49 Chapter Five: An Unwanted Presence

On the night of Akio breaking his own deal and Haruna finding out that Chiyo had been helping him, Haruna had gone home and straight to her room. She had no idea how to feel anymore. Not only had she lost her way to get closer to Kanako, but now she felt betrayed by the girl that she thought of as her best friend.

Haruna wanted to be mad. She wanted to treat her current situation just like the last time, when she had ended her friendship with Kanako. But, things were different now. Making up with Kanako had helped Haruna to think a little more clearly about the relationships around her. That was why while Haruna was certainly angry, she couldn't find it within her to cut ties with Chiyo. "She hasn't done anything wrong, I guess..." Haruna mumbled. Even if Chiyo had given Haruna a heads-up about what Akio was going to do, it wouldn't have changed anything. The deal still would've ended and Haruna still would've been left with no clue for what she was going to do next.

But knowing that didn't make things magically better. The fact remained that Chiyo had known something that she should've told Haruna, at least that's how Haruna felt about it. "Why didn't she just tell me?" she wondered. "Did she think I'd be mad about it either way?" Haruna thought about her own question for a moment. "...Maybe I would've been..."

She couldn't deny it. Truthfully, even when Haruna's heart leaned toward Akio, she still hadn't liked the idea of him spying on her and Kanako while they faked being a couple. Something about it had always rubbed her the wrong way. Part of that was that most people in general don't like to be watched like animals in a zoo, but the other reason was more personal. It was something that Haruna had had difficulty putting into words, but once she had realized her feelings, it had all become really clear. When Haruna spent her time with Kanako, she wanted that to be all to herself and no one else.

It sounded possessive, but Haruna knew that it would be unreasonable to want to keep Kanako only to herself. After all, not only Kanako, but Haruna as well did have social lives. They both had friends (who had, for the most part, become friends with each other as well), and they had differing club activities. Overall, Haruna had no problems with sharing Kanako, even if that included Michi.

However, it was in those quiet moments where her hidden possessiveness took hold. In those moments where it felt like she and Kanako were the only two people around. When they held hands on their way to and from school, when they had little conversations and even just exchanging glances. Those precious moments were the ones that Haruna wanted for only her and Kanako to be a part of.

It was true that Akio's presence had faded, but Chiyo's was the same as always. Looking back, Haruna wondered if all those questions Chiyo had asked had been a way for her to obtain information to relay to Akio. "It all sounds like some big conspiracy," Haruna sighed. Maybe it wasn't so bad, she began thinking. It's not as if there was really anything to hide, and even if Akio did know more than he should, it wasn't like he ever did anything with that information anyways. Knowing that though didn't do much to relieve Haruna of her anger and pain. Regardless of how much damage had actually been done, it didn't change the fact that Haruna felt betrayed.

"She said she did it for my sake... but what does that even mean?" Haruna wondered. She had left Chiyo behind before she got any answers. "After saying I didn't want to see her, how can I even ask her about it now?" Haruna thought as she laid on her bed.

While trying to figure out what she'd do next, Haruna suddenly heard a voice. "Haruna?" it called. Looking up, she saw Kanako standing in her doorway, still in uniform. "Oh, hey Kanako," Haruna said casually. Then what she was seeing set in. Haruna's body rocketed into an upright position. "K-Kanako?!" she exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?! How'd you even get in?" Haruna asked. "W-Well, I was worried about you, s-so I followed you home. Your mom let me in and said it'd be okay to come up. S-Should I go?" Kanako explained nervously. "No, um, it's fine, you can stay..." Haruna said shyly.

Haruna certainly had a lot on her mind at the moment, but once she had realized who was in her room, a singular concern jumped to the forefront of her mind. "This is the first time Kanako's been in my room since I realized I like her," Haruna thought. Thinking that suddenly made Haruna a lot more nervous. "Huh? Why am I nervous? Kanako's been in my room hundreds of times before." She told herself that, but Haruna still couldn't shake the nerves.

