"A new event started in the game, so I'm heading back to play." Right after school ended, Gabriel sent this text to Jhin, then found an empty corner and used her divine arts to teleport home to play games.
Since he didn't have to walk home with her, Jhin decided to check on Kessoku Band's progress. "Bocchi-chan, has your band found a vocalist yet?"
"Not yet, we haven't found anyone suitable."
"I see. I heard about someone who might be a good fit." Jhin, seeing that Hitori Gotoh hadn't yet run into the famed Kikuri Hiroi, decided to give her a hand.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's a student named Kita from the class next door. I heard she's a great singer and used to be a guitarist in a band. Doesn't that sound perfect?"
"I-Indeed..." Hitori Gotoh realized once again just how reliable her boyfriend was. A problem that had plagued the band for so long was solved just like that.
"It's right after school. Let's go find her."
"Okay."
"Excuse me, is Kita-san from Class 1 here?" Jhin led Hitori Gotoh to the back door of the neighboring classroom and called inside, although there was currently only one person in the room.
"Yes, I'm Kita. Can I help you two with something?" A girl with shoulder-length red hair tied into a side ponytail and bright, cheerful-looking yellow-green eyes walked over.
Kita Ikuyo looked curiously at Jhin and Hitori Gotoh. The two of them were actually quite well-known around school because of the recent incident with the delinquents. She wondered what they could possibly want with her.
"Here's the thing. Hitori's band is looking for a vocalist, and we heard you used to be a guitarist in a band, so we were hoping you'd join them."
"About that..." Kita Ikuyo looked a bit embarrassed. Her reason for quitting that band had something to do with the guitar. "I don't know how to play the guitar at all."
"Eh?" Hitori Gotoh, hiding behind Jhin, was stunned. Didn't Jhin say she knew how to play?
"With an instrument like a guitar, don't you just have to strum these strings down here?" Kita Ikuyo took her guitar out from beside her seat and plucked the strings. "I used to think this wooden pole thing on top was just for decoration. It's way too hard for a beginner to learn guitar on their own."
No, no, no... Even if you actually knew how to play guitar, you can't get a guitar sound out of a bass.
Jhin knew the girl had mistakenly bought a bass, but he wasn't about to point that out right now. He occasionally enjoyed watching others get flustered—perhaps he'd been corrupted after spending time with Raphiel.
"In that case, why don't you let Hitori teach you? She's the guitarist in the band."
"Really?" The prospect of having an expert teach her guitar filled Kita Ikuyo with anticipation as she looked toward the timid Hitori Gotoh hiding behind Jhin.
"B-But I have to work at the live house after school..." Hitori Gotoh, completely caught off guard by Jhin pushing her forward, timidly tried to refuse.
As a social butterfly, Kita Ikuyo wasn't bothered by such details. She ran up to Hitori Gotoh and took her hands. "That's fine! I can wait until your shift is over. Is there a recording studio nearby we can borrow? Please, I'm begging you to teach me strictly!"
"Ahhhhhh..." Her brain short-circuiting from the sudden proximity of a stranger, Hitori Gotoh dazedly agreed to the request. "O-Okay, no problem."
"Really!? Thank you!" Kita Ikuyo flashed a brilliant smile. Her sunny and cheerful personality seemed dazzlingly bright to Hitori Gotoh.
The trio left the school and headed for STARRY. Jhin also messaged Nijika, telling her that he and Hitori Gotoh were bringing over a suitable candidate for the band's vocalist and that they should get ready.
The cheerful Kita Ikuyo now had a worried look on her face. "So, Miss Gotoh works in Shimokitazawa..."
"Yes. Have you been here before, Kita-san?"
"My old band was also based around Shimokitazawa, and my senpais from the band live nearby." The thought of potentially running into them made Kita Ikuyo's expression even more anxious.
Jhin followed along quietly, bursting with laughter internally. Oh, dear girl, don't you realize you're both talking about the same band?
To prevent Hitori Gotoh from blurting out the name of the live house or mentioning Nijika and Ryo too early, which might cause Kita Ikuyo to bolt, Jhin had already texted Nijika to come and meet them from STARRY.
