The next day, Gotou went to school as usual.
During the breaks between classes, she happened to make eye contact with Akane from the class next door a few times.
But unlike before, when Gotou was always the one dodging Akane, this time it was completely reversed.
The moment their eyes met, Akane would quickly look away, her face tinged with an unnatural blush.
Gotou found this incredibly confusing.
Sure, getting along with her new devil-hunting partner was definitely a good thing.
But the pace of this sudden shift felt almost surreal.
After school, Gotou finally had the chance to head over to STARRY again.
But just as she approached the live house, she froze.
Seika, Nijika, and Ryo weren't inside. Instead, the three of them were standing out front on a small patch of dirt.
Gotou furrowed her brow and decided to observe from a distance. She quietly slipped behind a nearby tree.
That's when she saw it clearly. The three were gathered around a small stone marker.
Roughly carved into it were the crooked words: "Bocchi-chan."
"Ryo! Couldn't you have taken this more seriously? It's so ugly. If Bocchi-chan saw this from the afterlife, she'd totally come back and punch you in the face!" Nijika scolded, hands on her hips.
"Sorry. I did my best," Ryo said flatly, raising her hand and miming a ghostly claw. "I worked hard on it, but… this is the best I could do."
"Sigh… well, I guess as long as our hearts are in the right place, it should be okay."
"Yeah," Ryo nodded.
Nijika looked down sheepishly. "When I heard the news yesterday that Bocchi-chan had died… I actually cried. And we've only known her for, what, a few days?"
Seika lowered her head, letting out a long sigh. "Gotou-san deserved to be mourned."
"I said it yesterday too. I owe her my life."
"Yeah," Nijika nodded. "I still can't believe you guys ran into a real devil…"
"Honestly, I still can't believe devils exist at all," Ryo added. "I saw the news report about it this morning. I was totally shocked."
The news, of course, was about the incident with the Muscle Devil.
The chaos it caused in the shopping district was too big to cover up, so Public Safety had decided to come clean to the public. As expected, it sent shockwaves through society.
After all, who wouldn't be unsettled knowing that monsters could pop up anytime and destroy the peaceful everyday life they took for granted?
"Anyway, let's not dwell on it… what matters is that we'll remember her. Bocchi-chan was a selfless hero," Nijika said.
As she spoke, she pulled the bag off her back and unzipped it.
Inside was the guitar Gotou had left at the live house.
"Bocchi-chan… without your guitar and your rock, you must be so lonely down there," Nijika said, eyes welling up. "We're going to burn your guitar so you can be reunited with it in the afterlife!"
"Yeah…" Seika nodded, choking back her emotions. "Let's begin."
Ryo didn't say a word. She quietly gathered some leaves into a pile and pulled out a lighter, setting them ablaze.
The flames quickly grew.
Nijika picked up the guitar and slowly walked toward the fire.
Gotou, still hiding behind the tree, turned pale.
If she remembered right… that guitar had cost her dad a lot of money.
Burning it just like that was way too reckless. Not to mention, she wasn't even dead!
Shouldn't they at least confirm her death properly before pulling something this extreme?!
Seeing Nijika about to toss the guitar into the fire, Gotou panicked and rushed out.
But in her hurry, she slipped and fell face-first onto the ground.
Gotou Hitori, what the hell are you doing?
Falling flat on your face at a moment like this? Even Akane wouldn't be this clumsy!
She groaned inwardly.
The three girls immediately turned toward the sound. Upon seeing that familiar pink hair, all their eyes went wide.
"Ahhh! A ghost!"
"The gravestone was Ryo's idea! If you're mad, go haunt her!"
"Hey…"
"Gotou-san… is that really you? Is it really our Bocchi-chan?!"
Face buried in the dirt, Gotou couldn't say anything. She simply raised a thumbs-up.
The others stared in disbelief, then quickly rushed over to help her up, bombarding her with worried questions and relief.
Gotou stammered out an explanation: she got lucky and survived the devil attack, and yesterday she couldn't show up because of a last-minute emergency.
Seeing that she was still her usual awkward self, the others finally relaxed.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Bocchi-chan!" Nijika cried, hugging her tight. "Without you, Kessoku Band might've actually broken up!"
"Huh? That serious?" Gotou blinked. "You could've just found another guitarist…"
"Well…" Nijika hesitated. "It just wouldn't feel right. The guitarist of Kessoku Band should only ever be Bocchi-chan."
Gotou felt a warm swell in her chest. She fumbled over her words.
"That's… really kind of you. Thanks."
"Hehe, what's there to thank me for?" Nijika grinned. "Bocchi-chan is already an irreplaceable part of the band!"
Just then, Gotou remembered something.
"Right… by the way, our band still doesn't have a vocalist, huh?"
"Yeah. We never did find the right person," Ryo replied.
"Actually… I might've found someone." Gotou hesitated. "I'll try asking her tomorrow."
"Eh?" Nijika's eyes widened. "Bocchi-chan, you'll ask? Won't that be tough for you?"
"Maybe… but you all value me so much. I have to contribute something to the band too."
"You really don't have to put that kind of pressure on yourself~"
Still, the group happily welcomed Gotou back into the fold.
The next day, Gotou locked onto her target.
The red-haired girl she'd noticed before. The one with the last name… Kita.
Throughout the day, Gotou had several chances to approach her between classes.
But each time, she'd back down just before making a move.
She ended up just silently tailing her all day like a stalker, without ever working up the courage to speak.
Before she knew it, school was over.
Even after the final bell, Gotou kept following Kita… though still making sure not to be seen.
But then, the redhead suddenly turned around.
Startled, Gotou dove behind a wall and held her breath.
Then she heard Kita call out in her direction.
"Um, you've been following me all day… is there something you wanted to talk about?"
She… she noticed me a long time ago?!
Gotou froze.
She had no idea whether she should feel mortified or… kind of happy.
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Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones and don't forget to add library maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.