InsomniaWL
patreon
Chapter 10: A New Nickname Unlocked
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 20:10:01 +0000 UTCPutting aside the unlucky fact that he had been reincarnated as an orphan, Aoki Kei still considered himself relatively fortunate.
After narrowing down three possible locations and following the map, Aoki Kei and Yamada Ryo boarded a train toward the first park.
The park wasn't far from the station intersection. Less than ten minutes later, they arrived at their destination.
And before he could even begin scanning the area carefully, Aoki immediately spotted her—sitting alone on a swing, head slightly bowed, guitar on her back, dressed in her usual pink tracksuit—Hitori Gotou.
Finding Bocchi-chan at the very first park was honestly beyond his expectations; he had mentally prepared himself for a much longer search.
Still, this was great.
The earlier they found her, the more time they’d have to help Kessoku Band rehearse before the live show.
Without hesitation, and after confirming with the sleepy-looking Yamada Ryo beside him, Aoki Kei stepped forward toward Gotou.
“Hi there. I noticed your guitar... Are you a guitarist by any chance?”
Even from a bit of a distance, he called out to her as she sat dazed on the swing.
Startled by the unfamiliar male voice, Hitori Gotou snapped out of her daze, looked around, and realized—yes, this guy was talking to her.
Panic immediately flooded her face.
She trembled slightly and opened her mouth to respond but no sound came out.
‘It’s been too long since I’ve talked to anyone... I’ve forgotten how to even speak...’
As a hardcore introvert with extreme social anxiety, Hitori Gotou hadn't spoken to a stranger in ages.
Between her panic and her total lack of social practice, her brain simply blue-screened.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” Aoki Kei waved his hand in front of her and called out a few more times, finally snapping her out of her daze.
“Th-th-th-th-th-that... um, hello. I-I’m Hitori Gotou. I—I play guitar...”
Taking a deep breath, she awkwardly leaned back on the swing and stuttered out her response, clearly overwhelmed.
“I’m Aoki Kei. Nice to meet you, Gotou-san.” he said warmly.
Yamada Ryo finally caught up and, hearing Aoki’s introduction, nodded and added, “I’m Yamada Ryo. Hello.”
Before Gotou could even process the introductions, Aoki Kei quickly followed up with the main point.
“So here’s the thing, Gotou-san—our band’s in a bit of a pinch. Our live show is starting soon, but the guitarist we had lined up just bailed on us.
Without a guitarist, we can’t perform. I saw your guitar and thought—maybe you could help us?”
“It’s a simple song. You’ll be able to learn it quickly,” Yamada Ryo chimed in calmly.
“B-but, I... I mean, um...” Now faced with two strangers, Gotou visibly shrank back, clutching the swing chains like lifelines.
Seeing her hesitation, Aoki Kei went for the soft spot.
He spoke in a warm, admiring tone, “Your guitar skills must be really good, right, Gotou-san? If someone as talented as you could help us out, we might actually pull this off... You could save the entire band.”
‘Wha—he complimented me!? A stranger just complimented me!?’
Gotou’s entire posture relaxed just a tiny bit, her mind floating briefly in a mix of confusion and joy.
But then reality crashed back in.
She wasn’t mentally prepared for this.
Sure, she dreamed of joining a band, but this? A sudden live performance?
No way. She had to say no.
...Or at least, she tried to.
But Aoki Kei didn’t give her the chance.
He bowed slightly and said earnestly, “Please, Gotou-san. We’re counting on you!”
Still seated on the swing, Hitori Gotou swallowed hard.
A live show. On stage. Playing guitar in front of a crowd.
This was way beyond her comfort zone. She wasn’t ready. No way.
“I... um... okay. I-I’ll do it... I can help...”
As someone with soul-crushing social anxiety, refusing such a sincere request just wasn’t in the cards.
‘What am I doing? I’m doomed... If I mess up the live show I’m going to get publicly executed or something!’
‘Hitori Gotou, what have you gotten yourself into!?’
—
Aoki Kei, unaware of Bocchi-chan’s mental tailspin, sighed in relief the moment she agreed.
He didn’t want to waste another second especially when there was a risk she might change her mind and bolt.
