Chapter Five: A Painful Past Seeps Into The Present

When Haruna awoke that morning, the first thing that came to mind was remembering that this would be the second day in a row that she'd have to spend with Kanako. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." she thought with a bit of disgust. The more Haruna thought about the whole situation, the angrier she became about it. "It's all the idiot's fault. If she hadn't shown up that day, none of this would've happened!"

Continuously getting madder as she aggressively put on her uniform and ate her breakfast, her mom gave her a look of concern. "Haruna, are you alright? It seems like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." The response given was a sigh, followed by: "It's nothing. Just school stuff." Haruna's mother wasn't really convinced, but she let it go.

"Oh, I heard recently from a woman I work with who has a kid at your school that she saw you walking home together with a girl with a ponytail. Was it Kana-chan?" Haruna nearly choked on her orange juice. "It's nice you're friends again," her mom said happily. "We are NOT friends," Haruna said coldly. "Hm? Then why are you walking home together?" her mom asked, confused. "Ugh, whatever. I'm leaving," Haruna said, opting to not explain the situation.

As Haruna marched along the sidewalk, she found herself to be more irritated than ever. "God, this sucks..." she sighed. "Hey girl!" Chiyo called as she approached. "Whoa, you look terrible. It's like bad vibes are oozing out of you." "They probably are," Haruna said flatly. "Are you in a mood because of the whole dating Kana-chan thing?" Chiyo asked. "We're not- oh whatever. Yes, it's about that," Haruna said, deciding against taking the time to correct Chiyo. "It can't be that bad, can it? I mean, I've heard Kana-chan's pretty easy to get along with," Chiyo commented. "Yeah right! Who'd want to hang around her anyways?!" Haruna shouted.

When the two of them reached the school and got inside, Haruna saw Akio finishing up putting his stuff in his locker. "I bet he's going to say something snarky to me again," Haruna thought, but to her surprise, Akio just walked away. "Huh?"

The day continued on until it was finally time to switch classrooms. As Haruna exited hers, Kanako came out as well. They both saw Akio doing the same and he appeared to have noticed them too. Kanako began to panic.

"What should I do?" she thought. "If he doesn't see me and Haruna together, there's no way we'll convince him we're dating!" Kanako kept thinking, trying to come up with an approach. However, no matter what she came up with, there was still one massive hurdle standing in her way.

"There's no way I can just walk up to Haruna and casually start a conversation..." Kanako concluded. She stared at Haruna's back. "I wish... it could be like how it used to be..." she thought, nearly reaching out her hand as if to touch Haruna. "When did something so simple become this difficult?" Even without Akio's deal, Kanako wanted to be able to at least talk to Haruna again without fighting. "Then again, she kinda gets on my nerves now too, so maybe it is impossible," Kanako thought dejectedly.

While Kanako was lost in her own head, she happened to notice something. As Akio walked by Haruna, it looked like he said something to her. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Haruna stop dead in her tracks, causing Chiyo to slam into the back of her. "What's that about?" Kanako wondered.

Unfortunately for Kanako and Haruna, fortune did not smile upon them when classes were assigned, because as luck would have it, the two girls were both in a cooking elective together. "Why does she have to be in this class?" Kanako pouted. "She doesn't even like cooking!" It was certainly true that Kanako didn't really know Haruna as well as she used to, but she was pretty sure Haruna had never had any interest in the culinary arts.

The reason for Haruna taking a cooking elective was pretty simple, so much so that it bordered on the line of cliché. She just wanted to be able to cook for Akio. However, unlike Kanako, having no previous desire to improve her domestic skills really showed in the classroom. While the members of the Cooking Club naturally exceeded expectations in a class like this, Haruna fell into the group of constant culinary failure.

While both girls had very different topics on their minds, they both reached the same finale: "It's not fair!"

