Hearing Goto Hitori's method, Tanaka Masao nodded in satisfaction.
It would be great to see that painting as soon as he entered Goto Hitori's room.
The only regrettable thing was that when he painted it, he forgot to sign his name on it.
Otherwise, it would have been even clearer to others.
"By the way, Bocchi-chan, you're going to practice the song you wrote this afternoon after school, aren't you?"
Goto Hitori nodded.
"That's right, I told everyone, and they're really looking forward to trying it out this afternoon."
"Oh, I see."
Tanaka Masao nodded; he definitely couldn't miss such an interesting scene.
"It should be fine if I come to watch you practice this afternoon, right? I'm also planning to write a song as a gift for you."
"Of course, it's fine, but Tanaka, you can also write songs?"
Goto Hitori was a little curious; she didn't remember Tanaka Masao being into Music.
"Haha, I looked into it a bit recently. Although I don't understand much, I managed to write some lyrics.
But I don't understand anything about arrangements or anything like that; I can only hum simple tunes. I'll have to trouble the Music master Bocchi-chan to perfect it for me then."
Hearing Tanaka Masao call her a Music master, Goto Hitori felt a little proud.
She was quite confident, especially when it came to Music.
"Hmph, hmph, just leave it to me. I am Guitar Hero with thirty thousand fans."
"Wow, it's Guitar Hero! We're saved!"
Tanaka Masao's flattery made Goto Hitori's nose almost turn up to the sky.
As the two chatted, two more familiar people boarded the train.
"Ah, it's Tanaka-kun and Bocchi-chan, good morning."
"Good morning, Nijika, Ryo."
The people who got on the train were Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo, who hadn't been seen in a while.
Ijichi Nijika walked over and asked with some curiosity.
"What are you two talking about? You seem so happy."
"It's like this: Bocchi-chan wrote a new song, and I'm also planning to write a song for Bocchi-chan, hoping she can help me perfect it then."
"Eh, Bocchi-chan wrote a song? That's amazing."
Ijichi Nijika's eyes lit up; their band had just formed and didn't have their own theme song yet.
For a band to become famous, they couldn't always be Singing other people's songs; they eventually needed to have their own.
"Can I see it?"
"Of course, I've already prepared copies for everyone."
Goto Hitori said, taking out the pre-printed lyrics from her bag.
As she handed the lyrics to the two, she began to introduce the creative background.
"Yesterday, Tanaka came to my house to play, and my inspiration suddenly exploded, leading me to write this song. This is my confident work."
Ijichi Nijika took the lyrics but didn't look at them immediately; instead, she was a little surprised.
"Eh, did Tanaka-kun go to Bocchi-chan's house yesterday? Really, Bocchi-chan, why didn't you invite me? I wanted to go too."
Hearing that Ijichi Nijika also wanted to come, Goto Hitori was a little happy.
[Am I really that popular now? Everyone wants to come to my house to play.]
"Of course, Nijika, you can come anytime you want."
Having received approval, Ijichi Nijika immediately made a decision.
"Then this weekend it is. I'll call Ikuyo too. Oh, Ryo, do you want to come along?"
Ijichi Nijika turned her gaze to Yamada Ryo.
"I don't need to; I have plans for the weekend."
"Is that so? That's really a shame."
After Yamada Ryo refused, Tanaka Masao clearly saw that Goto Hitori next to him was a little disappointed. After thinking for a moment, he decided to help her.
"Yes, it's really a shame."
Tanaka Masao shook his head regretfully, sighing.
"Yesterday, Bocchi-chan's parents even gave me a 'friendship fee' to thank me for being Bocchi-chan's friend."
"Friendship fee!"
Yamada Ryo, who had been looking at the lyrics, instantly had her eyes light up, turning into the shape of money.
Tanaka Masao: From today onwards, my nickname will be [Money].
Yamada Ryo lightly coughed to hide her embarrassment and gave Goto Hitori a thumbs-up.
"I just thought about it again, and my plans for this weekend don't seem that important after all. I'll just go to Bocchi-chan's house with you. After all, we're the best of friends."
Looking at Yamada Ryo, whose expression changed faster than flipping a book, Ijichi Nijika gave her a deadpan look.
[Ryo is too easy to manipulate, and 'friendship fee' sounds so fake. What kind of parents would...Wait, if it's Bocchi-chan, it's not impossible.]
Little Yamada Ryo easily manipulated.
Goto Hitori looked at Tanaka Masao with some confusion. Did her parents give him a friendship fee yesterday? Why didn't she know?
Was it during the time when Tanaka Masao made her lose consciousness?
In that case, did she also need to pay a friendship fee?
A few minutes passed as the group chatted.
Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo only rode two stops to school. They held the lyrics Goto Hitori gave them and waved goodbye to the two.
After getting off the train, Yamada Ryo spoke.
"Hey, Nijika, have you seen the lyrics Bocchi-chan wrote?"
"Not yet, why?"
Ijichi Nijika looked at Yamada Ryo, who had been almost constantly looking at the lyrics, with some confusion.
"Let's look at them when we get to school. It's dangerous to read while walking now."
Yamada Ryo shook her head.
"No, I think it's better if you look at them now."
Seeing her serious expression, Ijichi Nijika looked at the lyrics with a mixture of doubt and belief.
Two and a half minutes later.
Ijichi Nijika's eyes widened, looking at the lyrics in her hand with disbelief.
"This... this was written by Bocchi-chan?"
Looking at the shocked Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryo nodded in satisfaction; that was the effect she wanted.
"How is it? Isn't it hard to believe?"
Ijichi Nijika nodded.
"That's right. I thought the song Bocchi-chan wrote would be more like blues or rock.
I didn't expect her to write a love song, and one that's so sickeningly sweet. This doesn't match her image at all."
Yamada Ryo, on the other hand, began to analyze.
"Do you remember what Bocchi-chan said?"
"What did she say?"
"She said she wrote this song when Tanaka came to her house to play, and her inspiration exploded.
And Tanaka also just said he was going to write a song for Bocchi-chan, so..."
Looking at Yamada Ryo's meaningful gaze, Ijichi Nijika seemed to understand.
"So you mean, Bocchi-chan and Tanaka-kun might have already confirmed their relationship?"
Yamada Ryo wagged her finger.
"Not only that, they might have even taken a step further, like a kiss, or even..."
As she spoke, she raised an eyebrow, giving a knowing look.
Ijichi Nijika clearly understood what Yamada Ryo meant and blushed a little.
"This... that's probably not possible. And I remember Tanaka-kun's relationship with Yukino seemed even closer.
If he's like this with Bocchi-chan, what about Yukino?"
"There's only one truth: Tanaka is two-timing."
"Eh~, is Tanaka-kun really that kind of person?"
If Tanaka Masao were here, he would definitely answer no to Ijichi Nijika's question.
Because two boats wouldn't be enough.
Yamada Ryo gently shook her head.
"I see, Nijika, you really don't understand. Men are all very fickle creatures."
Ijichi Nijika was somewhat swayed, feeling that Yamada Ryo had a point.
"Then what should we do? Should we help Bocchi-chan, or tell Yukino about this?"
Yamada Ryo already had a plan for this.
"For this, of course, we'll use this matter to threaten Tanaka and make him pay hush money.
After all, he wouldn't want his two-timing to be exposed, hehehe~"
Ijichi Nijika: ...