Chapter 18: Hitori, Who Doesn't Believe She Can Be Liked
Ren didn't know if Anon could play the guitar better than Hitori, but he stumbled upon an interesting video while scrolling through his phone.
As he engaged with music-related content more frequently, his homepage began showing videos about various instruments and bands.
This particular video featured a female guitarist who didn't show her face, body, or legs, yet still managed to get around 100,000 views. The guitar in the thumbnail looked familiar to Ren.
It was the same model as Hitori's.
Though it could have been a coincidence, the tracksuit visible in the corner of the video and the distinctive pink hair gave Ren reason to suspect this was Hitori.
"Guitar Hero" had tens of thousands of followers, with each video's view count never dipping below their subscriber count.
Curious, Ren opened the channel and scrolled through, his expression growing increasingly peculiar.
Online, Hitori came across as a social extrovert—boasting and pretending to be popular without any apparent shame.
But judging by the plain backgrounds and tracksuits in her photos, Ren figured many people had probably already seen through her act.
It felt like discovering a friend's embarrassing past. If it were anyone else, Ren would have definitely screenshotted and sent it to them.
But this was Hitori. If he sent it, he had a feeling she might just break down and pixelate into a mosaic.
So, with some regret, Ren decided to keep this secret to himself. Still, it gave him a glimpse into another side of Hitori—one that was quite endearing and starkly different from her real-life self.
"Ren, what are you spacing out for?"
The ever-energetic Anon noticed Ren's distraction and snapped him out of it. How dare he ignore his childhood friend's determination? He deserved punishment.
"I was thinking about Louis. He's a friend I met while traveling."
Ren snapped back to reality and sadly changed the subject. But such were the troubles of adolescence—waking up every morning feeling like he was packing steel, strong enough to pierce through metal plates.
Unlike other clueless boys who didn't know how to handle these feelings, Ren had some skills, though he'd never felt the urge to use them.
"Liar, you've never traveled anywhere. If you don't want to tell me, just say so. No need to make up excuses."
Anon rolled her eyes at Ren. She knew perfectly well he'd never been on a trip, so she just chalked it up to him talking nonsense.
"If you know I'm lying, why ask? By the way, Anon, want me to teach you how to play guitar? I'm actually a genius, you know."
Ren chuckled, then offered to teach Anon, boasting about his supposed talent.
"You?"
Having grown up with him, Anon knew full well Ren had never touched an instrument. She looked skeptical and waved him off:
"Never mind, Ren. I could already play in middle school. I'll just watch some videos to get back into it."
"Then you should go back. Even if you're my childhood friend, you shouldn't keep invading my personal space."
Upon hearing this, Ren began seeing Anon out. Anon made a face at him before returning to practice guitar.
Nowadays she wouldn't play for ten minutes and slack off for an hour. With those vixens outside almost stealing her territory, if she still slacked off, her childhood friend might be handed over to someone else.
After Anon left, Ren browsed videos for a while before going to bed.
Childhood friends without a sense of boundaries could be quite troublesome sometimes. Smelling the lingering scent of the young girl on his bed, Ren silently sat up.
Indeed, before truly cheating, his right hand remained his true love.
————
The next day, when Ren returned to school, he noticed Hitori didn't seem to be in good spirits, not only was she radiating low energy, but she also had faint dark circles under her eyes.
"Bocchi-chan, what's wrong?"
He hadn't sent any messages like "Are you Hitori from XX High School?" to Guitar Hero's account last night, so why was Hitori suffering from insomnia?
"I-It's nothing..."
Hitori shrunk back slightly before answering in a small voice.
"You definitely don't look like it's nothing. Come on, hiding things from friends isn't good. If you don't tell me, I'll get angry."
Given Hitori's personality, Ren decided to press her directly.
But this time, even when he insisted she speak up, Hitori just hemmed and hawed without daring to say anything.
This was strange. However, judging by her timid appearance, it didn't seem like she was being bullied but rather afraid of something. Since she didn't dare speak even when asked directly, Ren felt he couldn't push further.
Could it be that Ryo's assistance was too aggressive? Or was there some problem with the band?
Ren somewhat regretted not adding Ryo as a friend earlier, otherwise, he could have asked. For now, he could only observe carefully to see if he could figure out what was wrong.
"..."
Hitori remained silent, just watching Ren nervously.
She had lost sleep because of what Ryo said earlier. The possibility that Ren might like her brought her a tiny bit of joy, but more than that, it filled her with anxiety and self-doubt.
This left her unsure how to face Ren. How could someone like her possibly be liked by anyone?
She had even searched online, and after excluding the exaggerated responses, she found that the general consensus matched what Ryo said, excluding family members, superiors/subordinates, and childhood friends, men who suddenly approached her either wanted her affection or her body, or both.
But was this possible?
Hitori still found it hard to believe. With Ren's looks, he probably wouldn't have any difficulty finding whoever he wanted as a girlfriend. Why would he be interested in a gloomy, unfashionable otaku like her?
Yet without verifying or confirming this matter, Hitori couldn't stop her endless fantasies.
Ren's wingman tactics had indeed struck a chord with Hitori, but they left her unable to eat or sleep peacefully.
During lunch break, Ren originally planned to eat with Hitori, but seeing how nervous she was, he decided not to disturb her. Instead, he went alone to the school store to buy some snacks and found a secluded spot to rest.
There was a physical education class in the afternoon. Previously, Ren disliked PE because the PE teacher always had family matters, and the enthusiastic math teacher would substitute.
But now it was different. Ren had a deep impression of Japanese high school girls' PE uniforms—some teachers had even worn them on camera.
They were full of youthful energy and also quite provocative, exactly his type, so he fully accepted them.
However, Hitori didn't attend the class. She had changed into her uniform, but her aversion to sunlight was severe. The PE teacher, seeing her melting state, had no choice but to let her rest. So she hid in her happy sanctuary, clutching her guitar.
"Bocchi-chan, you're here. But I thought you didn't bring your guitar to school today?"
Ren was surprised to see Hitori suddenly with a guitar.
"I don't know, but if I want to hold it, I can just take it out. Why are you here, Watanabe-kun?"
Holding her guitar gave Hitori a sense of security, making her less nervous in front of Ren.
"It's too hot outside. I wanted to find a cool place to stay, like you. And don't call me Watanabe-kun anymore, just call me Ren."
Actually, he came to see Hitori in her PE uniform, but she had already changed into her beloved tracksuit. However, the bottom half was still her gym shorts, giving the impression she was only wearing panties below, which was quite a sight.
"...Th-this isn't appropriate, is it?"
Hitori, who had been paying attention to Ren's reactions because of Ryo's words, noticed him stealing a glance at her. She shyly pressed her legs together, which only made her appear fuller. At the same time, she felt flustered yet honored at the prospect of calling him by his first name.
"I call you Bocchi-chan, so if you keep calling me Watanabe-kun, it feels too distant, right? And you already call Ijichi-senpai and the others by their first names. Calling mine shouldn't be that hard."
Changing how they addressed each other was one of the milestones in closing the distance between them. Ren reasoned logically, persuading Hitori to change how she referred to him.
"Okay, Ren."
Hearing this, Hitori felt a bit happy. Exchanging nicknames and first names was enough to make her smile with joy.
Now she noticed something else.
Ren's gaze seemed to always be on her. She considered herself plain and gloomy, while Ren was sunny and handsome. Yet since school started, aside from speaking with Gabriel and Vignette in class, Ren had only talked and made friends with her.
Now even during PE class, he would come to the bottom of the stairs to accompany her.
Perhaps it was just a one-in-a-million possibility, but could Ren actually have feelings for her?