While Sunday drew nearer, Haruna found herself wishing more and more that she hadn't suggested a fake date. "What was I thinking?" she whined to herself. "This is going to be awful..." It was something Haruna couldn't understand. For some reason, in that moment between her and Kanako, saying they should go on a date seemed like the best idea to get things back on track, but now...
Over the course of those passing days, Haruna had informed Chiyo of all the details, much to her delight. Because of that, she had constantly been giving Haruna tips for dates, like what to wear or where to go. However, Haruna had already made up her mind on it all.
The plan was to meet up late Sunday morning at the community center in town. From there, they'd go see a movie and then grab something to eat. Afterwards, they'd go shopping or something. Basically, it was the most clichéd approach possible. Haruna knew that, but she felt like she didn't need to put in that much effort. As long as it looked like a date, that was all that mattered.
Of course, that mattered because another individual was also going to be present: Akio. As luck would have it, he had "happened" to overhear Chiyo talking about it with Haruna while they were coming back from lunch. After that, Akio told Haruna he'd be coming as well, to ensure that the "date" would actually play out like a real date. "The only problem is the forecast says there's a chance for rain on Sunday," Haruna thought.
"I'm so excited for you Haru-chi!" Chiyo squealed during lunch on Friday. "Why?" Haruna asked flatly. "It's not a real date Chiyo. Hell, it's not even with the right gender. The only reason I'm even doing this is to get Kanako back into our fake relationship so Miyashita-kun will be pleased." "Ah, so cold," Chiyo said, clapping her hand over her heart and sizeable bosom. "Whatever. As long as it's convincing, it doesn't matter," Haruna said.
*****
A couple of days ago, Haruna had kept true to her word and forwarded the meeting details to Kanako via text. It had surprised Kanako at first to see the girl's number suddenly appear on her phone. After all, it had been years since that had happened. The text itself was simple enough. All it said was to meet her at the community center at 11 o'clock on Sunday. But still, despite its simplicity, it made Kanako happy.
It was a weird feeling, and it was one that continued as she re-added her former childhood friend's phone number back into her contacts. "Haruna's number... is back in my phone..."
Thinking back, the whole reason it had been deleted in the first place was due to the two girls' fallout. After their argument, Kanako remembered that she had sprint home as fast as she could. She wanted to be as far away from that vile girl as possible, she had thought. In the heat of the moment and bubbling over with frustration and pain, Kanako hit the delete button on Haruna Endo's contact info without hesitation. However, it took only a few seconds for her actions to set in, causing Kanako to immediately regret doing what she did.
"It's not like saving her number would've meant saving our friendship or anything..." Kanako thought. "But... I wonder... Would things have turned out any differently if I had kept it? What if I sent her a text or called her? What if-?"
No. It's not like that would've changed anything. The two of them were neighbors and Kanako never once even made the effort to just go next door and say hi. What held her back though, was Haruna. "Would she even talk to me if I had tried?" Kanako wondered. "I get the feeling I would've only made things worse somehow..."
"But now..." Kanako's mind began drifting back to the present. "Now we're going on a date. Okay, so it's not a real date, but still! Haruna was the one to bring it up, so maybe that means she wants to reconnect too. Or..."
"Maybe it's just for show."
Kanako knew she shouldn't get too optimistic about it. After all, it was still Haruna, the girl that she grew up with that seemed to hate her with an unreasonable amount of passion. More than likely, it was just so she could look good in front of Akio. Of course, that also gave Kanako a chance to do the same. It was an opportunity to prove to Akio that she was girlfriend material!
Regardless of motives, a date, real or not, was still a date. With that thought on her mind, Kanako began to dig through all of her clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit combination. It wasn't until Saturday night that she finally figured it out.
"Yeah, this is it. This is what I'll wear!"
*****
Sunday morning finally arrived, and Haruna's alarm went off as scheduled. However, it was nearly instantaneously shut off, as the girl herself had barely slept and was already awake. For most girls, lack of sleep before a first date could be contributed to nerves, but that wasn't the case for Haruna. For her, it was five days-worth of dread and annoyance at herself piled up over this get-together.
