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I’ll bring my guitar with me to school each day! That’ll make me popular in no time!
Gotou Hitori blissfully reminisced about her days before starting middle school. Long hours and long days of learning and practicing the guitar were finally going to be rewarded. She’ll be asked to join a band in no time! She’ll make so many friends she won’t even have time to hang out with all of them! Her loner persona that plagued her throughout elementary school will finally end and she will be reborn anew!
“My “ seishun ” phase is here!!!”, she cried out in her room the night before her first day. ..
.
.
Or it should’ve been. Instead, Hitori would spend the complete duration of middle school (three years) joining no bands, meeting no new people, and continuing to be a loner that would only ever speak when spoken to; which in most cases would only be talking to her family.
Where did it go wrong? she wondered as she took another bite of the bento her mom made her before school.
At least I’m not eating lunch with the teachers anymore. She had at least made progress in that field. Gotou Hitori, 15 years of age, now eats her lunch alone in the school library.
Was that really an improvement though?
—-----------------
‘Time flies quicker than you think’ is a statement that proved truer than Hitori could’ve imagined. Three years passed in a blink of an eye and her progress to achieving her dream was the same as when she started. At the starting line; not even taken off yet. In fact, with her now new distaste for school and anything remotely related to ‘youth’, the starting line for the young girl's dream was probably a small, unrecognizable dot.
At least I found fame in the online world. And did she ever. Hitori didn’t think uploading covers of popular J-Rock songs would get her any sort of fame and popularity but accumulating thirty thousand subscribers in just three years had to be something worth celebrating.
“Maybe I’ll upload a video tonight to celebrate” she said to herself as she sat in the park of Shimo-Kitazawa, letting the time pass before she went home. She, at very least, wanted to keep up the illusion to her family that she had after school activities. Just as she put away her phone and was getting ready to leave-
“GUITAR!!!!!” someone yelled out.
Hitori looked up at the direction the voice came from. Standing there, a few dozen meters away, was a blonde-haired girl that looked around her age; a high-school student like her perhaps?.The young guitarist didn't have much time to ponder over that thought as the girl was rushing towards her. Her heart was beating louder as the distance between them was shrinking with each step.
Oh god, what did she do? The blonde girl said “guitar” right? Obviously referring to the musical instrument strapped to her backside. Was this guitar stolen? No it couldn’t have been; she got this from her dad! But where did he get it? Maybe he stole it from somewhere - or someone - and this girl was looking for justice! Is she gonna suffer from the sins of the father? Hitori was too young for jail.
“That’s a guitar, right? Can you play?”
Her spiraling train of thought was stopped as she realized the person that was approaching her was now directly in front of her, speaking.
In her head, the version of Gotou Hitori calmly replied “Yes, I do play guitar.” Unfortunately, the current Hitori could only reply in faint gasps and noises that almost sounded like dry heaves. A true testament to the amount of time that she spent not talking to anyone outside of her own family.
Collecting herself -while avoiding the concerned eyes of the blonde stranger- Hitori took a chance to get a quick glimpse of the young girl standing in front of her. The oversized ribbon tied around her neck like a choker was the first thing she noticed. Can she breathe okay?
She wasn’t wearing a school uniform but Hitori could see the straps of a backpack on top of her shoulders. Her stylish green jacket and red boots gave off a vibe of a youth that keeps up with current fashion trends.
In other words, someone Hitori couldn’t imagine hanging out with.
The blonde, noticing that the guitarist wasn’t making weird noises anymore, introduced herself. “Sorry to ambush you all of a sudden. My name is Ijichi Nijika. I’m a second-year student at Shimo-Kitazawa High School”.
So she is a student. And older than me too.
