Why is Kitahara-kun talking to me?! Hitomi Goto pretends not to hear and keeps her head down.
Can't hear, can't hear.
As long as I can date him in the game, that's enough. Spare me in the real world—please, God!
Dating a guy this handsome would make me suffocate… Haah~ Inhale~ Haah~ Inhale~
Oh no, I-I'm… gonna stop breathing—
Gaaah.
Hitomi Goto, age 15, cause of death: Scorched by a popular guy's aura, severe burns leading to fatality.
Breaking news.
Just moments ago, our beloved national rock queen, Hitomi Goto, suddenly collapsed in a Shuka High classroom. The culprit has been apprehended, and in a shocking twist, the one who caused the rock queen's untimely demise is—let's go to our on-site reporter—
"Hey~ You alive in there?" Toru Kitahara waves his hand in front of Hitomi, who's completely lost in her inner world.
Man, how is the future rock legend such a social wreck in high school?
Does she need a heartbreaking romance to grow up?
Maybe I should mess with her head a bit, then dump her… Cough, just kidding. Toru isn't that much of a jerk.
"Ah… Y-Yes!" Hitomi snaps back, but after not talking to strangers for so long, she can't control her volume.
The whole class turns to stare, whispers rippling through.
"P-Please, what is it?" Hitomi asks timidly.
Toru smiles at her. "Nothing much. Just interested in your guitar."
In the simulation, he'd watched Bocchi-chan play it plenty of times—it was impressive. But he's never heard it in real life.
"…?"
Guitar?
Bocchi-chan's mind races in turmoil.
What does Kitahara-kun mean?
Interested in guitar → Guitar → Wants the guitar → Hey! Hand over your guitar, kid! → Robbery.
As a weak, socially anxious small fry, if it's a robbery, she'd probably just kneel and beg for mercy—or else she's done for!
"Here's the guitar… P-Please spare me." With a sob in her voice, Hitomi offers up the guitar from beside her desk.
Then she drops to her knees, ready for a full bow.
Even Toru is taken aback by her seamless apology combo.
Whoa, what a smooth chain—bow and kneel in one fluid motion!
"Goto-san, if you keep this up, people are gonna get the wrong idea about me."
Toru hands the guitar back, looking a bit downcast. "If you don't want to chat, that's fine. …I just thought you and I could be kindred spirits. Not many people in this class get music."
"Guess I was wrong."
"…" Hitomi tilts her head.
Huh? Not a robbery?
Then what was that about?
Watching his lonely retreating back, Bocchi-chan replays Toru's words and freezes up.
Oh no, oh no, oh no!!
Kitahara-kun wanted to be friends, and I rejected him!
Mom, Dad, Futari, Nijika-chan, Ryo-san, Kita-san, my life… is over.
With a wronged little expression, Hitomi nervously packs away her guitar. She notices many classmates staring at her like she's a freak.
Yeah, of course. Who turns down an overture from Toru Kitahara? She really is weird.
Rare as a white crow.
Waaah!! My life!!
My beautiful life, which hasn't even started, is already ending!!
Live House STARRY
Much like any other venue, STARRY is small but well-put-together, full of charm.
The mysterious pink creature that often lurks here draws photos and SNS posts from patrons. Wow! What is that? A slug? Or a wild hammerhead snake?
Nah, it's Bocchi-chan.
"What's up? Ryo, Bocchi seems even more withdrawn than usual today." Nijika Ijichi, Shimokitazawa's resident social angel, had "invited" (crossed out)… basically dragged Bocchi-chan into Kessoku Band over a week ago.
She's quite concerned about this guitarist.
After all, the new guitarist-vocalist, Ikuyo Kita, who joined just a couple days ago, is still a total newbie.
"Looks like someone she likes talked to her," Ryo Yamada says flatly.
"Someone she likes?" Nijika tilts her head, finger to her chin, then blurts out, "Bocchi has someone she likes?"
She quickly apologizes. "Sorry, Bocchi, I didn't mean it like that, I just…"
"Nijika, she's not listening." Ryo pulls a blade of grass from her jacket pocket and chews on it.
She's so broke lately she's literally eating grass.
Not bad, actually.
"Hey, hey, Bocchi, snap out of it! Practice is about to start, come on?" Nijika runs behind Bocchi-chan, who's slumped motionless over the table, and shakes her shoulders.
But it has zero effect.
What now? The first audition is in two weeks—if they don't pass her sister's test, Kessoku Band is doomed before it even starts!
Bocchi, pull yourself together!
"Ah… Nijika-chan…" Hitomi mumbles in a half-dead voice, half-sitting up before flopping back down.
She can't go on living like this.
"Gaaah~"
With a weird splat-like noise, Bocchi-chan stops breathing.
"Don't make weird sounds and then play dead, Bocchi~!" Nijika shakes her shoulders again.
This is a first for her.
"Should we take Bocchi outside for some sun?" Ryo says coolly. "I hear mushrooms get healthier that way."
"Bocchi isn't a mushroom!!" Nijika, the perfect straight man, nails the retort.
Ryo gives her a thumbs-up. "Nice one!"
Mid-conversation.
A red-haired girl enters through the entrance of STARRY.
Who goes there? State your name!
"Kita-san!! Come check this out—Bocchi's turned into a mummy." Nijika waves at Ikuyo Kita.
"A mummy?" Ikuyo trots over and places a hand on Bocchi-chan's forehead.
Hmm, temperature's normal.
Sniff.
Yeah, smells normal too—no rotten mummy stench.
"Kita-san, not that kind of mummy. Haven't you noticed? Bocchi's super stiff today."
Bocchi-chan seems to sense Ikuyo's popular-kid aura and topples over like a robot.
Unresponsive, life signs unknown.
Ikuyo takes a closer look.
"Wow! It's a robot!! Oh my god, Goto-san's doing the robot dance!"
Bocchi-chan twitches on the floor like a malfunctioning vacuum cleaner.
Goodbye, world. Sayonara.
[Simulator Cooldown Complete.] [Would you like to start the second simulation?] [Note: This simulation can use Full Immersion Mode.]
!!
Hitomi Goto bolts upright with a carp-like flip, scrambling to her feet at lightning speed.
Bocchi-chan, gloriously revived!
Ryo Yamada picks up a hardcover book from the table. "Saint Bocchi, on the third day after death, rises from the cross."
She makes a gesture.
Pious prayer.
"Bocchi Gate."