Game Gyaru

Chapter 36: All Alone

Hakuta had the house all to himself, so what was a teenage boy to do when he was alone at home? Well, there was clearly only one things any boy his age would do when given a ton of privacy during this precious age.

That being to play video games all the way until he fell asleep. Apparently he must've been so exhausted from the day since the next thing the boy knew, it was morning time.

"Huh?" He muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes as he got off the couch. There was no mistaking the sunrise outside, that was no sunset. "Wow, I really slept that long?" He spoke to himself, stretching out his back. Sleeping on the couch, compared to the nice bed he had in his room, was terrible.

"You're awake." A voice said to him. He turned around to see Shiuka staring at him.

"Heh, yeah." He chuckled. "Guess it's was a bit of a longer gaming session than I expected." Hakuta laughed, but she didn't seem to share a bit in his enthusiasm.

"That's fine, I guess."

"Is something wrong?" He asked, taking note of her tone. It was like she was angry with him, but last time they saw each other was fine. If anything, she was the only one who didn't act apprehensive to being with the boy.

"I was just doing something thinking." She spoke, heading into the kitchen to pick up a lone piece of toast left on a plate. "Maybe the two of us shouldn't be friends."

"What?" He was taken aback by the suggestion. She had one a complete turnaround to how she was yesterday. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I didn't anything to offend you."

"It's not that." She informed him. "I was just thinking, we're really two different people, aren't we?"

"I suppose you're right." He couldn't deny that, but he didn't want that to be a reason to end their friendship. After all, they still lived together. So how were they supposed to be around the other? Hakuta walked towards her in an attempt to make a desperate plea to get her to reconsider. "But what about everything we've been through?"

"I mean, how long can it really last?" She countered. "One day you will leave, and then what? It's not like we have much hobbies in common. So I doubt we'll be hanging out with each other that much after."

"Then what are we supposed to do now?" He knew living together meant that part of her plan would get complicated. "Surely we can't ignore each other."

"I guess we'll just have to make some changes in our lives then." She ended their conversation. "I'm going to be late for class. So I'll be leaving now." Shiuka made her way for the front door and exited the house.

"Wait!" He yelled out for her, attempting to stop her. Yet Hakuta found he couldn't move from his spot. It was as if his feet were frozen to the ground. "Shiuka, wait!" He tried again with words to get her to return, but it was like she didn't even hear a word he said. "Shiuka! Shiuka!"

***

"Ahhh!" Hakuta woke up in a cold sweat. The boy found himself once again on the couch, with a game over screen on the television. He glanced over to the clock. It had only been a mere hour since he got back from school. It was not the next day as he believed in his dream. "Oh thank goodness." He covered his face and breathed a sigh of relief that what he went through was not real.

If anything, he nearly started to bawl his eyes out from the experience. It felt so real, like his whole life was about to be turned upside down once again. "Good thing that will never happen, right?" Right? Now he wasn't so sure after saying it out loud.

What if that wasn't some mere dream? Perhaps it was a premonition of things to come were he to continue on this path? "Oh, is she going to be mad I didn't hang out with her after school today?" He asked aloud. The idea sent chills down his spine over the thought of losing her as a friend. After his isolation from the others, he didn't want to be left alone.

Hakuta didn't want to, but if it at least meant keeping her, then he was willing to satisfy his paranoia this one time. So the boy shut down his video games and got himself ready for public appearance. They didn't tell him where they were going, but he had a good idea on where they decided to make their shopping trip at.

So he went to Shiuka's favorite store. He knew it was her favorite because she wouldn't shut up about it when she got back from a trip there. Hakuta was also certain there were some new items in stock here. This had to be the new stuff his friends had talked about before.

When he walked inside, there was a cool breeze from the air conditioning. The scent of the store reminded him of her. Considering how often she came by here, it was likely she picked it up here. As he walked along the aisles, Hakuta couldn't help but feel out of place. This was certainly not a place he would frequently at all. If anything, this would be a place he would avoid at all costs.

He was being an idiot, this would seem way too ridiculous if they met him here. Maybe they had already left, so he could just say this was a bad waste of time for him in thinking he could make a difference in his life.

At least that's what he thought, until he actually ran into his friends.

"Hakuta? Is that you?" He walked into one of the aisles aimlessly and there he saw the entire group. It was Yuusen who saw him first and spoke to him. Were he not to notice, then the boy would've slipped out to avoid detection. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, um." He was caught off guard be being seen by them. The boy had yet to come up with any excuses for his presence here. "I was just looking for..." He quickly scanned the aisle they were in to see if there were any objects he could reasonably say he was searching for. "Some cologne." He spotted a new sticker and immediately went for it. While he couldn't tell what a scent of what a 'phantom ghost' cologne would smell like. It didn't matter as long as it made sense. "My dad wanted me to pick up the new stock they have here."

"I see your dad still can't handle his spending." Itsuki laughed. The somewhat insult towards his father aside, it was nice to see them acting more more casual like they always did with him. "I'm surprised you went along with it." He leaned in to complete his thought. "Or maybe you want to use this for yourself and pick up some of the ladies?" Yep, they definitely returned back to their normal selves once again.

"Whatever." He responded in his usual fashion. Though internally Hakuta was beyond relieved they weren't mad at him about the Iruka ordeal. "So you guys find anything you like?"

"Meh, just been walking around." Rouko told him. While he couldn't fathom why anyone would want to plainly walk around in a store without a plan on buying anything. He couldn't complain. At least they were still here and talking with him.

"So you took care of the thing you were busy with?" Asked Shiuka. He couldn't tell what she meant by that question. There was no way he could know what those boys told her outside of him deciding it was better to play video games instead of hanging out with them.

"Yeah, it's all taken care of." He lied, believing it better to just keep whatever sorry there was about him.

"If you ain't busy anymore, then maybe you could hang with us now?" Ninka offered. He had originally planned on leaving now that he saw no one was truly upset with him. But it would seem kind of weird if he turned her down now. So Hakuta answered in the only way he could.

"Sure." He answered, taking along the cologne with him. It might not be his cup of tea, but at least he could always throw it away later. Then again, looking at the price, maybe he would be better off using the thing everyday. "So where were you heading next?"

"Actually we were waiting for someone." Said Rouko. Shiuka's body tensed up as she remembered who else was with them. "She's just using the bathroom right now."

"She?" Hakuta wasn't aware of another girl who would think of hanging out with them. At this point, it really had just been the six of them at most if you included him. It was at this point he realized in disappointment who this mysterious girl was.

"Okay girls, I'm back from powdering my..." Iruka announced her return. As she looked around the group of people with her, she noticed another had been added. "Nose..." Hakuta and Iruka stared at each other for a moment, before she quickly lost her nerve and looked away at anything on the shelves. Perhaps he should've declined the offer after all.