Social phobia and lonely rock

"Pochi."

Ishikawa Hayabusa said this, holding up Pochi's face and speaking to her in the midst of her panicked and shaken eyes.

"I believe you are Cinderella who has not yet put on her crystal shoes, and you are a swan who has not yet shed its feathers. You still have a lot of room for improvement."

"The time you spend in the band with Hongxia, Kita, and Ryo may be hard, but it will also be a rare memory in your life. I hope you can cherish it."

"As for us, if you are willing to be with me, even after these years, we still have a long time to be together."

"Maybe you won't come again when you grow up, but I will leave a room for you at home, so... just enjoy this only chance of youth."

Pochi's gaze changed from wavering and evasive to staring at Ishikawa Hayabusa's face, and his eyes gradually became firm.

Her face flushed red.

She now understood why Ishikawa Hayabusa rarely communicated with her when everyone was around, and why he always seemed so distant except when she needed him.

Looking at the young man in front of her who thought so much about her, she felt her heart beating particularly fast.

A sentence seemed to pop out before it even passed through her brain.

"But, Falcon, I want to be closer to you..."

Ishikawa Hayabusa was stunned, thought about it, put his hands down, and asked her seriously again.

"Closer, to what extent."

As he let go of her hand, Pochi lowered her head, her eyes wavering intensely.

"Yes Yes..."

She didn't look like she was afraid to speak, but rather like she was unsure.

"Okay, don't think about this right now."

Feeling that he could finally relax and enjoy the sunshine, Ishikawa Hayabusa lazily fell to the ground again, opened his hands comfortably and squinted his eyes at the blue sky.

The wind blowing from the land to the sea brushed through the grass, passed by the boy lying down and the girl sitting expectantly, and flew to the sea sparkling in the sun.

After lying down for a while, Ishikawa Hayabusa saw that Pochi was still sitting, so he turned his head and spoke to her.

"Pochi, are you enjoying the sunshine? Are you not getting melted by the sun?"

Although Ishikawa Hayabusa didn't mean that, Pochi still felt that he was teasing him.

After all, he had just said that she was a little weird.

She turned her head to look at Ishikawa Hayabusa, and seeing that he was still lying there, she also lay down slowly with gentle movements.

Lying on the ground, her eyes were still fixed on him.

This was the first time she saw Ishikawa Hayabusa from this angle.

I heard him say that when I started to feel that something was wrong.

“It felt like we were staring at each other in bed.”

Bed bed bed bed!?

Pochi couldn't control her inner feelings and almost showed a look of collapse again, but thinking that she had just been called weird, she held back.

Ishikawa Hayabusa looked at her like this, turned around, put his hands behind his head and looked at the sky.

Pochi looked at him for a long time before coming back to his senses and looking up at the blue sky.

Although I know Falcon's idea, there is still one thing that has not been resolved.

Falcon made it very clear that he would not date her at his current age. He would wait until she grew up a little and would not lose herself because of him.

But what exactly does it mean to grow?

If it's Falcon, he must know it.

He is so strong...

After hesitating for a long time, she looked at Ishikawa Hayabusa and asked.

"Um...Falcon, what is growth like?"

Ishikawa Hayabusa didn't look at her, as if he was enjoying the sunshine while answering casually.

“Well, this is a very ambiguous thing.”

"Taking responsibility can be considered growth, gaining life experience and knowledge can also be considered growth, and gradually training oneself can also be considered growth."

Pochi was lying on his left side, staring at him intently.

Ishikawa Hayabusa didn't pay any attention to her gaze and continued speaking.

“However, I think the two most important things are self-awareness and courage.”

“Know what you want, what you can achieve, the self-awareness of yourself, and the courage to act.”

"Based on the number of people in our band, Liang and I should be considered to have both, but Liang is still a little weaker than me."

Ishikawa Hayabusa was generous in praising himself without blushing or getting nervous.

"Hongxia has some knowledge and courage, but they are both half-baked. Kita has a very poor self-awareness, but his courage is just okay."

"Finally, Pochi, you're the worst, having neither."

After Ishikawa Hayabusa finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Pochi, but when he saw Pochi's tearful eyes and an expression that showed he was extremely aggrieved by being criticized, he immediately shut up.

He thought about it, sat up and asked Pochi.

"Pochi, what is your goal or dream in playing in a band? I want to hear the truth."

Pochi's expression quickly turned awkward, and she glanced to the side in confusion.

"If you lie to me, I will never talk to you again," Ishikawa Hayabusa added.

Pochi was shocked, and quickly danced around and said, "I wanted to join the band because I wanted to be praised."

But after she finished speaking, her expression froze and she curled up into a ball, hugging her legs, as if she was too ashamed to face anyone.

