Burnt out, Jhin left the Problem Child Countermeasures Department, his mind consumed by the question of when exactly Gabriel had started to fall.
He racked his brain but couldn't come up with an answer, so he just gave up. In any case, Gabriel had already fallen; he might as well focus on getting her back on the right track. Otherwise, the mission penalty would be no joke. Jhin sighed, grabbed his school bag, and headed absentmindedly toward the school gate.
As he passed an alley on his way home, Jhin heard the arrogant voices of a group of delinquents: "Hey, kid! You ripped my clothes. Leave that guitar on your back as compensation."
"S-s-s-s-sorry." The girl they had cornered was experiencing this for the first time and was completely panicked, stammering out an apology.
"Huh?! You think a 'sorry' is going to be the end of it?" the leader of the delinquents roared even louder.
Although he wasn't some kind of saint, Jhin figured he should help if he could when he saw something like this. He lifted his bag and threw it hard at one of the delinquents, shouting furiously, "All of you, get lost!"
Before the group of delinquents could even react, they were ambushed from behind by Jhin. The bag slammed into one of their heads, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and yelping.
Jhin naturally wouldn't give them a chance to gang up on him. He lunged toward the nearest delinquent and delivered a swift kick to the groin. The remaining delinquents in the alley seemed to hear a distinct "crack," breaking out in a cold sweat as they instinctively shielded their own lower bodies with their hands.
Seeing them frightened, Jhin twisted and slammed an elbow into another delinquent's chin, knocking him out cold before he hit the ground.
"Damn it, you bastard!" In a flash, three of his lackeys were down, and Jhin's methods were vicious. The leader cursed, pulled a small knife from his pocket, and lunged straight at Jhin.
"W-watch out!" The cornered girl saw the cold glint of the knife in the leader's hand and mustered the courage to shout a warning to Jhin.
Although he currently had the appearance of a 16-year-old, Jhin's mental age was a solid 23. He was hardly naive and knew that delinquents like these were bound to be carrying weapons like knives or clubs, so he had been on his guard from the start.
Jhin kicked straight for the leader's groin, not expecting the guy to have the guts to trade blows.
Jhin's kick successfully sent the leader to the ground, foaming at the mouth and unable to get up. However, the tip of the knife had cut a bloody gash on his calf. Without a moment's hesitation, Jhin grabbed the girl's hand, snatched his bag, and made a run for it with her.
With their leader down, the rest of the gang lacked the courage to pursue a vicious fighter like Jhin. Their only option was to carry their four fallen comrades to the hospital.
"U-um!" Just as Jhin led the girl into a park, she used all her strength to pull him to a stop. "Your leg is still bleeding! Let me bandage it for you."
"Sorry to trouble you, then." Jhin didn't refuse, glancing back to see no signs of pursuit before walking over to a nearby bench and sitting down.
"Contact with quest-related personnel detected. Quest automatically accepted."
"Quest: The Rise of the Guitar Hero
Description: An inadvertent flap of your wings, little butterfly, has altered a future encounter. The Guitar Hero might now cease to exist. To save a band that hasn't even been formed yet, you must strive, young man.
Time Limit: One week
Reward: Random
Penalty: The disappearance of a certain band"
"Hiss~" Caught completely off guard by the system prompt, Jhin couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
Dude, I haven't even dealt with Gabriel's situation, and you're already hitting me with a new quest?
"Ah, d-did I hurt you? S-sorry," the girl said, her stammering voice filled with apology.
Looking at the conspicuous guitar case on her back, the lock of pink hair tied up with a yellow and blue sugar cube-style clip, and the pink tracksuit she was wearing, Jhin was 100% certain. This was Hitori Gotoh, also known as Bocchi-chan, the ultimate socially anxious guitarist.
It's all my fault for carrying this guitar and attracting those delinquents' attention. Hitori Gotoh's heart filled with self-blame and regret. She'd thought that by carrying her guitar from middle to high school, she would finally attract some band-mates in the new environment. Instead of finding friends, she had attracted thugs who wanted her guitar, and now someone had gotten hurt saving her.
