Hitori Gotoh was nervous.
No—saying "a little" would be a lie. She was terrified.
In all her life, this was the first time she'd ever cooked for someone else.
And the moment she imagined her clumsy handiwork actually going into someone's mouth…
Her heart started itching and stinging, like it was being scratched by a cat's paw and bitten by ants at the same time. She couldn't calm down at all.
I should've learned properly from Mom back then…
If Goto-san thinks it tastes bad, I'll probably never dare step into a kitchen again for the rest of my life…
And seriously, why did I get carried away and decide to cook in the first place? Was it because I wanted to show off a little in front of Goto-san? Because I didn't want to just eat his food and drink his drinks for free, and I wanted to do at least something I can manage?
But even if that's the reason… what if I mess it up?
I already apologized earlier, but if it's genuinely awful, apologizing won't be enough, right? Is there… some other way to atone…?
Hitori's mind was running at full speed.
But no matter how hard she burned through brain cells, she couldn't come up with a good answer.
All she could do was watch as Goto Doku picked up the tamagoyaki she'd made and brought it to his mouth—while her heart pounded so violently it felt like it might burst out of her chest.
"Um… Bocchi."
"Ah! Y-Yes…!!"
Hitori squeezed her eyes shut and sprang up from her chair.
"Don't panic, Bocchi… calm down. I'm not scolding you," Doku said in a fluster, hands waving. "I just want to talk to you normally. Really!"
Hearing that, Hitori—who had mentally exiled herself to some unknown corner of the universe—finally snapped back to reality.
Like a little hamster, she obediently sat back down, but she still didn't dare lift her head and meet his eyes.
"…I-I-I-I'm listening…! Please, go ahead!"
"Well…"
Doku let out a breath, silently organized his thoughts, and only when he knew what to say did he speak again.
"If you don't mind, Bocchi… you can cook more often in the future. I think what you made is really delicious. Honestly, you've got more talent than I did back then."
"A-Ah—no, I'm not saying you should do all the cooking from now on. That would be too hard on you. I'll help too. Or… we can set certain days and take turns."
It's delicious…
And I have talent…?
Huh?
Goto-san… is he talking about me?
Hitori blinked a few times, half-convinced she'd misheard.
But when she finally dared to glance up and saw Doku wearing the same nervous expression she felt on her own face, she realized she hadn't imagined it.
Goto Doku was actually praising her.
He'd even said he wanted her to cook again in the future.
In other words—he'd acknowledged her cooking…!
I can be useful to Goto-san…!
"W-Well… it's not that amazing, really… ehehe…"
She scratched the back of her head shyly.
At first she tried to be modest, but after that she didn't even pretend anymore—she looked like someone who'd been completely "hooked" by a compliment.
"If it's all up to you, that's just too much trouble, Bocchi." Doku shook his head. "I know you don't want to be a burden to me… but I also don't want to be a burden to you…"
"Sorry. I don't really know how to describe what I mean exactly… it's just… I feel like you still haven't fully processed everything… or something."
"I saw a movie once. The main character lost his wife in a car accident, but he didn't feel sad at all. He thought it meant he didn't love her. But later he realized it wasn't that he didn't love her—he was too sad, and his brain triggered a protective mechanism."
Doku ended up talking a lot again.
Even he didn't know why. Normally, even saying "good morning" to someone took effort.
But in front of Hitori, he didn't have all those messy worries. He could just say what he wanted to say—everything, in one breath.
That closeness, difficult to put into words, had quietly become a bridge connecting him and her.
Following that bridge, Doku looked into Hitori's dazed eyes.
"I think you might be in that kind of state right now, Bocchi."
"I tried to imagine how painful it would be if I were you. Showing up in another world without any warning, without saying goodbye to anyone… not knowing if you'll ever go back… Just thinking about that makes it hard to breathe."