“Since you’re okay with it, Gotou-san, let’s not waste time. We’ll take you to the live house right away.”
...
【STARRY】was located in Shimokitazawa, and fortunately, the park they found Bocchi in wasn’t far from there.
Since it was within walking distance, Aoki Kei, Yamada Ryo, and Gotoh Hitori set off on foot toward the livehouse.
On the way, Aoki Kei gave Gotoh Hitori a brief overview of 【STARRY】and explained the current situation with Kessoku Band.
…Though Bocchi-chan was probably too nervous to absorb a single word.
Roughly five minutes later, the three of them arrived at 【STARRY】.
As Aoki Kei opened the door and stepped inside, a soft chime rang out—at the same time, a system notification sounded in his mind:
————————————————————————
“Task completed. 500 points rewarded.”
————————————————————————
He didn’t pay the points much attention.
Instead, he scanned the store interior until he spotted Nijika behind the bar. He walked straight over.
“Aoki-senpai! You made it!” Nijika’s eyes lit up the moment she saw him.
“Good afternoon, Ijichi-san. I brought the guitarist I mentioned yesterday.”
With a casual greeting, Aoki Kei gestured behind him, revealing the pink-clad girl peeking out from behind Yamada Ryo—Gotoh Hitori, still frozen in classic Bocchi fashion at the entrance.
Nijika blinked as her gaze landed on the shy girl by the door.
Her eyes then shifted to Ryo, realizing the three of them had arrived together.
Tilting her head slightly, Nijika asked curiously, “Aoki-senpai, did Ryo go with you to find her?”
“Yeah,” Aoki nodded. “I ran into Yamada-san at a music store near Shibuya Station, so we teamed up and found Gotoh-san together.”
“Huh... I see.”
Though Nijika found it odd that someone as notoriously lazy as Ryo had gone out of her way to help, she didn’t press further.
Since Nijika didn’t follow up with more questions, Aoki Kei decided to move on.
“Oh, and one thing about our new guitarist...” he said, glancing over his shoulder at Bocchi, “Gotoh-san is... well, a little quirky. She’s got some social anxiety, so if she does anything strange, I hope you’ll be patient with her.”
“Oh, no problem at all!” Nijika replied brightly.
Knowing Nijika’s warm and easygoing personality, Aoki felt totally confident leaving Bocchi in her hands.
With the mission complete, and still some free time left in the day and having already taken the night off from his part-time job at the bar.
—Aoki decided to head back to his apartment and use the time to record a couple of tracks for online release.
After briefly explaining the situation to Nijika, he excused himself and headed toward the door.
As he passed by Yamada Ryo, she called out to him in her usual drowsy tone, “Suki-san, you’re not gonna stick around for the live?”
He paused mid-step. It took him a second to register that “Suki-san” meant him.
Apparently, Ryo had taken to calling him that because “Kei” (介) sounded like “suki” (好き, meaning “like” in Japanese).
Probably because it rolled off the tongue... and, well, it amused her.
Suppressing the urge to sigh at Ryo’s bizarre naming sense, Aoki replied, “I’ve got something to take care of today, but I promise I’ll come hear you all perform next time.”
Ryo gave a noncommittal “oh” and didn’t say anything else.
...
After Aoki left the store, the band still hadn’t started rehearsal.
Instead, Nijika turned to Ryo with a slight frown as her eyes landed on the brand-new bass slung over Ryo’s back.
“Hey, Ryo,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “didn’t you say you were out of allowance money? How’d you afford a new bass?”
“Ahh...” Ryo dragged out the syllable, clearly trying to stall.
Her gaze drifted away evasively as she racked her brain for an excuse.
After a moment of internal debate, she gave up and confessed, “I borrowed some money from Aoki-san... so I just went ahead and bought it.”
“Ryo—seriously?”
Nijika sighed deeply.
As someone who’d known Ryo for years, she wasn’t surprised.
Still, she reached over and lightly tapped Ryo on the head with a drumstick.
“You know Aoki-senpai’s not exactly loaded, right? And you borrowed money from him? Make sure you pay him back in full the next time you see him!”
“Yes, yes... I got it...” Ryo muttered, not meeting her gaze.
