"Wh-wh-who… who are you?" Hitori seemed not to recognize Kael, her clear eyes full of confusion.
Only Kita Ikuyo appeared to realize something, her expression turning serious. Could this playboy be targeting Bocchi? Absolutely not. She felt she had to protect Bocchi from his harassment.
Ijichi Nijika, however, asked curiously: "Excuse me, do you know Bocchi?"
Kael nodded. "Yes, we were classmates in junior high. But judging from Gotō-san's reaction, she's probably forgotten me completely."
"Junior high classmates?" Nijika was surprised and looked at Hitori.
Hitori also seemed surprised, her gaze flickering as she studied Kael, as if recalling something. "C-c-could it be Ren… Renjou classmate?"
Kael was surprised. "I didn't expect you to remember me."
According to the memories left by his former self, though he and Hitori were classmates, they hadn't interacted much. In fact, true to her nickname Bocchi, Hitori had little contact with anyone in class. She was similar to Saki—friendless, isolated. But while Saki had no friends because of her plain looks, Hitori had none because of her social anxiety. She was too afraid to talk to anyone.
Kael hadn't expected her to remember his name.
"B-b-because…"
"Because?" Kael asked, curious.
Hitori's fingers fidgeted, her eyes darting nervously. "Because Renjou-kun was the only classmate who ever spoke to me first. So… so… I remembered."
Everyone present felt a strange heaviness in their hearts.
"How pitiful," Nijika muttered, voicing what they all thought.
Kael said: "I recall it was because we were on cleaning duty. I asked if you wanted to stay and help. Other than that, we didn't interact much. I didn't expect you to remember it until now."
Nijika quickly waved her hands. "Stop, don't say more. If you continue, Bocchi will seem even more pitiful."
Ryo stared at Kael. "I'm curious. If it was just a cleaning duty conversation, why do you still remember?"
The girls all looked at Kael. To them, such conversations were too ordinary, happening every day. No one would remember—unless…
Kael nodded. "Yes, I thought Gotō-san was cute, so I arranged to be on duty with her. Actually, I wasn't scheduled that day. I swapped with someone else. Unfortunately, when I tried to talk to her, she barely responded. I thought she disliked me and felt dejected for a while."
Nijika said: "That was a misunderstanding. Bocchi didn't dislike you. She just couldn't interact normally because of her social anxiety."
Hitori nodded frantically.
Kael smiled. "I realized that later, but by then we had graduated. The misunderstanding couldn't be cleared up."
This was a lie. His former self hadn't known Hitori was socially anxious. He thought her indifference meant she disliked him, so he never spoke to her again until graduation. That special connection ended quietly. Now Kael said this only to comfort the nervous, uneasy, guilty Hitori.
Marin understood their story and smiled. "Now the misunderstanding is cleared up. Isn't that wonderful?"
Ikuyo grew wary, her inner alarms ringing. She hadn't expected Bocchi to have such a connection with her cousin's friend. Now that the misunderstanding was gone, would Kael pursue Bocchi? She would never allow it. She had to protect both her cousin and Bocchi.
Clap!
Ikuyo clapped her hands loudly. "Since you know each other, Ryo-senpai, Bocchi, Nijika, let's go practice. Today is our first performance. We should rehearse more before it starts."
Nijika, Ryo, and Hitori found her enthusiasm odd but reasonable, so they hurried off to the practice room after a quick word to Kael and Marin.
Only Seika, Nijika's older sister and the bar's manager, remained, along with the sound engineer.
"Would you like something to drink?" Seika asked, more professional than her younger sister.
"Please give me a cola," Marin said, then turned to Kael. "What about you?"
"The same."
"Two colas, please, manager."
"No problem," Seika replied. "It's my job."
Soon, she brought the drinks. Kael and Marin sat down, waiting quietly. Time passed. The bar opened, and more people arrived.
Finally, the performance began. Usually, such events had several bands to warm up the crowd. Kessoku Band was one of them.
But when Marin saw them on stage, she was stunned. "Are they really okay?" she exclaimed.
Her concern wasn't for Nijika, Ryo, or Ikuyo, who all looked like proper band members. It was for Hitori. She wore sportswear, held a guitar, and had a cardboard box on her head. It was bizarre to the extreme.
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I know, I know... Late upload again. Too busy with college stuff again. Load's a bit light now, though. Daily updates again starting tomorrow. Let's try to get into the rankings next week.