Chapter Text
Ryo’s LINE number was pulled up on her phone. Their past DMs lit her face up in her dim room, usually being Hitori asking to meet up regarding lyrics or musical composition and Ryo somehow finding a new restaurant to eat at every single time. (After the first time, Ryo opted to wait outside for Hitori opposed to already seating herself.)
But this time, the reason for Hitori opening their DMs was different. It was something unrelated to Kessoku Band (well, she guessed it was related by-proxy) and more a selfish wish of hers: She wants to impress Kita.
Of course, in the past Kita had told her multiple times that she looked up to her because of her guitar skills, and as much as Hitori had almost felt like melting at the praise, she wanted more in the way she would squeal over Ryo’s cool aura, androgynous outfits, indifferent demeanor, and apathetic gaze.
Though Hitori knew the only thing she would be able to replicate to any degree would be Ryo’s style.
Currently, she lost count of how many times she’s retyped the message to Ryo. “Hey, you free today?” no, too casual. “Can you help me with something?” Ryo would probably say she has better things to do. “I’m getting food. Want to come with me? I’ll pay,” that is more convincing, but it also comes off as overly pushy considering how Hitori knows how much Ryo bums off of her already. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time Ryo paid her back—
Wrong subject! She needed to ask Ryo about going out vintage clothes shopping today…!
Ping!
When she looked down at her phone, a text message from Ryo popped up:
Ryo 7:47
> What’s up, Bocchi?
> I got bored after seeing your text bubble pop up and disappear for 10 minutes.
Hitori almost felt herself explode on the spot but regained her composure through box breathing (a technique that Kita informed her about) before the ignition fully lit.
Her hands shook as she typed her response out.
Bocchi 7:49
> I was wondering if you would help me with finding some more androgynous outfits like the ones you wear… It’s okay if you aren’t available!
Hitori’s eyes bore into her phone, almost causing her retinas to burn in the process. Thankfully, Ryo’s response was short and straightforward.
Ryo 7:49
> Okay. Meet me at Shimokita station at 10am.
She heaved a heavy sigh of relief, holding her arms up and staring at her phone with sparkles in her eyes. The scenes were already playing in her mind: Herself and Ryo walking into a store to find a mannequin with the perfect outfit for Hitori and the employees marveling at the sheer brilliance of her cool, new, and epic style—
Then she felt something warm and wet on her face, and she came back to earth to see Jimihen in front of her with Futari close behind.
“Mom called you down for breakfast! C’mon, onee-chan, stop being a lazy bum,” Futari said.
Hitori grimaced at the comment. God, Futari was really starting to enjoy making fun of her recently…
“A-ah… sorry. I’ll be down in a minute…” Hitori mumbled.
Hopefully breakfast would be done quickly because, for once, she has plans coming up.
Hitori showed up at Shimokita Station 5 minutes before 10am.
She debated in her mind as she got ready to go out how early is too early to show up. After all, if she was standing there for 30 minutes, people would probably think she’s some loser waiting for someone who stood her up, or maybe she would start to blend so deep into the background that people would start to step on her. She also contemplated showing up late, but the idea of that almost made her have heart palpitations. If Ryo showed up on time, she would be disrespecting her! As much as the intrusive thought of Ryo not coming rattled in her brain, she assumed the best of her friend. Even if she owed her 5,000 yen currently…
“Yo, Bocchi.”
“G-good morning…”
Hitori wasn’t expecting Ryo’s voice to come from behind her, so her voice squeaked in surprise. She felt her brain start to fry as she tried to come up with some friendly small-talk for the nth time, even if Ryo made it clear she wasn’t one for conversations like that. An awkward silence passed as Hitori tried to make eye contact with Ryo, but her eyes quickly averted to stare at Ryo’s neck.
“So… wassup?” Hitori squeaked again, holding her hand up in a weird semi-wave gesture.
Instead of properly answering, Ryo took the opportunity to take Hitori’s held up hand in her own, commenting, “We should go this way, “ and nothing else.
Hitori supposed that this was easier than any small-talk she could think of.
As they started to move along, she was glad that Ryo decided to take her hand. The crowd in Shimokita was larger than usual for a reason unknown to her. Holding onto someone made walking through that crowd more bearable for her.
When she really thought about it, she realized that her hand being held by one of her band members wasn’t that unusual now… Huh, maybe they realized it helped with her anxiety? She didn’t even consciously make note of it until now. They really do a lot to take care of me, don’t they? Hitori thought, finding her heart fluttering in her chest for a few seconds, causing one of her signature giggles to pass her lips.
“Did you see a shop you like, Bocchi?” Ryo asked, snapping Hitori out of her thoughts.
“A-ah, uh—” the guitarist’s gaze fell to their intertwined hands for a second “—no, I was just thinking to myself.”