"Yeah, that's normal." Ishikawa Hayabusa nodded. "Then Pochi, stand in the haystack over there for a while."

Pochi raised her head slightly and showed her eyes. Seeing that Ishikawa Hayabusa didn't seem to be laughing at her at all, she relaxed.

Although he didn't know what he was going to do, Pochi listened to him and walked over.

Standing in the haystack, Pochi looked at Ishikawa Hayabusa with a slight uneasiness.

"Now, imagine that the grass around you is a person who compliments you."

Pochi blinked in confusion, then tried to imagine it. It was easy for her to imagine it because she was surrounded by her classmates and talked to in an admiring tone just a few days ago.

Pochi's imagination is very powerful.

The moment she tried to simulate it, she felt as if countless giants stood up out of thin air around her, instantly blocking out the sky and the sun, looking down at her, and then said grimly.

"Pochi-chan is amazing, you play the guitar so well."

"You look so handsome on stage, you're a hero!"

“No ah ah ah!!!”

Pochi's high-pitched scream scared all the seabirds away.

They heard the fear that the other party was facing from the voices, and worried that the fear would befall them, so they fled towards the sea.

"Falcon, falcon, falcon~"

Ishikawa Hayabusa calmly looked at Pochi who took out the note he gave him, hugged his head, closed his eyes, and called his name in a mournful voice.

Oh no, she's so cute. I really want to play a trick on her.

But he gave up, walked over with a helpless smile, and grabbed Pochi's arm.

"I am here."

Pochi raised his head weakly, and looked at Ishikawa Hayabusa with tears in his big, bright blue eyes.

“Just imagine it could be like this.”

He reached out and touched Pochi's head.

Pochi looked around with lingering fear and stood up.

Ishikawa Hayabusa pulled her towards the waterproof sheet he had laid out.

"You see, you need to understand what you really need and what you can do, and then muster up the courage to do it."

"By the way, Pochi was so cute just now. I really want to hold him in my arms and pet him."

Pochi looked at the boy who was pulling her in front of her, and her heart moved. She really wanted to say it was okay to touch him as he pleased, but she couldn't say it because she was shy.

Sitting back down on the tarpaulin, Pochi felt more and more that the boy next to her had no shortcomings at all.

He was too strong, too free, too happy.

"Pochi, if you have anything to say to me, you can ask me directly. You can ask me anything you want now. I might not want to answer you at other times."

He's reading my mind again. Normally he must know everything, but then pretend not to know.

Bochi thought about it but didn't feel any resentment, because she also felt that this was indeed the best place to talk.

It's spacious, yet extremely small.

Also, she was leaning against Falcon.

"Falcon, is there anything you are not good at?"

"I'm not good at many things. I don't know how to cook because I've never learned it. There are also many things that I'm too lazy to learn."

Why does it sound like he will learn it...

"But, Pochi should be asking about my shortcomings. Well, I... used to be very irresponsible. Other people's affairs had nothing to do with me. Then something happened at home, and I changed. Later, I set a few rules for myself, but my essence is still the same."

"The Falcon's Rules..."

"She looked curious... Never mind, don't tell anyone. There are only five rules: care for the people around you, don't lie, fulfill your promises, don't help those who don't want to be helped, and finally, put happiness first."

"Not helping..."

For some reason, Pochi felt that this one was a bit scary.

"Well... For example, when I first knew that Kita bought the wrong bass, I didn't tell her. She didn't want my help at first, and I didn't care about her."

"I will only intervene if the consequences of her doing so make me unhappy."

Pochi suddenly thought of the time when she was invited by Ishikawa Hayabusa to join the band. If she had refused at that time...

fortunately.

"Forget it, this isn't fun. Let's go back. We need to work harder on today's audition."

Ishikawa Hayabusa said this and stood up, but he saw Pochi sitting on the ground motionless.

After being frozen for a while, she suddenly screamed.

"Audition!?"

Ishikawa Hayabusa's mouth twitched as he looked at Pochi who was beginning to melt.

"You won't forget it."

Of course, Pochi wouldn't say that she had forgotten about the audition because she had been thinking about confession recently.

She trembled in fear and avoided Ishikawa Hayabusa's sight.

"Forget it, it's okay. I believe in Pochi's ability. Pochi is not someone who needs to be prepared, but someone who depends on his performance."

Ishikawa Hayabusa reached out to her.

Pochi quickly recovered and took his hand and slowly stood up.

...

When Pochi rode back on his bicycle, he did not stick to Ishikawa Hayabusa on purpose like he did before.

Falcon was right in front of her. He cared about her immensely and was kind to her in a subtle yet meticulous way.

She felt relieved.

After a short pause, the bicycle drove onto the road.