Date Her Instead Vol. 1

Chapter Nine: Words Unspoken Until Now

"Did you hear about Endo-san and Nakatomi-san?"

"Yeah, someone said they saw them out together yesterday. And they were holding hands!"

"No way! I thought they hated each other! Did they go from that to being lesbians somehow?"

It was conversations like these that Haruna heard murmured as she walked through the halls to class Monday morning. Her only response was a roll of her eyes. She knew there was no point in telling them it wasn't true. Once a rumor gripped a school, there was no uprooting it. So instead, she ignored them. It actually wasn't that hard. Not because Haruna didn't care about what random people said about her, but rather because there was something else much more important on her mind.

"I need to talk to her..." Haruna thought, referring to Kanako. "I need to know if she was serious. If it really is over, then that means I can do my own thing again. Then again, if Miyashita-kun really meant what he said about us failing, he probably won't even give a relationship with me a second thought..."

There was a part of Haruna that felt relieved. If the deal was really done, then that meant she no longer had to spend time with Kanako and put on such a ridiculous charade. She felt like she should've been over the moon. And yet... there was this nagging feeling that Haruna had. The last time she had felt anything like it was after the two girls' fight several years ago. "Is it just guilt? No, it feels like more than that..."

It was like Haruna felt like she had messed up big time. She had no desire to be friends again with Kanako and in fact, she'd rather just cut ties altogether with her, at least that was what she kept telling herself. But the truth of the matter was that Haruna still harbored something for Kanako and it was that something that told her she needed to make up with her former childhood best friend.

While at lunch, Haruna kept thinking about what she would tell Kanako. "Oy, Haru-chi," a voice called, poking her cheek with chopsticks. "Huh?" she said in a daze. "Geez, you finally responded! I've been calling your name for a while now y'know!" Chiyo complained. "Oh, sorry," Haruna said in a distracted tone. "What's got ya down girl? You seem really out of it," Chiyo observed.

Haruna sighed. "That 'date' idea of yours didn't go so well..." "Huh? And you're actually upset about that?" Chiyo said, a gleam in her eye building. "Not exactly, it's just..." Haruna went on to explain everything that happened with Kanako. When she was finished, Chiyo just stared, then finally:

"Haru-chi, you really suck at this."

"Hah?! I don't suck! I did what you're supposed to do on a date didn't I?! If anyone sucks, it's Kanako! She's the one that threw the fit and left me!" Chiyo let out a long sigh. "You seriously don't get it Haru-chi?" "Get what?" Haruna growled, getting annoyed. "Kana-chan's a normal girl, which means a part of her expected a normal date," Chiyo explained. "Even if it wasn't real, she was still hoping to have a fun time. But instead, it sounds like all you did were things that you wanted to do. You didn't put in any effort at all! Of course she'd be upset! No one would enjoy that, not her..." Chiyo said exasperated, then tack on: "...and certainly not Akio-kun if you tried that with him."

Haruna flinched at that. Putting Sunday's whole ordeal into perspective like that made Haruna realize how bad things must've looked to both Kanako and Akio. "There's no way he's going to choose me is there..." she sighed aloud. "I don't think that's the bit you need to be worrying about," Chiyo said as she popped a shrimp into her mouth. "You need to put on a smile on Kana-chan's face!" the gal proclaimed, pointing a finger at Haruna.

"Why the hell do I have to make her smile?!" Haruna exclaimed, extremely confused. "Well, maybe not literally, but like, y'know, a figurative smile or something," Chiyo said vaguely. "I mean, the bottom line for you is to look good in front of Akio-kun right? So the best way to do that is make Kanako happy! Y'know what they say, happy wife, happy life!"