Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

"Nijika ran off, huh."

Ryo stated calmly to Ishikawa Hayato.

Ishikawa Hayato couldn't tell if Ryo's tone held dissatisfaction or if she was simply stating a fact.

He casually asked, "What about you, Ryo?"

Ryo looked at Ishikawa Hayato and said, "I got a bit of inspiration from your song just now, come over to my place."

"Alright."

Ishikawa Hayato nodded.

At the same time, he began to wonder how Nijika would react once the song was actually finished.

"Then let's go."

Ryo turned around and led the way.

The ordinary conversation between the two caused Seika, who had been eavesdropping at the counter, to widen her eyes in alarm and turn to look at them.

The two completely ignored her and walked out of STARRY one after the other.

Seika froze for a moment, then lightning-fast sent a message to Nijika.

42. Unchanging

Outside STARRY, Ishikawa Hayato and Ryo walked unhurriedly along the streets of Shimokitazawa.

One of them had a calm and indifferent expression, looking unapproachable, while the other smiled and seemed to be humming a cheerful tune.

They looked like an unlikely pair, yet the way they walked side-by-side gave the impression that they had a good relationship.

As their footsteps carried them forward, the scenery flowed past.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Ryo, who was walking calmly beside him, and sensing her lack of desire to communicate, he didn't initiate conversation.

The two continued to walk in silence.

As Ishikawa Hayato casually looked around Shimokitazawa on a May afternoon.

He suddenly heard a voice beside him.

"Hayato, aren't you in a hurry?"

It took him a moment to realize Ryo was speaking. He turned his head to look at her.

Ryo was still looking straight ahead as she spoke, her steps and gaze as steady as ever. The dark blue hair, held by a clip, swayed slightly with her movements.

Ishikawa Hayato was confused.

Hurry? Did she mean walking this slowly?

As if noticing Ishikawa Hayato's gaze, Ryo turned her head slightly and looked up at him. Her golden eyes carried a strong sense of pressure.

Seeing his confused expression, she explained.

"About the band."

Ishikawa Hayato understood, but at the same time, he was puzzled.

Was Ryo starting to get anxious? But it didn't seem like it. She seemed like the type of person who enjoyed the feeling of making music.

So, she was just asking.

To be cared about by Ryo was rare, and for him to be one of those people, he felt truly honored.

He smiled, met Ryo's eyes, and said, "Not at all. I learned elsewhere that not taking shortcuts is the true shortest route."

He turned his head to look forward, watching the passersby who approached and then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Rushing towards success is meaningless. Life isn't meant to be speedrun. Just like a game, it's more fun to play slowly."

Ryo nodded as if she understood.

"That's good."

It seemed she had considered the possibility that Ishikawa Hayato, who had been eager to join the band before and had now learned an instrument, might leave due to the band's slow progress.

Hearing her words, Ishikawa Hayato asked back with a teasing smile.

"Ryo, are you worried I'll leave the band?"

"Yeah." Ryo nodded decisively as she looked at him.

"You're interesting."

The brief exchange ended, and a peaceful silence fell between them once more.

For the two who vaguely sensed each other's true nature, even without conversation, they didn't worry about the other overthinking things.

There wasn't even that awkwardness of wanting to say something but being unable to.

"We're here."

Ryo stopped in front of a modern mansion surrounded by a black wall. She pressed the gate button very casually, and it opened, allowing her to walk inside.

Ishikawa Hayato naturally followed her into the mansion. Then, to her stunned gaze, he casually closed the yard gate behind them.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at the dazed Ryo and asked, feigning ignorance.

"What's wrong?"

Ryo tilted her head slightly, a proud smile on her face. She said to Ishikawa Hayato, with a hint of unease.

"It feels like I've brought a very dangerous person inside."

Ishikawa Hayato walked towards her with a smile, reaching her shoulder level. He introduced himself with the arrogance of an expert.

"Professional pervert, ma'am."

Nijika, who had rushed home, didn't notice the notification on her phone.

She returned to her room, closed the door, and sat on the edge of her bed, looking at the drum next to her.

When Ishikawa Hayato had guessed her thoughts just now, she didn't know why she had run so fast or why her heart had been beating so rapidly.

Nervousness, shyness.

These two emotions filled her chest.

She always felt like she was hiding something extremely subtle, something even she didn't know about.

She paused her action of preparing to take the drum downstairs and followed this train of thought, feeling a bit curious.

Was that thing related to Hayato-kun?

She didn't know.

She thought about her impression of Ishikawa Hayato.

He was very special; among the people she had met, he belonged to the most unique category.

Moreover, he came to STARRY almost every day for the past month, making him the male she interacted with most frequently among those her age.

It was inevitable that her gaze would linger on this male who was a year younger than her.

He.

'Reckless.'

Their first meeting was completely unexpected. Before they had even put up posters, Hayato-kun suddenly ran out and said he wanted to join.

However, such reckless people weren't uncommon in bands; many musicians made sudden choices and embarked on this path.

'Hardworking.'

Although Hayato-kun learned things incredibly fast, what was even more frightening was his effort, which didn't waste a single second when he studied.

And when faced with Ryo's various difficult critiques, he would happily make corrections.

He was like a hero who, with a smile, constantly charged towards the demon king, only to be defeated repeatedly.

However, recently, after receiving perfect evaluations, he immediately stopped his seemingly constant effort to study.

'Reliable.'

Honestly, when Kita ran away, her heart sank.

She didn't hold much hope for the upcoming performance.

But the subsequent developments exceeded her expectations. Hayato-kun's actions pieced together the broken story into the best possible outcome.

These past two days, he had also been helping her vitalize communication within the band.

If he weren't here, things would have been much worse.

'Pervert.'

As she was spacing out, her phone, which hadn't received a reaction from her for a long time, rang again with a notification.

A message now?

Did something happen with Hayato-kun and the others?

She took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it.

There was a very ominous-looking message in LINE.

It was from her sister.

"Nijika, Ryo invited the pervert to her house."

There was another message below.

"How is it?"

Nijika looked up. The message above had been sent ten minutes ago.

The pervert must be Hayato-kun... they went to Ryo's house... the two of them...

A cold sweat appeared on Nijika's forehead.

The next moment, she desperately complained at the top of her lungs.

"Why didn't my sister call me?!"

Her panicked emotions couldn't hide the girl's sweet voice as it echoed in the room, but before the reverberations had even faded, the room door was pushed open urgently and then slammed shut, interrupting everything.

At Ryo's house.

"Please come in."

"I'm deeply grateful."

Ishikawa Hayato said with a serious expression.

Across from him, Ryo stood in her room, her gaze lingering on Ishikawa Hayato's face for a while.

Knowing his words could be taken the wrong way, Ishikawa Hayato explained.

"This is my first time in a high school girl's room."

Ryo put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. With a business-like smile, she extended her hand.

"Then give me money, a ticket fee."

"You were the one who invited me here!"

Ishikawa Hayato couldn't help but retort.

But then he grinned slyly, directly took out his wallet, and showed it to her.