Upon returning home, Bocchi greeted her parents, then immediately went back to her room and hid in the closet.
Pulling the door shut, the dark, confined space immediately made her feel relieved.
Her social anxiety bar was also slowly decreasing.
In the past few days, she had relied on Hayato to relieve stress. Using her old method again after a long time today, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
Leaning against the side of the closet, Bocchi reviewed the mistakes she had made that evening, and one by one, scenes that could be called black history flashed in her mind.
Suppressing the urge to bang her head on the floor, she suddenly remembered a somewhat strange remark Nijika had made while looking at her phone before leaving.
"The weather seems nice tomorrow."
She suddenly became curious: what exactly did that sentence mean?
Bocchi pondered anxiously, her gaze drifting to her lyric notebook, where she paused, then her eyes widened, and she gasped in horror...
The next day, when she arrived at Starry, she heard Hayato's voice.
"Starry, your emperor has returned!"
Although it was another strange remark like that, her tense expression relaxed slightly, but quickly tightened again.
She took a sign out of a cloth bag, hung it around her neck, and resolutely walked in...
After entering STARRY, Bocchi ran down the stairs as if fleeing, and without hesitation, in front of her surprised friends, she prostrated herself on the ground.
In a dogeza, she earnestly expressed her sincerity, raising her voice to mask her fear.
"Please... please forgive me."
The shop, which had been lively due to Hayato, was suddenly swept by an inexplicable, strange wind.
The four stared blankly at Bocchi.
"Gotou-san?" Kita exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh, what, what, what's wrong?" Nijika was so flustered she didn't know what to do.
Sensing that the atmosphere was not quite what she had imagined, Bocchi looked up, her clear blue eyes filled with unease and confusion as she looked at them.
Her voice was timid but she spoke extremely quickly.
"Aren't you going to call me out and set me on fire for getting carried away and being completely unable to write lyrics?"
"We wouldn't do something so devilish!"
Nijika couldn't help but exclaim.
Understanding the situation, Hayato stepped forward, extending his hand to Bocchi, and he smiled.
"Bocchi's wild ideas are truly very interesting."
"Mm."
Ryo, sitting at the table, looked at Bocchi and responded softly.
Kita suddenly felt something, and her gaze swept over Hayato and Ryo.
On the other side, Bocchi took Hayato's hand and stood up. After she stood up, she looked at Hayato for a while, as if with anticipation and happiness.
As Hayato was watched by her, he thought for a moment, observing her changed attire today, especially her exposed, fair and round legs, and said,
"You didn't specially wear a skirt for the immolation, did you?"
Feeling Hayato's gaze fixed on her exposed legs, Bocchi's face quickly flushed. She nervously shuffled her feet slightly.
"Mm..."
She responded softly.
Nijika, beside her, noticed Bocchi's reaction and tugged on Hayato's arm.
"Hayato-kun, that gaze is rude!"
Hayato heard her words, and instead of being ashamed, he turned back proudly, his smile bright.
"You haven't forgotten what I am, have you?"
Nijika instantly froze.
At this moment, in this chaotic scene where everyone acted on their own, Kita, following her own thoughts, urged Nijika.
"Ijiichi-senpai, what is today's meeting for?"
Nijika came back to her senses, gave Hayato a reproachful look, and then replied,
"Everyone, please sit down first."
After she finished speaking, she walked to the corner and pulled over a whiteboard.
Stopping the whiteboard next to the table, Nijika looked at the four people who were sitting obediently, waiting for today's topic, nodded with satisfaction, and tapped the whiteboard, saying,
"Today, we need to think about what we, as a Band, are still lacking."
As soon as she finished speaking, Hayato immediately responded mischievously,
"Performances, right?"
And these words turned into an invisible gun, instantly piercing Kita's chest opposite her. She even had a bewildered and expectant expression before being impaled.
Then she slumped weakly onto the chair.
Nijika looked at Kita's devastated state and called out anxiously,
"It's something else!"
As if to quickly prove it, she reached behind the whiteboard and fiddled with something.
Her voice trailed off, with a smile that anticipated their reactions.
"For example..."
After fiddling for a while, she smiled happily and raised her hand, which was tied with a hair tie.
"I've already made the Band's merchandise!"
After showing it to the four, she smiled and returned to her seat with various colored hair ties, sitting down, her bright red eyes looking at them expectantly.
Seeing the hair ties on the table, Hayato reached out and took a black one, casually comparing it to his hair color.
