As night fell, Live House began to gradually fill up with guests.
Live House offered food and drinks, allowing audience mbers to enjoy refreshnts while watching the bands perform, which also served as one of its inco sources.
When Shin entered the Live House with his ticket, a band was already performing on stage.
Although it was a small band, it had a certain amount of fa within the local scene, so there were quite a few audience mbers cheering inside the Live House.
Shin wasn't very familiar with these bands. He thought they sounded good, but he didn't have much musical knowledge and was simply enjoying the music.
At the counter nearby stood Ijichi Nijika and Gotou Hitori.
Since the performance had already started, there were no custors at the counter, and Ijichi Nijika and Gotou Hitori were taking a brief break.
Shin approached them, holding a ticket he bought at the entrance, which looked like a guitar pick, and handed it to Gotou Hitori.
"A cola, please."
"Sure…"
After serving nurous custors, Gotou Hitori had found a way to manage her social anxiety. She avoided looking at custors' faces, imagining them as robots she was just "refueling." Thinking this way helped her stay calm.
When Shin handed over his ticket, Gotou Hitori moved stiffly, poured a cola, and handed it over.
"How's the job going?"
Shin took a sip and asked her.
"It's alright… Eh?!"
Gotou Hitori replied reflexively, only realizing soone was speaking to her after she'd responded. Looking up, she saw Shin standing at the counter, and she panicked.
"Shin, y-you're here?"
"You're the one who invited , but now that I'm here, you seem even more nervous."
Shin watched her with amusent.
"Oh? Is this one of Bocchi's friends?"
Ijichi Nijika, who was standing nearby, noticed Gotou Hitori's reaction to Shin and ca over, a bit surprised.
"Hello! Are you Shin? I'm Ijichi Nijika, Bocchi's bandmate."
"Nice to et you, and thanks for taking care of Bocchi."
Shin nodded to Ijichi Nijika, speaking as though he were close to Gotou Hitori—despite only having t her the day before.
Ijichi Nijika was a cute, outgoing girl, a stark contrast to Gotou Hitori's shy nature. It was likely thanks to Nijika's personality that she was able to bring Gotou into the band. Without her, who knew what path Gotou's future would have taken.
"You and Bocchi seem pretty close. Are you from the sa school?" Nijika's gaze alternated between Shin and Gotou Hitori, with a look of surprise in her eyes.
She probably hadn't expected soone like Gotou to have a friend at school, though the thought was a bit impolite.
"Y-Yes… we even had lunch together today," Gotou replied timidly, glancing behind Shin now and then, likely checking if he'd brought anyone else. Fortunately, he'd co alone, without any scary "gangster" friends.
"Well, isn't that nice? Bocchi can make friends if she tries!" Nijika's tone lifted, finding it a big deal for Gotou to have shared a al with soone.
It was a small step for a popular person but a huge leap for Gotou Hitori.
"Really…?"
Gotou scratched the back of her head with a slightly embarrassed smile. In truth, Shin had nearly forced her to join him on the rooftop for lunch. But hearing Nijika say this… Eating with soone did feel like a social achievent.
Could it be that I, Gotou Hitori, am becoming popular?
As this thought excited her, Nijika spoke up.
"Since you're Bocchi's friend, why don't we exchange contact info?"
Gotou froze. Turning, she saw Nijika taking out her phone to exchange contacts with Shin. After getting his information, Nijika smiled brightly.
"This is my first ti getting a guy's contact info!"
"!"
Gotou's newfound confidence deflated. Was this what real social life looked like—exchanging contact information so easily?
Thinking back to when she'd exchanged contacts with Shin, it had been entirely on his insistence. She felt silly for even briefly thinking she was socially capable.
"Bocchi will be working here from now on, and our band will also be practicing here," Nijika continued, oblivious to Gotou's fading expression. She smiled and said to Shin, "You're welco to drop by anyti if you're free."
"I'll try to if I can," Shin replied, nodding. Before, he wouldn't have had the spare money to hang out and listen to bands. But now that he was no longer short on funds, he could agree, knowing it wouldn't be a big expense.
"Is your band fully staffed?" Shin rembered that the original band in the story had four mbers, including Nijika, Gotou, and two others—Yamada Ryou and Kita Ikuyo.
However, Kita Ikuyo joined later, and he wasn't sure if she'd joined yet.
"We have a bassist, but she's not here today. We'll introduce you soti," Nijika replied, a bit troubled. "But we're still short a lead singer. We had one lined up, but she ran off due to so issues, so we're still looking."
"If you know anyone who might be interested, please recomnd them to us," she added, clasping her hands in a pleading gesture.
It seed Kita Ikuyo had yet to cross paths with Gotou Hitori.
To be continued…
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