Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Safe (Vol. 3 End)

The night had begun and finally Hakuta and Rouko were able to live a bit more freely. Darkness had befallen the world outside, dimming the indoors save for whatever lights happened to be on.

Hakuta’s own room was in near pitch darkness after Shiuka had turned it off for him to allow what she thought the boy the chance to sleep. Which made things a bit awkward as he attempted to fumble around a bit to get out of bed and towards his own light switch to see once more.

“Phew, that was a close one.” He said as he turned on the lights. “That would’ve looked really bad there.”

“You’re not wrong.” She agreed, but with one caveat. “But would it really matter that much? I thought you said she wasn’t into you.” Rouko still believed it, but listening in on their conversation didn’t appear to give her any vibes of romance. If Shiuka wanted to, she was more than free to flirt with the boy since she would’ve believed herself alone with the guy.

“I meant the part about you knowing.” He corrected her. “I don’t want Shiuka mad at me again. I care about her too much to keep upsetting her.” Hakuta had done this to her multiple times at this point. Usually it was apparently accidental and he normally had no clue what the problem was. Either way, he just wanted her to be happy.

“Speaking of knowing.” She wasn’t going to forget that conversation he just shared with the other girl. “What’s this about me not being the only other person to know about this?” Said Rouko, clearly referencing Iruka.

“That one is on her dad.” He placed the blame as far from him as possible. “Iruka’s dad works for her dad, so they apparently decided it was a completely good idea to let her in on that information.” While it hadn’t bitten either of them in the back yet. Hakuta certainly would disagree with the decision to just let someone else into their circle so easily.

“I wonder if Ms. Nice over there isn’t so nice after all.” She sat up cross legged on his bed and put on her thinking face. “Makes me wonder if all she’s got is an act, you know, what with blackmailing you with this information.”

“No, I rejected her after she found out.” He said, trying to keep the record straight. “Why does everyone always think I’m being blackmailed?” Apparently people didn’t trust gyarus, not even the gyarus themselves.

“Because you’re an easy target for blackmail.” She answered. At least, he gave the perception of being someone who was easy to get some dirt on. Since the boy was mostly unknown to his classmates due to his reclusive and anti-social behavior. Some had assumed he might be hiding away from dark secret from everyone. Such as playing certain video games with themes not appropriate for those of his age. Perhaps he might even be into certain concept which would make even those with the strongest of stomach throw up.

“I’m not.” He denied any potential questionable thing she threw at him. “I’m just a normal guy who like playing video games. And I prefer being alone.” Though his living situation was ripe for blackmail anyway despite his feelings on it.

“Sheesh, all this talk about being normal.” She laughed off his constant reminders to everyone. “I’m pretty sure most people view you like a weirdo who can’t get along.” He crossed his arms and ignored what she said. This girl wasn’t about to bait him into saying something stupid. “But honestly, you’re not so bad.”

“Huh?” He was confused by her last statement. Why would Rouko suddenly have a change of heart with him? Especially since unlike with Ninka, they haven’t had a serious conversation. “What did I do?”

“If Shiuka’s cool with you like this, then you’re really not a bad person.” She explained to him. “I always took you for the type of guy to take advantage of a girl if given the chance.” And certainly it was obvious that living all alone with Shiuka for a long period gave him that opportunity. “You know, since you’re kind of a girl repellent.”

“I could’ve lived with something less rude.” He didn’t appreciate her somewhat harsh assessment on him before they got to know each other. But to be fair to her, he was also like that when it came to girls like her. “But if that’s what it took to get you to see I’m not trouble, then so be it.” While this was far from the path he wanted to take for tonight. Hakuta could rest easy knowing that Rouko wasn’t going to be a problem anymore.

Now noting thing had gotten much quieter, the boy silently took a peek outside his door. The hallway was mostly dark, only illuminated by the moonlight through the windows. It seemed that Shiuka had finally turned in for the night and headed for bed. He could tell, considering her snoring could be heard out in the hall. Fortunately the rooms had really good sound isolation so he didn’t have to worry about that normally. “It’s safe now.”

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“Great.” Rouko jumped up from the bed. “I can finally get out of here.” Again, in a repeat of when they both left Ninka’s house. Hakuta held the door open for her to leave and headed towards the front door to follow her along. They made sure to be careful to not create too much unnecessary noise to awake Shiuka as they exited.

“Well, looks like I’ll see you later.” He said, still feeling a bit of unease. It was as if he believed they had forgotten something important, but couldn’t figure it out.

“You know, I still got the photo.” She whipped out her phone to show him the image she took of them at the cafe. He was taken aback when he remembered what had caused him so much fear before that it lead to him desperately telling her the secret in an attempt to save himself. “I kept it as insurance in case you were trying to trick me, but I guess I don’t need it anymore.” With one quick swipe on her phone, the image was deleted right before his eyes.

“You really didn’t have to scare me like that.” He hung his head down in relief over no longer having that blackmail over him anymore. “Just delete it on your way home.”

“I just wanted to make sure you had some peace of mind there.” She told him, seeing her phone about to die off now as the screen flipped to pitch black in an instant without her input. “I also want you to know that hanging out with just you wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“We didn’t really do that much.” He downplayed it since from his point of view, it was mostly her playing some game he wasn’t as interested in. “But sure, it’s not really bad being with you either.” Neither of them really expected much from the other. After all, they already did little together when with the rest of the group. Simply just two people whose friend groups happened to fuse together.

“Right.” She giggled, then leaned into him to plant a soft kiss right on the boy’s cheek.

“Wh-what was that for!?” He would’ve yelled louder were it not night time and they weren’t trying to avoid waking up Shiuka. This would be the third time he was kissed, and somehow the trio of gals were the ones to do that to him.

“Hehe, let’s just say that’s me giving you a bit of thanks for an interesting night.” She giggled, playing coy to him. “And if you treat me more like how you treat Shiuka, maybe we could become decent friends too.”

“Yeah sure.” He replied, but despite his tone indicating disinterest. Hakuta did keep it in mind for the future. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to get closer to her like he had done with everyone else after all. “You should probably get going home now.”

“Of course.” She put out her hand to him, silently asking for a handshake, which he gave to her. “And don’t worry about that kiss, it doesn’t mean anything. Just wanted to see that face of yours bright like a tomato.” Quietly, Rouko laughed as she walked away into the night and on her way home.

“Man, gals are really confusing.” He shook his head as the boy watched her disappear. Once she was out of view, he headed back inside and towards his room. Hakuta gently touched the spot on his cheek where her lips graced his skin. This really was the third time one of those gyarus had kissed him. From what Rouko said, it really was just a simple joke to get him all flustered. As she loved doing that with all the boys. At the same time, he knew that Ninka’s kiss meant much more than a joke. It was a confession to him about her true feelings.

All this only served to make him more confused. As it didn’t help the boy in understanding the time when Shiuka had done the same to him all that time ago. He wanted to know the truth, but was too shy to want to go directly to her about it. Or perhaps he was more worried about his own thoughts of that moment.

For he couldn’t tell which reason he hoped it would’ve been for.