"Gulp." Nijika took the iced mineral water Jhin handed her and chugged a large mouthful. The rolling heatwave and the incessant chirping of cicadas in the trees all signaled the arrival of summer.
"It's so hot... It really feels like the peak of summer."
"Yeah," Kita Ikuyo said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
"We're almost at Bocchi-chan's house, just hang in there a little longer," Jhin said, handing Kita Ikuyo the iced drink she wanted.
"Thanks for leading the way, Jhin."
"It's nothing. This is my first time going into Bocchi-chan's room too, so I'm actually a little excited."
"Whoa, and you're her boyfriend..." Nijika and Kita wore expressions of pity. They had been officially dating for almost two months, and Hitori Gotoh still hadn't even let him into her room.
"I can't help it, she's just too shy. Basically, whenever I come over, I just end up chatting with her little sister and parents. She only comes out to see me off when I'm about to leave. If it weren't for you guys, I have no idea when I'd ever get to see her room," Jhin said with a wry smile.
"As her boyfriend, you could be a little more assertive, you know," Kita Ikuyo, who had zero romantic experience, began to strategize for him. "Like, just force the door open or something."
"I respect her wishes. It's no big deal if she doesn't let me in her room, as long as she's not unwilling to come into mine."
"I've been meaning to say this for a while, but you're a really good boyfriend, Jhin," Nijika praised him, completely oblivious to Jhin's innuendo.
"Jhin, what's Miss Gotoh's home like?" Kita Ikuyo's interest was piqued by Jhin's description of Hitori Gotoh's family.
"Kind and loving parents, a lively and adorable little sister, and a small dog named Jimihen." Jhin's description made it completely impossible for the two of them to imagine how Hitori Gotoh had developed her current personality in such an environment.
"Oh, I brought a movie I recommend and some snacks today," Kita Ikuyo said, showing off her plump red tote bag.
"Kita, you haven't forgotten our purpose for today, have you?" Nijika reminded Kita Ikuyo that they were here on business.
"Of course I remember. We're here to design T-shirts for the performance, and Jhin is here to provide input and opinions, right?"
"That's right!"
"It would've been nice if Ryo-senpai came along too," Kita Ikuyo said, a little disappointed. It would have been a great chance to show off in front of her.
"Ah... I did try to drag her here." Nijika wore a helpless expression, then began to vent to Jhin and Kita Ikuyo, complaining about how Ryo would tell all sorts of off-the-cuff lies to get out of things, leaving her to clean up the mess.
"To be able to weave such a variety of lies so smoothly... as expected of Ryo-senpai. She's such a charmingly bad woman," Kita Ikuyo said with a look of admiration that surprised Nijika.
"Are you really that into Ryo?" Nijika finally realized that Kita Ikuyo seemed to have some unusual feelings for Ryo. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was about her best friend and partner-in-crime that had managed to attract a good girl like Kita Ikuyo.
"We're here," Jhin said, pointing to a house with a banner that read, "Welcome Kessoku Band Members and Jhin."
"Bocchi-chan's house... is it a hotel?"
"No way. She probably put it up herself," Jhin said, shaking his head with a laugh, refuting Nijika's idea as he rang the doorbell. "Bocchi-chan, we're here!"
"Pop!" Hitori Gotoh stood at the entrance, wearing glowing star-shaped glasses and a fake mustache, setting off a party popper. "Ya-yaho, welcome."
The four of them stood facing each other in silence for a moment before Kita Ikuyo was the first to speak. "Bocchi-chan seems very happy."
"Yeah," Nijika agreed.
Thank you both for being so kind to my eccentric girlfriend. Jhin was moved by the two little angels' behavior, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. My adorable, clumsy Bocchi-chan... your taste really needs some serious improvement.
"Ah! It's Big Brother!" Futari Gotoh's youthful voice came from behind her sister as she happily threw herself at Jhin.
"Futari, long time no see. Sorry, I didn't bring any cake this time." Jhin got along exceptionally well with his little sister-in-law, though he wasn't sure if it was because he always plied her with cake.
"It's okay! Big Brother brought new friends for my friendless big sister! Futari is very happy!" With that, Futari Gotoh, having just unintentionally stabbed her sister right in the heart, took Jhin's hand and led him towards her sister's room.
A dejected Hitori Gotoh, along with an expectant Nijika and Kita Ikuyo, followed behind, entering a room decorated with a disco ball, balloons, and other things that screamed "party time."
"I think maybe we should just hang out for a bit first..." Nijika, who had originally planned to get straight to designing the outfits, now found it hard to suggest getting down to business.
"Mm... hmm." Kita Ikuyo was also stunned by the little room, which was decorated like a karaoke box.
"I'll go get drinks, then." Still reeling from the blow of her sister's words, Hitori Gotoh dragged her heavy feet downstairs.
Looking at the room, which was surprisingly plain aside from the decorations, Kita Ikuyo said, "I thought it would be a more rock-and-roll kind of room."
"Why are there so many professional photos?" Nijika discovered a thick stack of band photos piled in a corner, a horrified look on her face.
"The whole room used to be covered in photos like these, but Mom said it was dizzying to look at, so she made my sister take them down."
"My sister said these are her favorite photos," Futari Gotoh said, holding one photo in each hand. One was a group shot of Kessoku Band, and the other was of Jhin kissing Hitori Gotoh's forehead.
"Fu... Futari, your big sister has important things to discuss now, so why don't you go downstairs and play with Jimihen?" Hitori Gotoh had just come up with the drinks when she heard her sister revealing her embarrassing secrets again, and she quickly tried to send her downstairs.
