Date Her Instead Vol. 4

Chapter Ten: Fan

The day after groups for the school trip had been finalized, Haruna was pulled aside in the morning before class started. "Did you need something?" she asked Chiyo, the girl responsible. "Mhm! Just wait here for oooone sec!" Then, Chiyo dashed into the classroom next to her.

"It's okay! Don't be shy!"

"I-I-I-I don't know about this..."

"Aw, it'll be fine! Haru-chi doesn't bite!"

"T-T-That's not really the issue...!"

"What the hell is going on in there?" Haruna wondered. She was about to look inside when suddenly two girls emerged. The first was one Haruna didn't really recognized, but the one behind her giving her back a little push was Chiyo. "Um..." Haruna let out, confused. "Behold, the final member of our group!" Chiyo announced. Standing between her and Haruna was a girl shaking an unhealthy amount.

"Go on, introduce yourself," Chiyo urged. "R-Right. U-Um, m-m-m-my name is H-Hinami Yamth-" The shy girl stopping speaking abruptly thanks to her biting her own tongue. "Uuu..." she moaned, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "Are you okay?" Haruna asked, still confused and now concerned for this poor girl's general well-being. "Seriously, who the hell is this...? Wait... the last member of our group?"

Haruna realized who was in front of her. "Are you Hinami Yamane?" she asked. The girl's eyes went wide before quickly shutting them and nodding excessively. Coming up to about Haruna's chest, she had a black bob-cut hairstyle and brown eyes. Considering the rough minute or so Haruna had spent with her so far, she assumed that this Hinami girl was on the shy side.

"Isn't she just adorbs?" Chiyo said happily while hanging onto Hinami's shoulders. "And you know what the best part is?" "What?" Haruna asked. "She said she's your number one fan!" Chiyo said with pride. "My... number one fan?" Haruna repeated, now thoroughly confused. She turned to look at Hinami again, whose eyes were now darting around as she fidgeted in place. "What... does that even mean?" Haruna wondered aloud.

Ever since junior high, there had been a certain fact that Haruna had come to accept. It seemed that no matter what she did or what she said, everyone around her believed she was mean and unapproachable. Perhaps to a degree, that was true. When she had been fighting with Kanako, there was no doubt that had affected how she had treated others as well (even if she hadn't meant for it to). But, because of this fact, it meant that people tended to avoid her. Chiyo being a friend of hers hadn't done Haruna any favors either, as she had been just as infamous. Now, in their second year of high school, both of the girls' images were on the upswing, but that didn't mean people were flocking to them. Most of the people in Haruna's classes made sure to keep their distance, and unless it was a guy looking to get lucky, nearly everyone avoided Chiyo too.

However, Haruna was now being told she had a fan. The question remained though: a fan of what, exactly? Her brashness? Her height? Her inability to cook? "I have no idea..." Haruna sighed. No matter what she thought of, nothing came to mind that seemed worthy of being able to create a fan.

"U-Um!" Hinami suddenly spoke. "I-It's true, by the way... I-I really am a big f-fan of yours." "Why?" Haruna asked bluntly. "W-W-Why?! O-Oh, uh, um... I-I... I guess it started with seeing you compete." "Compete...? ...Oh... right..." Haruna realized what Hinami meant. Competing. Snowboarding. Something she could no long do. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I can't compete anymore. I did a pretty good job of busting up my ankle, in case you hadn't heard." By this point, the whole school knew, at least Haruna was pretty sure they did.

"Y-Yeah, I heard..." Hinami said. "B-But! That's not the only reason! It only started with that! I thought you looked really cool out there, but then I started watching you in school too. You have such a cool demeanor, and you're not afraid to say exactly what's on your mind! I wish I could be like that!" Her words came out rapid fire, hitting Haruna in quick succession. "Wait, what-" Haruna tried to say, but Hinami just kept going. "You're just so cool to me! You walk around with confidence, you can send people away with a glare... I just admire all of that!" "Uh..." was all Haruna could manage. "What kind of person do I look like in this girl's head?" she wondered.