Chapter 30: Chizuru Ichinose #1

Chizuru Ichinose found herself in a bit of a predicament. However it seemed like she was not alone. Hiding behind a tree was Sumi Sakurasawa. Chizuru didn't know why she was here. Perhaps she was meeting up with a client as well. Good for her, she thought. She would catch up with her later. For the time being she had to meet up with her own client. Better get in the role of the perfect rental girlfriend and keep up those great ratings of hers.

"Excuse me. Are you Chizuru Mizuhara?"

The person used her alias, her work name. It meant she knew her rental girlfriend persona. Chizuru looked at him carefully. Rotten looking eyes, black hair with an ahoge sticking out, a kinda handsome face and the overall disposition of a man who likes to keep things to himself.

A private person, a loner.

This could go either way. He might know her. He might have possibly been one of her older clients. Only she couldn't remember his face. And it wasn't one of the faces she was likely to forget. He did struck an impressive figure in a dark, gloomy way. An introvert, a really shy guy for instance. Perhaps he was someone who had been browsing the Diamond company website looking to rent her out as a girlfriend.

Only he didn't have the courage to take the final step. No matter, she could give him an incentive. Besides, her client wasn't here yet. It was not like she was stepping out on him. This was just networking, looking to expand her business, taking care of a future client.

Chizuru Ichinose smiled a bright smile and stepped into the persona of Chizuru Mizuhara.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you…" she trailed off, trying not to sound awkward.

She didn't know his name. How could she. She hoped he would give up his name and make this conversation run smoothly. She also hoped that her would-be client didn't see this little exchange.

The relationship between a rental girlfriend and a client can be really fickle. After all, before the start of the date, money changes hand. Afterwards it's playing nice, smiling, talking, creating the illusion of romance, sometimes making it seem too real, but ultimately each goes their separate ways after the so called date comes to an end.

She wouldn't want it any other way. There were strict rules, guidelines and an invisible wall and protocol and she liked to keep up her end of the deal. She preferred her clients to do the same.

This guy, if he wanted to avail her services, should play nice.

"Right, so there's been a bit of a misunderstanding." He didn't give up his name. Damn. "So, I know that you came here to meet, Ryuuji Takasu -"

"Shirou Emiya -" Chizuru corrected.

"Huh?"

"I came here to meet, Shirou Emiya."

Chizuru didn't know what his game was, but she would be damned if she mixed up the names of the clients. Perhaps, this was some kind of test. Boys do the stupidest of things.

"So, he at least got that type right." He mumbled to himself.

Before she could question his odd behavior, he tilted his head to the side and looked past her. Chizuru turned around out of curiosity and spotted him looking at the direction of a tree, the same tree behind which Sumi Sakurasawa was hiding.

Chizuru's eyes widened.

No, this couldn't be!

"And I take it that one over there is, Sumi Sakurasawa." He consulted his phone. Chizuru tried to sneak a peek and found him looking at a picture of her from the company website. It was however swiftly swiped to a picture of her friend, the one she was supposed to mentor in this business.

He looked at her with a small look of question and mild assumption. "Can you ask your work colleague to come over. I take it you know each other, right?"

Chizuru Ichinose didn't know what was happening. She didn't even know who this guy was or what his name is. He surely wasn't Shirou Emiya. For once, he wasn't a red head. But now that she looked at his tee-shirt, he was wearing the exact tee-shirt that was mentioned later in the text, the one sent by her client so that they could recognize each other at the start of the date.

"What is going on?" Chizuru sounded alarmed.

"Like I said, there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Can you, please," He looked to be in physical pain while tying his best to explain the situation. "Wait a minute. I need to fetch Sakurasawa-san. She seems to be really shy."

"How do you know that?" Chizuru asked.

"It says so on her profile." He said quickly. "Plus, I have been watching her trying and failing to hide behind that tree for the past ten minutes. You are late by the way." He said. "I thought you wouldn't show up."

This was the first time someone called her out for being late to one of these date. Had Chizuru not been in her rental girlfriend persona, she would have chewed him out. "Sorry, I was trying out different outfits and lost track of time. How do you like the dress?" She struck what she thought and knew to be a sexy pose.

He ignored it. "Okay. Looks like I have to do this on my own." He let out a world weary sigh. "Why am I not surprised?"

Before she could question him and ask him what he meant or stop him from walking in that particular direction, this gloomy looking guy had taken a couple of long strides and before she knew it, she was following him towards the tree, where Sumi Sakurasawa was cowering.

"Sakurasawa-san, is it?" He actually managed to sound a bit different.