"That's why I want to take care of you as much as I can. It's the only thing I can do for you. No matter how much it costs, no matter how exhausting the work is—if it makes you feel even a little better, I'm willing to do it… That's what I thought."
As he spoke, his eyes slowly turned red again.
"But then I came home and saw you cooking for me. This is the first time in my life a friend has made food for me…"
"I don't know how to put it… I just feel so many things at once. I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you, but instead you ended up taking care of me…"
"I know I shouldn't bring up the whole 'coming to another world' thing again, but if we keep bottling it up, it'll turn into a problem sooner or later…"
"I'm sorry for suddenly saying all these things during dinner—things I don't even fully understand myself. If I had to sum up all my rambling into just one point, it's this—"
Doku took a deep breath, like he was using up the courage of a lifetime.
"Can you tell me what you're thinking, Bocchi?"
"We're going to be living together for a long, long time. So I want to get along with you. I want to become good friends with you. That's how I truly feel."
Hitori stared at Doku blankly.
Honestly, his speech was… a little too heavy.
For most people, heavy feelings like that would be frightening. Silence and avoidance would be the natural response.
But for someone gloomy—someone who'd never had friends her whole life—
That kind of heavy sincerity was like the ultimate, unstoppable straight shot to the heart.
No socially anxious person could reject a direct hit that shattered the darkness inside them.
If you dared to be that direct, affection would skyrocket.
Dead center. Perfect shot.
That was exactly what was happening to Hitori.
She'd already liked Doku a lot. He didn't despise her. He promised he'd do everything he could to help her. Yesterday he'd even bought her so many things.
In her heart, she basically treated him like a living bodhisattva.
And now he was telling her he cared this much about her feelings—telling her he wanted to be her friend.
After a smooth combo like that, someone as lonely as Hitori—someone who desperately craved affirmation—never stood a chance.
She'd sunk completely.
Halfway through, she'd gotten more and more embarrassed, her cheeks burning red like apples.
But she loved hearing it—so much. Who had ever given her this kind of emotional validation before?
She almost wanted to pull out her phone and record everything—then play it ten, twenty times every night before bed while rolling around on her mattress.
…Of course, she'd never dare actually do it.
If she heard those words a second time, she'd probably dissolve like a vampire purified by sunlight, her body crumbling as her soul ascended to heaven.
Hitori shook her head hard, flinging the wild thoughts away, and tried to figure out how to respond.
"I…"
But she only parted her lips slightly, and no words came.
To be honest, when she first heard Doku say she'd come to another world, she hadn't felt it very strongly.
Maybe, just like he said, her brain had activated a protective mechanism—so she didn't feel much sadness.
Even now, she still didn't fully "feel" it. The world had never been something very concrete to her in the first place.
All her life, her range of movement was basically just two points: school and home. So even if the world changed… it didn't feel like much, because her "world" had always been those two places.
Now she didn't even have to go to school.
If anything was truly different… it was home.
If Mom and Dad found out I'm gone… how heartbroken would they be?
Little Futari might not understand yet, but Jimmy Hen definitely wouldn't adapt.
I'm usually the one who takes him for walks.
If I never come back… will he keep waiting for me at the front door?
I hate this…
Just thinking about it hurt so much.
Her heart felt like it was being squeezed.
All at once, Hitori understood why Doku had said so much—why he'd looked at her with sympathy, and why he'd deliberately brought up the whole "other world" topic.
She really had been running away.
As long as she didn't think about it, she wouldn't feel sad.
But reality had to be faced.
No matter how much she avoided it, one day it would catch up.
Pulling the thorn out now really was better than never talking about it at all.
"…Sorry. I made you feel bad, didn't I?"
Seeing Hitori keep her head lowered, Doku's expression fell.
I'm the worst. Of all things to bring up…
"Ah… no…"
Hitori snapped back to herself and shook her head quickly, flustered.
"I-I was just thinking… what would be the best way to reply to you, Goto-san…"
As she spoke, her peripheral vision caught a cup sitting nearby.
