Chapter Text
Kazuya lay on his bed , watching the scene unfolding in front of him . Mizuhara Chizuru was standing at the foot of his bed . She was dressed in a skimpy pink top ,white shorts that did little to cover the snow white skin of her thighs and a black hoodie that barely hung on to her shoulders. .Her cheeks was bright red , her mouth was slightly open but it was her expression that surprised him the most . A lustful gaze danced through her face .
Mizuhara suddenly spoke.
" Won't you give it to me ? "
Kazuya stammered in response,
" G..Give what ? "
Mizuhara suddenly dropped to her knees , on the bed . She began to crawl forward , closer and closer to him . She spoke in a breathy whisper ,
" Won't you give it to me ? What I really want ? "
She inched closer to him and stretched out her hand , reaching for the drawstrings of his shorts . Kazuya was frozen in shock but managed to ask ,
" Mizuhara , what are you doing ? "
" I'm taking what I've wanted for so long . You have to give it to me . Do you want me to beg for it ? "
She paused and spoke in a sultry whisper ,
" Kazuya , please give it to me . Give me your most precious ... "
Kazuya could feel his self control slipping away . Mizuhara finished her sentence.
" Money " .
" What ? " , he cried .
The scene changed . Kazuya was standing in his family's sake shop . His family was behind him . Mizuhara was standing, fully dressed in front of him . She held out her hand and spoke in a curt tone.
" Come on , time to pay me . You haven't paid for your last three dates . Don't you want me to continue as your rental girlfriend? "
Kazuya could hear the shocked gasp from his family . He turned and saw them stare at him with disgust . He heard the sound of laughter coming from the right side. He turned to see Mami and his other friends laughing at him . He began to whisper ,
" No . No . It's not like that " .
Kazuya's eyes snapped open . He breathed a sigh of relief . It had just been a dream . He looked around and realized that he was in class, at college. Thankfully the professor hadn't noticed him sleeping. He waited until the class was over and headed outside . He looked for his buddies and found them in conversation with three girls , about their age . Kazuya knew who they were, Kawanaka Satou , Kirishima Yoko and of course Ichinose Chizuru .
Kazuya sighed and headed towards them . Neither he nor Mizuhara had any idea how their friend circles had converged but both their sets of friends were getting on with each other very well . Thankfully, his thickheaded friends had no idea that Ichinose , the diligent student with pigtails and thick glasses, was the same person as the gorgeous and stylish Mizuhara .
His friends noticed him coming and greeted him . He greeted them back . Ichinose shot him a look which he knew meant that she wanted him to focus and not accidentally call her Mizuhara . They chatted for some time until Kazuya checked his phone and then told them he had to leave.
" Is it Chizuru-san ? " , Kibe asked .
" No , my job " , he replied .
Kazuya said his goodbyes and left . He headed straight to the Karaoke Restaurant where he worked .
His friends continued chatting. After some time , Yoko glanced at Kawanaka and then asked Kibe ,
" Hey , does Kazuya-kun really have a girlfriend ? "
Kibe replied, a little indignantly,
" Yes he does . We've told you about her. "
Kawanaka spoke this time ,
" Yeah you have told us about this Chizuru-san but .. it just sounds a little made up . Look we're not judging you guys or anything , you wouldn't be the first guys to pretend to have a girlfriend. But you can tell us the truth. We are friends. "
Kibe insisted that they weren't lying and that Kazuya really did have a girlfriend.
Yoko continued,
" It's just that we've never seen her. He doesn't have any photos of her. You have to admit it seems a bit suspicious " .
Chizuru had been silent all this time but she knew she had to do something. While Kuri knew that ' Mizuhara' was a rental girlfriend, Kibe had no clue . She couldn't let seeds of doubt be sown in Kibe because then he might review everything he knows and find the discrepancies. She spoke up ,
" I've seen her " .
Everyone turned to her . Kuri asked her ,
" Ichinose , you have ? When did you see her ? "
She started to explain ,
" It was last year at the beach . We met you guys there right . Later I was feeling unwell so I went to the convenience store to get some stuff . I saw Kazuya-kun talking with a girl about our age . Tall , Dark hair and she was wearing a red or a pink bikini .I don't remember exactly . I didn't know who she was though " .
Chizuru was careful not to be specific with her details, so that her story would seem more convincing.
" Yep that's her . We met her at the beach that day " , Kibe stated .
