The Black Swan Behind

248 Watch a Concert

A girl stood in front of the bus stop. The charming girl was wearing a black cropped tank top, ripped jeans, and a black leather jacket that hung over her shoulders.

After less than five minutes of waiting, a 90’s Mustang car in moss green colour came up to her. The driver’s door opened and a man got out of it.

It was Calvin Lee wearing a black t-shirt with ripped jeans and brown boots. He covered himself with a long black leather jacket. Several girls, who happened to be waiting for the bus there secretly watched the dashing man in admiration. Then they turned to the girl that the charming guy was aiming for.

‘Oh.. How natural. They are the people who live in ‘that’ world.’ One of the girls said inwardly.

Cool guys would usually be friends with those who had the same style and social talent as theirs. They would also have a partner who had the same level of good looks. Of course, such people lived in a different world.

“Sorry to make you wait,” Calvin said as soon as he arrived in front of the girl of his dreams.

Emma smiled and shook her head. “I just got here.”

Calvin smiled brightly. In his eyes, Emma looked cool in such clothes. Unplanned, it turned out that the two of them are wearing matching costumes. On second thought, Calvin and Emma did have the same fashion sense.

Calvin opened the front passenger door for Emma. He pointed one hand at the car seat, “Please,”

.....

Emma smiled gently at him. “Thank you.”

Calvin even kept Emma’s head from hitting the roof of the car when she was entering the door. Wasn’t he so cute?

After closing the door, Calvin strode quickly to get back into the driver’s seat. Then, he drove the car away before the bus came.

“I thought you were going to ride a bike,” Emma said as she put her seat belt on.

“It’s cold tonight, so I borrowed Ian’s car,” He replied.

“Oh.. So this is Ian’s car, huh?” Emma mumbled lightly.

“Since I live alone and don’t have any close relatives or friends, so I think that having a bike is enough.”

Emma nodded in agreement. “And it’s more eco-friendly too. But I didn’t know you were so close to Ian that he would lend you his car?”

“We are not close. But Ian seems to trust me enough,”

Emma chuckled. “That’s pretty funny, considering you guys don’t seem to get along,”

“You think so?” Calvin raised his eyebrows.

Emma nodded with a faint laugh. “I’ve seen you two fighting.”

Calvin seemed to be thinking. “As far as I can remember; I’ve never fought with Ian in front of you. Or maybe I forgot something?” he muttered to himself.

Bam! Emma just remembered that she saw Calvin and Ian fighting while they were teaming up against RJC. Gosh! What an idiot!

“I saw it once,” Emma said in a hurry, “But you didn’t realize I was around there at that time.”

“Oh..” Calvin gave a disappointed face. “I thought you would always call me when you saw me. But it doesn’t seem like you are,” he continued with an exaggerated sigh.

“Hey.. What’s with that?” Emma giggled, hitting Calvin on the shoulder lightly to make him chuckle. “I was in a hurry back then. I just happened to be passing by,” she explained, albeit with a lie. As time went on, she became used to making a lie.

“Alright.. I’m just kidding,” Calvin replied with the rest of his laughter.

“It looks like you’re getting closer to Troy and his friends. I’m glad to see you get to hang out with them. I mean, they’re nice guys, just like you.”

“You think so?” Calvin glanced at Emma for a moment before turning his attention back to the road.

Emma nodded. “I’ve come across a lot of men with bad hearts. At first, I thought all men in Handway were the same. But when I met you guys, that thought was broke.”

Calvin chuckled. “I’m glad to be such a good man in your eyes.” Then he took a deep breath as he thought. “Actually I’m not that close with Troy and his guys,”

“You’re not?”

“I don’t even know if we can be called friends or not. We just happen to have the same interests. Actually, we have had a difference of opinion lately. Maybe soon, we won’t be able to work together like we used to because our goals aren’t the same anymore.” Calvin explained.

Calvin’s explanation made Emma think. That was not good news. She didn’t know what plan Calvin was referring to. But it might be related to the Beast Empire.

It wasn’t that Emma was unaware that Calvin and Jita Kyoei were also interfering with Beast Empire’s business activities after RJC was no longer their target.

