After lunch, the two of them sat in the fast-food restaurant for a while before heading to the station and catching a train bound for Bocchi's neighborhood.
Inside the sunlit train carriage, they sat next to each other with a little distance between them.
As soon as they got on the train, Ishikawa Hayabusa noticed Bocchi's mood suddenly drop. She sat with her head lowered, clutching her cloth bag, her blue eyes looking down at the floor with a gloomy expression.
Hayabusa glanced around and noticed that a few passengers were stealing glances at them from time to time.
It was no surprise. Hayabusa, even by himself, was enough to draw attention — and paired with the timid, gloomy Bocchi, the two of them together made for quite the unusual sight.
When they had been walking through the busy streets earlier, or sitting across from each other in the restaurant, it hadn't felt so noticeable.But now, in the enclosed space of the train, the sensation was amplified.
Hayabusa didn't say anything to the onlookers. Instead, he casually took out his phone and opened a random video, then extended his right hand halfway into the space between them.
"Hand."
He said it without looking at her.
Bocchi froze for a moment when she heard his sudden voice.
Then, after glancing nervously around at the passengers, she hesitated, squeezed her hand into a fist, and carefully placed it near his — leaving a few centimeters of space.
Without missing a beat, Hayabusa shifted his hand and gently caught the cool little hand in his palm.
Bocchi gasped and looked down at their hands.Their fingers overlapped casually, his warm palm covering the back of hers.
She cautiously darted her eyes around the train car, but no one seemed to be paying special attention to them.
Then she kept sneaking glances at Hayabusa, who was still calmly watching his video as if nothing had happened. The more she looked, the more puzzled she became.
After a while, her curiosity got the better of her and she leaned a little to peek at his screen…
But by the time they got off the train, she still hadn't managed to see what he was watching.
Once they exited the station, Hayabusa fell into step beside Bocchi, scanning their surroundings as they walked.
Seeing this, Bocchi assumed he was just memorizing the route to her house. She was a little nervous but didn't dare say anything — so she obediently led the way.
But as they were passing a small fruit store, Hayabusa suddenly asked:
"Bocchi, your parents are both home right now, right?"
Bocchi: ??
She cautiously looked up at him.
The warm spring sunlight seemed to outline Hayabusa's tall, straight figure with a faint glow. His slightly lowered head, neat short hair, and the soft smile at his lips were distractingly attractive.
What was he doing? What was he planning?
If her parents were home, what then?And if they weren't… what then?
Wait—
It suddenly hit Bocchi.
She was bringing a boy to her house! Sure, it was just to grab her guitar… but was she supposed to not let him inside?
And if he came inside, then what?!
She didn't know! She had no idea!
And besides, in her mind — when a "normie" guy went to a girl's house, there was only one thing they could possibly be there to do!
And when she thought of that, Bocchi just—
BOOM.
Hayabusa blinked as Bocchi seemed to literally explode like a firework — leaping straight into the sky and vanishing with a pop against the bright blue above.
Watching this figurative "broad daylight firework," Hayabusa sighed silently.
This time, he had completely failed to read Bocchi's thoughts — and she had literally blown up.
When Bocchi finally "came back down" and returned to normal, she began answering his earlier question.
"Ah, my parents are both home… and my little sister too…"
With her head lowered, she transformed into the perfect tour guide, explaining her family situation to Hayabusa in detail.
He nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly thought of something else.
"Oh, so you've got a little sister. How old is she? Does she play around the house a lot?"
Bocchi hesitated, feeling like something was off.
Her eyes started spinning, but she couldn't stop herself from answering.
"F-five… five years old, she…"
Before she could finish, Hayabusa patted her shoulder and sighed.
"Bocchi, telling someone everything like that is dangerous, you know."
But Bocchi was already caught in a stammering loop, opening and closing her mouth like a broken puppet.
"Ahhh…"
Hayabusa ended up pulling her toward the fruit store they had just passed, ignoring her confused look as he picked out some fruit.
