On the walk to school the next day, Haruna and Kanako noticed a distinct lack of Chiyo's presence. "D-Do you think she's sick?" Kanako asked. "Well, you know the saying about idiots and colds," Haruna said. "That's not very nice," Kanako pouted. After appreciating that look, Haruna continued. "Although, I really don't think I've ever seen Chiyo get sick, which is like a miracle on its own." "T-True, considering her past, uhm, e-experiences," Kanako said. "Or maybe she just scares the germs away with all of her energy," Haruna joked.
Then suddenly, Kanako stopped. "Huh? Kanako?" Haruna said, looking back. "Isn't that Chiyo's big sister?" she asked, subtly pointing ahead. Sure enough, a car had parked outside of the front gate, and Chitose was walking around it to the passenger side. Opening the door, she hefted a person out of the vehicle before lightly tossing them ahead. Then, with that task accomplished, Chitose walked back to the driver's side, got back in the car, and drove off. Left half-standing, half-falling over was Chiyo.
Running over to the gal, both Haruna and Kanako stared at her with concern. "What was that about Chiyo? Your sister just threw you out of the car like a sack of potatoes," Haruna said. "I knooow," Chiyo sighed. "I told her I wasn't going to school today, but she told me I had to. Guess she won." "Why didn't you want to come to school?" Kanako asked. Her question was met with an even louder sigh, followed by Chiyo shuffling toward the school. "Better get to class," she mumbled.
"That was… weird," Kanako said. "Are we sure that's Chiyo? Maybe it's just a lookalike," Haruna said, searching for an explanation. "I wonder if something happened?" Kanako asked. "I'd like to ask her, but I feel like it'd be like talking to a zombie," Haruna said. So, with no way of knowing why Chiyo wasn't her usual self, the two girls followed after her into the building.
Getting to class, they spotted Jasmine asleep at her desk. "S-She's asleep," Kanako commented, surprised. "You know that's how Jasmine-chan is," Haruna pointed out. "But what's the point of sleeping for only a few minutes?" Kanako wondered aloud. "Better than sitting here bored," a muffled voice suddenly said.
Slowly sitting up, Jasmine blinked several times as she woke up. "Morning guys," she said, her voice unintentionally dripping with "morning-after-a-night-together" vibes. "M-Morning," Kanako said, starting to blush a little before she felt Haruna's elbow go into her side. "Ouch!" she cried. "W-What was that for?" "No reason," Haruna pouted. At her desk, Jasmine let out a small laugh. "Now that's adorbs," she said.
After enjoying the moment, Jasmine noticed Chiyo behind Haruna and Kanako. "What's the deal with her?" Jasmine asked. "No idea," Haruna shrugged. "Hey, goofball," Jasmine said to Chiyo. "Why so quiet?" "Have I been quiet?" Chiyo asked. "Sorry 'bout that! Guess I was still a little sleepy." But, as Jasmine watched her speak, she could tell the usual energy wasn't there. That, and that despite her best efforts, Chiyo had failed to cover up the red spots at the corners of her eyes.
Standing up, Jasmine moved over to Chiyo. "C'mon," she said, grabbing the girl's arm. "Huh? Jas-chin?" Chiyo said, confused. "Hey, Jasmine-chan, what-" Haruna began to ask, but Jasmine put a finger up to Haruna's lips. "Don't worry about it, Haru-chi. I'll take carry of this. You've got enough to worry about already, right?" Hearing that, Haruna shrunk back. It was true her mind was pretty preoccupied with the mission of telling her parents about her relationship with Kanako. But, did that have to mean she couldn't help her friend when there was clearly something wrong?
"Let's leave Chiyo to Hiraoka-san," Kanako whispered to Haruna. Seeing her expression, it seemed that Kanako trusted Jasmine to handle whatever was going on. "...Alright," Haruna said. "I'll tell ya all about it later, 'kay Haru-chi?" Jasmine said, to which Haruna nodded. Then the two gals left the room right as the teacher was walking in.
*****
"Alright, spill," Jasmine demanded. "Jas-chin, it's cold up here," Chiyo whined, having been dragged to the roof. "I'm totally colder than you are, but we're not leaving this damn roof until you tell me what's going on," Jasmine said. "Why do you wanna know so bad Jas-chin? Oh! Are you like, my secret jealous lover? You're worried that someone's taking me away from you!" "I wish someone would," Jasmine sighed. "So mean!" Chiyo cried.
