Game Gyaru

Chapter 117: A Dumb Plan

Hakuta couldn't believe this was the plan they had come up with. The whole idea of going to see her during the upcoming festival instead of just forcing his way into her room seemed a bit convoluted. Though after saying his idea out loud, it sounded much worse than he thought it would.

The worst part of this was he had no initial plans of going to this festival either. Why should he? The boy already went through enough when he relented on going to the beach. Not to mention he never went to these festivals anyway. Aside from the cost issue of buying a yukata and all the things people would most assuredly have require money to get. Most of the so-called fun and festivities weren't his style.

It should already have been established what Hakuta considered fun for himself. Even if it didn't match up with most other people he knew.

"I hope this one is good enough." Since he now had new plans of attending the festival. The boy now had to be on the hunt of purchasing a yukata to fit in with the rest of the crowd. "Because I'm not trying anything else out."

"It looks so lovely." Shiuka, who had joined him in order to help him pick something good out, clapped her hands in joy. "I can't believe you didn't want to go in the first place."

"I think it should be obvious by now that was going to be the case." He answered, returning to the changing room to get back into his regular clothes. "I guess you girls telling me to pick out some new outfits for my wardrobe must be pretty pleased though." He said after stepping back out. Hakuta remembered all their peer pressure on him. Who knew that all it took to get him to do this was being forced on a completely separate matter.

"Lucky us, huh?" She giggled as they went to pay for his new outfit and left the store. "You know, I was going to ask you to go to the festival before all this came up." Shiuka told him as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Guess our friends are glad I don't need to be dragged kicking and screaming then." Hakuta knew he would've resisted at first. Though considering how everything usually went, he was confident he'd eventually give in for one reason or another.

"Actually, I just wanted it to be the two of us." She admitted, turning her head away from him to hide the growing redness on her cheeks. "You know, you still haven't given me a day together like we agreed on." While their supposed time gaming in the living room was fun, it ended up getting interrupted rather early on when the rest of her friends showed up.

"You did?" He thought about a hypothetical situation where they would've went together alone. That would've been a strange situation. In fact, one could even call it... A date.

The idea alone made him shiver as the boy got nervous despite nothing happening. It would be strange to consider himself ever dating Shiuka, even if neither of them called it such. Perhaps it was due to that day he shared with Ninka infecting his mind. She called that a date, despite him never agreeing to such at the time.

But a night at the festival would certainly be little different compared to that day they spent together. In fact, one could argue it would be much more special considering the festivities and all the other couple likely doing exactly what they were doing. Except with all the additional things couples did such as holding hands and kissing and other such intimate moments. "Well if you did ask me." He put up his hand over his mouth in the form of a fist, trying to keep cool. "I would've gone with you."

The pair stopped walking as they hit a corner with the signal set to stop. This also was the end of their conversation as they both paused in speaking along with their walking pattern.

"A-anyway." She was the one to say something first, ignoring his answer to her. "I think we should separate here. We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

"Y-yeah, you're right." He agreed as he walked on along the sidewalk for an alternative route over her crossing the street.

Hakuta felt like such an idiot. He didn't need to give her any confirmation, but it seemed doing so only made things awkward between them. Maybe it was only him, since he had been overthinking it before saying it. But it seemed as though she might've gotten the same idea as him. "Ugh, I'm being so stupid." He muttered himself as the boy continued on his winding longer path home.

It was him getting all tied up in the drama that only teenagers cared about. Why should he care about it when he already barely wanted to bother with gyaru antics as it were. Perhaps he had really been getting too influenced by their attitudes, but it really wasn't liked he had much of a choice.

Thinking of the lack of choice, it reminded him of something regarding Iruka's old friend. The way he had talked to them and pointed things out as if they were flaws in their relationship. What was he trying to get at? It almost seemed as though he made it out like Hakuta was forced to be with Iruka or something.

Which, while he would've had no idea of the truth to the details, was correct in a sense. In class they sat besides each other. Then there was also the matter of how Iruka's dad worked for Shiuka's and therefore allowed the girl the benefit of knowledge about the living situation.

If such a convoluted situation hadn't occurred, they would they ever had even talked with each other? From the way she acted, most likely considering how she bugged him a bunch when she first sat behind him. Iruka seemed much more interested in him than he was in her at first. Not much has really changed about that other than them becoming friends.

As he walked by himself, the boy couldn't help but take note of all the people walking around him. With the festival coming up later tonight, it was not a shock to see a bunch of people going about and getting some errands done early before the festivities were to come into full swing.

It was now that he saw most of them weren't alone like he was. Funny, how he normally never thought that being a lonely person as a bad thing, but now he truly felt the emptiness. Just moments before he was with someone, but they had to go through all these hoops just to keep one single secret.

And like those efforts, he would be going through many more for the sake of Iruka. Was this really how his life had been turned upside? Now there was a bit of animosity growing inside of him, upset and wishing they had never run into her old friend. Even if it was bound to happen eventually, he truly wished fate would cut him a break for once.

After his longer than planned walk, Hakuta finally made it back home. He looked around to make sure no one he knew was nearby, his recent brush with Ninka had gotten the boy much more paranoid of his surroundings to much higher degrees than necessary. But the coast appeared to be clear, so he continued on and entered Shiuka's house. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" He asked as he entered the house. Instead of continuing on their previous conversation. They boy decided to skip that for in favor of a much more pertinent topic.

"What's wrong with talking to her there?" She responded, now sitting down at the couch as she had gotten back well before he did. "It's fun and bright. How can anyone be sad there?"

"I just feel bad about ambushing her. It's not like she'll be expecting me to come." Of course his original plan was more akin to trapping her in her own place of living, but at least it didn't involve tricking her. "How do we even know she'll even come to the festival?" From what Omihiro said, it seemed she hadn't done much outside of her room lately.

"Noto said she was going, that's nothing we have to worry about." She assured him. "And I get it too, don't think we're trying to do something stupid."

"That's what you guys always think." He responded. But these girls always thought the things they did were normal despite him believing it to be insane. As it turned out, this thought process wasn't limited to only the girls he knew. It also included his friends and apparently adults like Omihiro.

Though he shouldn't have been too surprised nor disappointed this was the case. His own father was pretty bad with many things as well. Which included putting them in such poor financial standing that taking Shiuka's dad's job was somehow considered a good idea. Despite the situation it put his own son in.

"Now come on." She beckoned him up the stairs. Now that he had returned, she was able too set things in motion for the rest of the day. "Get yourself dressed up so we can get ready for the festival."