“What are you doing?” Hakuta was floored by Rouko’s actions. They had an easy chance on making their getaway and she ended up just trapping them in his room. “Why didn’t you just leave?”

“I couldn’t just leave through the front door.” She countered as they both quietly stood by the door. It was unlikely for Shiuka to suddenly head upstairs after getting herself set on the couch, but anything could happen and neither wanted to take many chances. “She’s right there, obviously Shiuka would’ve heard me and wondered what that was all about.” It didn’t help that the door was now locked, so it was nearly impossible to avoid being heard.

“Well isn’t this just great.” He lamented the situation they were in as the pair whispered quietly to avoid Shiuka realizing she was here.

“I’d hate to try to go back down the stairs.” She said, ruling out using the potential back door if there was one. There was no way either of them wished to head back to the same area Shiuka was at. “What about the window?” Rouko pulled aside his curtains to peer outside. There was a pretty steep drop from the second floor without any bushes to break her fall.

“I’d rather you not get yourself injured.” He pulled her aside and took any that option. “I guess there’s not much else to do other than wait for her to fall asleep.” Hakuta felt bad for forcing her to stay for an unknown amount of time, but they didn’t have any other choice.

“Ugh, this is not how I wanted to spend my night.” Rouko lamented as she fell over on top of his bed to be disappointed in her life. “Being stuck with you in your own room is pretty high up on my list of things I never wanted to do.”

“Come on, my room’s not that lame.” He countered. At least, he hoped so for the sake of his pride. But from the way Iruka was cool with wanting to hang out with him in here. There was no way for this to be a bad spot to be in.

“What is there for me to do?” She asked. This was a boy’s room and specifically for a boy whom was quite the opposite compared to her. Since they weren’t doing the other thing a girl might want to do while alone in a boy’s room. She was left with few options that also meant not being loud. It also didn’t help that her phone’s battery was running out, so browsing social media was going to be out of the question soon.

“You might not care for gaming, but I do have that as an option.” He pointed at his computer, turning it on since if she wasn’t, then he would. “Just because you think it’s something geeks do doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.”

“I can enjoy video games perfectly fine.” She got up from the bed and leaned over his shoulder to check out his desktop. “But what do you even play by yourself in your room anyway? Is it just some of that weirdo indie stuff so you can get a big head for playing it.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but I have been playing some RPGs lately.” He showed off one, which was a title that had recently come out called ‘Spirit Programmer 2’. It was a sequel to a game that had come out before either of them were born.

“Wow, that’s looking real popping.” She took note of the bright neon lights that the game heavily showed given its art style. “What’s it about?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “I haven’t tried this one out yet, so I figured maybe we could just see together while you’re stuck here.”

“Not like I have anything better to do.” She stayed close to him, watching as he started up the game for the first time. There was a quick display of action to hype things up, then he found himself in the tutorial stages of the game.

This part was easy for him, as Hakuta was an experience gamer who had managed tons of other games with similar mechanics. So it was quick work, then he got into the meat of the gameplay. The general standard bits which had a ton of downtime in terms of plot, but plenty of things to do for a gamer.

“Eh, I guess things are kind of slow, aren’t they?” He commented, feeling a bit judged now that he had gotten into the main parts. “Sorry if you’re feeling a bit bored.”

“It’s not that bad.” She seemed to be engrossed into the world. As Rouko didn’t even notice herself leaning onto his shoulder to get a close look at the screen. Her face was getting uncomfortably close to his as he tried to play things off.

“That’s good then.” He murmured, leaning his own body away from hers to give a solid hint about the invasion of private space. This information was lost on her as she continued to follow along with him as if trying to stay stuck. “You know, you’re free to play too.” He offered her his seat. She had been present during all the tutorial instructions, so it wasn’t like the girl didn’t know how to play.

“Really?” She was shocked to hear him offer and she wasn’t about to pass it up. “Cool, let me at it.” Rouko quickly took his seat, forcing the boy off and into a standing position. It was times like this he wished there were more chairs, but it’s not like this was a normal situation.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” Unlike her, he didn’t plan on staying so close to the girl while she tried out the game. Instead, Hakuta laid down onto his bed and got into a comfortable position so he’d be able to see the computer screen from behind her. “I don’t think I’m really feeling it, so don’t be concerned about me missing anything.”

As he laid watching her, he thought about how strange of a situation they were in. Despite appearing to be acting totally normal, this was far from how either of them would act around the other. In fact, they were far from being friends. Rouko would be someone he considered the least friendly with, particularly in the manner that she would always be making fun of him. Along with the fact that the other girls seemed to be more interested in hanging out with him compared to her. Though a lost of that attention for him was unwanted.

“Phew, that was a tough battle.” She laid back in the chair after taking on a powerful boss. “You really don’t like easy stuff, do you?”

“I guess after spending a bunch of time I kind of got too good that normal stuff became too easy for me. So I just kind of gravitate towards stuff that challenges me.” He answered. It was a subtle thing he hadn’t noticed, but video games were a part of his life since he was young. So perhaps to him it appeared as a normal thing growing up, when it actually wasn’t.

“Sounds like a bunch of hard work for nothing.” She save and turned off the game. Rouko wasn’t wrong about it being for nothing, at least in terms of what he would get out of it in life. It was unlikely Hakuta would ever become a professional gamer, as that never seemed to be an ambition for the boy.

But he would disagree about it being a waste of time. At the worst, he did enjoy his time with them. “Boy, I’m wiped after all that.” She got up and took a spot on the bed as well. “Guess when they same I’m a dainty flower, they aren’t kidding.”

“You do realize this is my bed, right?” He spoke, getting up, which only served to have her take up more space.

“And I said I was tired.” She responded, not respecting the space. “There’s not really anywhere else for me to relax. And it’s only temporary, since once Shiuka falls asleep I’m out of here.” In defiance to his complaints, she took his blanket and laid herself right inside the bed as if it were her own.

“Speaking of waiting for her to fall asleep, aren’t your parents worried about you?” It was beginning to get late. While it wasn’t absurdly late, most people their age would normally be home by now.

“I doubt my mom cares that much.” She answered, barely caring about the subject matter herself. “I stay out late all the time during the weekends. Figured you’d know that seeing as Shiuka hangs out with me most of the time then.” He did know that was a thing Shiuka did. In fact, the early days of him living here had her doing so and getting herself sick as a result. “Though I guess I can see why she started to do it less often these days.”

“Those are her own choices.” He replied, knowing she meant this as a slight towards him. “Besides, it’s good behavior to make sure you’re not staying out that late at this age.”

“You’re not my dad.” She rejected his advice. “And I’ve never once gotten into trouble. So that’s why my mom’s not worried about me at all. She knows I always come back.”

“Guess we’ll just have to-” He was unable to properly finish their conversation, as it was rudely interrupted with his door beginning to open. Thinking quickly, he quickly shoved her head down underneath and placed himself on bed besides her.

“Yo Hakuta.” Shiuka peeked her head inside to chat with the boy. “You still up?”