"So?" Jasmine said. Chiyo's face fell. "...Last night, Mi-chan came to my house." "Willingly?" Jasmine asked. "Of course willingly!" Chiyo shot back. "Just thought I'd make sure," Jasmine said. "Geez Jas-chin, what kinda person do ya think I am?" Chiyo asked. "Well-" "Never mind, don't answer that," Chiyo quickly said.
Moving over, Chiyo leaned up against the wall for the entrance to the stairwell. When Jasmine followed suit, it was quiet for a moment before Chiyo continued. "She asked me about Haru-chi and Kana-chan." "So she heard the rumors after all," Jasmine said. "Yeah," Chiyo said. "And then… she wanted me to agree with her." "Agree with her?" Jasmine repeated. Chiyo nodded. "Mi-chan… she hates stuff like girls dating girls. I knew that, but… last night was so horrible…" "What happened?" Jasmine asked. Chiyo went quiet again.
"S-She…" Chiyo said, her voice shaking. "She just kept calling it wrong… a-and disgusting… and then she wanted me to agree with her…" "Ah…" Jasmine let out, finally understanding. "That must've been rough, since you're in love with her and all." "…It was," Chiyo said, regret streaking across her face. "But what's even worse… is that I hit her."
Jasmine's eyes went wide. "You… hit her?" she said. "I slapped her. I just couldn't take it anymore," Chiyo said. "All of those things she was saying… it was just so hateful. She was being so mean to Haru-chi… to Kana-chan… and me. It was like… she just kept stabbin' my feeling over and over, then went and asked me if I wanted to join in… How could she expect that of me? How could she say all of those things to me? I thought… I thought that maybe we were making progress, but I guess I was just seein' things…"
"So are you giving up?" Jasmine asked bluntly. Chiyo's head whipped toward her. "Of course not!" she said immediately. Then calming down a little, she continued. "Even if I wanted to, there's no way I could. I love her way too much to be able to do that." "Then what're you gonna do?" Jasmine asked. Chiyo let out a big sigh. "I have no idea…"
Getting off the wall, Jasmine walked forward. "Well, you'll probably figure it out," she said. "Oh, but ya better check your makeup in the mirror. You can totally tell you were cryin' last night." "I-I wasn't cryin'!" Chiyo yelled, trying to hide it. Taking a hand-held mirror out of her bag, she checked her face. "Ah geez, you really can tell can't'cha?" she muttered.
*****
When the two gals returned to class, Chiyo seemed to be in better spirits. After a brief exchange with the teacher, they took their seats, and the teacher started taking attendance. "Fukuhara-san," he said, but there was no response. Looking next to her, Chiyo saw the seat was still empty. "Is Fukuhara-san not here?" the teacher asked, before muttering to himself, "It's only the first week. She couldn't wait a little longer to start skipping?"
Of course, while the teacher wondered why one of his students was missing, Chiyo had a pretty good guess. "I'm sure it's because of me..." she thought sadly. While Jasmine's talk had helped her a little, her concerns were hardly absolved. "I need to find some way to make up with her."
But was that even possible? At this point, considering how fragile Michi could sometimes be, Chiyo wondered if she stood a chance. "I guess the only way to find out is to try," she thought. What it was she would try, she had no idea, but the idea itself helped to give her a small ray of hope again.
Meanwhile, not too far behind her, Haruna was worrying for a different reason. She definitely wanted to know what was going on with Chiyo, bit something Kanako had said on their way to school had really ramped up her anxiety levels. Before they had witnessed the Chiyo-tossing, they had been having a much more serious discussion. Namely, it was conversation about Kanako planning on talking to her parents.
"The principal said we had to anyway, and it's probably better to do this sooner rather than later," she had said. Her argument was sound, but Haruna had a hard time accepting it. She wanted to protest, but she also knew that would be a bad idea. "If I tell her not to, it'll make it seem like I don't want people to know," she had thought. "But I'm still so nervous." She wasn't sure if she was ready herself. Even if Kanako said she was worried too, she certainly did a better job of hiding it than Haruna did. "Does she really believe in us that much?" Haruna wondered.
Regardless of that belief, Kanako had decided she would tell her parents after school. Haruna, despite her fear, had offered to join her for support, but Kanako had declined. "I-I think I should face them myself," she had said. "And, well… I-I might end up being too nervous if you're there too. I'd hate to embarrass myself like that in front of you." So, with that being said, Kanako would be on her own, and Haruna could only wait to hear the news.
How the conversation would go, she had no clue, but even for the daughter of the parents in question, there was a lot of uncertainty. Kanako's parents had never been ones to be mean by any stretch. When the occasion warranted it, they could be stern with Kanako, but for the most part they were all about making sure their daughter enjoyed her life. Admittedly, their parenting philosophy had led to a few arguments in the past with Haruna's parents, but in the end, it only served to bring the families closer together.
