Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter Fourteen: It's Time To Go

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Haruna found herself in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Actually, it was one she'd been in before, but it seemed no matter how much she did it, there was no preventing the moment at hand from being awkward for her to some degree. While Haruna stood in place, she thought over what to do as she stared at the sleeping Kanako still tucked away cozily in bed.

The task of waking Kanako up had been forced upon Haruna at the start of their deal. It wasn't as if Akio made Haruna do it, but he had expected the two girls to come to school together. Haruna was in the habit of arriving a few minutes before the bell, but Kanako had always been in the habit of being late more often than not. With that being the case and Haruna not wanting to be late herself, she had started going to wake Kanako up every morning before school.

At first she had hated it, but as time went on, Haruna was realizing that she didn't mind doing it as much. Of course, once she realized her feelings for Kanako, her thoughts on her morning task changed drastically. Haruna still didn't want to wake Kanako up, but it had now become because she didn't know how to approach waking up the girl she liked. Through her efforts, Haruna had tried all sorts of things before the first term finished. She had tried whipping open the curtains (much to Kanako's dismay), saying Kanako's name louder and louder until she woke up, and once, Haruna even nearly kissed Kanako on the cheek, but just before she could, Kanako's eyes opened. A truly awkward encounter was avoided only because Kanako wasn't awake enough to really notice Haruna jolting away from her.

Remembering all of this made Haruna feel embarrassed. "God, what the hell have I been doing?" she thought. "Especially with that last one..." Shaking her head, Haruna went back to looking at Kanako. Due to everyone being on summer break, it had actually been some time since Haruna had had to wake the girl up. Nevertheless, it still felt like a challenge.

Ultimately, Haruna decided to go with a lighter approach. "H-Hey... Kanako. Come on, get up. We need to go," she said as she gently pushed the girl on her shoulder. "Mmm..." Haruna blushed a little at the noise Kanako made as she rolled over. "Damn it, now's not the time to be cute," Haruna thought, then aloud, "Kanako, hurry up!" At the shout, Kanako's eyes opened. "Huuu...wha? Who's shouting?" she said. "It's me dumbass! Move it or I'll leave without you!" Haruna yelled back. That was enough to bring Kanako to full consciousness.

"Ah, Haruna! S-Sorry! I had trouble sleeping, a-and... oh geez, I need to get ready!" Kanako stumbled as she got out of bed. While Kanako got dressed and finished grabbing what she needed for the trip, Haruna waited downstairs. Standing near the front door, Haruna worried. "Am I going to be okay?" It was a question that deserved some thought. For most of summer break, Haruna and Kanako hadn't interacted with each other. Because of that, there had been no frequent hand-holding, no walking together and no wake-up calls. Perhaps it's true what they say, that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Haruna found that her desire to be with Kanako had seemingly intensified. She had thought that simply being around her was good enough, but now, even though confessing still felt like far too high a hurdle, Haruna knew she wanted to be... closer. What exactly that meant she wasn't quite sure, but it was evident as she had stood in Kanako's room that her feelings had become stronger than what they were before.

This is what led to Haruna's worries and wondering if she'd be okay. "What if we have to share a room or something? Or worse, what if we're right next to each other on the floor?" Haruna sighed. "No, that's all pretty unlikely. I think Chiyo said there were plenty of rooms in the cabin, so we'll probably each have one. Even if we didn't, I bet Kanako would choose to stay with her other friends over me anyways."