Chapter Sixteen: The Ride Home

"Ahh, I'm soo gonna miss this fluffy bed!" Chiyo said as she flopped down onto the sheets. "You have a bed at home," Haruna pointed out. "Yeah, but like, it's not the same y'know? Like, hotel beds are just different," Chiyo said. "I-I agree. B-But, then again, I-I sleep on a futon at h-home," Hinami chimed in. "I almost wish we could've had those instead. Nights on this trip would've been a lot more interesting, don't'cha think Haru-chi?" Chiyo said with a wink. Her face was then met with a pillow. "Shut up," Haruna muttered.

Sitting up, Chiyo smirked. "Oh, is that how it is?" "Is that how what- oomph!" Haruna began to say, but was cut off by a pillow to her own face. "You…" she growled. "Bring it on Haru-chi," Chiyo said, arming herself with another pillow. "A-Ah, g-guys, I-I-I don't know if y-you should does this," Hinami panicked. Next to her, Kanako sighed. "I doubt we can stop them now…"

And so, the war began. Haruna and Chiyo went at it for a while, throwing and whacking each other with pillows. They jumped all over the place, and while they did, Kanako and Hinami talked. "I-I'm glad that we cleared everything up," Hinami said. "Me too," Kanako agreed. "A-Although, I do feel a little bad. If I hadn't been acting like that, we all probably could've had a better time…" "I-It's okay. I still had l-lots of fun!" Hinami said happily. "Glad to hear it-" Kanako said, but just as she finished, a pillow hit her head.

"Oops. "Whoopsie."

Standing in front of her looking guiltier than ever were Haruna and Chiyo. At the same time, a teacher heard all of the noise coming from inside. They knocked, and Hinami answered, but just as the teacher entered the room, she found she had terrible timing.

"Hey… Haruna… Chiyo…" Kanako said, sounding particularly serious and scary. "I don't mind if you two want to have fun, but I would appreciate it if I didn't get hit by your stray misfires." Shaking, Haruna and Chiyo both quickly bowed. "S-Sorry Kanako!" "Really sorry!" Meanwhile, the innocent teacher trembled a bit behind her, as did Hinami, who was seeing Kanako's serious mode for the first time.

Once she saw her point had been made, Kanako turned around to see the teacher and Hinami. "Huh? A-Are you two okay?" she asked, completely bewildered as to why the two individuals looked a little scared. "Y-Yep, all good!" the teacher said before dashing out. "K-K-K-K-Kana-chan, y-you can get p-pretty s-s-scary huh…?" Hinami sputtered. "Scary?" Kanako repeated with a tilt of her head. "Why do people tell me that?"

After the sightseeing had concluded for the day, all of the students had been brought back to the hotel for their final night of the trip. Many of them elected to enjoy the hot spring baths as much as they could, with even a few forgoing dinner. Then, the next morning, they'd all head back to Iwanai. But in the meantime, the students were having all sorts of fun that they could before the trip was over. Chiyo and Haruna had been a part of that, but after Kanako's stern warning, they decided to tone it down a bit.

"I think I'm going to go get a drink," Kanako said. "Oh, I'll come with ya!" Chiyo said. So, the two girls made their way through the halls down to the vending machines. While making her selection, Chiyo started talking. "It looks like you figured out what was bothering you." Remembering one of their previous conversations, Kanako gave a slight smile. "Yeah, I did. I-I'm glad you didn't tell me. If you had, I don't think I would've dealt with my feelings properly. Now that I have, I feel like my heart's finally in the right place. I even got a new friend out of it too."

When both girls had their drinks, they sat down in a couple of nearby chairs. "I-I admit though, I feel kind of dumb for not realizing I was jealous," Kanako said. Chiyo shrugged. "I think it's fine. No one goes through the experience of love the same way. For some people, it's natural and everything just makes sense to them. But, for others, it's just one big muddled mess. It can be hard to make heads or tails of your feelings, even when you feel like they should be obvious."

"What about you Chiyo?" Kanako asked. "What about lil' ol' me?" Chiyo said. "W-Where are you on that scale?" Kanako asked. Chiyo thought for a moment. "Where am I, huh…?" she said softly, although it was clear her words carried great weight. "Chiyo?" Kanako said, but all she got in response was a big smile. "If that scale were a straight line, I probably completely veer off to the side!" What exactly that meant, Kanako couldn't say for sure, but she got the feeling she still understood.

