Sakurai was humming to himself as he left the Starry's building. After bidding his goodbyes, he decided that it's best he goes home now, it's already 6 pm, and he's still got a long journey full of driving and gas refill to get back to Oreha district. He sees his bike and jogs towards it, ready to get on and go home--

" W-Wait!" Until, a suprising voice stopped him, that is.

He turns around and faces the person who called for him.

" Gotou-chan?" He said, confused and suprised. Maybe she needed something from him, he thinks.

She was panting for a bit, somehow dripping with sweat even though his bike was literally parked just outside the club. Sakurai was amused by it though.

" Do you need a ride or something?" He asked, putting hand to hip. " If so, then I'd be happy to--"

" N-No that's--" She pauses before looking down, her expression sullen for a moment. Sakurai raises a brow, a bit of concern welled up inside upon seeing this Bocchi. 

It's not like he wasn't already used to her usual anxious person.....but this time, it looked different. More serious. She definitely came to him probably because she had something important to say, but he noticed that she couldn't seem to utter it out-- as if it would be painful to.

" S-Sorry, I--" Her lips trembled as she spoke, and then Sakurai interrupted her.

" Take your time. I'll be right here~ " Sakurai shows some consideration, stuffing his hands into his blazer pocket. He deduced that whatever it was, significant or insignificant to him or not, he'll wait patiently until she could catch up to her own pace. She lightened up a bit, nodding in appreciation before proceeding into a small silence.

He wondered what she had to say. It's a jolt of suprise to him, when Bocchi of all people decides to approach him one-on-one like this. Akihiko often described her personality as timid and a social anxiety shipwreck when it came to interacting to people with VERY eccentric personalities. Sakurai was beyond that, he was the entire natural disaster incorporated into one Homo sapien. So this is a very curious development to see from Bocchi, he thinks.

" Is....Akihiko-kun..." he hears her mumble.

Ah, so this was about Asachin! Sakurai relaxes, amusement returning to his expression again. The two of them were into each other, it was clear as day-- a man has gotta be blind not to see that. Perhaps the two of them reached a new development in the time Sakurai hasn't paid attention.

" What about Asachin?" He asked her.

" Has he been....acting weird lately?" She asked him.

" No?" Sakurai can't recall an instance where Akihiko has acted weird in recent times. Then again, they haven't seen each other face-to-face for a while now, only messaging through the chat app. 

" I...I see..." She visibly deflates. Sakurai drops his smile, now a bit concerned for both her and Asachin as well. 

" Gotou-chan, did something happen to him?" He asked her seriously. " Or maybe something between you two?" He adds.

" No....it's just...." She sighs.

" Maybe I did something wrong...." She muttered.

" What exactly made you think that?" He asked her, a bit suprised from that response.

" .... Something feels off when I'm with him. When I talk to him, words feel stiff. I don't....understand why that is, so I just assumed...maybe I did something wrong." Her voice got lower and lower she went on, but Sakurai had good hearing, so he definitely caught the sadness in her tone.

" A-Anyhow...even if that were true...I wouldn't be suprised. I always seem to have a knack of messing things up--"

" You know, " Sakurai interrupts, making her pause to look at him. " I get that being all anxious, gloomy, and being socially inept is pretty much your shtick and all.....but..." 

" That beyond depressed expression you're wearing? It doesn't do justice to your beauty at all, Gotou-chan."

Sakurai's remark caught her off-guard, her lips parted a bit in shock. Sakurai chuckles.

" I'm sure, that what Asachin would've said if he saw you right now." He muses, looking towards the distance for a moment, seemingly admiring the environment when it's night time. " You didn't do anything wrong. Probably." And sighs,

" I've known the guy since we were kids. He hates making others feel bad, when they shouldn't be."

Bocchi lets out a small gasp at that. Her mouth closes to a thin line after, the memory of their conversation makes its march in her heard once again.

" I..." She suddenly says, grabbing Sakurai's attention. His crimson eyes gazing at her curiously.

" I know that..." She confesses. " He's told me that..." She doesn't find any reason to hide it.

