Hakuta had only walked for few steps besides Rouko and already the boy was regretting his decision. Not because he took any issues with trying to hang out with older students. A choice where it was pretty likely he’d fail and stumble through. But rather the problem arose when it came to his companion, who was much more in her element.

“I’m taking it you do this pretty often.” He commented as they neared the large gathering. Were this an MMO raid, he might’ve felt more at home.

“I’m not a shut-in like some people around here.” She replied with a snide remark about his social life. “So yeah, I hang out with other people all the time. I even dabble a bit with college students too.”

“Yeah, you seem like the girl.” He responded, hinting she might’ve been more willing to do certain things compared to the other girls.

Meanwhile, she was also checking up on him silently. Rouko had noticed Hakuta wanting to leave out of the blue right as it became apparent he would be alone with Shiuka after she left. This boy decided to do something outside of his nature and even forgot that he had asked for his friends to grab some drinks for him. While he was unlikely to want to avoid her friend, she couldn’t help but wonder about what else might be going on through his mind.

Even if she wouldn’t admit it, Shiuka was clearly feeling something towards the boy. Rouko summed it up to circumstance, but they shouldn’t ignore the effects of those very same circumstances on Hakuta either. Just what was going on in that boy’s mind, she wondered.

“Well, there’s definitely a lot of people here.” He said when they got into the thick of things. Hakuta felt a bit out of place, both because they weren’t invited and he was clearly younger than everyone around. Rouko, on the other hand, was enjoying the vibe much more than him.

“Don’t just stand there awkwardly.” She pulled him along in deeper to where some people were dancing around to some music. “You’re going to really look like a gamer nerd who never leaves his room if you keep standing straight like that.”

“You keep saying that like it’s a bad thing.” He replied. What she said was an accurate representation of him, but it sounded worse than how he always pictured the way he currently lived his life. Hakuta’s eyes scanned around them to see people laughing, enjoying some drinks, and apparently someone even set up a grill. “I feel like I’m missing something, but isn’t this a bit bigger than just some normal beach party?”

“Hmm, it’s almost like there’s something big about to go down no one’s let us in on.” Not that it was a major revelation for either of them, knowing that they weren’t even invited to join in the first place. Though despite appearing out of place, no one seemed to care about kicking them out either.

“We should ask.” He was about to grab someone’s attention, but she stopped him before he was able to say anything.

“Or not.” She pulled him in closer to her as they stood at the designated dancing area. “You’ll make it too obvious that we don’t belong here. Now how about we act like we do?” Rouko took both of the boy’s hands and began to dance around with him. Not in any special fashion like they were in a ballroom, but enough to give the impression they were here together like a couple.

“I don’t know if we need to be that close.” He did the bare minimum when it came to moving his feet along to the beat. His arms were not controlled by him as she had led the way and he only didn’t provide any semblance of resistance to her.

“Come on, just pretend to be my boyfriend for, like, five minutes.” She moved his arms so that they’d wrap around her body. “I don’t want any of these guys around here thinking they can just flirt with me. I’m not really in the mood for that right now.”

“This might be one of the times I wished you were.” He sighed, disappointed he needed to keep up yet another facade. “But fine, whatever. It’s not like I have any other choice but to play pretend with you.” At least she wasn’t forcing him to be her real boyfriend. He already had to deal with all that enough as it were when it came to Ninka.

They settled down a bit now that it felt a bit more natural to be a part of this party. Rouko let go of his hands, but continued to stay close to the boy as she brought her arms around him for a loose embrace as they danced.

“You know I have to say, it’s kind of weird.” She said, looking around at the places behind him. “For an upperclassman party, I swear I can see the class rep here.”

“You do?” Quickly, he turned himself around to try and see if who she said was here, was actually who she saw.

“Geez, since you’re my pretend boyfriend.” She grabbed his head and turned it so that he would be facing her once again. “I need to be pretend mad at you for trying to check out other girls that eagerly.” Rouko then proceeded to slap him on the face in a manner much harder than what one might call pretend. “You know what? I’m going to pretend break up with you.”

“I think you’re pretend taking this way too seriously.” He replied, nursing his sore cheek. “Anyway, I think you’re right about her.” Hakuta turned his attention back to what was behind him. Before she had turned him all around to the point of not even knowing where he was facing anymore. The boy could’ve sworn he had caught a glimpse of Ino.

When he went to check again, it turned out they were both correct. There the girl was, standing about in her own swimsuit at this party. “What’s she doing here?” Without thinking, he already began making the steps towards the girl.

“Wow, you’re really going to just leave me for another girl already?” Rouko continued their line of role-playing. “You are the worst pretend boyfriend ever.” Despite her act of being upset with him, she did follow the boy as they went to confront the class representative.

“Ino, is that you?” Hakuta spoke once he got close enough for the girl to see and hear him fine.

“Hmm?” She had been mostly standing on her own, which made her stand out compared to the rest of the crowd. “Now this is the last place I’d ever expect you here, Yamamoto. And it seems you’re with Sugisawa.” Rouko was not the girl she would’ve thought he’d be with, even in a place like this.

“Yeah…” He replied, disappointed with her calling him by last name. “I think another question is what you’re doing here. It’s a bit funny coming from us, but you’re not a third year.” She also did not appear to be the kind of girl to want to be partying much either.

“I was personally invited her by the student council president.” She answered, adjusting herself as if a bit ashamed by her swimsuit. “I think it’s because she’s confident I’ll be her successor. So we were chatting a bit about things before she left to get some drinks for us.”

“Wow, you got her attention of all people.” Their student council president was also a pretty popular girl in her own right. Most people were surprised she hadn’t dated any boys while in high school, especially since they figured she’d been confessed to many times. But perhaps she was just more focused on being good at her job over some aspects of a social life. It wasn’t like she didn’t have any friends. “But isn’t the VP your-”

“My cousin.” She answered before the question was brought up. “Yes, there is family on the council too. But I was asked my the president herself. I assure you there’s no bias concerning any future positions.”

“Well, I guess being second-in-command isn’t really that high up the food chain.” Rouko made a slightly snide remark about her cousins role in the school. “And we’re the ones who end up choosing anyway, so it’s no big deal.” She stuck out her tongue nonchalantly. They were no longer in school at the moment, so there was no need to maintain any semblance of formal treatment. Not that Rouko was ever good at that facade even during class.

“Anyway, maybe I should go look for the president instead.” Ino attempted to make an excuse to not have to interact with them any longer. After all, she already didn’t want to see Hakuta as it were, so seeing him here of all places only made things worse.

“Wait.” He grabbed her arm right as the girl was about to leave. “Maybe we could stay together? I mean, us first years got to stick together, right?” Hakuta gave a wry smile as he tried to keep cool on being with her. This was an opportunity he never would’ve imagined he’d get and the boy had no plans on wasting it now.

“Plus you know more about what’s going on than we do.” Rouko backed him up for once. While she didn’t care for their classroom representative, it was clear he apparently did. The girl figured it’d be worth to see what he apparently saw in her.

“Something tells me the two of you are going to get into some trouble if I’m not watching.” Ino sighed, glaring right at the gyaru. “Fine, you can stick by me for now.”