“You boys really do have a one-tracked mind, don’t you?” Rouko said as she was forced to follow him along. Hakuta had a goal in mind as he quickly moved past the large crowd of people simply enjoying their day to make his way to the TV set. “Do you have any other hobbies?”

“No, and it’s not like you need to stick with me.” He responded as they got through a tightly packed area. “But if you’re going to be with me, then we might as well not get seperated.” The boy took her hand and led her along the crowd as if they weren’t just playing pretend relationships anymore.

“If you were this assertive about everything like you are video games, then you’d be swimming in the ladies by now.” She commented on the sudden fire in his eyes. He would’ve easily gotten some girl to fall for him and act like he was the male lead on a popular shojo manga.

“Is this just our bit?” He replied, wondering what it was about the pair that they both felt the need to critique the other on how they lived life. Hakuta was always thinking she took things too far in her gyaru persona and her outfits. Meanwhile all she ever did was make fun of the way he happened to love video games.

If this really was what was special about their relationship, then he’d much rather be hanging out with Shiuka right now. But alas, the boy had already made his decision. There was no other option but to see things out to the end.

On the bright side, as long as things went well. They’d all be enjoying a concert by a popular idol by nightfall. Not that he cared about that kind of stuff, but it did seem like a fun time even to a grump like him.

“We’re here now.” She said once they arrived to the makeshift beach chairs for people to sit on to enjoy a video game set up. Though there weren’t many people here. In fact, it was more accurate to say it was only one boy all alone. “You can let go of my hand too.” She shook him off and promptly kept her hands close to her body so he could no long easily take them.

“Hey, are you just playing all by yourself?” Hakuta spoke up, grabbing the boy’s attention.

“Huh?” It was barely enough to break the small boy’s attention, but it was enough. When he turned to look at them, they could see his black hair covering off one side of his face. Despite appearing that he wouldn’t be the type to spend much time outside, it seemed he had a healthy complexion. “Huh, I didn’t think anyone would be interested in joining me.”

He also didn’t appear to be shy despite being a person surrounded by dozens, maybe even a hundred people, and still being all by himself. For a moment, Hakuta envied this guy.

“You are a lonely guy playing video games in the middle of a beach party.” Rouko responded to the boy’s surprised question.

“That’s only because my friends aren’t here yet.” He explained. “They’re taking care of some things with an important person. After everything I’ve been through, I’d rather not bother with all those adventures again.” He spaced off a bit, remembering what he had already gone through. “Wait, have I met either of you before?” While Hakuta appeared too generic to have a good idea on where they could’ve seen each other. Rouko’s appear was much more unique that he could’ve sworn there was a time when he met a girl who looked like her.

“Anyway, can I join you?” Hakuta finally spoke up about the reason he came here in the first place. “It looks like you’re playing ‘Bash Sisters Max’. I’ve always wanted to try that game out.” It was the latest in the entry of the long running fighting game which features characters from many different franchises. Chances were they had a character everyone really liked.

“Sure, I only got two controllers though so…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Said Rouko as she and Hakuta both sat down taking both sides of the boy. “I’m not interested in playing with you guys anyway.”

“More fun for the rest of us.” Hakuta murmured to himself as they got themselves quickly started in playing a round against each other.

“So, are you two even third years?” The boy asked them as the pair got really into the game. The boys both moved around with their controllers as if they were actually fighting each other, instead of controlling cutesy characters from popular children’s series.

“What’s it to you?” Rouko replied as she was left with staring at her phone. “We already talk to the president. It’s all cool.”

“You already talked to her? That’s good with me. If you weren’t supposed to be here, then I’d just tell her to kick you out.”

“Geez, that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” For a person who wasn’t a part of the festivities, Hakuta was surprised to see him care about the rules. Then again, what was he even doing here if he didn’t care to do any of the beach activities? Sure, complaining about it was like being the pot calling the kettle black considering himself.

“I am the treasurer after all.” He answered. “We’re friends, so I kind of know the things she would want.”

“Wait a second, you’re the school treasurer?” Rouko spoke in complete shock. Hakuta didn’t understand the reason for such a strong reaction, but he would soon find out when she pulled him aside right behind the boy.

“Hey, I’m kind of playing here.” He said when she yanked on his ear.

“I’ve heard about this kid before then.” She whispered to him, ignoring his complaints. They weren’t in this school last year as they were just in junior high, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t in the loop when it came to the knowledge of the older students. “I hear this boy was actually voted as the student council president after an emotional speech. But he turned it down because he wasn’t even trying to run for that position.”

“You mean this guy’s technically our student council president!?” Hakuta replied in a voice much too loud for her liking.

“You know I can hear you back there, right?” Not that it mattered considering they were literally talking right behind his back. “And sure that’s kind of how things went down.” The boy didn’t go further into detail as to how all that went down. They were busy with having fun and it was a story for another time. “And what’s up with the way you guys keep being surprised with anything I do? It’s kind of insulting.”

“Well, you are kind of a guy who gets lost in the background.” Rouko answered. “You know, the type of dude to just go through high school without anything memorable happening, no one knows who you are, and you never got to even get close to dating a girl.”

“Rouko!” Hakuta gave her a hard tap on her head where he had to reach over the boy’s head to do so. “You don’t have to be so rude.”

“I take it your friend’s not known for respecting strangers.” The boy responded with a chuckle. “Also I’ll have you know I do have a girlfriend.”

“You do!?” It was yet again Hakuta’s turned to be surprised by this boy and how he didn’t match his appearance or current standing at all.

“And you got mad at me…” Rouko said with a cold expression for his hypocrisy on their treatment towards this boy.

“This isn’t some kind of interview, right?” The boy felt like they were starting to get to know him way more than they should. No one had even exchanged their names yet, but they already got an idea of his backstory surprisingly well. “Come on, let’s just play some games.”

“Don’t got to ask me twice.” Hakuta was more than happy with that setup and they resumed their matches. As he played, he couldn’t help but appreciate another person who was actually good at video games.

This fact reminded him on that masked gamer, whom he still missed as badly as he missed having Ino as a person he could talk to. They both basically dropped out of his life at around the same time, so the pain was doubled in such a short time.

Thinking of that masked gamer, this boy he sat besides did match their profile surprisingly well. He was a little shorter than him and was real good with video games. The only difference was he was a third year, which meant he wasn’t 16. But it was entirely possible that could’ve been a lie to throw him off the trail of finding out the truth.

“So, uh…” Hakuta slowly spoke as they found some downtime during the part where they selected their fighters. “You ever go around with a mask?”

“What?” The boy responded confused by the question. It certainly wasn’t something anyone would expect to hear from the blue.

“You know, I’m just wondering if maybe you go around beating people at games while hiding your identity.” Hakuta stopped beating around the bush quick and went straight towards asking the hard question.