Sakurai hums. " Well, of course you know it. In fact, you should! After all, keeping secrets like this in a relationship often leads to misunderstandings-- like right now."

" Huh?" She looks at him, confused. Sakurai was already on his bike, he turns on the engine and it begins roaring.

He turns to her and winks. " Lovers oughta have proper communication, don't cha' think?" He says, smirking devilishly.

" H-HUH? L-L-LOVERS--?!"

" By the way, the bar usually gets busy during Fridays, right?" He cuts her off.

Bocchi's mind was in a spiral by the fast switch in topic, so she answered him on auto-pilot.

" Y-Yes?!" She sputtered, red on her face from the lovers remark still.

Sakurai nods. " Great! Just making sure~" He grins before readying to drive off.

" See ya later, Gotou-chan!"  He bids a loud goodbye before revving up his motor and then driving off at great speed.

Bocchi was left behind, watching as the beast disappears from view. Then she realized something, why did Sakurai suddenly ask that question? Before she could ponder on it more, she realizes the time and forgotten that she's actually supposed to be going home by now. She decides to brush away her question into the back of her mind for now, and focuses on the present.

As Sakurai drives through the night, his mind ponders. What Bocchi said about Akihiko possibly acting weird, it didn't sound like a lie since her expression really did look distressed over it. He releases a sigh, feeling the comforting breeze of the night and making slit passes in between cars is such a thrill for him.

Back to the matter at hand though...

He grins to himself with mischief.

Guess he's gonna have to do something about the situation....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days have passed since I last interacted with Gotou-san. Today is a Friday, the beginning of the weekend, a day celebrated universally by all students who wish to catch up on their  hobbies, friends, and most importantly-- sleep. Because each and every one of us in this generation are sleep-deprived!

Though, I am making sure to stay loyal to my sleep schedule. It's especially easier now when I stopped talking to....

Gotou-san...

I took a quick glance to said person who was my seatmate, and as expected. She was busy spacing out in her own little world and writing down some thing to pass the time. We've only exchanged quick good mornings because I.....simply left it at that. This sounds twisted, but I'm glad Gotou-san is too anxious to approach me for conversation first-- because if she weren't, then avoiding her will be much more difficult than it is.

I don't like to think about it. I'll only get distracted, and it won't even take a moment till I fall under her strange charm. But I promised Seiji and myself that I wouldn't fall in love with her any more than this.

I need to distant myself from her, just until I lose my feelings and begin to see her as just simply a friend again. But who's to say I wouldn't fall for her all over again once I get myself close once more?

On another note, Mayafumi-san has been approaching me a lot lately. I think....she likes me? It does seem like it, I mean, would it be strange for me to assume so? From what I know of her, she never really approached many boys before-- unless it was for work of course. And it couldn't be because I'm popular or something, there are plenty of guys in this school that hold a higher reputation than I do. Besides, she attracts plenty of the guys in school herself, her choices is ever expanding due to her admittedly cute and responsible charm.

She and I are just friends.....at least, that's we agreed upon.

And I certainly think of her as a friend, and I find her anime fanart quite nice. Her passion for that media is amazing, the way she could go on and on about it like she didn't need oxygen. Again, she does possess the looks that could swoon any other boy, but it just doesn't work for me. And if I am correct in my assumption that she likes me then.... it'll only be a matter of time till she confesses to me....

Unfortunately, I don't think I have a heart to give to her if she does...

Because right now, it's imprisoned by the warm hands of Gotou-san.

Ugh, that's cringe, isn't it? My thoughts are still....thinking of her. I guess I really am smitten by this girl with hair reminding me of cherry blossom spring, and eyes just as beautiful and clear as the sky. Maybe I could try expressing that beauty through classic Japanese calligraphy or become a poet. But that'll just depress me when my goal right now is to forget about these feelings and drown them out somehow.

And luckily enough, I have the solution to that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Thank you for your purchase!" I bowed politely to the older man before me, who came to the store to buy a piano keyboard for his daughter's birthday. He smiles and nods before lifting the packaged keyboard and leaving the store.

