Date Her Instead Vol. 3

Chapter Ten: Feelings Abound

The two girls held hands regularly now, but Kanako didn't mind, even with the stares they got sometimes. It made her happy, and in a way, having Haruna's hand in hers was a comfort on its own. It made Kanako think that as long as she held on, Haruna wouldn't slip from her grasp again. "That sounds kind of possessive..." Kanako thought, wondering if that was the best way to think of holding hands.

But even so, Kanako enjoyed it. She had her childhood friend back and she couldn't be happier. On top of that, they seemed to be even closer than they had been in the past. They talked often. They were hanging out together more and more. Now, giving it a lot of thought, Kanako was certain that the two girls looked much more like girlfriends than they had when their deal with Akio was going.

For a moment, Kanako briefly considered the idea of if she was actually dating Haruna. However, when she tried to imagine it, the visual in her mind was blurry. A haze filled her head, and Kanako began to feel anxious. She felt like she was so close to being able to picture it, but she couldn't. It was leap her mind was unable to make.

Sighing, Kanako rolled over on her bed. "It's not like that would ever happen anyways," she thought. The idea of two girls dating each other wasn't entirely foreign to Kanako. She had seen stuff like that in TV shows and on the Internet. But, when trying to imagine what it would be like if she herself went out with a girl, it was impossible. Nothing came to mind except anxiety and uncertainty. It was a completely unknown experience. Did that make Kanako afraid? She didn't think so. It was just... unknown.

In the middle of her thinking, Kanako's stomach growled. Looking at the clock, she saw it was just past dinner time. The day had proceeded just like any other, with classes taking place and then Kanako having club and Haruna waiting for her. The two had started to walk home when Akio had suddenly rushed to catch up to them, making it a traveling trio. The boy's appearance had put Haruna in a foul mood, and by the time they reached their houses and Akio had bid his farewells, Haruna had gone on to march into her house without a word.

Making her way to the kitchen, Kanako wondered what could've made Haruna so mad. "I know she and Akio aren't getting along, but him just being with us couldn't have been the only reason, right?" Kanako didn't think Akio had said anything that would rub Haruna the wrong way and he hadn't done anything other than walk and make conversation. So what was it that Haruna had been upset about?

Pulling out a pan, Kanako began the cooking process. When she had arrived home, she had been so lost in thought that she had gone straight to her room. Once she had gotten hungry enough, Kanako had gone downstairs to find out why there was no dinner yet. As it turned out, there was a note saying that both parents had events to attend that night. "I wish they would just text me stuff like that," Kanako thought as she readied ingredients. But while she prepared her own meal, Kanako continued to think.

Haruna and Akio not getting along wasn't the only issue. There was her own frayed relationship with Michi, and even Haruna and Chiyo's friendship seemed to be on the rocks at the moment. The problems didn't stop there either, as Kanako had noticed at lunch that Mayu and Itsuki seemed to be a little uneasy around Michi as well.

Kanako wanted to find some way to get everyone to get along. "...That might be too unrealistic," she thought. It was a nice idea, but one that was a bit out of the realm of possibility. Nearly all of the relationships she had named were ones that she wasn't a part of. "I'd just look like I was butting in," Kanako said to herself. She wanted to help, but how exactly to do that, she wasn't quite sure.

As the water in front of her boiled, Kanako kept trying to find some sort of solution. It was then that an idea struck her. "What if we had a study session?" Inviting everyone probably wasn't the best plan, but Kanako figured that a couple people would be alright. The question was who. She thought about trying her main group of friends, but the conversations between Michi, Mayu, Itsuki and Kanako had all been awkward enough recently as it was. Trying to help each other study had the potential to do good, but if one person helped another poorly, the whole thing could backfire. A lot of the other groupings had the same issues, which led Kanako to what she thought would be the best group.