"Now it's my turn to ask you a question," Chiyo said. "What are ya gonna do now?" "What am I going to do?" Kanako repeated. "Yeah. I mean, you figure out your heart and stuff, so that means you'll finally give Haru-chi an answer, right?" Chiyo explained. "O-Oh, that…" Kanako said.

Of course, she knew what was next. With her heart finally where it should be, Kanako knew she could give an answer to Haruna with real sincerity. However, for as badly as she wanted to give it as soon as possible, a part of her knew that it should be better than just spitting out a yes or no. Ideally, if her jealousy of Hinami hadn't happened, Kanako would've given her answer on a romantic evening during the school trip. Now though, with only the remainder of a night and a bus ride back left, it felt more like she'd be squeezing in an answer just for the sake of saying it on the school trip.

"I… do plan to tell Haruna how I feel," Kanako said, "But, I want it to be special. I want to be able to look back on that memory and smile." "Special, hm?" Chiyo said with a small smile. "Oh, then how about-" But before should could finish, Kanako put up a hand. "N-No, wait!" she said frantically. "I want to think about this on my own. If I need help, or if I really can't think of anything, then I'll ask you." For a moment, Chiyo was surprised, but then she broke into a smile of endearment. She placed her hand on Kanako's head and began rubbing it back and forth. "You really are growing up, aren't'cha Kana-chan?" Chiyo said half-seriously, half-teasing. "W-What's that supposed to mean? Geez…" Kanako pouted, but she couldn't help but think to herself, "It's times like these that Chiyo really does feel like a big sister."

When they got back to the room, they found Haruna and Hinami sitting on one of the beds. "Oooh, were you two talking about something fun?" Chiyo asked. "Not really," Haruna answered. "I was just explaining the rules to a card game." "Card game?" Kanako repeated. "Yeah. Remember that game we used to play where we'd guess whether the card was higher or lower?" "Oh yeah!" Kanako exclaimed. "Wow, that was so long ago…" "Yamane-san and I were getting a little bored, and then she said she had a deck of cards, so I suggested it," Haruna explained. "I wanna play!" Chiyo said excitedly. "Sure. You in Kanako?" Haruna asked. Kanako nodded.

With that, Haruna told Chiyo the rules and reminded Kanako. The rules were pretty simple. The main number was seven, and one person would guess if another person's card was higher or lower than that. If they were right, they got that person's card and got to go again. If they were wrong, their turn ended. "By the way, aces are the highest, and if someone has a seven, they can deny both higher and lower, so it usually takes three turns to get the card from them," Haruna said, finishing her explanation. "Seems pretty easy," Chiyo said. "So whoever ends up with the most cards wins?" "Yeah,"Haruna said. "Feels like it's lacking some spice," Chiyo commented. "Hey, how about whoever finishes last has to do what the winner says?" "Where'd you get that, a manga?" Haruna retorted. "C'mon, won't it be boring if there are no consequences?" Chiyo said. "I wouldn't mind having some consequences if it wasn't for the fear of wondering what you'd order me or someone else to do," Haruna said. In the end, it was decided that the winner could give an order, but if that winner was Chiyo, she was limited to things on the tier of buying a drink or carrying something for her.

Once that was decided, each girl drew a card, and then Haruna went first. Out of the other three, she was free to choose whoever she wanted. "Kanako," she said. "Of course it's me…" Kanako sighed. "Alright, what's your guess?" "Higher," Haruna said. "You got it…" Kanako groaned, handing the card over and drawing another. "K-Kana-chan, you don't seem so excited," Hinami noticed. "Well, I remembered just as we started playing that Haruna used to beat me in this all the time. It's almost entirely a guessing game, but somehow she'd always mop the floor with me…" Kanako explained.

Next, Haruna chose Chiyo. "You sure you wanna take me on?" she said, trying to sound intimidating. "Yep. Lower," Haruna said. "Well shoot," Chiyo said, then tossed her card. Two more rounds went by before another person got a turn. Next up was Hinami.

"S-So I just pick someone a-and guess?" she asked. "That's right," Haruna said. "O-Okay, then… um, h-how about K-Kana-chan?" "Sure," Kanako said. "Higher or lower?" "L-Lower!" Hinami declared, but she was met with a crossing of arms by Kanako. "Nope, sorry!" she said with a laugh. Following Hinami was Chiyo. "I pick Kana-chan!" "Ugh, it's always me…" Kanako groaned. As it turned out, Chiyo was pretty good too, as she went five turns in a row before losing.

