Without Hayato's disturbance, Bocchi returned to her usual life.
Going to school alone, attending classes alone, eating lunch alone, taking the long train ride home, practicing Guitar, and uploading videos.
"It's the second week…"
Bocchi checked the time when she opened her computer.
It had been almost two weeks since Hayato had come to find her.
And… she opened her fake YTB account. Below some of the hastily made and uploaded videos, she didn't see Hayato's comments either.
After checking each video several times, Bocchi silently moved to the wall, head bowed, hugging her legs, her bright blue eyes becoming cloudy.
Did I get carried away and take his food… or was the corner too dark… or do I smell moldy… Ahhh, no matter how I think about it, it's a pile of problems.
Bocchi rubbed her pink hair in distress.
Let's just treat these past few days as a good dream, wake up, Bocchi!
She slapped her cheeks, blocked out those thoughts, and crawled to the computer.
Forget it, no matter how sad reality is, it doesn't matter. There are plenty of people who care about her online.
Thinking this, she turned to open her original account.
She planned to scroll through the comments to restore her almost shattered heart.
'I listen to your songs every day! I just started learning Guitar recently, looking forward to the next one!'
'I really like 2:17 here.'
'I really like her Guitar, a very touching sound.'
'It's Gotou-san, right? I'm Hayato.'
Bocchi couldn't help but smile as she read, but when she saw the last comment…
Bocchi:???
She reconfirmed the account. This was the account she used to upload videos before, the one named Guitar Hero.
She quickly pushed the mouse scroll wheel, scrolling back the page.
In the video description, she had written… 'After starting high school, life is so fulfilling, I don't have much time to post~!'
'This time I played a song I often sing with friends at karaoke!'
This was a persona she created, wanting to experience the feeling of being popular.
She scrolled back down.
'It's Gotou-san, right? I'm Hayato.'
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!
A high-pitched, almost electronic scream, caused by excessive fright, echoed from the closet… downstairs.
Gotou's mother looked upstairs in confusion.
Bang bang bang, frightening thumping sounds, like renovations, came one after another.
She knew without even thinking that her eldest daughter was doing something strange again.
Only today, the reaction was unusually big.
"What's wrong, Bocchi is especially noisy today."
"Indeed, she usually can't manage this much."
Gotou's father, watching TV, also rubbed his chin in surprise.
"Could it be…"
His eyes lit up, then he turned and his gaze met Gotou's mother's.
The two exchanged glances, their excited expressions disappearing at a visible speed, and they both sighed.
"It's impossible, after all."
…Why, why… Bocchi, curled up in the closet, looked blankly at the partition above, like an innocent, injured small animal.
Why was she discovered… After a long time, she recovered from her existential crisis, slowly sat up, and opened her computer.
She clicked on that comment again.
Ah, there was an attached message.
She looked at it.
'You're really amazing. Can you bring your Guitar tomorrow and play it for me?'
The comment was sent an hour ago.
Bocchi lowered her head, and after a while, her body trembled slightly.
A smile spread across her face, hidden by her bangs, her cheeks almost melting.
"Hehe… hehe… Since he said so, there's nothing I can do, hehe."
…At the same time, Kita, wearing pajamas and lying on the sofa, hugging a pillow, was happily chatting with a friend.
But suddenly, she received a text message.
Upon seeing that the sender was Hayato, she didn't bother replying to her friend and immediately opened it.
"Sorry, I forgot to tell Nijika about you earlier."
Kita:???
Wait, what thing?
Her apology?
They wouldn't still think she was coming, would they? The performance is tomorrow!!
She suddenly sat up, throwing aside the pillow. The poor, accidentally injured pillow flew to the floor, bouncing up with a 'poof'.
Kita, with an incredulous expression, clicked the screen like lightning with even more incredulous speed.
"Ijiichi-senpai and Ryo-senpai wouldn't still be waiting for me, would they?!"
The reply was also very fast.
Hayato: "Hmm… Sorry, by the way, I still haven't told them."
"What are you doing?!!"
It's been almost two weeks, how can he be this forgetful?!
Kita felt an urge to immediately go to the kitchen, grab a knife, and rush to Hayato's house.
Not having said anything by now, wasn't he making her look like she was intentionally trying to ruin the performance?!
Hayato: "Well, it's fine, actually it doesn't really matter. We just need to desperately find a Guitarist, that's all. I'll tell Nijika tomorrow. Oh, Kita, you should come and watch tomorrow too."
