Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Pair Of Declarations

As the final full day passed by, it turned out to be rather uneventful. Perhaps it was due to all of the drama from the night before plus the morning, or maybe it was just because everyone was tired from all of the things they had done over the course of the past three days. From cleaning to swimming to people fighting, there had been no shortage of excitement. So, seemingly having enough of that, most of the girls saw fit to simply relax.

Jasmine had decided to sit out by the creek and keep her feet in the water, Chiyo was laying on the porch, and Haruna was still trying to understand the recipe from earlier while Kanako was trying to explain it. Michi had holed up in her own room shortly after breakfast, and Itsuki had decided to continue exploring. She had tried to drag Mayu along with her, but Jasmine had advised against it. While Mayu was responsive, you could hardly call her grounded at the moment.

Sighing, Jasmine stared up at the sky. "What a trip this has been," she thought. "Seriously, when Chiyo suggested this, I didn't think it'd be any fun at all." However, defying her assumptions, the camping trip had turned out to be rather entertaining to Jasmine so far. It wasn't as if she was the kind of girl that enjoyed drama. She just wanted the things around her to be interesting. Having one girl like another who was clueless, her friend who isn't acting like a friend at all, and another friend finding out a big secret had all combined to create a very intriguing situation to Jasmine.

Thinking back, she remembered when Haruna had first told her about the deal she had agreed to. Jasmine hadn't said it out loud, but she really had thought it was ridiculous. As someone who had dated a lot of different guys, it made more sense to her to just move on and find someone else. But seeing how Haruna's interactions with Kanako changed over time, along with Haruna's feelings, Jasmine had begun to wonder if maybe Akio had been onto something when he had proposed the deal that he did. And now, after getting to see the whole situation up close and personal for the last few days, Jasmine was finding herself becoming more and more invested.

"I really thought Haru-chi had lost it when she told us what she did, but now..." Jasmine thought. "I wonder, did Haru-chi really agree just to try to get with Miyashita-san?" Just as she asked that question to herself, Jasmine felt a weight flop onto her back. "Ow! God, what the hell?" Jasmine said, turning enough to see it was Chiyo. "Hiya Jas-chin!" the gal said, beaming. "What do you want? And get off me," Jasmine said. "Ah, so cold! But maybe that's refreshing in this heat!" Chiyo said with a wink. "That's a horrible pick-up line girl," Jasmine sighed. "So, what'cha doin'?" Chiyo asked. Jasmine looked at her and then looked out at the woods. "Why do you think Haru-chi agreed to Miyashita-san's deal?"

"Huh? That came out of nowhere," Chiyo said, surprised by the question. "I was just thinking about it," Jasmine said. Chiyo thought for a moment. "Isn't it just because Haru-chi used to like Akio-kun?" "C'mon, do you really think that's all it was?" Jasmine asked. "You don't?" Chiyo said back. "I just get the feeling that it wasn't that simple," Jasmine explained. Chiyo gave her a smile, the kind that always seemed to indicate Chiyo knew more than she let on. "Who really knows?" she said. Jasmine stared at her, doubt painted on her face. "I know that look. You've got it all figured out don't you?" Chiyo laughed as she sat down next to Jasmine. "Hee hee! Maybe I do, maybe I don't!" Jasmine just rolled her eyes in response.

"But," Chiyo went on, "Does it really matter? I mean, in the end, Haru-chi fell for Kana-chan. Who cares what her reasons were for agreeing? Besides, even if there really was more, I doubt even Haru-chi realized it herself." Jasmine smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right." "What made you ask anyways?" Chiyo said. "I don't know," Jasmine said with a shrug. "Maybe it was just on my mind because I envy them or something." "Huh? Jealous? You, Jas-chin?" Chiyo said. "Hmm. I don't know if that's exactly it. I mean, it's not like Haru-chi and Kana-chan are actually dating or anything. It's just..."