"We're almost there. The place I work at is called STARRY. Nijika and Ryo should already be out of school and waiting at the club."
"Eh?" Hearing the familiar names, Kita Ikuyo stopped dead in her tracks. She spun around, cupped Hitori Gotoh's chubby cheeks, and said, "Sorry, I have to go back. I can't explain why, but I really can't go there. And please, don't tell anyone in the band that I was here."
Jhin was trying so hard not to laugh that his stomach hurt. Seeing Nijika running towards them in the distance, waving her hand, made him tear up from the effort.
"Hey! Bocchi-chan, I'm here to get you!"
Nijika ran up to the three of them. Her eyes met with Kita Ikuyo's, who had frozen stiff upon hearing her voice and was now trembling as she turned her head. Nijika's eyes went wide. "The runaway guitarist!!!"
Panic was written all over Kita Ikuyo's face. Her hands, still cupping Hitori Gotoh's cheeks, squeezed hard, distorting her face into a comical expression. Jhin was rolling on the floor with laughter inside. What a delightful scene.
The fleeing Kita Ikuyo was eventually brought back to STARRY by the combined efforts of Ryo, who had arrived later, and Nijika. There, she explained why she had suddenly quit that day.
"We couldn't get in touch with you all of a sudden. I thought you'd passed away, so I've been burning a stick of incense for you every day," Ryo said with a perfectly straight face.
Nijika retorted from the side, "Don't just declare people dead like that!"
"If you can forgive me, I'll do anything!" Kita Ikuyo said, kneeling on the floor with tears in her eyes.
"Then come over here and change into this." Nijika's older sister, the manager of STARRY, Seika Ijichi—a woman with hip-length golden hair and a perpetually unfazed expression—beckoned to Kita Ikuyo.
"Change clothes?" Though confused, Kita Ikuyo did as she was told.
"Oh, she's quite capable as a temp worker." Seika Ijichi commented, sipping on a carton of strawberry milk while watching Kita Ikuyo diligently cleaning in a maid outfit.
"Let's just have Kita-san handle ticket sales. Ryo usually does it, but she always has this dead-fish-eye look, which isn't great," Nijika decided with a clap of her hands.
They gave her a job I've never even done! Hitori Gotoh was shocked. Is this the power of a social butterfly?! To salvage some of her clumsy image from her part-time work at STARRY, she decided to proactively teach Kita Ikuyo how to make drinks.
With a serious expression, Hitori Gotoh stood in front of the coffee machine, held a paper cup, and pressed the start button. As she watched the coffee fill the cup, Kita Ikuyo's smiling gaze from the side triggered her habit of getting nervous when watched. She didn't even notice the coffee overflowing from the cup and spilling onto her hand.
"Waah!!" Kita Ikuyo screamed, quickly pulling Hitori Gotoh away and wrapping her scalded hand with a handkerchief. "I think I get the general process now. You should go take a break, Miss Gotoh."
"I'm sorry, I was just trying too hard to act like a senpai..." Hitori Gotoh hung her head in dejection. On the back of her hand, she could feel the slightly rough texture of Kita Ikuyo's left fingertips. As someone who practiced guitar year-round, she naturally knew this was a sign of long-term practice.
After STARRY officially opened for the night, Kita Ikuyo stood at the ticket counter, watching the band performing on stage. "A band," she said with a look of longing, "is like a second family."
"Family?" Hitori Gotoh, who was handling ticket sales with her, was a little confused.
"Yeah. You spend more time together than with your actual family, hearts connected, pursuing a single dream. It feels like an incredible relationship that transcends friendship and love."
"I've never been in any clubs, so I've always wanted to experience something like that."
Hitori Gotoh agreed with her description in her heart. She, too, yearned for that feeling.
"But that's exactly why..." Kita Ikuyo's tone shifted, and she spoke with a touch of sadness. "I can't join your band. Someone like me, who ran away from a performance and has no sense of responsibility, doesn't deserve to be in a band."
Hitori Gotoh clenched the still-warm handkerchief in her hand and, when Kita Ikuyo wasn't looking, secretly sent a text message to Jhin.
After closing time, Nijika called out to Jhin, who was about to check on Hitori Gotoh's burn.