At the same time, he didn't forget to tease Nijika.
"Watching Nijika go from opposition, to tacit approval, and finally accepting it so happily, I really feel so sad."
"Don't say such strange things! And Hayato-kun, didn't you also agree to this Band name!"
Beside him, Ryo, like Hayato, took out a blue one and tried it on her hand.
Kita, seeing Ryo's actions, came back to her senses, took out two or three from the bag, kept a blue one in her hand, looked at it, and asked Nijika uncertainly,
"Can this be made into Band merchandise?"
"Isn't it very cute? This is enough."
Nijika's voice was sweet as she charmingly brushed it off.
Ryo, looking at the hair tie in her hand, stated calmly,
"Sell one for 500 yen. Sell one with a signature for 650 yen." (Note: 100 hair ties cost about 100 yen)
She said, trying to write her signature on the hair tie.
Kita, who had just been wondering if it could be made into Band merchandise, heard Ryo's words, her attitude changed, and she excitedly pulled out money, exclaiming,
"So cheap, I'll buy it!"
Hayato, sitting next to Ryo, watched Bocchi looking around but not saying a word, took the bag of hair ties from the front, and pushed it towards Bocchi.
Bocchi blinked, tried to reach out her hand, and took two, one black and one pink.
Nijika looked at them playing with the hair ties, raised her fair small hand happily, and asked,
"Does anyone else have any ideas? Please speak."
Kita eagerly raised her hand.
"How about starting a fan club!"
After she finished speaking, she immediately looked at Ryo opposite her, her eyes burning, almost screaming, 'I want to be Ryo-senpai's number one fan.'
Hayato glanced at Bocchi, who was startled by Kita's reminder, then looked at Ryo, who was silently playing with the hair tie in her hand, and said to Kita,
"Kita-chan, wipe your drool."
"Eh!"
Kita frantically wiped her mouth, but there was no moisture on her hand at all. She immediately knew she had been tricked again.
And it was in front of Ryo-senpai, making her so embarrassed.
"Hayato-kun, your personality is terrible."
She clutched the hair tie in her hand, staring at Hayato, speaking with a suppressed, angry smile.
Hayato felt his neck tighten a bit, and he covered his mouth with a smile, indicating that he would behave.
Nijika looked admiringly at Kita's desperate counterattack against Hayato.
After things quieted down, Ryo took off the hair tie and waved it.
As if she had everything arranged, she said methodically,
"The club's annual fee is ten thousand yen."
"Club member benefits include handshake events and a once-a-year opportunity to hold a takoyaki party with the Band members."
"Bring your own ingredients."
It's mainly about the takoyaki party, isn't it?
Hayato looked at Ryo beside him, staring at her mouth.
But for a long time, he didn't see any drool flowing out.
Kita, making an encore, immediately pulled out money, and without blinking, exclaimed,
"So cheap, I want to join!"
Nijika reminded her with some helplessness,
"Kita-chan, you're already a Band member."
Kita calmed down, sat back down, and noticed Bocchi, who had been silent since the beginning.
Thinking that they might have been exchanging too quickly, leaving her no chance to speak.
So she asked Bocchi,
"Gotou-san, do you have any ideas?"
Bocchi was startled, her expression blank. She thought for a moment, just about to reply to Kita, "I have no ideas."
Her gaze met Kita's, and she froze, stammering,
"This... that..."
"Speaking of which, there should be one more thing to do today, right?"
Hayato spoke at this moment, drawing everyone's attention.
"That is..." Hayato took out a pair of glasses emitting a dazzling white light from his pocket and put them on.
"Nijika, I've already seen the camera and stand in the corner."
Nijika cooperatively showed an awkward smile.
"Haha, exposed."
She stood up, seriously, as if this was the main purpose, and suggested,
"Let's take artist photos."
Kita inexplicably felt a chill in her heart. She looked in the direction her inner alarm was pointing, and Hayato was holding his face in both hands, grinning at her.
This Pervert didn't even need to speak to attract everyone's attention.
Then the gazes of the other three shifted from Hayato to Kita, whom he was staring at.
Kita's expression froze, and she lowered her head, apologizing profusely.
"I'm sorry!"
Bocchi tilted her head slightly, clearly not understanding the situation.
Hayato explained to her,
"Because Kita ran away immediately after taking the artist photos."
Bocchi blinked admiringly. She was considerate of Kita's feelings and said nothing, only muttering to herself inwardly.
'As expected of a social butterfly, she ran away without hesitation.'