The bell chimes as he left.

Yep, this is my solution. Letting my job drown all of my thoughts.

" Aww, I wish he brought his daughter along. I would've loved to see her reaction to her papa buying the keyboard." My co-worker with green hair tied into a short ponytail with a black bow, said. 

" I understand, It would've been precious to watch but....he's gotta save it for a suprise, y'know?" I shrugged, smiling fondly as I begin to imagine it too.

" Right, right." She nods in agreement.

Miwa-san is my senpai in the music store, and also my senpai in age. She's already in college, and is of course, generating money from working part-time here like I am. She's a kind older girl that I could rely on, though I can usually handle the usual business here just fine without her. But her company is well-appreciated since she boosts the atmosphere with her bubbly personality.

" You know, you've been coming to work a lot earlier these days." She grins, leaning cheek to palm as she looks at me with curiosity. " Why is that?"

" Hm?" I feigned confusion. " Aren't I supposed to arrive on time for duty? I don't think there's anything wrong with that, right?"

" You're bad at lying."

" I'm not."

" My dear Junior, it's written all over your face~"

" ... "

I sighed. " Fine." I raised my hands in surrender. " You caught me. "

" Love life issues?" She says, to which I jolted in suprise. But that was a bad reaction on my part, since that basically screamed the obvious on its own.

" Bingo." She giggles, amused.

" Is it that obvious..?" I asked.

" Like I said, it's written all over your face." She pokes my cheek. " I didn't mention it till' now, but your expressions were all empty these days, and you always spaced out when work was slow. You've been accepting any customer that needs your help-- no matter how tedious their requests are; All in an obvious effort to drown out whatever is bothering you in your head." She taps her fingers on the counter.

" As the older one between us, I'm an expert in the field of high school shenanigans and whatnot. And it's clear as day that your problems were related to love. I've dated a few boys in the past and they all shared that sad kicked puppy expression whenever we were in an argument." She completely dissected me , so effortlessly.

" May I ask who usually starts those arguments...?"

" Me!" She raises her hand proudly, with a prideful smile. This definitely painted a bad picture.

I pray that no girls will follow Senpai's example...

" So, spill the tea. Who started what with who?" She winks.

" Nobody started anything....it's just....well, we're not even together anyway. So it's not really that significant even if I look like a ' kicked puppy ' according to you." I chuckled, coping. 

" Ohh so you're single, huh? That's even more depressing." She teased.

" Aren't you single as well, senpai?" I shot back.

" Kiddo, don't mess with me now~ I can pull any guy in the street within seconds and get into a relationship whenever I want to." She confidently says, puffing her chest.

Sad to say, I've seen her done it before. So I got nothing to argue back with...

" But in all seriousness.....you shouldn't deny your heart from what it wants. From who it wants." She says, her smile softening as she patted my back. " The heart can love someone at random times in the most random places, and there's always the slight chance that they may be' the one'. And when you let a person like that slip away....it's gonna kill ya." She says.

" Is that experience I'm hearing from you--"

Smack!

I rubbed the back of my head with a pained smile.

" Don't be so cheeky when I'm being serious, brat." She deadpans.

" Sorry, Sorry..." I laughed a bit before nodding slowly. " But...I'll keep your words in mind, senpai." She lets out a 'hmph' before moving on.

She's right.

Who knows, maybe....the girl I'm in love with right now is ' the one'.

But even so....

She's also 'the one' I can't have.

I wonder which scenario would hurt my heart more. Letting her slip away? Or leaving her behind once my time in Japan has run out? No, whichever it is, the scenario that'll hurt the most is when the tears stream down her face. That's something I could never forgive myself for if it comes true...

Before I could sink deeper into my fears, my ears pick up on the bell chime and so I immediately return to reality. I put on my work smile and greeted the person at the door with a bow.

" Hello! Welcome--"

" Asachin~" 

Crack!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" K....Kenji?" Akihiko says with a horrified expression.

" The one and only." Sakurai grins devilishly, reveling in the obvious fear written all over his best buddy's face.

" What are you doing here...?" Akihiko nervously asked.

