“Ooh, that was a close one!” Hakuta announced loudly, even though no one could hear him. It was another day of him playing video games, but this time he was on his computer while doing so with his new online friend.

There had been a recent free-to-play title that had dropped which had gotten a lot of people’s attention. It was called ‘Pillar of Illusion’, which was very similar to another popular game staring characters done in the so-called anime style. Either way, Hakuta was asked by the ‘TheMaskedDemon’ if he wanted to play and it was basically no question to him.

Now they were teaming up to clear some of the content and take on a couple of bosses to get a feel if it was worth spending some money to roll for some of the cuties. He wouldn’t consider himself to be the type of guy to prefer 2D over 3D, but there was some debate over his feelings towards fictional game girls compared to those which existed in real life.

As he went through the intense task of clicking on his mouse and pressing buttons on the keyboard to dodge attacks, Hakuta slowly thought about how much he enjoyed this. It was rare for him to be able to play with someone with similar skill and passion as he had held for video games. Sure, Shiuka certainly gave him a good time whenever they were hanging out in the living room, but this felt much more magical.

Which was funny, considering they weren’t even talking while playing. Of course the person didn’t want him to hear their voice to continue to hide their identity. So they weren’t using the in-game voice chat. He was surprised they’d go to such lengths. While a voice would point him in a direction, unless he ever actually ran into them, there would be no way he’d know who the owner of that voice was without already knowing their face.

Finally, after a grueling 10 minutes, they had managed to fell the beast. Hakuta laid back in his seat to take a deep breath of relief. The pair were able to gather their spoils from battle and return to the hub area. After all this time, he was able to begin writing to them in chat. “Nice job.” He sent to them in simple fashion.

“You did great too.” They responded. “I’m glad I got someone I can trust. It makes things a lot easier than solo.”

“Surprised you don’t like to play with other people.” He commented. Even if this person was shy, it wasn’t as if they needed to worry about risking their identity playing games with strangers over the internet. These two had even met in person and he still didn’t know who they were.

“Hard to make sure everyone does their job properly.” They replied. “Guess I just have a hard time trusting strangers.” It was ironic to him. They weren’t willing to trust others because they didn’t know them. Hence why their duo worked because she knew who he was and what kind of person Hakuta was. Yet he didn’t know them and had no other choice but to trust them.

“If you don’t mind…” He typed in as they logged out of the game for the evening. “May I at least get to know you more?” It took a long while before he got a response. Once again he could tell he hit her with something she was uncomfortable with.

“Why are you so insistent on getting to know me?” They responded after he was given a long wait. “We just play online together, I’m no one worth getting to know other than us just having fun.”

“I just like to know something about you.” He answered. “We spent so much time, but I don’t even know your name.” Hakuta could assume they knew his name. While he never formally gave it, now that he thought deeply on it. Their first meeting had an announcer call him by name, so it should be known. “I can’t even know that?”

“No.” Their response to him was swift and blunt. This was not going to be a matter where they’d budge for him. “Sorry, but I have to get off now.” He sighed as he saw the green icon on their avatar gray out to indicate their leaving. Hakuta wasn’t even given the time to type up a goodbye message for them either. So he could only just turn off his computer and head out of his room for once.

“Finally.” Shiuka greeted him as he entered the living room. She didn’t appear to be doing much outside of browsing her phone for the latest happenings on social media. “It’s almost dinner time, when are you going to start cooking?”

“Relax, I can whip something up quick for both of us.” He replied to her rude manner with his own subtle harsh tone. “You know, it wouldn’t be a problem if you knew how to cook.”

“Of course I know how to cook.” She countered. “It’s just that you’re better at it, so you might as well do it.” He sighed over her dumb reasoning as he went into the kitchen to pull out some ingredients for their meal. While it was true she was terribly skilled in the kitchen, it would’ve been nice to have her cooking for them sometimes.

Then again, considering the last time he ate dinner made by her, Hakuta also valued living more than getting a break. “You know, you’ve been playing a bit too much lately.” She commented as he got the pan hot and sizzling with her favorite meats.

“No I haven’t.” He denied it. Hakuta figured he still kept up with his school work, so it wasn’t an issue how much time was spent in front of the computer. “I still cook, I still clean, and most importantly I still am doing better in school than you. What’s the problem here?”

“Nothing.” She relented, playing around with her hair as Shiuka sat down at the dinner table. It was odd to him how she acted to strangely lately. There was always something about her demeanor that it would change from time-to-time. Hakuta couldn’t tell if it was unique to him or if her friends had to deal with these mood swings as well. “Just cook, I’m starving.”

“No problems doing that.” He hated this. There was a rift in their relationship and the boy couldn’t think of a single thing he had done to make her upset. Very rarely it seemed, he could tell what he was doing wrong in life. It was no wonder why he never wanted to make friends back in the day. Though now he was a different person who was willing to deal with the bad to get the good.

“Thanks.” She expressed her gratitude as he placed a plate full of food in front of her. “You really are better at cooking than I ever could be.”

“Guess it’s going to suck for you when I leave then.” Even if he spent the rest of his high school years in this house. It still meant there was a limited time for them to be with each other. One day they weren’t going to be together anymore. “Oh well, what a shame.” In usual Hakuta fashion, he downplayed it to avoid having to admit his true feelings on the matter. “At least we get it for now.”

The pair ate dinner in near silence. There was a wall built between them, slowly but surely he knew this came from somewhere he couldn’t pinpoint. But how? It had begun after their trip to the gaming tournament, but nothing bad had happened since then. He did remember that one moment they shared that day. The moment where they nearly kissed.

His face fired up and Hakuta coughed heavily from the reminder. Thinking of how it almost happened nearly caused him to choke up on his meal. “Is everything good with you?” He asked, trying to make himself change the subject within himself. “You seem a bit quiet today.”

It was unlike Shiuka to be so silent during dinnertime. Mostly she would be chatting him up about some girl things that happened, which he really didn’t care for. But right now, he wished she’d be nagging him on matter which were nearly irrelevant to him.

“Actually, I do have a problem with you.” It was rather blunt of her to put it in this way. More than enough to make him taken aback by her direct she was towards him. “I think you’ve been hanging around that masked guy too much lately. You’ve been playing video games with him every day after school this week.”

“But how is that a problem?” He defended himself. Hakuta knew he hadn’t done anything to jeopardize his life by doing this. “I already talked to Iruka about this, but I’m doing it so I can find out who they are.”

“I know, she told me about that.” She fired back. “What’s gotten into you? You’re obsessed over someone you don’t even know.”

“First off, I’m not obsessed.” He didn’t want any one of them to think he had gotten too deep into this. All Hakuta had been doing was spending time with this stranger and enjoying their company.

It had been fun playing video games with someone who also likes it a ton. But he also got to talk to them about things he never was able to with the others he knew in person. Like his concerns about the future and about stuff that happened in high school.

There were a couple things he learned about the other person, even if he was unaware of who they were. Such as how they loved reading shojo, even though it embarrassed them. Or how lonely they felt during class because very few ever approached them to talk about casual things. “And secondly, they’re still my friend. There’s no difference just because it’s all online.

“I can’t believe you.” She shook her head. “Hakuta, you’ve been so different lately.”

“No, you’re the one who’s been different.” He countered. They were at a stalemate and they both knew it.

“Whatever.” She stood up and grabbed her plate. “I’m going to my room. Don’t bother me.” Shiuka walked away, leaving him all by himself.