For various personal and environmental reasons,
Gotoh Hitori had evolved into the ultimate introvert.
A super-introvert.
An S-rank shut-in.
Her social skills were so stunted that even making eye contact felt like crossing a battlefield.
She gradually drifted deeper into isolation, her days filled with guitar practice, anime, and doomscrolling forums full of other people who also never left their rooms.
Her mother couldn't take it anymore.
And so, this morning, she was forcibly ejected from her room and given a single mission:
Go buy groceries.
On the way to the supermarket, Hitori spotted a deserted park.
No children. No adults. No crowds.
Just silence.
A lone swing creaked in the wind.
Like it was calling her.
She drifted toward it like a moth to flame.
And sat.
The swing swayed gently beneath her, and her thoughts swirled.
"I don't want to go back to school… It's hopeless anyway."
"Maybe I belong on the internet. At least there, I have a purpose…"
Her head drooped lower.
So deep in her mental spiral, she didn't notice someone approaching.
Until—
"Hello."
"Wah?!"
Hitori jolted upright, nearly flying off the swing.
Kneeling in front of her was a boy—too close.
Far too close.
But it couldn't be helped.
She'd had her head down the whole time, and with her thick bangs, the only way to even glimpse her face was from this awkward angle.
Even so, the stranger couldn't see much.
Her pink hair was a curtain. Her eyes were hidden.
But something about her was familiar…
He just couldn't place it.
"Hello, my name's Yukima Azuma. I live nearby. I don't think we've met before… Want to be friends?"
He smiled gently.
A warm, approachable smile.
But it hit like a truck.
With his 8-out-of-10 looks—courtesy of the Yuki family gene pool—even his usual cold demeanor drew attention.
But this?
This smile was weaponized charm.
Like sunlight cracking through a cloudy day.
Hitori's mind shattered.
"EHHH? EHHH!?"
She flailed on the swing, trying to stay upright.
Her brain couldn't process what was happening.
"Sunlight. Actual sunlight. This guy's presence is too bright! I'm melting—!"
She forgot to respond.
Completely.
Azuma raised an eyebrow.
Huh.
So there really were people immune to that move?
He tilted his head slightly and spoke again.
"Was I bothering you? Sorry—I just thought maybe we could be friends."
He bowed his head politely.
Hitori squinted.
"Too bright!!"
The light of an extrovert—it was overwhelming.
Worse than anything she'd encountered in her years of surviving the popular kids in school.
"Friends…? FRIENDS?!?"
Her mind screamed at her.
"Say something, you idiot! He's going to leave! SAY SOMETHING!"
But the only thing that came out of her throat was a strangled:
"A… aa…"
Azuma observed her in silence for a moment.
Then, suddenly, he clapped his hands together.
"Ah, I get it now! You're not ignoring me—you're just too nervous to talk, right?"
Gotoh Hitori: !?!?
"HE CAN READ MINDS?!"
"You're thinking, 'How did he know that?' aren't you?"
"HE REALLY CAN READ MINDS—CRAB! CARROT! WATERMELON!"
"Now you're probably thinking of weird random words to throw me off, right?"
Her eyes widened in horror.
Azuma's smile shifted.
Gone was the gentle friendliness.
It turned into something mischievous.
The devilish grin of someone who just found the perfect target to tease.
She was too easy to read. Every reaction written across her face like subtitles.
"Alright then—hand me your phone."
"U-uh?"
Before she even thought about it, she obeyed.
Azuma took it without hesitation, opened her LINE app, and added himself.
Then, he tapped into her contact notes.
"Your last name's Gotoh… What's your full name?"
"…Hitori."
"Perfect. Then I'll call you 'Bocchi' from now on."
"Eh? Why—?"
"Because 'Hitori' means 'alone,' right? And 'Bocchi' is easier to remember."
"It's not that I didn't get the meaning…"
She wanted to protest.
What she didn't get was—
Why did she need a nickname at all?
Why was he editing her phone like it was his?
But she couldn't ask.
Because if she could say those things…
She wouldn't be Bocchi.
"My name's Yukima Azuma. From now on, just call me Azuma-kun, okay?"
"A…"
"Okay!"
"Y-yes! Azuma-kun!"
He nodded, satisfied.
Hitori trembled.
"That was… a threat, wasn't it?"
"That was definitely a threat!"
"Am I about to get dragged into some shady back-alley business? Is he going to make me work at a hostess bar to pay off a debt???"
She was spiraling again.
"Pull yourself together, Gotoh Hitori! You have to resist!"
"From now on, we're friends."
"Y-yes!"
No resistance whatsoever.
Azuma stood up, brushing the dust from his knees.
Just as Hitori began to relax at the added distance, she heard—
"Bocchi, now stand here."
He pointed to a spot.
"Brush your hair aside, face me, and say: 'Nice to meet you, please take care of me.'"
"EH!?"
Too much.
Way too much.
But Azuma didn't back down.
"Come on, Bocchi. This is your first friend request, right? You wouldn't want to turn it down, would you?"
With a face full of dread and panic,
Hitori moved to the spot.
"Is this what friendship is like…?!"
"This doesn't feel like a friend request… This feels like a master command!"