Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Sixteen: Enter Stage Right

Two days after the play was announced.

Laying on her bed, Kanako let out a long sigh. It was nighttime, around 10 o'clock, and she had gotten out of the bath not too long ago. Even with the heat on, her house was still a bit chilly thanks to the cold winter airs of a Hokkaido February. In an effort to keep herself warm, she had put on a pair of fluffy pink pajamas. Although, it felt like keeping her body temperature up was about the only thing that was going right.

At the moment, Kanako was thinking back to Christmas. That fateful night, she had been so sure she'd walk away with Haruna hand in hand. Instead, it had all gone so horribly wrong. "If only things had worked out then..." she mumbled to herself. However, she quickly shook her head. "No, I can't dwell on it! What I need to do is come up with a new plan!" Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. For weeks, Kanako had wracked her brain, trying to think of anything she could that could work for a confession, but nothing quite fit. Most of her issues had to do with the fact that Haruna would probably run away from her.

"If she'd just stop and listen..." Kanako thought. "How can I tell her how I feel when she won't even do that much...?" While she continued to wonder about that, Kanako heard her phone buzz next to her. Rolling over onto her stomach, she checked the device and saw that Chiyo had sent her a message. All it said was "Can u talk?"

Responding with a quick yes, it was only seconds later that Kanako's phone buzzed once more. This time, the gal was calling her. "H-Hello?" Kanako answered. She wasn't doing anything, so it wasn't like Chiyo was bothering her, but considering the time, she did wonder why Chiyo was calling. "Heya Kana-chan!" the gal replied happily. "Glad you're still up." "I'll probably still be awake hours from now at this rate..." Kanako muttered, but it was too quiet for Chiyo to hear. Honestly, she was happy that Chiyo had called. It at least broke up the continuous train of thought on the problem of Haruna.

"S-So what did you want to talk about?" Kanako asked, assuming there was a reason. "Right!" Chiyo said excitedly. "So I was thinkin'-" she began, but then she stopped herself. "...Y'know, it might actually be best to talk about this in person. Ya got time tomorrow?" "T-Tomorrow?" Kanako asked. "After club activities would be fine." "Perfect! That actually works good for me too!" Chiyo said. "Kay, we'll talk then! Night!" And with that, the call ended.

For a moment, Kanako stared at the screen of her phone. "...What's going on?" she finally asked, although no one was around to answer. She knew Chiyo was the kind of person to just come up with ideas and spring them on people. The camping trip they had taken during the summer was a time like that. So, if she had some new idea, then Kanako was admittedly curious to know what it was. As for making guesses, only one thing came to mind. "I wonder if it's about Haruna...?"

If it was, that did bring Kanako some peace of mind. After all, she was currently at a loss. If someone else could give her some help or advice that would move things along, that would be great. With that person apparently being Chiyo, that was even better. The gal was Haruna's best friend. If anyone was suited to give a helping hand, it was her.

But... Kanako couldn't help but think back to Christmas again. The whole set-up had been Chiyo's idea. Of course, it wasn't her fault that the night had ended in failure, but knowing that wasn't enough to prevent Kanako from wondering if using another one of Chiyo's ideas would be the right move. "I know she wants to help, but... what if it's just like before?"

What if nothing changed? Or worse yet, what if Haruna became even further from Kanako? What if this chance that she might get ends up being her last? The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became. Even if she put all of that aside, there was still the question of if any plan would work. Kanako had taken Haruna to a restaurant on Christmas. They both had gotten dressed up. The romantic mood had been obvious. There had been so much impact and so many clues, and it had all still gone wrong. Was it even possible to come up with something better?