Chapter Text
Bocchi, also known officially as Hitori Gotoh, cared deeply for those around her. Her friends, her family, heck, even her fans. But at the end of the day, she had always seen love as impossible. Not because she was a poor girlfriend, god no, but because she believed she could never fall in love on her own premonition. Which didn't explain the sort of... tension she had felt between her and one of her best friends, Ikuyo Kita. There was no hatred behind it, that would ruin the band as a whole, but she just felt... closer to her than she did with the other members. With Ryo, she saw her as the older sister, the one that seemed so mysterious, so distant, but so close, so near. With Nijika, she saw her as the leading figure, the one to look up to, the one that she saw as her source for inspiration. So what did she feel for Kita? While she was still deep in thought, she could hear a familiar voice calling her.
"Hello? Bocchi-chan? Bocchi? Oh you know what, screw it. Gotoh-san?"
"Huh?! O-Oh sorry, Kita-chan, I was thinking."
"Thinking? About what?"
"I-It's nothing. I promise." Bocchi knew it was a lie, and so did Kita, but she didn't push it.
"Oh, ok. We should probably go back to the others."
As they indecisively made their way back, they got a few looks from the other two.
"You two took forever in there!" Cried the blonde, Nijika, while Ryo looked between the two of the other girls.
"Probably kissing." This earned a smack on the head from Nijika, who made a remark about how she was the abused one between the two girls.
"Ryo! Control yourself! I hardly think that's the case." She sighed, turning to face the red-haired girl and the pinkette. "Anyway, I'm just glad you're here now. We need to discuss our next band activity."
"Oh! A new band activity! I hope it's fun!" Kita's over-the-top charm seemed to radiate everywhere, making the blonde chuckle.
"That's the spirit we're looking for. Let me get this over with. So essentially, we're gonna be practicing dates." There was an air of silence between them, to which Nijika finished speaking. "Well, if we get famous, then we're probably gonna fall in love. So, I decided that we should try and pretend to date."
"Nijika, is this an attempt to pretend we're dating again? Or do you just wanna see the other two dating?" Ryo was smacked again, to which she made a sarcastic remark about.
"Ryo! Shut up! It's just practice! Anyway, we'll have a week to pick our person. I would have made it be between us members, but due to recent tensions." She turned to Ryo, who made a remark about how Nijika explicitly stated she just wanted to test the waters of lesbianism, before turning back, "I thought it would not be fit for this. Any questions?"
"What if we don't?" Ryo had a small smirk on her face, knowing how to push Nijika's buttons exactly.
"Ryo..." She scoffed, unable to fathom her questions. "I-I don't know, ok? I had this whole plan in mind-"
"What, that you'd make Guitar and Vocals kiss?" Ryo leaned to really look at Nijika, trying to look all innocent.
"Ryo, shut up!" Nijika smacked Ryo on the head for the third time in an hour, to the point where the blue-haired girl muttered "worth it" under her breath. "If you can't find anyone, then... y-you can try again, or you can just not partake."
Seika, meanwhile, was watching their antics, muttering to herself about how the four of them have such distinct personalities.
"She's just like you, huh?" PA-San's voice cut through her thoughts, snapping her into reality again.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Your sister."
"No shit, we're related."
"Not like that. Like, you'll have this whole plan set out in your mind, but you'll start to break down when the flaws are shown."
"What does that even mean?"
"Seika. You know what that means. I know what that means. Heck, even the pink one knows what that means, and she's barely here mentally. There's nothing wrong with it. It's quite cute if you ask me...~" That last remark was exclusively made to piss Seika off, but the blush made it all worth it.
"Shut up! I swear to god, you're lucky I haven't docked your pay yet..." Seika paused for a moment, really focusing on the remark about Hitori. "Huh... I guess you're right. She isn't fully there."
Just then, Kita's voice rose up. "Wait... wouldn't it be easier if we paired up instead? I don't think some of us have a good chance..."
"Hmm... That would work. But me and Ryo are..."
"Right, right. That would be a little tense. Did you have someone in mind then, Nijika?"
"Mhm. Me and this guy have been talking for a few weeks-"
"You like boys, Nijika?!"
Ryo's voice, a surprising one of reason, spoke up. "Yeah. She does. It's like 90% of her conversations involving romance. 'I'm not gay but I support!', or... wait no, that's the only one. Why, did you think we all liked girls?"
"Well I do, and Bocchi-chan... definitely doesn't like guys, and you're... you, so I just took us all as lesbians. Or some variant of it. How come you and Nijika were-"
"She wanted to see if she was a lesbian. I just wanted to not have to pay for food. She's really nice. She just doesn't like girls."
"Back to the boy. We've been talking for a few weeks, a week after I realised I did only like boys, and it just seems right for me and him to go out together." Nijika shut the talk about her dating habits for now. "So, Kita, you got anyone in mind?"
"Nope. Not really. I just thought I'd run pairs by you and see how you'd find it."
"So for Bocchi-chan..."
"You wanna go with her, Kita?"
"Why not? I don't know if she'd find anyone."
Bocchi had noped out by now, as she usually did when romance was involved. Ryo knew this, as she had basically summarised it for the pinkette over text. Ryo was always reliable like that, knowing Bocchi's traits surprisingly well despite the both of them rarely speaking, aside from their discussions about lyrics.
As the meeting came to an end, along with the day, Bocchi and Kita were well on their way, walking home as Kita spoke to her about their discussions, and how Nijika is straight. Bocchi knew this, since she had that no-nonsense, boy liking vibe to her. But Kita kept going, and going, and going. Until Bocchi caught her ears on another tidbit of her rant.
"And then I said I'd go with you since I didn't think you'd find someone! Not that you can't or anything. It just makes it easier. You understand, right?" Bocchi knew damn well she understood. She didn't know what to say though. She had been listening intently on the girl's rant, and how they were doing fake dates for practice. So why did Hitori feel so... good after she said that? She didn't like her. Not in her mind. There is no way. I mean, how?
As Bocchi started to get into her bed, reflecting on that night, she mulled over what Ryo said to her over text. "You're with Kita, first fake date is Monday next week. Lyrics talk is still next week. Not forgetting about that. 3pm Tuesday." It was so... basic, but it worked so well. But she knew it wasn't about Ryo, it was about Kita. And the last thought she had before sleeping was how weird it all was.