Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Seven: The Biggest Event Of The Year

No matter how hard she tried, Chiyo's face wouldn't leave Kanako's mind. As she laid in bed, a quick glance at the clock told her is was nearly one in the morning. And yet, she hardly felt tired. Instead, she was restless. But perhaps that wasn't quite it. Perhaps guilty was the better word for it.

Since the beginning of her second year of high school, Kanako had been getting know the girl named Chiyo Wakabayashi. She had never had any plans for the two of them to cross paths, but unlike Michi, it wasn't as if Kanako had ever had anything against Chiyo. So when the two of them did meet, Kanako wasn't opposed. However, it had certainly been unexpected to see just how close she would get with the gal.

They talked nearly every day. They hung out now and then. Most importantly, Kanako got all sorts of advice from Chiyo. Truly, they had become such good friends... or at least, that's what Kanako had believed. After seeing Chiyo earlier, she had to wonder just how much of that closeness she had imagined.

To Kanako, Chiyo was many things. She was loud, just like Michi said, but Kanako viewed it more as her just being energetic. She was seemingly always happy, and when she got serious, she usually had something important to say, reminding Kanako of an older sister. Chiyo was great at bringing people together and getting others out of their shells, and she even managed to get Michi to call her a friend when she had once hated the gal. Kanako really thought that Chiyo was an amazing person, so perhaps that was what had led to her misconception.

What exactly was her misconception? Simply put, it was that Chiyo was spectacular, and a goal to reach for. Without realizing it, Kanako had begun to put Chiyo on a pedestal of sorts, and it was because of that that she had missed two crucial things about Chiyo.

The first was that she was more than her exterior.

The second was that she was painfully in love with Michi.

In regards to the first point, Kanako should've understood that better than anyone. She was surrounded by people who weren't quite what they seemed on the outside. Haruna had been so mean to her, but she knew inside she was actually nice. Michi was usually blunt, but she only said her honest feelings because she cared. Even Akio must've had his reasons for suddenly becoming so cruel, of that Kanako was certain. And yet, she had assumed that the outside was all there was to Chiyo. Was it because she never saw more? Or was it because she didn't want to?

Had Kanako just been seeing what she wanted to see of Chiyo so she could use her as a pillar of support? She really wasn't sure. No doubt that was at least part of the truth, but Kanako had a feeling that she had just simply been blind. So preoccupied with Akio, then Haruna and now adding in Michi, Kanako had lost sight of those around her once again. "How does this keep happening?" she wondered.

When it came to the second point, that felt less obvious, but Kanako knew that was only because she hadn't been looking. In hindsight, the way Chiyo kept acting with Michi was more than the intimacy shown by a friend, even for her. But Kanako hadn't even given it a second thought until she had seen how much pain Chiyo was in.

Throughout the time she had known Chiyo, Kanako had seen the gal make many faces, but she was sure that was the first time she had seen Chiyo show genuine suffering. The anguish that displayed in her expression told Kanako all she needed to know. Chiyo held strong feelings for Michi, but unlike Kanako who was pursuing hers, Chiyo was desperately trying to keep them inside. Not in a naive attempt to maintain the status quo between her and Michi, but because she knew she would never be accepted.

It made Kanako thankful, in a way. She already knew how Haruna felt. Her only problem was getting Haruna to hear her feelings. But for Chiyo, her problems were in another league entirely. Forget wondering if Michi would consider the idea of going out with another girl. Would she even want to be around Chiyo anymore if she knew how Chiyo felt? The potential outcomes were catastrophic.