Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Ishikawa Hayato shot to his feet, his whole frame standing as firm as an iron tower.

"Ishikawa Hayato, max load 73.2 kg, operational for 156 minutes under max load, reporting in."

"Good work." Ryo nodded with clear satisfaction and gave a thumbs-up.

"Hayato-kun, don't let her push you around!"

Nijika was nearly in tears from shouting, and when she saw Ishikawa Hayato show no reaction at all, she turned to yell at Ryo beside her.

"Ryo, that's enough!"

She grabbed Ryo's shoulders, sobbing, and shook her wildly.

Ryo let herself be shaken, a hint of smugness on her face.

Only Ijichi Seika, standing not far off, stared dumbfounded at the man standing ramrod straight beside the two girls.

A human?

Pervert Outburst Value: 50%

9. Center

Inside the livehouse, three women stared blankly at Ishikawa Hayato, who was decked out in gear—a megaphone tucked under his arm, two drum cases in his hands, his keyboard slung over one shoulder, and even Ryo's bass strapped to his back.

He looked like a Vajra clad in battle armor, his gaze fixed firmly ahead.

"Let's go!"

Nijika snapped out of her daze and moved to stop him.

"No way! Why are you carrying all that yourself, Hayato-kun!"

Always used to looking after others, seeing Ishikawa Hayato like this made her feel deeply unsettled.

While Nijika was speaking, Ryo tiptoed and snuck out of Starry down the stairs.

"The world treats me gently, so I treat the world gently!"

And Ishikawa Hayato followed, shouting some incomprehensible slogan.

The spot they'd picked for their street live wasn't far. With no particular goals or demands, they'd found a convenient location to let the band's newbie soak in the atmosphere.

In Japan, street performances were fairly common. As long as you performed at the designated time and place, there were no issues.

Of course, there were also people who ignored the rules and did whatever they wanted.

But that was beside the point.

On the way.

"Let me carry some of that."

Nijika watched Ishikawa Hayato, laden with gear, with concern. She felt like he was overdoing it—the stuff on him looked like a full suit of armor.

It was imposing and intimidating, but also worrying.

"It's fine. I can carry even more."

Ishikawa Hayato held back from explaining his pervert energy and answered casually.

Seeing she couldn't talk him out of it, Nijika gave a small, helpless smile as she looked at this somewhat handsome but strange guy.

"Hayato-kun's going to get pushed around by Ryo."

"No, I won't."

Ishikawa Hayato's voice was rock-solid. His tone was so certain it left no room for doubt.

Nijika couldn't do anything about him, so she just moved a little closer.

Carrying all the instruments, Ishikawa Hayato knew full well that Nijika wasn't into him or anything—she was just worried he'd collapse and wanted to be nearby in case something happened.

But having a bright, gentle, beautiful girl right next to him, catching a whiff of a lovely, tempting scent, made his heart race.

For a moment, he even thought about pretending to be a normal person again. But only for a moment.

Even if the path of a pervert was a lonely one, he would walk it to the end.

As he was thinking, Ryo, who'd disappeared earlier, quickly trotted back up to them. She was holding three cans of drinks. When she got close, she handed one to Nijika.

Then she turned to Ishikawa Hayato, who was between them, and said, "Hang in there."

Her face expressionless, she stuffed a drink into his pocket.

Sorry for suspecting you were a piece of trash.

As he heard Ryo pop open her drink with a pssht, Ishikawa Hayato silently apologized in his heart. At the same time, he wondered—would he run into it today? Would that chance come?

Pervert Outburst Value: 70%

Laughing with friends, searching for interesting things on the bustling streets, Kita Ikuyo wandered aimlessly, her mind elsewhere.

Yesterday evening, as usual, she followed in Ryo-senpai's footsteps and headed to Starry. There, she overheard Ryo-senpai and her friend talking about needing a guitarist.

Let me clarify—Kita Ikuyo wasn't eavesdropping. She just happened to be standing less than four meters from where they were sitting, and she simply stretched her ears and chanced to hear it.

Her being there was also a coincidence. She'd seen Ryo-senpai come by a few times, so she started coming every day to look for her.

Kita Ikuyo felt she was perfectly normal.

But the important thing was the band!

If she joined the band, she could get closer to Ryo-senpai.

"Kita-san... your expression just got weird."

Her friend's reminder snapped Kita back to reality. Flustered, she waved her hands and denied it.

