Chapter 34
They met up at the venue later that night.
They hid themselves from prying eyes and yet, there were already whispers going on from the fans. Junpei kept his usual appearance as he heard the talk among the fans. "It better be someone good. I really want to see someone good tonight!"
"How come that Ryomen Sukuna guy hasn't done a concert since the rock opera?"
"I know, all that hype and no pay off! What a waste."
If they only knew.
Junpei got backstage where the brothers began to pace about. Tanso was like a caged animal right now, and looked nervous. 'What do we do? How do we go on stage with a presence?' he asked.
"It's okay, it's a first time for everyone tonight…" Junpei said. "I'm nervous too…"
The brothers gulped their prides a little, this was something none of them have experienced before.
Suiryu suddenly kicked in the door, curse marks and all, ready to go! "Okay, we got a full house tonight, you boys ready?" he asked. Yet they all looked at him oddly, he paused. "Whoa… you guys look like shit…"
"We've never done anything like this before!" protested Eso. "I mean… what ARE we doing?"
"Same thing as before, back at the agency and when we did the rock opera. We're going to play, we're going to sing and have some fun." Suiryu said and smiled wickedly. "You just got to let loose, pretend there is NO ONE else in that room but us, having fun" he explained.
It wasn't really convincing them. Junpei however tried to see it another way. Suiryu brought him cursed blood to buff himself out with. The moment his body changed so did his mindset. He peered into the mirror, used hair gel to brush back his bangs and keep them back. With his hair slicked back, his body chiseled and looks refined… Junpei knew the person staring back at him in the mirror… wasn't himself.
"You okay there?" Suiryu asked with a concerning tone.
He turned back and smiled. "Junpei get stage fright. Kechizu, doesn't." he said and smiled.
Eso smirked a little as did Tanso. "Little brother…" Eso whispered.
Suiryu chuckled a little. "If that's what gets you through, so be it, let's do this!" he announced.
They would go out for the first time as a band, however, Suiryu wanted the audience to be surprised. If anything they would play a haunting little tune in the dark, so no one could see their faces. It would be a good build since it adds mystery and confusion to the fans as to who is playing.
Junpei was watching, looking at the confusion among the fans as they tried to figure out what concert they had just walked into. Then… the lights went out.
Suiryu appeared before the masses, his eyes aglow of red as he bore a sinister grin. "I… HUNGER!" he roared to the masses.
They broke into a heavy song, down with the sickness. Despite the fact that Junpei has seen the band known as Disturbed on youtube many times over, they always ended their concerts on this song.
Suiryu is starting it with this song!
And before he knew it, they had played for two hour straight!
The whole thing was a success. Suiryu sent the fans home happy as they regrouped backstage. From there, Eso, Tanso and Junpei were stunned. They sat there for a moment, before feeling oddly energetic. "What the hell was that?" Eso asked.
"That, my good man, and brother… was the power of rock!" Suiryu decreed. "You felt it too, that negative emotion pouring out of every human in that space, and yet… no curses spawned."
Junpei agreed. "Did… we absorb that?" he asked.
"Well, you are part curse aren't you?" Suiryu asked offhandedly. "Besides, that won't be enough to make you guys go crazy or anything like that. It will power you up a little, but not a hell of a lot… we'll keep a close eye on this."
Junpei took a moment to savor the feeling. It felt oddly good to him, not the curse energy absorption but just being out in the world like this. To be someone completely different and have new experiences like this, such a thing NEVER would have happened to him had he been human.
"Well, that's one of many concerts we will be having. So bros, what do you think?" he asked.
Tanso nodded to it.
Eso smiled a little. "I never thought it would be fun like that… I am curious to what more we can expect from these."
Junpei kept silent on the notion, Suiryu only smirk to him. "It's one of many concerts to come… I say we enjoy it!"
#
True to his word, Suiryu and the brothers kept pace with the demand. They began to do a concert a week, before long, their reputation grew. Legions of fans followed and soon, there were young and upcoming bands asking to join them on stage. "We can be your opening act!" one said with great excitement. "Would you consider it?"
There were three bands Suiryu had his eye on, and they approached him! He smirked at the notion and agreed. "Okay, you three can open for us next week, how about that?"
They jumped at the chance.
Suiryu said he looked forward to their opening act, and from there, he began to plan the next show with the brothers. It would have been perfect too. "I am going to be running a little late, I got a photo shoot with D'angelo before the show, yet with the opening acts, there's enough time for me to get there," he explained.
Junpei nodded to it all.
They headed home that night, but it was strange. Recently, some of the brothers began to act odd. The triplets for one, when Junpei was there, they scatted rather quickly, as if aiming to hide something from him. He would ask about their actions later, but they waved it off saying it wasn't important.
He would ask Choso about it, but he was oddly tight lipped!
Eso and Tanso were a little confused as well, however, they didn't pressure the brothers to speak of it.
Instead, they focused on practicing. They would take two hours a day to train themselves on the music Suiryu liked to sing. Thanks to their abilities, they could retain and mimic any music they have heard once.
That talent would be a life saver soon enough, for it wasn't just Junpei, Eso and Tanso who have such an ability…
