Date Her Instead Vol. 2

Chapter Nineteen: Love, A Small Step Forward, And Failure

The first one inside was Chiyo, and she went straight up the stairs to go check on Michi. However, when she got to the hallway, she saw a sight that amused her. Rather than run into her own room, Michi had chosen to run into Kanako and Chiyo's room instead. Whether that was due to not thinking clearly or intentional, Chiyo found herself laughing a little about it. "So she decided to hole up in the room of her best friend and me huh?"

Chiyo was almost tempted to just leave the situation as it was. After all, if Michi had gone into the wrong room on purpose, then maybe she wasn't in as bad a condition as Chiyo thought. Although, she also knew that that could be just as unlikely as well. There was also the fact that with it being Chiyo at the door, Michi might not even answer. Regardless, Chiyo still felt inclined to try. After all, the worst thing that could happen would be Michi just yelling a bunch of insults, which would be nothing new.

Gently, Chiyo rapped on the door. "Mi-chan?" she called. "You okay?" The only response was silence. "Maybe she's asleep?" Chiyo thought. She tried knocking again and twisted the doorknob as well, but still no answer, this time with the accompaniment of a knob refusing to budge. "I'm still a little worried..." Just as she was about to knock a third time, Chiyo's phone vibrated. It was a text from Michi. All it said was "I'm fine. Go away."

Looking at the message, Chiyo smiled. "Well, if she can tell me something like that, then I guess it's alright," she told herself. As Chiyo began to head back downstairs, she also thought, "That's the first time Mi-chan has texted me first." It put a little more bounce in her step as the gal felt she was chipping away at Michi's ice-cold attitude toward her.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Chiyo found the other girls all gathered around, waiting for her. "I-Is Mi-chan okay?" Kanako asked. Chiyo nodded. "Yup. Buuut, she won't be coming out of the room she's in, which puts us in a tiny bit of pinch." "Huh? Why does that matter? What room is she in?" Haruna asked. "Mi-chan locked herself up in me and Kana-chan's room, sooo like, we're gonna have to rearrange who's sleeping where," Chiyo explained. "S-She's in our room?!" Kanako exclaimed, surprised by this information. "Why didn't she just go in her own room?" Chiyo half-smiled, half-smirked. "Who knows?" she said cryptically.

"Anyways, if Mi-chan is in your guys' room, where're you two gonna sleep?" Jasmine asked. "Hmm. Hey, I know! Why don't we mix things up tonight?" Chiyo suggested. "What do you mean?" Mayu asked. "We can all pair up with whoever we want!" Chiyo said gleefully. "Oh, then I want Mayu-chan!" Itsuki said excitedly. "Then I'll take Jas-chin!" Chiyo said, sidling up to her fellow gal. "Ugh. Do you have to be with me?" Jasmine moaned. "C'mon Jas-chin, we sleep together all the time," Chiyo said with a wink. "Even if you wanna put it like that, it doesn't change the fact that you snore louder than a motorboat," Jasmine commented. "Huh?! I don't snore!" Chiyo whined. Jasmine snickered. "Stop being mean Jas-chin!"

Switching gears quickly, Chiyo moved on and slid over to Haruna. "Hey Haru-chi," she started smugly in a whisper. "Now's your chance to get all cuddly with Kana-chan." "W-Wha-?! C-C-Chiyo, what the hell?!" Haruna yelled back. "Did Chiyo say something?" Kanako asked. "Oh, don't worry about it Kana-chan. I'm just giving Haru-chi here some friendly love advice," Chiyo cooed. "Love advice?" Kanako repeated, still not really getting it. "I-Ignore her Kanako," Haruna said, recovering from Chiyo's all-too-sudden suggestion.

Once everything was decided, the girls went in order to take their baths. It was Mayu and Itsuki first, then Chiyo and Jasmine. When Chiyo got out, she went to have some fun with Haruna. "Haru-chi, maybe you should go in the bath together with Kana-chan," she said. Haruna's face went a bright red, but this time she managed to contain most of her embarrassment. "There's no way we could that," she said. "That bath is too small for two people anyways." "Funny, that's what Jas-chin said when I tried to get in with her," Chiyo said casually. "You actually tried to?" Haruna asked, a little dumbfounded. "Yeah, but it didn't work," Chiyo said sadly. "It's probably because you're getting fat," Jasmine said, appearing behind Chiyo. "I'm not fat!" Chiyo said adamantly, bopping Jasmine's arm repeatedly.