50 Chapter Six: One Step Forward And Yet Two Steps Back

"Miyashita-san really said that?" Jasmine said as she ate. "Yeah. It made me so mad. What did he mean he'd take her from me?" Haruna asked, angrily eating the food in front of her. "Who knows? Maybe he's got a thing for Kana-chan now," Jasmine said with a shrug.

Currently, Jasmine, Haruna and Chiyo were sitting on the roof of the school eating lunch as usual. As a breeze blew through, Jasmine shivered. "It's gettin' way too cold to be eating up here," she complained. "It's not that cold," Haruna commented. "I can't wait for fall to get here! The colors are so pretty!" Chiyo said happily. "Don't you think so too Haru-chi?" she tacked on. Attempts like this had become routine, as Chiyo continued to try to get back on Haruna's good side. However, for this time just like all the others, Haruna gave a very curt response. "I guess," she said, barely giving any attention at all to the question that had been directed toward her.

Jasmine sighed, finding the tension between Haruna and Chiyo tiresome. "What do you think I should do Jasmine-chan?" Haruna asked, shifting the topic back to her other main problem. "What, you're askin' me?" Jasmine asked, a little surprised. "Well, you do have more relationship experience don't you?" Haruna pointed out. "Guess that's true," Jasmine agreed. Since Haruna had met her, she had seen Jasmine have more boyfriends than she could count. Currently she was single, and Haruna was pretty sure that this stretch had to be the longest that Jasmine had ever gone without dating someone.

"What about me Haru-chi?" Chiyo asked. "I'm pretty sure one-night stands don't count as being in a relationship," Jasmine said. "You make it sound so cold when you put it like that Jas-chin! Those nights were actually pretty hot y'know?" Chiyo said with a wink. "That's enough of that," Jasmine said, putting her hand up in front of Chiyo's face. "So anyways Haru-chi, you want my advice?" Haruna nodded. "Hmmm. Well, I think Miyashita-san really might be serious. I mean, people don't usually say something like he did if they don't mean it," Jasmine said. "Great. Miyashita-kun is just the competition I need..." Haruna said sarcastically as she started to sulk. "C'mon Haru-chi, it's not like all hope is lost. Those two aren't an item yet right?" Jasmine said. Haruna looked back up at Jasmine. "So that means now's the time to take action."

Haruna stared. "Action?" she repeated. "Yep. First, you gotta get Kana-chan to notice you more than Miyashita-san," Jasmine said. "How do I do that?" Haruna asked. "Impressions are everything, from how you dress to what you two do together. Speaking from experience, I think the best thing for you would be to go on a date. A real one this time," Jasmine explained. "D-Date?!" Haruna yelped. "How the hell am I just supposed to ask Kanako out on a date?! There's no way I can do that!"

"Relax Haru-chi. I'm not askin' you to bare your soul to Kana-chan or something, geez." Jasmine said. Haruna waited in silence for the gal to continue. "Look, everything works out perfectly for you in this scenario. If a boy asks a girl to go out somewhere, at least one of them totally thinks it's a date. If a girl asks another girl to go out somewhere, it's just normal. And let's not forget, I got you the perfect outfit for just this day," Jasmine said proudly. Haruna thought back on the summer, remembering the day she and Jasmine had gone shopping and Haruna had come away with a new set of clothes. "Right..." Haruna muttered. "I guess you were right about needing clothes like that." Jasmine nodded coolly and confidently in agreement.

"Wow Jas-chin, you sound pretty smart!" Chiyo joked. "Of course I do to a doofus like you," Jasmine said back easily. "Hey, don't be mean!" Chiyo whined. "Um, can we get back to this date I'm supposedly going on?" Haruna asked. "Sure, sure," Jasmine said as she waved Chiyo away. "Look Haru-chi, it's real simple. All you have to do is ask Kana-chan to go out with you on a Saturday to shop or something. Then for the day, you throw on that outfit I picked out for you and get her to compliment you on it. Lastly, have as much fun as possible. Easy right?"

