Date Her Instead Vol. 4

Chapter Seventeen: A Divergence Of Minds, And Yet The Same

When the buses finally pulled up to Iwanai Municipal High School, the students that had been asleep were woken up by others, and slowly but surely, they all began to disembark. Many of them already had rides waiting, but there were still plenty of others who were stuck holding their luggage and standing around. Luckily, it was a Thursday and still in the afternoon, so the first and third year students were still in class, meaning the school was open. Choosing not to wait in the cold, many of the second-years headed inside.

"Can't believe it's actually over," Chiyo said with bit of sadness in her tone. "I think I'm actually kinda happy to be back," Haruna said. "It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed and not have to share it." "Did'ja not like sharing a bed with me Haru-chi?" Chiyo asked with a bit of allure. "Not when I had to keep prying you off of me. What did you think I was, a hug pillow?" Haruna responded. "But you were just so soft and warm!" Chiyo said, going to grab onto Haruna's arm. "No thank you," Haruna said, planting her outstretched hand right on Chiyo's forehead and keeping her away. "Aww... my Haru-chi giving me such a cold treatment is breaking my heart!" Chiyo joked. "God, dealing with you for three days straight was seriously too much..." Haruna groaned.

While the two of them were messing around, they heard a honk from a nearby car, followed by a shout. "Chi, hurry up!" Looking around, the two girls eventually spotted Chitose sitting in a car parked nearby. "Oh, my big sis is here!" Chiyo said excitedly, dashing to the side of the car. Behind her, Haruna followed. "Hm? Hey Haru-chi, you need a lift?" Chitose asked. "Well, if it's not too much trouble..." Haruna said. "And hey," Chitose went on. "Isn't that Kana-chan over there? You two live right next to each other, yeah? Why don't ya call her over here?"

Doing as she was told, Haruna called out to Kanako. Hearing her name, the girl in question came over. "Y-Yes?" she said. "Chiyo's sister is offering us a ride. If you haven't called your parents already, she can drop both of us off," Haruna explained. "O-Oh, okay. If it's not too much trouble..." Kanako said, but hearing that made Chitose laugh. "That's exactly what Haru-chi just said! You two really are on the same wavelength aren't'cha?" So with that decided, the three girls loaded their luggage into the trunk, then Chiyo got in the front seat, and Haruna and Kanako got in the back.

It took all of half a second before Chiyo started going into all of the details of their trip. While Haruna listened, she wondered if Chitose would interrupt her little sister to tell her to slow down or something, but she did nothing of the sort. Instead, Haruna noticed she was smiling, like it made her really happy to hear about how much fun Chiyo had. The scene was a good reminder of just how close the Wakabayashi sisters really were. Although, even with that closeness, Haruna was still impressed that Chitose was keeping up. Chiyo was talking even more and faster than usual, but Chitose just kept nodding along or letting out a little "mhm," or "oh yeah?" every so often. "I guess that's just how it is when you grow up with someone," Haruna concluded.

Thinking that, Haruna's eyes wandered to her right. Next to her was Kanako, much like they just were minutes before on the bus. "Although, I guess even when you grow up with someone, it's no guarantee you'll be close." Her thoughts drifted to the past. Many years ago, there had been a happy trio. Two girls, one boy, and a whole lot of fun. At the time, it had seemed like those days would never end. The three of them would be together forever. Unfortunately, life had different plans.

Once Kanako and Haruna both started developing feelings for Akio, that future was doomed. No matter what, one of the two girls would be left out in the cold, while the other got to enjoy a happy relationship. Of course, by the time Haruna realized she was in love with Akio, she was already in the cold. Her relationship with Kanako had been torn to tatters by her own hands, and she had sworn to hate her rival.