Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter One: Understanding The Pain Of One's Own Heart

With that glance, Kanako walked out of the room and went searching for Haruna.

*****

While Kanako had been talking with Michi, Haruna had made her way to a bench placed just outside of the school doors. She had sat down, allowing her long black hair to flow over the back. Her uniform got wrinkled a bit, but that was nothing to a girl who didn't care much about how she looked. Besides, for as tall as she was, Haruna attracted a lot of attention anyways (although not really the wanted kind).

She had been thinking about the deal she had with Akio as well, although she was on a much different train of thought. During the time she had spent with Kanako, Haruna had noticed things changing within her. At first, she had just brushed them off, using excuses like, "It's just the atmosphere," or "It's only because we have to be convincing for Miyashita-kun." But, the more time passed, the more those excuses had begun to sound hollow. So hollow, in fact, that the insides of them were ringing with at least some amount of truth: something was different.

However, Haruna couldn't seem to figure out what. That made sense, at least to her. She had never been one to look into deeper emotions too much, but because of that, Haruna hadn't developed a good understanding of what those feelings might mean. It was precisely because of this that it had taken her so much longer than Kanako to realize her love for Akio. That, and a fair amount of pushing from Chiyo Wakabayashi, her best friend.

And now, while Haruna couldn't deny she felt a bit of déjà vu, she just wasn't willing to call it something as concrete as love. Of course, there was the fact that she was completely unsure about that in general, but her uncertainty went beyond that. There was something, a massive hurdle in her past that Haruna knew she'd had to overcome some day. Yet, while she knew that, she just couldn't bring herself to face it. The hurdle felt too high and Haruna preferred to turn around and go the opposite direction rather than climb over it.

Even still, there was no preventing the thoughts that had ultimately led Haruna to a very important question: "What do I want to be to Kanako?"

It felt like an odd question to ask, as the answer should've been obvious. All she had to do was fake being her girlfriend enough that Akio would be convinced. Then, he'd pick Haruna to be his girlfriend and she could leave Kanako in the dust. Weirdly enough, that had been a thought that once brought Haruna joy. She couldn't have been happier to see her arch-enemy and rival left crushed and heartbroken. But now... the best way Haruna could describe the way she felt about that was confused. After all, the time the two girls had spent together had been having an odd effect on her.

There had been several times when Haruna had felt a distinct "ba-thump!" in her chest. She had tried to tell herself that it was simply from surprise or something along those lines, but recently, it hadn't been just one or two "ba-thumps." She had felt her heart begin to race when she was with Kanako. Watching her do even the simplest things had become like watching beauty itself in Haruna's eyes. The way their hands felt when they were held together was so comforting it had made Haruna not want to let go several times (not that she openly said that).

Even the thought of feelings like that made Haruna's face go red, which was also yet another indication that something was definitely different. In fact, she couldn't even recall getting that flustered when she was near Akio. Considering there was no way she could ignore it any longer, Haruna decided she needed to talk to somebody about her feelings before they drove her crazy. Of course, that person would be Chiyo, and while she didn't really think the gal could provide very solid advice, it was true that now and then she was helpful (when she wasn't teasing Haruna about her own problems).