It had been a long time since Ishikawa Hayabusa had come here.
Between practicing his instrument, studying music theory, preparing for performances with Nijika and the others, and helping reform the school's atmosphere, his days had been packed from start to finish. There had been no time for leisure trips like this.
But today, he had finally come again — and brought someone with him.
And not just anyone — a cute, timid girl.
Ishikawa Hayabusa took a waterproof mat out of the crossbody bag he wore and spread it neatly on the grass. Then, without hesitation, he plopped down on it, sitting cross-legged.
He patted the empty space beside him.
"Bocchi, come sit here."
Bocchi shuffled toward him in tiny, hesitant steps, then slowly bent down and sat on the mat. She placed her cloth bag carefully beside her, stole a lightning-quick glance at Ishikawa Hayabusa, and immediately turned her gaze toward the distance.
But even as she looked away, the corners of her eyes kept sneaking peeks at the boy next to her.
"Beautiful, isn't it? This place."
Ishikawa Hayabusa was gazing toward the blurred line of the horizon.
Far away, thin cotton-like clouds layered and overlapped, covering the ocean like a gauzy blanket and softening the border between sea and sky.
Bocchi tried to look toward the horizon too, but before her gaze even reached it, she quickly withdrew her eyes and nervously glanced behind her.
A sparrow darted across the edge of her vision.
Ishikawa Hayabusa caught the movement and said gently,
"Not many people come here. This road is actually an old path leading to a small village. The only people I ever see around here are the occasional old man or old woman out for a walk."
Seeing her shoulders relax just a little, Ishikawa Hayabusa realized that if he didn't explain things clearly up front, she'd probably never truly feel at ease.
After letting a quiet moment settle in — long enough that all other sounds seemed to fade away — he spoke again, curious to see what kind of reaction she would have.
"You know, I like you quite a bit, Bocchi. You're like a little hamster — cautious about everything, timid but adorable. And that makes me hesitant to get too close, afraid I'll scare you off."
He said it lightly, but he kept sneaking glances at her as he spoke.
Bocchi's expression shifted from startled to flustered to shy, until finally a soft, dazed smile bloomed on her face. She tried to smother it quickly, but when that failed, she raised her knees up and hugged them tight, burying her face against them to hide.
Ishikawa Hayabusa stopped speaking.
After a pause, Bocchi lifted her head, looking slightly uneasy. She hesitated for a long moment before whispering,
"Th-thank you..."
Ishikawa Hayabusa could sense the unspoken words behind her gratitude — I'm not really as cute as you think I am.
"Bocchi, do you know what it is I like about you?"
His sudden question made Bocchi's wide eyes flick up to him, startled. She shook her head slowly.
Ishikawa Hayabusa looked at her, then let his gaze wander to the grass behind her and up toward the sky.
He spoke unhurriedly, almost as if he were laying out each thought carefully:
"Your eyes are so clear. You're always paying close attention to others — even when you're wary of people, you're still thinking about them. I've said it before, but you're really gentle, Bocchi."
"Your gentleness is the kind where, if someone falls behind you, you'd reach out and try to help them catch up."
"And your skin — it's so soft and fair. I feel like it would be really nice to hug you."
"You're the kind of person it feels easy to take care of. Just a little kindness is enough to make you happy."
"And your guitar playing is great. That solo you did the other day? It was seriously cool."
When he finished, he stood up and took a few steps back, looking down at her.
"Bocchi, do you know why I like this place?"
Bocchi stared blankly and shook her head.
Ishikawa Hayabusa raised one hand toward the sky, as if supporting the heavens themselves.
"It's so open here — open enough to hold me."
"With the vast ocean and endless sky, I can stand here and face something enormous, something infinite."
"It gives me the courage to face everything else."
Bocchi silently watched him, feeling as though he stood like a figure holding up the heavens and the earth.
Hayabusa...
A peregrine falcon — a bird fierce enough to hunt prey several times its own size, with incredible speed, one of the fastest creatures in the sky. A predator at the very top of the avian food chain.
And Ishikawa Hayabusa... the boy standing before her, wasn't he just like that?
"Bocchi, your turn. What do you like?"
Bocchi hesitated. She lowered her gaze, letting the image of the boy standing against the sky burn itself into her mind.
"I... I like..."
But the words never quite came out.
On the way back, Bocchi sat on the back of the bicycle again.
She regretted not being able to say anything back there. She did have things she liked — but none of them felt worthy enough to be compared to the beautiful "gemstones" Ishikawa Hayabusa had shared so openly.
And she did have another wish, one she longed for dearly — but saying it out loud felt too far-fetched, too indulgent.
So she said nothing.
This time, Ishikawa Hayabusa pedaled more slowly than before, at an easy pace.
But Bocchi wished he would go faster. She wanted to get home as soon as possible. She felt so painfully out of place at his side.
"Bocchi."
His voice carried back to her over the wind.
"Y-yeah?" she replied quickly.
"That day, I wasn't lying. If life ever feels too hard for you, I'll take care of you."
