Chapter 212 – The Trending Explosion

As the final lyric faded, Aoki’s voice stilled.

The music quieted.

The song ended.

A hush fell over the venue. An almost frightening silence.

Every pair of eyes in the stadium locked on the stage.

This time, however, their gazes carried something undeniable—an excitement they could no longer contain.

For Kessoku Band’s fans, the past few days had been miserable.

Online slander, NH Music’s smear campaigns… Layer after layer of pressure had weighed down on them.

But now—!

With a single song, one song—“Hikoutei”—Suki-sensei had flipped the script, landing a direct hit back at all the doubters!

In that moment, the dam broke.

Applause. Screams. Roars that shook the entire stadium.

“Kessoku Band!!!”

“One day, climb even higher—make it to Tokyo Dome!!”

“Reach the top!!!”

It went on for who knows how long.

Finally, the thunder of voices died down.

On stage, Aoki took a deep breath.

The cheers of the crowd still echoed in his ears, and the words the girls had once told him replayed vividly in his mind.

He had so much he wanted to say.

But after a moment’s hesitation, all those thoughts condensed into just four words:

“Thank you, everyone.”

The concert wasn’t over.

After expressing their gratitude, Kessoku Band smoothly transitioned into the next prepared segment of their setlist.

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Meanwhile—

Without the band even realizing it, a storm was already brewing online.

Just thirty minutes after “Hikoutei” finished, Twitter’s trending board was ablaze.

“Kessoku Band.”

“Suki-sensei.”

Their names were everywhere.

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#1 Trend: Kessoku Band’s New Song: “Hikoutei”!

#3 Trend: A Powerful Counterattack! Suki’s Answer at the Concert!

#5 Trend: Yamada’s Perfect Bass Solo & Harmonies! What’s Really Between Suki and Ryo?!

#10 Trend: Who Exactly Are Kessoku Band and Aoki?

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Fans who’d been at the venue flooded forums and SNS with their experiences:

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“Unreal! Absolutely explosive performance!”

“Who still dares call their style one-dimensional? ‘Hikoutei’ is a masterpiece!”

“I’ll never forget tonight. Kessoku Band is burned into my soul forever…”

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But for those who weren’t there… frustration grew.

The trending tags were everywhere, but at that hour, the full concert hadn’t yet leaked online.

They were desperate.

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“What are you guys even talking about?!”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be just a KL promo gig? Since when was there a new song?!”

“What’s ‘Hikoutei’? Stop talking in riddles—let me hear it too!!”

“Damn it, I should’ve gone! I live right in Minato, the tickets were dirt cheap…”

“Anyone got a video? I NEED to hear it.”

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By the time the concert finally ended and the audience returned home, the frenzy only intensified.

And one fan in particular had no intention of letting the moment go unnoticed.

Ashley Walker—

An foreign content creator with over a million followers, currently living in Japan.
Hardcore Kessoku Band devotee.

Admin of one of the largest international Kessoku fan group chats under the handle “Coke Beats Coffee.”

She’d been following the whole fiasco with NH Music, feeling powerless as the band was dragged through the mud.

As a public figure, she couldn’t easily take sides.

But tonight—

After hearing that song live—her restraint snapped.

“Kessoku Band is fing incredible! Suki is f*cking incredible!”

Determined not to let this performance be buried, she set up her professional gear and began recording and editing furiously.

Within the hour, low-quality clips of “Hikoutei” began circulating online—grainy, muffled, incomplete.

Even so, they only made fans more ravenous.

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“Please, someone upload a clear version. Even just audio—I’ll die happy.”

“If I don’t hear the full thing tonight, I won’t sleep…”

“When’s the digital release?? At least drop it on YouTube!!”

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And then—

Among the sea of blurry snippets, Ashley’s crystal-clear, front-row recording appeared on a major video platform.

The difference was night and day.

In minutes, the video’s view count skyrocketed.

In the States, where Aoki’s name wasn’t well-known yet, curiosity spread like wildfire.

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“Kessoku Band?”

“Suki-sensei?”

“Hikoutei??”

———————————————————————

They clicked out of curiosity—and were floored.

The music was phenomenal. The energy electric.

And when they glanced at the comments, filled with Japanese fans screaming in a foreign tongue, their curiosity only grew.

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“Trust the fans at the venue to deliver! This quality is unreal.”

“Shoutout to the uploader—you’re a hero.”

“Wait… check her playlist—oh no… she’s a Kita shipper…”

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Soon, American netizens dove headfirst into researching this mysterious band.

And discovered a goldmine:

“Loser.”

“Lemon.”

“I Once Thought About Ending It All.”

Song after song, masterpiece after masterpiece.

Not to mention—

The members’ striking looks and charm, plus countless fan-edited “ship” videos on YouTube and NicoNico, only added fuel to the fire.

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“Why have I never heard of this Japanese band before?! They’re insane!”

“The vocalist is too handsome.”

“Okay, I’m officially a Nijikei shipper starting NOW!”

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By December 20th, thanks to “Hikoutei,” both Suki’s and Kessoku Band’s official Twitter accounts had gained tens of thousands of new followers practically overnight.