken much, just walking along the beach.)
(Then, just as Asui had turned her head, summoning the courage to say something, Kira's phone had suddenly vibrated.)
(Kira didn't know what Asui had wanted to say, but he assumed it wasn't anything urgent.)
Kira didn't touch the coffee. He stood up from the sofa. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Also, next time, you should probably get your facts straight before you call someone. I don't mind, but your boss seems to be pretty good to you, doesn't he?"
Thank goodness I didn't say anything strange to my boss... Satomi's face blushed. She looked at Kira and said suddenly, "Kira-kun, it's very late. Why don't you... stay here tonight?"
"No, thank you. Aren't you afraid I'm a hand-fetish serial killer?" Kira walked to the entryway and put on his leather shoes. "Besides, I have school tomorrow. I still need to go back to the band and return this suit."
Kira was still wearing the pale green suit from the concert.
Satomi had no reason to make him stay. After hearing the click of the door locking, she sighed, picked up the coffee cup, and walked over to her computer to pull up the concert video.
"I'm not sleeping until I've watched this whole thing!" Satomi said, taking a sip of coffee, full of determination.
By the time Kira arrived at the bar in the alley, it was already past midnight. But he didn't feel the slightest bit tired. It was as if his biological clock no longer existed.
As they say, pulling an all-nighter is its own kind of thrill.
Because Hitomi was a student, Makoto had ignored Camie's pleas to make her stay and had sent her home directly.
Camie had said something about needing to contact her "people" and had also left, talking on her phone.
And so, when Kira entered the bar, the only person he saw was Jodo Chenjie, who was moving the last of the equipment.
"Kira-kun! You're here!" Seeing Kira, Jodo greeted him excitedly. He hurriedly moved the items in his hands to the basement, then ran back, panting.
He bowed deeply to Kira, who was sitting at the bar. "Kira-kun, thank you so much. Our concert has never been this popular!"
In truth, whether it was their vocals or their technical skill, Jodo and the others were top-tier musicians. The only reason they weren't popular was that the path they had chosen was simply too niche.
But after this concert, riding the wave of "Yoshikage Kira's" popularity, would the term "rock and roll" finally reawaken in the public's memory?
"Do you know what the story is between All Might and Makoto Hibikiya?" Kira asked suddenly, tapping his fingers on the bar. After the USJ incident, Makoto had had a brief meeting with All Might. And in Makoto's presence, Kira had sensed that All Might... seemed almost unable to hold his head high.
"All Might!?" Jodo was startled. He instinctively shook his head. "How could Makoto-san have any connection to All Might? He retired from being a Pro Hero five years ago."
"Five years ago? If it's alright, can you tell me why he quit being a hero?" Kira felt the question was a bit too direct and quickly added, "As you know, my goal is to become a Pro Hero. I'd like to know the stories of former heroes, for reference."
"Is that so..." Jodo thought for a moment, then slowly began to speak. "To be honest, I don't really know the reason he quit. Back then, because our lead singer was a Pro Hero, our band was getting a lot of attention. Kansou, Dave, and I would practice every day. We usually had a show every two weeks or so. Sometimes Makoto-san couldn't make it, so I would fill in as the lead singer."
Jodo seemed to be lost in memory. "Then, one day, there was an emergency mobilization of Pro Heroes, and Makoto-san was on the list. We were busy training at the time and didn't pay much attention. But when he came back... he just announced he was done being a hero. And I left the band because of it..."
Jodo gave a bitter laugh, mocking his own immaturity. His eyes clouded over. "I don't know much about what happened. All I know is what Makoto-san said in bits and pieces when he was drunk. It was a brutal war that the government covered up. Nearly half of the heroes involved were seriously injured, and several of them were killed... And the one leading that battle... was All Might."
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