She swallowed, picked up the kettle, and filled it—pouring first for Doku, then for herself. Then she grabbed her own cup and gulped it down in one go.
The action itself didn't mean anything special.
She was just trying to borrow a little courage from it.
Copying what Doku had done when he spoke, Hitori took a deep breath too, squeezed her eyes shut, and spoke with all her strength.
"I…! I actually…!"
Her voice came out higher than she expected.
Hitori's heart trembled—See? I should've just kept my mouth shut…
But when she opened her eyes and met Doku's gaze—eyes that seemed to be encouraging her—she suddenly felt like courage was flooding into her.
"I… I've never had friends… not once, ever since I was little… I don't have topics with people my age, and I don't know how to start talking to anyone… The only people I know are… Dad, Mom, my little sister, and Jimmy Hen…"
"Coming here all of a sudden… I really was scared… but I was lucky—um… I-I met you, Goto-san. For the first time in my life, someone gave me a nickname. For the first time, I received gifts. For the first time, a stranger took care of me like this… All of that happened because I met you…!"
"If I hadn't met you—if I'd appeared somewhere else, somewhere unfamiliar… I might not have even been able to keep living… So I'm really scared of being chased out. I want to stay here, but I'm also scared that… if I don't do anything, you'll end up hating me…"
She stuttered, but the feelings inside the words were overwhelming.
Even this was already incredible. Normally she wouldn't be able to say even one-tenth of it.
The reason she could perform beyond her limits was simple.
Just like children unconsciously imitate adults…
When she heard Doku open his heart and speak so many sincere things to her, she naturally wanted to speak her own truths too.
That bridge connecting the two of them—
Now, Hitori stepped onto it as well.
"I… I don't want you to hate me, Goto-san. Yesterday, when I saw you come back with so many things you bought just for me… your face was so tired, and you still insisted on sleeping on the couch to take care of me…"
"I felt… so guilty. I thought I had to do something for you…"
"Cooking, cleaning, laundry… I can do all of it. If I can't, I can learn… b-but, but, but… um…! Please don't stop me from doing anything at all…!"
"I want to get along with you too. I want to become your friend too…! If you're here, Goto-san… then even if I'm in a strange new world, I won't be afraid—"
"T-That's… that's my honest feeling too…!"
Her cheeks were blazing red.
Her forehead was damp with heat-sweat, and a few strands of hair even stuck to the corner of her mouth—an appearance she'd never had in her life before.
Yet she felt strangely light inside.
After saying everything she'd been piling up in her chest, she suddenly felt much better.
The gloom that had been hanging over her heart had cleared—turned into bright sunshine through her own effort.
Doku stared at the Hitori standing in front of him, dazed.
After a moment, he covered his face, embarrassed beyond words.
He didn't know if he was happy to have gained a friend—
Or if he was just finally realizing how it must have felt, from the other side, to hear him talk so much… and feeling mortified.
But after a little while, he smiled—a warm, gentle smile.
The hesitation weighing on him before he came inside… now gave way to a reason he could finally use to truly make his decision.
He tried to lift his gaze again, and spoke to Hitori—who looked like she'd poured out the strength of her entire life.
"…I understand, Bocchi. Thank you for listening to all of that. And thank you for telling me all of that, too…"
"Starting today, I'll work hard—as your friend."
...
...
...
Ding-dong.
The phone lying on the table suddenly vibrated.
The girl who had been about to go wash up picked it up curiously and saw that an account she followed had posted a new update.
At first, she only meant to glance at it quickly.
But the moment she saw the words "Guitar Hero," she froze in place, staring blankly at the post.
Hello everyone, this is Guitar Hero. I'm truly sorry I haven't uploaded any videos for the past six months. Starting today, I'll be active again, and I plan to launch guitar lessons. If you're interested, please DM me!
The girl blinked in a daze.
Then, she cried out in astonishment:
"Goto-san is going to teach people guitar?"
-------
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