Kessoku Band makes a Music Video

Chapter 1

Hitori walked through the mall at a fast pace, knowing that her friends were waiting for her. She hoped her friends were not mad at her but the only explanation she was going to give them was that the bus had been late and there was nothing she could do about it, since she didn't have a car. The truth was that she had missed the bus because she had not been paying attention, so she had to wait for the next one. Being absentminded and daydreaming costed her all kinds of embarrassments, the newest of which was her being over an hour late to meeting with her friends to do a school project. She finally located her friends sitting at a table in the food court and approached them.

"Bocchi-chan, why the are you so late?", began Ryo in an accusative tone, before Hitori had a chance to take a seat or even greet her friends. "We agreed to be here at 3 o'clock".

"I'm sorry", replied Hitori, trying not to let her emotions take over. Ryo had the habit of blurting out the thoughts on her mind without considering anyone else's feelings. The rest of her friends could handle it, but Hitori had always been a bit on the sensitive side, being brought to tears more than a handful of times by Ryo’s harsh teasing. "The bus was late and I couldn't get my dad to give me a ride and I...".

"That's fine, at least you could make it, we can’t actually start shooting our music video until you arrived anyways", interrupted Ryo, not caring much about Hitori's explanations. "We have been doing some work while we waited", she continued, pointing at some notes on a paper the girls were working on, "however you missed the voting".

Hitori took a seat next to her best friend Kita, and motioned for her to hand over the papers so she could take a look. "Roman slavery?", inquired Hitori after she took a glance at the script the girls had been working on.

"Of course", relied Nijika. "We have been doing a lot of cutesy stuff lately, so we were thinking of something more historical. I think ancient Roman slavery would be much more interesting, so we're going to depict a Roman slave auction".

"And you have decided on the roles?", asked Hitori, finally understanding what Nijika had meant by voting. They had voted on what role they wanted to take, of course.

"Yeah, sure", replied Nijika. "Kita will be the auctioneer and Ryo will bid for the slave".

"And I play the slave?", asked Hitori.

"Well you weren't here to vote, so", shrugged Nijika. She always did that when she wanted her friends to know that there would be no further discussion on the matter. Hitori was an hour late so she didn't have much room to complain. Besides, she had a feeling that even if she had been there, she would have been given the most demeaning role anyway. In a sense, she was relieved that she didn't have to endure that, only having to accept what was given to her because she had been late.

"I think if we arrange some chairs over there we can do the auction right here", interjected Kita, always the one trying to prevent things from turning into arguments. "We can even ask those boys to be extra bidders", she added, pointing to a group of boys out from soccer practice.

Hitori was mortified. Her friends wanted to shoot the scene right there in the food court? And with extras watching? She was secretly hoping that they would film the scenes back at Kita's house, but that was not to be. Kita added "also I have the greatest idea ever" with enthusiasm, "you know that goth store around the corner? We can probably get some sort of collar for the slave girl to wear".

"That's a pretty good idea", admitted Nijika. Though clearly the leader of the group, she was never afraid to acknowledge other people's opinions, or even admit when she was wrong. Hitori, for her part, didn't particularly like the idea of wearing anything on her neck, let alone a slave collar. Her friends were already set on the script, though, and the role each of the girls would play. If she hadn't been so late maybe she could have gotten the role of bidder or, even better, the one handling the camera. But she had been late, like usual. Probably the only time she made it on time was when her father gave her a ride. Or when Nijika picked her up in her car.

"Bocchi-chan, take this and go buy a collar from the goth store", Nijika told Hitori, handing her a 10 dollar bill. "It's right around the corner, you can't miss it". Hitori took the money but wasn't sure how to proceed. Did Nijika really expect her to go buy the collar by herself? It wasn't the most difficult task in the world, provided that you weren't overly shy like Hitori, but why couldn't they all go to the store? Maybe they would have fun looking at the goth merchandise. "What are you waiting for? We will be right here", finally came the instruction from Nijika, "we'll arrange some chairs and also ask the boys over there if they want to be extras in the scene". And that was that.