"Okay class, quiet down please," Miss Hasegawa said. Her full name was Yuki Hasegawa. She was around her late-twenties, though she wouldn't say what her exact age was. She was also very cinnamon-roll-like because she was so sweet (and adorable too). Putting that all together, none of the students really understood why she was still single (of course, the only reason they knew that was because they dragged it out of her one day last year). Regardless, no one could resist her sweetness, so despite appearing like she'd be a pushover, all of the students actually thought pretty highly of her and respected her.

Buuut, there was one thing that Miss Hasegawa couldn't seem to get the students to stop doing. "Hey, what are we making today Miss Yuki-nin?" a student asked. "Please, I've asked you all to call me by my proper name!" Miss Yuki-nin protested. When she did though, it just made her more adorable, so no one really wanted to stop.

After a short sigh, Miss Yuki-nin continued. "I'd like you all to please get in your groups now." As the students obeyed, Kanako and Haruna went to their typical opposite ends of the room. Last year, they were both in the same class too. At the beginning, everyone had to group together. Mayu and Itsuki were also there last year as well, but they got scooped up by a couple other people, so Kanako was too nervous to approach anyone else. On the other side, Haruna already had something of a reputation, so people were hesitant to group up with her. Because of all that, naturally the leftovers were thrown together, putting Haruna and Kanako into the same group.

That only lasted for a couple of weeks due to the constant bickering that resulted between the two. At one point, Haruna even threw an egg at Kanako, causing it to crack and spill open onto her uniform. After that, Miss Yuki-nin made it a point to keep them as far away from each other as possible. Luckily for Kanako, this year Mayu and Itsuki were also in her class and she got to be together with them.

The whole class began to make what was planned for the day, and it didn't take long before the group filled with Cooking Club members finished. "Oh, that looks wonderful girls!" Miss Yuki-nin complimented. "If only others had the same skill..." Looking around the room, there were a few groups struggling, one of which was Haruna's.

"U-um, Endo-san, I think you're cooking that a little too long," a girl tried to help. "It's fine," Haruna said roughly. "I don't know, that doesn't look right," a boy in her group pointed out. "I said it's fine!" Haruna shouted. "Hey, is something burning?" the last girl in her group commented. Looking down at the pan, Haruna was greeted by plumes of black smoke. "Oh no! Quick, turn off the heat before it catches fire!" Miss Yuki-nin called, rushing over to the group.

Kanako stared at them, specifically Haruna. She actually didn't look mad. In fact, it seemed more like... disappointment? It was an odd expression for Kanako to see Haruna make. "I didn't think she really cared that much..." she thought.

The rest of the day passed by without any further interaction between Kanako and Haruna. Soon enough, it was time for Kanako to head to club. "I can cook in peace there," she thought happily. When she arrived, she was met by Naomi, Rina and Saki. "Hello everyone!' Kanako said cheerfully. "What's put you in such a good mood?" Rina asked wryly. "Nothing! Just happy to be here!" Kanako answered with a smile. "It warms my heart to see the younger generations filled with the joy of cooking!" Naomi said proudly. "Younger generations? You're only a year older than us Naomi-senpai," Rina pointed out. They all laughed, but Kanako's high began to quickly sink to a low.

"I have to walk home with Haruna after this..." she thought. While Kanako dreaded that, she decided it wouldn't do any good to dwell on it. Once Michi and Mayu had arrived (Itsuki had to go to track practice), Naomi declared it was time to start. "Let's get cooking!"

*****

While Kanako was at club, Haruna had suddenly found herself talking with Akio while she was waiting. The conversation they were having kept rolling along naturally, but as it did, Haruna kept finding herself going back to what she had just agreed to. "I can't believe I'm going to have to walk to school with her now too..." Haruna thought, annoyed by the idea. "Why'd I even agree?" Looking at Akio, Haruna knew the answer. "I guess my feelings really are strong if I'm willing to be around that mousey girl."