Haruna gave the plan being handed to her some thought. "Just hanging out like that would be easy to set up, but... get Kanako to compliment me?" she wondered, then aloud. "I don't know Jasmine-chan..." Jasmine gave Haruna look that said "Seriously?" in a very annoyed tone. "God, fine! I'll do it, I'll do it!" Haruna shouted, caving to the pressure. "Why is it so hard to get a simple yes out of you Haru-chi?" Jasmine said. "Well whatever. Now that that's settled, why don't you get to it?" "What, right now?" Haruna asked. "Yeah. Go ask her right now," Jasmine said, trying to push Haruna along with her words. "Lunch break is almost over though," Haruna commented. "Alright, but you better do it after school today," Jasmine said.

As lunch ended, Haruna went ahead, leaving Jasmine and Chiyo alone. "You've been pretty quiet girl," Jasmine said as she looked at Chiyo. "Yeah... I don't think Haru-chi really wants to hear my suggestions right now anyways. Besides, she's right. You do have more relationship experience than me. My level's like, practically zero," Chiyo said with a weak smile. "I think I'm just kinda surprised you're taking such an interest. Don't other people's problems usually bore you?"

Jasmine thought for a moment. "I don't know what it is. There's just somethin' about Haru-chi and Kana-chan that just makes you wanna root for 'em. Even I can't help but wanna help 'em along if I can." Chiyo was happy with the response she got, but Jasmine quickly followed her own statements up with a question. "Y'know Chiyo, it's not like you to back down like this so much. Why not just clear the air with Haru-chi?"

For a second, Chiyo looked away and Jasmine could see flashes of pain streak across her face, but after that second, Chiyo was back to smiling. "It'll be okay. Everything will work itself out." "That's not really an answer," Jasmine thought. Then the two of them left the roof.

*****

While waiting for Kanako to be let out of cooking club, Haruna practiced in her head what she was going to say. "'Do you want to hang out on Saturday?' No, that just sounds too casual. What about, 'Do you have any plans? Let's do something together.' No, that doesn't even sound like me..." Sitting on one of the benches outside the school, Haruna continued to rack her brain, but nothing quite right seemed to come to mind. "Maybe I'll just go with, 'Hey, let's do something on Saturday.'"

Suddenly, a gust kicked up some fallen leaves near Haruna's feet. "It really is getting cooler out," she thought as she watched the leaves spiral up before they were released to fall back to the ground. As the leaves drifted back and forth, Haruna began to think about Chiyo. "She did say something about fall earlier today..."

There wasn't really a whole lot of coherent thought in Haruna's head when it came to the issue between her and the gal. Rather, it was more like a swirling of aimless feelings that plagued her, allowing Haruna to only wish she could just make things better between them, while also not actually being provided with any real solutions. But, before she could come to any sort of answer on her own, Kanako emerged from the building.

"Okay, here goes," Haruna told herself as she stood up. Reaching Kanako, they both greeted each other. "Ready to go home? Oh, I-I guess that's a silly question. I'm sure you are, considering you're the one that's been waiting on me," Kanako said with a little smile and laugh to match. "Yeah, but, um, before that..." Haruna said. "So, Kanako, d-do you, umm..."

"Come on, just say it!" Haruna yelled inside. "All you have to say is, 'Let's hang out on Saturday.' Even that would be good enough!" But she continued to stutter. "Do you wanna... I don't know... um..." As Haruna tried to get the right words out, Kanako stared back at her, waiting to hear exactly what the girl in front of her was trying to say.

"Do you want to go on a date with me this Saturday?"

"...huh?" Haruna thought. "Hang on. What did I just say? Please tell me that wasn't real just now." "A...date?" Kanako repeated. "It was real!" Haruna screamed internally, berating herself all the while. "Sure, I don't have anything planned," Kanako said suddenly. "Wait... what? Really?" Haruna said, shocked by the answer she was getting. "Yeah. It'll be fun. I-It's like a girl date, right?" Kanako asked. "Girl date?" Haruna repeated, confused. "You know, w-when two girls go to hang out together, sometimes they jokingly call it a date, but since it's not actually a date, some people call it a girl date. D-Don't they?" Kanako finished with a question, now feeling uncertain about her usage of the term. "I've... never heard that before," Haruna said, beginning to hate herself for even thinking that Kanako had actually agreed to a real date.

