That day, Kaminari and the others stayed in the rec studio until around 7 p.m. Though they took several breaks iween, it was undeniably exhausting.
Especially for Kaminari, his fingers ached from pying the guitar, and his throat was straio its limit after singing for hours.
As mentioned earlier, today wasn't just about rec new songs. They also practiced previous hits like Only My Railgun, Hero, Braveheart, Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, and Blue Bird.
This experience gave Kaminari a newfound appreciation for the hard work behind the ses of those famous stars. While they looked gmorous and fident on stage, their success required immense effort off-stage.
Well, at least the ones who actually sang and had real talent.
By the way, Kaminari had also prepared a special song for Pikachu, anticipating that the cert's primary audience—elementary school students—would adore the character.
But since Pikachu was an artificial intellige didn't o practice like the rest of them, which made Kaminari a bit envious.
"Dad, I'm heading to Dr. Tenma's pce to talk about the dueling equipment."
Without waiting for a response, Kaminari knocked on the door of his father's offid walked in. He headed straight for the water dispenser, grabbed a paper cup, and poured himself some cold water.
"It's so te… 't this wait until tomorrow? Well… fet it. Go ahead, but be careful on the way," his father said from behind the desk.
He initially wao persuade Kaminari to postpohe visit, but then remembered the two girls who had apanied him. Wasn't Dr. Tenma's b located in Shizuoka Prefecture?
"Uh, okay."
Kaminari gave his father a strange look but didn't think much of it. He finished his water, tossed the cup into the trash , ahe office.
"Let's go."
"Alright."
Momo and Kyoka nodded obediently, and the three of them exited the tall office building together.
"Whew."
Kyoka took a deep breath and smiled. "I remember when we came in, it was still daytime, and the sun was shining. I didn't expect to walk out ahe moon."
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Kaminari teased.
"Definitely!"
Kyoka grinned. As a musithusiast, she hadn't had this much fun pying for su extended period since joining U.A. High.
"Oh, Kaminari, I've already posted about the Seifu cert on your social media aed twenty fans from your fan group through a lottery," Momo said, standing beside her luxury car. Her tone was serious, refleg her role as the band's manager.
"Got it. Did you inform Seifu about everything?" Kaminari asked with a nod before adding curiously, "Wait… I have a fan club? Who's in charge of it?"
"Of course, I've already discussed everything with Seifu. As for the fan club…" Momo pressed her lips together, a faint smile tugging at the ers. "You'll never guess who started it."
"Was it you?" Kaminari raised an eyebrow, thinking his guess was logical. After all, Momo, as the manager, was responsible fanizing fan iions.
"Heh, nope!" Momo shook her head and smiled. "I nning tanize a fan club myself, but then I found out there was already a rge one, so I looked into it."
"And?" Kaminari gestured for her to tinue, exasperated. "e on, Momo, tell me who it is!"
"It was established by my aunt. She's also the leader of the fan club," Momo replied calmly.
Kaminari froze. "Aunt? Which aunt?"
At that moment, he felt a small tug on his sleeve. Turning around, he saw Kyoka whisper, "I think she means your mom."
"My mom!?"
Kaminari was stunned. His mother? The same woman who was always busy with housework and drawing Pokémon? When did she have time to run a fan club?
And sidering it was a fan club, it had to be more ahan a casual group chat, right?
"What… I ask how many members are in this fan club?"
The words out of Momo's mouth left both Kaminari and Kyoka utterly speechless.
"Twelve LINE groups, each with 500 members."
"These are just the die-hard fans. Including casual fans, your total fan t has surpassed two million. Based on that alone, you're already one of Japan's top ten celebrities," Momo added, her tone calm and factual.
Kaminari suddenly realized he had been ing his status as a celebrity. He hadn't paid much attention to these things.
After a moment, he muttered, "Add me to the group tomorrow. I'll say hello to everyone and thank them for their support."
"Good idea," Momo agreed. She also felt Kaminari had been a bit too indifferent toward his fans.
"Looks like I'll o pn a fa sometime soon," Kaminari mused. He had inally inteo focus on his studies and ave-scale events like certs, but this situation made him resider.
Otherwise, would his fans really wait three years for him to graduate in silence?
"Oh, by the way, what's the name of the fan club?" Kaminari asked, a bit embarrassed. He might be the only celebrity in the world who didn't know the name of his own fan club.
"Well…" Momo hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "I think your mom should tell you personally. After all, she worked hard to establish and ma."
"Alright, fair enough."
"Okay, I'll head home now. See you at school tomorrow!"
"Take care."
Momo got into her car and drove off, leaving Kaminari and Kyoka standing outside.
"Let's go too, Kyoka."
"Mm."
Kyoka nodded and followed Kaminari silently toward the subway station. As they passed through the shopping district, they blended seamlessly into the surrounding couples.
It wasn't until they were standing on the subtform, waiting for the train, that Kyoka realized something. Kaminari hadn't gone home; instead, he had stayed to wait with her.
Holding Pikachu in his arms, Kaminari raised his head and said casually, "By the way, I don't think I told you. I'm heading to Dr. Tenma's b to talk about your battle suit. I really hope you use it during the final exams."
"Really?" Kyoka's eyes lit up, and her heart swelled with happiness.
But her of them noticed three men nearby watg them with malicious i.
The men's gazes lingered greedily on the Pikachu in Kyoka's arms, their iions unmistakable.
The threat from the dark world was finally closing in on Kaminari…