The game went on, and it didn't take long until only Chiyo and Haruna remained as people with chances at victory. There were only a few cards left, and it was currently Haruna's turn. "Higher," she said with determination. "Ooh, so close Haru-chi," Chiyo said mockingly. "But not quite. "Damn… I guessed lower last time, so you have a seven don't you?" Haruna said. "Who can say?" Chiyo said whimsically. "Too bad for you though Haru-chi. With the way the math works out, if get this card from you, I win." "Ugh…" Haruna let out. For a moment, the two girls stared each other down. Then,

"Lower!"

"Damn it!"

With that, Chiyo was the victor. "Hurray, I win!" the gal celebrated. "And let's see… who got the lowest amount of cards?" "T-That's me…" Hinami said meekly. "Aw, poor Hinami-chan," Chiyo said. "Don't worry, I won't make you do anything too hard." After thinking for a moment, Chiyo came up with her request. "Sit with me on the ride back tomorrow!"

"Huh?" Hinami let out. "T-That's it?" "Yep! That's it! Totes easy, right?" Chiyo said with a big smile. Even Haruna and Kanako were surprised, although one of them had an idea of why Chiyo asked for something like that. "Could she… be making it so Haruna and I can sit together?" Kanako wondered. If that was the case, she was certainly grateful. Honestly, Kanako had been thinking about asking Hinami if they could trade seats for tomorrow anyways. It wasn't like there were assigned seats or anything, but the entire trip had been Haruna and Hinami in one set of seats, then Chiyo and Kanako in the one behind them. "But now, I'll finally get to sit with Haruna," Kanako thought with glee. It wasn't much, but a three hour drive sounded like plenty to her knowing she was going to get to spend that time with her crush.

*****

When the morning came, it was time for all of the second-years to pack up their things, climb aboard the buses and begin making their way back to Iwanai. Many of them were quite sluggish after three-days worth of activities plus all of the fun they were having last night. So with weary arms and legs, the students managed to get everything on the buses, including themselves.

Most of them chose to sit in the same spots they had all trip, but there was at least one exception among them. Toward the back, Chiyo was now sitting with Hinami, and in front of them, Kanako was sitting with Haruna. "This is how it should be," Chiyo said quietly with a smile. "Y-Yes," Hinami agreed. "I-If I would've known, I-I would've let Kana-chan sit with E-Endo-san earlier."

In the seats ahead of them, two girls looked rather happy. "It feels kinda lame to be this excited, but I can't help it," Haruna thought. "I haven't been able to sit with Kanako all trip, and now we get to be together for the whole ride home!" Next to her, Kanako was thinking much the same. "Haruna's next to me… I'm so happy!"

As the wheels began to turn, the buses slowly pulled out of their parking spots before getting onto the main road. Picking up speed, the Sapporo Comfort Hot Spring Inn faded into the distance. "It sure was fun," Kanako said as she watched it disappear. "Yeah," Haruna agreed. "I got to see and try so many new things." "I hope the next time we take a trip, it's even better," Kanako said. "You know that this is the only one right?" Haruna said. "R-Right," Kanako said, then thought, "That's not what I meant…"

Of course, what she had meant was that she hoped the next trip she went on would be even better than the one that had just finished, but she meant it just for Haruna. Sometime, whether it be sooner or far in the future, Kanako wanted to take a special trip, just the two of them. They could see all sorts of things, try all different kinds of foods and make lots of memories.

She wanted to explain all of that to Haruna, but she stopped herself. "A little bit longer…" she thought. "I just need to hold myself back a little bit longer." The time for Kanako to give her answer was coming very soon, but she didn't want to accidentally rush things by making comments that might let her answer slip. She knew that was childish, and perhaps even a mistake if it really was true that she was running out of time. However, Kanako wanted that moment to be special. She wanted to be able to look back on it and know it was the perfect start to her story together with Haruna. "A little longer…" she repeated once more.

Unconsciously, Kanako's hand drifted toward Haruna's. Her fingers brushed up against Haruna's, and at first the girl flinched. Holding hands was no longer as natural between them as it used to be, and yet it seemed to keep happening upon Kanako's insistence. Looking at her, Haruna was about to say something, but she noticed that Kanako looked like she was lost in thought. "What…?" Haruna thought. Her flinching had already pulled her hand away a little, but Kanako's had pursued, and before she knew it, their fingers were intertwining.

