Date Her Instead Vol. 6

Chapter Fourteen: A Round Of Apologies

However, when Itsuki told Ai, her reaction told Itsuki all she needed to know. A part of her wanted to celebrate. Mayu would get in trouble and maybe even be kept away from Jasmine somehow. Did Itsuki feel guilty about doing what she had done? A little, but it was a small price to pay to get what she wanted.

...Or at least, that's what Itsuki had thought until she heard about the transfer ultimatum. Once those words hit her ears, her brain tried to process them as fast as possible. During that time, she also experienced her first glare from Mayu, which ended up delaying her processing. Trying to run after Mayu only delayed her further, and by the time Itsuki understood, it was too late. She ended up saying things she didn't want to, and in turn, Mayu had gotten mad at her.

All Itsuki had wanted was to figure out why Jasmine, a girl who had known Mayu for less than a year, was able to do so much more for Mayu than Itsuki ever had. What did the gal have that she didn't? It was a question that repeated on loop in Itsuki's head, and even now, after fighting with Mayu, Itsuki still wondered. She desperately wanted to know. There had to be something. What was it? "I need to know," she thought.

So, when the time came for gym class, Itsuki decided it was the perfect opportunity to just go for it. "Jasmine-chan," she said suddenly as everybody else left the classroom. Jasmine turned to look at her. "Can we talk?" It was phrased as a question, but it ended up sounding more like a demand. For a moment, Jasmine seemed to think it over, but then eventually she agreed.

As they walked, it was quiet between the two girls. Itsuki had suggested that they go somewhere else for their conversation, but she hadn't considered how awkward the journey to their destination would be. Not only that, but she wasn't really the kind of person that knew about good spots to have private conversations. "Ugh... I'm so out of my element," Itsuki groaned to herself. "Why'd I have to call out to her like that? I mean, sure, I wanna know, but what should I say to her?"

Before Itsuki could get her thoughts sorted out, she noticed that they were outside. Specifically, they had reached the roof. "Eh? Why're we out here?" Itsuki asked dumbly. "Everyone's in class," Jasmine explained. "So no one should bother us up here." "Oh, r-right," Itsuki said. Then, the two of them walked over to the edge of the roof, and Jasmine leaned up against the fence.

"So, whaddya wanna talk about?" she asked casually. Although, when Itsuki looked at her, it seemed like a part of Jasmine already knew due to her expression. "Well, um..." the tomboy started. "It's about Mayu-chan..." Jasmine didn't say anything, so Itsuki took that as a cue to continue. "I'm guessing... you heard about her mom and what she told Mayu-chan?" "How I'm a bad influence on her daughter and she should stay away from me, or else?" Jasmine repeated mockingly. "Y-Yeah," Ituski said. "Well, the thing is... I sorta saw you two last night and told Mayu-chan's mom, and now Mayu-chan is gonna get transferred!"

"Huh," was all Jasmine said. "Wha...? That's it?" Itsuki said, shocked. "Don't you care that Mayu-chan's going away?" Jasmine shrugged. "It's not like she's going to the other side of Hokkaido." "She might, you don't know!" Itsuki exclaimed, then muttered. "If you hadn't been so selfish..." "So it's my fault," Jasmine said, not even asking. Honestly, she had a feeling this was coming. Ever since she had begun noticing Itsuki's minor mood changes, she had a feeling it had something to do with her spending time with Mayu. "The question is, is Itsuki-chan just jealous, or is there something more?" Jasmine wondered.

"Y'know what? Yeah, it is your fault," Itsuki said, angry. "Mayu-chan was fine before you came along. Now she glares at me and is breaking rules... She becoming a completely different person! She's doing things... that I never thought she would..." "You're starting to sound like Fukuhara-san," Jasmine commented. She had both witnessed and heard about the strong opposition Michi held toward things changing. Was Itsuki the same, or was it something else?