When Gotō Doku got home, the living room light was still on.
That feeling—like the house was quietly telling him someone's inside, waiting for you to come back—left him dazed for a moment.
He didn't even know how to describe it.
After all, it wasn't some big deal. It was just… coming home and realizing the living room light hadn't been turned off.
And yet, it was always details like this—tiny, trivial things—that made changes in life feel so real.
In the past, he would've thought, I must've forgotten to switch it off. What a waste of electricity.
But now he could tell himself, with confidence:
It's not because I'm careless.
It's because someone is waiting for me to come home.
"I'm back, Bocchi."
Gotō Doku gently closed the door behind him. As he spoke, he stepped inside, letting the day's exhaustion slide off his shoulders.
"W-Welcome back…!!"
That familiar response reached his ears almost immediately.
He'd barely set his shoes into the cabinet when Gotō Hitori poked her small head out from the living room.
Like a pet who'd heard the front door and sprinted to the entryway to greet its owner, she hurried over in slippers that were a little too big for her—and then, like a puppy, she started sniffing him hard.
"Uh… Bocchi, what are you…?" Gotō Doku blinked in confusion.
The moment he asked, Gotō Hitori froze stiff. Her cheeks were swallowed by a near-permanent shadow effect, visible to the naked eye.
She couldn't exactly admit it: she was trying to confirm whether this was real… or a hallucination.
From afternoon until now, she'd been curled up on the sofa alone, waiting for Gotō Doku to come home.
But as the sky grew darker, the entryway never delivered the sound she'd been longing for—the familiar click of a key in the lock.
The only thing echoing in her head was what he'd told her that morning: I might be home a bit late today.
For someone whose mind ran wild—and who, right now, was desperately lacking any sense of security—one short sentence was nowhere near enough.
She got scared. She overthought.
Like a little kid, she worried: What if something happened to him outside? Why is he still not back?
And even the smallest things ballooned into endless fear—like wondering whether the food she made yesterday had actually tasted awful, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings… but also didn't want to eat it again, so he'd decided to leave her at home and not come back.
The more she thought, the less steady her heart felt.
So she kept replaying everything he'd said to her yesterday, clinging to brief warmth and reassurance.
Emotionally speaking, she'd only just formed the most basic layer of trust with him yesterday. This was the exact time when that bond needed to be stabilized—nurtured, carefully, so it could take root and grow.
But she didn't know how to move the relationship forward.
She didn't even know when he would come home.
Gotō Hitori lowered her head silently.
She meant to mumble something vague and brush off his question.
But for some reason, the words that came out were… completely different.
"Sorry… I thought… you weren't coming back… so…"
That sentence hit like a point-blank explosion.
No time to react.
It blasted a hole straight through Gotō Doku's heart.
A line soaked with fragility, dependence, pitifulness—and that faint sense of I can only feel safe if you're with me—the damage was simply too high for him.
"N-No… I should be the one saying sorry… Bocchi, I'm sorry. This is all my fault…"
The guilty adult had been defeated by the pure child.
He covered his face with both hands and thudded to his knees, overwhelmed by how unforgivable his crime was—getting home close to eleven at night.
The crushing guilt made him unable to lift his head. In his mind, he was already imagining himself as a sinner nailed to a cross, condemned to hang on a hill in the sun and wind every day to atone as much as possible.
Now it was Gotō Hitori's turn to panic.
She never expected herself to blurt out I thought you weren't coming back, and she definitely didn't expect it to hit him so hard that he'd drop to his knees on the spot—HP bar emptied, instant KO.
She scrambled to help him up, but he was already kidnapped by his own guilt into some fantasy world and couldn't return to reality. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wake him.
W-What do I do!?
At this rate, Gotō-san was going to be swallowed by darkness…!
It was because of me that Gotō-san ended up like this. I have to take responsibility and turn Gotō-san back to normal…!
But how do I pull him out!?
Come to think of it… I collapse mentally like this all the time…
Usually, once the imaginary storm in my head burns itself out, I just… snap back on my own…
But I can't just let Gotō-san kneel here forever, can I? His knees will get hurt…
Gotō-san works so hard every day just going out to his job. If it were me, I would absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely never dare to go work outside. I can't add any more burden to him…!
Ah.
I remember!
Yesterday, when Gotō-san was organizing the closet… he saw it…!
Those same "party animal rainbow-light glasses" just like mine! If I put those on and make Gotō-san laugh, maybe I can wake him up…!
Gotō Hitori's eyes lit up. She dashed back into the bedroom.
I'm sorry, Gotō-san! This is an emergency! Please forgive me for taking your stuff without asking…!!!
