Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

He hopped to a stop beside Seika, hands clasped behind his head, leaning forward to look at her expressionless face.

He said teasingly.

"Eh, the manager's a siscon, huh? Well, yeah, with a cute sister like Nijika, you can't help but be one."

"I have a sister too, but she's too dumb, so I can't be a siscon."

"A sister as cute as Nijika, of course you'd worry about her wherever she goes."

"Especially since you're already a siscon, right?"

"Siscon." He tilted his head up as if savoring the word, his face rippling with emotion as he chewed on it in his mind.

He sighed.

"That's nice."

The two people behind them didn't hear Ishikawa Hayato speaking in a deliberately controlled voice.

They could only see Ishikawa Hayato saying something to Seika with an infuriating expression, and as he opened his mouth.

Seika took two quick steps forward, but when she couldn't shake him off, she stopped.

She clenched her fists on the spot, her whole body trembling.

Finally, she let out a furious roar.

"Die!!"

Then, as if possessed, she charged at Ishikawa Hayato, and the two of them ran wildly down the streets of Shimokitazawa, quickly disappearing from Nijika and Ryo's sight.

Nijika stared dumbfounded at her usually calm sister in a state of rage, unable to look away for a long time.

"What an amazing man."

Ryo said admiringly, deciding to ask Ishikawa Hayato later what exactly he said to make Seika, who usually only exchanged a few harsh words but had a good temper, so angry.

45. Opposition

When Ryo and Nijika returned to STARRY, they saw a scene they never imagined.

Seika sat calmly in front of the STARRY bar, while in the main hall, Ishikawa Hayato was happily doing a hula dance.

He held a flower ball from who knows where, a grass skirt around his waist, shaking it back and forth. Coupled with his sunny, handsome face, he attracted the attention of the bands who had arrived early at the livehouse.

Nijika even heard a band nearby whisper, "Next time, our MC can also use this format."

As for why they were whispering...

Nijika looked at her sister, who was sitting calmly at the bar, drinking.

Behind her sister, Seika, the veins on her three-headed, six-armed Asura face were bulging and spraying blood outwards.

Ryo pondered for a moment, looking at the harmonious scene, and said.

"Even the Calm spell probably won't alleviate the manager's killing intent anymore."

As she was speaking, the glass cup in Seika's hand chipped, sending out a few shards of glass.

For her sister's blood pressure health, Nijika quickly went up and grabbed Ishikawa Hayato.

"Hayato-kun, don't bully my sister~!"

As she spoke, she reached out and tapped Ishikawa Hayato's head with her finger like a knife.

Ishikawa Hayato indulged her, still wearing a smiling expression when he was hit.

However, when Seika saw what was happening over here, the glass cup in her hand instantly shattered.

"Guitar is too hard to learn!!"

On the other side, in the room, Kita threw her guitar on the ground and let out a painful wail.

She knelt on the ground, looking at the guitar Ryo-senpai had lent her, and then tearfully looked at Bocchi, who was holding her guitar opposite her.

Although she was in the position of teaching, Bocchi didn't get angry at all when she heard Kita say this. Instead, she had a worried and uneasy expression.

But Kita couldn't help but ask.

"Gotou-san, is the keyboard really not harder to learn than the guitar?"

Bocchi saw why Kita was asking and explained:

"Ah... yes, the keyboard is an instrument that requires a vast amount of music theory knowledge and long-term practice to use well."

"Um... Kita-chan, your learning speed is already very fast, don't rush."

While Bocchi was comforting Kita, she couldn't help but think of a person that Kita hadn't mentioned at all, but had hinted at everywhere.

However, Hayato seemed to learn things very quickly. At the beginning of the school year, he said he didn't know any musical instruments.

But that must have been a lie.

If it was true, to learn the keyboard so quickly and even be able to perform on stage, that would be too amazing.

Someone like that... someone like that said he could support her...

"Sorry, I said something disheartening…"

Kita knew she had no right to complain. After all, everyone else besides her could play an instrument. Her joining hadn't helped the band much; if anything, she'd been a burden.

She picked up her guitar again and sat back down on the chair.

However, after speaking, she felt that Bocchi beside her was unusually quiet.

She looked towards Bocchi.

Across from her, Bocchi had her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly. Kita, seeing Bocchi's strange demeanor, looked down at her face in confusion.

