Kessoku Kokoro | A Bocchi the Rock Fanfic

Chapter 23: Shimokitazawa

Author: WE JUST PLAYED HEAVEN FOR DEATH AND DAMN IT

Author: EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

Author: Go play the game. Best 2 hours of our lives.

Author: ALSO

Author: WE'RE GIVING NIJIKA LIKE A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS SO REJOICE NIJIKA FANS

-

"Are you sure you want to be reincarnated?" the blonde angel asked. 

Tokumei was dreaming. He's sure about it now. There's no way that he's seeing an angel right now. It's just his brain screwing with him since he's just stressed that's all. But... his body was smaller than usual. Was he a kid again?

Oh no. 

That brought back some bad memories. 

Memories that weren't his. He was beaten. He was stabbed. He was thrown. Nothing but pain coursed through his body. And then... release. He felt nothing. He didn't feel pain anymore. He thought it was because he gained some sort of superpower.

But no.

The angel in front of him was proof of that. 

The blue portal was alluring. A brand new life. A new start. He could have it. 

"Yeah," he said. His voice was so much younger, but he was sure that it was his. 

He felt strange. What was this dream about? 

"I'll get in so much trouble for this, but I wish you the best," She smiled at him. 

"I never got your name," He said to the angel. She looked so familiar. He couldn't put his finger on it. Why was she familiar to him?

"...Shimokitazawa. Let's go with that since that's the place where you'll be reborn," She smiled. 

He was in love. If only he could grow up in Heaven, then he'd love to marry her. Oh well. Maybe in the next life he can have something else less hopeful than an angel. He looked at her one more time. 

Taking in her blonde hair. Her vermillion eyes. Her heavenly smile. 

He then looked at the portal. With a mighty leap, he chose a brand new life. 

-

"You understand your punishment right?"

"I'll take any and all punishment."

"Very well. Your punishment is..."

-

"Your name is...," He heard his mother say. 

-

"Psst. Tokumei. Tokumei," Nijika shook him to wake him up. She leaned to his ear and whispered, "It's 12 you know?"

"MANAGER, I OVERSLEPT. I'M VERY SORRY- Oh," He stared at the clock. It was 8 am. He looked at Nijika. She had a disappointed expression on her face. He then laid back in his sleeping bag. "Give me 5 more minutes."

"What do you mean 5 more minutes? The audition is today," She shook him more. 

"That's the point. I need to mentally prepare myself," He said. He looked at Nijika and he was... crying?

Why?

That dream wasn't real right?

That dream wasn't real. 

There's no way that it was. 

But he began to sob. He cried. He hasn't cried since... Oh no that was going to make him cry even more. He tried to just hide away from Nijika. Burying his face inside his pillow, but it was no use. Nijika pulled him over to check up on him.

"Why're you crying? The pressure my sister gives off can't be that bad," Nijika removed her tie and began to wipe his tears away.

"...Shimokitazawa," He muttered under his breath.

"Hm? What about it?" She cupped her hands on his cheek. 

"Nothing. It's just...," He stared at her. She looked so familiar. That golden hair. Those vermillion eyes. He cried a bit more. "Bad dream... Been having those a lot lately."

"Maybe you should stop being stressed all the time. Tell you what. After the audition, we relax okay?" She asked. She rubbed the tears away. And the snot. She's going to have to wash her tie thoroughly later.

"Thanks," He said. He began to forget his dream. But before he could, he muttered, "You're an angel, you know that?"

She blushed a bit, "...I know I am. That's why I'm never gonna stop saving you." She stopped rubbing his face once he stopped crying. He's never like this, but she doesn't mind seeing him be vulnerable once in a while. 

He smiled. 

She was in love. 

Wait, no. 

She shouldn't. He has someone else. She shouldn't hope for a chance that was never there. But if there could be...

She wouldn't mind the idea if he reciprocated those feelings too.