“G-Gotou Hitori. Shuka High School. First-year,” Hitori introduced herself in bullet-point fashion. The contrast in both of their self-introductions was so vast it made the guitarist almost weep in self-pity. She finally had someone approach her to talk about music; something she had hoped and dreamed (mostly fantasized) for years now. Could she be any less cool? Could she be any less of a loser? Could she be-
“Anyway, Hitori-chan,” The blonde girl, Nijika, began talking to her
Ba-bump
Her heart almost leapt out of her chest and her body started shaking as if a small bolt of electricity was running through it like a current.
“Hitori-chan”
Hitori…
Her name
How long has it been since someone-outside of family and teachers- had called her that?
“Gotou-san.”“Hey you.” “Oi.” “Excuse me.” Those were all names she was familiar with, and heard time and time again throughout her duration of middle school. She had long since abandoned the idea of ever being that familiar with someone to be a on a first name basis with, let alone someone her own age,
Just how long had it been…?
“How good are you at gui- h-hey Are you okay? Your body looks like it’s shivering.” Nijika asked worriedly. She began to approach her again. “Do you want to sit down, Hitori-chan?”
Ba-bump
There it was again.
Twice in one day; in one conversation even.
The reply of “Yes I’m fine” didn’t quite exit her lips. Instead, the sounds that came out were things that Hitori didn’t think a normal human voice was capable of naturally making. Judging from the concerned - and frightened - look on Nijika’s face, she was thinking something very similar.
—-----------------
Three years it took for someone to approach her.
And all but three minutes for her to screw it up spectacularly, Hitori thought as she drank from her freshly bought bottle of water.
After the guitarist recovered from her unexpected panic attack, Nijika ended up going to a nearby convenience store to get her a cold drink to calm her down. Hitori contemplated going home, to save her from further embarrassment, but ended up staying. She couldn’t possibly ditch her new companion after being shown so much concern.
Gathering the energy to start speaking, “T-Thank you for buying me the water.” She couldn’t quite make eye contact. “I’ll make sure to pay you back.” She was back to sitting on the swings; Hitori occupying one, and Nijika the other..
Nijika finished taking a sip from the bottle she bought for herself in addition to the one she bought for the pink-haired guitarist. “Don’t worry about it! I’m just glad that you’re well enough to talk now! Are you sure you’re alright though?” she asked.
“Y-yeah. I was just caught off guard.” Hitori replied. Fumbling around with the bottle in her hands out of nervousness.
“From what? Me asking you about your guitar skills?” Nijika asked again.
Did she ask me that? “N-no. It’s just..hearing my first name like that kinda....” Too embarrassed to finish her confession, Hitori took a chance to look at the girl through her peripheral vision, hoping she got the jist of what she was trying to convey
Nijika didn’t seem to get it though. “Oh, are you just shy about it? I think it’s a cute name though. Is it spelled in a cool way?” she inquired.
“Ah no, it’s just spelled how it sounds, (One person).” Hitori’s gloom seemed to rise as she stated that fact.
“O-oh,” Nijika replied awkwardly. “W-well that isn’t anything to be shy over. It’s actually kind of cool. And kinda interesting. I wonder if next you’re probably gonna tell me you have a younger sibling named Futari (Two people).” she trailed off into a small laugh.
“I do have a younger sibling and her name is Futari”
Nijika’s laughter died out slowly and painfully before she turned over to the track-suit wearing girl “Seriously?”
Nod Nod
“Wow. those are some…interesting names your parents came up with” Nijika said trying her best to remedy her insensitive comment. Her use of the word interesting felt like it had a different meaning this time.
Interesting is one way to put it, Hitori thought once again escaping to her own delusions. She knew the truth though. The Gotou parents were in fact prophets who could see in to the future. They would know that their first born daughter would live a life filled with nothing but solitude and loneliness and gave her a name fitting of such a destiny.
Meanwhile, her sister- a decade younger than her - would grow up prosperous and successful. Never would Futari fantasize for years about making friends. She would do so with natural born charisma and appeal.