" Let's hang out." 

" Hang out?  Dude, I'm working--"

" Where's your manager?" Sakurai suddenly asked as he looks around. Akihiko is confused by the question.

" Hold on, what're you--"

" Woah, you're tall!" Miwa comments as she stood beside and compared her height to Sakurai's. And then, without permission, she grabs his arm and examines it with interest. " No, not just tall. You're a natural giant!" She says. Akihiko snapped his head towards her with even more horror.

" Oh? And who might you be?" Sakurai narrows his eyes.

" I'm the brat's senpai in this here establishment~" She winks, grinning. " So are you here to buy anything? " She went back to professional mode in an instant.

"I'm here to buy Asahi for a day off! " Sakurai declares.

" Excuse me, what?" Akihiko's eye twitches. " What do you mean by that?"

" Buy him? Can you even afford him?" Miwa challenges.

" Senpai, why are you--"

" Old lady, I'll have you know that I'm a Sakurai." The taller boy shoots back with a confident grin.

The ' old lady' title infuriated her a bit, but his following words immediately canceled that out. Her eyes widen and her breath hitches.

" Wait....you mean the rich family Sakurai--"

" Anyhoo, as I said earlier, I'll be buying my friend for the day." Sakurai says before slapping 400,000 yen on the counter. Akihiko and Miwa choke at the amount before both looked at him in shock.

" You're insane!/KENJI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" They yelled at the same time.

Akihiko reaches for his friend's collar and begins shaking him rapidly while asking question as to why on god's earth is he going so far as to spend literal cash just to have him for the day--

Meanwhile, Miwa notes that the money he gave was certainly authentic yen, not false at all. She didn't think she'd ever encounter a rich monster like this at a music store...

" Oh quit it will you?" Sakurai heartily before picking up Akihiko effortlessly.

" PUT ME DOWN YOU PIECE OF--"

" Tsk tsk, cursing is not your style, Asachin! " Sakurai interrupts and Akihiko seethes in response as he struggles to get out of his hold but failing. 

Sakurai glances to Miwa. " Will that satisfy your boss for my friend's absence?" He asked, referring to the money.

" Definitely." Miwa grins, she waves goodbye at the struggling Akihiko. " Bye bye, my little junior~" She cooes.

" MIWA YOU--"

" Alrighty! Lets-a-go!" Sakurai proceeds to the exit, Akihiko sighs and just gives up. There's no stopping Sakurai now from taking him to god knows where...

But then the movement suddenly halts.

" Huh? Why'd you sto- WOAH!" He was dropped.

Thud! His butt landed on the cold floor. 

" BAHAHAHAHA---" Miwa laughs hysterically in the background.

Akihiko sighs, getting irritated by his friend's spontaneous decisions. 

" Hey, Kenji--" And when he was just about to scold the taller boy, he paused in confusion upon seeing Sakurai approaching a drum kit. 

What's he doing? Akihiko wonders as he watched Sakurai observing the aforementioned drum kit that just got put on display yesterday.

Akihiko gets up, sighing, and walked to where his friend was. He peeked at his expression and he noticed that Sakurai looked a bit too serious, as if he's actually thinking of buying it--

" Asachin, what Tama drum kit is this?" Sakurai asked all of a sudden. Akihiko was  suprised that Sakurai even knew of the Tama brand...

 It's a Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch Laquer 5-piece, a Molten Brown Burst finish. It's a cool twist on drum designs from Tama's previous maple series. It features an outstanding combination of mellower birch with the stiffness of a walnut. When played, it releases a supremely dynamic sound akin to a walnut's characteristics, and it's durable enough to withstand heavy rock drumming if one chooses to. "

" I see..." 

" Wait, why are you even--"

" How much?" Sakurai asked.

" Pardon?" Akihiko gawked.

Sakurai tears his crimson gaze away from the kit and looked at Akihiko with a small grin. " This drum kit, how much?"

" It's....540,000 yen...." Akihiko mutters.

" Hmm...." Sakurai looks at the kit again, silent for a moment. He was thinking to himself whether he should buy it for Nijika or not.