She carefully took the glasses out of the cabinet, put them on with deadly seriousness, then stuck a fake moustache under her nose—
Perfect. Now I'm complete…!
I'll use this move to wake Gotō-san up!
With the solemn air of someone about to perform a sacred ritual, Gotō Hitori walked up to Gotō Doku, who was already halfway to "spirit leaving the body." She squatted down, slapped both hands firmly onto his shoulders, then took a deep breath.
"G-Gotō-san…!!"
Gotō Doku's body twitched slightly.
He felt like he heard a familiar voice calling to him.
Must be my imagination, he thought. Who would be thinking about a sinner nailed to a cross like me?
Until he raised his head.
Among the crowd watching his punishment, he saw a girl completely out of place in this era—wearing those flashing rainbow party glasses, and a hilariously ugly fake moustache on purpose—
"..."
Gotō Doku instantly sobered up.
He stared at Gotō Hitori—who looked ridiculous, yet somehow sat there with the air of someone formal and upright.
Gotō Hitori swallowed, eyes trembling as she watched him, afraid he was still out of it.
The two of them just stared at each other in the entryway—wide eyes locked on wide eyes.
About five seconds later—
Gotō Doku suddenly lowered his head. His shoulders shook.
Gotō Hitori's heart dropped. Did I push too hard? Did I make him think I'm a weirdo…?
Then she saw him lift his head again, reach out, and take the glasses off her face—placing them on the bridge of his own nose.
He switched off the light, threw up two meaningless peace signs at her, and said in an odd, exaggerated voice:
"H-How is it, Bocchi!"
"Don't I look rock? Hey, hey! Everybody, let's get hype! Sis, gimme some tequila!"
Gotō Hitori stared blankly at Gotō Doku—who had even started doing some kind of hand dance—her face full of confusion.
After a few seconds, her brain finally caught up.
Gotō Doku… saw how weird she looked, and so she wouldn't feel embarrassed… he made himself weird too, joining her in the nonsense…!
If two people are both being crazy, then it doesn't count as being crazy! If two people are both not normal, then it doesn't count as not normal!
Gotō-san… what a saintly personality…
Even though his ears are red, he's still insisting on doing this…!
And I actually thought someone this kind would abandon me…
N-No…
I'm going to die of shame…!
"G-Gotō-san…! I'm s-so, so sorry…! You came back so late, you must be hungry—I'll go make you a late-night snack—!!"
Gotō Hitori suddenly stood up, threw out a muffled sentence that barely sounded like words, then hurried into the kitchen like she was fleeing the scene.
Watching her run, Gotō Doku finally let out a breath. He reached up and took the glasses off.
He hadn't worn these in a long time.
The last time had been back in high school, when his band's vocalist was having a birthday. As a member, he had to participate.
But all his life, he'd never had any experience celebrating someone else's birthday. He'd spent ages searching online for tutorials and still couldn't learn a single useful thing.
Back then, he cared a lot about his relationship with his bandmates. He wanted to make sure he didn't disappoint them. In the end, he decided he'd just act silly and try to make everyone laugh.
But when he got there, he found the vocalist had invited a huge crowd. Standing inside, Gotō Doku felt overwhelmed by the noise, the stale air, the heaviness in his chest—like he couldn't breathe.
He tried to step outside to recover, only to bump into the vocalist hanging out with other friends.
He forced himself to brighten up, planning to greet his teammate—at least say happy birthday.
But the vocalist ignored him completely and walked right past him.
He vaguely heard someone next to the vocalist ask, "Do you know that weirdo just now?"
The vocalist shook his head and said, "No."
After that, Gotō Doku never wore these glasses again.
Even though the other person later came to apologize properly, a crack that deep… wasn't something you could patch up.
Maybe that was when he started losing interest in bands, little by little.
The reason he hadn't quit immediately was just because he'd been worrying about how the others would feel.
But later, when he realized they were all the same kind of trash, he finally gave up completely and left that filthy place behind.
With help from an older bassist, he ended the band—by his own hands—on stage.
He'd thought that was it. That he'd say goodbye to band life forever. That he'd stop chasing dreams and just become an ordinary person.
But now…
It looked like he wouldn't be able to avoid bands after all.
Gotō Doku wasn't someone who lied to himself.
He knew the moment he decided to pick up the guitar again, sooner or later, he would end up getting involved with a band once more.
And the person who pushed all of this into motion…
Was Bocchi.
Bocchi changed my life.
So what about me?
Can I change Bocchi's life?
Gotō Doku didn't keep thinking about it.
The answer… he was already giving it.
…
"Um… Bocchi. I don't think I can finish all this by myself. Can you eat with me?"
The late-night meal was ready quickly.
More accurately, it was dinner reheated.