"Just remember, this is so you can keep your chances with Miyashita-kun alive!" she kept telling herself as she got ready. Not being too particular about her appearance in general, Haruna chose to wear a simple t-shirt and jeans, then threw a jacket on over top. It was true it was near the end of April, but there was still a chill in the air being so far north compared to the rest of Japan.
Satisfied enough with her look, Haruna went to leave the house, but was stopped by her mother. "Where are you going?" she asked curiously. "Um, out... with friends..." Haruna lied miserably. She had never been good at coming up with excuses for herself. However, her mom didn't question it and simply told her to have a good time.
The first step of the plan was getting to the movie theater. Officially, there actually wasn't any such place in Iwanai. It was a small town after all. Despite that though, there was a well-known bit of information amongst the residents: every weekend, the community center would split the building in thirds and set up three screens for showings. The movies they had were all ones from the rental place down the road, so very few of the showings were ever any notable features, but people still came out nonetheless.
The set up ran from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, and there were three screens, which were divided into three categories. The first was children's movies, or more accurately, any film rated PG or under. After that was the second screen, which moved up to PG-13. That one tended to show action movies or sci-fi. On the last screen, the movies could range anywhere from PG-13 to R. The schedule for that one was divided into two parts. In the beginning, it was nothing but romances. Then, in the evenings, it was all horror.
Haruna was thankful that all the horror films were at night. Even if she couldn't see them, just hearing them was enough to make her squirm. That was actually one of the few things the two girls had in common, as Kanako also wasn't a huge fan of scary movies. Although, Haruna did remember one time that they watched one together, and while she shook with fear, Kanako simply sat there on the couch munching on her popcorn. "Damn her..." Haruna thought at the memory.
While she wondered what movies would be available to choose from, Haruna realized she had arrived. The building she was standing in front of was pretty sizeable, as it used to be an elementary school. The outside was worn down from the harsh winters of Hokkaido and just weather in general, but it still stood firm, faded brick walls and all.
Checking her phone for the time, Haruna saw it read 10:45 a.m. "Great, I'm 15 minutes early..." Haruna said to herself. "Guess I'll just wait on the steps." Moving that way, Haruna trounced down the first of two stairs and took a seat. Going back to her thoughts, Haruna wondered about several random things as she killed time. However, it wasn't long before she heard a set of footsteps approaching. Standing up and turning to face the building, Haruna was met with a very unexpected sight.
There was Kanako, standing at the top of the stairs. Her hair was still the same, ponytail swaying with her motions, but the rest of her was very different than what Haruna had ever seen. Kanako was wearing a short, wavy white dress that began at her breasts with a small, white and baby-blue bow and it came down to her mid-thigh. Over top of that was a thin, light jacket the same color blue as the bow. Draped over her left shoulder was a small, cream colored purse that hung down to her waist. When the wind suddenly gusted slightly, it created a scene straight out of a shoujo manga in Haruna's eyes.
"So... pretty..."
BA-THUMP!
"...huh?"
"HUH?! Ba-thump?! What the hell?! Why did my heart just do that? It's only ever done that for Miyashita-kun... Maybe it's because..." Haruna thoughts trailed off, but she put an end to it abruptly. "No, no way, absolutely NOT! There's not a single chance in hell that those two feelings are even remotely the same. I just reacted that way because I was... surprised. Yeah, that's it, surprised! Who would've thought Kanako was even capable of making herself look just barely decent to the average passerby?!"
"U-um, Haruna?" Kanako said, snapping Haruna out of her moment of self-assurance. "What?" she said in a somewhat bitter tone. "Well, it's not like it's a big deal or anything, b-but, um... this is usually the part where the first person compliments the other person on how they look..." Kanako mumbled shyly. "Hah?! Seriously, you want me to compliment you?" Haruna spat. "Who cares? They're just clothes, everybody wears 'em. What's so special about you throwing a couple together?" Kanako looked down. "But I put a lot of effort into picking these..." she thought sadly. "C'mon, let's just go," Haruna said as she marched past Kanako toward the community center. "Oh, r-right," Kanako said, following behind.