Is he teasing me again?
I wish he wasn't.
Bocchi's eyes stung slightly.
"I'm kind of a weirdo, so I probably won't find a wife easily anyway. You could stay at my place — I wouldn't mind. At least then I wouldn't feel lonely."
Is he serious?
Bocchi lifted her head and looked at his back.
Before she could say anything, his voice came again — softer this time, almost tender:
"It's true."
"But if you stop trying just because of that, I'd be disappointed. That's why I told you what I did that day."
His words seemed to gather up all the loose pieces of her heart, lining them up neatly and forming a road she could walk on.
Somewhere inside her, a blocked passage broke open, allowing her heart to reach his.
The bicycle wheels crunched over the dirt path. The paved road was just ahead.
Before they reached it, a faint, tear-choked voice rose from behind him.
"I... I'll keep trying."
"Good."
Ishikawa Hayabusa smiled with satisfaction. He reached back and patted the air near her head.
Two small hands grabbed his arm, and a soft head of hair gently pressed against him.
He gave her a fond pat and withdrew his hand.
And then—
"Hey! You two over there!"
Ishikawa Hayabusa immediately felt a chill of dread. He looked toward the voice and saw a traffic cop on a motorcycle, calling out to them from the roadside.
"Bocchi, hold on tight!"
He shouted back to her.
"E-eh?" Bocchi squeaked in alarm.
"Hurry!" His voice was firm this time.
After a moment's hesitation, Bocchi wrapped her arms carefully around his waist, not too tightly, but enough that her hands clasped together.
Without waiting for the officer's "Stop right there!" Ishikawa Hayabusa began to accelerate, the bike's speed gradually climbing.
Behind them, the growl of the police motorcycle grew louder.
"Hold on tight!"
He reminded her again, then threw his head back and shouted with pride:
"If you want to catch this pervert, try again in a hundred thousand years! Ooooohhh!"
In an instant, his legs blurred on the pedals. The bicycle shot forward like a motorcycle given a full tank of fuel, surging ahead in a burst of speed and becoming nothing but a streaking shadow.
The wind swallowed up Bocchi's startled scream.
"Ahhhhhh—!"
Officer Kazeharu Bofū hadn't seen kids riding double on a bike so brazenly in years.
He had sometimes sighed at how today's youth couldn't experience the kind of wild, romantic freedom his generation once had — but even so, he couldn't just ignore this.
He'd only meant to stop them and give them a stern lecture.
But they were running!
And did that boy just yell something about being a pervert?
The girl might be in danger!
His sense of civic duty blazed to life.
Justice must be served!
He twisted the throttle all the way, and the motorcycle roared forward, hunting down the little bicycle like a predator.
60 km/h... 66 km/h... 70 km/h... 80 km/h... 90 km/h—
The bicycle and the motorcycle tore down the road in a wild chase, leaving passing cars stunned as two blurs zipped by at impossible speed.
"Damn it! Stop right now!"
Kazeharu Bofū shouted, his voice barely audible over the wind.
Hearing the officer getting closer, Ishikawa Hayabusa glanced back — the black-and-white motorcycle gleamed blindingly under the sun.
"Bocchi, hold tight!"
Feeling her arms squeeze around him even more, Ishikawa Hayabusa shut his eyes, took a deep breath, then snapped them open.
It was as if light exploded in his pupils.
"The fastest black shadow — Ishikawa Hayabusa — full power unleashed!"
His battle cry rang out as his legs tightened into stone-like muscle and he stomped down hard on the pedals.
The pedals screeched in protest, the chain screaming like metal being torn apart.
Kazeharu Bofū heard the shout and felt an ominous chill — he twisted the throttle even harder.
But—
"What the—?!"
Even at full throttle, he was being left behind. The boy on the bicycle was still accelerating — and visibly pulling away.
But I'm already going 98 km/h!
He watched in disbelief as the pink-haired girl's silhouette grew smaller and smaller, until the police motorcycle hit its limit like slamming into an invisible wall.
"Oooooraaa!"
The boy's triumphant cry echoed as the gap widened at an astonishing pace.
From a distance, the bicycle looked like a rocket jettisoning its empty fuel tank, leaving the motorcycle completely behind as it shot toward the horizon.
That shadow seemed to pierce the sky itself.
On this day, Ishikawa Hayabusa once again ascended to the peak of perversion.
"Phew... I haven't gone all-out like that in ages. That felt great."
On the edge of a small town, Ishikawa Hayabusa rested his foot on the ground to steady the bicycle while buying drinks from a vending machine.
He grabbed a bottle of mineral water for himself and pressed the button for a cola.
"Here, Bocchi."
He held the water between his arm and body and turned to hand her the freshly dropped cola.
But Bocchi just stared at him, completely dazed, as if her soul had left her body.
Ishikawa Hayabusa waved a hand in front of her face.
Still no reaction.
And then, in the next moment, he saw something that made him pause — far away, a wandering spirit came floating toward them, crying as it re-entered Bocchi's body.
Ishikawa Hayabusa: …