Haruna stared at their hands now held together. It made her happy that Kanako reached out like that without even thinking, but at the same time, it confused her. In fact, for the whole trip, Haruna had felt confused more than anything. There had been whatever Kanako's problem with Hinami had been. There was the night in the baths together, which ended with Haruna fainting. But perhaps the moment that stood out the most was when Haruna had asked for Kanako's answer again and once again had gotten neither a yes nor a no. Ever since then, Haruna had been feeling uneasy.

Throughout the third day of the trip, Haruna had tried her best to enjoy the scenery, but inside, she was troubled. No matter how she looked at it, it felt like Kanako just kept going back and forth. As soon as Haruna thought Kanako was going to turn her down, she'd do something that made it seem like she was interested in Haruna. But, it felt like as soon as Haruna started to believe that, Kanako would pull away.

To Haruna, that pulling away, that creation of distance, is what stood out the most. It wasn't unusual for girls to be intimate to some degree, so it was easy for Haruna to explain away those moments with Kanako. The distance, though… that was not so easily explained. Although, perhaps that wasn't right. It wasn't so much that it wasn't easily explained, as much as it was the most probable explanation was one that Haruna didn't want. "If she keeps pulling away from me, then doesn't that mean she's going to reject me?" That felt like the natural conclusion.

Worry continued to seep into Haruna's heart, but she also couldn't fend off the exhaustion either. It was still morning, but so much had happened that it made it hard to stay awake. Combine that with the thinking that Haruna was doing, and it wasn't long before her eyelids began to droop. Little by little, she started to nod off, until finally, she was fast asleep.

Next to her, still holding her hand, Kanako continued to think about her own feelings. The biggest question she currently had was when she was going to confess. But, as she thought about that, she also had a vague sense of worry. Suddenly, the look on Haruna's face came to mind. It was the look she had had when Kanako hadn't given her an answer when they were in the park. That expression was cemented in Kanako's mind. Haruna had looked so crestfallen, and that look had hurt Kanako's heart. At the time, she just knew she couldn't give an answer, but now that she was in a position that she could, it hurt all the more. "If only… I could've told her yes then…" she thought.

Glancing at the girl next to her, Kanako saw Haruna had fallen asleep. A part of her was a little bothered by that. She had hoped that the two of them could've talked all the way back. But, seeing Haruna's sleeping face was nice too. "She always looks so gentle when she's asleep," Kanako thought. Leaning up against the window, Haruna's jet black hair hung loosely across her face. Her lips were slightly parted, and her breathing was relaxed. Kanako watched as Haruna's shoulders and chest rose and fell with each breath. The longer she stared, the more enamored she became.

Haruna's soft cheeks. The slight puff of her pink lips. The silkiness of her hair. Her eyelashes, long and lush. Her nose, perfectly fitted to her face. The cute ears on either side of her head. Her slender, attractive nape. Haruna's slender frame, her evenly toned arms exposed after taking off her coat, and below that, her long, strong legs. Kanako took it all in and more. "I want it…" she thought vaguely. "I want all of it…"

Before she realized it, her free hand was reaching out, but just as it did, the bus hit a bump in the road. "Wah!" Kanako let out. Next to her, Haruna's eyes fluttered open. "Mm?" she moaned. Looking to her right, she saw the window. Then, looking to her left, she saw a surprised Kanako, hand still halfway outstretched. Luckily for Kanako though, Haruna was still half-asleep. She thought nothing of the scene before her, and then her eyes closed all the way again.

Kanako let out a breath of relief. "Honestly, what was I even going to do?" she wondered, but just as she thought she was in the clear, Haruna shifted. The girl slid down her chair a little and leaned, and as she did, her head made its descent, landing squarely on Kanako's shoulder. "A-Ah…" she let out.

It was impossible. It was just all too much. Kanako couldn't stop herself. She looked around, first ahead of her, then to her side. A few people were awake at the front of the bus, but for the most part, the others around her were asleep. Carefully, so as not to wake Haruna, Kanako checked behind her. Chiyo and Hinami too had both drifted off. The coast was clear.

"Sorry Haruna," Kanako thought. "But just… let me indulge myself… a little…" Bringing up that still outstretched hand, Kanako cradled Haruna's head. Slowly, she brought her lips up, and then lightly, ever-so lightly, Kanako placed a kiss on the top of Haruna's head. Her eyes closed, and she let her lips sit there for a second, then another, and then one more. When she finally removed them, Kanako was careful to leave Haruna's position exactly as it was. Then, in the quietest of tones, she whispered.

"Sweet dreams, my dearest Haruna."

End of Chapter Sixteen.