Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Seeing the atmosphere ease, Nijika breathed a sigh of relief and was about to continue the topic, but Ishikawa Hayato beat her to it.

"Let's make our common goal the topic of conversation; that way, we can get to know each other faster."

He said this to Nijika, whose turn it was to speak.

"Nijika, what's the band's next task? Tell us."

"Eh..."

Nijika sighed hesitantly.

Ishikawa Hayato knew why she was like this. After all, Kita's previous escape was partly because she was too impatient.

At least, that's what she thought.

So, she decided to slow down and start by getting to know each other, moving forward steadily.

Nijika, feeling rushed, looked at the others and thought for a moment before nodding.

"Then, let's write songs next. For our next performance, we'll use our own songs."

"Ryo can compose, and Bocchi has a lot of taboo words, so let Bocchi write the lyrics."

Ishikawa Hayato sighed inwardly. Nijika was too gentle; it was hard to make progress by being too considerate of others.

But, it was also a fortunate accident.

He looked at Bocchi, whose expression was surprised. She seemed to have gathered all her courage and lowered her head.

"How is it? It's a good idea, right?"

Nijika asked her again, as if for confirmation.

Bocchi nodded slightly.

Sensing that things were finally moving forward and no longer so dull, Kita Ikuyo eagerly said to Ryo.

"I'm so looking forward to Ryo-senpai's song!"

Ryo replied calmly in her low, steady voice.

"Yes, let's look forward to it."

"Please, Ryo." Nijika smiled faintly from the heart and then looked at Bocchi beside her.

She said in a light and cute tone.

"And the Minister of Lyrics~"

Kita, who had almost dealt a fatal blow to Bocchi just now, also congratulated Bocchi.

"It's so cool that Goto-san can be in charge of such an important task."

"Cool?!"

Bocchi repeated in a surprised whisper, suddenly feeling elated.

"Well, writing lyrics is a piece of cake, as simple as it gets."

"I'm sure I can write lyrics that will be an absolute hit and have a super band feel."

Kita Ikuyo said with a strained smile, "Goto-san really gets carried away easily..."

Ryo's gaze grew colder, focusing on the cup of orange juice.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly for Bocchi, Nijika felt much more relaxed. She thought for a moment.

"Anything else..."

Kita Ikuyo raised her hand without hesitation and said.

"If we need to manage our Instagram, leave it to me!"

Nijika answered without much thought.

"That's great. The duty of the Social Media Minister is yours."

"When the time comes, I'll update it every day!"

Kita Ikuyo held her phone, looking happy as if she had found her place.

Ishikawa Hayato also raised his hand at this moment.

"If we need to move instruments later, or if there's a fight, I'll handle it. Without firearms, I can take on thirty people."

"Then I'll leave it to... huh?"

Nijika was halfway through her sentence when she was suddenly stunned by what Ishikawa Hayato said next.

"Oh~ very reliable."

Ryo seemed very satisfied.

Anyone who has played in a band knows the sense of security that comes with having such a top-tier bodyguard.

"No, no, we're not that kind of rock band!" Nijika hurriedly stopped Ishikawa Hayato, who was about to take the topic in another direction.

Kita Ikuyo, who had witnessed Ishikawa Hayato's strength, twitched the corner of her mouth speechlessly.

Ryo looked at Nijika, who had been assigning tasks since the beginning but hadn't taken on any herself, and asked.

"Nijika, what's your role?"

As soon as she spoke, the other four turned to look at Nijika.

Nijika seemed bewildered, frozen in place.

Time in the room felt like it had stopped.

Then, Nijika, with a dazed and cute expression, picked up the dice, threw it with little force, and holding it up, declared loudly.

"Next up is the topic of targets~"

The straight man ran away, and the straight man's backup, Ryo, appeared and said.

"You're just brazenly glossing over it..."

Ishikawa Hayato also said helplessly, "She's brought this back again..."

Even Kita didn't know how to play along with Nijika. She and Bocchi just stared blankly at Nijika.

As they all looked at her with helpless expressions, Nijika, blushing, yelled.

"The... the drummer is like the lubricant of the band!"

"Are you an intern?"

Ryo replied with a brilliant retort.

31. The Future

Nijika briefly explained the performance targets to the members who had no idea about them.

"Simply put, we need to sell a certain number of tickets ourselves. For any revenue exceeding the target, we get a share from the venue. For any shortfall, we have to cover it ourselves."

Ryo's face took on a gloomy expression as she said, with a hint of painful memory.

"In other words, it's going to cost a lot of money at first."

Hearing this, Kita's face turned pale, and she quietly patted her wallet.

Since buying her guitar, her disposable income had dwindled significantly, reaching a critical level.

She could barely afford to go out with friends!

She'd have to get a part-time job.

She silently decided.

She wasn't the only one feeling the pinch; Nijika was too.

She sighed and said.

"My friends came to the show yesterday, so we sold tickets smoothly. I wonder if they'll be willing to come again next time..."

The more she spoke, the darker the future seemed. She even lost the strength to sit, swaying as if about to fall over.

Drawing on her past band experience, Ryo judged.

"Yesterday's performance was quite interesting."

"But the playing was a mess..."

Nijika knew her friends were satisfied with their performance, but she also felt inexplicably frustrated.

After all, they couldn't rely on Hayato-kun to hold the show together every time. Besides, they were a band, not a comedy duo.

Music was the main focus.

She didn't even have the confidence to invite them.

"Um... I can also invite my friends. How many do you need?"

At that moment, a voice like a god's sounded from her side.

The tone was as confident as Jesus offering fish and loaves, as if saying, "Take as much as you want; this is inexhaustible."

"Are you serious!?"

Nijika's spirits lifted as she looked at Kita Ikuyo.

"Yeah! If I don't invite them, they'll complain."

Kita Ikuyo smiled wryly, picturing the scene. Then, she held up her phone, looking ready, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Nijika.

"How many people should I invite?"

Nijika felt overwhelmed by Kita's social butterfly aura, a sunny power far superior to her own!

She cautiously stated the minimum number.

"Around 20 people should be fine."

"That's all? Understood."

Kita indicated that this number was easily manageable. She slightly raised the hand holding her phone, happily making a V-sign.

Kita!

An invisible radiance bloomed.

However, the few of them had already begun to adapt to this high concentration of spiritual light and weren't significantly harmed.

It was just that Ishikawa Hayato turned his head to look at Bocchi beside him. Before the spiritual light had even started burning, she already had a pained expression, looking like she was about to collapse and lamenting her own fate.

He reached out and poked Bocchi's cheek, which was on the verge of turning to ash. She shivered and suddenly woke up, looking at Ishikawa Hayato in fear.

Ishikawa Hayato smiled at her.

Nijika glanced at their interaction before cheerfully continuing.

"But we still need to save up for other equipment costs and the band's initial funds. For those expenses, let's go get part-time jobs~!"

"Really! That's great!"

The one who responded was Kita, who had already been planning to get a part-time job. Upon hearing Nijika's suggestion for everyone to work together, she happily agreed, secretly glancing at Ishikawa Hayato at the same time.

But a sharp cry suddenly shattered this harmonious atmosphere.

"Part-time jobs!?"

Bocchi's voice startled everyone except Ishikawa Hayato.

It also made Nijika, who had proposed the idea, uneasy. She carefully asked Bocchi, whose expression was starting to fall apart.

"Bocchi-chan... what's wrong?"

Bocchi lowered her head deeply and didn't answer Nijika's question. After her body trembled for a bit, she quickly grabbed her shoulder bag and started rummaging inside.

Then.

She slowly held out a piggy bank.

The three girls looked at the jar with full faces of question marks.