Date Her Instead Vol. 7 (Final Volume)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: What The Future May Bring

The autumn winds swirled, picking up leaves and whipping them about, as if mother nature was trying to make a point of the approaching winter days. With it now already being November, the air had only continued to become colder, and by this point in the year for Iwanai, some snowflakes here and there had begun making appearances.

"It's seriously too cold... why's it gotta be so damn cold up here?" Jasmine complained as she stood outside. At the moment, she was waiting for Mayu outside of the school. They had been just about to leave when the girl realized she had forgotten something. "She said she'd be just a minute, but it's been like, a lot longer than that," Jasmine muttered. "Maybe I'll just go back inside and- huh?"

Just as she went to move, her phone started buzzing in her pocket. Needing to take her gloves off to answer it (much to the gal's chagrin), Jasmine saw the caller ID. "....." All Jasmine could do was stare, but after a moment of contemplation, she decided to answer.

"...Hello?" she said into the speaker. "Hey, Jasmine," an older woman's voice said. The tone, quite familiar to Jasmine, sounded a little worn down like always, but now it seemed to have a little more energy than it used to. This woman was one Jasmine knew well, and one she wasn't expecting to hear from.

"Hey... mom..." Jasmine said back uncertainly. "I didn't think you'd like, be calling me or anythin'." "Well, I wasn't really planning on it," her mother admitted. "But I just came from this group outing, and a bunch of the women there had their kids with 'em, and... I guess I just sorta wanted to talk to ya." "...huh," was all Jasmine could really manage to say back.

Having never really been in a close relationship with her mother, Jasmine wasn't really emotionally invested in anything her mother said. However, Jasmine's mom had also said that she wanted to do better, so right now she was back home in the United States working on herself. The fact that she was calling now with the reason of "just because" was certainly different than before. "She's already changing..." the gal thought.

"Hey, so," her mother continued, unbothered by her daughter's one-word response. "I know this is pretty early, but I thought I'd wish ya a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. There's no tellin' where I'll be or what I'll be doin' when the time actually comes, so I figured I'd tell you now."

"Uh... right back at ya..." Jasmine said. "Well, I gotta go, so I'll talk to you again sometime," her mother said. But, just as her voice began to grow distant, an unfamiliar feeling welled up in Jasmine's chest. Before she could stop it, it came flying out of her mouth. "W-Wait!" she cried. "Hm? What's up?" her mother asked. Of course, with it being so sudden, not even Jasmine herself could answer that question. In the end, the best she could do was make a simple request.

"Just... make sure you take care of yourself..." Jasmine said shyly. On the other end, she felt like she could feel her mother smile a bit. "Sure thing," the woman said. Then the call ended, leaving Jasmine standing out in the cold.

"Who were you talking to?

"GYAH!"

Jumping from the shock of another unexpected voice, Jasmine turned to see Mayu waiting patiently. "H-How long have you been there?!" the gal exclaimed. "Only for a few minutes," Mayu answered simply. "I didn't want to interrupt your call, so I thought I'd just wait." "At least let me know you came out..." Jasmine said, catching her breath. "God, you totally almost gave me a heart attack..."

Looking at Mayu, it seemed she was still waiting on an answer. Taking a deep breath in and then letting it out into the cold wind, the gal spoke. "It was my mom. She... just felt like callin', I guess..." "That's good, isn't it?" Mayu asked. "I guess so," Jasmine said with a shrug. "But it's just so... different from what I know. It's not like my mom didn't care about me, but... she did give me a lot of independence. Her suddenly calling is just... weird..."