Date Her Instead Vol. 3

Chapter Eighteen: Date Distraction

Throughout the night, a storm of emotions assaulted Kanako. There was happiness from being asked out on a proper date by Akio. There was a sense of loneliness from the scene of Haruna departing. And, there was confusion. Perhaps out of those three, that was the one that stood out the most. Finding out that Haruna was no longer in love Akio had certainly been a shock, but for Kanako, it was the thinking after-the-fact that troubled her more.

Haruna had said it so easily. 'No, I don't.' The words echoed in Kanako's mind, but processing them was a different matter. The implications that those words carried were heavy. For one, if Haruna truly didn't have feelings for Akio anymore, then that meant Kanako was free and clear to date him herself. Secondly, a new question had come to light: if Haruna didn't like Akio, then who did she have feelings for now?

As Kanako turned over in her bed for what felt like the thousandth time, she found herself fixating on that question. She wanted to know the answer. It felt like she needed to know. It wasn't just a simple thought of 'I wish I knew.' It was desire. A burning hot desire to know exactly who it was that had made Haruna abandon feelings she had held onto for so long.

In a way, it almost felt like a betrayal. For years, Kanako and Haruna had liked the same boy. Even if only one of them could have him in the end, it had still been nice to have at least one similar interest. Now however, that interest was different. Someone else had caught Haruna's eye, and Kanako was left alone...

Quickly, she shook her head. "It's not like that..." she thought. "Haruna can like whoever she wants. We don't have to like the same person. Besides, it's probably better this way..." Kanako told herself that, but for as much as she did, there seemed to be no shaking a certain feeling growing in her chest.

Realistically, this was perfect. Kanako now had no reason to not be able to date Akio. On top of that, he seemed to be showing interest in her as well. With Haruna having a crush on someone else, Kanako no longer had to worry about losing her childhood friend again because of the two of them liking the same person. So then why? Why was it that whenever Kanako thought about Haruna liking someone else, it bothered her so much? Saying it was simply because she was afraid of losing a connection to Haruna that she had had for a long time was a decent explanation, but it also felt insufficient. There was more to the story than just that, but whatever it was, Kanako couldn't seem to put her finger on it. Instead, all she could do was give small voice to the bit of annoyance that had sprouted inside her. "Why does she have to like somebody else?" she muttered bitterly.

It was frustrating. Not being able to sleep was expected. After all, Akio, the boy that Kanako had been in love with for most of her life, asked her out on a date. The amount of excitement that that created inside her was immeasurable. And yet, it wasn't excitement that was keeping her awake, but rather, worry. Not only that, but that worry had little to do with her date set for the next day. Adding to the frustration as well was the fact that no matter how many times Kanako asked her questions, she'd get no answers out of herself.

Glancing at the clock, Kanako saw it was well past one in the morning. "Geez..." she sighed. "I'm going to be yawning all day if I can't get any sleep." In an effort to calm her racing mind, Kanako decided to get up and go downstairs to get a glass of water. Once she accomplished that, she ended up sitting at the kitchen table, a half-full glass still in hand.

Her thinking wouldn't cease. Sitting in silence in the kitchen was no different than when she had been in bed. A couple more cups of water later, and the only thing Kanako had gained was a trip to the bathroom. "Ugh..." she moaned, ultimately deciding to drag herself back up to her bedroom. Flopping back down onto her ruffled sheets, Kanako endured the rest of her sleepless night.