Date Her Instead Vol. 6

Chapter Twelve: Jasmine, You Are...

Out of all the words that could be used to describe Mayu Kawaguchi, rebellious was not one of them. And yet, on the night of the day she had experienced her first feelings of anger toward her mother, she was being just that: rebellious. Gathering only the minimal amount of things she needed, Mayu quietly opened the door of her bedroom, slipped out through the crack, and was sure to be mindful of any of the creaking spots in the floor.

Reaching the front door, she slowly slid it open before finally, once outside, she slid it back shut and scampered off. Her quick pace carried her to the road, where she took a sharp turn that would take her toward Iwanai's downtown area. From her house, this amounted to quite a walk, but with the mood she was in, Mayu thought it would probably do her good.

It was still early April, and with the Hokkaido winds, the temperature outside was somewhat chilling. Of course, it didn't help that it was past nine at night. It was certainly unusual for Mayu to be out on her own that late. In fact, the word unusual wasn't even correct. She was NEVER out this late, not unless she had express permission and was with her friends. Now though, with her current situation being what it was, Mayu wondered if days like that would ever return.

Admittedly, Mayu's life to this point had been an easy one. Much like her mother, she never really had to make any life choices for herself. Her independence was a little more prevalent than Ai's had been, but that was due more to societal changes than a change in parenting. Regardless, she still did as she was told and lived her life the best way she thought.

However, as she went through high school and met new people, Mayu's thinking began to change. It wasn't as if she was thinking of becoming a rebel or something, but it seemed as time passed, one thing became clear to her: Mayu Kawaguchi lacked a definite self.

To most, she was kind, gentle and pleasant. She kept her emotions in check, although there wasn't much to check. Mayu was usually happy, but only to a modest amount. While she felt sadness or anger, it wasn't very prevalent inside of her, so those emotions normally didn't show on her face.

Even her looks were kept simple, with twin black braids hanging past her shoulders, a basic pair of circular glasses, and her clothes drew no attention whatsoever. Her attitude, her appearance, everything about Mayu was tailored to be perfectly... nothing.

None of these aspects made up a genuine person. Sure, being kind was a good thing, but with kindness also came annoyance (at times). That was something Mayu didn't have. Not getting angry was fine, but not feeling much of it at all certainly wasn't normal. Braids were a nice look on a girl... so nice in fact that plenty of other girls in school had them. No matter how Mayu looked at it, there wasn't a single thing about her that was unique.

Without meeting the people she had, she probably never would've realized that. But, now that Mayu was surrounded by unique individuals, her own life began to come into perspective, and the perspective it came with was simply... boring. Mayu was completely and utterly boring.

As she walked down the street, she shivered as a gust of wind blew through. Perhaps, for the first time, Mayu felt quite depressed. Here she was, walking alone at night through a small town, thinking about nothing but how boring and lacking she was. What was she supposed to do with that? How was she supposed to react? Was there even a correct way to go about responding to feelings such as these?

Before she knew it, Mayu had arrived near the edge of downtown. Although she had gotten where she wanted to go, she didn't really have a specific place in mind. Besides, even if she did, most of those places would be closed for the night already, if they had even opened at all on a Sunday. So, Mayu stood still for a moment. She looked left, then right, then left again, but no matter where she looked, hardly a person was in sight. That is, until she spotted something she recognized.