Date Her Instead Vol. 7 (Final Volume)

Chapter Thirteen: Annoying

Though, even that sounded doubtful. Katsumi had had her chance, more or less. It had taken blackmail to get there, but Katsumi had gotten the date she wanted with Kanako. "And it was fun," Katsumi thought. "At least, for the most part. I wish Kana-chin would've enjoyed herself more, but that's probably due to the circumstances. And who knows, maybe Endo-san and Wakabayashi-san put some weird ideas in her head before our date. I bet they told her all sorts of things just to ruin Kana-chin's chances of having fun. That's gotta be the most likely explanation."

But to get back to thinking about her date in a more positive light, Katsumi recalled when Kanako said she didn't like sushi. "I didn't know that," Katsumi thought. "If Kana-chin hadn't mentioned how bad Endo-san messed up before, I would've really looked stupid. Even so..." That moment had brought to light one glaring issue for Katsumi.

She had thought she knew plenty about Kanako, but that was just the Kanako of the past. Of course the Kanako now would be somewhat different from what Katsumi had known. "Maybe that's why I keep failing. I just don't know enough about the current Kana-chin..." she thought. "If I knew more, then I could really put up a fight."

The question was, how could Katsumi go about finding out more? Just asking wasn't really an option anymore, and Katsumi doubted that anybody who knew Kanako well would tell her anything. "I could just follow her around more," Katsumi thought. "It's not like I have any other options anyways."

Being unable to give up, Katsumi convinced herself she just needed more knowledge of Kanako. Though she did that, there was still that one part of her that knew that wasn't enough. That no matter what she did or how much she knew, Katsumi wouldn't be able to "beat" Haruna. However, that was the last thing Katsumi wanted to hear, so she silenced that part with all of her being and steeled her determination.

*****

"...Ikehara-san," Kanako said after having been quiet for several moments. "Hmm? What is it, Kana-chin dear?" Katsumi cooed. "Why... are you following me everywhere?" Kanako asked. "I just feel like it, that's all," Katsumi said breezily. "Okay, but... does that really have to include the bathroom?" Kanako asked.

At the moment, Kanako was standing right by the entryway to one of the school bathrooms, and of course, Katsumi had followed her right out the classroom door. Kanako had noticed right at the beginning of the day, and honestly, she was more confused than anything. "If she's not following me with her feet, it's with her eyes," Kanako thought. "What's gotten into Ikehara-san? Has me ignoring her triggered something else inside of her?" Then Kanako briefly jumped to a worse conclusion. "W-Wait, she's not going to become my stalker, is she?!"

Taking a moment to calm herself, Kanako cleared that extreme outcome from her mind. "Even Ikehara-san wouldn't go that far... I think. But still..." There was still no clear explanation as to why Katsumi had suddenly doubled her efforts. "I just don't get it..." Kanako thought, but then she shook her head. "No, actually, it doesn't matter. I shouldn't be giving any thought to the things that Ikehara-san does."

Although, while it was easy enough to say that, doing it was a different matter, especially when the person in question was standing right next to her by the bathroom. "Ikehara-san, could you maybe give me some privacy?" Kanako asked. "It's not like I'm gonna be in the same stall as you, so it's okay, isn't it?" Katsumi said back. Beginning to lose her patience for a number of reasons, Kanako glared at Katsumi. "It's. Not. Okay!" And with that, Kanako dashed into the bathroom. Katsumi was about to follow her, but as she went to take her first step, she froze. "...Y'know, maybe knowing Kana-chin's bathroom habits is a bit much," she decided. "I'll just wait out here instead."