Date Her Instead Vol. 1

Chapter Eighteen: Questions

There was a moment of silence before Kanako began speaking. Michi sat across from her with a very concentrated look on her face. "I guess I should start from the beginning," Kanako said. "The truth is, when I went to confess to Akio-kun, I... wasn't the only one there. Haruna was there too."

"What?!" Michi exclaimed. Hearing this information straight from Kanako doubled her shock from the first time she had heard. "Did she somehow find out and try to sabotage you or something?!" "No, no, nothing like that," Kanako said calmly. "It turned out, we both had had the same idea. We both wrote letters to Akio-kun and in some sort of weird coincidence, we both choose the same day." Michi went quiet. She was trying to process what she had just heard, but there was still plenty more, as Kanako continued to explain.

"When we saw each other behind the school, we were pretty surprised. I couldn't believe Haruna was there. I was really confused, and Haruna start yelling at me immediately. While we were arguing, Akio-kun showed up. Of course he knew the whole story because he had gotten both letters. He decided to hear both of our confessions too. Haruna went first. She kind of stumbled her way through it, but it was nice. I don't think I'd ever heard Haruna be that honest before. Then I went and I told him all about my feelings and how I'd been in love with him for a long time. I think it went pretty well overall."

"After that, we expected Akio-kun to choose one of us, but instead, he told us that he wasn't going to pick either of us." "What the hell?!" Michi shouted at the new piece of information. Kanako laughed. "That was Haruna's response too. Luckily Akio-kun didn't leave us in suspense. He actually offered us a deal." "A deal?"

"Because of how much we fight and how close we used to be, Akio-kun said that he didn't see how either of us could be a good girlfriend if we couldn't even be nice to someone who we used to be good friends with. So, in order to choose between the two of us and find out who would make the better girlfriend... he asked us to date each other for a year, and whoever was more convincing would be the girl he'd pick."

Michi was floored. "...w-what?" she squeaked out. In that moment, a certain question Chiyo had asked her came back to her mind. "Oh... so this is what she was talking about when she asked me what I thought of two girls dating..." Michi stared at her friend, who seemed anxious to hear a response. "And you... agreed to that?" she asked tentatively. Kanako nodded. "That's why Haruna and I have been spending more time together. Each of us wants Akio-kun to pick us. Unfortunately, it's really only been for the last week or so that this whole fake dating thing has looked real."

"Fake dating?" Michi repeated. "So, wait, you two aren't actually going out?" "H-Huh?! N-N-No! Of course not! T-There's no way that would ever happen!" Kanako panicked. "W-We just have to make it look convincing is all..." "I see..." Michi said. "I have to admit, I'm a little relieved that you're not actually dating." "Huh? Why?" Kanako asked. "Why? Because you're both girls Kana-chan. Girls can't go out with each other, that's not how love works," Michi said.

Kanako sat quietly as she took in Michi's words. "I know she's right but... why does it bother me to hear that? Something about being told that... just feels wrong..." she thought. "I guess that also explains the times I've seen you two holding hands too," Michi suddenly said. "O-Oh, you saw that?" Kanako asked nervously. "Well yeah, everyone in school has. There are bunch of rumors too y'know," Michi said. Kanako knew what she was talking about. It wasn't like they were avoidable. "I'm surprised you didn't ask me about them," Kanako said. "I was actually going to, but I believed you'd tell me what was going on when you were ready. And I was going to stick with that, until I heard about what you and Endo-san were doing. I just lost it. I thought for sure she was using you. Sorry for jumping to conclusions," Michi apologized.

"No, it's my fault too. If I hadn't kept it a secret, this probably wouldn't have happened," Kanako said. When her deal had begun, she had truly thought that keeping it a secret from Michi would be the right thing to do. But, as most attempts at keeping secrets go, it ended up just making things worse. It was something that Kanako wanted to make sure to remember.