For a few seconds Kanako glanced around before breaking into a gentle smile. "Nothing in here has really changed, has it?" "Why does that seem like it makes you happy?" Haruna asked. "I don't know. I guess it's just comforting," Kanako answered simply. "Hm?" she let out, noticing a picture frame. Walking over toward it, she picked it up from the desk it was sitting on. "Where did you get this picture?" Kanako asked.

In her hand was a gloss-black picture frame containing a photo. The scene being depicted was from the summer festival Haruna and Kanako had gone to. In it, the two girls were walking together closely, hand in hand. Haruna was smiling at Kanako, and Kanako was looking at Haruna, appearing to be happily talking about something.

"Oh yeah. I got that from Chiyo. Apparently she took it while we weren't looking," Haruna said. After the chaos of that night, Haruna had gotten a text from Chiyo. There hadn't been any caption. The picture had been the only thing in the message. Haruna liked it so much that she had had it printed and framed, although she hadn't ever considered the possibility of Kanako seeing it. Now that she had, Haruna felt a little embarrassed. "I see," Kanako said as she smiled at the picture. "It's a lovely picture."

Haruna got up and stood next to Kanako, joining her in looking at the photo. "Yeah, I really like it too." While continuing to stare at the memory, Haruna couldn't help but laugh at herself a little. "I guess my feelings were already pretty obvious, weren't they?" she thought. Kanako noticed Haruna's reaction and gave a little tilt of her head in confusion, but she didn't ask what that reaction could've meant. Instead, she asked about something else.

"S-Speaking of Chiyo..." Kanako began, unsure if she should go on. Haruna looked at her, the good mood she had had now replaced with a mix of emotions. "What about Chiyo?" she asked. "Well... d-do you really think Chiyo was trying to hurt you?" Kanako asked. Haruna averted her eyes from the girl in front of her. "I know she didn't mean to... It's just... complicated, that's all," Haruna answered. Kanako stared, not understanding why Haruna had said it was complicated. "But did she do something so bad?" Kanako asked. "Right, she didn't hear what Miyashita-kun said to me," Haruna remembered, then, "Chiyo was basically spying on us and telling Miyashita-kun about it. Is that okay with you?"

Kanako thought for a moment. "We were supposed to be a convincing couple, weren't we? Akio-kun couldn't know unless he had a way of watching us." Haruna was a little surprised. "You say that like it's normal." Having that pointed out, Kanako faltered. "I-It's... not normal, b-but I'm sure Akio-kun has his reasons. Besides, he was right. This whole situation did get us to be friends again." Haruna stared at Kanako before letting out a sigh. "That may have worked out, but that doesn't mean it was okay. I mean, doesn't it bother you having your privacy violated like that?"

It was clear from looking at Kanako's face that she wasn't sure how to answer. "M-Maybe... things did go a little too far..." she said reluctantly. "But I never really noticed, s-so how bad could it have been?" Haruna looked Kanako dead in the eyes. "Kanako," she said pointedly. "Are you saying that because that's what you think, or are you saying that because of your feelings for Miyashita-kun?"

Kanako froze. "I-I..." she stuttered. "I knew it," Haruna thought bitterly. "If something involves him, she won't fully think it through. It's just like when she agreed to the deal in the first place. No second thoughts at all." Meanwhile, Kanako remained silent. It bothered Haruna, seeing the girl she loved giving so much thought to the question. "Why does she have to be so head-over-heels for him?" Haruna wondered bitterly.

Finally, Kanako let out a quiet breath. "Spying on other people is wrong..." she said. "Was it that hard to realize that?" Haruna asked. "S-Sorry... I guess you were right... My feelings for Akio-kun were kind of twisting my thinking a bit..." Kanako admitted. "But, even so... does that really mean Chiyo has to be the bad guy?"

