Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Ten: And So The Festival Begins

At the end of the final day before the festival, Mayu, Itsuki, Michi and Kanako stood at the gate of the school. "Tomorrow's the big day," Michi said. "I hope people like our stall," Mayu said. "It'll be fine! Everyone will love it!" Itsuki added enthusiastically. "We've done what we can," Kanako said. Together, the four of them nodded in agreement and went to leave.

"Huh?" Mayu let out. As the group had begun walking, she noticed that they were one short. "Itsuki-chan? Aren't you going home too?" "Nope. I gotta stay and help out the track team. We still have some stuff left to take care of, so I'll probably be spending the night. I'm pretty excited about it!" Itsuki explained. Standing in front of her, Mayu looked visibly worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "Don't look so worried Mayu-chan!" Itsuki said, grabbing Mayu's face to make her smile. "I promise it'll be okay." "...If you say so," Mayu said, though she hardly sounded convinced.

With their conversation concluded, the three girls went their separate ways, with Kanako going one direction and Mayu and Michi going another. Once they were out of sight, Itsuki turned around. "Alright! Time to get back to work!"

She marched back up to the school building with plenty of energy, just like always. To her, it always felt like she'd never run out. "Mayu-chan really worries too much," Itsuki thought. "I mean, I appreciate it, but it kinda feels like she doesn't believe in me or something either." Of course, Itsuki knew why she was so worried. "It's not like the same thing will happen twice. This isn't last year."

But, as Itsuki entered the building and began to make her way through the halls, she suddenly felt like she was losing her balance. "W-Whoa!" she let out, moving to catch herself on the wall next to her. "That was weird. I just got so dizzy all of a sudden..." For a moment, her mind went back to the past, but she quickly shook her head. "No way! This time is different! I can do this!" she told herself.

As she went to stand upright again, a girl turned the corner and stopped. "Huh? Itsuki, what're ya still doin' here?" "Y'know, it's still kinda weird that you just call me by my first name like that. Not even Mayu-chan does that," Itsuki said with a bitter smile. Now standing in front of her was Jasmine. As for how she called Itsuki, she had told the girl that because she couldn't come up with a good nickname, she was just going to call her by her first name. Itsuki had given the okay, but she admittedly still had mixed feelings about it when not even the girl she grew up with did that.

"Anyways, I still got some club stuff to take care of, so it looks like I'll be spending the night," Itsuki said. "Huh..." Jasmine let out, her gaze staring into Itsuki. "I-Is something wrong Jasmine-chan?" Itsuki asked. "Mmm, well, I was just thinkin' ya look a little tired is all," Jasmine said. "Oh... I'm actually full of energy though! See, look!" Itsuki said as she started jumping up and down. "...Right," Jasmine said in a doubtful tone. "Just make sure you actually sleep tonight. Wouldn't want to start drifting off while working." "Yep!" Itsuki nodded.

"Oh, by the way, why are you still here?" she asked. "Just makin' sure we have everything for tomorrow," Jasmine explained simply. "I'm so excited. A breakfast salon is gonna be so fun!" Itsuki squealed. "I'm just happy people actually wanted to do it," Jasmine said. Surprising everyone, it had been the gal's idea to do a breakfast salon. No one had expected Jasmine to really contribute because of how they thought she was, but after hearing her idea, the whole class had gotten into it.

"Well, I hope everybody who tries it loves it! I gotta go now, so I'll see ya tomorrow!" Itsuki said, but before she could run off, Jasmine stopped her. "Itsuki. Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too much? The other day, Mayu-chi said-" "Mayu-chan is just a worrywart," itsuki said quickly, cutting Jasmine off. "See you later." As she walked away, Jasmine stared before letting out a sigh. "Who knew she could be so stubborn?"