Date Her Instead Vol. 4

Chapter Eighteen: A Gal's Doubt

For several hours, Kanako stared at the screen on her phone. Constantly clicking on links, then going back, scrolling through search results and typing into search bars, she went on and on before finally tossing her phone to the side and sighing heavily. "This is hard..."

After deciding that she'd give her answer on Christmas, Kanako had gotten straight to work. As it was her first time planning anything like a date, she had thought it'd be a good idea to search the Internet for any potential ideas. However, what she hadn't expected was the sheer size and volume of ideas, plus the fact that almost 85 percent of them were unusable for her.

A lot of the ideas she came across involved taking someone to a fancy restaurant, tourist attraction or something similar. Unfortunately for Kanako, she certainly lacked the funds to do anything fancy, and when it came to big attractions, there wasn't much to be seen in Iwanai. Even if there was, both she and Haruna probably would've already seen whatever it was by this point in their lives. So, all of this meant that she was nearly alone in her planning endeavors.

Shopping on Christmas was a horrible idea, and for the most part, stores would be closed anyways. Going out to eat was possible, but where was another question, plus Kanako knew she'd probably have to make a reservation. It was in moments like these that she realized just how small Iwanai was. "If only we had some big Christmas celebration or something..." she thought.

Of course, none of this would matter if it turned out Haruna had plans for Christmas. "I don't remember her ever doing anything, but it could be different now," Kanako thought. In the past, she remembered Haruna usually staying home for the holidays. It was easy to remember that detail because the Nakatomi family did the same. There were a couple of times in the past where the two families had decided to spend the holidays together, but for the most part it was just a quiet night for all parties involved.

If it turned out Haruna did have plans, that would make things more difficult for Kanako, but it wouldn't make her give up. Her resolve was strong. If Christmas didn't work, then what about New Year's? Or if that didn't work, maybe Christmas Eve? If somehow no holidays worked, then Kanako would find a way to make it a special day for the two of them. "I will give Haruna my answer," she thought. "Besides, I don't think I can wait any longer..."

The school trip had made something painfully obvious to Kanako. No matter how hard she tried, her feelings for Haruna were barely containable. It took everything she had to keep them under control. More than anything, she wanted to be together with Haruna. If Kanako had to wait much longer, she was sure she wouldn't be able to hold herself back.

The thought did occur to Kanako that maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. If her feelings for Haruna just exploded, then they'd most certainly get across to her. But, something about that felt wrong. If Kanako let it happen like that, it might just cause confusion, or worse yet, it could have the opposite effect. What if Kanako came on too strong and scared Haruna off? That felt like a real possibility, so because of that, Kanako made the conscious effort to keep her feelings reined in as best she could.

Picking up her phone again, Kanako continued her search. Surely there had to be something out there that she could make work for her own small-town Christmas. And yet, everything was just a little off. A restaurant that was a bit too expensive. Scenery that didn't quite work. A mood that was difficult to recreate. Every plan that came up had something in it that prevented Kanako from using to its fullest. When the time came for Kanako to go to bed, she had barely made any more progress than when she had started.

*****

While at lunch the next day, Haruna was distracted. Her own doubts were building by the day, but now on top of that, Kanako wasn't around. Somewhat to her surprise, Hinami had actually asked her to eat with her. "Well, I guess they do seem to get along now," Haruna thought, although it still felt a little odd. Hinami and Kanako spending time together wasn't a problem, but there was just something about it that made Haruna a little uneasy.