Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Bocchi's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke in a submissive tone.

"This is the money my mom saved for my wedding..."

"I'll give you all of this, please... please don't make me work part-time."

After she finished speaking, she solemnly lowered her head, her entire being radiating a plea that was pitiful to behold.

Nijika blinked in surprise before quickly retorting.

"Do you think we're demons?"

Across from Bocchi, Ryo calmly extended her hand. "Thank you, I'll accept this with all due respect..."

Kita looked at Ryo in disbelief as she actually reached out to take it.

But before her hand could touch the piggy bank, Nijika smacked it hard with a loud sound, and Ryo quickly withdrew her hand in pain.

Having stopped the evil deed, Nijika frantically waved her hands at Bocchi.

"We won't take it, we won't take it. We won't use money that's this important."

"Yeah, money this important, how could we use it for something else?"

Ishikawa Hayato heartily agreed with Nijika's words, but his hand unceremoniously and quickly reached for Bocchi's piggy bank.

"I'll take the money. If Bocchi doesn't want to work part-time anymore, I'll support her."

Nijika was about to stand up and slap Ishikawa Hayato's sinful hand, but she froze upon hearing his words.

"Huh?"

"Eh?" Kita also stared blankly at the sudden, bizarre turn of events.

Bocchi, tears in her eyes, looked up and asked weakly.

"Really?"

Beneath her timid expression lay a hint of fear from potential rejection, mixed with worry and anticipation for the future.

From Ishikawa Hayato's perspective.

Bocchi mustered up her courage and looked up. Her eyes, hidden by her bangs, anxiously scanned his expression from between her strands of hair.

Ishikawa Hayato replied.

"Really."

Upon hearing Ishikawa Hayato's answer, Bocchi hastily pushed her chair back and stood up. She walked to the side and, with great seriousness but also a bit awkwardly, bowed.

"I-I'm not very talented, please take care of me."

Nijika, who had been watching the spectacle, looked at the two of them with a conflicted expression. She had a feeling Bocchi was being deceived by Ishikawa Hayato.

Angrily, she said to Ishikawa Hayato.

"Ishikawa-kun... it's too much to treat this as a joke."

"I'm not joking," Ishikawa Hayato dropped his smile, his expression turning serious.

"Eh?"

Nijika and Kita exclaimed in surprise.

Ryo also looked at him curiously.

"Bocchi is interesting and cute, and she doesn't seem like she'd be a lot of trouble to take care of," Ishikawa Hayato said, placing the piggy bank down and pushing it back towards Bocchi.

"Although, letting it sit for a while longer isn't bad either."

"Yes! I'll work hard!"

Bocchi, seemingly unfazed by the implication that Ishikawa Hayato might be treating her like a pet to be kept, raised her voice and said with utmost seriousness.

Just as the others began to worry about the future relationship between the two.

They heard Ishikawa Hayato say to Bocchi.

"Well then, good luck with your part-time job."

Bocchi's newfound happiness froze, her drifting smile solidifying. Then, she seemed to turn to stone, shattering in the cold wind.

So that's how it is!

But to trick Bocchi-chan like this, by pretending to propose marriage, is just too much!

Nijika seethed inwardly.

Yet, she inadvertently overlooked a fact she herself knew.

She knew Ishikawa Hayato had high emotional intelligence and wouldn't do anything that would genuinely displease someone.

Nijika merely watched with dissatisfaction as Ishikawa Hayato gazed at Bocchi with a gentle, teasing smile.

32. Bocchi

What kind of person is Ishikawa-kun?

Bocchi thought quietly.

When school started, she wore band merchandise hoping to find companions, and she still remembered the surprised look Ishikawa-san gave her.

She ran away then.

Later, Ishikawa-san came looking for her again.

The first time they met face-to-face, she couldn't imagine that the first 'companion' she met would be such a sunny, handsome guy.

She ran away again.

She wasn't found this time.

But the next day, she was discovered again in her usual safe spot.

And she was invited to join his band.

At the same time, she began having lunch with him every day.

Later, when asked why he was so persistent, he said:

"Gotou-san, you actually want to change, don't you? You dressed like that on the first day of school because you wanted friends, to form a band."

So he had noticed on the first day.

He had reached out to her without hesitation on the first day.

After she agreed, Ishikawa-san revealed his "true colors."

A pervert.

But, although occasionally strange, Ishikawa-san never did anything truly unpleasant.

Instead, she felt he was cool, free, and happy.

He was genuinely happy every day.

His happiness made her feel truly envious.

The gentle aura he possessed was something she had never experienced before.

During the days she didn't see him afterward, eating lunch alone felt much safer, but also a bit cold.

The times she went home and checked her private account for messages were especially difficult.

Later.

When her real account was discovered.

Amidst the shame, she also felt a bit happy.

She realized she was still being cared about.

When she went to school with her guitar later, she was still filled with anxiety.

Were his words just casually spoken by Ishikawa-san? Had he not looked for her for so many days because he had grown tired of her and no longer intended to contact her?

Or was that the normal way of things?

Even she herself felt incredibly troublesome.

But when she received his call and saw his hand deliberately retracting slowly from the stair railing, she knew she hadn't been abandoned.

She decided to try harder and hone her skills.

Then she joined Ishikawa-san's band on short notice.

Facing her, who was afraid to stand in front of an audience and hid inside a cardboard box.

He told a lie.

"Gotou-san, it's just the two of us now, please play something cool for me."

After desperately proving herself with her performance.

The applause from the audience and his cheers felt unforgettable for a lifetime.

No matter where her life went from that point on, she would remember his satisfied shouts and the applause echoing within the cardboard box in the darkness.

And today...

He actually said he was willing to support her...

That would mean...

Bocchi didn't understand why she agreed so quickly herself.

But thankfully...

Thankfully...

It turned out to be just a joke to trick her into working.

"Bocchi-chan? Bocchi-chan?" Nijika's voice.

Bocchi looked up in the direction of the sound.

Nijika said with a hint of helplessness, but without a care in the world.

"You didn't hear what I just said, did you?"

"You... work here?"

Although Bocchi had been lost in thought, she had been listening and hadn't ignored her surroundings.

Nijika was surprised, then smiled and started talking about the band.

As Bocchi listened, she secretly glanced to her left.

Ishikawa-kun still looked cheerful, listening to Nijika speak, and seemed not to notice her looking back.

At this point, Nijika said in a tone that suggested she had finished all her topics.

"Then, why don't you start working here next week?"

Feeling like it was time to wrap things up, Ishikawa-kun raised his hand and suggested.

"Then, shall we practice together next?"

"Sure!"

Nijika happily nodded.

The group then stood up, ready to head to the practice room.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at Kita, who hadn't brought her guitar, and asked her.

"Speaking of which, how's your guitar practice going, Kita?"

Kita, who had been cheerfully walking towards the practice room, suddenly panicked. She stopped, conflicted, and slowly turned her head, her eyes filled with a chaotic look.

"Um... um..."