Work Text:
Hitori Gotou, otherwise known as Bocchi, steeled herself for another day of work at the live house. She stood at the top of the staircase leading to Starry's entrance, taking a deep breath in one last attempt to hype herself up.
She clutched her fist and looked at it, I can do it! Today, I’ll be even more outgoing than- Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on her shoulder. Her mind immediately speedran its way into the only logical scenario.
A customer got tired of me standing here and ruining the atmosphere... They’re going to file a complaint and get me fired! She could already imagine it.
Nijika’s sister would turn her head away with a scoff, “We can’t have someone as boring as you working here. Get out, and never come back!” She would then proceed to leave, utterly depressed but too awkward to let her tears fall.
A triangle-shaped ahoge would twitch from its position, spying on her from behind the counter. “Bocchi’s getting fired? I guess that means we have to kick her out of the band.”
And then she’d be forced to go to school, except she’d be too shy to get a job once she got older. Then, she’d turn into a shut-in at her parents’ house, watching her sister grow up and become somebody while she wallowed in her own socially awkward mess.
Her worries were immediately washed away by the bright, cheery voice that greeted her, “Darling!” The vocalist of their band, Kita Ikuyo, latched onto her from behind with a blinding smile.
Hitori breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, it’s just you, Kita-san.” Normally, the surprise hug from her girlfriend would leave her in a mess of ecstasy and embarrassment. However, after the mid-life crisis she had just gone through at age sixteen, this was a perfectly acceptable alternative.
“What do you mean just me? Come on, we have to get to work!” Kita grabbed her hand and started dragging her down the staircase.
Now that the crisis had blown over, she allowed a red blush to form on her face.
My ten minutes of hyping myself up were for nothing... She cried internally.
----- An Hour Later-----
Nijika, the blonde-haired drummer, turned to Bocchi as they both ran the snack bar, “I have to use the restroom, will you be fine serving drinks by yourself?” She asked.
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, “S-sure...” She agreed nonetheless.
Nijika could sense her uncertainty, “Don’t worry. The band’s song just started; you shouldn’t have to deal with too many people.” She tried to reassure.
Oh, how wrong she was.
“Can I have a medium cola?”
“Just a water for me.”
“Do you have orange juice?”
“I’d like an energy drink!” The orders were being launched at her from every angle. She couldn’t escape the responsibility of doing her job, yet she felt herself beginning to crumble in the face of the customer wave.
Do we even sell energy drinks?
However, there might have been a light at the end of the tunnel. She noticed Ryo scrolling through her phone at the reception desk. As she wasn’t doing anything, surely she could replace Nijika for just a few minutes, right?
As she placed a cup under the drink fountain and waited for it to fill, she quickly whipped out her phone and quickly shot a text to the blue-haired bassist.
Ryo, help me! She pressed send without hesitation.
Wait, have I ever been able to send a text to someone so easily before? She suddenly wondered. Usually, she would spend up to hours just trying to send a decent text to them, not to mention the time it took her to build up the willpower to actually hit send.
“I really am making a lot of progress, hehe...” However, she soon realized her mistake and spun around to see Ryo’s reaction.
Please, Ryo!
Ryo’s eyes squinted at the notification that popped up on her screen, a smirk forming on her face. She turned and made eye contact with the shy guitarist...
And gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.
Another worst-case scenario, life ruining thought played out in her mind in only a fraction of a second.
I-I can’t do this!
“Girlfriend to the rescue!” Kita shoved the door open forcefully and swiped the now full cup of cola, quickly snapping a lid onto it and rushing to the counter.
“Here you are! And I’ll be right back with your water, sir!” She dashed back and forth, effortlessly taking care of the mob while Hitori did her best to help. However, several thoughts ran through her head.
She remembered all of their orders? But she was cleaning on the other side of the building...
Thank you, Kita-san.
I think the next one was an energy drink? No-one's ever asked for one before... I don’t even know where we keep them... She rushed over and swung open the refrigerator, trying to keep up with the orders so her girlfriend wouldn’t be forced to deal with them all on her own.
Her eyes scanned the cooling box, darting back and forth in a vain attempt to secure the missing order.
She felt a blinding aura suddenly resonating from beside her.
“The energy drinks are in the bottom drawer, babe.” Kita informed.
That’s when the most pressing thought made its way to the forefront of her mind.
B-babe?! She just said that in front of everyone!
Kita Ikuyo, vocalist of Kessoku Band, and girlfriend of Hitori Gotou. She had a habit of not caring about other people hearing her conversations, and a habit of calling her by a different nickname almost every time she addressed her.
It was a dream come true, but also extremely embarrassing for an introvert like herself.
As she did her best to help the red-haired vocalist with handing out orders, she couldn’t help but think back...
It began almost the second their relationship had formed.
In the middle of their usual guitar practice, Hitori said, “K-Kita-san... we can’t go on as band members if I don’t t-tell you about my real... f-feelings.” It took the power of every life she would ever have to not keel over into a pile of Bocchi goo. But she knew that things couldn’t continue if she didn’t put her feelings out there.
“Your real... feelings?” The vocalist felt her own cheeks reddening, although to a much lesser extent than Hitori’s.
