Date Her Instead Vol. 4

Chapter Fifteen: This Feeling Is Called...

On the final day of the school trip for the Iwanai Municipal High School second-years, an excursion of sorts had been planned. Having explored the more educational locations in groups on day one, and allowing the students to check out nearby attractions and places on day two, for day three, the entire group would be traveling together. However, due to the distance and location, plenty of students weren't too happy.

"Why do you have to go all the way out to the middle of nowhere? We live in a place like that already"

"And it's three hours away too! Why are we going so far?!"

Many more complaints like those ones followed, and it took some convincing and assuaging from the escorting teachers to get them to calm down. Of course, that didn't change the truth in their complaints. The place they were going was Shirahige Falls, a nearly three hour drive from Sapporo. Certainly not a typical venture for a trip that's supposed to stay in one place. But, the teachers' reasoning was that if students came to Sapporo on their own, they'd probably never take the time to go even farther out and see a place like Shirahige Falls. So, since they had already come this far, they thought it would be nice to give the students the opportunity to see it and one other place.

There were still a handful of students who weren't satisfied with such an explanation, but as their choices were either stay in their room with a teacher or come along, everybody eventually complied. After a quick breakfast, the group left at 9 a.m. sharp and began making their way to their first destination.

While on the bus, a lot of students talked among themselves, but there was one group in particular that was oddly quiet. Sitting closer to the back, Haruna, Hinami, Chiyo and Kanako all sat in silence. They each had their reasons. Haruna was too preoccupied with Kanako's non-answer last night. Hinami was focused on trying to come up with the right words to say to Kanako when she got the chance to talk to her. Chiyo was distracted by Jasmine's words. Lastly, Kanako was thinking about what she was going to do next.

First and foremost, she wanted to have a proper talk with Haruna. The feeling that she had gotten the previous night had been quite foreboding, and it made Kanako wonder just how much time she had left. No one waits forever, and for as much as Kanako hoped patience was on her side, it was truly impossible to know. But, until she could get rid of the other feeling haunting her, she was stuck.

Never before had Kanako faced such internal anguish. So badly, so very badly, she wanted nothing more than to profess her love to Haruna and for them to be together. And yet, another part of her stood in the way, demanding that her heart be without doubt and without these unnamed lingering emotions before she told Haruna how she felt. The fight inside her against herself felt terrible, and the more Kanako had had to deal with it, the worse it was getting.

She needed to know. She had to know. Without knowing, she'd never get to move forward and have her life with Haruna. In order to find out, it was beginning to seem like the only way was going to be to confront Hinami. But could she do it? Could Kanako have such a conversation with someone who was innocent and might not even realize what's going on? "Something about that just feels wrong," Kanako thought.

But, little did she know that the girl sitting ahead of her was thinking nearly the same thing she was. Hinami Yamane, for all her shyness and lack of confidence, had made a decision. She was going to talk to Kanako. It wasn't out of any sort of malice or desire to confront, but rather, she just wanted to be friends. At her core, Hinami was a genuinely nice person who just liked to be happy. She lived with no ulterior motives. She didn't pick fights. All she did was live her life in a way that brought her joy and contentment. In order to continue doing that, she wanted to resolve whatever issue there was with Kanako.