Seemingly satisfied with that explanation, the group changed topics and continued talking .
That Night ,
Kazuya finally finished a long double shift at his job . He stopped by the supermarket and bought some food, before heading home . He was surprised to see Mizuhara on the porch , just opening the door to her apartment. Kazuya could tell by looking at her that she had been on a 'date' . She noticed him climbing the stairs and asked him ,
" Were you working all this time ? " , she asked .
" Yeah . The boss promised me more time off during the summer if I took more shifts now " , he explained.
" Oh that's good but be careful not to tire yourself out " , she advised .
" Yeah , I'll be careful . How about you ? Were you with a client this late ? "
" No, none of my other clients have a problem following the rules . "
Kazuya replied indignantly ,
" It isn't my fault that my friends keep turning up in awkward situations. "
Mizuhara laughed a little and explained ,
" I was with a client and after that I had dinner and drinks with a few of my friends from acting school . "
" Oh that's nice. Anyway I better get going . Goodnight. "
" Goodnight . See you tomorrow " .
Kazuya smiled as he entered his apartment.
Kazuya showered and ate a quick dinner . He couldn't help going back to his conversation with Mizuhara. His mood sullened considerably when he remembered what she had said about hanging out with her actor friends . He had no problem with most of them . Just one particular guy , Umi . That guy was handsome and popular. He had tons of followers on social media. In short he was everything that Kazuya wasn't and he was jealous.
As far as Kazuya knew, Mizuhara had voluntarily gone with Umi , twice on 'dates ' . The Christmas that he had stalked them and once during the crowd funding drive . He couldn't help feeling a little deflated . Despite everything that had happened between himself and Mizuhara, she had never once chosen to spend her time with him . Every second that they spent together was borne out of obligation. Either as a rental or for the movie . Kazuya couldn't help feeling scared that ,in the end , he was little more than a client and a friendly neighbor.
Above all else , Umi was an actor just like her. He had also been in that play that Kazuya had seen Mizuhara in and as much as he hated admitting it , Umi was an accomplished actor . He remembered Mizuhara's words on the day of the premiere.
" I'll lose myself in acting . I'll act and act and act and have the time of my life " .
He also remembered the beaming smile that had accompanied these words. He knew first hand , the passion she had for acting . He thought to himself,
" In the end , if she wants to have the time of her life acting , then wouldn't the man that touches her heart also be an actor ? "
His eyes fell on a certain framed photo . Mizuhara and himself on that school uniform date . He couldn't help wondering what their relationship would be like if they had met during high school.
" Maybe she would have joined as a transfer student . We would have grown closer and then eventually started dating " .
He dismissed the fantasy immediately.
" That kind of stuff only happens in manga or some random fanfiction " , he thought to himself.
Suddenly he remembered Mizuhara's voice .
" See you tomorrow " .
Kazuya couldn't help remembering the day that Mami and his friends had met Mizuhara for the first time at that bar . Mizuhara had stormed off when Mami insulted him . Later that night he had blown off Mami and ran back here to apologize to Mizuhara. Back then he hadn't realized his feelings yet , but he remembered that strong desire he had that night to see her . It was the first time that he had put Mizuhara ahead of Mami . It wouldn't be the last . That night , she had told him that some people feel so lonely that they can't bear to hear the word ' goodbye ' and that those people need to hear someone say 'see you later ' . Since that day Mizuhara always said ' See you later ' to him whenever they parted .
He had never appreciated the significance of those words . It conveyed a certainty that no matter what happened , he would see her again. That simple thought filled him with optimism and hope . However he wasn't satisfied. He didn't want their relationship to stay like this forever .
Kazuya had purposely given Mizuhara some space after her Grandmother's death but now he felt that the ball was in his court . He knew that his relationship with Mizuhara wouldn't move ahead unless he forced it to . He resolved that he would devote everything he had to Mizuhara . He would take the next step .
In The Next Apartment ,
Chizuru stared ,in shock, at the email she had just received. It was from the Diamond Agency . It was a request for a date for the next day . Neither of those things surprised her. What had shocked her was the name of the client . A client who had only rented her once before. A client whom she would have never expected to book another date with her .
The client's username was ' Maya ' .
Chizuru knew perfectly well whose username that was .
Nanami Mami . Kazuya's ex-girlfriend. One of the few people who knew that she was a rental girlfriend.
Chizuru continued to stare at her phone.