Haruna sat down on the edge of her bed, keeping her eyes pointed at the floor. "I don't know... how to feel about what she did..." Haruna mumbled. "I don't want to fight with her but..." Kanako watched Haruna contemplate the issue. "I-I'm sure if you two talked about it, everything would be okay," she said, trying to be optimistic. "You don't get it Kanako," Haruna said softly. "What she did... and what Miyashita-kun did... it's just... really unfair."

Kanako joined Haruna on the bed. "Then help me understand," she said kindly. Suddenly, Haruna realized just how close the two of them were. Kanako's face was inches from hers, and it displayed an honest desire to know exactly how Haruna was feeling. However, being confronted with such a sight, it caused Haruna to wonder something else. "If I told her my feelings right now, what would she do...?"

Truly, the biggest issue Haruna was facing was that she no longer had an excuse to be intimate with Kanako. Of course, the reason she wanted to be so close was because of her feelings. "If I tried to explain that, would she believe me?" Haruna thought.

"Hey, Kanako..."

The girl next to her continued to hold her gaze. "Yes?" she said, waiting to hear more.

"If I said... that I..."

Kanako kept staring. Haruna's face burned.

"T-That... I..."

The words felt like they were stuck in Haruna's throat. "What, Haruna?" Kanako asked, apparently hanging on each of Haruna's halting words. "Looking at me like that makes this even harder," Haruna thought. However, the highest hurdle was still that Haruna herself still felt she wasn't ready to reveal her feelings she was keeping inside.

"...Never mind. Forget it," Haruna said, making it clear with her face that she would say no more. Kanako wanted to know, but Haruna's expression told her enough. Getting up, she began to head toward the door when she stopped and looked back. "I know you said I don't understand, but you should really make up with Chiyo sooner rather than later. Keeping things the way they are now will only hurt more in the long run. S-Speaking from experience, anyways..." Haruna kept looking away. "...Right," was all she said. At least getting confirmation that she had been heard, Kanako said a short good night before leaving the Endo residence.

Once she was gone, Haruna flopped onto her back. "I'm not sure if I failed... or if I somehow saved myself from humiliation..."

*****

The next morning resulted in further awkwardness for Haruna. When she woke Kanako up, she had been quite confused as to why Haruna was there. "If our deal is over, then you don't have to keep waking me up do you?" Kanako asked. Deciding to ignore the question, Haruna just rushed her along instead.

But it wasn't unavoidable for long, because as soon as they began walking to school, Haruna automatically went to take Kanako's hand. Feeling them connect, Kanako was surprised. "H-Haruna, why are you..." she trailed off. "You know we don't have to hold hands anymore, r-right?" The girl to her side was trying her best to come up with any sort of excuse. "What am I supposed to say?" Haruna wondered. She had been worried about how she'd handle not having the convenience of the excuse of their deal to fall back on, but ultimately she had decided on just trying to act like nothing had changed. Now faced with having to provide an answer for her actions, Haruna's mind raced.

"I'm doing it... because I want to..." she finally mumbled. It was the best response she could come up with. "You want to?" Kanako repeated, a bit confused by Haruna's answer. "Y-Yeah... I mean, it's not so weird for friends to want to make sure the other is on time for school is it?" she asked. "A-And, um, girls hold hands all the time... that's pretty normal right? So can't we just keep doing this?" The way Haruna asked her questions was almost more for herself than they were for Kanako. She wanted to convinced herself as much as she did the girl standing beside her that her actions were justified.

For a moment, Kanako remained silent in thought. "A-Alright," she said, agreeing with a certain amount of embarrassment. Haruna was surprised by how easily Kanako agreed with her, but she took that answer and held it close. "As long as I can keep doing this..." Haruna thought. Although, the question of why Kanako had agreed so easily did linger in the back of Haruna's mind.

Of course, things didn't stay so simple. Over the course of the next week, a boy had begun to show up, intruding on the private moments that Haruna had wished to keep to herself. It wasn't inconceivable for him to appear. He and the two girls both did live on the same street, with the boy only being a little ways down the road.

