Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Cough, cough, cough.

At the dining table, Ishikawa Hayato nearly choked to death.

The next day, Ishikawa Hayato sat on the train.

He was heading to STARRY again today. Come to think of it, Nijika was really full of energy, often gathering everyone together.

Though it seemed perfectly normal for band members to get together often, right?

Ishikawa Hayato didn't know much about that sort of thing.

He looked around the train and spotted the two high school girls he had run into on the train last time.

With plenty of free time on his hands, he snapped his fingers at the two girls and flashed them a bright smile.

They got so excited that they leaned against each other.

As for that, Ishikawa Hayato saw it this way.

"They must have seen through to my perverted nature and been drawn in by it."

That was how much faith he had in his inner beauty.

After getting off the train, he hurried toward STARRY. Today, he would definitely be the first to arrive, then elegantly savor a cup of hot cocoa amid everyone else's surprised expressions.

Though come to think of it, the live house wasn't open on weekend mornings. Last time, he had only gotten in because Nijika had opened the door.

Just as he was thinking that, he saw two figures standing at the entrance to STARRY's sunken stairway.

Looks like he wouldn't get to wait elegantly for everyone else after all.

He hurried over and patted Nijika and Ryo on the shoulders.

"What are you standing here for?"

"Wah!"

Nijika cried out in fright. Beside her, Ryo merely turned around and gave Ishikawa Hayato a glance.

Down the stairs, Bocchi-chan, who didn't know the door was still locked and was still hesitating over whether to open it, raised her head in surprise.

28. Underhanded

"Bocchi wandering around at the door just now looked pretty interesting."

"Observing Bocchi? That sounds like it'd be pretty fun."

"Right?"

"You two, cut it out already. Ahh, Bocchi-chan! Don't sink under the table!"

Kita, who had just pushed open the door and entered STARRY, froze for a moment. From what they were saying, it seemed everyone had already arrived—but what were they doing inside? It was so lively this early in the morning.

She quickly picked up her pace, walked down from around the corner, and greeted the four people seated at the table.

"Good morning."

But the response to her sunny smile was Ishikawa Hayato's unexpectedly direct strike.

"Oh~ Ikuyo's here."

Before the smile on Kita's face could even change, she fell stiffly backward.

But the instant she hit the floor, she sprang back up like lightning and walked over under the bewildered gazes of Nijika, Ryo, and Bocchi-chan.

Nijika looked at Kita in confusion and asked, "Um, Kita-chan, just now...?"

Thump.

Kita Ikuyo slammed her head heavily against the table, her voice grave as though she were desperately pleading for her life.

"Everyone, please, from now on just call me 'Kita.'"

Ryo let out a meaningful "Oh~," then turned her gaze toward Ishikawa Hayato.

Ishikawa Hayato nodded, indicating that was exactly what had happened.

Ryo covered her mouth and smiled faintly.

Ishikawa Hayato wore a wicked grin that said, I'll leave it to you next time.

Ryo nodded.

Seeing this, Nijika looked at Kita, who still had her head lowered, with pity. Meanwhile, Bocchi-chan was so frightened by the blatant conspiracy that she trembled against her chair.

"Okay~"

Nijika lightly clapped her hands together, then raised one finger.

"The 'Kessoku Band First Member Meeting' officially begins! Applause~"

"Clap clap clap~"

As she spoke, she took the lead in applauding.

Kita, newly energized, joined in, along with Ishikawa Hayato, who was smiling unusually brightly, Ryo, who looked as composed as ever, and Bocchi, who silently gave a few soft claps.

"And then..." She looked around at the group.

Aside from Ishikawa Hayato, who saw her and Ryo often, Kita had only met them two or three times, while Bocchi had met them for the first time just yesterday.

She paused, then awkwardly scratched her head and laughed.

"Come to think of it, we don't really know each other that well. I have no idea what we should talk about..."

Before the atmosphere could freeze over, Ryo pulled a six-sided die from beneath the table.

"This is what we need at a time like this."

"Nice~" Nijika praised.

