Hitori Gotoh (Bocchi)

The air in the school hallway suddenly felt thin and heavy. A few feet away, leaning against the locker as if trying to blend into the metal wall, was Hitori Gotoh. She was wearing her usual pink tracksuit and looked like she was on the verge of spontaneous combustion just from the presence of people passing by.

I adjusted the backpack strap on my shoulder, feeling my palm sweat. This is it. All I have to do is walk over there and say a normal 'hi'. Normal people talk. You can do this.

I swallowed hard and took my first steps. Each meter felt like a marathon. My heart pounded so hard against my chest that I was sure she could hear it before I even opened my mouth. When I stopped in front of her, Bocchi jumped in fright, holding her breath and hunching her shoulders until she almost disappeared inside her coat.

"H-hey... Gotoh-san?" I began, trying to keep my voice steady, even though my throat was dry. "Sorry for scaring you! I just... well..."

Her eyes widened, her pupils trembling in a spiral of pure panic. She seemed to be mentally calculating a thousand ways to vanish from that hallway.

"A-Ah! I-I... N-No! I'm sorry! I didn't do anything wrong, I swear!" she stammered at an unbelievable speed, bending her head almost to her knees.

"No, no! You didn't do anything!" I hurried to say, waving my hands in the air to try and calm her down, feeling my own face flush bright red. "It's just... I saw you playing the other day. Near the station. And... you're incredibly amazing on the guitar. Seriously."

Bocchi stopped mid-arcade of apologies. He slowly lifted his face, blinking his blue eyes beneath his bangs.