And so, on yet another morning, Akio joined Haruna and Kanako on their way to school. "Good morning you two," he said pleasantly. "G-Good morning Akio-kun," Kanako said shyly. Haruna only stared at him. "You know Haruna-chan, it's polite to give greetings to people," Akio said jokingly. "That's only if a person wants to be polite," Haruna said back harshly. Exchanges like these had been occurring regularly throughout the week. However, there was still one more party to add to the mix.

"Heya everybody!" a cheery voice called. Like clockwork, it had become common that as soon as Akio showed up, Chiyo would follow. With her appearance, the uncomfortable air was complete. To summarize, Haruna wanted to be alone with Kanako, Kanako didn't mind having Akio around, Akio was there for reasons still unknown, and Chiyo was trying to make the best of a bad situation that she had partially caused while trying to also make up with Haruna.

"Good morning Chiyo," Kanako said happily. "Hey Haru-chi," Chiyo said sheepishly. "Hey," was all Haruna said in return. Chiyo clearly looked down by the less than enthusiastic response. It wasn't unusual for Haruna to not put a whole lot of energy in her replies to Chiyo, but it was the sheer lack of it that was evident. "Don't look so sad Chiyo. At least you got a 'hey,'" Akio said as he nudged the gal. "Ahaha..." Chiyo said, feigning a laugh.

This entire conversation surmised how most mornings had gone over the past week. As Kanako watched it all unfold once again, she understood most of what was going on, but there was one part that she didn't. "Why does it seem like Chiyo doesn't want to be around Akio?" she wondered. They weren't openly fighting, but it was obvious that there was something between them that could definitely be described as rocky. "Haruna made it sound like they were working together to watch us, so shouldn't they be on good terms?"

Interrupting her train of thought was Akio. "So Kana-chan, how's cooking club going? Make anything amazing?" he asked. "I-I don't know about amazing," Kanako said. "Hey, maybe you could make me something? I love getting to try your cooking Kana-chan," Akio suggested. "O-Okay!" Kanako said, perking up at the idea. Haruna glared at Akio, who pretended not to notice.

Recently, Haruna had picked up on an emerging pattern. After all of the uncomfortable morning exchanges, Akio would immediately shift the conversation to between him and Kanako. With Haruna still being at odds with Chiyo, anything they tried to talk about quickly died out, leaving the two of them to just listen in on the other two's conversation. "What is he doing?" Haruna wondered, annoyed. "What's the point of him tagging along with us in the mornings?"

Haruna had tried to ask Akio those exact questions when he had first started joining the morning routine, but naturally, he didn't give Haruna a straight answer. "All he said was something like, 'can't I spend time with my childhood friends?'" She scoffed at the notion. Perhaps a part of that was true, but Haruna knew better by this point than to accept that as the whole truth. Now that their deal was over, it probably made sense that they could all just go back to being good friends like the used to be. "...Like hell it makes sense," Haruna thought, rethinking her previous assessment. "He knows I like Kanako, so there's no way we could all be 'just friends' again."

After finding out about what Chiyo had been doing for Akio, Haruna had been giving it a lot of thought. Eventually, she realized something. If Chiyo had been relaying information to Akio, then that most likely meant that Akio knew with 100 percent certainty that Haruna was in love with Kanako. Haruna had yet to confront Akio about it to find out for sure, but she had a feeling she was right. "So then what's Miyashita-kun's plan?" she wondered.

Through the whole school day Haruna tried to figure it out, but to no avail. Firstly, she really wasn't sure what angle to take. Was Akio just trying to mend friendships? Or, was there something more to his actions? Secondly, there was a major distraction surrounding Haruna. Ever since their confrontation with one another, Haruna had felt Chiyo's eyes on her. It felt like a puppy begging for forgiveness. However, for as much as Haruna did just want to forgive her and move on, she just couldn't. Even if things had worked out surprisingly well with Kanako, the fact still remained that Chiyo had been telling Akio everything. As far as Haruna knew, nothing she had done so far was private, at least as long as Chiyo had been around to witness it.

