Chapter 91: Hidden

He first went to Hitori's room to play with her, and they would come down for dinner later.

They walked up the stairs, reaching the second floor.

Despite being the owner of this house, Hitori was now behind Ishikawa Hayato.

When Ishikawa Hayato stopped at the door of her room, he heard Hitori's low voice after a long period of internal struggle.

"Hayato, I'm sorry..."

After she finished speaking, she waited for a long time without a response from Ishikawa Hayato, wanting to secretly look up and check the situation.

But as soon as she looked up, her forehead received a flick.

"Ouch," she covered her head.

"I told you, Bocchi, you don't need to apologize to me. There's no need to feel unnecessary guilt towards me."

After saying that, he opened Hitori's room door himself and walked in, glancing up at the ceiling.

'Hmm, all the photos on the ceiling had been torn off.'

His steps immediately felt much lighter. Even he would feel a tiny bit uncomfortable with a ceiling covered with his own face.

"Come on, Bocchi, show me how Guitar Hero records videos."

"Ah, yes!"

Hitori felt all the gloom in her heart shattered by his single sentence. She looked at Ishikawa Hayato's back, quickly responded, and followed him in.

Indeed, she still wanted to be with Hayato, but when it comes to love... that's another challenge.

But it's okay, Hayato will be with her.

At the stairwell, Gotou Naoki sighed with emotion, while further down, Goto Michiyo watched her husband with a faint smile.

...

After finishing up with family matters, Nijika watched the same video several times in her free time.

It was a video posted by the Guitar Hero account a while ago.

The Guitar Hero account hadn't been updated for some time.

But Nijika wasn't concerned about that.

Instead, she was comparing Hitori's playing from yesterday afternoon with Guitar Hero's playing.

"It really is..."

As those words left her mouth, she zoomed in on the guitar again, unsure, but in fact, she didn't need to.

It was noticeable that the pink tracksuit's taste was one-of-a-kind, not something everyone could accept.

Finally certain, Nijika exclaimed with a conflicted expression.

"Haha... Bocchi-chan is actually Guitar Hero..."

Her happy face was tinged with distress.

It was like suddenly discovering that someone close to her was an object of her admiration.

She was overjoyed but also distressed, unsure how to face it.

However, after thinking for a while, she thought of another person who might know.

From the beginning, he understood Hitori so well and also knew that Hitori played very well.

Seriously, no one asked him, so he really didn't say anything.

Thinking this, Nijika suddenly shook her head quickly, hastily throwing any thoughts about Ishikawa Hayato out of her mind.

Looking at Hitori's happy expression yesterday, and that burst of energy she showed during the performance.

Presumably, the confession was successful, and they were already dating.

Nijika thought, then sighed in relief, her heart now much calmer.

...

On the train, Hitori kept thinking about Ishikawa Hayato's comments at the dinner table earlier.

After her father learned that Ishikawa Hayato had come from a school filled with delinquents, Ishikawa Hayato, to prevent them from overthinking, brought up his academic achievements.

Sixth in the national unified exam, and first in the junior high division for short-distance running last year.

This truly startled everyone, including Hitori. It was the first time she realized Ishikawa Hayato was such an amazing person.

When she gasped in surprise, her mother gave her a look.

She immediately realized how little she understood the person she liked.

Rather than being unqualified as a lover, she was more like unqualified as a human being.

But if she were to ask Hayato, she wouldn't know how, and he might not even answer.

Hayato clearly didn't like talking about the past. Only in a relaxed environment would he open up.

Just as she was getting distressed, the train arrived at Shimokitazawa.

Ishikawa Hayato took the hand of the girl who, whether she had improved or not, was constantly lost in thought again.

Hitori was immediately brought back to reality.

She looked at her held hand, cast aside her unnecessary worries, and buried her head, beaming with happiness.

Upon arriving at STARRY, walking down the stairs, Ishikawa Hayato still held Hitori's hand.

However, just as they were about to reach the shop door, Hitori suddenly tugged at his hand, as if trying to pull it away. Ishikawa Hayato looked back.

Hitori, unable to pull her hand free, merely looked confused, not appearing to be doing it out of shyness.

Noticing this, and feeling that she wasn't struggling much, he paid it no mind and continued to pull her down.

Inside the shop.

Hearing footsteps coming down from upstairs, Nijika and Kita, who were discussing fashion topics between girls, looked over.

Seeing Ishikawa Hayato and Hitori come down, they were about to greet them, but their attention was drawn to their slightly swaying, clasped hands.

Nijika froze, then forced a smile, but she hadn't even spoken yet.

"Ishikawa-kun, Gotou-san, good afternoon."

Kita greeted Ishikawa Hayato and Hitori as if nothing was amiss, but her gaze subtly scrutinized Hitori, as if confirming her suspicions.

Ishikawa Hayato noticed her gaze and immediately knew this girl was definitely thinking all sorts of strange things.

He let go of Hitori's hand, a mischievous grin on his face, and said, enjoying the show.

