Game Gyaru

Chapter 87: Play Pretend

Hakuta had only walked for few steps besides Rouko and already the boy was regretting his decision. Not because he took any issues with trying to hang out with older students. A choice where it was pretty likely he'd fail and stumble through. But rather the problem arose when it came to his companion, who was much more in her element.

"I'm taking it you do this pretty often." He commented as they neared the large gathering. Were this an MMO raid, he might've felt more at home.

"I'm not a shut-in like some people around here." She replied with a snide remark about his social life. "So yeah, I hang out with other people all the time. I even dabble a bit with college students too."

"Yeah, you seem like the girl." He responded, hinting she might've been more willing to do certain things compared to the other girls.

Meanwhile, she was also checking up on him silently. Rouko had noticed Hakuta wanting to leave out of the blue right as it became apparent he would be alone with Shiuka after she left. This boy decided to do something outside of his nature and even forgot that he had asked for his friends to grab some drinks for him. While he was unlikely to want to avoid her friend, she couldn't help but wonder about what else might be going on through his mind.

Even if she wouldn't admit it, Shiuka was clearly feeling something towards the boy. Rouko summed it up to circumstance, but they shouldn't ignore the effects of those very same circumstances on Hakuta either. Just what was going on in that boy's mind, she wondered.

"Well, there's definitely a lot of people here." He said when they got into the thick of things. Hakuta felt a bit out of place, both because they weren't invited and he was clearly younger than everyone around. Rouko, on the other hand, was enjoying the vibe much more than him.

"Don't just stand there awkwardly." She pulled him along in deeper to where some people were dancing around to some music. "You're going to really look like a gamer nerd who never leaves his room if you keep standing straight like that."

"You keep saying that like it's a bad thing." He replied. What she said was an accurate representation of him, but it sounded worse than how he always pictured the way he currently lived his life. Hakuta's eyes scanned around them to see people laughing, enjoying some drinks, and apparently someone even set up a grill. "I feel like I'm missing something, but isn't this a bit bigger than just some normal beach party?"

"Hmm, it's almost like there's something big about to go down no one's let us in on." Not that it was a major revelation for either of them, knowing that they weren't even invited to join in the first place. Though despite appearing out of place, no one seemed to care about kicking them out either.

"We should ask." He was about to grab someone's attention, but she stopped him before he was able to say anything.

"Or not." She pulled him in closer to her as they stood at the designated dancing area. "You'll make it too obvious that we don't belong here. Now how about we act like we do?" Rouko took both of the boy's hands and began to dance around with him. Not in any special fashion like they were in a ballroom, but enough to give the impression they were here together like a couple.

"I don't know if we need to be that close." He did the bare minimum when it came to moving his feet along to the beat. His arms were not controlled by him as she had led the way and he only didn't provide any semblance of resistance to her.

"Come on, just pretend to be my boyfriend for, like, five minutes." She moved his arms so that they'd wrap around her body. "I don't want any of these guys around here thinking they can just flirt with me. I'm not really in the mood for that right now."