บท 82: First, Kneel to the Boss
Gotou Hitori, a loner at school, inconspicuous, without any friends.
She recently got a new nickname—"Bocchi."
Her hobby is playing guitar, and her strength is also guitar. She even seems to have a small fanbase online.
But right now, she felt like she was being followed.
"W-what's going on? Could it be someone trying to sell me to traffickers...?"
Gotou Hitori was walking down the road with a huge guitar case on her back, her face tense. Because she was hunched over, the guitar looked even larger than her.
She had just stepped out of Shimokitazawa Station and felt someone following her. No matter how she sped up, she couldn't shake them off.
She didn't dare look back, afraid that might provoke them, which could lead to an even rougher encounter.
To be honest, even if they weren't rough, Gotou Hitori wouldn't have dared to turn around—she's so shy that she'd melt if she made eye contact with strangers. She usually walks hunched over with her head down, avoiding people's gazes. She's been like this almost her whole life.
Recently, however, she made a few people she could consider friends and even formed a band with them.
Gotou Hitori thought her life was finally evolving from a wild slug to something more human-like, but she didn't expect to encounter such danger today.
"Why? Why target me? I'm not pretty, I dress plainly, and I don't have any special skills…"
Panicked, she tried to quicken her pace further to get away from the shadow behind her, but still couldn't succeed.
If, at first, she doubted her fear of "being followed" was just a product of her social anxiety, now she was certain: there was someone behind her.
She had sped up, yet hadn't lost them—that had to be proof!
"What should I do? Maybe I should try swinging my guitar behind me to knock them out… no, no, I could never do something so violent…"
Gotou Hitori's face contorted with worry. If she looked up now, her strange expression might just scare passersby.
However, since she kept her head down, no one on the street saw her anxious face.
…
"…Is there something wrong with her?"
Following Gotou Hitori was Shin, who had no idea what was going through her head.
They were simply going the same way, so Shin had been walking behind her. Yet seeing her odd behavior, he began to wonder if she was unwell.
Every so often, she'd shudder and then suddenly quicken her steps—but due to her clumsy pace, it looked like she was just marching in place.
Yes, Gotou Hitori thought she had sped up, but in reality, she was hardly moving any faster, just taking extra steps.
Her bizarre behavior made Shin wonder if she might have some condition, like epilepsy…
If Shin had a Stand with healing powers, he might have helped out of kindness. But since he didn't, he just dismissed her strange actions.
After a while, as they continued their odd, one-behind-the-other walk, Shin saw their destination ahead.
It was the entrance to the underground bar he had visited last night, with two burly men standing guard at the door.
Shin didn't recognize them, so he guessed they must be Kiryu's other subordinates.
Kiryu, being the local boss around Shimokitazawa, wouldn't have just the ten or twenty men from last night; he'd surely have more underlings.
Those from yesterday were likely too injured to come today, so Kiryu brought in fresh men.
As Shin thought this, he noticed the two sunglass-wearing goons exchange glances and walk toward him.
Kiryu must have told them about Shin's appearance so they could welcome him.
However, just as Shin was about to step forward, he saw the two burly men walk up to Gotou Hitori instead.
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Both Shin and Gotou Hitori froze, stopping in their tracks and looking at the men in confusion.
While Shin's reaction was one of simple curiosity, Gotou Hitori was scared out of her wits.
She hadn't even shaken off her follower, and now there were two intimidating men in front of her. Her legs went weak, and she nearly knelt down.
But someone beat her to it.
"Master Shin!"
The two men in sunglasses suddenly dropped to one knee, bowing their heads respectfully to Gotou Hitori.
"Boss Kiryu is waiting inside for you!"
"...Huh?"
Gotou Hitori's mind went blank, completely lost in the situation.
Watching this ridiculous scene unfold, Shin couldn't help but laugh. He walked over and said:
"You've got the wrong person; I'm Shin."
"What?"
Both the men and Gotou Hitori were stunned, looking over at Shin.
Gotou Hitori quickly lowered her head—not just because Shin was strikingly handsome but also out of fear.
The two men exchanged glances, muttering to each other.
"Didn't Boss Kiryu say it was a high schooler in a tracksuit?"
"I knew it didn't make sense for Boss Kiryu's contact to be a girl."
"But you knelt too, didn't you?"
It was true. Shin, who was wearing a tracksuit for convenience, hadn't expected Kiryu to describe him to his underlings so vaguely as "a high schooler in a tracksuit."
Coincidentally, Gotou Hitori was also wearing a tracksuit and happened to be walking the same route.
The two men in sunglasses had only spotted Gotou Hitori and overlooked Shin behind her.
While it seemed odd that Boss Kiryu's VIP was a high school girl, they didn't dare defy orders, so they went straight to kneeling in front of Gotou Hitori.
Only after kneeling did they realize their mistake, leaving both men—and Gotou Hitori—feeling embarrassed, while Shin wore a bemused smile.
"All right, get up. Don't make a scene," Shin said, annoyed, to the two clueless men. Although there weren't many bystanders, the strange scene still drew a few glances.
He wasn't interested in becoming a spectacle.
"Lead the way, let's go."
To be continued…
Psst, Ningen. You are under arrest! Hand over your Power Stones, if you wanna live!
Hitori's band is complete now!
Shin contemplates which world should he go to now!
Should he go to Dragonball verse, Fate verse, or Jojo verse?
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