"Um, Jhin, I remember Bocchi-chan saying you can play the guitar too. Do you want to join our band?"
"Sorry, I'm not really interested in being in a band." Jhin shook his head, declining Nijika's request as he carefully applied the ointment he'd bought to the back of Hitori Gotoh's hand.
"But didn't you ask Bocchi-chan to teach you because you were interested in guitar?" Nijika asked, not giving up.
"About that... actually, I lied to Bocchi-chan." Jhin placed Hitori Gotoh's hand in his own.
"I was worried she'd develop an aversion to the guitar because of that incident and give up on it, so I pretended to be interested."
"After all, joining a band and playing on stage is her dream. I couldn't just let a bunch of punks destroy that dream so easily."
"Ooooh~" Everyone gasped in admiration. Jhin's words significantly raised their opinion of him. He really was an excellent boyfriend, just as Hitori Gotoh had said.
"As expected of Bocchi-chan's boyfriend. Such devotion is truly moving." Ryo took out a handkerchief and wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of her eye.
"Huh? Bocchi-chan's boyfriend? Who? Me?" Jhin asked, pointing at himself with a bewildered expression.
"Huh?" Nijika, Ryo, and Hitori Gotoh all made sounds of confusion and stared back at him.
In the end, it took an explanation from Nijika and Ryo for Jhin to finally piece things together, leaving him at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.
So Hitori Gotoh overheard my nonsense that day.
Jhin walked over to Hitori Gotoh, who had turned gray and was huddled in a corner, thinking it had all been one-sided wishful thinking. He lifted her tear-streaked face, gently brushed away a strand of hair stuck to the corner of her mouth, and softly kissed her cherry-colored lips.
"Sorry for making you wait so long."
"So Jhin is this bold?" Nijika covered her blushing face, peeking curiously and shyly through the wide gaps between her fingers at Jhin's actions. Her sister did the same, hiding nearby to watch, marveling internally at how proactive young people are these days.
Ryo maintained her poker face, nodding repeatedly in approval of Jhin's daring and responsible character. Kita Ikuyo, her cheeks flushed, applauded the two with a congratulatory smile.
Jhin, holding the now-fainted Hitori Gotoh in his arms after his surprise attack, turned to the still-applauding Kita Ikuyo. "While I can't join the band, I think you're the one who should, Kita-san."
"You say you're irresponsible and don't deserve to be in a band, but Bocchi-chan told me your left hand has the calluses that only come from practicing guitar for a long time. That shows you're not as irresponsible as you say. And I believe Ryo and Nijika aren't the type to hold a grudge over something small."
"Exactly! I've always wanted to have a band, so I can understand that feeling of not being good enough but still being unable to stop dreaming. Ryo also wants you back in the band, right?" Nijika said with a smile, looking at Ryo.
"Yeah. That way, we can split all the expenses four ways," Ryo replied, her focus as unique as ever.
"But... I really can't play the guitar. No matter how long I practice, I can only make a low buzzing sound."
"That's okay, Bocchi-chan will teach you," Nijika decided on behalf of the unconscious Hitori Gotoh.
"Are you sure that's not a bass?" Ryo asked, looking doubtfully at the instrument bag on Kita Ikuyo's back.
"I'm not that ignorant! A bass only has four strings, right? Mine has six," Kita Ikuyo said confidently, opening her bag to reveal the instrument inside.
"Actually, there are six-string basses. That's a multi-string bass," Ryo said, pointing at the bass Kita Ikuyo thought was a guitar.
Unable to accept the truth, Kita Ikuyo collapsed to the floor in tears, her soul seemingly floating out of her body. "I got a two-year advance on my allowance and New Year's money from my dad to buy it..." she sobbed.
In the end, Jhin, satisfied after witnessing the classic scene, bought the multi-string bass and promised to sell her his own guitar for a similar price, having Hitori Gotoh bring it over later.
"Well then, everyone, this long-overdue boyfriend will be taking Bocchi-chan home now."
"Jhin, thank you for your help," Nijika said, genuinely grateful for his intervention at such a critical moment.
"As Kessoku Band's number one fan, I'm looking forward to your next performance." Leaving them with these words, Jhin departed with Hitori Gotoh on his back.
_____
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