Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Ishikawa Hayato clapped his hands, then shouted loudly.

"Guitar! The mysteriously appearing unknown girl—Bocchi!!"

A round of responding applause rose from below the stage.

But his introduction was not over yet.

"And finally, our idiot vocalist."

Amid Nijika and Ryo's startled expressions, Ishikawa Hayato stretched out his hand and pointed toward a corner beneath the stage.

"Running around wherever she pleased—Kita!"

Kita stood frozen below the stage.

She had come in while the lights were off. How had he spotted her?

Thinking back, Ishikawa had just called her by her surname, Kita, hadn't he?

Could it be...

Her thoughts immediately exploded as she rapidly recalled every interaction she had had with Ishikawa Hayato over the past few days.

Finally, she looked up at the stage, at Ishikawa Hayato's wicked grin that said they would embarrass themselves together.

She really had been... set up.

She looked at the others again. After her initial surprise, Ijichi-senpai was looking at her expectantly. When Ryo-senpai met her gaze, she nodded.

At last, her eyes met those of that vile-natured, crafty, strange, fearless pervert.

Under the inviting gazes of the three of them, she hesitated.

Could she still turn back?

She had done something like that—but they were inviting her.

She couldn't play guitar—but he had said vocalist.

She... she...

Kita Ikuyo lowered her head and passed through the crowd. She removed her mask, glasses, and hat, ducked under the barrier rope, and made her way beneath the stage.

Ishikawa Hayato bent halfway over and held out his hand.

Kita Ikuyo took it.

Then, with him pulling her up and her own foot braced against the edge of the stage, she stepped up. But before her other foot could reach the stage, it slipped.

"Eh."

But she did not fall. Ishikawa Hayato reacted quickly, grabbing her hand, wrapping an arm around her back, and lifting her onto the stage.

"Be careful."

Ishikawa Hayato reminded her with a smile, then walked to the center of the stage, picked up the microphone, and ended the introduction in one sentence.

"Now then, rock that shatters loneliness is about to begin."

26. Casual

Nijika smiled as she said goodbye to her friends, then left the live house hall in exhaustion and headed back to the rehearsal room.

When the rehearsal room door separated her from the hall, she let out a long breath.

As far as the outcome went, the performance just now had been a failure.

That was only natural.

The moment Bocchi started playing for real, she lost track of her rhythm and kept making mistakes.

Kita, who had been rushed onstage and was already unaccustomed to performing, had become a complete mess under Bocchi's influence.

Even Nijika herself had messed up several times.

But.

As the drummer overseeing the whole stage, she had always kept an eye on everyone else.

Ryo had continued playing her own way. She looked as though she did not care in the slightest how the performance turned out.

And Kita-chan would occasionally sneak glances toward Hayato-kun at the back.

So did she.

Whenever she felt uneasy, seeing Ishikawa Hayato's radiant smile quickly calmed the panic brought on by her mistakes.

The response had not been good, but the process itself had been fun.

Hayato-kun had not followed the sheet music at all. He had played however he wanted, messing around as he pleased.

It was as though he knew the performance had failed, so he had completely thrown himself into having fun instead.

He had even gotten some of the audience involved.

She had been the same. Though his reckless playing had disrupted her, hearing that free and joyful sound of his, she found herself complaining inwardly while also feeling that making mistakes did not seem like such a big deal.

With someone even more chaotic and fired up around, they had played as happily as if they were improvising.

It would be nice if Hayato-kun could be a little more serious...

With her back against the closed soundproof door, she looked into the room. In the rehearsal studio, Kita stood with her hands on her hips, smiling as she threatened Ishikawa Hayato.

"Ishikawa-kun, hand over the video."

"No! This will be a treasure passed down through the Ishikawa family for generations."

Ishikawa Hayato clutched his phone tightly, like a child afraid someone would snatch his toy away.

Before Kita's blank stare, he put on a thoroughly convincing performance.

"Someday, I'll tell my children." He lowered his voice into that of an elder, bowing his head as he pointed ahead.