"Hmm, Kita, why are you staring at Bocchi so much, and why are you constantly looking at her legs?"

Hitori had just snapped out of the disappointment of having her hand released when she heard Ishikawa Hayato say this. She instantly noticed Kita's gaze.

She widened her eyes, puzzled and uncertain.

"Ah!"

Hitori didn't know how to position her legs. She shuffled her feet but still couldn't feel at ease, finally hiding behind Ishikawa Hayato.

Nijika finally caught up with their rhythm. Seeing Hitori's reaction, she immediately knew Ishikawa Hayato's words were true.

She looked back at Kita, who always held some 'special affection' for Ryo, her blank expression tinged with bewilderment.

Her red eyes held great confusion.

Kita felt that the others were about to misunderstand her, so she quickly began to explain.

"No, I was just curious..."

She stopped mid-sentence, realizing she couldn't explain.

Was she supposed to say she was very curious about whether Hitori and Ishikawa Hayato had done it or not?

That would make her a pervert!

Immediately, her face flushed, and after her gaze shifted for a long time, she could only vent her resentment on Ishikawa Hayato.

"Ishikawa-kun! You really are..."

"Did I miss something?"

At that moment, Ryo's voice rang out along with sounds of steps.

She was walking down from the entrance while looking at the scene.

"No, nothing at all."

Kita instantly put on a natural smile.

She absolutely did not want her Ryo-senpai to know about her embarrassing moment just now.

At the same time, she used her fast and swift skills of a normie when replying to messages to tap away on her phone.

[Don't you dare mention what just happened. If you ruin my image with Ryo-senpai, I'll fight you to the death! ]

Ishikawa Hayato received the message, glanced at it, and put his phone back in his pocket.

Nijika clearly also wanted to move past what had just happened, and said with a smile.

"Now that everyone's here, let's start the band meeting."

After speaking, Nijika walked towards the table, though she seemed to be subtly avoiding Kita for a bit.

Ryo looked at Nijika with a puzzled expression, then glanced at Ishikawa Hayato.

Although Ishikawa Hayato wanted to enjoy the show, if he really pushed Kita too far she might not actually fight him, but it was quite possible she would cry instead.

It wasn't good to become public enemy of women just for a bit of fun.

He waved his hand and sat down in his seat.

Hitori also sat opposite him, but carefully moved her chair a little to the side.

Kita's smile stiffened at her action, but then she looked at Ishikawa Hayato and Hitori, who were still sitting opposite each other, with a puzzled expression, as did Nijika.

Nijika glanced at Ishikawa Hayato, who was sitting next to Ryo, with great concern, but seemed embarrassed to expose his relationship with Hitori, and said with difficulty.

"Um, Hayato-kun, aren't you going to sit with Bocchi-chan?"

"Why?" Ishikawa Hayato asked.

Kita's brows furrowed slightly.

Although she didn't like to reveal things before the people involved confessed, given that everyone already knew, she didn't pay much attention and just said directly.

"Aren't... aren't you two dating?"

"No?"

Nijika, Kita, and Ryo didn't believe Ishikawa Hayato at all and they looked towards Hitori.

Hitori, besieged by the concentrated gazes, quickly lowered her head, her eyes darting around twice before she spoke, "Um, Hayato-kun and I aren't dating..."

Nijika was stunned.

She couldn't help but ask, "Bocchi-chan, didn't you confess to Hayato-kun...?"

Before she could finish, she realized that this question was like rubbing salt in Hitori's wound, so she quickly shut her mouth.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Hitori, receiving a confirming look from her that it was okay to speak.

He said, "I rejected her."

"Eh!!" Nijika and Kita cried out in surprise, with Nijika even standing up directly.

Ryo looked at Ishikawa Hayato, puzzled.

After two seconds, Nijika suddenly had an epiphany.

She sat down as if she understood the situation.

"I get it."

"Bocchi-chan, you did well. You can't agree to this Pervert's harem request."

Kita showed a knowing expression, but before she could speak, Hitori whispered, "That's not the reason... I'm fine with how many people Hayato-kun likes."

Listening to Hitori's explosive statement, the three were dumbfounded, then uniformly looked at Ishikawa Hayato, suspecting what magic this pervert had cast on Hitori.

Regarding Hitori's frankness, Ishikawa Hayato also didn't know what expression to show.

After a glance at him, Nijika turned to Hitori, thought for a long time, and then began to share knowledge she had learned from her friends.

"Um... Bocchi-chan, the more you indulge a man, the more willful he becomes."

As she spoke, she paid attention to Ryo and Kita's reactions.

Ryo still had a calm, detached expression, while Kita was looking at Hitori, silent.

"You guys are thinking too badly of me, aren't you?"

Ishikawa Hayato helplessly stopped the increasingly off-topic conversation.

"I just don't want to accept Bocchi yet, whose feelings are still a bit immature."

The three looked at him, then at Hitori, who offered no objection, and immediately understood that this was the answer.

Suddenly, they were left overwhelmed with feelings that no one wasable to say a word.