And yet, Haruna remained conflicted. Should she stay mad at Chiyo for what felt like a betrayal? Or should she forgive Chiyo for just trying to help Haruna in her own way? "Ugh, I don't know..." Haruna sighed internally. As soon as she landed on one side, she'd immediately feel pulled toward the other.

Continuing as things had been, lunch served to be incredibly awkward as well. It had gotten to the point where Jasmine had just start leaving Chiyo and Haruna on their own. When Chiyo had tried getting her to stick around, Jasmine had only replied with "Nah, this is boring. And kinda stupid." After the first lunch they'd all had together, Jasmine had noticed the tension right away, so she had asked about it. Chiyo had filled her in on the details, and since then, Jasmine had become less and less interested. "Just kiss and make up," Jasmine said, her only advice to both Chiyo and Haruna.

Also to their surprise, Jasmine informed them that she was going to go eat with Mayu and Itsuki. "I thought they ate with Mi-chan and Kana-chan?" Chiyo asked. "Both you two and them are acting all weird, so we're makin' our own little group. Let us know when you stop all this drama stuff," Jasmine said, giving a wave before leaving. And so lunch went on, and once again on their own, both Chiyo and Haruna failed to fix anything between them.

*****

With the second term newly beginning, that also meant that it was finally time for Haruna's club activities to begin. Being a part of the Girls Snowboarding and Skiing Club, that meant conditioning. Actual competitions wouldn't start until early to mid-November. Considering there wouldn't be any snow on the ground until then, conditioning would just gradually turn into practice without snow.

"Come on, come on girls! You're gonna need to be able to move quicker than that!" Izumi called from the side of the track. "Why aren't you doing this too?" a new girl complained. "Third-years needn't trouble themselves with such lowly jaunts!" Izumi boasted back. "Hey President, your egotism is showing again," Haruna said as she passed by.

Currently there were four main members in the club, Izumi and Haruna included. At the moment, they had successfully recruited three other girls, but whether or not they'd stick around was honestly a toss-up. Member count wasn't a big deal for them though, as they worked in tandem with the Boy's Snowboarding and Skiing Club. As long as both clubs together held four members, they remained active. Of course, the idea was for both sides to actually work together, but it hadn't taken long for them to split back into boys and girls after the originally agreement. They even traveled separately for meets.

For conditioning, they did the typical exercises one would expect. They ran, they lifted weights and did essentially all of the miserable parts of sports training. Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, the girls of the club practiced for two hours, or until Izumi got bored and left. "If she's going to get that bored, she might as well do the practice too," Haruna had thought.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, two hours passed and Izumi released everyone. "Good work today! Rest up over the weekend, because we're ramping it up even more next week!" Izumi declared. "President, you're going to scare the new recruits away," Haruna commented. "Ah, don't worry about it! They'll probably end up being your problem anyways!" Izumi said like it was obvious. "My problem?!" Haruna exclaimed, then thought, "Is she going to make ME president?!"

But Haruna didn't get the chance to ask, because before she did, she saw a girl standing from a distance. The girl was looking in the direction of the track, and with the fading sunlight, her frame was highlighted quite beautifully. "Hey, hey, ain't that Kana-chan?" Izumi asked, catching sight of the girl. "Yeah, that's her," Haruna confirmed, taking a drink of her water. "She's your girlfriend, right?" Izumi asked. Haruna choked on her water. "S-She's... not..." Haruna managed to say after recovering. "Really, really? I coulda sworn everybody in school was sayin' it though!" Izumi said, pondering the rumor. "How'd you even hear about something like that when you're a third-year?" Haruna asked. "Us third-years got the rumor mill running right with us. We've been here the longest y'know? Of course we'd know what's goin' on," "I guess that makes sense," Haruna commented.