Hitori slumped her shoulders and just said "fine", then made her way to the store. She found the store mercifully empty, except for the store clerk, of course. The clerk was a girl in her mid 20s, and she was everything Hitori expected a goth, or a goth store clerk, to be. She had a piercing on her nose and one on her lip. A couple of piercings on her ears. She was wearing all black clothes, and her blouse had a skull on the front. She was also wearing funny looking boots that Hitori thought were more suited for riot police than for a girl working at a mall store.

"May I help you?", asked the clerk to Hitori. “Eh?!” The clerk's voice surprised Hitori. She didn't know what she expected, perhaps for the clerk to have a deeper voice, or maybe for her to sound rude, but that was not the case. She had a sweet voice and she was very polite.

As Hitori was about to ask the clerk for something to wear on her neck, she noticed right there on the counter they had a couple of collars and she quickly picked one without giving it much thought, avoiding eye contact with the clerk. It was a black collar that had huge spikes protruding from it. Very gothic, Hitori thought. It also costed exactly 10 dollars so Hitori reasoned that it was the perfect choice for her.

"How much for this?", asked Hitori, although the collar had an obvious price tag on it. The clerk named her price and Hitori handed her the 10 dollar bill Nijika had given her. It was a simple enough transaction. Hitori was out of there in a second, feeling enthusiastic about completing her errand.

Her task complete, Hitori rushed back to the food court to meet with her friends. She could see Kita talking to the boys out from soccer practice, while Nijika and Ryo were busy moving chairs for the scene. She showed the item she had bought to Nijika, then.

"Bocchi-chan... what is this supposed to be?", inquired Nijika, not sharing Hitori's enthusiasm for the outcome of her errand. "It is pretty cute but I don’t think Romans wore collars with spikes on them? This thing seems straight out of a Marilyn Manson music video".

"It should be fine though!", thought Hitori, "ancient Romans didn't wear jeans either. It is part of our artistic vision!". But instead of saying what she really thought, she only managed to say "It should be fine th..." before being interrupted by Nijika.

"Go back to the store and ask for a refund, then buy something more suitable for our scene, okay?", instructed Nijika.

"Uh, I, um...", stammered Hitori, again. "I don't think I... I don't know how to do that", she admitted. She couldn't picture herself going back to the goth store and asking the clerk for a refund or a change. What if the clerk decided that their transaction was done and set in stone?

"Jesus, Hitori", said Nijika, now exasperated. "How do you manage to get by in your daily life when you're so shy all the time?". Hitori didn't have an answer for that. She stood there for a couple of seconds before Kita interjected, "It’s okay guys, really! I'll talk to her, come on". The two then made their way back to the store. As the two girls approached the store clerk she flashed a smile back at Hitori.

"May I help you?", asked the store clerk to Kita.

"Hi, yes. I would like to return this collar, it's not what we're looking for", came the reply from Nijika. Then she continued, "we're looking for something a slave would wear".

Hitori felt a knot in her stomach, instantly embarrassed at the situation. She wanted nothing more in the world than the opportunity to explain to the clerk that they were trying to film a scene about ancient slavery for a school project; that or for the earth to open up and swallow her whole. Either one would be fine. The clerk raised an eyebrow and looked at Kita, then at Hitori, and then back at Kita.

"Sure thing, we have some of those over here", said the clerk, leading the girls to the part of the store with all the neckwear. "Your, um, friend here didn't specify what kind of collar she needed".

"I know, she can be a little absentminded sometimes", joked Kita. Hitori was too embarrassed to say anything. She just hoped they would find a suitable collar for the scene and then they could get out of that store as soon as possible. Since Kita had a better idea of what she was looking for, Hitori didn't really pay much attention to the exchanges between her and the store clerk. Instead she took the time to eye the store, something which she wasn't able to do before because she had been very nervous.

"This is just perfect", finally Hitori heard Kita say, putting her out of her reverie. "Look", said Kita to Hitori, offering the new collar. It was a collar much simpler than the one Hitori had bought, without any spikes. Instead it had a big ring that you could attach a leash to. Hitori felt mortified again at the prospect of having to wear such a ridiculous and embarrassing thing on her neck, although she reasoned that there were a lot of people, goths, who wore them everyday without any sort of complications.

As the girls approached the counter, the store clerk informed them that the new item costed less than the one Hitori had bought so she was going to give them a partial refund. However, that would take a few minutes as she would need to modify the previous sale record to reflect the new sale, and her slow computer wasn't helping.

