Kita stared blankly out the window where Bocchi had just passed. The large sliding window was like a book recording the beginning of someone else's story, and she sat there, watching from afar.
Regarding the whereabouts of Hayato and Bocchi, she suspected one possibility. The thought of it made her heart feel as if it were being clawed by a cat, a possibility that made it difficult for her to calm down.
When it was time for her usual lunch with friends, they walked over with their bento boxes.
The daily routine was about to begin.
She opened her phone and looked at her recent Line conversation with Bocchi, then stood up and said to her smiling friends who were walking over,
"Sorry, I'm going to the restroom."
Then, instead of waiting slowly as usual, she quickly stepped out.
She left her seat as if letting go of something from the past.
She didn't even pay attention to her friend's voice saying, "Wait, Kita-chan, I'll come too."
Upon hearing her, she just smiled and looked back, saying,
"I'll be right back."
..."Bocchi, not knocking is not a good thing, you know."
As soon as Bocchi squeezed into the small space formed by the desks and chairs and poked her head in, she heard Hayato's voice.
"Ah… ah…"
Because it was so sudden, her mind didn't process it. She squatted there, looking at Hayato, who was smiling at her from inside, and opened her mouth.
Hayato didn't continue to tease her. He said calmly,
"Welcome back."
Bocchi gasped in surprise, a strange blush appearing on her face, then she lowered her head and said,
"I'm back."
Saying that, she crawled into this small, dark corner… "Hayato, how did you know the name of the video I uploaded?"
"Of course, I can see Bocchi's thoughts clearly."
"Eh…"
"Haha, just kidding. I knew it was fake from the account creation time, and it's easy to find by searching for similar videos."
"Ah…"
Kita stood in the corridor, looking into the corner, where the two were completely out of her sight.
She was surprised.
Hayato… Gotou-san also calls Hayato-kun by his first name.
And when they are together, that timid Gotou-san, who is nervous about everything, can speak so naturally.
She felt a sense of being excluded.
This place seemed to not welcome her, as if she had become an outsider.
She had become a passing character in a strange love story.
She felt a bit unwilling. On the day of the performance, she had even held her hand and led her onto the stage. Couldn't she be the one to start a wonderful story?
After waiting for a while, she left without a word… When it was time for her appointment with Bocchi.
Kita parted ways with her friends and went to the storage room alone, carrying her Guitar.
Before coming here, she had thought a lot and was also nervous about what arrangements Bocchi would have.
After knocking and getting a response from Bocchi, she opened the door.
What met her eyes was Bocchi sitting on a chair, holding her Guitar. She was looking down at her Guitar, as if not knowing what to do, gently swaying a pick near the strings.
Speaking of which, Gotou-san is also a very different person.
She plays the Guitar well, and although her personality is timid, when she holds her Guitar, she seems to stand alone in the world.
Quietly playing her own notes in the corner.
Kita stepped into the room with hushed footsteps and said cheerfully,
"Gotou-san, you've worked hard."
Bocchi quickly looked up, her eyes, hidden by her bangs, looked at Kita, and she gently shook her head.
"No, not at all…"
Kita saw that a chair had already been placed opposite Bocchi, and although there were chairs everywhere in this storage room, that particular chair had been wiped spotlessly clean.
Did Hayato-kun help with that?
She walked over, unzipped her Guitar case, carefully took out her Guitar, then stood up next to the chair and asked Bocchi,
"May I sit here?"
"Ah… please."
Kita sat down without much formality, then smiled and said to Bocchi,
"Then, Gotou-sensei, please teach me."
"Go… Gotou-sensei?"
Bocchi was startled, then her face softened as if, and she giggled, carried away by her excitement.
"Yes, Gotou-sensei, please teach me strictly."
Kita repeated it again.
Even if one path closer to her goal was lost, she wouldn't stop.
She still wanted to break free from her boring life, to become interesting, to become extraordinary, and to work with her friends to do exciting things.