When it was time to leave, Akio walked with Haruna until before the front doors, then split off after giving out a wink after something he said. "He's so weird," Haruna thought, feeling both disgruntled and embarrassed. However, her mood quickly shifted to one emotion after laying her eyes on the shorter-than-her, ponytail-clad girl that was waiting at the gate.

"You look like a stalker or something doing that," Haruna said rudely. "S-stalker?!" Kanako said, somewhat offended. "All I'm doing is waiting because I didn't know where you were!" "Tch. By the way, starting tomorrow, we're walking to school together too," Haruna stated. "Huh?! B-But you said we weren't going to!" Kanako protested. "Well I changed my mind!" Haruna yelled. "You better be ready, or else I'm going to drag you out of bed." With that, Haruna began marching ahead, with Kanako trailing close behind.

"U-um, can I ask why you changed your mind?" Kanako asked timidly. "If you think I did because I'm trying to get closer to you again or something stupid like that, don't. Plus, I don't think I owe you an explanation. If you're so curious, then figure it out yourself, idiot," Haruna said. "It's because of Akio-kun isn't it," Kanako said bluntly. "Urk..." Haruna let out, beginning to blush a little. "W-well, it's not like it's any of your business anyway, so stop spouting off nonsense with that annoying voice of yours!" Haruna shouted as she sped up her pace.

Kanako sighed. "It's only been two days and I feel like she's already insulted me over 20 times..." Shuffling along, Kanako continued to stare at Haruna's back. "Why does she have to be like this? Is she really that put off by even being around me?" While it was true Kanako and Haruna still interacted after their friendship fell out, this was the first time in years that the two were together this much. "Is every day going to be like this?" she wondered.

Once the two got back, they both went into their respective houses. When Haruna headed inside, she went straight to her room and flopped onto her bed. "I guess I better tell Chiyo that we won't be walking to school together for a while," Haruna said to herself. So she sent her a text.

Ping!

From: Chiyo Wakabayashi

I understand! You want to be all lovey-dovey with your new girlfriend right? *wink* ;)

"God damn it Chiyo! How many times do I have to tell you she's not my girlfriend! It's fake! I'm not even interested in girls in the first place, let alone her!" Then Haruna let out a long sigh. "This sucks..."

To replace that line of thought was Haruna being reminded of what Akio had told her earlier that day. "Must feel a little lonely without Kana-chan," it repeated in her mind. The sentence had frozen her because it bothered her so much, but Haruna wasn't entirely sure why. "Tch. Yeah, right. Who'd be lonely without a mouse around?!"

*****

The next morning, Haruna made sure she was ready with plenty of time to spare. "I can't believe I have to go over there..." she thought. Haruna had made the occasional appearance at the Nakatomi residence because their families still hung out regularly. Neither Haruna nor Kanako's parents really knew what happened between them either, but they all knew that the two girls weren't on the best of terms anymore. Because of that, Haruna's parents didn't always make her go over there like they used to, but she still had to go sometimes.

"I'm going!" Haruna called. "Huh? Isn't it too early?" her mom called back. "I have something I have to do!" Haruna said. With that explanation sufficing, Haruna walked out the door, and instead of turning to go her usual route, she went the opposite direction. It was a short journey, with them being neighbors and all, and after gathering herself, Haruna regrettably rang the doorbell.

The mother of the Nakatomi household was the one to answer the door, wearing a pantsuit as she was still getting ready for work. "Oh, Haruna-chan, what a surprise! Did you need something?" she asked. "Ah, um, well, I-I'm actually here... for..." Haruna always felt a little self-conscious around Kanako's mom. Maybe it was due to her beating out Haruna in the chest department by a wide margin, or maybe it was because of the motherly aura she exuded. Either way, Haruna always felt like a child when she talked to her.