Desperately searching for a Guitarist… it doesn't feel like a small matter anymore.
And tomorrow is the day of the performance! What are you going to do to Ijiichi-senpai!?
As for telling her to go, Kita sighed.
She no longer had the face to appear before them.
Hayato said, "You don't need to worry too much about the Guitarist. If worse comes to worst, I can simulate the Guitar sound."
"Also, if you don't come, I'll tell Ryo and Nijika that Kita looks down on your performance, so she doesn't want to play with everyone."
Scum!!
Kita was so angry her teeth were practically grinding.
But after she came to her senses, she understood Hayato's meaning.
"I'll think about it."
...The next day, when she arrived at school, Kita still didn't know whether she should go.
What if they had problems due to a rushed performance? Wouldn't she just be watching them make a fool of themselves?
She arrived in her Class and saw Hayato getting along extremely well with everyone. She glared at him fiercely.
He looked embarrassed, hunched his shoulders, and clasped his hands, repeatedly begging for mercy.
It was lunchtime.
"Kita-chan, what kind of bento do you have today?"
"I didn't say I'd share it with you."
Kita chatted casually with her friend, but the corner of her eye caught a pink figure quickly passing by outside the Class.
She moved lightly, with a sense of excitement, as if she was anticipating something.
But more than the pink tracksuit, the Guitar on her back attracted Kita's attention.
Guitarist... "Sorry, I'm going out for a bit."
Kita immediately put away her bento and chased after that figure.
From the hallway, to the stairwell, to the bottom of the stairs.
The figure disappeared.
Kita's mind was full of questions.
How could she lose her in such a short distance? After doubting her life for a while, she heard a Guitar sound.
A Guitar sound like a deep, wailing song... Hitori arrived at her safe place, full of joy.
Bocchi couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart. She took out her Guitar, connected the small amplifier, power supply, and various cables.
Let's practice first.
She casually played a tune with techniques like sweep picking, tapping, and hammer-ons/pull-offs.
"Hmm, no problem."
In the lingering sound of the Guitar.
She put down her Guitar with satisfaction, turned her head, and looked forward to Hayato's arrival.
Would Ishikawa-kun be surprised when he heard it? Ah, but he's probably already seen the videos online.
Thinking this, Bocchi suddenly exuded an aura of despair, as if she was about to die.
However, as soon as she turned her head, she saw a dark figure in front of her. The figure spoke with sparkling eyes.
"Amazing!"
Bocchi was startled, then let out a sigh of relief.
What, it's just a ghost.
"You're Gotou-san from Class 2, right?"
The dark figure revealed her true identity. Kita squatted in the small space, cupping her face, smiling as she asked Bocchi.
"Ah ah ah ah!"
Seeing that it was Kita, Bocchi was instead so frightened that she twisted and deformed, flying directly onto the wall, clinging to it like Spider-Man, with an expression as if she had seen a ghost.
Kita was startled.
To be honest, she was also hurt. She didn't quite understand why Gotou-san, after coming to her senses and seeing her, was so scared.
"Um... Gotou-san?"
Bocchi, clinging to the wall with her heart pounding, panicked for a while. Seeing Kita's awkward expression, she realized she had made a very rude gesture.
She climbed down from the wall, thought for a moment, and then cautiously knelt down in a dogeza.
"At least, at least let me live until I finish playing before you do anything!"
She cried out with a sobbing voice.
"Do anything?"
Kita tilted her head in confusion, but she immediately realized that Bocchi had misunderstood something, so she didn't dwell on it.
"Gotou-san, your Guitar playing is so cool! How long have you been learning?"
Bocchi got up from the ground, looked at Kita, and blinked, feeling that the other person didn't seem to mind. She relaxed a little and slowly sat up straight.
She said softly.
"Th... three years."
"That long!"
Kita covered her mouth in surprise, then immediately realized her words could be misinterpreted and quickly explained.
"Actually, I wanted to ask Gotou-san for a favor."
As she spoke, she thought of Bocchi practicing for three years, and how she herself, knowing nothing about the Guitar, dared to join a Band. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
She lowered her head.
"I used to think practicing Guitar was easy. I joined a Band, but today is the performance, and I don't know how to play the Guitar at all."
She raised her voice and earnestly pleaded with Bocchi.
"Please, Gotou-san, can you fill in for me!"
"Eh..."
Bocchi let out a sigh full of hesitation.