Even though she had severe social anxiety and could barely hold a normal conversation, it didn't mean she didn't know how to show gratitude. This boy had received a long, frightening gash on his leg while saving her, so of course she had to help treat it. Fortunately, because her social anxiety often made her flustered and prone to bumping into things, she always kept alcohol and bandages in her bag.
"Don't worry about people like that. Even if you weren't carrying a guitar, they would've found some other excuse to shake you down. You should stay away from alleys from now on. By the way, aren't you in my class?" Jhin now recalled hearing Bocchi-chan's real name, "Hitori Gotoh," during the homeroom self-introductions that morning. His mind had been so occupied with the Problem Child Countermeasures Department back then that it hadn't registered, but meeting her now brought the memory back.
"Ah... um... I think so." Hitori Gotoh was panicking internally. Her social anxiety had completely erased any memory of that morning's homeroom; she couldn't even remember Jhin's name.
Jhin, familiar with Hitori Gotoh's personality, could see her distress. "I'm Jhin. And you?"
"Ah, um... Hitori Gotoh."
"So, Hitori Gotoh. You're quite skilled at this. Very nimble fingers. If I had to do it myself, I'd probably wrap my leg up like a rice dumpling."
"I-I'm not that skilled, really." Unaccustomed to praise, Hitori Gotoh immediately wore a pleased expression at Jhin's compliment, and even her stuttering subsided a bit.
"Seeing you always carrying that guitar, could it be you're a guitarist in a band?"
"No, I'm... alone."
"I see. I'm a bit interested in the guitar. If it's alright, could you teach me?"
"Eh!?" Hitori Gotoh let out a cry of surprise, completely taken aback by Jhin's words. Seeing the sincerity in his blue eyes—the same as her own—and considering he was, for all intents and purposes, her savior, she decided to accept his request.
The band-mate she'd always dreamed of was right in front of her, wasn't he? What was there to hesitate about?
However, imagination and reality are two different things. The word "Okay" was already on the tip of her tongue, but she worried he was just being polite to console her. As a result, the words that came out were: "I'll need to think about it."
Both anxious and angry with herself, Hitori Gotoh just couldn't take it. After she finished bandaging Jhin's leg, she bolted.
Although he didn't get the answer he expected, Jhin wasn't discouraged. They were classmates, after all, and he had a week to deal with her problem.
"Ah, such a cute girl. If only she were my girlfriend," Jhin sighed wistfully. He limped out of the park on his injured leg, completely oblivious to the long pink hair fluttering in the breeze behind a large tree.
Unwilling to let the chance to find a fellow guitar enthusiast slip by, Hitori Gotoh had circled back. However, having not thought of an excuse to return, she hid behind a tree, trying to figure out how to approach Jhin again. That's when she accidentally overheard his confession-like muttering.
J-J-J-J-Jhin actually said I was cute, and he even wants me to be his girlfriend!?
Could it be that he knows I'm behind this tree and is deliberately teasing me?
No, no, no, he wouldn't need to say something like that just to tease me.
Never having been confessed to by a boy, and never having been called cute by anyone besides her parents, Hitori Gotoh covered her beet-red face and crouched behind the tree. The word "cute," as spoken by Jhin, echoed endlessly in her mind.
"Guhehe~" Hitori Gotoh couldn't contain her joy and let out a strange chuckle. With a blissful expression, she swayed from side to side all the way home.
"Oh my? Did something wonderful happen to her?" Mrs. Gotoh asked her husband, watching their daughter practically radiating joy as she entered the house.
"Maybe so," Mr. Gotoh replied, just as puzzled. It was rare to see their daughter looking like that.
That evening, Hitori Gotoh huddled in the soundproof closet of her room, playing her guitar as she considered everything. As a final, rousing chord faded, she made her decision: she would accept Jhin's request to be his girlfriend.
____
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