However, parental approaches were hardly guidelines to predicting how a conversation would play out. Sure, they cared about fun and their daughter, but would Kanako's parents also prove to be open-minded? It was hard to say. There weren't many instances that Kanako could think of to support or oppose the point. Really, the only one she could remember was back during the sports festival when her parents had told her the story of when they had competed in an event. The result of that story had been the two of them falling in love, but they had said it probably didn't apply to Kanako since she had tripped with another girl. Did that mean they were against the idea, or were they simply unaware?
At the time, Kanako hadn't known her feelings, but even then she had felt bothered by what her parents had said. Now that she was dating Haruna and planning on telling her parents just that, it made her wonder how exactly they would react. Truthfully, it was hard for Kanako to imagine them reacting negatively. There had been very few times in her life where she had ever been truly scolded, and even then it hadn't lasted long. If there was anything Kanako's parents weren't, it was mean.
But, when people don't understand something, they have a tendency to resort to barbed words and anger. Would Kanako's parents do the same, or would they try to understand the choice their daughter made? Perhaps that was the biggest question on Kanako's mind. She wasn't going in with delusions of pure acceptance; if they could just simply understand her and respect her decision, Kanako would be fine with that.
She held onto that hope all the way through the school day, and when it came time for her to head home, she found that her nerves were taking a turn for the worse. "I-I don't know if I can do this after all," she told Haruna. "I wanna say, 'then don't do it,' but I know this is something we both have to do, so, um, do your best," Haruna said. "For some reason, I don't feel very encouraged," Kanako said. "H-How about a hug?" "A hug?" Haruna repeated. "Then I'll really feel better," Kanako insisted. "Well, alright," Haruna agreed.
Stopping alongside the road they were on, Haruna turned Kanako toward her and wrapped her arms around the girl's slender frame. "Anytime I feel you like this, I'm reminded of how small you are," Haruna said. "I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not," Kanako said, sounding a little pouty. "It's a good thing," Haruna laughed. "I like you this size. It makes you cute and cuddly." Hearing that, Kanako looked up at her with a smile. "Now I feel extra better," she said happily.
Going back to walking, they held hands all the way back. When they reached their houses, Kanako squeezed Haruna's hand. "...It'll be okay," Haruna said. Really, she was hesitant to say such a thing. Aside from it being a potential lie, she had a hard time even believing the words themselves. Were they really for Kanako at all, or was Haruna just trying to convince herself once it was her turn?
Either way, Kanako accepted her words. "Haruna," she said. "No matter what they say, I'm not leaving you." Her words seemed to drip with confidence, causing a bit of surprise in Haruna. "It amazes me every time she says something like that with so much confidence," she thought.
Slowly, Kanako's hand slipped from Haruna's, and then the girl headed toward her front door. Reaching it, she twisted the knob and pushed it open, feeling like every action she took was going in slow motion. Was she actually moving slower, or was it the dread she felt? She believed in her love for Haruna. Even if her parents told her to break up with Haruna, she wouldn't. However, that didn't make telling her parents about her relationship any easier. If they were positive, then that was great, but if they reacted poorly, then that was something Kanako was going to have to endure.
Reaching her living room, she found both of her parents to be home already. "I'm back," Kanako informed them. "Oh, welcome back," her mother said, sitting on the couch with her husband. "You two are both already done with work?" Kanako asked. "Yeah, we got done early today. Apparently the big shots are doing something, so only a few people gotta work hard this week," her father explained. "Oh, I see…" Kanako said quietly.
For a moment, she stood still in the entryway between the hall and the room ahead of her. "Kanako? Is something the matter?" her mother asked. "N-No, it's um…" Kanako faltered briefly, but then she took a breath. "Actually," she continued. "There's something I need to talk to both of you about." "Oh?" her father let out. "This sounds serious." "I-It is," Kanako said, trying to keep up her momentum. Then, she walked over to her parents and sat down on the couch next to theirs.
"Um, so…" she began. Her nerves were beginning to show, as her whole body started to shake. Noticing that, her mother reached out and took Kanako's hand. "Whatever it is sweetheart, you can tell us. You don't need to be scared." With that bit of encouragement, Kanako relaxed a little. "O-Okay," she said. "I'm just going to say it." With both parents listening intently to their daughter, Kanako spoke.
"Haruna and I are dating."
