Chapter Text
“Bocchi, please. I’ll pay you back this time, I promise”
“Ryo, stop trying to steal Bocchi-chan’s money!” Nijika said as she lifted her hand and flicked Ryo’s forehead.
“You wound me.” Ryo replied, feigning injury.
Bocchi sat there, observing the whole ordeal, knowing that she would probably cave and lend (rather, give) Ryo the money anyway. Money wasn’t necessarily an issue for Bocchi, the US Department of Defense already made sure of that. Her only concern was whether or not she was deep enough in her role as Gotoh Hitori; second year student at Shuka High.
“You can borrow my money, Ryo-san!” Kita said excitedly.
“Glad to see someone still cares about me. Thanks, Ikuyo,” The Brokie responded as she took the cash from Kita’s hand.
“Maybe you’d have your own money if you didn’t spend it all on those basses, why do you even need so many? It’s not like they’re gonna run out.”
“You can never have too many, Nijika. Respectfully, lock in.”
Bocchi let out a small huff, not so much because of the joke, but because of the absurdity and immaturity required to say such a thing. Nijika’s face softened at the sound, and Ryo’s smile deepened knowing she just got away with her leeching tendencies again. The moments in which Bocchi let out a genuine laugh were few and far between, a mere consequence of her extreme social anxiety and overall inability to enjoy herself in public.
“Bocchi-chan, what do you want to do now?”
“Ah…I’m not sure, can’t one of you choose instead?” Bocchi asked quietly, avoiding eye contact. Nijika just smiled and gave a quick nod, at which Bocchi visibly relaxed.
Maintaining her act as a horribly shy high school girl was a task in itself, but the grace given by the other members in the band made it significantly easier. Thinking of the kindness of her friends in the band reminded Bocchi that the other operators in her team had planned a sort of meet-up that night at a Karaoke bar. It wasn’t too out of the ordinary for five high school students to hang out outside of school, especially somewhere as popular as a Karaoke bar. Bocchi looked at her phone; it was 5:22—she and the others were meeting outside of Akasaka station at 6:00. She could still make the bus if she left now, so she shifted her attention back to the others, who now seemed to be debating whether or not throwing signed chairs at the audience was considered “rock,” Bocchi considered it painful.
“Um…hey guys, my mom says she’s starting dinner and that I should come home now. I think I’m going to walk to the station now. Um, thank you for today!” Bocchi said, bowing formally before turning around. She began walking until a hand caught her sleeve.
“Hey, do you want us to walk you to the station?” Nijika asked.
“No, that’s really alright, I have to go quickly so I don’t miss the train.”
“Okay, we’ll see you at practice on Thursday!” Nijika replied, waving.
“Bye Gotoh-san,” Kita followed. Ryo nodded as a farewell.
Bocchi surprised herself by how easily she could lie.
Her "family" didn't exist—not really. They were merely retired military and military dependents who had volunteered for the operation and had passed extensive vetting. Upon acceptance, they moved from the Okinawa military base to Yokohama. To everyone else, they were the Gotohs, an average family from the port-town south of Tokyo. No one could know this operation existed. No one knew the team existed, those who did were no ones anyway—at least as long as they were part of Seal Team 6.
Bocchi continued walking until she was out of sight, then changed her course to the bus stop rather than the train station. She wasn’t leaving Tokyo so it was faster to take the bus anyway.
When she arrived at the bus stop, she still had a few minutes. All of which she spent texting her team members about why cross-breeding a vulture and a crocodile would not create a dragon, despite their insistence.
As the bus arrived and the argument drew into a stalemate (somehow), Bocchi put her earbuds in, stepped onto the bus, and took a seat in the back corner where she could see everything—just in case.
As she pressed play, Shimokitazawa faded to background noise – as did the pressure of maintaining a life that wasn’t hers. ‘Only two more months of this and then I get reassigned to a more stable role.’ She thought, reminding herself that living unremarkably, vaguely, and untraceably wasn’t permanent. Though she felt bad for her fellow bandmates, as their guitarist, Gotoh Hitori, wasn’t real. Nor was their friendship, their memories, their promises, or their future. Bocchi almost felt bad for deceiving them. Almost.
Their feelings were merely a sacrifice for the greater good. Besides, her getting involved with other teens while doing teen-like behaviors was good for her cover. The closer she got to the band, the more believable her life as Hitori became—and the more lies she'd have to come up with. Bocchi was Gotoh Hitori, she was nothing before and she would be nothing after, as always. No one knew she’d disappear one random day and never come back – and again, those who did were nobodies anyway. The band would most likely regard her as a disloyal asshole and forget about her, maybe write an angry song – but they’d move on and find a new guitarist. Especially with someone as popular as Kita, someone as cool as Ryo, and someone as nice as Nijika.
‘Ah, speaking of Nijika, the dream she shared with me. The fact she trusted me enough to share—I’m not sure if I’m up for this. All of my previous missions involved getting involved with adults or criminals. I don’t know if I have the guts to play with the feelings of some teenagers; the feelings of innocent people, let alone people the same age as me. However! This plan is bigger than all of us, all of them for that matter. It’s a small price to pay to finally capture Kachiyama Tanuki (or at least make him disappear). Yet–’
Before her spiral could begin, the bus reached her stop.