Hakuta quickly walked through the crowd as he followed Ino. They eventually were able to separate from the crowd and were able to find privacy in the hallway.

“Are you okay?” He spoke after a long while of silence after following her. “You seem a little upset.”

“I just wanted to use the restroom.” She spoke, not turning to face him. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“It just didn’t look that way to me.” He replied, not backing off. “Ino please, if you’re upset because of what your dad said. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Why should you care? He’s not your father, so it’s not like you have to live with it.” She spoke with pained expression. Even without seeing her face, he could form a mental image of her holding back tears as her voice threatened to break. “I just have to suck it up. This is the life I was given, so there’s nothing I can do.”

“That’s not true.” He put a hand on her shoulder. Even without knowing the right ways to say or thing to do. Hakuta felt compelled to try and comfort her. “You can talk to him, try and tell him the truth.” He thought himself a real hypocrite for suggesting such an idea. Especially when he was someone who was desperate to keep his own secrets. “I don’t know if he’d change his mind, but he should know where his daughter is coming from.”

“H-Hakuta…” She muttered one word, which Ino struggled to say as she could no longer hold back her emotions. The girl broke down into tears as she squatted down. Her sobbing very audible as he simple stood behind her with his touch to comfort her.

“If it’s too much, then I want you to know I’m not trying to force you to do anything. It’s still your decision in the end.”

“It’s just so hard.” She admitted to him. “You all think I’m the girl with all the answers, but that’s not true at all. It’s easy to present myself when I’ve already done the prep, figured out the right things to say. But speaking what I feel, I just don’t know what to do.”

“Is it really that hard to speak from the heart?” He never considered it, since he rarely kept his opinions to himself when it came to his friends or family. But someone like her always had to watch what she said, lest something come off wrong and become a scandal.

“How can I even do something like that?” She asked, using her hands to try and wipe away her tears. “I think so much about what might happen. Do you think he’d hate me if I told him the truth? Would I get in trouble, or maybe my father would get in trouble for the way I turned out.”

“Ino.” Hakuta had to put a stop to it by walking around and facing the girl, putting his face right up to hers. “If you want to speak, then stop thinking.” He advised her with a strict tone. “If you only listen to your thoughts, then you’ll never say anything. I know you know this, but I guess we all need a little reminder sometimes.”

“You’re right, I know that what I need to do is tell him the truth. The truth about the things I like, such as video games… And you.”

“Me?” He responded in bewilderment. She quietly nodded, then caressed her hand under his cheek while looking the boy in the eye.

“I know he might hate you because of your hobbies, but the truth is… I’m in love with you.” This was the first time she had ever confessed her feelings, but while his mind felt the shock of such a confession. Hakuta already knew deep inside himself that she had already made her feelings known to him. “I don’t know what you think, but that’s the truth.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” He asked. “We’re talking about your dad, that doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Because, even though I hesitated before, I realize that you’re the one meant for me.” She answered, standing back up with him. “I can’t explain it, but I know that’s what my heart feels. That’s what you wanted me to do, correct?” Ino had a small smile with the weight of the pressure being lifted off her shoulders. “But what is your response?”

“My response…” He thought back on when Ninka took his hand before. How she pushed him towards Ino. It wasn’t just for no reasons, she could see something he had been hiding even from himself. “Ino, I really like you too. You’re someone I can’t stand to be without.” His actions already made it obvious, but he needed to be the one to understand why first.

“Then, I’m ready to face him.” She took a deep breath. Both in relief of not being rejected in her feelings, but also to prepare herself for her most stressful moment ever.

“Gee, you two have been taking forever.” Before they were able to rejoin the party, the pair were met with Hakuta’s dad first. “Oh, were you talking or something? I guess maybe our adult topics were a bit boring for you kids.”

“Actually, I need to talk to my father.” Said Ino, beckoning him to allow them to pass, but it would be unnecessary.

“Then you are free to ask me here.” It wasn’t just Toukou who had come to them. Pretty much everyone who had been waiting for them stopped being patient and decided to come to them. Apparently this was Ino’s mom’s idea, who had a devious smile on her face. “I hope nothing inappropriate was done back here when I wasn’t looking.”

“Father…” Ino spoke one word and took a peek at Hakuta. He at first thought she was looking at him in support, but she had something else in mind. The girl grabbed his hand tightly and made her declaration. “Hakuta is more than just a friend to me. I just asked him to be my boyfriend.”

“Why’d you open with that!?” Despite giving her advice to face her father, Hakuta wasn’t ready for himself being a part of it. He had assumed she would just tell her dad the truth about her being the masked gamer and they could handle the romantic matters later.

“What did you do to seduce my daughter!?” The man turned his ire onto him quickly once he was hit with the news. His eyes stared daggers into the boy as he began to sweat bullets.

“Wow, I knew my boy was able to take after his father.” Toukou felt more pride to this news.

“N-nothing sir.” Hakuta replied, trying to protect himself from the incoming wraith. “I really didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Ino, don’t you understand this boy wastes so much of his potential with… With video games?”

“That’s the other thing I need to tell you, father.” She now stood strong, a far cry from minutes earlier when the girl had been driven to tears. “The gamer with that mask, the one you’ve been on the hunt for, is me.”

“Preposterous.” Unsurprisingly, he did not believe her. “I bet you’re just trying to cover for this boy.”

“Aha!” His wife, her mother, would finally speak up and in strange manner of pride. “Actually, she is telling the truth!” The woman would then pull out the famous mask from her purse to show the proof of the matter. “See?”

“You were just carrying that this whole time?” Said Hakuta, now wondering if he truly was the only sane person among those associated with him.

“Unbelievable.” Said Kazuhide as he held the mask up close. “I can’t believe this, but it’s really you? Why?”

“The truth is father, I really love video games.” She told him. “It has nothing to do with standing against you or anything. I only put it on so no one would know I was betraying you, making you seem bad.” Despite putting on a brave face earlier, she began to tear up again when telling him she did it because she cared.

“Ino…” He knelt down in front of his daughter. “Don’t cry, I would never try to do anything to hurt you on purpose.” In his mind, he realized that all the hurtful things he had said about the masked gamer had been unintentionally aimed at her. “I’m so sorry. I’ve always tried to make sure you’ve gotten the best of everything.”

“I understand that father.” She replied. “I know you’re just looking out for everyone. That you want the best, but I just can’t agree with you here. So I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“Sweetie, I could never hate you.” He responded by giving Ino a tight embrace. As Hakuta stood besides slightly awkwardly as she still had her hands tightly gripped to his. He felt his dad poking him on the shoulder for his attention.

“He really doesn’t hate anyone at all.” Toukou whispered to him, not breaking into the scene besides them. “Thanks for reminding her of that, I’m real proud of you.” For once, Hakuta actually felt the weight of his dad’s words.