Silence. Both mother and father stared at Kanako, blinking and nothing more as they took in the words their child had just said. "H-Hang on," her father finally said. "You… and the Endo's daughter… are… dating?" "Yes," Kanako said resolutely. "Uhh… huh?" her father said. Rather than be happy or angry, he just looked confused more than anything.
Next to him, Kanako's mother seemed to be trying to find the right words. "Kanako," she said. "I'm just… a little lost. I thought you were in love with Akio-kun? You always used to talk about how much you liked him and how you were going to marry him and live happily ever after. So, how did you go from that to… to dating Haruna-chan?"
Kanako froze for a moment. Did she just give a vague answer, or should she explain the whole situation? "...I've come this far already," she thought, making up her mind. "Okay, this is going to sound a little crazy, but…" With that prelude, Kanako proceeded to tell her parents about what had happened.
About how somehow, she and Haruna had decided to confess on the same day to Akio. How they had fought, and upon seeing that fight, how Akio had come up with his plan. The plan of having them date each other and convince him they could get along, with his justification being that if they can just cast aside childhood friends so easily, why should he expect to be treated any better as a boyfriend?
She told her parents about how Haruna had been pretty mean to her for years, and how it only got worse with their fake relationship. She told them about how Haruna called her by her name for the first time in years. She told them about the failure of the "date" they had gone on. She even told them about the sports festival, how they had seen Kanako's race, but they hadn't known about the girls' conversation in the storage shed.
Her story went on, giving them details about how she and Haruna finally talked about the fight that had broken up their friendship. Then there was the summer festival they had gone to and how they had watched the fireworks together before Haruna had run away. After that was the camping trip, and how Kanako had gotten lost in the woods, only for Haruna to come running in and rescue her.
She told them about how after summer, she thought she was finally making some real progress with Akio, because he seemed to be taking a romantic interest in her after ending his arrangement with Kanako and Haruna. But, she also felt like she was getting closer to Haruna too, as they started to spend more time together. She had birthday dates with both of them (although she didn't know it was supposed to be a date with Haruna at the time), and she kept getting to be alone with Akio more and more.
Eventually the boy confessed, and Kanako had been over the moon, but when she told Haruna, the most unexpected thing had happened. Kanako told her parents all about that day after school, being sure not to leave out a single detail.
She told them that Haruna told Kanako she loved her.
After that, Kanako went back to Akio, and she told her parents all about how Akio told her he had lied to her, and that his confession was actually just one big joke. That was the end of her feelings for the boy, but before she knew it, her feelings for the girl began to bloom.
"...I have a hard time believing Akio-kun would do something like that," Kanako's mother said. "I mean, he's usually such a nice boy." "...When I think about it," Kanako said. "I feel like there was more to the deal that he made with Haruna and me than just finding out if we'd be good girlfriends. As much as I hate to admit it, it did help fix my friendship with Haruna."
Still sitting silently on the couch was Kanako's dad. "Dear? Do you have anything you want to say?" her mother asked. "… I'm just still trying to wrap my head around how my daughter started dating another girl," he finally said. "Yes, tell us how that happened," her mother said, almost appearing to have an odd glint of excitement in her eye. "Um, o-okay," Kanako said as she went to continue her story.
After detailing the start of the whole story, Kanako decided to just hit the highlights for the rest. She told her parents about Haruna's injury, and how during that time was when Kanako realized just how much she was actually in love with Haruna. She decided to skip over most of the school trip, as she really didn't want her parents knowing about her more intimate moments with Haruna or Kanako's own jealousy. But, she did tell them abut Christmas, and how it had been a huge misunderstanding. She also told them about the cultural festival, and how she had crashed another class's play just so she could finally tell Haruna her feelings at the bonfire that night.
"A-And that's basically it," Kanako said, feeling a little embarrassed after having recounted her entire love story. "...Y'know, now that I know all of this, everything makes a lot more sense," her mother said. "I thought it was weird you just stopped talking about Akio-kun, and then you and Haruna-chan seemed to be spending a lot more time together. Then there was that time the other day when you seemed awfully close." "Y-Yeah, I guess we're not very good at hiding it," Kanako said bashfully.
Then, Kanako looked at her father. "Um, dad?" she said. "D-Do you have any other questions?" "...Well honestly, I have a whole lot," he said. "But I'm still stuck on what you said Akio-kun did. Hearing that just makes my blood boil! If that's really true, how dare he hurt my little girl like that!" "Now, now dear, I'm sure he had his reasons," Kanako's mother said. "There's no good reason to break someone's heart like that!" the father fumed. "Does it really matter now?" her mother asked. "After all, our little Kanako seems quite happy now."