When they got inside, they took a left so they could get into the theater side. Once there, they saw three different doors and next to them, schedules, listings and show times. The next movie in Screen 2 was set to start in 10 minutes. It was a sci-fi thriller about a space demon breaking out of its cell and wreaking havoc by possessing entire planets at a time. While it was true Haruna didn't like horror, stuff like that always seemed to catch her eye.
On Screen 3, a romance was about to play. This one in particular was about a girl who was on a trip, going wherever she wanted. While doing that, she meets this guy and invites him to come along. Over the course of the trip, they fall in love. That was the one that Kanako was staring at. "This would be perfect for a date, right?" she thought happily.
"Hey, Haruna, let's see this one!" Kanako pointed excitedly to the posting. "No. Romances are boring and gross. We're watching this," she said, pointing to the sci-fi thriller. "But-" Kanako tried to protest, but it was no use. "Look, who wants to sit through two hours of mushy garbage? At least something exciting will happen in this one," Haruna explained rudely. "Okay..." Kanako depressingly agreed.
Going in, the two shuffled through the rows, ultimately sitting right in the middle in two fold-out chairs. There weren't any previews because it was a put-in-the-disc-and-press-play sort of operation, so they both just sat quietly until the movie started. And when it did, it kicked off with a bang, causing the over-exerted speakers to crackle.
"Wish they'd upgrade this junk," Haruna muttered. As the movie began to play, Kanako shifted uncomfortably in her chair. To be honest, they weren't bad chairs for a date. The typical goal when you went to the theater with a person you were interested in was, at the very least, to hold their hand. At a traditional theater, the arm in between seats served as both a platform and a wall. At this makeshift one however, that wasn't an issue at all. Unfortunately though, that advantage came at the price of not being entirely comfy during a showing. "Not that it matters I guess..." Kanako thought. "There's no way Haruna will hold my hand. Besides, it's not like I want her too anyways."
While the film reached a scene of the space demon taking over the first planet, Kanako shifted once again. No matter how she moved, she just couldn't sit well. "Would you knock it off?" Haruna whispered. "God, you're so distracting!" "Sorry..." Kanako mumbled, then thought: "Maybe if you weren't so cheap, we could've gone to an actual theater with actual seats."
Kanako knew how this day was supposed to go, as Haruna had texted her the details. First a movie, then food, and finally shopping. When she had read that, Kanako thought Haruna must've pulled that straight out of a manga. There certainly wasn't anything special about it. But, then again, it's not like there were a lot of options around them either. The best idea for anyone living where they did was if they wanted to do something unique, you went to Sapporo. However, that was a fair distance away. Kanako knew Haruna would never shell out the money to make that trip for something like this, and honestly, Kanako didn't really want to either.
Initially, Kanako had been looking forward to this "date." She knew it didn't actually mean anything, but she had hoped that maybe it meant Haruna was at least willing to spend time with her again. Apparently though, that didn't mean the insults would stop.
The film rolled on, but by this point Kanako had no idea what was happening. All she could really understand was that this weird creature-demon-thingy was causing a lot of problems and this group of people were trying to stop it. Oh, and it was in space. "This doesn't make sense at all," Kanako sighed internally. Looking at Haruna, it appeared she seemed to be enjoying it. "Well good for her," Kanako thought, annoyed. It's not like she had been bent on seeing a romance or anything, but she knew it definitely would've been better than this.
When the movie was over, the two girls both got up and stretched, then proceeded to follow the few others that had joined them out the door. "Well, it wasn't great, but I liked it!" Haruna said proudly, as if she had something to do with its quality. "I was so lost..." Kanako said quietly. "Huh? How were you lost? Could that little pea-brain of yours not even follow a basic plotline? It wasn't even complicated! You'd have to be dumb to be lost!" Haruna said, exasperated. "I-I don't know, I just didn't get it," Kanako said.
"Well, it sounds like the movie was a bust. Damn. I'm not even sure if Miyashita-kun saw us in there. Actually, I haven't seen him at all," Haruna thought, taking a look around for the boy. Alas, he was nowhere to be seen. However, Haruna still felt like he was around. "If he sees us fighting, that won't go well for me. Maybe we should've gone with a romance instead..."