"S-So, what will we do Saturday?" Kanako asked. "Shopping?" Haruna said with uncertainty. "You sound like you don't know," Kanako said, getting confused. "N-No, I do! Shopping! We're going shopping uptown in the afternoon!" Haruna said, trying to sound confident. In the end, she was just going to take Kanako to the same area Jasmine had taken her over the summer. "Well, it's not like there are many options," Haruna sighed internally at her own lack of creativity. "Okay, shopping it is," Kanako said with a smile. "But, if we're going uptown, isn't that too far to walk?" "If we walk to the bus stop, that should be able to take us there," Haruna said, drawing on past knowledge again. "Great. Then I guess that's settled," Kanako said.

As the two girls made their way home, Haruna's head and heart were filled with feelings about her now-upcoming date. "This is all so sudden. I mean, TOMORROW is Saturday ...Am I going to be okay?" she wondered.

*****

The next morning, Haruna woke up without much resistance. "I didn't sleep at all," she thought as she got out of bed. Looking to her closet, she saw the outfit that Jasmine had picked out for her. It was hanging on the handle where Haruna had put it last night. "...I really hope this looks as good as Jasmine-chan said it did," Haruna thought as she moved toward the clothes.

Gradually, she slipped off her baggy t-shirt and basketball shorts that were acting as her pajamas. Then she picked up each article of clothing off the hanger, sliding each one on with relative ease. Once she was done, Haruna looked in the mirror. "Well, I guess it's not too bad," she said to herself, but as she did, she heard the doorbell ring. "Who could that be?" she wondered, going downstairs to check.

"Heeey Haru-chi," Jasmine said sleepily. Haruna was shocked. "Jasmine-chan? What're you doing here?" "I'm here to do your hair, duh," the gal said like it was obvious. "Huh? When did we ever talk about you doing that?" Haruna asked. "Oh please, like you could do it yourself," Jasmine said, moving forward. "I'm comin' innn."

Surprising Haruna even further, the two girls had gone up to the bathroom where Jasmine proceeded to pull out a bunch of different things to do hair with. Sprays, gels, combs, clips, even a curler. "Um, Jasmine-chan? Do you seriously know how to use all of this stuff?" Haruna asked as she stared in amazement at the assortment. "Of course I do. What, you think this hair gets all pink and fluffy on its own?" Jasmine said, using one of her hands to emphasize her own locks. Feeling thoroughly out of her element, Haruna decided to let the gal take over.

"Don't look so worried Haru-chi. Like, all I'm gonna do is a little sprucin' up, yeah?" Jasmine said as she grabbed a comb. "Sprucing up?" Haruna repeated. "Yep. It's not like your hair's a total wreck or anything. All it needs is a lil' TLC," Jasmine explained. "If you say so..." Haruna mumbled. As Jasmine went to work, Haruna stared at herself in the mirror. She had no idea what Jasmine was going to do. "I hope she doesn't do anything weird," she thought. Looking at Jasmine standing behind her through the bathroom mirror, Haruna had to admit that she was always pretty fashionable. Jasmine always seemed to give off a mature vibe and it flowed into her sense of style as well. Or maybe it was more accurate to say it flowed from her sense of style? The flashiest thing about her was her hair, but even that looked natural on her head.

Once Jasmine was finished, she pushed Haruna over to the full mirror in the girl's bedroom. "Alright Haru-chi. How's that?" Jasmine said with an unusual amount of pride. "Wow..." Haruna muttered. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The girl that was being reflected to her hardly seemed like the same person at all. "It's so simple, but it looks so different," Haruna said quietly. "Right? See, I told'ja you'd look good like this," Jasmine said proudly.

