Date Her Instead Vol. 6

Chapter Seventeen: Hinami Watches On

"...Chiyo."

"Yeah Jas-chin~?"

"...It's midnight. Why the hell are you calling me?"

A few minutes past 12:00 a.m., Jasmine had heard her phone vibrating. At first, she had planned to ignore it, but when she saw it was Chiyo, she decided to answer. Honestly, it was a gamble whether or not it was worth talking to her fellow gal, but if it wasn't, Jasmine figured she could always just go back to sleep. "It's Monday tomorrow," she thought. "She couldn't have waited until morning?"

The night was Sunday, April 11, only a few hours after Jasmine had spoken with Mayu. Having been filled with a lot more complex feelings, she had been able to fall asleep surprisingly easily. "Then again, they say pets can help you relax," Jasmine had thought. Now though, she wasn't feeling very relaxed at all.

"Can't I just call ya for some fun?"

"I'm hanging up."

"No, wait, hang on!" Chiyo pleaded. "I'm serious, okay Jas-chin? I need to talk to ya about something." Jasmine brought the phone back to her ear. "What's going on?" she asked. "Well, so like, the thing is..." Chiyo sputtered. "Lemme guess. Fukuhara-san?" Jasmine said. "...Yeah," Chiyo admitted, drawing a sigh from Jasmine. The sigh wasn't an indication she was annoyed with Chiyo as much as it was annoyance at the constant problems that kept arising for her.

"So what'd she do this time?" Jasmine asked. "Why're you automatically assumin' it's Mi-chan's fault?" Chiyo asked, sounding a little miffed. "Well for one, it usually is," Jasmine pointed out. "And two, if I just let you talk, knowing you, you'll find some way to make yourself sound like you were in the wrong." "But..." "See?" Jasmine said, stopping Chiyo.

She had been right on the money. Despite Chiyo's unwillingness to give up on Michi, it didn't change the fact that she still had plenty of worry. "...Mi-chan got sick," she said. "And it feels like it's my fault..." "Oh shut up Chiyo," Jasmine said harshly. "If that girl got sick, it's totally on her." "But she's been stressed a lot, and we've been fighting so-" Chiyo, began to explain, but Jasmine cut her off.

"Listen to me Chiyo," she said. "All that stuff that's happenin' between you two, it's only stressful because Fukuhara-san can't stop thinking about it. You know how she is. She'll probably find some way to blow it all out of proportion and like, end up hurting you in the process."

Chiyo was silent, which gave Jasmine a bad feeling. "Unless... she already did, didn't she?" "Mi-chan said she hates me," Chiyo said sadly. "That's nothing new," Jasmine replied. "This time is different," Chiyo said. "I think she may have really meant it. And if she did, I... I don't know what I'd do. I love her Jas-chin. I love Mi-chan so much it's like I can't live without her anymore. If she suddenly left my life, I just... couldn't go on."

"Don't you think that's a little dramatic?" Jasmine asked, getting a dry laugh from Chiyo. "Maybe," she said. "But my feelings are just that strong." For a moment, there was silence between the two of them. Then, Chiyo asked a question.

"Do you think... Mi-chan needs me?"

Her tone was so full of desperation that Jasmine wasn't sure how to respond. There was no way she could say for certain whether or not Michi needed Chiyo. In her personal opinion, it seemed like Michi at least benefited from having Chiyo in her life, but beyond that, it was hard to tell. Thanks to how much Michi failed at being honest, it always looked like Michi disliked Chiyo as much as she got along with her.

"Y'know what? Forget I asked that," Chiyo said, not even giving Jasmine the chance to answer. "We both should get some sleep. After all, we got school tomorrow." "Chiyo," Jasmine said just before she hung up. "Just... hang in there, okay?" "...Sure," Chiyo said, then she hung up.