Taking a good look at her, both parents felt like they saw a slight glow around her. "...Does being with Haruna-chan really make you that happy, Kanako?" her father asked. "Y-Yes!" Kanako exclaimed. "Because I love her more than anything!" "More than your old man?!" her father cried. "I don't think that's the point, dear," her mother sighed.
Clearing his throat, the father continued. "I have to say, I don't entirely get it. I mean, I guess I've heard of people dating other people of the same gender, but I've never really dealt with it much myself. It's just all kinda new to me, so I'm not really sure if I can say I fully support you. There's just so much to worry about going forward. Plenty of people are probably going to give you weird looks, and as for future stuff like marriage, I don't even know how that works."
"I think that's my biggest concern," Kanako's mother chimed in. "This is hard for me to fully understand too, but I can tell it makes you happy, so I won't stand in your way. But, as your mother, I just want you to give a lot of thought to the future you want to have. What will your job be? What about Haruna-chan? If the industries are completely separate, will your relationship still work? What about living arrangements? Or like your father said, marriage? I don't want to pile on the pressure or anything, but if you plan to go through with this and want our full support, I need to know what you're going to do."
Kanako was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "...I won't say something as naive as, 'I'll figure something out!' because that would be pretty irresponsible. And after hearing what teachers have told us and what you just said, it's clear that I have to give some serious thought to my future with Haruna. But, I know one thing for certain. Regardless of our jobs, where we live or whether or not we're married, I want to be with her. Maybe that sounds naive too, or maybe I just sound like some idealistic high schooler, but I know in my heart that the thing I want most is to have Haruna by my side every day, now and in the future."
Her parents were stunned. "...When did you grow up so fast?" her mother asked, looking a little tearful. "Y'know, I know I'm not the most observant guy," her father said. "But even I can see a difference between how you talked about a future with Akio-kun and how you just talked about a future with Haruna-chan."
Kanako stared at them before smiling to herself. "I've never felt this way before," she said quietly. "When I had feelings for Akio-kun, it just felt natural. I just thought, 'He'll be my future. It's already decided.' But with Haruna… everything feels certain and uncertain at the same time. My heart is constantly racing for her, yet at the same time , I feel calmer than ever when I'm with her. She's always on my mind, and I always think about the things we'll do next together. Her hand in mine brings me so much peace and joy, and I hope I never have to let go of it. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the word 'love' is really enough to describe these feelings I have for her."
Realizing she had basically started monologuing, Kanako looked at her parents, only to find them both crying. "W-What?" she uttered. "That was beautiful!" her father declared. "Who knew our daughter had such a way with words?" her mother said, drying her eyes with a hankerchief. "Y-You're overreacting! Stop it, you're embarrassing me!" Kanako panicked.
Once they finally calmed down, both of her parents looked at Kanako. "Kanako," her mother said. "We'll do our best to try to understand your new relationship. At the very least, we won't say no." "Thank you…" Kanako said, breathing a sigh of relief. "However," her mother continued, causing Kanako's breath to catch in her throat. "Now that we know you and Haruna-chan have that kind of relationship, I think we need to set some ground rules." "H-Huh? Ground rules?" Kanako repeated. "Yes," her mother said. "Like, not letting you two stay in your bedroom by yourselves." "What?!" Kanako cried. "That's not fair!" "It is to fair!" her mother shot back. "I said I'd do my best to understand, but if I walk in on the two of you making out, I might faint from the shock!" "W-We don't even do that!" Kanako yelled, her face beet red.
"Oh, let them just enjoy their time together," her father said blissfully. "After all, we got up to all sorts of mischief back when we were young. Remember that time behind the gym when we- OOF!" Just before he could reveal any details, Kanako's mom put an elbow into his ribs. "O-Our daughter doesn't need to know stuff like that," she said, blushing a bit at whatever the memory was.
With the father out of commission, the mother continued. "Do you really mean it when you say you haven't been doing stuff like that?" "Y-Yes," Kanako said, almost sounding disappointed. Silently, she thought, "We haven't even kissed yet…" At her affirmation, Kanako's mother seemed to breath a sigh of relief herself. "Well, as long as that's the case," she said. "Anyways, maybe we should have Haruna-chan over for dinner. We could celebrate your new relationship!" "Um, s-sure," Kanako agreed, wondering if that was the best idea.
Putting dinner aside, Kanako was just happy that her conversation went well. "Even if they can't give me their full support, at least they're willing to try to understand," Kanako thought. "I hope Haruna's talk goes well too."
End of Chapter Eight.