He recalls a conversation they had, Tama was her preferred brand when it came to drums due to it being made here in Japan. It's also the first type of drums she practiced on, so it holds some sentimental value to her as well. Nijika hasn't complained about it yet, but Sakurai noticed that her drums seemed worn out and he even talked to her about it once, to which she responded that ' it's no worries! this old baby can still keep it going!' but that was just denial.

But 500,000 yen....

" Asachin, is it possible to customize it to my liking?" 

" Huh? Well, yeah but it's limited....if you ask for any hard specifics then I doubt the factory will be able to match it. Not to mention, the price will sky rocket-- wait, ARE you actually going to buy it?!"

" Hm..." Sakurai gets lost in thought upon hearing that.

This guy is seriously ignoring me.... Akihiko grimaced. First, the troublemaker barges into his workplace saying he wants to hang out. Second, he dropped him on the floor without warning, and lastly, the dude was ignoring him. Akihiko thinks Sakurai is becoming more and more unpredictable these days...

" I've decided."

" Decided to buy it?!" Akihiko chokes at the mere thought--

" Decided to not buy it." Sakurai clarifies. " If I buy it, she'll probably be mad at me."

" Huh? Who's ' she'? Oh, are you talking about your mom? Well, yeah I guess I could imagine that. You're rich but buying something you don't need is kinda dumb, I could imagine that'd get you a good scolding." Akihiko says, not knowing any better.

Sakurai wasn't referring to his mom, rather, it was his person of interest; Ijichi Nijika. But he decides not to correct him, since they best be going now.

" Let's head out, Asachin! And you're not taking your bike, just leave it here."

" Huh? I can't just do tha--"

Sakurai kidnaps Akihiko again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Yo, Manager-chan~!"

Seika's mood immediately develops a migraine upon seeing Sakurai entering the club. Ever since the kid started coming here for the purpose of seeing her sister, she's grown a lot more protective of Nijika-- although keeping subtle about it so Nijika wouldn't notice. But she thinks she shouldn't be blamed for wanting to do so, after all, Sakurai is too chaotic for his own good. 

" I'm unhappy that you're back." She says without hesitation, it was her typical greeting to Sakurai.

" Nice to see you again too, Manager-chan." Sakurai laughs, unaffected by Seika's cold countenance against him.

Her similar vermillion eyes glanced to the huge gift box, roughly half the boy's height. It was just sitting beside him though something felt awfully off about it...

" What's with the gift..." She narowed her eyes at him in suspicion. Sakurai grins, patting the gift box.

" Oh nothing~ It's just a suprise for good ol' Gotou-chan~" He cackles like a maniac after.

" For Bocchi? What on earth are you trying to gift her..." Seika's brows furrow in confusion and also a bit of curiosity. But as her mind began to think deeper.......she reached a dreadful conclusion, her eyes widened and Sakurai immediately took that as an indication that the older Ijichi sister had figured it out.

" Sakurai...don't tell me you--"

" Sis-- I mean, Manager! We're back." The door opens and Seika looks towards the Kessoku girls with slight dread. Sakurai's smirk only grew as he spun around and does the peace sign.

" Yo!" Sakurai casually greets.

" Huh? Sakurai-kun? What're you doing here?" Nijika tilts her head in confusion. " Didn't I tell you before that Friday and Saturday is when we're busiest...?" She swore to herself that she had told him this before. Or maybe this is just another spontaneous move busted from Sakurai's unpredictable mind.

" Oh, I just came here to help out!" Sakurai smiles. " I thought maybe I could lend a helping hand since I've got nothing better to do."

" But what about soccer--"

" We've been practicing all day, whenever we could. Thought I might take a small break." He says.

Seika sighs. " And your definition of ' break ' is working here?"

" No, my definition of ' break ' is flirting with your sist--"

Thwack! Sakurai's face was met with a soda can. 

" Manager?!" Nijika gasped.

" Sorry, I don't know why, but I suddenly heard the call of his face asking for a soda can. And courtesy of my kindness, I answered it." Seika stresses with a smirk. Sakurai vows revenge for that, while Nijika just sighs. 