"That's fine", said Kita. "Bocchi-chan can wait here for that, since I have somewhere else to be". Then to Hitori, "see you at the food court". Hitori just nodded, not knowing what to say. It was not like she would get lost without Kita but now that Kita wasn't there to talk to the clerk, Hitori was forced to engage her, embarrassed at the whole ordeal. The store clerk, however, was busy punching some letters into the computer, trying to edit the sale record to reflect the new item sold. It was a little relief for Hitori, not having to engage in conversation with the store clerk, or having to explain the situation and the school project they were working on.

When the store clerk finished punching letters and numbers into the computer, she handed a bag with the new collar and the partial refund to Hitori. "This is a small gift from me", said the store clerk as she put something else on Hitori's hand, "I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your mistress". Hitori felt like she would faint.

"She's not my... We're working on a... Thanks", stammered Hitori, feeling her cheeks turn a hot red. The only thing she wanted was to get out of that store as fast as possible. She took everything the store clerk handed her and almost sprinted out of the store. Once sufficiently far, but before her friends could see her, she took a moment to inspect the small gift the store clerk had given her. It was a small tag, like a dog's, with the word "slave" engraved on it. She almost felt like running back to the store to talk to the clerk and set the record straight. She was only doing a school project with her friends, after all.

But of course she was much too shy to do something like that. She would just let it slide and avoid that store like the plague anytime she came to the mall. She had a school project to do with her friends and they were already late, thanks to her, so she had to get back to them. She placed the tag in her bag, afraid that Nijika would see it and suggest that she wore it with the collar.

Hitori spotted her friends in the food court. They had moved some chairs to make it seem like an auction, with people bidding for something on the stage. The boys that Kita had previously mentioned were sitting close to the girls, minding their own business but also clearly waiting to play their part as extras in the auction scene.

"Finally, our legendary rock star is here", said Ryo sarcastically when Hitori returned, which made Hitori cringe at the thought of other people hearing. "We're ready to shoot the auction scene. Put the collar and stand here", instructed Nijika, "on my mark, you will come to stand here and then one of the boys will bid for you before Ryo's bid. Got that?".

"Yeah", managed to reply Hitori nervously. The scene was simple enough, even more so because she literally didn't have any lines. She only needed to stand there, wearing an embarrassing collar, while her friends said a couple of lines about bidding for a slave. She struggled a little to put the collar on but was relieved to find that it wasn't as difficult as she had thought. Nijika would have probably berated her for not being able to do something so simple.

"Alright", exclaimed Nijika, getting everyone's attention, "we're about to shoot, everyone ready?". People around her nodded. Then, she added, "Bocchi-chan, hold on, put your hands behind your back ". Hitori immediately put her hands behind her back, feeling embarrassed by the laughs from the boys. They were younger than her but that didn't make any difference.

Nijika held up her phone and counted down with her fingers to let Kita know it was recording. Kita, who was playing the auctioneer, was also going on some monologue about Romans and slavery, and how this particular slave had been captured. Hitori didn't pay much attention to Kita's monologue, instead she was preoccupied with watching everyone around her.

She quickly realized that she had been worrying for nothing. No one in the court bothered to look at the girls. No one cared. And the few who did, would probably guess that the girls were doing a short film for school or one of those silly trends that teenagers were doing all the time for social networks.

"I said come forth, *giggle* slave", Hitori heard Kita say. Her mind had wandered off again and she had missed her mark. Hitori quickly hurried to the spot Kita had instructed earlier, embarrassed to have failed at such a simple task. Just stand here and wait until I tell you to stand there, Kita had said. Was that so hard to do? Well, Hitori had managed to screw up.

"Whip that slave!", joked one of the boys, followed by laughter from his friends. "Yeah, whip her!", added another one. Hitori's friends couldn't help but giggle, too. Hitori could feel her cheeks getting red but there was nothing she could do, as she was supposed to stand there, hands behind her back, as if she was a slave. If she ruined the scene they would probably have to start again and she didn't want her friends to waste more of their time.

"See, that was pretty easy", Ryo told Hitori while Nijika was wrapping up the scene. Kita finished speaking some more lines about Romans and their slavery system. The boys, having had their fun with the shooting of the scene, picked up their things and promptly said their goodbyes. The four girls then sat at the table, discussing the other scene they wanted to shoot.