To start, Jasmine hadn't done much to Haruna's hair, just as she had said she would. Giving it a slight wave and some volume, it retained its silkiness and good flow while also becoming a focal point. Along the way, Jasmine had also applied a touch of make-up, just enough to highlight Haruna's eyes, cheeks and lips. Following that was of course the outfit itself, beginning with a black top with thin string-straps and was cut low all the way around, it's starting point at mid-chest level. It had lace all along the top and bottom edges, making it seem attractive while also showing off a fun side too. Next, with it getting colder out, Jasmine had added a grey cardigan that went past Haruna's waist, and to keep with the cooling weather trends, what wrapped up this ensemble was a basic pair of jeans, along with a pair of matte black flats. The jeans were simple, but not super plain either, landing in a perfect middle.

"If only I could've gotten you to wear earrings too," Jasmine sighed. "No way. Not happening," Haruna refused, shuddering at even the idea of a needle going through any part of her. "Well, I guess you're all set now. When's the date?" Jasmine asked. "In a couple of hours," Haruna answered. "Cool. Then I'm gonna head home and sleep more. Good luck Haru-chiII," Jasmine said, leaving with a wave. "Hey, Jasmine-chan?" Haruna said, stopping her. Jasmine turned to look. "T-Thanks for this. I appreciate it," Haruna said sheepishly. Jasmine gave a slight smile. "Sure."

After Jasmine left, Haruna waited for the time to arrive. It felt like forever, with each second feeling like a minute on its own. "I really hope today goes well," Haruna thought, starting to worry. "Our last date was..." She remembered the failure of an outing it had been. Back then, Haruna had only been concerned with herself and her own feelings, and because of that, she had hurt Kanako in the process. The day had kept going worse and worse, and as expected, it had ended disastrously. "Please go better than last time," Haruna begged to the universe.

Finally, after passing what Haruna swore was an eternity of time, the clock showed that she could now leave to meet Kanako. Considering that they were neighbors and going out together, they had decided it would make the most sense to just meet in front of their houses. So, Haruna headed out and went to join up with the girl next door.

Arriving out on the sidewalk, it was only a few moments later that Kanako appeared. As she approached, she gave a small wave, which Haruna returned. "H-Hi Haruna," Kanako said once she got close enough. "H-Hey," Haruna said back, her nerves setting in. "Get her to compliment you," Jasmine's words echoed in her head. "Here goes nothing," Haruna thought, then, "So, um, Kanako... W-What do you think?" Haruna asked, moving a little to show off her makeover for the day. "You look really lovely Haruna. So mature," Kanako said nicely. Haruna could feel her face heating up. "T-Thanks. I'm glad you like it," she said softly. "You know, you look pretty cute too." "I-I do?" Kanako said, looking surprised.

Kanako's clothes were simple, starting with her wearing a faded orange, long-sleeve top that looked loose but yet still fashionable. Below that was a long, rustic-red colored pleated skirt, while hanging over shoulder was a small, brown purse. Combined together, Kanako looked like autumn herself. Adding to her clothes was her choice in jewelry, which was made up of only a pair of small, white bead earrings. Of course, Kanako's hair had remained in her signature ponytail style.

The girl's make-up was easy on the eyes as usual, with only a small amount applied. What stood out to Haruna was the soft pink lipstick that Kanako was bearing. It was so light it seemed like it was hardly there, but it was clear that no one had that shade of pink as their natural lip color.

"W-Well, thanks for the compliment," Kanako said, looking away shyly with a smile as her cheeks exhibited a light shade of pink similar to her lipstick. Haruna couldn't tell if she was just noticing the girl's make-up more or if she was actually blushing, but Haruna decided to go with the latter option and hoped she was right. "Every little thing helps," she thought. "Little by little, I can make my way into Kanako's heart." Feeling a bit more confident, Haruna held out her hand. "Let's go," she said. "Okay," Kanako said pleasantly, taking the hand offered to her.

