Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter Eighteen: Here

Before she knew it, Kanako was out of Michi's sights. The girl had ran away so quickly and unexpectedly that Michi hadn't had even the chance to stop her. As Michi trudged back to the cabin, she found her footsteps getting slower and slower until finally she stopped just short of the stairs leading up onto the porch. She just stood there, silently, not thinking anything. Finally, after several long seconds, Michi made her way up the steps and went inside.

Walking in, Michi found Chiyo and Jasmine sitting on the couch, while Mayu and Itsuki were playing some sort of game. Haruna was nowhere to be found, not that Michi really cared. "She's the last person I want to see right now," Michi thought. Before she could get away though, Chiyo got her attention. "Hey, where's Kana-chan? I thought you two went out together." Michi paused, then answered. "She said she wanted to stay outside a little longer. Something about the sunset." It was a complete lie, of course, but only Michi knew that. She was sure that telling the others that Kanako ran off into the woods would set off a chain reaction of panic. "Besides, it's not like she's helpless," Michi thought. "And I don't think the forest around us is too big. Kana-chan will be fine." Convinced by her own logic, Michi decided to head upstairs and stay in her room for a while.

*****

After a couple of hours had passed, it had become completely dark outside. Looking at the clock on her phone, Michi saw it was now a little past 10 p.m. Somewhat surprised that Mayu hadn't come up to their room yet, Michi decided to go back down and see what was going on. "She's usually early to bed," Michi remembered. "Are they still playing games?"

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Michi found Haruna and Chiyo playing cards on the floor as Jasmine laid next to them, kind of watching as she nodded in and out of sleep. However, Mayu and Itsuki appeared to be absent. Just as Michi was about to ask where they went, the two girls walked in, looking worried.

"U-Um, guys? We couldn't find Kana-chan," Itsuki said nervously. "She wasn't out there?" Chiyo asked. "Well, we went around the cabin and up to the creek, but she wasn't where we looked," Mayu explained. "It's gotten pretty dark outside too. I'm getting kinda worried," Itsuki said. Chiyo turned to Michi. "You said she was just like, looking at the sunset didn't you?" The question was asked with a hint of suspicion. Michi looked away. "You heard me before didn't you? Maybe you should learn to listen to people." She said that, but her words weren't very persuasive. Standing up and taking a forward stance, Chiyo stared at Michi. "Mi-chan," she started sternly. "Where's Kana-chan?"

Michi was silent, but Chiyo kept her gaze fixed on the blonde-haired girl. Within seconds, everyone else in the room was staring too. Bent by the pressure just enough, Michi broke. "Kana-chan ran off into the woods," she muttered. It was quiet and spoken with a touch of bitterness, but it was enough for everyone to hear.

"Into the woods?!" Itsuki exclaimed. "Why?!" Michi reluctantly continued, knowing there was no way out now. "We had a big fight. Next thing I knew, she was running." "And you didn't go after her?" The question was spoken in a heavy tone, laced with anger. All eyes shifted to the source of it, finding Haruna standing up and glaring hard at Michi. The other girl glared back, but soon looked away. Michi wasn't able to hold such a look for long at the moment. After all, for as much as she didn't want to admit it, there was a part of her that knew it was entirely her fault that Kanako was missing.

"Tch," was all Haruna could say before she breezed past everyone and went upstairs. However, it was only seconds later that she came back down, sliding on her black jacket as she moved toward the door. "Haru-chi, where're you going?!" Chiyo yelled. "To find Kanako!" Haruna shouted back as she went out the door. Everyone was powerless to stop her.