Hitori Gotoh + Kessoku Band | Bocchi the Rock!

"Hey, guys!"

The members of Kessoku Band, Hitori Gotoh (Bocchi), Nijika Ijichi, Ryo Yamada, and Kita Ikuyo were practicing their instruments inside of STARRY, the club that they had worked at part time. Kita seemingly had something she wanted to propose.

"Hm? What is it, Kita-chan?" Nijika raised a brow, smiling.

"Well, I was thinking," Nijika began, "since Christmas is coming up--"

Oh no. Bocchi began to think to herself. Christmas. Holidays. Socializing. Gift giving. Parties. EXTROVERT THINGS!

"--we should go to this karaoke place and have a fun night there singing Christmas songs!"

"I can't." Ryo interjected suddenly, her voice as dull as ever. "If I sang, my voice would cause everyone to start crying uncontrollably."

"Because of how shrill it is?" Nijika joked.

"The only reason I'm not the lead singer because I wanted Kita-chan to have her spotlight." Ryu retaliated with a lame shruge.

Kita gasped, cupping her hands in front of her mouth. "Ryo-senpai...is complimenting me...! I'm gonna die and go to Nirvana!"

"Hey, you know she's totally joking, right??" Nijika giggled, before looking over at Bocchi--

"Oh my goodness, Bocchi-chan is frothing at the mouth!"

Indeed, Bocchi was currently laying on the floor, literally foaming at the mouth and convulsing like a worm being exposed to the dry, crisp air after spending the entire day holed up in its moist tunnels--which wasn't too far off a comparison when it came to Bocchi.

"Did a squirrel bite her on the way to STARRY?" Ryo suggests with a relaxed tone, earning a squeal of distress from Kita.

"N-now is not the time for your jokes, Ryo-senpai! Bocchi needs medical attention...!"

"Christmas...gift giving...mistletoe...karaoke...extrovert..." Bocchi said as she spasmed out, her fingers writhing at her sides on the floor.

"She's P-P-POSSESSED!?!?" Kita cried out, her yellow side ponytail and ahoge whipping around. "Take her to a priest, or a shrine! She's muttering some kind of spell! Or curse! Or hex!"

"Bocchi the Shrine Maiden..." Ryo said thoughtfully.

"...No, no, this seems like typical Bocchi." Ryo shrugged with a unconcerned huff.

"What about any of this is typical!?" Kita shrieked, before whipping her head at Nijika in the hopes that she would be more rational.

"No, no, it's actually pretty typically for Bocchi-chan." Nijika shrugged as well.

"You too, Nijika-senpai?!"

In the end, the four girls ended up going to the karaoke bar sometime during their Winter Break, and were currently standing outside, where the bright neon light of the sign shone down on their faces.

"... we're in a frosty hell, looking up at heaven." Ryo commented lamely.

"Oh, be serious." Nijika sighed, before clapping her hands. "Thanks again for bringing us out here, Kita-chan!"

"Thank you...!" Bocchi nodded fervently in agreement.

"It's no problem! After all, spending time with the band is the best part of being in one, after all!"

KITA-AURAAAAAA~

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

The other three girls collectively fell at Kita's feet. "Her extroverted aura...it's even stronger...during the holiday season...!" Bocchi weakly tried to cover her gaze, but it was no use; Kita's bright eyes shone like golden stars.

"An archangel sent from Heaven...the neon sign must be reflecting the aura off of her dozens of times over..." Ryo groaned quietly.

"You mean her inhibitors have been removed?!" Nijika wailed.

Kita blinks, pointing at herself confusedly and batting her lashes. "Huh? What happened? Why are we all on the floor? Did I miss something?"

After that whole bit, though, everyone enters karaoke bar and grill and find a booth, with Nijika putting some yen into the karaoke machine as Bocchi laid flat on the seats as though she were strapped up for medical surgery.

"Huh...?" Kita looks up, before gasping to herself and blushing like a maiden. "Mistletoe?!" She casts a glance to her side, where Ryo stood. She then turned back around and closed her eyes as she began to fantasize about Ryo and her...under the mistletoe. "I wonder if Ryo-senpai notices...this could finally be the move for her to finally notice me!"

Kita whirls back around, clearing her throat and calling out in a sing-song voice. "Ohhh Ryo-senpai-!"

By the time she opened her eyes, however, she realized that Ryo had climbed up and taken the mistletoe down and started to EAT IT. "R-R-RYO-SENPAI?!!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I didn't have breakfast or lunch all day," Ryo replied lamely, "so I had to grab a quick snack."

"Ryo-san, spit that out!" Nijika frantically smacked Ryo on the back, eventually causing the blue haired girl to cough up green leaves. "Don't you know that those things are poisonous?!"

"I thought I tasted some extra flavor..." Ryo hummed.

Meanwhile, back to Bocchi...

She had totally slipped off undetected while the other three weren't looking!

Mostly because she really had to puke her guts out.

Which is exactly what she did, waddling over to the girls' bathroom before heading inside and throwing up into a toilet, before washing up and curling up under the sinks in the bathroom.

"I'm really going to die here." The mumble came with a tone of finality and utmost dread. "Singing in front of an audience is one thing, but doing it during karaoke? When I mess up, or forget a lyric, Kita's definitely going to take a picture of me and then every Christmas when Kessoku Band meets up she's going to pull out that picture and go, 'ahahaha, remember karaoke with Bocchi-chan?!' and then I'll shrivel up and die and then roll off the side of the Sanzu River when I pass on to the next life-!!"

Deep breaths, Hitori!

Bocchi heaves in and out, gulping up air before gasping. "N-no! I...I am...Bocchi! And I...rock! And roll! I'm...punk! Yes! I'll go outside...and I'll totally knock everyone off their feet!"

Bocchi abruptly stands up, wildly flailing her arms in the air in an exaggerated "cool pose" that a DJ might do. "Everyone!! Hitori's about to drop the beat on this house!! Who's ready to get lit!?"

"..." Hitori looks back down at the floor, defeated. "No, that's a party animal and a delinquent, not a punk girl."

"I'll just...be myself!"

With a nod and a final deep in-and-out, Bocchi walks out the bathroom, ready to claim her throne as the Goddess of Karaoke.

...Immediately at the same time, someone else walked out of the completely unisex bathroom next to her!

Oh no. Bocchi freezes up. We walked out at the same time. They have to have noticed too, right?! Now we...we HAVE to say something about it! B-but I don't wanna! I don't wanna talk to someone! I have to save my energy for the karaoke!!

Slowly, she turns her head to look at the stranger, her facial features practically sliding off her own face as she began to tremble lightly.

And then, she swan dives into the nearest trashcan, knocking it over and laying flat on her stomach with her head shoved into the bin.

"P-please leave me to die." She deadpanned from within.

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