It wasn't exactly threatening. He looked like he was trying to talk to a scared cat who had climbed up a tree and couldn't quite climb down. Chizuru thought it was more of an apt description of Sumi's present condition. Poor girl. Even now she was trying to hide.

Of course as Chizuru expected, Sumi lowered her head and didn't utter a single sound except for an intelligible squeak. For some reason that made this guy let out an easy going, light hearted chuckle. Even his face which had been hard and grumpy while talking to her, now resembled that of a man with unmovable patience and kindness.

Guess Sumi had her own appeal after all. Chizuru felt a bit proud, being her mentor and all.

"I'm Hachiman Hikigaya." The guy finally introduced himself, giving out his name. "And you must be Sakurasawa-san. Ryuuji's friend, right?"

Sumi Sakurasawa had grown red in the face. She had her head lowered, unable to meet the eyes of the person asking all these questions. Chizuru could see her resolve was crumbling. She needed to do something, come between them.

This guy was a bit of a jerk. At least he had been like that with her. Then there was the whole misunderstanding he kept talking about. What was up with that, she thought. But before they could get to that, she had to resolve this current situation.

Chizuru had to take Sumi aside and coax a conversation out of her.

"G-Girlfriend."

Chizuru almost didn't hear her voice. It was that low.

But it seemed like he heard it, because he was smiling all of a sudden. "Right, I know what the situation is, Sakurasawa-san." He looked at her as well. "You too." Then he sighed. "Like I said, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding."

"You keep saying that, but you won't say anything." Chizuru lost her patience. It was alright, she tried to justify her tone. It was not like he was a client. "Why is it that you know the name of both of our boyfriends?" She needed to keep up with the game. She couldn't let the façade fall. "Where are they anyway?" A small realization dawned on her. "Was this supposed to be a double date?"

Hachiman Hikigaya looked confused. "I don't think so." He then frowned. "But then again, I don't know what goes on in that military head of his."

"Military what?" Chizuru was confused.

"W-Where is T-Takasu-san?" Sumi Sakurasawa spoke up.

Hachiman Hikigaya turned to him. "I'm afraid he won't be showing up, Sakurasawa-san." He looked positively dripping in evil and villainy the very next second. "Rest assured though, he would getting his rightful comeuppance." He chuckled darkly. "I will lock him up in a room full of mold, without anything there to clean up the mess. He will go insane within minutes."

"What?" It looked like this was the only thing Chizuru had been saying for the last few minutes.

"Oh and don't worry." Hachiman Hikigaya said while looking at her. The same evil grin filtered through his face. "I will take care of Emiya too. Bone of my sword, my ass. When I'm done with him, he won't have any bones left. Of course I might need, Mordred to take him down." He mumbled to himself.

"Ano, a, eh," Sumi Sakurasawa was but a jumble of cute voices. She didn't know what to say or what to do. Even her mentor, Chizuru Mizuhara looked on helpless. "Um, Hikigaya-san,"

"And that blasted, Sagara. I will shoot him. Right in the head. Bang! No questions asked." Hachiman said with a note of finality. He was also starting to giggle like a lunatic. Both Chizuru and Sumi were now feeling a bit scared. They were even holding hands for comfort. However Hachiman Hikigaya was far too gone to notice this.

"It was all his fault. Stupid, Sousuke Sagara!" Hachiman prattled on. "Well, if I want to blame the real person behind this mess, it has to be Kaname Chidori. Oh I can picture it clearly. It's just like Sagara said. She wanted him to do something nice for his roommates. Why you ask? Well it's because he's a difficult person to live with. What with the number of firearms and explosives and knives. Living with that guy is like living in a warzone, behind enemy lines. But still we managed fine. Okay, we managed alright. But then Chidori had to Chidori our whole living arrangement. She got it through that thick, militant skull of Sagara that he had to show his appreciation more for his roommates, do something nice for a change, something that didn't involve blowing things up. So what does he do? He gets two of his roommates rental girlfriends." Hachiman Hikigaya looked at the two of them with scary eyes. Chizuru shivered in dread. Sumi was about to cry. "Rental Girlfriends! For Ryuuji Takasu and Shirou Emiya! As if Emiya needs more girls for his harem. As if Ryuuji could handle more than the Palmtop Tiger for a change. Those two are blithering idiots. All they are good for is cooking and cleaning. The two guys I mean, your supposed dates for this fine evening. Not you girls, of course. I'm not sexist. It's my dream to be a house husband. Not that I am any close to realizing that dream." He looked confused. "Where was I again?"