The Beast Empire was known to also practice recruiting martial-arts studio students like some of the other major gangster groups that had fallen did. Therefore, even though the Black Swan had stopped eradicating crime on the street, Emma didn’t worry because she knew that there was Jita Kyoei who would continue to protect the streets.

“Well.. Is it about the gangster thing you talked about before?” Emma asked, playing stupid.

Calvin shook his head. “This is a different matter. It just so happens that the problem I previously told you about has been resolved,”

“Oh.. Or does this have something to do with what you said in the cafeteria? You said you were investigating the girl kidnapping case.” Emma guessed.

Calvin smiled faintly and nodded slightly. “You have a good memory, Emma.”

“Ow..” Emma mumbled as if she didn’t know anything. Then she turned to Calvin, “If I may know, why do you guys have a different opinion on that matter? Don’t you guys have the intention of saving people – The victim of gangster crimes? Does Troy refuse to continue?”

“It’s not that they don’t want to help people. But they have other priorities that they might consider more important. Sorry, but I can’t tell you the details. But things are quite busy right now,” Calvin took a deep breath.

Emma nodded in understanding. So what she had suspected seemed to be true. It could be that Jita Kyoei was thinking of stopping their activities from disturbing the street crimes committed by the Beast Empire.

Could that damn group have stopped recruiting martial arts students? Emma and her friends hadn’t been looking for that information lately.

“Are you an oracle?” Calvin asked suddenly with a half laugh.

“Pardon?” Emma came back from her daydream. She looked at Calvin in confusion.

“You’ve been guessing, and strangely, all of your guesses are correct. I never even told you that the girls’ kidnapping has something to do with gangster jobs. But you concluded everything accurately as if you did know it from the start.” Calvin said lightly.

Emma felt like cursing herself. She was too eager to know Jita Kyoei’s next plan that she became rash to speak without thinking.

To cover her nervousness, Emma laughed along with Calvin. “Did I? Well, a lot of people often say that. They say that have a 6th sense. But really, I just focus on collecting points from the story, then draw a line to each other.”

“So it means that I’m the one who gave too much detail, huh?” Calvin laughed.

“You just noticed?” Emma replied with a laugh. But secretly, she heaved a sigh of relief because she managed to find an excuse. Even so, it seemed that Calvin didn’t have the slightest suspicion of her; which was good.

The Mustang arrived at a large parking lot that was already quite crowded with cars and bikes. There were seen a lot of youth walking around there.

As soon as Emma got out of the car, she could immediately hear the faint sound of music.

“Wow.. It’s very crowded already,” Emma said while screening around.

Calvin nodded. “This band group does have a lot of fans.”

“We’d better go inside so we can get a spot near the stage,” Calvin continued after standing next to Emma. He noticed that the girl looked unaccustomed to a place like this. “Have you ever watched a concert before?”

“Nope. This is my first time. That’s why I’m so excited,” Emma answered with a big smile.

Calvin also smiled. “It’s more crowded inside. We’d better hold hands so we don’t get separated. What do you think?”

“Sure,” Emma answered.

Then Calvin put his left palm in front of Emma’s face. Then she put her hand in it. Calvin’s smile grew wider as he held the girl’s soft hand which immediately sank into his hand.

Emma felt Calvin’s warm hand holding hers tightly. She followed Calvin who was walking beside her.

“Come to think of it, you seem to be the one who showed me new things, Calvin,” Emma said in their stride.

Calvin looked at her with a smile in his eyes. “I’m glad to hear that. I will show you a lot of things,”

They arrived in front of the entrance. Calvin handed two tickets to the staff. After checking the ticket, the staff gave Calvin two bracelets.

“Please give me your hand, Emma,” Calvin asked.

Emma gave her right hand to him. Then Calvin put a neon green bracelet on her wrist.

After her bracelet was attached, Emma immediately showed her palm. “Where’s the other bracelet? I’ll put it on for you.”

With a grin that couldn’t be held, Calvin handed her his bracelet. His eyes continued to stare at Emma who was putting the bracelet on his wrist. It was a very special thing for Calvin.

After Calvin’s bracelet was on, he took Emma’s hand again. “Don’t let go of my hand. I don’t want us to be separated.” He said before stepping into the door, which was actually just barrier fences because it was an outdoor concert.