The walk to the bus stop was quiet, in part because of Haruna's nerves. She had never been one to talk a lot anyways, but being alone with Kanako made it all the more obvious that she wasn't much of a conversationalist. "Was it always this hard to come up with something to say?" Haruna wondered. It wasn't like she had to talk about something, but she just had the feeling that she should. Looking at Kanako, the silence didn't seem to bother her. In fact, she looked perfectly content, even humming a little. "Well if she's happy, then I guess it's okay," Haruna concluded, trying to put her own worries out of her mind.

Once they got to their stop, it was only a short wait before the bus showed up and ferried them uptown to their destination. Getting off, Kanako took a moment to look around. "I don't come up here often," she commented. "There are a couple of places I don't recognize." "Yeah, Jasmine-chan took me here earlier in the summer, so it's all pretty new to me too," Haruna said. "T-Then we can explore it together," Kanako said with a shy smile.

Going down the sidewalk, the two girls decided to stop into a clothing store. "Is there anything you're looking for Haruna?" Kanako asked. "Not really. I don't really think too much about what I wear," Haruna said. "Y-Yeah, that's true. I remember you always looked so bored whenever we did this when we were kids," Kanako said. Thinking back, Haruna remembered much the same. "It always felt like we'd never leave," she thought. "But a lot has changed. Now I'm so focused on Kanako that I can't think about anything else." There were no complaints about how long they'd be in the store, nor was there any clock-watching. The only thing on Haruna's mind was the girl in front of her.

"H-Haruna?" Kanako said. "W-Why are you staring at me like that?" "Huh? Like what?" Haruna said, looking away. Kanako gave her a confused look, but decided to just shrug it off. "Ooh, this is cute!" she then said excitedly as she picked up a pink top with frills on the bottom. "Don't you think so Haruna?" "Um, I guess?" she answered.

Moving to another rack, Kanako picked up a purple t-shirt that had a weird design on it. To Haruna, it looked like a bear trying to talk to the moon. "...Do you like that one?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. "Haha, no, but it is pretty goofy," Kanako said with a laugh. "I was thinking that it looks like something Chiyo would wear." "Yeah, maybe," Haruna agreed. She felt a pang at the mention of her friend's name, but did her best to push it away.

They continued looking around in the store for a while longer. Kanako tried on a few different outfits, but was a bit miffed at Haruna's lack of helpful feedback. "They all look good to me," Haruna said. She meant it too. Perhaps it was the fact that this time with Kanako was truly a date to Haruna that she felt so certain about it, but in the moment she just couldn't stop gushing over the girl she was with. "Seriously, everything Kanako has tried on has looked nice."

In the end, Kanako bought a couple of things for herself. "Are you sure you don't want anything Haruna?" she asked. "Nah. If I need something stylish, I'll just ask Jasmine-chan to pick out clothes for me again," Haruna joked. "Again?" Kanako repeated. Haruna realized what she had said. "Oh, r-right. You see, Jasmine-chan actually... picked this outfit out for me too..." Haruna explained, feeling embarrassed now. "Is that so?" Kanako said. For some reason, Haruna had almost expected Kanako to be disappointed in her, but that obviously wasn't the case. She just took it in stride. "...Why was I worried about something like that?" Haruna wondered, letting out a sigh at her own blustering.

Leaving the clothing store, the two girls were unsure of what to do next when Kanako suddenly locked her gaze onto a shop across the street. "Do you wanna go there next?" Haruna asked. Kanako spun and faced Haruna, eyes practically glinting. "Mhm, mhm!" she nodded emphatically. "I feel like I can see ears on her head and a tail wagging," Haruna thought as she imagined those items on Kanako. It felt appropriate, given that the shop that had caught Kanako's attention was a pet store. "I don't remember that being there before though," Haruna thought. Looking the building over, she happened to notice a sign in the window that read "NOW OPEN." "Is this a new place?" Haruna wondered. However, she decided her questions weren't that important and sent them away as she proceeded to follow the excited Kanako into the next stop.

