Bocchi the School Shooter

Plan

"We're finally here, Hitori-chan! Quick, we need to wake Ryou up and find a guitar for you."

"Ah thank you so much, I really thank you for letting me in here, I've never been in a clubhouse before so this is my first time. Please be gentle with me, I want to make you happy."

"That is the most you have spoken with me so far...wait! You're reading that from your phone?"

"I wanted to t-thank you for giving me this opportunity, so I looked up 'What to say before my first time' on my phone. Did I do something wrong?"

"No it's just, most people feel a bit intimidated when the visit a clubhouse or venue for the first time, I know you must be overwhelmed right now, just try to relax and have fun."

"I-I see. Thank you for the explanation."

This was the third time Hitori had thanked Nijika since they entered the clubhouse. Nijika wanted to make Hitori comfortable but at the same time was wary of Hitori's awkwardness.

She tried to open the door of a storage room. It was locked.

"PA-san, I need to get something from the storeroom, please give me the keys. Hitori-chan, please get the keys from PA-san at the counter."

"Yes, I'll try my best", Hitori replied.

Hitori walked towards the counter. At first, she couldn't see anyone standing there, but when she moved closer, she saw a thin, frail young woman smiling at her. She had long black hair which covered half of her pale face. Her pitch-black eyes looked gently at Hitori. There wasn't a shred of colour on her, as if she had walked out of a Hitchcock film.

"Here are the keys, are you Nijika's friend?"

"I-uh t-thank you so much please don't curse my family!"

Hitori was terrified of PA-san. Nevertheless, she courageously brought the keys back to Nijika.

"Alright, now let's get you a new guitar. I'll open the storeroom in a minute."

The door opened. Nijika's eyes widened.

"W-what happened?"

"It's empty."

The storage room was empty. There wasn't as much as a single pick in the room. The room, which was used to store lighting, sound equipment and instruments had been ransacked by someone. The only thing left was a handful of loose guitar strings.

"Where's all the stuff? I swear there was a guitar here a few months ago."

"Nijika. You came back."

"Ryou, you finally woke up, do you know what happened to all the stuff in this room?"

"Yea."

"Where is it?"

"I sold it."

"WHAT?! You sold all the equipment we had in this room, all the effects pedal, speakers, mics, the harmonium we got from our neighbours, the lighting lamps, even the Gibson that was here, you sold all of that?!"

"Yes."

"Does the manager know?"

"She is the one who told me to do it. She wanted some extra cash."

"When did this happen?"

"Last week."

"You stupid idiot, why would you do that? We had things stored here precisely because that stuff could have been useful in the future. Our new member needs a guitar and she can't play because YOU SOLD THE ONE WE HAD!"