"Um, Haruna?" Kanako began. "W-Where are we going?" "We're going to a restaurant up the road. They serve sushi," Haruna answered like it was fact. "Oh, I see..." Kanako said softly. Haruna stopped walking and looked at Kanako. "What is it now?" she sighed. "W-Well, it's just... I'm not really a big fan of sushi. I don't hate it, but I would like to have something else," Kanako answered shyly. "Fine, then go by yourself and pay for it yourself," Haruna said, walking away. "Huh?! W-Wait, Haruna! Why can't we discuss this?" Kanako called. "There's nothing to discuss! That place is where we're going, so take it or leave it!" Haruna yelled back.
It only took Kanako a few seconds of scowling to eventually follow the tall girl up ahead. But, as she walked, she kept thinking one thing: "This 'date' kinda sucks..."
Once they had arrived at the restaurant, Kanako recognized it instantly. The place was called Mushi-Sushi (pronounced moo-shee soo-shee). It was known to have the best sushi in the area. That would be great for someone who loved sushi, but for Kanako, it didn't sound all that appealing. She like many foods and had never been known to be a picky eater, but there's always an exception to the rule. When people would find out she didn't like sushi, they always assumed it was because she didn't like raw fish or something along those lines, but that wasn't really it. There was just something about the way it felt in her mouth and going down her throat that just made her feel a tad squeamish.
Regardless of her personal tastes though, she was at the restaurant now, so she had no choice but to try and choose the rolls that seemed like they'd cause the least amount of problems for her. "At least Haruna's footing the bill." Kanako took solace in that thought. In fact, paying for everything was something that Haruna had insisted on through text. Kanako had thought it was unusual, considering that when they used to hang out, Haruna never seemed to want to spend any money. "I guess it could be some sort of tactic to make her look good for Akio-kun," Kanako guessed. Thinking that made her feel a little like she was being used, which wasn't a pleasant feeling.
While they both sat at the bar and Kanako scanned through the menu, Haruna ordered within five minutes. "Does she come here often?" Kanako wondered, looking at Haruna quizzically. This caused the other girl to stare back. "What?" she said. "I know what I want, okay? Just hurry up and pick. I don't want to be waiting on you all day." "I'm trying, but I-" Kanako began, but was cut off by Haruna snatching the menu out of her hands. "Let me pick. If I let you do it, we'll be here forever."
When the rolls came, Haruna received seven different kinds from the man working the bar, and Kanako got four. Because of her option of choice getting stolen from her, she had no idea what it was that had been set down in front of her. Swallowing hard from a sudden fear that Haruna picked all terrible ones just to be mean, Kanako picked up her chopsticks and grabbed the closest one to her.
It was somewhat colorful, with markings of a bright green and orange speckled within the roll. Taking a bite, Kanako found that the flavor actually wasn't bad. However, the texture was what got to her. It felt like the food was squirming around in her mouth, and when she forced it down, it seemed to make sure to slide very slowly so she could feel all of it with her throat. "Guh..." Kanako let out.
Haruna gave her a quick glare, but kept eating, already through four of her seven ordered. Kanako stared at the remaining three on her plate. Her choices seemed to be either suffer through eating them or get lectured by Haruna. So, choosing the former, Kanako did the best she could to steel her stomach and ate another one. As she swallowed, she had one thought. "I really do hate sushi."
It had been quite some time since Kanako had tried it. In fact, thinking back, she realized the last time she had sushi was also with Haruna. However, as that had been several years ago, Kanako had forgotten just exactly how much she didn't like this particular food.
Managing to get through one more, Kanako look sickly at the final roll. "I can do this," she thought. Picking it up, Kanako quickly threw it in her mouth with her chopsticks. At first, the taste actually seemed good. "Hey, maybe this one is fi-... Urk..." Kanako suddenly felt her insides lurch. While the beginning had tasted fine, the back end was some sort of disgusting, distorted version of soy sauce. It tasted completely wrong, and that made Kanako gag. As fast as she could, Kanako dashed for the bathroom, spitting out the roll into the trash can and rinsing her mouth out in the sink. "Geez, what was that?" Kanako wondered as she wiped her mouth clean. "That was awful."