"Liar, no it didn't."

"Hehe, got a boyfriend?"

Another friend teased, clinging to her with a mischievous grin.

Kita Ikuyo was trapped and couldn't escape, so she smiled awkwardly and said, "It's not a boyfriend at all..."

The two beside her stared with sparkling, teasing eyes, clearly unconvinced.

"It's really not!"

Kita Ikuyo had no choice but to half-conceal the truth: "It's a senpai I admire."

As she spoke, her gaze caught sight of Ryo-senpai up ahead, carrying a drink and weaving through the crowd. Beside her seemed to be a tall instrument-transport robot.

Never mind the transport robot for now.

Ryo-senpai! Instruments! So much gear!

Street live!

Without a second thought, she ditched her two friends and began a righteous tail.

"Tamako, Kei, I've got something to do. See you tomorrow~"

She waved and followed without another word.

"Huh? Kita-san?"

The two blinked in surprise at Kita Ikuyo's sudden departure, then suddenly thought of something and flashed sly smiles.

In this after-school hour, still some time before dinner, the sunset splashed even thicker light across the road, while the stream of students kept the sunlight as lively as morning.

But for Kita Ikuyo, who was trying to find someone, the passing students made her search much more troublesome.

After nearly losing track a few times, Kita Ikuyo saw three people stop in an open space near the station.

Ryo-senpai was there. She took a bass from the man facing away from her, slung it over herself, while the man set down an amplifier and other gear.

Ryo-senpai's friend opened those cases, pulled out the drums inside, and started assembling them.

The man went over to help.

Kita Ikuyo had initially thought the man was just helping transport the instruments, but seeing how they interacted, it didn't seem that way—they looked quite familiar.

Crisis!

Could he be approaching Ryo-senpai with the same intentions as me?!

How infuriating!

Kita Ikuyo clenched her little fists.

Then she saw the man take an electronic keyboard out of the long bag he was carrying.

As expected!!

He must be targeting Ryo-senpai!

But after he took it out, Ryo-senpai and her friend stopped him.

Kita Ikuyo, however, no longer cared about what was happening over there. She circled around from the side, ready to get a look at the man's face and observe the atmosphere between them up close.

As Kita Ikuyo drew near, she noticed that, for some reason, the man had been facing away from her the whole time, and she still hadn't seen his true appearance.

But she was going over to listen anyway—it was perfectly normal for a listener to get a bit closer.

Just as she reached about five or six meters away, the man put away the keyboard, walked to the side, and set it down. At that moment, Kita Ikuyo finally saw his face.

"Pervert!?"

So shocked, so utterly incredulous—it didn't match the pervert she knew at all—Kita Ikuyo blurted it out.

To be honest, Ishikawa Hayato hadn't expected to actually hook Kita Ikuyo. He'd thought he might run into some gossipy classmate instead, but this worked out fine.

At that moment, Ryo and Nijika stared in confusion at the girl who had suddenly pointed at Ishikawa Hayato and called him a pervert.

She wore the same school uniform as Ishikawa Hayato—were they classmates?

If so, what had Ishikawa Hayato done? Was he really a pervert!?

Though both of them could sense that Ishikawa Hayato was a good person, they couldn't help feeling a bit tense.

"Um, Hayato-kun, who is she?"

Nijika asked cautiously.

Ishikawa Hayato nodded calmly, completely unbothered by Nijika's misunderstanding. In this moment that seemed on the verge of collapse, his face was utterly composed.

"She's my classmate."

After saying this, Ishikawa Hayato looked around.

Facing the tension of the two women in the band, Kita Ikuyo's worried expression as she covered her mouth, and the curious gazes of the surrounding crowd beneath the fire-cloud-covered plaza—

Ishikawa Hayato spread his arms wide, as if embracing the world, and declared:

"Also, she's right—I am a pervert!"

"A pervert who doesn't care about gender, age, whether something is organic or inorganic, its life form, chemical composition, physical properties, or even whether it's alive at all."

He paid no heed to the time, the place, or the crowd around him, and proclaimed it sincerely at the top of his lungs.

In that moment, he became the center of the world.

A few seconds later, the frozen crowd began to move again.

And the three girls who had taken part in the performance stood there dumbfounded. After an awkward pause, Ryo stroked her chin calmly, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Loving the world?"

10. Conclusion

"Bingo!"

Ishikawa Hayato turned back, flashing a thumbs-up and a brilliant smile.