"If you ever run out of money, go find an aunt named Ikuyo and use this video to blackmail her for cash!"

Kita's lips trembled with rage at his smug expression.

She hesitated for less than half a second before shouting furiously.

"A guy like Ishikawa-kun will never get a girlfriend!"

"How could that be!" Ishikawa Hayato's expression turned solemn.

The change in his tone caught the attention of Ryo, who had been drinking and watching the show nearby, as well as Bocchi, who was crouched inside a ruined cardboard box.

"Even if I don't have one now, I will later! I'm a man destined to build a harem!"

He clenched his phone and shouted with the force of waves crashing against a cliff.

"Uh..."

Both Nijika and Kita wore disgusted expressions that said, What is this trash talking about? They could not help taking a step back.

Even Bocchi stared blankly at Ishikawa Hayato.

But when she heard another voice in the room, Kita froze. Turning around, she saw Nijika entering.

Remembering that she had not apologized to Nijika face-to-face yet, she ignored that pervert and bowed to Nijika instead.

"Ijichi-senpai, please forgive my rudeness that day. I'm willing to accept any punishment!"

"Kita-chan, you're being way too dramatic."

Nijika waved it off without the slightest concern, walked over to her, took her hand, and looked it over.

"I'm really glad Kita-chan's hand wasn't hurt."

"Senpai!~"

Kita's eyes welled up with tears of gratitude.

At that moment, Ishikawa Hayato ruined the mood by asking, "Kita just apologized to Ryo like that too. But what about me? Want to hear what punishment I have in mind?"

He grinned slyly.

Kita jolted in fright upon hearing that, immediately retreating behind Nijika as she said fiercely, despite her lack of confidence, "I still remember that Ishikawa-kun forgot to show senpai the video of my apology!"

Oh no!

Ishikawa Hayato's expression changed. He instantly stood up and activated his pervert ability, fleeing invisibly!

"Apology?" Nijika looked at Kita in confusion.

Ryo also spoke up, puzzled. "Didn't you already show us the apology video?"

Kita sensed that something was wrong and asked blankly, "When?"

"That Monday that week," Nijika answered, confused.

"Ishi... kawa... kun..."

Kita instantly realized she had been tricked. She clenched her fists through gritted teeth, but when she looked around, Ishikawa Hayato was already gone.

Just as she was left with nowhere to vent her anger—

The rehearsal room door opened.

"This guy just snuck out looking suspicious. I caught him and brought him back for you. Do you need me to call the police?"

Seika-manager grabbed Ishikawa Hayato by the back of his collar and dragged him back into the room. With his escape attempt a failure, Ishikawa Hayato covered his face and miserably hugged his head.

What a lively, fun band...

But it was far too dazzling for her. Bocchi quietly crawled out of the broken cardboard box and carefully headed toward the rehearsal room door.

They had called her over to help, yet even the only thing she was useful for—filling in temporarily—had been completely useless.

This Gotou Mizuo...

She should hurry and leave before facing the group's judgment, without drawing anyone else's attention.

Bocchi silently rehearsed in her mind how she would explain things when she left later.

But then—

"Bocchi, where are you going?"

Ryo, who had been leaning against the wall with her and watching the show, suddenly asked.

Eek!!

H-How was she supposed to answer?

She nervously looked around, only to notice that everyone else was looking at her too.

N-No... don't all look at me...

Bocchi's mental defenses were repeatedly crushed and rebuilt by her nerves. At last, she gathered her courage—or rather, gave up entirely—and said, "Um, I'll be leaving first..."

"You're leaving so early?"

Nijika, who had been listing Ishikawa Hayato's crimes, turned around in surprise when she heard that. After hesitating for a moment, she smiled and said, "Then, Bocchi-chan, are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

Bocchi tilted her head in confusion. Was there another performance tomorrow? She was fine with it, but would they really let her go onstage again? Her playing had been...

"Yeah, it's Bocchi-chan's welcome party, and a celebration for the live show."

Nijika's bright, cheerful voice left Bocchi even more confused.

A welcome party?