Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter Sixteen: Fun In The Sun

"Mmm... Good morning everyone... hm?"

The first one awake the next day was Mayu, but as she gave her morning greeting, she found that she was the only one to have made it downstairs. "How unexpected... I would've thought at least-" Mayu began to comment to herself, but stopped as she walked over to the window and glanced out it. "Ah, there she is."

The girl she was referring to was Itsuki. Being in track, it had become something of a habit for her to get up early, whether it was because of scheduled practice or for her own sake. "For as much as she complains about practice, she certainly appears to be working hard," Mayu said to herself with a laugh. Currently, Itsuki was stretching, but in between each one she'd do a few sprinting take-offs before moving on to the next exercise.

"Wow, Itsuki-chan looks totes serious," a voice suddenly said from behind Mayu. Startled from her peace, she whipped around to find Chiyo standing and staring out the window as well. "C-Chiyo! You surprised me," Mayu said, recovering. "Haha, sorry, sorry! I guess I was surprised too, seeing that," the gal said, motioning with her head at Itsuki. "Yes, I suppose something like that would seem surprising considering what you know about her," Mayu said. "But practicing is all a part of her routine." "I see..." Chiyo said softly as she continued to watch.

Taking a good look, Mayu noticed that Chiyo was fully dressed and seemed ready for the day. Her hair was done up in her typical high-side ponytail, and today's outfit consisted of a tightly-hugging yellow t-shirt with a picture of a koala on it, and very short jean shorts. Another accessory of note to go with her small stud earrings and thin, golden bracelets was an item resembling a scrunchie that was tied around her left thigh.

Considering her own appearance, which was a simple, deep green blouse and a long, white skirt, Mayu couldn't help but feel a little dull in comparison. Typically, she wasn't one to really think about her looks much. After all, Mayu had kept her appearance relatively the same for most of her life, so there had never been much to think about in the first place. But, when put side-by-side with Chiyo, it was a point that was hard to ignore. Simply put, Mayu felt slightly inferior.

"Oh, that's really cute Mayu-chan!" Chiyo said, commenting on the girl's outfit. "O-Oh, you think so?" Mayu said, getting caught off-guard. "Yep, yep, you bet! It's so cozy! I know I couldn't pull that off!" Chiyo said. Mayu smiled. "How is it that you always know what to say?" she thought. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. In previous study sessions the two had had together, Mayu had gotten similar feelings of inferiority, only to have them washed away by Chiyo with her gushing compliments. "She really is a good person," Mayu thought, then aloud, "Thank you for the compliment," completing the statement with a slight bow.

"...Why're you so loud in the morning?" a very disgruntled voice said. When Chiyo turned around, her face lit up. "Mi-chan! Good morning!" she called, running over to glomp onto her. "Agh! No! It's too early for thiiiis!" Michi whined. She was too slow, still trying to get fully awake, and Chiyo managed to latch onto her. "Guh... get off me you weirdo..." Michi moaned. "Sorry! Just had to get my Mi-chan energy for the day!" Chiyo said as she let go. "What does that even mean?" Michi mumbled as she looked away.

Gradually the other girls joined the rest, with Kanako, Haruna and then Jasmine coming down the stairs. "G-Good morning everyone," Kanako said. "Heya Kana-chan. Did'ja sleep well?" Chiyo asked. "W-Well, it's always hard to sleep in a new place..." Kanako said shyly. "Really? I slept fine," Haruna commented. "That's because you sleep like a log Haru-chi," Jasmine said. "What?! No I don't!" Haruna protested. "Huuh? Why're you getting mad? That's not even a bad thing..." Jasmine said, still a little sleepy. "Whatever," was Haruna's only response.