It was getting late.
By the time Gotō Hitori led Nekoyashiki Haruichi to Many Stars, dusk had already fallen.
The orange light dyed the young man's black hair a reddish-orange hue. Gotō Hitori watched carefully, increasingly feeling like she should run away...
Well, well! I've shown him the way. It's fine if I say goodbye now, right?
Gotō Hitori took a deep breath, then heard Nekoyashiki Haruichi's voice.
"Excuse me, why did you stop so suddenly? Have we arrived?"
"Ah! Yes... yes! We're here!"
"I see. Thank you, Bocchi."
Nekoyashiki Haru replied with a smile and took a step forward.
But this action startled Gotō Hitori.
The livehouse called "Many Stars" was literally a basement.
To enter, one naturally had to descend a flight of stairs.
What would be trivial for a sighted person was a significant challenge for Nekoyashiki Haru, who was blind.
The stairs were right in front of him!
Gotō Hitori quickly rushed forward and embraced Nekoyashiki Haru.
But the moment she wrapped her arms around him, a troubling thought flashed through her mind.
No... this won't work! Mr. Nekoyashiki must be at least 170cm tall! He might pull me down with him!
Together...
The thought made Gotō Hitori freeze.
Beneath his loose clothing, she felt a waist as slender as her own.
So thin... isn't this unhealthy for a boy?
Retreating backward, Nekoyashiki Haru, surprisingly light on his feet, was actually being carried backward like this.
"Um, Bocchi?" Nekoyashiki Haru asked, a little puzzled, but received no response.
At that moment, Gotō Hitori was still in a daze, or rather, completely immersed in her own exaggerated fantasies.
Constantly lost in her daydreams, she could slip out of reality at any moment.
"Bocchi?" Nekoyashiki Haru called again, and this time, it finally snapped Gotō Hitori back to reality.
"...Ah!?"
Gotō Hitori's eyes widened abruptly, and she quickly released her grip and stumbled backward.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?! What was I just doing?!
It's so rude to just hold onto Mr. Nekoyashiki like that!
Are there any security cameras around here?! There must be! The person watching the footage will definitely call the police!
Or Mr. Nekoyashiki will report me! Then the police will use the cameras to arrest me!
The verdict for Gotō Hitori, the pervert who was caught harassing a handsome man on the street... DEATH PENALTY!!!
Gotō Hitori watched the judge deliver his verdict, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
Hitori... your mother doesn't remember you being like this...
Her mother wiped away tears behind her.
Hitori... your father is so disappointed in you.
Her father was crying too.
Is my older sister a perverted freak?
Even her younger sister, Futari, said it.
Woof... woof woof woof...
Even Jimmy Hendrix looked disgusted...
"Hey, hey? Um, Bocchi? Did you leave?"
Nekoyashiki Haru, receiving no response, tentatively called out.
The next moment...
Thud!
Gotō Hitori suddenly dropped to her knees.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
She began banging her head against the floor.
"Please, Mr. Nekoyashiki! Please don't call the police! If you do, this social parasite like me will be sentenced to death! No one would care, but I still want to live! Please, Mr. Nekoyashiki!"
"...Huh?"
Nekoyashiki Haru, hearing Gotō Hitori's sudden plea for mercy, was utterly bewildered.
"W-what's going on?"
"Please, please don't call the police!"
"I won't... and why would I?"
"Be-because I just hugged you..."
"...Is that something worth calling the police for?"
Nekoyashiki Haru's expression gradually turned peculiar.
"What kind of law are you thinking of? I'm not going to call the police."
"Thank you... thank you so much! I'd be willing to serve you forever..."
"No, no, that's not necessary. But I am curious why you hugged me earlier."
Nekoyashiki Haru asked, puzzled.
"Ah! Well... because there were stairs ahead... so..."
Gotō Hitori finally reached a point where she could explain.
"I see. So you were just helping me. Then there's even less reason to call the police."
Nekoyashiki Haru smiled.
"Then, Bocchi, could you help me down? Even with my cane, I'm still quite afraid of stairs."
"Ah... y-yes, of course!"
Gotō Hitori patted her cheeks and stepped forward to take Nekoyashiki's hand.
But just as she grasped it, Nekoyashiki Haru's voice stopped her.
"Bocchi, would you mind just supporting me directly? Holding hands and guiding me... honestly, it's still dangerous on stairs."
"Huh?"
Gotō Hitori froze in shock.
"Can you do it, Bocchi? Please?"
Nekoyashiki Haru folded his blind cane and pressed his hands together, pleading in the direction where Gotō Hitori should be.
Hurry... hurry up and refuse, Gotō Hitori! Refuse already!
This is going to be intimate contact with a member of the opposite sex! Not just holding hands! And this person is even around my age!
That means... a same-age member of the opposite sex! Something that should absolutely not exist in my life's "youthful terms"!
Youthful terms! Those words that only exist in the lives of popular people! Words brimming with the essence of youth!
If something like this actually happens to me, I'll die!
"Please?"
Receiving no response, Nekoyashiki Haru adjusted his position and continued pleading.
"...O-okay..."
I can't refuse! I don't have the strength!
Gotō Hitori wore an expression as if her soul had been sucked out.
I... I'm not going to die here, am I...?
Carefully grasping Nekoyashiki Haru's arm, Gotō Hitori began to tremble again.
Gah—! I actually touched him! A boy my age! When we were just holding hands, my nerves were all tangled up and I couldn't feel anything, but now it feels so real! And he smells like something I've never smelled before! It's like that fresh-out-of-the-box iPhone smell, but... different!
This is... this is a boy's body! This is...
"Um... Bocchi?"
I felt my arm being gripped tighter, but we weren't moving forward. Nekoyashiki Haru suspected Bocchi might be lost in another one of her strange mental spirals.
"Can we go now?"
"Ah! Sorry..."
Gotō Hitori took a deep breath and led Nekoyashiki Haru down the starry staircase, step by step.
Come to think of it... he's really skinny.
Holding his noticeably slender arm, Gotō Hitori couldn't help but wonder:
Is Mr. Nekoyashiki eating properly...?
Click.
It took them three or four minutes to finally reach the entrance of Many Stars. Gotō Hitori let out a sigh of relief.
Finally... finally we're here... finally it's over...
Gotō Hitori wore an expression of relief.
Ah... Thinking about it carefully, this is a good deed, right?
If Mr. Nekoyashiki specifically came to my school to thank me afterward, I'd definitely be praised by the entire school.
Hehe, I'd be so popular then...
Yeah, right! I'd definitely be seen as that kind of girl who's always trying to show off! And then the school bullies would corner me behind the building after school and beat me up!
I absolutely can't let that happen!
"Mr. Nekoyashiki! I'm not a student at Shuka High School!"
"Why are you suddenly saying that...?"
Nekoyashiki Haru sighed.
"Your thoughts are really..."
Bang.
Before he could finish, the door suddenly burst open.
"Ah..."
Gotō Hitori froze, staring at the yellow-haired, red-eyed girl standing before her.
"Nijika..."
"Hmm? Hitori? Did you forget something?"
The girl named Ijichi Nijika smiled at Gotō Hitori, but her expression froze when she noticed the other person beside her.
"...Huh?"
"Nijika? Are you Ijichi Nijika?"
"...Yes..."
Ijichi Nijika answered hesitantly.
Nekoyashiki Haru smiled upon receiving her confirmation.
"Long time no see, Nijika."