From under Bocchi's bangs, Kita saw a dreamy, somewhat lewd smile on Bocchi's face and a faraway look in her eyes as she gazed into a fantasy world.

For some reason, Kita felt a sense of unease and wariness.

After hesitating, she reached out and gently nudged Bocchi.

"Gotou-san, Gotou-san?"

Startled by the nudge, Bocchi snapped back to reality. She looked up and saw Kita right in front of her, instinctively recoiling in panic. But after two steps, she immediately realized her reaction had been too extreme.

She quickly straightened up and apologized to Kita.

"Ah! Yes, yes, I'm sorry."

Kita didn't pay any mind to her overly intense reaction. Instead, she spoke to Bocchi with a gentle tone.

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I suddenly startled you, Gotou-san."

As she spoke, her yellowish-green eyes shifted as if in thought, and she asked Bocchi, "Gotou-san, do you have someone you like?"

"Eh… asking that all of a sudden…"

Bocchi shyly didn't answer directly, but her flustered movements and reactions were all seen by Kita.

Kita sat up straight again, a thick smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, Gotou-san. I guess I was just a little tired from practice and suddenly wanted to chat about girl stuff."

"But let's forget it for now. Let's continue."

Afterward, they practiced for quite a long time. When they realized it was getting late, Bocchi and Kita hurried out of the practice room.

Then they saw Seika sulking at the counter, whom even Nijika couldn't appease.

And Miss PA laughing with her face hidden at a nearby table, while Ishikawa Hayato and Ryo were hiding in a corner, each doing their own thing.

They felt as though they had practiced all afternoon and had completely missed a major drama?

Nijika, feeling hopeless about comforting her sister, looked over when she heard movement from their direction.

She decisively gave up on her sister, who couldn't be managed at the moment, and walked towards the two of them.

"Oh~ Kita-chan, Bocchi-chan, is practice over?"

As she left, Seika, who had been completely ignoring Nijika's attempts to comfort her, turned her head to look at her.

Meanwhile, Kita bowed slightly to Nijika and said, "Yes, we're very sorry for taking up the practice room for so long."

Beside her, Bocchi, as if she hadn't thought of this, flusteredly tried to mimic Kita's action.

"Don't mention it. No one uses it much anyway."

Nijika waved her hands dismissively.

Ishikawa Hayato, seeing the band members gathered together again, also walked over from the corner. He waved towards Kita.

"How's our NEW STAR doing? You didn't cry halfway through practice saying, 'It's too hard, I can't do it,' did you?"

Kita, who had been feeling a bit down hearing the first part of Ishikawa Hayato's question, froze upon hearing the latter part. She looked at Ishikawa Hayato in disbelief.

Seeing her expression, Ishikawa Hayato was taken aback.

It actually happened.

He thought, then changed his tone.

"Well, don't rush it. Playing music slowly is more fun."

Nijika, surprised but also a little happy to see Ishikawa Hayato acting like a decent person for once today, said, "Hayato-kun is right, Kita-chan. Don't push yourself too hard and get hurt."

When practice ended and the store began to get busy, Kita and Bocchi prepared to leave, and Ishikawa Hayato left with them.

At the entrance of STARRY, Nijika poked her head out from inside to bid farewell to the three of them.

"Kita-chan, Bocchi-chan, Hayato-kun, tomorrow is your first day of work. Don't forget, everyone."

"Bye-bye."

Ryo, standing next to her, didn't say much, just waved lazily.

"Yeah, I got it."

Ishikawa Hayato nodded in response, then looked to the side. As expected, he saw Bocchi's contorted face. The sight would probably scare someone to death if they saw it unexpectedly.

Fortunately, he was getting used to it.

Beneath that messy expression, Bocchi could still speak. She nodded hesitantly, "Ah, okay."

Then Ishikawa Hayato looked at Kita, who was a few steps above them.

Feeling like she was about to be noticed, Kita hurriedly averted her gaze from Ishikawa Hayato and earnestly reassured Nijika and Ryo at the shop entrance.

"I'll do my best! You can leave the work to me with peace of mind!"

"Oh~ So reliable."

Nijika smiled faintly.

When they went home today.

Kita secretly observed the two people beside her.

Ishikawa-kun was the same as before, matching their slower pace as they walked alongside him, casually observing their surroundings.

But Gotou-san was different.