And… she looked at Bocchi. Bocchi had already recovered from her excitement, and a little flustered, she held her phone and said instructively,
"Kita-chan, let's start practicing from this section…"
"Yes."
Kita responded with a smile.
The story… hasn't it just begun?
...After school.
Hayato finished tidying up his things, stood up, and naturally walked towards Kita, who was packing her school bag.
He patted Kita's shoulder in a very familiar way and said,
"Kita, let's go, let's go to STARRY together."
Kita, who had been in a good mood, froze. She secretly glanced to the side and said in a hurried whisper,
"Hayato-kun, you go first. Gotou-san and I will practice for a while and then go."
"Hmm, why?"
Hayato didn't understand the situation. Today was a work day, wouldn't it be better to just go to the store to practice and wait for Nijika and the others to arrive?
Kita's expression was conflicted, her gaze darting to the side, a little absent-minded.
"Ijiichi-senpai isn't here, so it wouldn't be good to use the store's rehearsal room freely."
"It's fine, just treat it like your own home."
Hearing Hayato say this, Kita blinked blankly, then turned her gaze from him to him. Seeing his confident expression, she immediately felt helpless.
"That's not Hayato-kun's home!"
She raised her voice slightly as she burst out, then quickly glanced at the expressions of the surrounding classmates, lowering her voice and saying urgently,
"Also, didn't we say not to be so close at school?"
Hayato thought about it. It seemed Kita had mentioned something like that in Line, but he hadn't paid much attention to it and couldn't remember when it was said.
He looked around and saw many classmates who were about to leave suddenly seemed to have something to do, sitting back down in their seats and perking up their ears to eavesdrop. Combining that with what Kita had just said, in an instant, his face broke into a wide smile. He said loudly,
"Kita-san, today we…"
His loud words were cut short as a flustered Kita quickly covered his mouth.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Kita covered his mouth, calling out in a low, urgent voice.
"You owe me a meal."
Hayato took advantage of the situation.
"Gulp… I know, Hayato-kun, please hurry up and go!"
Kita didn't hesitate and quickly agreed, then quickly released her hand to prevent misunderstandings from her classmates. At the same time, she paid attention to the expressions of the other classmates in the class, as well as her friends, urging Hayato to leave.
And this Pervert, who had scammed a meal from the girl, finally closed his mouth in satisfaction, and coolly slung his school bag over his back.
He snapped his fingers with a bright smile, walked gracefully to the classroom door, and left the classroom with a flourish.
"Bye~"
Kita watched him leave, feeling both that he was cool and that her blood pressure was rising because of this guy.
Is this guy really someone she could like!?
But, the next moment, without the Pervert's suppression, the classroom instantly erupted.
A beige ocean suddenly pressed in, almost all the classmates rushing towards Kita.
"Kita-san, what stage are you and Ishikawa-kun at? Is it A, or B, or C!?"
"When did you start dating!?"
"How did you two get together?!"
"Who confessed first?"
Kita looked at the chaotic scene, like a group of reporters desperately crowding in, and immediately froze.
Oh no… although she had guessed this possibility and tried her best to avoid it.
But how could paper possibly cover fire? On the very first day of school, this matter was exposed.
What to do... what to do...? Should she say that there was actually no relationship between them?
And then let so many classmates leave disappointed... Then her normie path would die; if she didn't meet others' expectations and went against her friends...
For a normie, everything she had would disappear!
She didn't have the courage to make such a big change yet.
At this moment, she could only go with the flow... go with the flow... Kita, with a stiff smile, went along with her classmates and said:
"Um... actually, we just started dating..."
What was she saying?!
"Wow!" The classmates in the class burst into surprised cheers when they heard Kita's personal confirmation.
It's over... Cold sweat trickled down Kita's face.
Gotou-san, I'm sorry! Later, when this matter faded a bit, she would clear up the misunderstanding.
I'm sorry, but normies have all sorts of difficulties!