“And that should be the last of it.” Hakuta placed down his pencil and breathed a sigh of relief after finishing up his final problem. Now it was only a matter of time before he would be able to leave and get back to his own comfy room where there were some video games waiting for him.

“Geez, thanks a bunch.” Ninka took advantage of this by giving him a nice tight hug to show her gratitude. Of course it made for a good excuse to get all handsy with him, which was easy since it didn’t even attempt to hug her back. “Looks like our summer’s going to be perfect this year.”

“And boy do we got a lot planned for that.” Rouko added in. She didn’t provide any details about what they did have in mind for the next month, but whatever it was, Hakuta was unlikely to enjoy. “Maybe we’ll have you come along if you’re lucky.” She spoke to the boys. Though from his point of view, this would be the case were he unlucky instead.

“Speaking of coming along.” Said Yuusen. “Now that we’re done with all the boring stuff. How about we have some fun around here?” He suggested they do anything teens liked to do while hanging out at someone’s house.

“I won’t.” Hakuta was not like those kinds of teens though. “I’m tired and I didn’t even want to be here in the first place. So I just want to go home.”

“For once, I’ll have to agree with him.” Said Rouko. “But don’t let us get in the way of your fun.” She told them. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“Suit yourself.” Shiuka was among those who wanted to hang around here. While she wasn’t interested much in Hakuta’s friends. It had been a while since she had hung out here and it was nearly dinnertime. Soon enough they’d be able to enjoy some of Ninka’s mom’s cooking. Which while it wasn’t high quality, was what some would call comfort food.

There was also the added benefit on her not having to worry about taking a different path than Hakuta on their way back to the house. “See you two later then.”

“See you.” They both replied in unison. Hakuta opened the door for the girl and soon enough they were out of the house.

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask for any help.” He said, engaging in a bit of small talk before they went their separate ways. “I was more than willing if you needed any.”

“That’s because I’m not a dunce like those two.” She responded, mocking her friends. “There’s no problem for me getting good grades. Usually I’m the one who’d gotta make sure they don’t flunk out of school.”

“Wow.” He never took her to be smart, though it wasn’t a high bar to pass when it came to competing against Shiuka and Ninka. “Then I guess I wasn’t needed at all.” He laughed. It wasn’t a secret he didn’t want to be there in the first place. “Anyway, I’ll see you again in class.”

“Alright.” She gave him a simple smile and waved the boy goodbye. “See ya!” They took a fork in the road and went on their separate ways back home. At this point, it was nearly time for dinner, which meant the sun was on its way to setting. There was still plenty of light, but the light on the horizon changed how it glowed. Casting on the land a more warm orange rather than the bright yellow. Changing the atmosphere like when one changed the display settings on their computer.

The boy didn’t think much about his new journey back towards Shiuka’s house. He simply made sure his bag was properly over his shoulder to minimize discomfort and chose a good path where he could enjoy the views. Nothing about this trip should have any problems, yet his body felt concern.

Perhaps there was a bit of some gamer sense within him, but it felt like someone was following him. Like a horror game where the character walked around an empty location with nothing around them. Only the looming sense of dread as they braced themselves for a potential jump scare.

This lend to his body being on edge. The original path he had chosen was rather secluded, which meant if there was a stalker nearby, he would be in danger. But why would anyone want to follow secretly him of all people? Hakuta was far from a target from creeps given he wasn’t a cute girl. He also didn’t have any enemies he was aware of. Fortunately nothing about his username online gave any indication who he was as an individual.

Either way, he knew things needed to change course or else something bad might happen. So the boy changed his direction to head deeper into town instead. While it would take longer to get home, the idea of peace gave him relief. With dozens of people around, there would be no way someone could get the jump on him.

Yet this did little to calm his body. It was like his gamer sense knew he was still being followed. This definitely turned into a more serious issue now. Whoever it was, they were being quite persistent. But the worst part of all this would be he couldn’t just walk back to Shiuka’s place. Because that would mean allowing someone to realize his secret.

He needed to do something to buy himself time to figure out a more proper plan. So the boy ducked into a nearby cafe and sat himself down at a table by the window. It was positioned in a way so he would be able to keep any eye out for anyone who would walk in. This way he could potentially grab a look at his new stalker.

However, he didn’t have to wait long to learn the identity of this so-called stalker. But the boy also wouldn’t see them until it was too late either. There was a tapping on the window he sat besides. This prompted him to turn to see what was causing it, which was when he received the fright of his life when a person with a mask stood there staring at him.

“Ahhh!” He screamed and fell off his chair. This got everyone in the building to stop what they were doing to look at what it was he got scared by. They saw the person with the mask, but didn’t have anything to fear due to the next actions of the person.

“Got ya.” They took off the mask to reveal it was Rouko behind it. She stuck out her tongue at him and giggle after being able to catch him in this prank. He felt the heat of humiliation building up inside as he quietly got up to his feet and everyone who saw him scream like a pansy returned to their usual business. “You’re a real paranoid person, aren’t you?” She asked through the window.

“And you’re a real trickster, aren’t you?” He replied without answering her question. “I thought I was being hunted by some serial killer.” Hakuta shook his head and tried to collect his thoughts. The boy’s heart raced from the scare as he took some deep breaths. “Where did you even get that mask from?”

“I always carry this thing around me.” She held it up in full display. “You never know when there’s a time to prank someone with it.” Hakuta had no clue how the other two girls managed to live at all when she was one of their friends. Though it seemed she preferred targeting people such as himself when it came to these sick jokes of hers. “Can I join you in there? I figure we might as well grab some stuff for dinner. My family isn’t cooking anything tonight.”

“Well neither are mine.” He replied, knowing full well it was because he would’ve been the one to cook tonight. “But I guess we can do that here.” It wasn’t a normal thing for him to abandon dinner back at Shiuka’s, but she could take care of herself. Plus he Rouko was not someone he spent much time with as it was. So it couldn’t hurt to get to know her a little better. Even if she wasn’t what he’d call a good friend, she was still a friend nonetheless.

“Yay!” She clapped her hands in giddy joy and walked around the window area to get inside the cafe. He wondered what really went on through her mind, considering she never appeared to take anything seriously. Compared to the other gals, she was the one whom he considered the most as a wild card. Someone who’s intentions were shrouded in mystery on what she truly felt.

Or he could’ve easily been overthinking things and she was just a regular high school girl who just loved to mess around with the people she knew. “I already know what I want.” She told him once they joined together at the table. She didn’t even need to grab the menu before telling the server what she wanted. He felt a bit of a rush on needing to say something to not make either of them wait long. So Hakuta ended up hastily choosing a chocolate croissant.

“I’m sure this will tide me over until breakfast.” He muttered under his breath as they handed away their menus to wait for their quick food to come by.

“You know, you’ve been getting pretty close to Ninka and Shiuka a lot lately, haven’t you?” She asked, starting off the conversation.

“You really think so?” He sent off a message from his phone to Shiuka to tell her he wouldn’t be home when she got back and to not worry about him. “I know things are complicated between me and Ninka, but they are some nice girls.

“Yeah, and I’d hate if you were to hurt both of them.” Something about her tone changed as he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow to her statement. Where was she going with this?