Date Her Instead Vol. 7 (Final Volume)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lie To Yourself No Longer

"What? A Christmas party?" Chiyo said after hearing Jasmine's suggestion. "Yeah. I thought it might be like, fun or somethin'," the other gal responded. For a moment, Chiyo just stared, until finally her face lit up. "Awww, Jas-chin! Look at ya, wantin' to socialize!" "Ugh, shut up!" Jasmine yelled. "Sorry I'm not some huge extrovert like you." "No, this is a good thing!" Chiyo said. "And I totes wanna help! It'll be a blast!"

The two gyarus were hanging out at Chiyo's house, specifically in her room, when Jasmine had brought up her idea. With it being only a couple of weeks to Christmas now, it seemed like the perfect time to plan out a party. The only issue was, Jasmine on her own had no clue where to start. She could certainly put something together, but she knew if she wanted it to be good, she needed someone who was more familiar with the idea of partying.

"So who's all invited?" Chiyo asked. "I figured it'd just be the main group that's usually together," Jasmine said. "Me, you, Haru-chi, Kana-chan, Mayu-chi, Itsuki, Hinami-chan and Fukuhara-san." At the mention of that last name, Chiyo went quiet. "...Or is inviting Fukuhara-san not a good idea?" Jasmine asked. "Huh?" the other gal let out. "N-No! It's totally fine! No probs here, haha!" "...Chiyo," Jasmine said. "Are you sure?"

The idea of spending Christmas together with Michi put Chiyo over the moon. The idea of spending the holiday together with a ton of awkwardness between them... did not. "It's not that it isn't fine," Chiyo said more quietly. "I'm just nervous. Our relationship's kinda... I don't know, it's kinda weird right now. It's hard to say just what's goin' on. So like, I'd hate it if somehow that awkward energy ruined the party for everyone else..."

"I mean, it's not like it won't already be a little uncomfortable," Jasmine pointed out. "Whaddya mean?" Chiyo asked. "Think about it," Jasmine said. "Haru-chi and Kana-chan will be spendin' their first Christmas together as a couple. Ya really think they won't be all over each other? Especially when you consider last year."

The previous year's Christmas hardly made for a good memory for Haruna nor Kanako, so it was natural to assume they'd be doing all they could to overwrite it. "I guess that's true," Chiyo said. "But still, I don't-" "And anyways," Jasmine said, cutting Chiyo off. "Wouldn't it look even weirder if Fukuhara-san was the only one not invited? And if you tried to balance it out and also not come, then everyone would keep asking where you are. Overall, it's less of a pain to invite Fukuhara-san than not, don't ya think?"

Yet another valid point. Chiyo seemingly had no more arguments to make, and besides, it wasn't as if she really wanted to make them anyways. If she had to choose between having Michi at a party or not at all, of course she'd choose the former over the latter. "...Alright," Chiyo agreed. "Great. Be sure to invite her," Jasmine said. "Wha- I hafta do it?!" Chiyo exclaimed. "Yes. You. Have. To. Do. It," Jasmine said, punctuating each of her words with a poke to Chiyo's forehead. "Honestly, I don't really like talking to Fukuhara-san if I don't have to. You, on the other hand, have plenty of reasons to talk to her." "Fiiine..." Chiyo sighed. "But I can't guarantee she'll come." "She will," Jasmine said confidently. "After all, you'll be the one asking."

*****

A few days later at school, right after classes had ended, both gals got to work. "Hey, Haru-chi, Kana-chan," Jasmine called out, stopping the two girls from leaving. "You guys got any plans for Christmas yet?" "Christmas?" Kanako repeated. "Umm... I don't think so? All we were planning was to spend the day together." "Oh, well if ya already have some couple stuff planned out-" Jasmine said, but Haruna put up her hand. "It's fine. What did you have in mind?" "I was just thinkin' that we should all get together for Christmas, with it being our last year of high school." "Oh, that sounds fun!" Kanako said excitedly. "Is that okay with you, Haruna?" "Of course," the other girl said. "We'll have plenty of other Christmases in the future for just the two of us, but who knows when we'll all be together again." "Cool," Jasmine said, pleased.