" Hey, what's with this giant gift box?" Kita finally calls out the elephant ( or gift box in this case ) in the room. Everyone turns to it with curiosity-- with the exception of Seika and Sakurai.

Speaking of which...

" Oh, this? It's a gift for Gotou-chan." Sakurai announced. Bocchi jolts.

" Eh?" She looked confused. She points to herself, and Sakurai nods.

" Is there no gift for me?" Ryou tries to guilt-trip him.

" No."

" How mean."

Sakurai sighs, sometimes she really can be pitiful. Is this how she charmed Bocchi into paying for her expenses all this time?

" Well, if you have something you want to buy that badly. As long as you could give me a proper explanation as to why, then I could--" 

" Bet." Ryou says, pulling out a board littered with heavy details that served its very purpose to convince a rich boy to buy her everything she wants. Sakurai was caught off guard, so much to the point he'd forgotten to say ' sike ' and was literally forced to listen to Ryou explaining all the benefits as to why he should definitely buy her these things--

Meanwhile, Kita and Bocchi approach the gift box cautiously.

" Do you hear that?" Kita mutters as she heard some strange muffling coming from the box.

Bocchi didn't respond.....her mind had gone into full blown panic.

' W-What if Sakurai-kun was part of the Yakuza all along and is using our club as his safehouse, and we, as his cover-up?! What if there's a person in that box? A client who'd perhaps gotten into debt and hasn't paid since? Wait! If that is true, THEN WON'T WE BE APPREHENDED AND FRAMED FOR HIS CRIME?! Should I start writing my letter as a call for help? But who should I send it to......'

' Ok, there's papa.....mama....Futari....Jimihen....and....Akihiko-kun...'

' Wait, I can't text mom or dad! They'll get killed too if they tried to get involved with Sakurai-kun!'

Bocchi really thinks Sakurai is a Yakuza member...

' I can't text Futari.....last time, she left me on read! '

Pity her, for even her own little sister is one to forsaken her.

' Then...Jimihen? Wait, can a dog even answer a call?!'

She really thought her dog would be the one to rescue her....

Bocchi realizes that there was only one option left. One person she feels she can rely on in this time of alarm, one who promised to answer her whenever and wherever....

She gulps, hesitating as she stared at his contact.

She presses the call button...

And then--

* Brrt brrt!*

*Brrt brrt!*

" Huh? Where's that ringing coming from?" Kita looks around.

But Bocchi's eyes were focused on the box.

It...couldn't be....right?

Right. It couldn't be.

Hahahahaha-

She opens the box--

" Mppmmfh! Go--mmpphg! "  And there he is, stuck in a fetal position with his hands and feet tied together, and his mouth duct-taped. His emerald eyes meeting with her baby blues. Akihiko was muffling noises through his duct-taped mouth, but Bocchi was...

" Aki....hi....ko......-kun?" She muttered in disbelief...

Kita stands beside her and her eyes widened upon the tied up Akihiko too. She was too stunned to speak.

" Oh! Hey, you opened it!" Sakurai notices, while everyone looked confused.

" Bocchi-chan, are you okay? You look....pale..." Nijika mutters.

" Bocchi? Ikuyo?" Even Ryou showed some bit of concern.

" Oh my god..." Seika face palms.

" So, how did you like my gift? Pretty neat, huh, Gotou-cha--"

Thud!

"B-BOCCHI/HITORI-CHAN/GOTOU-CHAN?!" Everyone exclaimed at once when Bocchi collapsed.

"....She's not dead, right?" Sakurai laughs nervously but when nobody answered him, nor laughed along.....he went silent.

He might've screwed up.

~~~ To be Continued~~

Fuckkkk I didn't mean to split this chapter either! But too many words generated and my thoughts weren't loyal to the original plan because the more I write and re-read, the more I think 

" Oh this could be better if I write it like this..." AND IT JUST KEEPS GOING--

....

So anyways, I'll release second part tomorrow :,)

See ya~ And hope you enjoyed this chapter!