Once inside, Kanako couldn't seem to stop buzzing. "Look at this one! Oh, and this one! And that one's so fluffy!" she said as she flew from section to section. The interior of the building wasn't large, but they clearly made the most of their space, managing to fit in a wide variety of animals, along with the necessary supplies.

"I didn't realize you were such an animal-lover," Haruna commented. Thinking back on the past once more, she couldn't recall a time when Kanako had been this lively when it came to animals. "I-I'm not sure if I'd call myself an animal-lover," Kanako said, feeling a little embarrassed after realizing how she had been acting. "I just really enjoy being able to be around them all like this." "...Wouldn't that be an animal-lover?" Haruna asked. "W-Would it?" Kanako said back, unsure herself.

But, before their conversation could continue, Kanako's eyes saw something that apparently could not be ignored. "Oh my goodness!" she squealed, dashing over to the pen on the ground. In the enclosed area was a layer of bedding, and sitting on top of it were seven rabbits. One was black, two were brown, one was a light grey, one was speckled grey and the last two were pure white. Next to the pen was an attendant. "Would you like to hold one?" she asked Kanako as she stared happily at them. "Can I?!" The attendant nodded yes to her question, standing up and then bending down to pick up one of the white ones.

"Okay, hold your arms out like I'm holding this little guy," the attendant instructed. Kanako did as she was told as she did her best to mimic the woman. "That's it. Okay, now be gentle. Hold him like you're holding something fragile, but don't keep your grip too loose or else he might try to hop out," the attendant explained as she handed the rabbit over to Kanako. Once placed in her arms, Kanako simply beamed.

"Look! Look Haruna, look!" Kanako said with glee as she faced the girl. "Isn't this bunny adorable?" Taking only the animal into account, Haruna could certainly agree, but what she found even more adorable was the sight of the girl she was in love with holding such a fluffy creature and doing it with such joy. "That is just too cute," Haruna thought.

They stayed in the pet shop for a while longer. Kanako kept going from spot to spot to check out all of the different animals. Aside from the rabbits, she seemed to have a fondness for the hedgehogs too. Haruna shared her sentiment, feeling almost tempted to buy one for herself. The store also had dogs, and while most of them were friendly, there was one in particular that kept barking at Haruna. Naturally, she didn't take too kindly to that, and so she had proceeded to get into a shouting/barking match with the dog. But even though Kanako had worried they'd be causing a scene, the employees all just laughed about it instead.

When leaving the pet shop, Kanako and Haruna were all smiles. "That was so much fun!" Kanako said. "Yeah it was," Haruna said. "Those hedgehogs were especially cute." "You really liked them, didn't you Haruna?" Kanako said. Haruna nodded. "Their little faces were really funny." "I don't know if they'd like having their faces being called little," Kanako said with a slight laugh.

Idle conversation prevailed between the two of them, and Haruna was enjoying every second of it. "I was so worked up over if I could even ask Kanako to come out today, but I'm glad I did. Jasmine was right. Date's do help make progress." Even if Kanako didn't consider it a date in the same way Haruna did, Haruna couldn't help but feel like she was at least making a little bit of progress. They were tiny details. A split-second blush here, a look there. Put under the love-tinted glasses that Haruna was wearing, she could see all of it as Kanako taking even a bit of notice of her feelings. "At this rate, maybe this'll work," Haruna thought. "If I keep doing outings like this, then maybe-"

"Oh hey you two."

With one sentence, Haruna's mood shattered. She didn't want to look. She dreaded turning her eyes toward the source of those words. "Don't be who I think it is. Please just let it be an illusion," Haruna pleaded. But the universe was unkind, and standing before both her and Kanako was none other than Akio.

