Date Her Instead Vol. 4

Chapter Eight: Stay Away

Running through the corridors of the hospital, Kanako searched for Haruna. Of course, a hospital being the size that one is, trying to find one individual without knowing where to look wasn't the best course of action. Because of this, it wasn't long before Kanako's name was called over the loud speakers. She had only made it as far as part-way through the first floor, so it didn't take her long to return to the lobby.

When she did, Kanako was met by both the doctor that had informed her that Haruna had gotten out of surgery, and Chitose, who looked ready to give her an earful. "What're ya thinkin', runnin' off in a place like this?" she lectured. "What if ya would've run into somebody? Or gotten hurt yourself?" "S-Sorry..." Kanako said, eyes downcast. "And while I hate to add on," the doctor said, "even if you had found your friend's room, I'm afraid you wouldn't have been allowed in. At the moment, only family members would be unless you had their consent." "Oh...r-right..." Kanako said, remembering what she had already been told earlier.

"Don't worry Kana-chan. Ya shouldn't hafta wait much longer," Chitose said. "Haru-chi's parents should be here any minute now." "I must say, it's nice to see a young lady such as yourself care so much about your friend," the doctor added with a smile. "Once the patient's parents arrive, I'll inform them of the situation, and I'm sure you'll be allowed to see your friend then." And with that, the doctor left the lobby.

As Chitose watched him go, she let out a little laugh. "I gotta say Kana-chan, I never pegged ya for the type to do somethin' so reckless." W-Well..." Kanako mumbled. In hindsight, she realized how ridiculous her actions had been. The building she was in was fairly sizable, and she knew the doctor had made a point too. Even if she had found Haruna's room, the best she would've gotten would've been to stare in through a window while Haruna remained asleep from the surgery. "But still..." she thought. "I just really want to see her..."

Although, while that desire burned strong, Kanako still felt pangs of guilt. Chiyo had done much to assuage the ones she had felt earlier about her feelings for Haruna, but completely be-ridding herself of them was a process that would take longer than a few minutes. Aside from that, there was also the guilt associated with the word "friend."

While she had listened to the doctor speak, she heard him using that word over and over again. Each time he had, Kanako had felt a prick at her heart. It was almost as if hearing the word "friend" caused her pain when it was used in relation to Haruna. It also made her wonder if that was how Haruna had felt when that was what Kanako had called her.

How many times had she told Haruna she wanted to be friends? To be like how they used to be? To be close and "good friends" again. How many times had Kanako said that to her, causing Haruna pain while she harbored feelings of love for her? "I'm terrible..." Kanako thought. "All this time, I've just kept wanting to be friends again and get closer like before... I'm sure Haruna hated it every time I said stuff like that..."

"What's the matter Kana-chan? You look a little sad," Chiyo asked. "Y'know, it's not healthy to ride the entire roller coaster of emotions like you've been doing in just a few hours." "Y-Yeah..." Kanako said. She wasn't really sure how to respond to that. Chiyo was probably right. Going from scared to happy to pained to happy to sad to guilty and so on probably wore on her heart. But when it came to Haruna, she just couldn't help it. For better or worse, Kanako's heart had decided on Haruna Endo, and with that decision came a flurry of strong emotions and feelings, stronger than anything Kanako had ever felt before. It felt as if everything in her was now linked to Haruna. "I guess this is just the kind of person I am," Kanako thought a with a little self-depreciating laugh. Diving head-first into love and wanting to give that person everything. Although admittedly, Kanako knew that while she had felt that way with Akio, her feelings in this regard for Haruna were even stronger still.