Ryo hummed in acknowledgement of Hitori’s statement, letting her eyes flutter around the various shops around them. By now, they were in a less crowded part of Shimokita, and the shops felt like they fit the niche of the bassist’s androgynous style.
“We can browse around some of these shops. They’ll have clothes that will fit you.”
Hitori replied with a tacit nod before Ryo started to pull her along to try and walk into a shop. The exterior leaned more toward being modern, but the clothes inside were clearly vintage.
A bit of nerves settled in Hitori’s stomach as Ryo opened the door and a small bell rang to signal their entrance. The environment of the store calmed Hitori’s nerves slightly with light jazz echoing around the colorful room, and the employee behind the counter gave them a small smile of acknowledgement to them before they started to browse around.
As Ryo started to look at the various racks of clothing, she let go of Hitori’s hand. With them being the only people in the store — besides the employee — she didn’t feel too nervous, but she still kept close behind the bassist.
Ryo’s eyes flitted over to her. “You know you can look around by yourself. If you find something you like, I can help you style it.”
“O-okay,” Hitori mumbled, letting her gaze browse the small shop for anything that caught her attention. She was a bit worried about walking around herself because she wouldn’t know what to do in a scenario where the employee accused her of shoplifting… A light grumble reverberated in her throat as she shook the thought out of her mind.
By then, Ryo had already moved over to another rack in the store, so Hitori was left by herself anyway. Now that she wasn’t mindlessly trailing Ryo around like a lost puppy, she realized that the clothes in the store were sorted by color.
Her eyes drifted to the small pink section of the store immediately, being the color she was the most used to wearing, but then she realized she was here to step out of her comfort zone for Kita. So that Kita would praise her for her cool outfit for when they would hang out tomorrow (she still hasn’t texted Kita about the idea).
The next area she looked at was where Ryo was currently, filled with black clothes that probably took up more than half of the store’s inventory. Black is simple and easy to style like their Kessoku Band t-shirts.
As she walked closer to Ryo, she realized a lot of the articles of clothing had some type of graphics on them, ranging from anime logos to cars and anything else you could possibly think of. On her OhTube recommended, she would often see guitar covers where people would wear cool all black and white outfits. Maybe she could find some clothes that would mix that with Ryo’s usual style.
She noticed how Ryo’s hands would examine different articles of clothing and how she would lift them from their places in the racks to take a closer look. Finding clothes using that method would be easier, but there was a biting thought resting in the back of Hitori’s mind that rendered her too anxious to try and pick anything up with her hands that were probably greasy and disgusting. (She washed them before she left her house.)
But then her eyes landed on the sweatshirt Ryo picked off of the clothing rack, and she felt herself take in an audible breath.
It had a simple design. There were a few stars embroidered on the front and the sleeves were striped horizontally, all in black and white. Being a sweatshirt, it looked comfortable like Hitori’s usual tracksuit. It spoke to her.
“Do you like this, Bocchi?” Ryo asked, realizing how Hitori’s eyes lingered on the article of clothing she held up.
Hitori short circuited for a few seconds. Ahh— sweatshirts are androgynous, but not the type of androgyny Ryo-san has…
Hitori then made eye contact with Ryo for a second before she turned to look at the sweater and said: “I like it…”
Wrong choice, Bocchi! You’re supposed to be dressing cool like Ryo-san, not like the loser you are! The guitarist berated herself in her mind, completely failing to notice the small smile now present on Ryo’s face.
“This is a good base layer,” she commented. “Now we need to build off of it.” Hitori nodded again, albeit a bit solemnly at her inability to say no to her friend.
Ryo handed Hitori the sweatshirt, bringing a hand to her chin as she contemplated where to go next. Somehow, Hitori was able to hear the gears turning in the bassist’s mind, which concerned her, but then Ryo perked up with ideas visible in her eyes.
“Pay for this and then we’ll leave. I have an idea of where to find the rest of your outfit.”
Hitori could do nothing else but comply.
Ryo was lying when she said she only had an idea of where to find her outfit, Hitori thought, because they only went to two other stores past the first one. Her tote bag was now filled with a whole new outfit for her, though it lacked the androgyny Hitori was looking for, causing her to silently sulk as Ryo ate a plate of curry in front of her, giving her tote a sideways glance.
Not that she didn’t appreciate the effort Ryo put into going shopping with her of all people and single handedly putting an outfit together for her, but it wasn’t a Ryo outfit. It fit Hitori too well aesthetically for that to be true; if she were to wear an outfit the bassist wore, she was sure it would look like she scoured through her dad’s closet for something that didn’t fit her. (Ryo’s style had an air of “dad closet” to it but with her own spice to it that made it appealing.)
