Game Gyaru

Chapter 115: Childhood

"I'm sure me being here is a pretty big shock." Said Masahito. "Believe me, I'm not here because I've been looking for you or anything." It did appear to be a strange coincidence for this boy to show up in the same area as Iruka two days in a row now. Considering the circumstances, Hakuta couldn't help but wonder if there was a stalker problem on their hands.

"Then what are you doing here?" Iruka spoke, her face grimaced a tiny bit from the memory of him. "You haven't wanted anything to do with me for years, so why now?"

"I was content to continue living without ever seeing you again after you moved." He explained. "But unfortunately I see that fate likes to play tricks on us all. And my family just so happened to move into the area." It annoyed him when his dad told him that this would've been a great as it would allow him to see Iruka again. While it wasn't the reason for the move, as it would be strange for an adult to change jobs just because of his son's friend. The parents saw this as a nice bonus.

"So I guess I'm not the only unlucky guy around." Hakuta spoke under his breath.

"If you just moved here, does this mean..." Her voice trailed off when she considered the possibility of him also becoming a classmate with her once again. The school they went too was rather nice, so it would make sense for someone such as himself to want to go there regardless of her being there or not.

"I've certainly seen to it that we don't end up as classmates." He answered, confirming that he was going to be a new student at their school. Though not going to their class, which made sense considering how many different classes there were. What would've been the reasonable odds of something as crazy as that occurring?

As the pair talked, Hakuta found himself a spectator to this awkward moment. Whatever was between them really shouldn't be any of his business. While she had given him a taste of the end of this relationship. He didn't have much in the way of details when it came to her old friend.

Apparently she wasn't kidding about him reminding her of Masahito. They certainly shared a lot of similar traits when it came to appearance. The most notable being their glasses. But he also got the feeling in inadequacy compared to the other boy being much taller and handsome.

"Anyway, I see it didn't take her long to replace me." The boy spoke, addressing Hakuta specifically. This was enough to get him into the conversation after being quiet for a few minutes.

"It's not like that." Iruka denied his accusation. Given the way he put it. He sounded as though he made her sound like a villain. Someone who was simply taking advantage of Hakuta in some way or another. "He's cool, it's not just because he looks like you."

"Really?" Her words did little to convince him otherwise. "So tell me, Hakuta, was it?"

"Sure." While he didn't know this boy well enough to be speaking with him informally. They hadn't properly introduced their full names either. At this rate, it was a bit too awkward to go back to that step now. "And you're Masahito?"

"That's correct." He pushed up his glasses in a cool manner. Even the way he acted was much more mature than how Hakuta conducted himself. It made all his complaining about how immature gyarus were a bit hypocritical in comparison. "Let me guess, she dragged you here on this playground so you could play on the toys they got set up for the children."

"Yes..." He didn't know if this boy had been spying on them or if his guess truly was just an assumption he got totally correct. "I promised her a day because she helped me before. So she ended up taking us here."

"There's nothing wrong with that." She defended herself from an attack Hakuta didn't see. "He had fun here. I wasn't annoying him."

"Is that true?" Masahito gave him a cold stare which sent chills down his spine. Despite this not being an interrogation, he felt compelled to be honest.

"I mean, this isn't really how I thought today would go." He answered in as gentle of a manner as he could. "And I'm not really into this kind of stuff..."

"You didn't like it?" Iruka looked at him in shock. As if he had just informed her of a family member's passing.

"And I take it she didn't listen to you well about it either." Masahito took this as a minor victory, continuing to press the issue. "And I'm sure she went way too hard on the swings too."

"You weren't watching us, were you?" He asked, which only served as confirmation that Masahito was correct in his assessment.

"No." He answered bluntly. Given his nature, it didn't seem he was lying about it either. "I was just about to run some errands for my family. When I saw the two of you again, I just couldn't sit back again." Given his description, it seemed to imply he might've been watching them back at the train station. Probably not due to wanting to spy on her, but just from the coincidence of seeing his old friend once more.

"What are you trying to get at here?" Iruka tightly clenched her ice cream cone. The waffle bits crunched from her grip and a tiny bit of liquid dripped out onto her hand. "Did you really come back to me just to insult me?"

"It's only about honesty." He answered in the same tone as before. If he was lying, then this boy certainly made for a great actor. "And that ice cream you're eating, I'm guessing you didn't ask him what his favorite was."

"Well..." She was at a loss for words against his accusation. "Hakuta, did you like it?"

"I'm... More of a vanilla person." As much as it pained him to admit it. He had to tell her the truth.

"So you really haven't changed at all." Masahito said to her. "Even now you're continuing to be the same immature, selfish girl I grew up with. And the worst part of it is you got some other, what some might call a nerd, to fall for your tricks."

"Shut up..." She spoke quietly, her grip tightened around the cone until it crack while she attempted to hold back her tears. "Just shut up!" In anger, Iruka threw her ice cream cone onto the hard cement and ran off.

"Hey, that's not cool at all." Hakuta scolded the boy as he walked up to the broken cone. "No matter what she's done, there's no reason to be so mean to her."

"That's what I used to think." He answered, not turning his face to look at Hakuta. "A shame, shouldn't leave this mess here." Then without much time to consider the feelings of anyone, he commented on her littering as he picked up the cone and tossed it into a nearby trash disposal unit.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hakuta followed him along to where he took care of the trash. "Why'd you go stomp on her parade? She was happy. Do you like hurting her or something?"

"When did I imply I enjoyed this?" He replied, now staring him right in the eye. It was so unnerving that it got Hakuta to take a step back in slight fear. "I'm trying to help you, and that includes her too."

"You must have an insane definition of the word 'help' then." Hakuta couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no way anyone would think they were helping anyone by acting in such a disrespectful way. "And what makes you think you can get in my business? I never asked for your help."

"When I was younger, I wish I got better advice than what I got from every adult I talked to." He answered, not properly addressing what Hakuta had said in a way that was satisfying. "Anyway, I imagine you don't want to waste more time talking to me, but does that mean you're going after her?"

"I..." He was about to answer in the affirmative, but realized one major issue with the plan. "...Don't know where she lives." While Iruka was aware of his home, he actually had never been there before nor had he ever asked her. Though he could ask Shiuka since she would know due to Omihiro. At least he assumed that her dad would keep a file with that man's address on it. Hopefully he didn't get into a bad habit of not doing so as his only other employee actually lived with him.

"That's rather unfortunate." His tone continued to fail to give any semblance of whether or not he was being genuine in concern for him. "But either way, I'd suggest you not go to her directly. I believe she should have some time to herself to think things through before you go and tell her all about how you care about her and don't mind your differences."

"Well, you're not her dad." Hakuta retorted, but at this point it seemed their conversation was over in Masahito's mind. The other boy had already turned around and began heading back to his original planned errands. "I'll do whatever I want, it's my life." Though he said this, he wondered what he should do next with Iruka.