Band Members

Diduo Chengjie walked over to Camie Utsushimi and bowed gratefully. "Utsushimi, I really don't know how to thank you enough. Not only did you help us find a place to hold the concert, but you also helped me find my benefactor!"

"Well, I just happened to run into this guy, don't worry about it." Camie Utsushimi waved her hand with a smile. "Besides, helping you guys is just a personal hobby of mine."

Camie Utsushimi took a yellowed piece of paper from her wallet and handed it to Dituo Chengjie, saying, "Didn't you want to tell him yourself? Don't miss this opportunity."

Dituo nodded heavily, bowed solemnly to Jilan with his palms facing upwards, and handed the yellow ticket to Jilan. "Jilan, thank you so much. If it weren't for your words back then, I might still be in prison now, and I wouldn't be here with my companions making the music we love. Please do me the honor of attending the concert the day after tomorrow."

Jilan didn't reach out immediately, but said, "Mr. Diduo, I think I've already told you. I haven't done anything that you should be grateful for. The reason you stayed here is simple: because you still have your own principles and didn't attack me or my classmates. Otherwise, even if Kyoka Makoto went to find Inspector Tsukauchi, he wouldn't be able to release you."

"However," Jilan Jiyu shrugged, taking the ticket, "I'm very interested in your performance, and I really need this ticket, thank you."

Diduo Chengjie looked up in surprise and said confidently, "We will definitely give you a fantastic performance!"

"Chengjie, aren't you going to introduce us to your benefactor?" A blond, curly-haired man put his arm around Diduo Chengjie's neck and smiled at Jilan Jiyu.

"Ah, let me introduce you!" Diduo Chengjie suddenly seemed to wake up from a dream, smiling as he pointed out to Jilan Jiyu, "This is our bassist, named Jiancao Erren, a master painter."

Jiancao extended her hand to Jilan. "I've been wanting to meet someone who's always talking about Diduo."

Jilan shook hands. "I'd also like to get to know the bassist of the Soul Band."

Diduo looked at the somewhat shy man behind him. He had brown curly hair, wore large round-framed glasses, and looked a little shy. "His name is Dave, a United States boy, and he's our band's drummer. Although he seems a bit shy, he likes singing, dancing, rapping, and basketball, and he has a lot of explosive energy when he plays."

Dave, holding a drumstick, smiled at Jilan Jiyu without saying a word.

Diduo Chengjie guided Jilan's gaze to Kyoka Makoto, who was leaning against the door smoking. "You already know our band's leader, he's our pianist and lead vocalist, Kyoka Makoto."

"And me," Diduo Chengjie pointed to himself with a self-deprecating smile, "I'm the guitarist in our band, the one who drags us down."

White paint quietly appeared in Jiancao Erren's hand, and he smeared it on his face. His hair had turned red without him noticing. He patted Diduo's back, and when he turned around, he made a face like a real clown.

"You're part of our team, and we'll never give up on you, so don't say such discouraging things."

Dave quietly placed his hand on Diduo's shoulder, making his intentions clear without saying a word.

Camie Utsushimi crossed her arms, nudged Jilan's shoulder, and grinned like a doting aunt, "They really get along well."

Although Jilan thought so too, she ignored Camie Utsushimi and said indifferently, "Take off that smile. I'm starting to not want to stand next to you anymore."

Kyoka Makoto stood at the door, breathing in the fresh air, trying to expel all the pent-up frustration he'd accumulated over the past few days. The official performance was the day after tomorrow, but right now, he felt the rhythm wasn't smooth enough when switching between songs.

He exhaled deeply, the smoke forming a circle that floated upwards. He turned his head to look at Diduo Chengjie, who was surrounded by people and grinning foolishly, and the curves of his face softened.

Diduo Chengjie is one of the key members of their band, having been with them since the band's inception. After the band was formed and began to gain recognition, five years ago, for the sake of the band and some unspeakable secrets, he teamed up with numerous Pro Hero for a mission. Following this, he suspended his Pro Hero career to focus on performing and collecting songs.

However, Diduo Chengjie misunderstood him because he had suspended his hero activities, believing that Kyoka Makoto had forgotten his original intention to become a hero. After a fierce argument with him, he left the group in a huff, and the Soul Band was basically in a semi-abandoned state afterward.

Although Kyoka Makoto wanted to teach Diduo a lesson, to show them that the band could continue performing even without him, the other two members preferred not to perform at all rather than accept new members.

Fortunately, Diduo Chengjie is back now, and he's in even higher spirits, as if he has a goal he's willing to strive for, bringing more energy to the team.

All of this was thanks to Jilan Jiyu.

During the conversation, Diduo Chengjie overheard that Jilan enjoyed listening to their classical music performances and suddenly had a bright idea, saying, "By the way, Jilan, would you like to see our rehearsal? Our rehearsal area is downstairs."

Camie Utsushimi also said, "Jilan, aren't you quite interested in these things? Do you want to go down and take a look?"

"I've wanted to ask you this for a while," Jilan asked Camie Utsushimi, squinting, "What exactly is your relationship with the Soul Band? You seem to know everything."

"Hehe, I just happen to know what I'm supposed to know." Camie Utsushimi tried to brush it off with a laugh, but seeing Jilan's seemingly scrutinizing gaze, her voice softened, and she said with a smile, "Actually, I'm their band's manager."

"You, manager?" Jilan Jiyu didn't doubt what she said, but they were a little surprised. After all, she appeared as the mascot of Shiketsu High School when they first met, so having a manager as well wouldn't seem out of place.

Jilan, surprised that her peers had become professional agents, could never have imagined that the girl working quietly behind the bar would become the president of a company in her first year of high school and hire her father...

Camie Utsushimi straightened his back, spread his legs, and took a few light steps. Suddenly, he made a tearing motion with his shirt and said earnestly, "I Camie Utsushimi, have a dream: to become a band's manager and one day lead my band into the Budokan!"

Jiancao Erren leaned over and complained, "Miss Utsushimi, you've only been our manager for half a month, and you haven't told us anything about performing at the Budokan."

Diduo Chengjie smiled helplessly and said, "Utsushimi, although I don't want to spoil your fun, we're an underground band and probably won't be invited to perform in public."

Camie Utsushimi's face remained unfazed, and she stubbornly retorted, "This performance is the first step in conquering the Budokan. How can you succeed without any ambition? So what if it's niche? Weren't the popular music genres niche before?"

Diduo opened his mouth, then shook his head with a wry smile.

That's something that can't be refuted.

"It's getting late, don't you want to go for a late-night snack?" Kyoka Makoto walked over and nodded to Camie Utsushimi. "Ms. Utsushimi, we appreciate your help, but I think you should rest now. If you don't mind, you can come and visit our rehearsal tomorrow morning."

Kyoka Makoto didn't give Camie Utsushimi a chance to interrupt, continuing, "Hitomi, you can go back now. You've had a hard day." He paused, then added, "I'll tell my older sister that she won't let you work so hard because of your Quirk."

"Then I'll be going now," Hitomi Mishima nodded and walked out of the bar with unsteady steps.

Dituo and the others weren't worried that Tong would get into trouble on the way; it was only half a block away from her rented apartment, and they could get there in just a few minutes.

The bar lights were turned off, and the glass became dark. Kyoka Makoto and the others followed Tong towards the street, leaving only Camie Utsushimi and Jilan Jiyu standing there in silence.

Suddenly, Camie Utsushimi blinked and said, "Jilan, shall we go get a room?"