The most interesting thing in the entire restaurant to Hitori were her hands (she always had them with her, so she really had no idea why she was especially fidgeting with them now). The calluses on the tips of her fingers felt like they usually did, paired with her fingernails cut to uneven nubs and the sizable amount of dead skin resting near the base of her nails at her cuticles. Her eyes temporarily glanced at Ryo's hands, and even with her quick glance, she realized that her hands were way more pampered than her own. Maybe she got manicures in her freetime. That sounds like something Ryo would do.
Hitori glanced at her tote bag again, feeling the despair of her failed mission course through her veins.
“Bocchi,” Ryo called out, causing Hitori to jump a little as she wasn’t expecting her name to be called.
“Y-yes…?”
“Do you not like your outfit?”
Hitori made eye contact with Ryo for a few seconds before shrinking back in her seat and looking back to her tote. “H-huh? Ah, no… I like it.” She tried to make eye contact again but failed as Ryo’s gaze was already fixated back on her curry as she continued to eat.
Hitori gulps, trying to muster any amount of courage for small talk. “What makes you ask that?”
“You keep on glancing at your tote bag.”
“Oh…” I keep on forgetting that Ryo-san is actually quite observant. “...I mean, it isn’t what I expected to get.”
That comment made Ryo perk up, setting her spoon down. She didn’t say anything, but the action communicated to Hitori that she wanted her to keep talking.
“W-well, I asked you to help me pick out an outfit because… because I wanted to wear something more, uh, ‘Ryo-san’...?”
“You like your tracksuit so much though,” Ryo prodded. “I know my fashion sense is something everyone envies, but it doesn’t suit you, Bocchi.”
Hitori frowned, crossing her arms on the table, signaling the rest of her body to deflate as she rested her head down. “I know it doesn’t suit me… but I-I wanted to impress Kita-san…” she mumbled. “She always praises your looks, so I thought she would… admire me, or something.”
Before Ryo could even reply or react to Hitori’s words, the guitarist’s brain caught up to what she let herself mumble aloud to the girl sitting across from her. In an instant, her heart started to pound in her ears, and she could feel herself start to feel faint from the amount of heat she felt rushing to her head. “F-FORGET ANYTHING I JUST SAID—! I’M SORRY YOU HAD TO HEAR MY SELFISH, IMMATURE THOUGHTS!”
The heat also made her common sense stop working completely, because the entire cafe turned to the shouting Bocchi. This couldn’t get any worse—!
“S-sorry for disturbing the peace, Ryo-san! I’ll pay for your food for causing such a ruckus…” Hitori felt her body start to dissolve, but then Ryo reached over the table and placed her hand on Hitori’s arm, keeping her grounded to the situation (and earth).
“It’s okay, Bocchi.” Ryo let her thumb lightly caress Hitori’s arm. “But I do think that Ikuyo will like your outfit; I chose it, after all.”
Hitori sucked in a shaky breath, peeking up to look at Ryo and seeing that her expression had softened just enough to be reassuring to anyone who knew her well enough. “T-thanks, Ryo-san. I appreciate it.”
Ryo nodded in response, taking her hand away from Hitori’s arm. “I have a new CD I want to listen to. C’mon, let’s go.”
Hitori thanked Ryo one more time before she paid and they left. And Hitori had a newfound confidence resting within the tote bag hanging off of her shoulder.
Wait… I haven’t even asked Kita-san to hang out yet or made any plans—!
Kita was in front of her closet, picking an outfit out for the next day; she had plans to go out with Sasaki. Just as she was done mapping her outfit on, she got a ping from her phone.
She expected it to be Sasaki telling her she was ready or excited for tomorrow, but when she checked the notification…
“Eh? Hitori-chan?”
She couldn’t think about any reasons Hitori would be texting her at the current time, but when she opened her messages, she felt her heart flutter.
Hitori 19:05
> Sorry for the late notice, but would you want to hang out tomorrow…?
Hitori-chan asking to hang out with me? She clutched her phone to her chest; she was so used to initiating almost everything with Hitori that getting a message like this set her heart aflame.
Completely discarding her prior plans, she typed her response with great haste.
Kita 19:05
> Of course! I’m always willing to go out with you, Hitori-chan~
She almost sent a heart at the end but discarded it, thinking that it would come off as a little too strong.
As she saw Hitori’s text bubble appear and disappear, she swiped to her messages with Sasaki.
Kita 19:05
> sattsu! i’m so SO sorry, but hitori-chan just invited me out tomorrow 💦
> are you fine with me canceling our plans… i’ll make it up to you at a later date!”
Sattsu 19:05
> gotoh-san? wow… i wish u luck girl. maybe u’ll finally have the guts to confess lol
> anyways, ya i’m cool with u cancling but u better give me an update if anything happens
Kita sighed at the response. Like I’m good enough for Hitori-chan to like me back…
Hitori 19:08
> I have plans ready if that’s okay. Can you come to my house in the morning?
Kita 19:08
> Of course!
Kita’s eyes drifted over to the outfit she had just picked out. Looks like she would need to come up with a new one.