Hakuta went to school, still as unsure as ever. Perhaps he really was overthinking it, but Omihiro's belief of his feelings seemed too certain. Despite him being pretty sure that he didn't have romantic feelings for anyone. Why would he be in love with Iruka anyway?
Sure, she was a very beautiful gal and he wasn't naive to some of her assets. And he couldn't deny that she was a lovely girl whom he liked being with. But surely those wouldn't be enough on their own, right? Now that he thought about it, what would constitute him wanting to date anyone anyway?
These were questions he couldn't find answers to. With school taking a bit more importance, there was no way he could even dedicate time in figuring out even if he wanted to. So for now, they would only remain as lingering thoughts in the back of his mind for now.
Right as he was to enter his classroom to prepare for the beginning of the day. Hakuta was intercepted by a certain somebody. This being Ino, surprisingly.
"Can we talk?" She stepped in front right as he was about to enter through the door.
"It's a bit early to be needing my help." He commented, originally believing her to just be needing aid as she normally did during school.
"As friends." She clarified. "You know, there's still some time. So I wondered if we could just chat off to the side here."
"Sure." He was a little surprised to see her being so forward with him. Though it didn't appear to be anything serious, it was unlike her to want to interact with him beyond formalities. Of course, things had changed over the past month, but even then he had difficulties getting used to it. "What did you want to talk about?" Asked Hakuta when they stepped aside in the hallway.
"I… don't really have any topics in mind." She admitted. It was odd to hear Ino wanting to do something which didn't appear to be productive at all. Normally when they chatted, it had something to do with their lives. "I just wanted to talk to you. Is that wrong on its own?"
"No, it's fine." He began to consider when they'd game online and chat through typing messages. She seemed a bit more talkative then, but that was because they were able to talk about games. Something a little less possible when out in public when she feared people finding out the truth about her. "…"
It was here that Hakuta also realized just how little else they've discussed when it came to normal things friends would say. Less important stuff where it was more about just getting to hang out than anything else.
Kind of like the stuff he would do with the other girls, like Shiuka, Iruka, even Ninka sometimes. Though the latter was quite rare considering she was more aiming on the romantic side of things.
"Hope things have gone well for you at home." Said Ino. "You know, I hear your dad's done well financially speaking, lately."
"Where did you hear that?" He broke a sweat just hearing her reference his father's line of work. After all, it was a piece of information which connected to Hakuta's moving in with Shiuka.
"My father knows Otari." She answered, referring to Shiuka's dad. "His line of work can occasionally have some interesting implications. So they talk about things and I've heard that he's hired your father as an employee."
"Oh, yeah that's happened." He was able to breathe a sigh of relief in realizing she had no clue beyond that.
"It does explain why you have gotten much closer to that girl. So I apologize for assuming the worst of her. That was just my bias talking." Though it didn't seem to get her to consider Shiuka any more highly than she currently did because of the gyaru part.
"That's nice to hear." He said, but was also disappointed this conversation strayed more towards other people than himself, or even herself. Hakuta wanted to know more about her, but it seemed this wasn't going to be the case with how closed off she was.
While they talked for the little bit of remaining time they had until classes began. Hakuta's eyes spied a certain someone else walking by. It was Masahito, who was just minding his own business, but did glance over at them for a moment where their eyes met. "Do you have something else you want to say to me?" He asked, a bit irritated that he continued to run into this boy.
"I wasn't." Masahito responded, but did stop in his tracks to continue the conversation. "I was just a little surprised is all. I didn't realize you were friends with the famed Ino Saito." He said, pointing out his knowledge of Ino's father.
"I don't like that tone of yours." There was something about the way he said it which got Hakuta defensive. "We're friends, so what?"
"I just never knew you already realized your potential." He answered in a manner which didn't satisfy Hakuta. "Honestly it seems like you're holding yourself back for no reason."
"Okay, that's it." This had crossed the line for the boy as he separate from Ino to walk up face to face to Masahito. "I'm getting real tired of this act like you're coming in to help me because quite frankly it doesn't feel like it."
"I know I said your decisions are yours, but it is a little hard to want to stay on the sidelines." He replied, not backing down at all.
"Hey, I'll have you both know that fighting is not allowed at all." Ino stood between them, using her authority to break up what could be a potential fight. "Hakuta, this isn't like you to get so riled up."
"You don't understand." He said. "This guy's a real jerk about me and Iruka. And the way he keeps acting like he's doing me a favor is just too annoying."
"Still, I can't allow any trouble to happen on my watch." She continued to push up against him to create distance between the two boys. Ino certainly was not strong enough to push him away if he truly wanted to fight, so it was fortunate he was willing to step down when asked.
"You get way too emotional." Masahito commented, not showing an ounce of fear. "Maybe I was wrong about you after all. We're not similar in the slightest." He looked at the couple before beginning to walk away. "You should probably hold someone like her much closer than you already do. It's not often you get such opportunities."
"I really hate his guts." Said Hakuta as he watched the boy walk away. He stepped back from Ino, then hung his head down to apologize. "Sorry you had to step in like that. I didn't intend to make your job any harder than it has to."
"I'm not mad at you." She told him. "But Iruka, she's really important to you, isn't she?" Seeing this display, Ino had learn of a truth that was more painful for her. Though for reasons he couldn't see.
"You're definitely not the only person to tell me that." He responded, ruffling his shirt. "I never really thought about it, but I guess I really do." Somewhere along the way he got to like Iruka. She used to be that bubbly strange new girl who was a bit too fixated on him. But he didn't mind it one bit, despite minding it a lot back then. "Anyway, sorry I kind of wasted our time. But we got to get to class now."
Right as he turned, Hakuta didn't see a figure dodging her head back into the room to rush to her desk. His confrontation with Masahito was seen by a small number of students, but most important of all was Iruka seeing it as well. She quickly sat down, breathing heavily, to hide away the fact she had seen him get upset at her former friend.
"Good morning, Hakuta." She greeted him and pretended nothing was out of the ordinary."
"Morning." He replied, sitting down. "You ran late or something?" While she tried to act natural, it was impossible to hide how tired she got from having to move so quickly. Fortunately since he hadn't seen her before, he only assume one logical reason.
"Yeah, just overslept a little." She lied, thankful for the excuse he accidentally gave her.
But more important to her, as he turned his head forward to begin their first class session, was why he got so upset. Iruka had been confident he would never go for a girl like her. So even though she push on kissing him that night. She did so in the belief she'd never get another chance and took it so she could move on with her life.
But it was impossible for her to forget despite desperately trying so hard to. The way he continued to act after that incident only made it harder for her not to entertain the what-ifs. That perhaps, he might hold some feelings, no matter how improbable the case truly was.