"Aww~"
Seeing her sister's reluctant expression, Hitori Gotoh had no choice but to use her ultimate move. She leaned in and whispered in her sister's ear, "You can have all the ice cream in the fridge."
Futari Gotoh blinked her little eyes, thought of the delicious ice cream, and immediately ran downstairs. "I guess I can't say no to my big sister."
Having finally managed to get rid of her sister, Hitori Gotoh let out a sigh of relief. But before she could even say a few words to the others, Futari Gotoh came back up with their parents, an ice cream bar in her mouth.
"See? Big Brother really did bring my sister's friends over."
My dear little sister! Didn't I tell you to stay downstairs and play?! Hitori Gotoh felt her ice cream had been sacrificed in vain.
Just like that, the three of them were led to the living room by the Gotohs, who insisted on properly entertaining them.
"When I first heard from Jhin that Hitori's friends were coming over, I was worried he was just saying that to play along with her delusions."
"Delusions..."
Nijika finally understood the extent of Hitori Gotoh's "somewhat" reclusive personality that Jhin had mentioned. Was that the sugarcoated version from her boyfriend?!
"I'll just ask this as a precaution, but... you two aren't rental friends that Jhin hired for my silly daughter, are you?" Mr. Gotoh asked cautiously.
Nijika was so shocked she even put down her chopsticks. "We're real, genuine friends."
"That's right, that's right! We're bandmates who get along great," Kita Ikuyo chimed in.
"Is that so? Well, that's a relief."
Come on, Father-in-law, have a little more faith in your daughter. She's completely frozen solid over here.
Jhin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had no idea what kind of image Hitori Gotoh had in her parents' minds for them to even imagine she'd ask her boyfriend to find her rental friends.
Jhin wiped a food crumb from the corner of Hitori Gotoh's mouth, softly comforting his girlfriend who was silently stuffing her face with fried chicken. As a mother, Michiyo Gotoh naturally noticed Jhin's actions, her eyes shining with delight. Already very satisfied with Jhin as a boyfriend, she now felt there would be no problem at all if the two of them got married right after high school graduation.
After the meal, the four of them returned to Hitori Gotoh's bedroom. The decorations had already been cleaned up by Mrs. Gotoh. They sat around the table and officially began designing the band's performance outfits.
Jhin had no talent in this area, so he could only watch them scribble and draw in their notebooks.
Kita Ikuyo's design was full of youthful, sports-festival-like passion, which easily triggered Hitori Gotoh's youth trauma switch and was thus rejected by everyone.
Hitori Gotoh completed her work and stood up smugly, holding up her sketchbook to show the three of them her design. It was a solid red T-shirt with various chuunibyou-style fonts, while an abnormal number of zippers and chains added a punk flair.
From Nijika and Kita Ikuyo's aesthetic point of view, the design was hopelessly tacky. They both looked at Jhin with pity, their gazes conveying that his girlfriend's taste was a lost cause.
"Could it be... that your other clothes look like this too, Bocchi-chan?"
"Ah, no, those were all bought by my mom. But I've never worn any of them because I don't like that style."
It was as if golden cat ears had sprouted on Nijika's head. With a mischievous grin, she leaned in close to Hitori Gotoh and said in an expectant tone, "Ehh, I want to see you wear them, Bocchi-chan."
"I'd also like to see Miss Gotoh in something other than a tracksuit," Kita Ikuyo said, suddenly interested. Her intuition told her that Hitori Gotoh would look good in anything.
"Eh?" Hitori Gotoh's face was instantly filled with resistance.
Nijika played the boyfriend card. "Jhin must want to see you in casual clothes too, right, Bocchi-chan?"
"Yeah." How could Jhin deny it? In fact, he was dying to see his girlfriend wear something other than her tracksuit.
"O... Okay."
Jhin was the last straw that broke the camel's back, successfully getting Hitori Gotoh to reluctantly agree to the request to change clothes.
As the only boy, Jhin was naturally asked to leave the room first. He stood outside the door, feeling as if a mischievous kitten was constantly scratching at his heart, making him restless.
"Okay, you can come in now, Jhin." Nijika's voice was like a pardon. He pushed open the door and finally saw Hitori Gotoh in her casual clothes.
She was wearing a white sailor top with a red scarf tied into a bow at her chest, and a simple black long skirt. Her skin, exceptionally fair from always staying indoors, made her look just like an adorable doll.
The magnificent curve of her chest rose and fell with her nervous breaths, making Nijika and Kita Ikuyo unable to believe their eyes. A dark aura of resentment began to spread from them.
She usually wore a tracksuit and looked like she was on the same level as them...
Jhin walked over to Hitori Gotoh. He looked at his girlfriend, who was already breathtakingly stunning just from a change of clothes without any special effort, and gently took her small hand. "I'd really love to see you in a wedding dress."
"A marriage proposal!?" Neither Nijika nor Kita Ikuyo expected Jhin to say something so explosive. And Hitori Gotoh didn't pass out with smoke coming out of her head from the shock, as they had imagined she would.
Instead, she sat properly in front of Jhin, bowed, and said, "This humble woman is unworthy, but I will be in your care."
Nijika and Kita Ikuyo suddenly felt that the reason these two ended up as a couple was perhaps because they were surprisingly similar in certain ways.
With Jhin's little interruption, the T-shirt design was declared a complete failure. In the end, they decided to go with Nijika's original design—a solid black shirt with a wristband printed on it, and the band's name written in the middle.
Although Hitori Gotoh silently complained to herself about why they didn't just have Nijika do the design from the start, she was caught red-handed by Nijika, who was gradually becoming able to read her facial expressions. This made Hitori Gotoh think that Nijika might even have a superpower like mind-reading.
_____
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