"Ryo-senpai is too wise!" Kita once again transformed into Ryo's mindless hype woman.

Then, all four people present seemed to hear a sharp zing, like someone had activated an ultimate move.

With her keen survival instincts, Bocchi immediately looked around.

The sound seemed to have come from Ishikawa Hayato. She looked at him and noticed that he was staring fixedly at the Bungee Jumping side of the die.

Hayato... doesn't want to play that, does he...

No, no, no...

If she did something that attention-grabbing while a bunch of people watched, then she would definitely...

[She made a complete fool of herself bungee jumping in front of the other guests, while also making terrifying noises.]

[Her utterly disgusting performance was uploaded online and spread across the entire internet.]

[She was put on trial for disturbing social stability.]

[In the end, the death penalty!]

Just as she was about to sink into even darker imaginings, someone nudged her elbow.

She snapped back to herself.

Ishikawa Hayato, sitting beside her, looked completely relaxed. Nothing like the expression he had worn before, when he had seemed ready to unleash a finishing move. Had she imagined it?

Then Bocchi noticed him gesturing with a finger toward Nijika.

Nijika tossed the die. It rolled across the table, and the terrifying purple face bearing the words Bungee Jumping kept appearing before Bocchi's eyes.

"What'll it land on~? What'll it land on~?"

Nijika sang as she lightly swayed her head.

Kita leaned forward as well, watching the rolling die with eager anticipation.

"Shararara, shararara~"

The other four people all knew perfectly well why she was so happy.

After all, this was a chance to openly learn about Ryo's various preferences.

Probably only Bocchi had no idea why she was looking forward to it so much.

The die came to a stop.

Nijika read the words on the face it had landed on, then looked up and smiled at everyone.

"A music topic you like~ For short..."

"Music chat~" Kita eagerly helped keep things going.

"Mm..."

Those two sunny smiles made Ryo and Bocchi silently edge farther away. As Bocchi backed up, though, she bumped into Ishikawa Hayato and hurriedly apologized.

It had been manageable when Nijika alone was desperately shining, but with both of their warmth combined, they couldn't help wanting to find somewhere shady to hide.

"Eh? Eh? What's wrong, everyone?"

Nijika immediately panicked at the sight.

Ryo gave Ishikawa Hayato, who was smiling without saying anything, a strange glance before speaking to Bocchi.

"Bocchi, go ahead."

"Ah..."

Surprised that she had to speak first, Bocchi lowered her head to think for a moment. Then, with a genuinely gloomy expression, she said, "As long as it isn't a song about youth, anything is fine..."

The other four looked at her in confusion. As Bocchi explained, she immediately retreated into her own world as though trying to escape.

"Why do things as happy as the ocean, fireworks, and romance have to be written into songs... I can't relate to that kind of world at all... Listening to songs like that makes me feel depressed..."

"When I hear that That Band I like, back when they were students..."

Bocchi continued muttering gloomily.

"Hey, Bocchi-chan, hey."

Nijika kept calling out helplessly to the girl who had retreated into her own world.

Beside her, Ryo watched Bocchi expressionlessly. Kita held her cheeks in anticipation as she looked at Ryo, while Ishikawa Hayato smiled at the chaotic scene.

"Please, don't get lost in your own world. Hey..."

Nijika looked to the others again, trying to get some help from them. But after looking around and seeing everyone minding their own business, she cried out in despair.

"Can't everyone be a little more united?"

Finally, Ishikawa Hayato stopped enjoying the spectacle and clapped his hands sharply. The loud sound drew everyone's attention.

"Well then, my turn."

"Hayato-kun..." Nijika's eyes welled up with grateful tears upon seeing the conversation finally proceed normally.

But after Ishikawa Hayato spoke, his expression froze, and he blanked out for a moment.

"As long as it sounds good."

His words slightly surprised the others once they came back to their senses.

"I listen to everything from classical music to hard rock. I don't have any particular preference for genre."

"What a troublesome person," Ryo commented.

Kita had thought that answer was so ordinary that it felt a little unlike Ishikawa Hayato, so she asked in surprise.

"Eh, really?"