Date Her Instead Vol. 6

Chapter Fourteen: A Round Of Apologies

If there was only one word to describe Itsuki Yukimura, it would be energetic. Her personality of positivity, humor and casual attitude made her a favorite among both her fellow classmates and her underclassmen. It was precisely because of those qualities that Itsuki had gotten recruited to the track team. Thanks to her, her teammates were never nearly as tense as they could've been before meets.

But, while she was happy she was able to help them out, Itsuki didn't maintain this personality solely for that reason. In truth, she had never really given stuff like that much thought. Whether it was about herself or her friends, Itsuki usually just took things from the surface and continued on, not bothering to think deeper about it. However, thanks to some of the new friends she had gotten in the last year, more of those questions had begun to permeate her mind.

Itsuki was how she was because that was just the kind of person she was. That's how Itsuki had always thought about it, and it was that kind of response she would give when people asked her how she could remain so energetic all the time. But, with more questions coming into her mind, Itsuki had started to wonder more about herself. When coming back to the question she was always asked, she still felt like she had the same answer, but there was also something more. Itsuki was energetic because she just was, sure, but when thought about more seriously, she also realized that it was for Mayu.

Ever since they had met, some part of Itsuki had always felt like Mayu was lacking... something. Despite her calm and gentle demeanor, Itsuki couldn't shake the feeling that there should be more. That was why she had tried to get more reactions out of Mayu, in an effort to find out what that something was. Of course, over time she mostly gave up on that idea, but it wasn't like the feeling she had just went away.

Instead, it stayed dormant for a while, until the day came that Itsuki saw something new from Mayu. It was something she had never seen before. Mayu had made a pouting face. She was genuinely irked. It lasted only for a moment, but in that moment, a thousand thoughts rushed through Itsuki's mind.

Why is she making that face?

Since when does Mayu do that?

Why couldn't I get her to do that?

And so on. Naturally, the cause was Jasmine, not Itsuki, which led to different feelings forming in Itsuki's heart. At first, she tried to ignore them, but as time went on and Jasmine got closer with Mayu, Itsuki was beginning to feel like she was the one missing something. Day after day, Jasmine got Mayu to make all sorts of faces and say or do all sorts of things that Itsuki had never been able to get her to do. So, why was it that Jasmine could and Itsuki couldn't?

What was she missing? Was it because Jasmine was more laid-back than her? Was it because she was "experienced?" Or was it something entirely unknown to the girl? The more Itsuki thought about it, the more frustrated she became, and, perhaps... a little jealous.

The unfortunate thing about jealousy is that as long as even a small sliver of it exists within a person, it can be enough to drive them to do regrettable things. In that moment that Itsuki eavesdropped on Mayu and Jasmine, she became driven by jealousy. All she wanted was to get Mayu and Jasmine apart. At the time, she could've just walked up to them, but looking back, Itsuki realized that she had been too frozen in place to do anything. Hearing the two girls call each other so intimately was just too much.

It was that reasoning and jealous drive that compelled Itsuki to go to Mayu's house in the morning. Of course, she had no idea about Ai's demands that Mayu stay away from her new friends or else she would be transferred. But, what Itsuki did know was that Ai, being the kind of mother she was, would not like finding out that her daughter had snuck out late. There was a bit of assuming by Itsuki. It was possible that Mayu had told her mother about what she was doing.