Normally, a late-night snack wouldn't include rice.
But on the table now there was rice, grilled sanma, miso soup—and even the hamburger steak Gotō Doku had bought groceries for yesterday…
This wasn't a "snack" at all. It was clearly dinner.
More than that, what surprised Gotō Doku was this: Gotō Hitori had only just started learning to cook, and yet she'd managed to make a proper, real dinner.
He'd tasted it just now.
It was good.
She was seriously impressive—in every sense.
Back then, it took him an entire week of culinary disasters to barely make something decent. Bocchi learned it on her second day…
"Ah… I-I don't need to eat…! Gotō-san worked so hard today, Gotō-san should eat…!" Gotō Hitori shook her head on instinct.
"How could that be okay? You made all of this, and you won't take a single bite? Besides, I already ate before I came back, so I don't have much appetite…"
Gotō Doku looked away awkwardly.
He couldn't bring himself to tell her that he'd eaten McDonald's with Kita Ikuyo, then got dragged around to a few more small shops for street food—and he still hadn't finished digesting any of it.
"Besides… Bocchi, you haven't eaten yet, right?"
Gotō Hitori wore the expression of someone who'd been caught red-handed.
"Because you've been staring at the dishes," Gotō Doku said again, somehow reading her thoughts perfectly.
Gotō Hitori's expression started to spiral out of control.
She'd only been cooking for a few days—of course she wasn't confident yet.
Noticing her tension, Gotō Doku pulled out the chair beside him and made a small inviting gesture, trying to soften his voice as much as he could.
"I think… if I were the one at home, I'd wait until you came back before eating."
"Eating alone is really lonely. You and I both know that better than anyone, right?"
All our lives…
We've never really had chances to eat with friends.
Every lunchtime, seeing other people chatting with their friends at the table… we'd feel jealous.
So…
"So, I'm really sorry, Bocchi."
Gotō Doku lowered his head, sincerely apologetic.
"I came home too late today and didn't think about the time… I made you worry. If anything like this happens again, I'll tell you right away. And if anything comes up for you, you can tell me right away too."
"Look… um… here. This is my account. If you add it, you'll be able to contact me anytime, anywhere."
A little embarrassed, Gotō Doku took out his phone and showed her his ID: Pocket White Dragon.
He'd actually been worried she might find the username meaningless.
That worry turned out to be completely unnecessary.
Because Gotō Hitori's mind was pure white noise right now.
All she'd ever had were video apps. Social media—just hearing the word sounded like something that had nothing to do with her. She'd never touched it.
"Um… I… I don't have that…"
"I can help you make an account. But the choice is yours. If you don't want one, we won't. We can still 연락—uh, we can still contact each other by phone."
P-Phone!?
A thunderclap went off inside Gotō Hitori's head.
She couldn't even bring herself to message other people—let alone call them.
"P-Please… please help me make an account…!"
She lowered her head and offered him the phone he'd given her with both hands.
Soon, it was back in her hands.
Gotō Hitori blinked.
In her chat window, a bright new friend request popped up—
[Pocket White Dragon wants to add you as a friend.]
"…Can I accept it?" she asked, her voice so small she could barely hear it herself.
But Gotō Doku heard her, and answered with complete sincerity.
"Please do."
Gotō Hitori swallowed.
Slowly, she extended a trembling finger.
As far as she could remember…
This might have been the first time in her life she'd ever added someone as a friend.
She remembered opening her phone in the past and seeing only Mom and Dad in her contacts. Even after she entered middle school, nothing changed. She stayed that lonely kid all the way until graduation.
She looked again at the friend request.
Then she gently tapped Accept.
In the next second—
A new contact appeared in her list, with an avatar that looked kind of like a Cheems.
She lifted her gaze toward Gotō Doku, who sat beside her.
He'd just brought over a set of bowls from the kitchen, placed them in front of her, filled her bowl with rice, and added a few bites of side dishes.
"What's wrong, Bocchi?"
Looking into those bright blue eyes—
For the first time, Gotō Hitori thought:
Their eyes are really similar.
"…Ah—n-no… it's nothing. Um… thank you, Gotō-san…"
She snapped her gaze away at once, carefully put her phone away, picked up her chopsticks, and began eating—stiff and restrained.
After a while…
She stole another glance at him.
Staring at those blue eyes that resembled hers…
And thinking of the avatar now sitting in her friends list…
She thought:
From now on…
I have a friend I can message.
If this relationship can keep going…
If I can stay by Gotō-san's side…
Then someday…
Maybe I'll be able to tell myself—
I'm not lonely anymore.
Hehe…
Gotō Hitori let out a small, silly smile.
This is really nice.
-------
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