Game Gyaru

Chapter 22: Awkward

Hakuta sure was glad to get out the situation he and Shiuka got into during the weekend. Yet at the same time, he could help but feel as though something was off. It wasn't to do with anyone around him acting funny, like how she did with him during the sports day. This time, it was something inside him that he couldn't get a grip on. What was this all about?

He began feeling this way after seeing her get flirted with by his friend. This was where things started for him with the way he watched the scene. Maybe it was because he wasn't used to seeing people chat around like that. After all, most of his social interactions were performed through a headset.

Then again, it was the result that bothered him more. He felt sorry for his friend getting rejected the way he did. But at the same time, he was also relieved things turned out in that manner. Did that make him a bad friend to Yuusen? Maybe that was why he felt so wrong in his body at the moment even as they went through the school day.

Though, that would also be ignoring the way he felt about Shiuka. She probably had to reject that boy because of their secret. Getting in the way of her love life was something he never intended to do upon moving in. But in reality, that was what he was doing to her ever since that fateful day.

In essence, their youth had been put on pause as a result of their father's actions. They couldn't get into relationships, they couldn't even have friends hang over at the house without stressing out the entire time.

That was what had been getting him all downtrodden as his gaze slowly turned towards her as class went on. The students around them didn't notice. They were either too focused on the lecture by their teacher or struggling to stay awake through yet another boring school day.

The way she sat by the window, the sun's shine lit up her radiant beauty. It was no wonder so many boys at their school were so enamored with her. Even if not much stirred in him just from her physical appearance, his mind was pondering what had been going through hers. She appeared normal right now, at least as normal as she would be during class. Which was leaning back and pretty much not paying attention to the lecture. Instead, a nap seemed more important to her.

Maybe she wasn't thinking about this as hard as he was. But the summery of it was that he wanted to apologize to her about being a block to creating high school memories. Hakuta understood that was the most important thing for her during their precious youth, as she put it.

After a long day, the bell rung. This signaled the end of another school day for the students as everyone got from their desks or chatted with their friends. He decided to come over to that girl's desk and ask to speak in private. However, as he navigated the sea of other students going about their day, he took note of another girl who had been acting a bit off today like he was.

"Are you all right?" It was Ninka, who was still sitting at her desk, appearing to be staring intently at the board. Though seeing as he crossed her line of vision without any reaction from her, it was more accurate to say she was staring off into space. Somehow deep into thought, when he believed her to be a girl with few of them.

"Why do you care?" She asked in a hostile manner. "I know you know, so stop pretending to beat around the bush."

"Look, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on that." He replied. "So, please don't be mad at me."

"I ain't mad." She admitted. "But, there's just something not feeling right." This was the first day she had been single in about a good few months. That was her first relationship, so it did mean something. However, that shouldn't be confused with her regretting the breakup. There were no feelings of love she held for that boy, even after sleeping on it. "You know what I mean?"