"I know! You must be here for Kanako, right?" she said, practically reading Haruna's mind. "Y-Yes, that's right," Haruna answered shyly. "Well, I'm afraid she isn't up yet, and I need to get going in a few minutes..." Kanako's mom said. Then, she clapped her hands together, as if struck by an epiphany. "Could you get her up and around?" she suggested to Haruna. "Huh?" the dumbfounded girl said. "Great! Good luck!" Kanako's mother took Haruna's confusion as an agreement, so she rushed to grab the rest of what she needed and flew out the door, leaving the awakening of her daughter to Haruna.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Haruna said, annoyed. "Let's get this over with." So after saying that, Haruna headed inside and climbed the stairs, making a beeline straight for Kanako's room. While it was true the two families did still spend time together, Haruna hadn't personally gone into Kanako's room since before junior high. Suddenly feeling nervous, she slowly grasped the handle and turned. Giving it a push, she sent the door into a gradual swing, revealing the room of now high-school-aged Kanako.

Once the door was fully opened, Haruna took a step inside. Looking around, she recognized everything. "Nothing's changed in here..." she said, somewhat surprised. However, there was something on Kanako's desk that caught Haruna's eye. Walking over to get a better look, she saw it was a phone strap. In fact, it was an exact duplicate to the broken one Haruna had stepped on a couple mornings ago when she had first woken up. "She still has this?" Haruna said to herself.

The phone strap was pretty simple. The line it was apart of were intentionally sold to be paired with someone. There were ones that said "LOVE" or "BOY/GIRLFRIEND" or even "HUSBAND/WIFE", though Haruna questioned if adults should really have phone straps. But, there was one in particular that Haruna and Kanako had gotten several years ago. It read: "BEST FRIEND." Funny enough, Haruna's had broken off all but the last three letters, creating a sharp point with the word "END" written on it instead.

The straps themselves had been one of the last things the two girls bought together before their fall out.

As Haruna stared at it in her hand, she felt a swath of emotions welling up inside and threatening to swallow her. The thing to break her from that feeling was hearing a sudden moan come from the girl still in bed. After hearing that, Haruna snapped back to the present. "The past is the past," she told herself.

Putting the strap down somewhat forcefully, Haruna glared at the peaceful Kanako, seeming to be perfectly content with sleeping for longer than allowed. Finding herself extremely irritated by the sight, Haruna ripped off Kanako's covers, all the while shouting: "RISE AND SHINE DUMBASS!"

The revealed girl in pink pajamas woke up with a jolt, shocked to see Haruna standing before her. "H-H-H-Haruna!" Kanako stuttered out through sleepy and surprised mouth muscles. "Come on, hurry up! I told you, I'm not going to be late because of your laziness. Now get up or else I'm going to start dressing that disgusting body of yours myself!" "Disgusting?!" Kanako repeated. "Just do it!" Haruna shouted back. "Then..." Kanako began, finally beginning to feel her own rage rising as her weariness wore away. Standing up, Kanako started pushing Haruna back out the door. "THEN GET OUT!" she screamed, slamming the door behind Haruna.

Taken aback by Kanako's sudden force, Haruna decided she'd just wait by the door until Kanako was ready. While Haruna waited on one side, the other was being filled with smoke from Kanako's fuming.

"The nerve of that girl!" Kanako thought angrily as she put on her uniform. "Who does that?! Who just comes into a girl's room without permission and wakes them up like that?! I know Haruna's a girl too, but... sometimes she's more beast than woman!" Kanako found herself to be so agitated in fact that it took her three tries to get her ponytail right.

For as fiercely mad Kanako was on the inside, the outside had quickly reverted back to half-asleep mode once the initial shock had worn off. Once Kanako was ready, she opened her door and found Haruna impatiently tapping her foot on the floor. "Done now?" she said, annoyed. Kanako nodded. "Then come on, if we don't leave right now, we'll definitely be late."

It felt like forever to Haruna to even get out the door. When they finally made it, she began pulling Kanako by the wrist. While Haruna yelled about her not moving fast enough, Kanako began to reflect back on the past again.

