Unlikely Duet

Chapter 14: Confessions

The Unlikely Duet

Foreword: Foreword: Guess who's back? Mayflower Productions here, introducing the latest installment of Unlikely Duet. With this chapter, we enter the ongoing arc's penultimate stage. It's very Hitori-centric, so I hope you're prepared. The preview also might be dark, too. Despite everything seeming calm on the surface, cracks lurk beneath the surface. Whether they'll heal or rupture is yet to be determined. FYI, this story is also cross-posted on FFN, AO3, and SpaceBattles. That was my daily PSA. Now returning to our regularly scheduled program, Unlikely Duet Chapter 14: Confessions.

Unlikely Duet- line break, "It's the end of an era."-Dialogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Bocchi the Rock, Oregairu, or any other intellectual properties that may appear in this story. Please don't sue me.

Chapter 14: Confessions

[Hitori POV]

"Orimoto-san, I've got a question."

"Yeah, Gotoh-san?"

"What's this homophone thing? I don't get that part."

"I'm glad you asked, Gotoh-san! I've got the perfect example!... Your cynical knight rides through the night along the bight without a bite to eat."

"Knight and night, followed by bight and bite..."

"That's right! They're words that sound the same but have different meanings."

"Then what's a—"

"A bight's like the coastline or shore."

"Wow. You read my mind, Orimoto-san." I gasped, awed by my classmate's knowledge. We were studying at a cafe, working through English exercises. It wasn't my worst subject, far from it, actually. Oh!Tube helped with guitarhero having a few comments from abroad. Thanks to that and mindless scrolling, I was pretty much bilingual!

[Hitori-vision]

"May I take your order, Miss Hitori?"

"Yes, happy birthday to you too!"

[Hitori-vision]

That's why I was touching base with Orimoto-san. She offered the help, so it would be foolish to ignore her. I'm not worried about making silly mistakes... Hitori Gotoh is global!

"Hold on, h-he's not my knight, Orimoto-san!" I exclaimed, picking up on an earlier line. She was clever, sneaking it into my question.

"Oh, really, huh? Then how do you explain that cultural festival?" Orimoto-san countered.

[Flashback]

"Tch. I don't want a mumbling mess, I want an apology! What do you think this is, a joke?"

"I d-didn't m-mean to—"

"This was such a waste of time. I wait all day at this dead-end festival for what? Having my day ruined by some incompetent, completely socially inept idiot, who can't even—"

"Sorry about that. It was all my idea, not hers. If you want to blame anyone, it's me."

"H-Hikigaya-san..."

[Flashback End]

"Hikigaya-kun was pretty cool there..." I avoided her gaze, my words nearly inaudible.

"Oh~?" Her grin grew, sensing an opportunity.

"Orimoto-san, c-can we not have another clip—" I muttered, not wanting a repeat of summer vacation.