“I-I... love... you.” Hitori confessed, every joint in her body fidgeting as time slowed down an infinite number of times over while waiting for her response.
A happy squeal projected from the extrovert, “I love you too, Hitori-chan!”
“I know that you already have a thing for Ryo-senpai, but I just wanted to get my feelings out there so that we could function as a band.” She didn’t listen.
Kita’s head turned in confusion.
Bocchi continued to rant on, “In fact, you’re probably g-grossed out by a lowly water-flea like me having feelings for you. I shouldn’t have s-said anything. No, no. The band’s going to b-break up because of me!” She mumbled.
“Hey, stop saying that stuff!” Kita interrupted, “Nobody thinks you’re gross. I just said I love you too!”
“...Huh?” Hitori wasn’t sure she heard that right.
“I might’ve used to like Ryo-senpai. But things changed, I like you now!” The rest of the confession continued. With a few blushes, sorting out feelings, and maybe even a kiss, they officially got together.
Hitori glanced at her phone, “We should probably get going to Starry.”
Kita pouted, “But I want to stay here with you...” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around the other guitarist.
Hitori nearly melted into a needy mess, but her girlfriend’s next words threw her for an eternal, never-ending loop.
“We have to go on a date after work, okay, my beloved?”
Bocchi.exe froze for so long that they were late to work that day.
“S-sweetie, I really need that drink.” Kita broke her out of her recollective trance.
“S-sorry...” Gotou quickly snatched the drink and handed it to her.
She just did it again!
“...Ehehe.” She giggled in self-absorbed glee.
It was always a mix of embarrassment and adoration. She had no reason to be upset by it, however...
Later that day, she struggled to reach for a bottle of water she left on top of the fridge.
“Kita saves the day once again!” The vocalist rushed in and leaned onto the furthest tips of her toes, barely managing to pull the bottle with the end of her fingertips and allowing it to fall into her hands.
“Th-thank you, Kita-san.” Hitori reluctantly showed her gratitude.
She’s only a couple centimeters taller than me!
“No problem, cutie!”
Her heart beat with the power of a thousand earthquakes.
“Cut it out, lovebirds.” Nijika teased as she strolled by with a broom.
Hitori’s face took a shade of crimson.
And only twenty minutes later, it happened again.
The live house was closed at that point, and they all decided to practice together before heading home. She was tuning her guitar when her pick slid off her knees and somehow managed to bounce right to her girlfriend’s shoes.
Kita picked up the pick and looked around, quickly noticing Hitori looking at her. She smiled, leaning her guitar against the side of the chair and making her way over.
“Here you go, honey!” She left the pick in Hitori’s palm and returned to her chair.
To put it simply, her heart couldn’t take it. And she could swear that her girlfriend got a kick out of her reactions.
She might’ve collapsed into a passionate mess every time it happened, but that didn’t mean she would just sit there and take it!
Her phone pinged, a notification from Kita displaying on her lock screen.
K: We should go to a café after this bby!
She slapped her phone to her thigh, doing anything to stop the blush forming on her face. Kita giggled in turn.
Maybe there wasn’t a way to fight against it.
-----Thirty Minutes Later-----
“All right, see ya’!” Kita waved goodbye to the band, taking Hitori’s hand in her own and dragging her away.
“Those two...” Nijika sighed, then smiled.
Kita ended up dragging her to what she considered a “trendy” café. They sat down, ordered their drinks, and did normal date things. However, Hitori wasn’t completely homed in on their conversation.
Just once, she wanted to make her girlfriend flustered just once! She wanted to get her back for all the times she made her heart forcefully skip a beat, in the embarrassed sense, that is.
“And so, I was trying to tell them that it was a bad idea, but they just wouldn’t listen!” Kita exclaimed as she described one of her endless life experiences.
“Uh huh...” Hitori gave the minimum response as her mind kept trying to form a plan.
It would be so easy if I could just find something she’s insecure about...
“Dear, is everything all right?” Kita asked in concern.
Wait... something she’s insecure about...
”H-huh? Sorry, I was s-spacing out a bit...” She admitted.
Kita just smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it. Though, you’ve been kinda’ spacy all day, are you sure everything’s okay?”
There is one thing...
She felt bad about what she was about to do, but this was her only chance!
“N-no. Don’t worry about it... Ikuyo-chan .” She mumbled the last half.
Kita froze for a second, she wasn’t sure if she heard that correctly. “H-huh?”
A slight smirk etched itself onto the pink-haired guitarist’s face, “I said everything is fine, Ikuyo-chan!” Her attack was only slightly mitigated by her own embarrassment showing on her face.
“... Ikuyo-chan...” Kita’s face burned in a similar fashion.
Did I do it? Have I won? Gotou studied her girlfriend’s every minute reaction.
Her smirk faded as Ikuyo giggled, “I was expecting it to be embarrassing, but I really love hearing it from you, my lovely!”
The counterattack was super effective, making Bocchi explode into an embarrassed fit. She collapsed into her booth seat, realizing that she had set the difficulty to impossible mode by choosing Kita Ikuyo as her girlfriend.
She looked up to see Kita’s smile once more, a matching expression forcing itself onto her.
Maybe I can accept defeat.