Things truly had gone bad for Hakuta and Shiuka as they stood in the middle of the haunted room without a clue on what to do next. She had found something out, but they weren't sure on how to explain it to her.
"You guys." Fortunately they wouldn't have to deal with this all on their own as Rouko and Iruka made their presence known to them. "We saw the whole thing, are you okay?"
"You were following us?" Hakuta replied. He wasn't certain if he should be upset or glad they decided to meddle in on his business. Normally he'd hate it, but this time it turned out towards his favor. "Whatever, I just don't know what to do. So I guess I'm gald you're here."
"Rouko, I'm so sorry." Shiuka apologized, fearing she might have ruined their longtime friend group. "I never wanted to hurt Ninka."
"It's fine, I get how you feel." While Rouko was hoping to see some fun drama, she didn't want it to badly impact her own personal relationships. She knew she had also been like the others in hiding away this secret. Chances were that Ninka could be angry at all them for leaving her out of the loop. "And I get how she feels too. You know I was pretty sus of him before I figured out the truth."
"If I never hear that word again, it'll still be too soon." Hakuta responded to her choice of words, but it ultimately didn't matter considering the serious nature of the conversation. "We should go look for her. I don't want her being like this for too long." It wasn't right that she'd have to suffer over a misunderstanding, so he wanted to resolve it as quickly as possible. "Let's go."
He led them out of the room quickly. At this point they stopped caring about the scary environment and they all moved past the jumpscare that Ninka ran through without any reaction. While it might've hurt the pride and ego of the person hiding around the corner, they were too preoccupied in their minds to care.
When they left, the best plan was to split up so that they could find her quicker. All that mattered was finding her. Though it was probably better if someone such as Rouko or Iruka found her first so she'd be more willing to listening. While Shiuka and Iruka immiedately went to doing this, Rouko had another pressing matter she needed to take care of.
"Are you going to finally tell her how you feel?" She grabbed Hakuta by the shoulder before he was able to roam the halls in search of the girl.
"What do you mean?" He replied confused. "This is kind of more important over crushes and stuff."
"But you keep delaying it." She told him. "And we both know she's only real upset because you won't outright reject her."
"I don't know how you gals keep thinking me being a little pushy means I'm kind of not interested." He responded. "I mean, if she asks me out and I say no, isn't that enough?"
"But you've never said anything like, I don't like you that way. Plus you know she's talks to us about almost everything." Rouko revealed to him about the more private topics the girls got up to whenever he wasn't around. Such as some of the things he had said to her and even that one date they went on that he didn't consider one. "She definitely thinks you're giving her a chance."
"Well, those are just misunderstandings." He turned away, not willing to fully address the subject. "You know, just because she wants me to say yes."
"And what do you really feel?" She asked. "Because I can't help but wonder if you're the one holding back." While Rouko originally thought Ninka had just been pushy on him and he did his usual gimmick of saying gyarus were annoying. She couldn't help but think he had been more than patient when it came to one confessing their love for him. "I think you have been because you're scared."
"It's not like you're helping by forcing me to do something." He admitted that it was a scary prospect. He had never dated a girl before and someone of Ninka's caliber only serve to add more onto the pressure. "She's dated tons of boys, so I'm sure she has a lot of expectations."
"And I know her way longer than you have." Rouko turned her grip on his shoulder from one of holding back to one of comfort. "The truth is that you're different to her. I don't know how or why, but when she talks about you. It's different than any of her other boyfriends." Her tone sounded like a girl who was in love. Who truly wanted to be with him instead of the other boys where they seemed like some guy who hung out with her, but with added kissing and hugging.
"If I find her first, then I'll say something then." He walked away from Rouko, praying he wouldn't be the first to find the girl. He hated not knowing what to do or say next, but if he had to be confronted with Ninka, then he's have to say something about his personal feelings.
If only he knew what he felt for that girl. All this time they had been going through the motions of her doing a little flirting, where he'd respond in the negative. But sometimes she wasn't bad at all. It wasn't like Ninka was a bad girl despite the appearances. And she seemed more willing to be open to him in private than he had ever expected from anyone else before.
So he walked around looking for her with these thoughts swirling through his mind. If he was the first to see her, then he'd tell her the truth about his living situation and his feelings for her.
As it turned out, he wouldn't be the first to find her. Surprisingly it was Iruka who spotted her by the lockers. They would all know about it not because she called them on their phones, but she because she yelled loud enough for the entire first floor to hear.
"Hey, let go of me!" When the group arrived, they were treated to the sight of Iruka having a death grip on both of Ninka's wrists and pressing her against the lockers.
"Wow, she's really strong." Hakuta commented as someone with experience with Iruka's strength. He had assumed Ninka was stronger than her due to size, but then again Iruka was able to lift him over her shoulder like a bag of rice without much issue.
"Great, now I have to see them again." Ninka complained as she was finally freed from the grip. "What are you two traitors doing showing your faces?"
"Ninka, it's not what you think it's about." Shiuka tried to plead her case. "Please just listen, I would never even dream of betraying you. I'm not doing anything with Hakuta."
"Oh yeah?" She crossed her arms and turned her head, barely wanting to listen to them try to explain. "Then what was up with what I saw this morning? I know what I saw and you both lied to me about it."
"The truth is…" Shiuka looked around her to see if anyone was nearby. Fortunately there was no one to worry about so they could discuss their secret without fear. "Me and Hakuta… We actually live together."
"What!?" She was taken aback by the reveal. "And why should I believe you? That's just completely crazy?"
"It's true." Rouko spoke up in a serious tone that Hakuta wasn't used to hearing. "It's complicated, but he lives with her because it has to do with their dad's works."
"My dad knows all about it too." Said Iruka, helping to give more proof. "So if you really don't want to believe us, then we can just call him up and he'll tell you."
"…" Ninka didn't say anything at first as her brain had to process this new information. "Okay, I believe it." After all their pleading, she knew they had to be telling the truth. "I can't believe this, you all were hiding this from me? How long?"
"It might be a little hard to explain when we're so public here." Said Hakuta, who continued to look around in fear someone might overhear them. "It's kind of complicate, but that's how it really is. We're not going behind your back, so we never betrayed you or anything."
"Wow, I really feel like an idiot." Ninka hung her head down. He couldn't see her face, so he had no idea if she had a look of relief or disappointed. But her tone seemed to indicate the latter.
"I see that doesn't make you feel any better." He said. After all, how else was a girl supposed to feel about her crush living with another girl? Their relationship was complicated, to say the least, so it was understandable for a teenage girl to be confused.
Even though he had been dreading this moment before when Rouko suggested doing so. Hakuta knew what he needed to do in this situation. "Everyone, can I please talk with Ninka alone?"