"This reminds me of when we were little," she thought. "Haruna would come over in the morning and we'd play all day. Of course, back then, she wasn't so rough," Kanako noted as she winced from how tight Haruna's grip was. "It hurts, but at the same time, in a way, it's kinda nice." "Come on! Do I seriously have to pull you all the way there?! Wake up already you sloth!" Haruna shouted at her. "Then again, maybe not," Kanako thought.

After being dragged all the way to Iwanai Municipal High School, Haruna declared that she was going ahead, leaving Kanako with a lot of annoyance and a red wrist. "Fine! Like I want to be seen with you anyways either!" Kanako shouted, but by that point Haruna was too far away to hear it.

When Kanako walked in, she found herself suddenly bombarded by her friends. "Hey, hey, Kana-chan! What's up with you walking with Endo-san? Don't you two not get along?" Itsuki asked immediately. "W-well, it's, um..." Kanako had managed to dodge their questions so far, but it appeared today would be the day she'd have to at least give a partial explanation. "What do I even tell them? Should I just lie?" Kanako debated.

However, before she could come up with something, she heard a warm and familiar voice. "Morning, Kana-chan," Akio said. "O-oh! G-Good morning, Akio-kun..." she said nervously. Out of the corner of her eye, Kanako could see Mayu and Itsuki beaming with happiness for her. With them was a third girl, though her expression seemed to be the exact opposite of happy. "Why is Mi-chan glaring at Akio-kun?" Kanako wondered. Regardless, it seemed Akio's presence had steered the conversation into a different direction, so Kanako was thankful for his sudden appearance.

As class began, it didn't take long for Kanako to stared dozing off. "I'm so tired..." she thought. "Getting woken up like that is NOT a good way to start the day." Suddenly, Kanako felt something hit her head. "Nakatomi-san, if you find yourself to be so tired, perhaps you should consider an earlier bedtime," her teacher stated, holding the folder in his hand that had thumped her. "Yes sir..." Kanako said quietly.

Before Itsuki and Mayu arrived for lunch, Michi began a line of questioning of her own. "I know I said I wouldn't pry into stuff you don't want to talk about, but seriously Kana-chan, what's the deal with you and Endo-san? Didn't you tell me that you're like cats and dogs?" Kanako began to feel uneasy. She hated keeping secrets, but at the same time, what she was doing wasn't easily explained. "W-We are like that, but, things have been better recently. You could say we're reconnecting!" Kanako lied. "Really? Because it seems to me that whenever you two are together, she's being a jerk to you and you just stare at your feet," Michi said in a doubtful tone.

"H-How would you know?" Kanako asked. "Oh please! EVERYONE knows what the relationship between you two is like. *Sigh* I know you can defend yourself, but you should do it more often! Stop taking it all the time!" Then Michi gasped. "Is she blackmailing you?" she asked in a hushed tone. "She's doing that, isn't she? Forcing you to spend time with her so she has a verbal punching bag." "I-It's not like that. I'm doing this of my own free will," Kanako said meekly. "Well when you say it like that, you sound pretty convincing," Michi said sarcastically.

Kanako looked Michi directly in the eyes. "Look, I know this situation is... kinda weird... but nothing illegal is going on here. All that's happening is two former friends patching things up, so just leave me alone about it alright?!" Kanako suddenly found herself raising her voice again. "Why did I just shout?" she wondered.

Michi began to get angry too. "Fine. Don't tell me," she said. Before Kanako could clear things up, Mayu and Itsuki appeared, creating an awkward tension that was impossible to release without getting the others involved.

*****

"It's nice that you have someone special to walk with now," Chiyo teased. "But I'm beginning to feel left out!" Haruna's only response was to ignore Chiyo. "Aw c'mon, not even a little reaction? Y'know, you've gotten real stiff lately Haru-chi, like more than usual." "Just eat, Chiyo," Haruna said. Chiyo did that, but still kept talking.