It was the irony of fate that Chizuru Ichinose kept quiet in that particular moment and Sumi Sakurasawa opened her mouth. "R-Ryuuji Takasu." She regretted her choice immediately.

"Right, that guy." Hachiman Hikigaya started with new gusto. "He chickened out first. Then Emiya. Of course, Sousuke Sagara didn't understand what he did wrong. Now the two of them, Takasu and Emiya, I mean, are cooking up a storm. They are stress cookers, who knew. I didn't. Heard of stress eaters before, but my life could never be simple. So, here I am, at their behest, telling you guys, that those two won't be showing up. Of course, Sagara sent me with the cash for availing your services or rather not availing your services." He couldn't quite stop himself from making the barb. Then he got an evil idea. "Of course, you are welcome to drop by at the campus, to our room-"

Chizuru put her foot down. "That's not how it works." She moved her arms protectively around Sumi. "It's a date. An outdoor activity." She put extra emphasis on the word 'outdoor.'

Hachiman Hikigaya blushed. "I didn't mean it like that. Look here, take the money." He produced the right amount for both Chizuru and Sumi. "I meant it like, okay," he was searching for the right phrased. "you two were stood up, in a sense right. I mean neither of your dates showed up. Worse of all they sent me, to placate you. And you can't help but take it to heart a little, right?"

Chizuru responded for both of them. "I guess."

"So, I was saying, you take the battle to them. I know Takasu and Emiya. Those two are a bunch of pushovers." Hachiman Hikigaya explained. "If you take the cash and show up to our place, demanding the date, well, I can promise you will have a great time at their expense."

"At their expense?" Chizuru asked.

Hachiman didn't elaborate. "Plus, you will be leaving with a full stomach. Say what you want but Emiya and Takasu are great cooks."

Chizuru wanted to take the offer, but she stuck to the rules, the guidelines of their business. "I'm afraid, we can't." She spoke for Sumi Sakurasawa as well.

Hachiman Hikigaya sighed. "Your right. Guess it was worth a shot. Here?" He held up the money, politely in a professional manner. "Your fee. Thank you for your service."

Sumi Sakurasawa looked at the money and shook her head. Chizuru gave out a reluctant smile. Sure, she could have taken the money. After all, whatever this mess was, it had led to a waste of her time and patience. But her ethics wouldn't allow it.

"No, you keep it." Chizuru said. "We didn't go out for a real date, you know. Like you said, our dates didn't show up. We can't take the money. It wouldn't be right." She didn't feel bad, talking to him frankly. It was a rare moment of openness in one of these transactions.

"Oh," For the first time, it looked like Hachiman Hikigaya was looking at them. Not as two women involved in the Rental Girlfriend business, but as individual. "Are you sure?" He looked at both of them, his eyes trailing from hers to Sumi's.

Sumi Sakurasawa nodded a couple of time before speaking out loud. "Y-Yes."

"Okay then. But I think, I have wasted a lot of your time with my nonsensical rant which, let's be honest, the both of you didn't quite understand."

Sumi nodded. Chizuru actually snorted. Hachiman Hikigaya smiled at their cute behavior.

"Look, let me buy you two some ice cream." He said.

"That isn't necessary." Chizuru said, folding her arms.

"Well, I would look like a jerk if I had ice cream by myself without giving you two any. And I'm not one for sharing food. Hygiene issues or so I have been told." He pointed at the ice cream truck which was parked nearby. "C'mon, it's my treat. For letting you beautiful ladies suffer through my horrible self."

Chizuru finally relented. What the hell, it's just ice cream. Even Sumi Sakurasawa, the blushing, shy, introvert, who had trouble communicating, pulled on her hand like a little child.

To this, Chizuru sighed. It's been one hell of a day.

"Okay."

A/N: This chapter was fun to write, because, in my head I was thinking about the chapter of how Sousuke Sagara booked Chizuru and Sumi for Shirou and Ryuuji. (Not for poor Hachiman, though.) Even the idea of Rental Girlfriend, it had to come from somewhere. (Yoshiteru Zaimokuza at your service!)

Anyway, this was fun. Also, now after 30 chapters, it's time to change things up. From here on out, instead of suggesting characters, please suggest ANIMEs, which could CROSSOVER with OREGAIRU and vice-versa.

Here's a list for the next chapter:

Option 1: Oregairu (Slice of Life)

Option 2: Bakemonogatari (Supernatural)

Option 3: Maid-sama (Shoujo)

Option 4: Durarara! (Seinen)

Option 5: The World God Only Knows. (Harem)

This above list is an example.

Please pick any of the above options or suggest an anime in the review.

You can also send a voter list.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of review, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.