Recovered enough from her poor experience, Kanako went back out to the bar area and sat back down. "Hey, are you okay?" Haruna asked. "Huh? I-I'm fine," Kanako said, surprised by the question. "Is she actually concerned for me?" "If you're fine then why did you run off like that? I bet you spit the sushi out didn't you? God, what a waste. There goes a few bucks." "Oh, she only cares that I wasted her money," Kanako thought glumly.
When they left the restaurant, Haruna finally caught a glimpse of Akio. He was standing behind a tree in some goofy disguise. "It's like he's a bad stalker..." Haruna thought, feeling a little uneasy at the sight. However, it was at seeing him that Haruna realized she had failed to do a very date-like thing. And, if Akio had been watching the whole time, knowing him, it was probably something he was waiting for.
"Give me your hand," Haruna commanded. "Huh? Why?" Kanako asked. "Just do it!" Haruna shouted, then forcibly grabbed the other girl's hand. "Ouch! H-Haruna, that hurts! You're gripping too tight!" Kanako whined. "Get over it!" Haruna yelled, though she did loosen her grip a little anyways. As the two of them held hands while walking down the street, they both had the same thought: "This is embarrassing..."
Next on the agenda was shopping, although Kanako didn't quite know what that meant. It wasn't like there was some big mall that they could go to, so where was this "shopping" supposed to be? "Haruna, w-what are we going to shop for?" Kanako asked tentatively. "There's a new place I want to check out that sells athletic gear. I'm hoping they have stuff for skiing and snowboarding, plus I need a new pair of shorts anyways, so I figured I should look," Haruna explained. "Oh," Kanako said. "I thought we might go look at clothes or something," she said, half-joking, half-serious. "Psh, clothes? For real? That's so lame and boring! Who'd want to do that anyway? Besides, what good would they do a girl like you? No amount of fancy dressing is going to fix that ugly face of yours!" Haruna said with a sadistic laugh.
Kanako suddenly stopped walking, causing her hand to rip away from Haruna's. "Huh? Why'd you stop?" she asked. Kanako's face was angled toward the ground, but Haruna could see her lips quivering.
"I'm going home."
Haruna stared at Kanako blankly. "S-seriously? Come on, Kanako, it's not like-" she got cut off. "It's not like what? Like you insult me every chance you get? Like it's apparently impossible for you to say a single nice thing? Like you can't even consider another person's feelings or opinions?!" Kanako raised her voice, causing Haruna to take a step back.
"I thought..." Kanako continued. "I thought that today might be different. I mean, it seemed like you reached out to me. Obviously this date isn't real, and I know that you're doing this for your own benefit. The truth is, that's kind of why I'm here too. We both want to be with Akio-kun... But today, I found myself putting that aside. I thought, 'Haruna's actually trying, maybe this will be fun.'"
"What an idiotic thing to think," Kanako said strongly, staring dead center into Haruna's eyes.
"We may not be a real couple, but we did have a very real fight not even a week ago. In a way, this was your chance to make it up to me. But you blew it. You're incapable of even faking being someone's girlfriend. There's not a single bone in your body that's girlfriend material. I can't believe it took me until today to realize how hopeless this was. So this time, I'm done. For real."
Once Kanako had finished saying her peace, she began walking back in the direction of home. Haruna wanted to stop her, but the words wouldn't come out. It was true every time. When Kanako got into a mood like that, every word she spoke would cut Haruna straight to the heart. But for some reason, this time felt different. The pain felt... worse.
Haruna knew she messed up. And now, it sounded like there was no coming back from it. As she stared at Kanako's back getting smaller and smaller, she noticed Akio staring at her from a distance. Then, all he did was turn and walk away in the same direction as Kanako. "Great, he saw everything too."
"Maybe it really is all over..."
As Haruna thought that, she felt a drop of water hit her arm, then another on her shoulder. Steadily and quickly, the drops multiplied in number until they formed a cascade of water coming down. The people in the area ran to take cover, but Haruna just stood in place, staring up at the dark clouds. More and more water continued to land on her face, but a different source was causing a more noticeable line. It was the girl herself, as her own eyes formed the thin stream of liquid now running down her cheek. "Look at that. I guess the forecast was right," she said.
"It's raining."
End of Chapter Eight.