"Well the next scene", Kita began, "we were discussing that it would be fun to show the slave serving her owner and I think the easiest way to show that on film is just to have the slave serve food at the table".

Nijika agreed, "well, we're at the food court anyway. Let's just have Hitori serve food to Ryo and I".

"Why Ryo and you?", asked Kita.

"Because you're already the auctioneer character, idiot. We need another character to be Ryo's guest, and the slave can serve them both", explained Nijika. The girls agreed, it was simple enough a scene. There would be much less talking than the previous scene, since Kita didn't have to go on a rant about Romans and how they viewed slavery.

"I think I'd like a chicken sandwich, slave", joked Nijika as they continued to discuss the scene. Ryo, however, was having none of it. "Hey I paid for her! If anyone is going to boss her around, it's me", said Ryo, continuing with the joke. "Well to be fair", retorted Nijika, "I paid actual dollars for her collar, so".

It was then that Hitori realized that she was still wearing her collar. She had completely forgotten about it! They had finished the scene half an hour ago and there she was, sitting at a table wearing a collar like an idiot. Hitori felt really self-conscious all of a sudden. She reached with her hands to remove her collar, but Kita interrupted her, "just leave it like that, we're ready to do the next scene".

"Okay", was all that Hitori managed to say. Maybe getting it off and putting it back on for the next scene was more trouble than it was worth. Scene decided, Kita instructed Hitori about what she had to do.

"So here's the deal... don’t worry Hitori, we are almost done", Kita began, "go over there and buy chicken sandwiches for Ryo and Nijika, I'll film you on the way back. Then just put the tray on the table and say something like 'here's your food ma'am' and just stand there with your hands behind you back".

Hitori was a bit stupefied. They wanted her to bring their food? One thing was to play a scene and another one was to actually bring and serve them their sandwiches. "What about our food?", asked Hitori.

"I'm not hungry so it's fine", replied Kita, "we can get our food after we finish the scene". Hitori was unsure, it seemed like a stupid idea. Why couldn't they just buy all the food, and then start filming Hitori serving Ryo and Nijika? Hitori thought about expressing her concerns, and her opinion that they could just get all the food in one go, but she said nothing.

"Well?", asked Ryo, "getting a little hungry over here, you know.", continued Ryo in a jovial tone. All the girls giggled, but one of them was faking it. Hitori didn't feel comfortable with the slave jokes. Over the course of her life, she had been the butt of many jokes but this one seemed a little bit too much. Just then Nijika grabbed into her bag and procured the money for her sandwich. “Can you spot me? I will pay you back I promise”.

A little bit exasperated, Hitori took the money and said "fine". As she made her way to the fast food place, she dared not look back at her friends. She feared that she would find them laughing at her. Why couldn't she just speak her mind like Nijika did? Or at least like Kita did. Or at the bare minimum, like Ryo did. But no, she was always the quiet and shy one.

Hitori waited for her order to be ready but, again, she was unable to look back at her friends for fear of finding them laughing at her. Finally the order was ready and the employee handed her a tray with two sandwiches and two sodas. She realized then that she was actually hungry; she should have spoken her mind! She could only hope that the scene was as short as the auction scene had been. She'd been worried sick about the auction scene and it happened so fast and so easily that she felt silly afterwards. Save for missing her mark to stand on the spot, it had been the simplest thing in the world. This scene too, would be simple, Hitori was sure.

Hitori walked back to her table and finally had the courage to look at her friends. They were not laughing at her. Ryo and Nijika were talking. About what, Hitori didn't know. She also noticed that Kita was recording with Nijika's phone, aiming at both Hitori and the duo sitting at the table. Perhaps they were saying some lines for the scene, in character.

She remembered then that she had a line to say, "h-here's your food mis-m-ma’am!", or something like that. She felt a little bit of pride at being able to remember what she was supposed to do instead of daydreaming and forgetting it like she had done back at the auction scene. She became nervous when she finally approached her friends, knowing that Kita was filming.

"Here's your food, mistress", Hitori managed to say, nervously.