The fate of the Gotou sister’s was set in stone from the start. That’s right, it wasn't her fault she’s a loner; it was all her parent’s fault. Hitori would show them. She was never going to move out of their house. She’ll eat up their expenses, waste their power playing on her laptop instead of looking for work. She’ll live forever in her closet until they bag her and tag her.
They’ll be powerless to stop me , Hitori began laughing to herself, as she usually does when she’s by herself, thinking about her future plans.
“Uh, are you okay?” Nijika asked for what seemed like the fifth time in the last thirty minutes.
“Yesimfine.” she quickly responded; reminded that today, she was not by herself.
“Alright then..”
This girl has the patience of a saint.
“Um..how is your name spelled, Ijichi-san?” Hitori asked, hoping to direct the conversation away from herself.
“Oh, the Niji is from ‘Rainbow’ and the ka is from ‘Summer’!” Nijika replied cheerfully.
“That’s a nice name..”, Hitori mumbled, bitterly wishing she had a name that was as pretty.
“Haha, thank you!” Nijika chuckled with a bashful grin on her face. Hitori couldn’t help but think her name complimented her looks really well.
“You know, another guitarist in my band also has a weird complex about her first name. Maybe it’s a new trend or something?” Nijika commented, looking up at the clouds as if in reminiscence.
“Uh maybe. I don’t really keep up with- wait you’re in a band?” The part caught Hitori’s attention.
“Oh Right!! That’s what I was trying to ask you in the first place!!” Nijika excitedly got out of her seat on the swings and once again positioned herself in front of the guitarist. “We’re set to perform at a live house in a couple of hours. And that guitarist I was talking about bailed out on us, So I was hoping, if it’s not too much trouble, you could fill in for her as a supporting guitarist!” she finished with a deep bow.
Hitori hoped it wasn’t physically possible to see her brain beginning to malfunction at the blonde’s request. Joining a band? That’s all she ever wanted. But the young guitarist wasn’t even a little bit prepared to do it right now. Could she play the song? Could she learn the chords? Could she memorize the lyrics? Oh God, what if they want her to sing?
“Don’t worry. We’re just playing instruments so there’s no singing.” Nijika assured. She wasn’t a mind reader was she? But if there was no singing..
Her thought was cut-off short as Nijika grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her off the swing set and onto her feet. “Thanks! Let’s go to the live house!” Nijika said with newfound determination as she began dragging the hesitant first-year to the live venue.
I haven’t even said anything yet!! She still had many reservations that she wanted to voice out loud; but one thing kept for revealing any of them. This was a chance that would most likely never occur again if she were to turn it down right now. Her father told her that miracles don’t happen twice. If she were to not take this opportunity that came to her today , when would she ever?
Her starting line…
“Ijichi-san, I-I can walk on my own.” Hitori muttered meekly but loud enough for her companion to hear.
“Oh sure. Sorry about that, I got a little too excited. You have no idea how much you’re saving me right now.” Nijika apologized, letting go of Hitori’s wrist as they both walked comfortably to a destination the latter girl has never visited.
”By the way,” Nijika began, turning around without messing up her pace. “You don’t have to be so formal with me. You can just call me by my first name.”
“Eh? But you’re a year older..” Hitori stated. She didn’t want to ruin anything by being disrespectful.
“Well yeah, but to be honest with you, I don’t care about that personally.” Nijika admitted. “I mean, I’m always respectful towards my senpai’s but I feel it’s easier this way, don't you?”
“Easier?”
Nijika flashed a smile that captivated Hitori. “To be friends, of course!”
Friends…
Wanting to join a band to achieve fame, popularity, and worldwide success.
But to also-
For the first time in her life..
“I..I would like that, also”, Hitori said with a shaky voice, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and forming a genuine smile.
“That’s great! It’s nice to meet you, Hitori-chan! We never actually said that during our introduction, did we?” Nijika laughed, turning away from Hitori to face the busy street of Shimo-Kitazawa as they continued walking towards their destination.
Her starting line…
“Nice to meet you too,....Nijika-chan.”
Her first step…
—-----------------