"Is something wrong Haru-chi?" she asked, geninuely concerned. Haruna put down her chopsticks. "I'm just finding myself to be more and more frustrated the more time I have to spend with that stupid girl," Haruna said. "Hmm. Frustrated huh? Like sexually, or-" Haruna hit Chiyo on the head. "Not everything's about sex Chiyo!" Haruna yelled a little louder than she meant to, causing her to draw the attention of other people on the roof eating lunch.

After recovering, the two continued their conversation. "Maybe you feel the way you do because there's more to your feelings than you're willing to admit," Chiyo said, trying to sound wise. "Yeah right," Haruna scoffed. "I'm serious," Chiyo said, suddenly her face matching her words. "Instead of just complaining, maybe you should take a good, long look at your past relationship with Kana-chan." "Not gonna happen," Haruna said flatly. "Why not?!" Chiyo whined. "Because I already know what's wrong, damn it!" Haruna yelled, garnering stares yet again.

"I just... I can't confront those feelings yet..." Haruna said timidly. Chiyo stared at her. "Whatever you say Haru-chi. Buuut, when you do decide to do that, I'll be right by your side!" Feeling too embarrassed to speak, Haruna simply nodded.

As the rest of the day went on, Haruna felt uncomfortable. Her earlier conversation had stirred up old emotions, ones that she'd rather stay buried. Because of that, Haruna remained in a bad mood all the way until school let out and while she sat in her chair waiting for Kanako's club to finish.

"Here again?" Akio said as he walked through the door. "Well where else would I be?" Haruna said, not in the mood for Akio's jabs on her fake relationship. Quickly being able to pick up on that too, Akio went with small talk in an effort to lighten things up.

By the end, Akio wasn't really sure if he had achieved that, as Haruna seemed like she still had a dark cloud over her head. "I hope Kana-chan is going to be okay," he thought while the two of them headed for the doors. When almost arriving, Akio split off. It somewhat annoyed Haruna that he did that, but she knew too that it would cause problems for both of them if Kanako saw them walking out together like that. "A misunderstanding is the last thing I want to deal with..." she thought.

When Haruna reached Kanako, all she did was give Kanako a slight glare, then began walking. Kanako knew what that meant. "Great, she's even more angry than usual..." she thought. While they walked, Kanako wanted to try to say something to make Haruna feel better. "But no matter what I say, she'll just bite my head off and call me stupid..." she sighed. So instead, Kanako decided to address something on her mind.

"H-Hey, Haruna?" Kanako began. "What." Haruna said in a tone that showed no interest in the coming topic. "W-Well, it's about t-this morning. I was hoping that, um, maybe you would just wait outside for me instead of what you did today?" Kanako suggested nervously. "If you don't want that to happen again, then maybe you should move your lazy ass in the morning," Haruna said. "I-I mean, I try, but I'm not really a morning person, you know? Ha ha..." Kanako said warily. "Yeah, don't care. Wake up on time, or I'm going to do that again, and I'll keep doing it until you get the idea into that birdbrain of yours that you need to be ready by the time I show up. Of course, if you weren't such a slug, none of this would be a problem in the first place," Haruna stabbed Kanako with her words, making sure to maintain distance between them.

"Birdbrain? Slug?" Kanako repeated to herself. "And she called me disgusting this morning too... Is it just me, or is she getting meaner?" Kanako had to admit, after spending so much time with Haruna over the last two days, the insults were starting to get to her a little.

The rest of the walk home passed by, and when Kanako went inside her house, she went to get herself a glass of water. "I hope I'm wrong..." she said to herself. "If she is getting worse, then..." Kanako wasn't sure how she'd handle that. Growing up together, Haruna was always more on the aggressive side, but the way she was now was a far cry from that. "She's more like a bully than just being pushy," Kanako thought.

*****

The next morning, Kanako woke up to the words of: "Seriously?! I even gave you a warning! Get up already!" It was Haruna, ripping the covers off Kanako's comfy slumber once again. "Kyaaa!" Kanako shrieked, suddenly being met by the cold air of her air-conditioned room. "Harunaaaaaaa!!!"