After paying, he stepped outside, crouched down, and placed his wallet on the ground.
With a solemn expression, he bowed to it.
The wallet seemed to silently say, "This is all I had left."
Hayabusa wiped an imaginary tear, picked up the wallet again, and strode forward dramatically.
Bocchi stared at him, wide-eyed, then quickly followed in small steps.
She seemed to realize the reason and asked in a tiny voice:
"Um… Hayabusa, is that…?"
"A gift," he replied simply.
Bocchi froze.
Just for coming to pick up her guitar, did he really need to be this formal?
"I'm home."
Bocchi could at least speak naturally when addressing her family.
Behind her, Hayabusa raised his voice politely.
"Sorry to intrude."
The sound of his voice made her father, who had just started to say "Welcome home, Ichiri—" from the living room, stop mid-sentence.
As Bocchi was getting Hayabusa a pair of guest slippers—
Thump thump thump!
Her parents came rushing out, slippers slapping against the floor, looking flustered.
They froze in the entryway at the sight of Bocchi handing slippers to a boy.
Their expressions were a strange mix of joy and emotion.
Then they turned their gaze toward Hayabusa, who was standing in the doorway.
"Good afternoon, sir, ma'am," Hayabusa said with a polite smile before holding out the bag of fruit.
"A small gift."
Still dazed, Bocchi's mother, Goto Michiyo, accepted the gift and gave Hayabusa a once-over.
Handsome, sunny, well-mannered — he radiated quiet confidence.
Then she glanced at her daughter: shapeless tracksuit, bangs hiding her eyes, slightly hunched posture.
Finally, she exchanged a look with Bocchi's father, Goto Naoki.
Their minds immediately connected.
Goto Naoki: Our little Ichiri… has finally stepped onto this path.
Goto Michiyo: To think she had to deceive the family like this…
In her heart, she spoke to her husband — while in reality, tears were already silently running down her cheeks.
Naoki couldn't bear to watch.
It was true something about this felt off. With his daughter's personality, it was impossible that she would casually hand slippers to an unfamiliar boy — let alone a male classmate.
No, this had to be a rental boyfriend.
He scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out how to gently tell his daughter without hurting her.
"Listen… Ichiri, there's no need to lie to your family about things like this."
Michiyo chimed in with a sniffle.
"That's right. It makes Mom so sad when you do this."
Hearing her parents babbling and essentially exposing her, Bocchi couldn't take it anymore.
"Mom! Dad! What are you two even talking about?!"
At that moment, Hayabusa finished putting on the slippers and strolled over to stand beside Naoki. Folding his arms, he coolly joined her parents' side and lectured Bocchi with a serious look.
"She's right, Ichiri. It's better to stop this kind of thing."
Bocchi blinked twice and stared at him in disbelief.
Hayabusa… was agreeing with them?
Wait — did that mean he really was a rental boyfriend?
Had she somehow implanted fake memories in herself just to trick her own heart?
Yes… yes, it was strange, wasn't it?The fact that she had actually brought a guy home?
Even she felt something was wrong!
Seeing Bocchi falling into a full-blown identity crisis, Hayabusa patted Naoki on the shoulder, sighed, and with the air of a long-time drinking buddy said:
"Come on. Let's have a drink. That'll fix everything."
Naoki heard the familiar line that resonated with every overworked salaryman, and his expression darkened. He nodded.
"You're right. Let's drink."
With that, the two of them slung their arms over each other's shoulders and headed into the living room.
Michiyo clearly wanted to say more to Bocchi, but with a guest present, she had to play host.
"We'll talk about this later," she said sadly, then turned to join the others.
Bocchi stood frozen, a storm of question marks swirling above her head.
But she still remembered why they were here, so she trudged upstairs to grab her guitar.
When she came back down—
"What?! He's actually Ichiri's friend?!"
Her father's shocked cry exploded through the house like a thunderclap.