Chapter 47: The Mask
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For a moment, Hakuta stared eye to eye with the person wearing a mask. A face covering which concealed their entire face which had a cyberpunk design on the front. This image was ingrained in his mind ever since the last time he had gone to a gaming tournament.

This was the face of the one who brutally beat him in one of the games listed for competition. Never once had he ever lost in such merciless fashion against anyone. And it never happened again afterwards, as this mysterious person would quickly make their leave with no one knowing their identity.

“It’s you!” He called out to them. “I remember you.” Hakuta took one step towards them, which apparently told the person they should run away from him. Because the person behind the mask quickly rushed away as if fearing for their life. “Hey, wait a second.” He called out once more, now having to pick up his walk to a fast run as he gave chase.

This was a crowded event with tons of people around. While it was an issue in slowing him down during his attempt at a chase, there was also a blessing behind it. After all, this masked individual also had to contend with navigating through the crowd of people who were far from prepared to have someone trying to run away from another. “Sorry, sorry.”

Hakuta apologized as he continued to run into people minding their business. But he knew that no matter what happened or whatever obstacles came before him. There was no way the boy would allow this masked person to get away from him this time.

So he continued to work his way through the crowd as he kept his eyes on them. The other person struggled and had the misfortune of some guys moving along expensive tech gear, which blocked their path. This led to them dodging off between a couple booths to find an alternative route.

Hakuta spotted this and made his own moves elsewhere to cut along the aisles. He couldn’t simply just chase them, seeing as there would be no way of catching up in this situation. So he had to do something smarter.

“Aha!” That being to cut them off from their planned escape route. He knew there would be a back area that was relatively clear of people. A place where this masked figured had hoped to hide behind until he got bored and gave up the chase. “I finally got you.” He had managed to corner them in this lonely place with not a single soul to watch them.

The person stood with their back against the wall. With the mask in the way, he couldn’t tell how they were actually feeling. However, it didn’t matter to Hakuta, he knew what he was doing. “Look.” He spoke up first as they still had yet to say a word. “I’m not mad at you.”

The masked figured continued to keep up their guard as they listened to him. If he could see their face, then a look of bewilderment would’ve been seen. After all, he had given an aggressive chase and had reason to be upset after their last encounter. It was a humiliating defeat after all. “I just wanted to tell you you’re really great at gaming. I wish I could know someone like you in real life.”

Finally, they put their arms down at rest from his apparent words to them. Though this didn’t mean they suddenly became more talkative. Instead silence was still had from their side. “I guess you don’t want to talk to me.” He put his head down in disappointment. Perhaps he might’ve come across as a bit strong towards them and they didn’t want to interact with him. Fortunately this wasn’t the case when he felt their hand placed onto his shoulder.

The masked stranger had given him a nice pat, which got him to turn his head up to look at them. Then they gave their response with a solid thumbs up, a sign that they were cool with him.

Hakuta was able to breath a sigh of relief that his personal idol was cool with him. Though they seemed to be much shier than he’d expect. That would explain the mask and covering of any potential parts that may identity them. “I’m glad we got that sorted out, it’s been a little sad that I wasn’t able to properly meet you last time. I’ve always wished that maybe we could be… Friends.” Not that he had properly met them this time either. Without an identity, he would never know when he’d ever see this person again. Maybe not even ever.

But now would be the time to say goodbye. He had abandoned Iruka during a display where he was unable to control his emotions. It was silly and immature of him to do so. So Hakuta knew he needed to return and face her once again and hope she wasn’t going to be mad. “Too bad we can’t do something like play a game together, but I got friends here. So I guess we won’t be seeing each other again.”

The person clasped their hands together and bowed down. Without face or voice, he wouldn’t tell if this was simply a motion to say goodbye or if they were disappointed their time needed to come to an end. Then again, if this person was still as good as he remembered, then maybe they were here to go compete against some real fine players from not only around Japan, but around the world.

He left them to head back to where most people were. It had been a while since he had last seen Iruka, There was no telling where she might’ve went now that she was alone in this crowd. A pretty girl like her might grab a lot of unwanted attention if she was by herself at an event like this. So he knew time was of the essence in finding her.

Hakuta had to move around a lot just to even have a chance in seeing her. There really were a lot of people, which got him stuck around this crowd. But this wasn’t the main thing running through his mind as he stepped around group after group. The boy was more preoccupied with what he would say to her when they saw each other again. If only he had a way in finding where she might be in this sea of people.

Wait a second, he did. Obviously they live in an era where everyone has a phone. Even someone like him has one and give they were friend, they already had each other’s contact information.

So Hakuta sent over a quick message asking where she was. He prayed deeply she would reply to his message. That she wasn’t mad at him and more importantly, wasn’t in any trouble where she might be unable to respond. Fortunately for him, she did give him a reply and told him exactly where she was. The girl was at a booth that was selling a bunch of tasty food.

Using the handy maps left around the area to guide him, Hakuta was able to make his way there quickly and efficiently. When he got there, she was there as she said she would be.

“Hey Hakuta.” She handed him a stick with dango hooked along it. “Glad to see you’re back.” Iruka didn’t appear angry with him. In fact, she nearly acted like nothing had happened between them.

“Yeah…” He took her offer and grabbed a much welcomed bite. “Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened before. I was being really stupid.”

“I’m not mad about it.” She responded in giggling fashion. “But that was kind of mean to just abandon me all by myself.” It was rather awkward for her when everyone around them simply watched him leave her all alone. There were a lot of people who said some rather harsh things about him just leaving a girl like her all alone and how he didn’t deserve her. This was the part where she realized some people thought they might’ve been an actual couple, which in itself added to the embarrassment.

“I do want to make it up to you.” He said. “I just don’t know how.”

“Yeah, you do owe me.” She made a face as if pretending to be in deep thought. Not that she had to think hard on what she wanted to say next. “How about you pay me back with a kiss?”

“What!?” He was immediately taken aback by her suggestion. This prompted to laugh hard in his face from the reaction.

“I’m just kidding.” She couldn’t stop laughing and pointing at him. “I swear you guys fall for it every time.”

“Well that’s what happens when you catch us off guard.” He nibbled on his dango to try and downplay his poor reaction to her suggestion. “Now be serious this time, what do you want me to do?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure yet.” She put a finger under her chin to seriously think on the matter. When no idea came to her, she simply stopped caring. “I got nothing, I’m sure I’ll just ask for something later.” That hardly made him feel better. This meant whatever she might want would come at an inopportune time for him.

“Okay, where to next?” He asked instead.

“I know.” She took his hand and began to pull him along the way. “I already messaged the girls before you messaged me. They told me there’s some really cool people, so I want to go see them too.”

“Okay okay. I can walk on my own just fine.” He replied, feeling a bit abashed by her taking him by the hand. This just made them seem like a real couple to the public. Plus, not many people held his hand at all, let alone any girls.

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