Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Six: What Lies In A Gal's Heart?

Then, just as Kanako was searching, she overheard a couple of passing students. It was a group of three girls, and they all seemed to be worked up about something.

"It's coming up soon right?"

"Yeah, this weekend!"

"Sucks that it's on a Sunday though. I feel like you lose a bit of the romance when you have to give your chocolate on a Monday."

"I don't think the days of the week really matter though..."

"Who cares about that? I'm more worried about actually giving someone my Valentine's chocolate!"

"Valentines..." Kanako repeated out loud. "That's... it!" "H-Huh?" Hinami jumped. "W-What's it?" "I can make chocolates for Haruna for Valentine's Day! Then, I could leave them in her locker or something, so she won't have to run away from me! It's perfect!" Next to her, Hinami was speechless. "I feel like I should point out that giving chocolates to someone you like on Valentine's Day should've been obvious, but I also don't have the nerve," she thought. So instead of voicing her inner thoughts, Hinami offered a "D-Do your best, Kana-chan!"

Once lunch ended, Kanako began making her way back to her classroom, but as she did, she saw Chiyo rushing toward her. "A-Ah, uh..." Kanako froze. Seeing the gal coming toward her at such a speed caused Kanako to panic, but she wasn't able to move before Chiyo made contact. "Kaaanaaaa-chan!" she exclaimed as she glomped onto her. The impact nearly sent both of them to the floor.

"C-Chiyo! That's dangerous!" Kanako scolded her. "Sorry, sorry!" Chiyo said as she let go, but she definitely didn't look sorry. "I guess I'm just like, super excited. Y'know what's comin' up, right Kana-chan?" "Um, V-Valentine's Day?" Kanako guessed. "Mhm!" Chiyo responded with an enthusiastic nod. "And Valentine's Day means chocolates! I was hoping to make some for Mi-chan and a few others this weekend, and I was wonderin' if you'd wanna join me!" Even to Kanako, it was obvious what Chiyo was getting at. Her eyes practically gleamed with the words "Make chocolate for Haru-chi."

"O-Okay, sure," Kanako agreed. Really, she had no reason to turn the gal down. She had already decided to make her own chocolates anyways, so making them with someone else would probably be fun. "I-I'm a little surprised to hear that you were going to make your own," Kanako commented. "Well, I've never like, done it before, but I've heard it's super easy, so it'll probably be fine!" Chiyo answered as the bell rang. "That's the bell! Better get to class. I'll see ya this weekend Kana-chan!" And with that, Chiyo dashed into her own classroom, leaving a very concerned Kanako behind. "I'm... worried," she mumbled to herself.

*****

"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure how much chocolate I've really made before either," Kanako commented aloud. It was the night of Friday, February 12, two days before Valentine's Day. Laying on the couch, Kanako was scrolling through recipes on her phone, wondering if she should try something fancier than the norm. "I'm sure Haruna would be fine with plain chocolate, but I can't help but want to make it at least a little special."

Last year, the cooking club had all made chocolates together, but that wasn't happening this year due to their president, Naomi Akiyama. She was a third-year, and at this point in the year, hardly ever in attendance. The other club members knew what that meant. Naomi would be graduating soon. Because of that, none of them really had the motivation to make chocolates together.

Of course, this didn't mean none of them weren't making any at all. Kanako had overheard Rina, another club member, telling Itsuki she was going to make chocolates for Saki, the only first-year in the club. Kanako was also pretty sure that either Itsuki or Mayu would make chocolates for the other as well.