This time, Kanako was more awake than yesterday, but that was being fueled mostly by her own anger. "I can't believe she did it again! Why does mom even let her inside?!" Kanako vented. She pouted all the way to school, also being sure to avoid allowing Haruna to grab her wrist like last time. "It hurt the whole morning," Kanako remembered.

When the two got to school, it was Kanako that went ahead of Haruna this time. "I just want to be away from her as soon as possible!" Kanako thought. While she sped away, she happened to look back and noticed Haruna and Akio talking. The conversation looked kinda heated to Kanako. "What are they talking about?" she wondered.

As Kanako guessed at what the topic of conversation could've been, Haruna fumed internally after Akio walked away from her. She hadn't reacted to his suggestion because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but inside... Haruna was borderline irate. "Why the hell do I keep getting pushed into spending more and more of my time with that idiot?!" she wondered angrily. "First I got roped into walking home with her, then my emotions got manipulated and I ended up agreeing to walk to school with her, and now this?! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Y'know, if you keep glaring like that, your face's gonna get all wrinkly by the time you're 30," Chiyo suddenly said, appearing next to Haruna and snapping her out of her mental rant. "Did you just get here?" she asked. "Nope! You were taking longer than normal, so I came to see if you were still over here or something," Chiyo said proudly. "So, something happen?"

Haruna considered whether she should say or not, but figuring Chiyo knew about the whole situation already, it's not like there was any point in leaving details out now. "Miyashita-kun just suggested to me that me and that dolt should eat lunch together..." she sighed. "Hmm... That might be nice. I kinda wanna meet Kana-chan. Oh wait, we did meet! So is it meet again?" As Chiyo pondered that line of thought, she noticed Haruna's glare getting worse. "Would it really be so bad to eat together?" she asked. "If I had to be in the same room with her as I ate, my food would lose all its flavor," Haruna spat.

Chiyo stared at Haruna. "Y'know Haru-chi? Sometimes I think you're really too hard on Kana-chan." "Haah?! Are you serious?! She deserves every bit of it!" Haruna shouted. Before Chiyo could respond, the bell rang, signaling class was beginning. Of course, a simple noise like that wasn't enough to deter Chiyo from saying what she wanted to say anyways.

"No one deserves to be treated like that..."

Now it was Haruna's turn to stare at Chiyo. However, she didn't have any sort of retort. Any chance of making one was taken away once Haruna saw Chiyo's face after she said that. Her usual smile and care-free attitude were gone, replaced by a gloom that could only be created through past pain and suffering. It was written all over her face that with the statement she made came memories that were better left forgotten.

Chiyo's dark expression didn't last long, and in a few mere moments she was back to her typical cheery self. "Welp, looks like we're late, ha ha," she said with a forced laugh. "C'mon Haru-chi, let's go!" While Chiyo walked away, Haruna couldn't help but wonder about what Chiyo had remembered to cause her to make such a sad face.

That wonder quickly turned back to anger though as Haruna sat in her seat. "Just thinking about being that close and sharing a meal together makes me want to vomit," she thought. "Seriously, what is Miyashita-kun thinking?"

The day dragged on, with Haruna's rage continuously building and building. Even during lunch, a time that she should be able to relax during, was filled with tension and awkwardness because of the conversation she had had with Chiyo earlier. "Damn it... this day really does suck." After lunch break, the day only got worse, with Haruna tripping during a run in P.E. and skinning her knee, then getting lectured by one of her teachers toward the end of the day for not putting enough effort into a paper she had turned in a few days ago.

When the time came around for Haruna to meet up with Kanako to go home, she was in a terribly foul mood.

That was something Kanako took note of as soon as she saw her. They may not had been friends by any stretch of the word over the last few years, but when you spend as much time together as they had in the past, you just automatically notice certain things. Whenever Haruna was like how she is now, that was something Kanako could pick up on from a mile away out of the corner of her eye. "Great, what happened today?" she wondered, dreading the trot home that would probably feel like leagues as opposed to the couple of miles it actually was.

