How Can a Girl Band Have a Guy in It?

However...

The smile on Goto Hitori's face stiffened.

With her terrifyingly sharp senses as a socially anxious person, Goto Hitori immediately noticed the eager, curious looks coming from her classmates.

Some students in the class turned to look at the back of the room, then started chatting among themselves.

"Is that... Goto-san?"

At last, one of the students mentioned her.

"Kato? Who's that?"

"It's Goto!"

"Uh, close enough. But is there someone in our class with that surname?"

"There is! She's the one in the pink tracksuit with a guitar on her back—the cool-looking rock girl!"

"Ohhh, so that's who she is! I don't know her."

"Hey, keep it down... Goto-san looks kind of angry."

"Sorry, sorry... I didn't mean anything bad."

"I didn't expect Goto-san to know someone from the class next door, though. That's a little surprising."

As she listened to the voices around her, Goto Hitori felt as if the whole world had gone quiet.

But the scattered whispers kept finding their way into her ears.

Goto Hitori felt like she was falling apart.

She grabbed her guitar bag, then bolted out the door, her legs spinning like pink pinwheels.

"Hitori, wait..."

Bai Qiu reached out toward the direction Hitori had gone, his face showing some surprise.

Under the shocked gazes of everyone around them, Goto Hitori vanished from sight.

Bai Qiu lowered his hand helplessly and sighed softly.

Why did everyone lately like to run off at the drop of a hat?!

Couldn't they just sit down and talk things out?

Still, he hadn't expected the socially anxious Bocchi-chan to be so fast when she ran away.

Faster than Takamatsu Tomo.

He'd thought that was just an exaggeration in the anime, but it turned out you were serious.

Bai Qiu could more or less figure that Goto Hitori hadn't been able to handle all the attention from her classmates, so she'd panicked and run.

And she knew to go to Starry, too.

For now, Bai Qiu gave up on trying to catch up with her.

But just as he was about to step forward,

his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and looked.

To his slight surprise, Goto Hitori had sent him a message.

Goto Hitori: I'm waiting for you at the park.

He replied, "Okay."

Bai Qiu left the school building, reassured.

Not long after Bai Qiu left,

Nagasaki Sosei suddenly appeared near Sakuragaoka Academy.

She wore a light-colored casual outfit, with a white beret on her head.

Standing in the corner, she didn't draw much attention.

Nagasaki Sosei's face was expressionless, giving no clue what she was thinking.

She watched the students coming and going at the school gate.

Her thoughts were in turmoil.

She wasn't foolish enough to wear her Moon Forest uniform and stand right in front of the entrance.

That would draw too much attention.

Moon Forest's dark-green sailor-style dress stood out especially

among the ordinary school uniforms.

Students from many schools recognized it, too.

She'd heard that this had originally been a girls' school, but this year it had merged with two nearby schools.

Nagasaki Sosei had already looked into it.

There were more students this year, so it was no wonder Little Tomo was here.

The odds were pretty good.

Since Little Tomo was here,

then which school had you gone to, Sako?

Could you be here?

Nagasaki Sosei hoped so.

No, probably not.

The odds of them both attending the same school were too low.

If Sako were here, Little Tomo would know.

And if she had any news about Sako, Tomo wouldn't say nothing.

There was one more thing: deep down, Nagasaki Sosei didn't think Sako would attend a co-ed school like this.

Because of their family circumstances, Sako and Kōmoku had both attended girls' schools since childhood.

But what if Sako was deliberately avoiding her?

What if she'd gone to an ordinary school?

Sako wouldn't do something like that.

Sako wasn't avoiding me!

A shadow gradually clouded Nagasaki Sosei's eyes.

Kōmoku, even if you won't tell me,

Sako, wherever you are,

I'll do everything I can to find you.

I'll start by searching every girls' school in Tokyo!

Nagasaki Sosei's gaze grew more resolute.

She made up her mind and settled on a plan.

Then she turned and left.

She wasn't set on seeing Takamatsu Tomo today.

She'd only learned about Tomo from Bai Qiu yesterday.

Bai Qiu might talk to Tomo about her at any time.

If she went to see Tomo today, it would seem too deliberate.

Considering Little Tomo's personality, that could easily frighten her.

Of course, if it was news about Sako, that might be another matter.

Not long after Nagasaki Sosei left,

a graceful figure appeared.

Two playful, lively side ponytails fell over her shoulders, their strands swaying gently as she walked.

But she looked a little troubled.

Toyokawa Shoko reached the school gate, paused, and let out a sigh.

She didn't care about the economic downturn or the yen's depreciation.

But those factors had made it harder and harder to find part-time work.

Her jobs at the "10GIA" music store and the customer service company

were gradually becoming insufficient to cover her daily expenses.

And if she could, she wanted to quit her job at the customer service company.

Every day, she had to deal with all kinds of strange, unreasonable, and troublesome customers.

The pay was low, and the work took a heavy toll on her.

Conversations between people—

Toyokawa Shoko headed in the direction of Shimokitazawa.

She'd take things one step at a time!

Starting tomorrow, she should post twice a day.

Chapter 32: How Can a Girl Band Have a Guy in It?

Shimokitazawa Park.

Goto Hitori clutched her phone and sat in the spot she knew so well.

It was the only way she could feel safe.

I ran away! I actually ran away.

I left Bai Qiu-kun all alone in the classroom and ran.

How could you do that, Goto Hitori?!

Even Bai Qiu-kun, the good person, would be angry, wouldn't he?!

What pose should I use to apologize later?

I've already been strictly forbidden from doing that.

I recently saw someone online say that you should expose your belly when apologizing.

But could such a simple punishment really be enough?

Suddenly, Goto Hitori felt a chill on top of her head.

Was it raining?

Goto Hitori instinctively raised her head.

Goto Hitori jumped in fright and flailed about.

At some point,

Bai Qiu had appeared right in front of her.

He held a bottle of chilled drink over her head.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"S-sorry. I just suddenly ran off."

Unable to think things through in time, Goto Hitori chose the simplest, most straightforward way to apologize.