"Thanks, slave", replied Ryo, playing the part of Hitori's owner. It made Hitori wonder if, back then, owners would actually thank their slaves after they had served their masters. Weren't they supposed to just obey? Nijika and Ryo began eating, then, exchanging lines from time to time that Hitori didn't know if they were scripted or improvised. Mundane things like "is this your new slave?" and "how was the harvest this year?". Hitori just stood there, her mouth watering.

Soon enough, Kita announced that the scene was over and that everyone did a good job. Nijika and Ryo weren't done eating but they didn't have to film their entire meal. Kita also reasoned that she was getting hungry after watching Nijika and Ryo eat.

"Oh, don't worry", Ryo told Kita. "My slave here will bring your food", she added, snapping her fingers at Hitori. This elicited laughs from her friends. Except Hitori, of course. She stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say, or do. Was Ryo serious? The scene had ended, Kita had put the phone away. So why would she have to bring Kita's food? She almost fell like she could cry.

"She's messing with you ", whispered Kita, saving Hitori the embarrassment of complying with her pretend-mistress' order. "Come on, let's go. I'm getting kind of hungry".

Hitori was so relieved. She didn't know what she would have done if Kita didn't save her there. Did Ryo really expect Hitori to bring Kita's food? Surely if anyone was going to boss her around it would be Nijika, she mused. She had bought the collar, after all. And also she was the group's leader. But no, she chastised herself for thinking anyone had the right to boss her around. She pushed that thought aside.

Hitori and Kita stood waiting for their order to be ready, not chatting about anything. Just as the employee handed Hitori and Kita their tray holding their food, Kita's cellphone started to ring. "Can you take the tray back to the table?", asked Kita, "my mom's calling and I have to take this. I'll be in a minute", she added.

Hitori took the tray and headed back to her friends, who by now had finished their meal. She found Ryo and Nijika discussing a TV show that Hitori didn't particularly like, so she didn't feel like interrupting. As she was about to unwrap her sandwich, though, Ryo remarked, "aren't you going to wait for Kita?".

Hitori didn't want to wait for Kita, she was hungry now. Sometimes when they went to restaurants they would wait for everyone to have their food served before eating. But they weren't at a fancy restaurant now. Besides, Ryo and Nijika had already eaten, so if they didn't wait for Kita why should Hitori? "I think I'll eat now", said Hitori, unwrapping her sandwich.

Ryo was the one person who teased her the most, and was always trying to mooch money off of her. Sometimes bordering on bullying. Ryo was clearly enjoying the humiliation Hitori was going through from the slave role she had to play. Hitori couldn't wait until this stupid project was over. She would take the collar Nijika had bought and tell Ryo to stick it up her ass. Then it hit her again. The collar! She was still wearing the stupid collar! What could she do? If she removed it right then, would Ryo make one of her stupid jokes? Ask her to keep the collar like a good slave? She could excuse herself to the restroom and remove it there, no problem. But then again she was hungry now, that could wait until she finished eating, she reasoned.

It was then that Kita caught up with them at the table, taking a seat next to Hitori. "You didn't wait for me?", inquired Kita after she noticed Hitori was halfway through her chicken sandwich.

"I told her to wait for you", joked Ryo, "but she didn't listen". Hitori, mouth full of food, couldn't say anything.

"Oh yeah, guess what. I just had an idea when I saw some kid yelled at by his mom over there", offered Nijika. She had the attention of her friends. "Remember in the auction scene one the boys yelled that we should whip the slave? I think we can shoot a scene depicting how slaves used to be disciplined".

Hitori was mortified but she managed not to choke on her food. Did Nijika really want Hitori to get whipped? Ryo would probably be up for the task, no doubt. Seeing as how she had been bullying her all day. She had to say something now, she thought. She looked visibly worried, but couldn’t find the words to argue.

Kita looked at Hitori, concerned. “I think we need to get going, my mom called and she wanted us to be back earlier”. Kita explained that her mom needed her to be home earlier than she had anticipated. Since everyone had eaten their food except for her, she would have to take her sandwich and eat it back at her house. They could also shoot the whipping scene back in her backyard, and of course do the video editing in her computer. Their plans decided, the girls picked everything up, took the trash to the corresponding bins and headed for the parking lot to find Nijika's car. As they made their way to the parking lot, Hitori lamented that she didn't have the chance to go to the restroom to remove her collar, but she planned to take it off at Kita's house, away from Nijika’s attention and her stupid ideas.