"Come on dumbass, we're leaving," Haruna said in a mean tone. "Off to a wonderful start already..." Kanako sarcastically commented. As they walked, Haruna kept glaring at Kanako, to which Kanako had no guess for the reason why. "Stop looking at me like that," she thought. "I'm not going to attack you or anything."

Finally, Haruna opened her mouth since they left the school gate, and it wasn't pretty. "God damn it, this fucking sucks so much. It's so fucking dumb." Haruna's swearing was something that Kanako had never particularly cared for, but she tolerated it for the most part because it never really seemed to escalate to a serious level. That's why Kanako was surprised when she suddenly heard Haruna dropping F-bombs. Regardless, she felt like she needed to say something to try and diffuse those now falling explosive words.

"U-um, hey, Haruna? I know you're pretty mad right now, but c-could you maybe not be so vulgar with your word choice?" Kanako requested nervously. "Pretty mad?!" Haruna repeated. "Vulgar?! Are you fucking kidding me you shitty little mouse girl?!" Haruna was practically bellowing out the words like a sailor caught in a storm. "I don't give a damn about your prissy preferences! I'm pissed off and most of it is YOUR FAULT! AND MIYSHITA-KUN'S! AND CHIYO'S!"

"And you want to know what the best part of it is?" Haruna's voice level got lower, but the level of volatility got worse. "There's not a damn thing I can do about it. I'm stuck with you, the stupid, shitty fucking loser who wants only nice words and happy smiles! Well fuck you and your idiotic optimisim! You're pathetic and a crybaby anyways, you always have been! So why don't you just go and-"

SLAP!

Haruna's tirade was abruptly halted, the cause being Kanako's hand reaching as high as necessary to streak across Haruna's face. As Haruna's eyes shifted back to Kanako from the direction they had been sent on, the smaller girl stood there with a very pained and angry expression on her face. Haruna wanted to say something. She wanted to keep going, keep giving this girl that she couldn't stand chunks of her mind. But she couldn't. When Kanako was like this, it was like Haruna's body and mind fell under a spell of paralysis and obedience all at the same time.

"I know you hate me," Kanako began. "I know you hate this 'deal' too. There's no way I could forget with you harping on it every day on the way home. But that... all that stuff you just said... I don't care how you feel... Don't you dare speak to someone that way!" Kanako yelled, piercing Haruna with her gaze.

But while Haruna was held in place, Kanako pressed on. "Don't treat people like garbage! Don't act like they're beneath you just because there's something about them you don't like!" Kanako took a breath. "I put up with your sailor speech because I have to, but I will NOT allow you to take it further than you already do!" At this point, Kanako sounded more like a lecturing mother rather than another girl on even ground. Even so, Haruna listened. She listened to every single word that came through Kanako's lips and while she did, she felt two very conflicting emotions rising within her.

On the one hand, Haruna felt helpless and ashamed. She knew raising her voice the way she did and saying the things she did was wrong. And yet, on the other hand, there was what had been there for years: a constantly ebbing and flowing river of anger, disgust and hatred for this girl that was putting her in her place. In the end, it was that side that won out. However, even with its victory, Haruna was still left speechless.

Once the tempers cooled, their walk home continued, though this time Kanako was ahead of Haruna. At the moment, she felt like a child who had just been scolded. But still, the river inside her raged on. Two very different feelings could not coexist peacefully.

When they arrived, they separated without another word spoken between them. While Haruna went to sort out her emotions, Kanako headed inside her house and took off her shoes. She didn't get any farther than the first few steps beyond the divide of the entryway and hallway. Leaning against the wall, she slowly slid down it, with her butt thumping down onto the wooden floor.

Pulling her knees to her chest and putting her head on top of them, Kanako let out a long and trembling sigh.

"I'm exhausted..."

End of Chapter Five.