"A-Akio-kun?" Kanako said, surprised by the boy's appearance. Glancing at her, Haruna noticed Kanako blushing. "What are you doing here?" Haruna asked aggressively, being put into a foul mood by the whole situation. "Geez Haruna-chan, you make it sound like I shouldn't be here. I swear it was just coincidence," he said off-handedly. "Yeah right," Haruna spat back. "W-What's the matter Haruna?" Kanako asked, concerned that a fight would break out. "Nothing. Come on, let's go," she said, grabbing Kanako's hand and moving to pull her along. "Hey, hang on you two. Don't you want to grab a bite to eat with me?" Akio asked. Haruna turned to glare at him and she was met with a smug expression. "Tch," she let out.

"I-I don't mind," Kanako said. "Then it's settled!" Akio said, seemingly pleased with himself. "Who says I'm going?" Haruna said angrily. "Come on Haruna-chan. What's the harm in three childhood friends spending time together?" Akio said. "I-It's fine, isn't it Haruna?" Kanako said, adding to the pressure. "Ugh, fine! Whatever!" Haruna shouted, turning her back again to Akio. "Well then, where shall we go?" he asked, ignoring Haruna's huff.

Looking around the area, there were several options, with them all primarily being seafood based. "Kana-chan, you don't like seafood right?" Akio asked. "N-No, seafood is okay. I just don't like sushi," she corrected him. "Ah, yeah, that's right. Then how about we head to that place over there?" Akio said, pointing to a nearby restaurant. "O-Okay," Kanako said. "Sound good to you Haruna?" Akio asked the other girl. Haruna only glanced at Akio before turning away with a gruff "hmph."

"I must say, you two look good today. Especially you Kana-chan," Akio said casually as they began walking. "R-R-Really? Y-You think so?" Kanako said, enamored by the compliment. "I do," Akio said back with a smile. Kanako looked down at her feet, clearly smiling and blushing like crazy.

After being seated in the restaurant, Akio carried on with the conversation, with Kanako appearing to be entranced by the boy's words. "What an idiot," Haruna thought, feeling very annoyed about the unfolding events. "What's so good about him anyways?"

It occurred to Haruna that not even six months ago she had been in the exact same boat as Kanako. If what was happening now had been happening then instead, Haruna was sure she'd have the same stupid giddy expression plastered on her face. However, now that her feelings had changed, Haruna had launched her previous feelings into the past and kept them there, going as far as making a 180 on the boy she used to have a crush on. Of course, Akio had been making it easy for Haruna to dislike him. She couldn't go as far as to say she hated him though. After all, there was a lot of history between them, and for as much as Akio kept bugging Haruna recently, there had been plenty of good times with him as well.

"Even if we grew up together, and even if we're still technically friends... Right now, I just kinda want to punch his face in," Haruna thought bitterly. The more she watched Akio and Kanako talk, the more it infuriated her. "How is he even here? There's no way he just showed up by chance," she thought. Haruna kept glaring at Akio, but slowly she found her gaze shifting to Kanako. The girl next to her kept smiling. Laughing. Soaking in every second with the boy she was in love with.

"Stop it."

The longer Haruna watched, the less she could take. She found herself starting to feel sick.

"Look at me, damn it."

Haruna's eyes bore into Kanako with a craving for attention, but it went unnoticed as Kanako was completely absorbed in her conversation. "Please, just look at me," Haruna begged inside, but of course the only one who heard her plea was herself.

Before she even realized it, Haruna had slammed her hands on the table and abruptly stood up, breaking the good atmosphere formed between the other two members of the table. "I'm leaving," she said flatly. "H-Haruna?!" Kanako exclaimed, but even as she did, Haruna was briskly making her way out the door. She couldn't take any more.

With long strides Haruna traveled down the sidewalk, breezing by the nearest bus stop. At the rate she was going, it was possible it wouldn't be that long of a walk to get home, but Haruna was hardly considering distance at the moment. Simply put, she just wanted to be alone, even from strangers on a bus.

As each building passed through the peripherals of her vision, Haruna found herself recalling how poorly her last "date" had gone. That time, it had been Kanako who had left, and Akio who had gone to comfort her. "I can't believe... this date ended up turning into another disaster..." Haruna thought, wiping the forming of a tear from the corner of her eye.

End of Chapter Six.