Game Gyaru

Chapter 41: Like Fire and ice

Hakuta walked alongside her in silence for a bit. The pair simply headed down the sidewalk like any other normal couple would. Except they weren't a couple dating each other. Considering what he told her before, they weren't even a pair of friends either.

But he gave her all the time she needed before speaking up. This was Iruka's time and he wanted to be fair. Especially since it seemed she needed a little bit of time to prepare herself to chat with him personally on the matter.

"I talked with Shiuka for a bit earlier." She finally broke the silence between them. Her words spiked into his ears, nearly causing the boy to jump when she did speak up. "She seems to care about you a lot."

"I suppose that kind of stuff happens when you end up living together." He answered. Considering his close relationship with her, Hakuta understood it might be confusing for someone like Iruka who was on the outside looking in. Perhaps she might even have some feelings of jealousy on how someone who was a gyaru did manage to become his friend and yet she couldn't for those very reasons. "It was out of our control."

"It really was, wasn't it?" She giggled, thinking back on the ridiculousness of the situation. "Some of us really don't get lucky sometimes."

"I'm sorry." He quickly apologized. "I never meant to hurt you in any way. Even though I wanted to be honest, I guess maybe that wasn't the right way to go about it." Hakuta had no clue on what would be considered the right way to handle it. He didn't want to lie and be stuck with her, but at the same time he already knew it was unavoidable on how things would turn out if he got what he asked for.

"It was really hard, but it's not like I blame you for it." She responded. "The truth is, when you rejected me, it just reminded me of something else."

"Something else?" He couldn't imagine what occurred in her past that would cause such a strong reaction. Especially over something that was far from a traumatic experience, at least in his eyes. "From your old school?"

"From when I was in junior high." She told him the story that led to her emotional state earlier that day. A story about her when she was merely a third year in junior high, barely a teenager.

It was a special time for Iruka, as it might be for most people her age. One of the biggest parts of her was change, in this case one who was allured by the appearance of the gals.

She already fit in quite well under most people's views of how they acted. Her attitude was there and the spirit certainly was as well. She met a fair number of other wonderful girls who shared in the same tastes as her. While she hadn't reached the point of the tanned skin she had now, Iruka already had the makeup, hair, and fashion sense to go with it.

Everything seemed to be going by perfectly for her, but this would not last. Not in the manner she hoped it would.

Growing up, Iruka had a childhood friend she knew quite well. A boy who lived in the same neighborhood whom she shared many special memories of playing with as they grew up from elementary together. She was a boy she held very close to her heart, even as she changed during junior high.

Unfortunately, he too also went through changes as they grew up. This boy turned into someone rather serious, strict. He already was the more mature one between them, but he become someone closer to a person similar to Hakuta. Glasses, preferring to stay at home instead of partying with friends.

She never liked him any less, but it was undeniable looking back that they didn't spend as much time together as they used to growing up. In a sense, they were drifting apart as it were, but he took it one step further when he realized what was occurring.