"Still though, that Kana-chan is pretty cute," Izumi remarked, looking at Haruna with a teasing expression. Haruna looked away. "Shouldn't you be getting home President?" she said. "Oh, right, right! Well, see ya later!" Izumi said, then she took off. "She really is too much like Chiyo..." Haruna thought.

After ridding herself of the tiny yet energetic president, Haruna grabbed her things and headed into the locker room. She changed quickly, not wanting to keep Kanako waiting any longer. When she reached her, Haruna said as much. "You don't have to wait like this." "I-I know, but I thought we were going to just keep doing things like how we had been, weren't we? And besides, y-you waited for me plenty, so it's only fair I wait for you now that your club's started," Kanako explained. They had already had this conversation once before, but after hearing it a second time, Haruna just felt relieved. "She really is just going with what I said," she thought, somewhat in disbelief at her own good luck.

However, her relief didn't last long. To her surprise, Haruna saw Akio approaching. "Hey you two," he said casually. "A-Akio-kun?" Kanako said, clearly surprised as well by the boy's appearance. "I thought I'd walk home with you two. Is that alright?" "W-Were you waiting this whole time?" Kanako asked. "Yeah, but I did get my homework done in the meantime," Akio said. "So how about it Haruna-chan? Is it okay if I join you?"

Haruna was glaring harshly at Akio. This was the first time he had shown up after school. "So mornings aren't enough for you?" she mumbled under her breath. "Fine, whatever," she then said louder, marching along and right past both Akio and Kanako. "H-Hey, Haruna, wait up!" Kanako called, jogging to catch up to her. Akio quickly followed, making it a trio on their way home.

As they walked, Haruna never went to grab Kanako's hand. She was too annoyed by the fact that Akio was around. "Why is he even here?" she thought angrily. While she stewed, Akio kept talking to Kanako. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, which only irked Haruna even more.

"Right Haruna-chan?" Akio said, suddenly turning the conversation to her. "Right what?" she repeated bitterly. "Were you not paying attention at all? It hurts when you ignore people Haruna-chan," Akio teased. "I-It's okay Haruna. We weren't talking about anything important," Kanako chimed in. Haruna remained silent. "Oh, looks like we're here," Akio said, seeing the two girls' houses up ahead.

Just as they were about to split, Haruna spoke up. "Kanako, you go ahead. I want to talk to Miyashita-kun for a minute," she said. "O-Okay..." Kanako said. She was worried to leave the two of them alone, but after getting a nod from Akio, she seemed to be fine enough with it and left to go inside. Now both standing on the sidewalk, Haruna and Akio stared at each other in silence before Haruna finally asked the question on her mind.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Akio asked, playing innocent. "Coming to school with us was one thing, but now you're going out of your way to come home with us too? What's your deal?" Haruna asked, her questions gaining an accusing tone. "What's my deal, huh?" Akio said, looking off to the side as he contemplated the question. Then, "Hey, Haruna-chan..."

"...how would you feel if I took Kana-chan from you?"

His question was asked with such ease, but there was definite meaning behind it. "...What?" Haruna said. She was waiting for Akio to say he was joking or for him to give her one of his smug looks, but the boy did nothing of the sort. He continued to look away from her to the side, his face completely serious.

"...You already know how I feel about her, so why would you even say something like that?" Haruna asked angrily. "Oh, so Chiyo did tell you about her role in my plan," Akio said, realizing Haruna knew about Chiyo giving him information. Haruna couldn't tell if he had meant that to sound as devious as it did. "She didn't tell me directly, but it wasn't hard to put it together," Haruna said quietly. "But... What the hell do you mean, 'take her from me?'"

Akio turned his back to Haruna. "It's exactly as it sounds. Because, you know Haruna-chan, love doesn't always go how you hope." Then Akio began to walk away. "Hey! Get back here you jerk! Give me a better explanation!" Haruna yelled, but Akio didn't listen. The girl was left on the sidewalk by herself. Gritting her teeth and clenching her fist, Haruna felt like she had just been given a declaration of war.

"I won't let you have her. I won't."

End of Chapter Five.