" We need to talk. Today " .
Kazuya stared at the message he had just received , in shock . No longer paying attention to the lecturer , he started to panic .
" Mizuhara's texting me ? During class that too . And she wants to talk ? About what? "
The events of the previous day flashed through Kazuya's mind .
" Did she hear me? I thought that she hadn't but ... ? "
Kazuya began to feel a pit of fear form in his gut .He began to weigh up his options.
" I can't pretend to not have seen the message. She would have seen the 'read' next to the message once I opened it . Could I tell her that I'm busy or something? No that won't work either. I can't be busy forever . And she lives next to me, She'll find some way to talk to me . And I definitely can't just tell her outright that I don't want to talk to her.
Kazuya quickly realized that he had no other option . Defeated, he typed back
" OK "
Almost immediately, she replied.
" When are you free today? "
Kazuya thought about it and replied,
" I have a shift at work in the evening. But I don't have afternoon classes today. "
After a few seconds , she replied
" I have afternoon class and I'm busy in the evening as well. "
"How about 7:30 then ? " , she continued .
Kazuya swallowed and replied,
"Sure" .
" Is it alright if I come over " , she asked.
" Yeah , no problem " .
" Fine . I'll see you then " .
Kazuya turned off his phone , stuffed it into his pocket and thought to himself ,
" I'm a dead man walking " .
About two hours later Kazuya slowly, almost unwillingly, left his hall and made his way across the campus. He was sinking further and further into that pit of fear
" What am I going to do ? " , he wondered as he walked.
" What the hell am I going to do if Mizuhara asks me about what I said? I can't explain myself . Honestly there is no explanation. She's going to be really angry with me " .
Kazuya was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone walking toward him . It was only when that person stood right in front of him , tapped him on his shoulder and called him that he noticed her .
" Hello , Kazu-kun "
Kazuya's ex-girlfriend, Mami, stood front of him as she greeted him .
Kazuya's panic dial went up another level.
" M..M... Mami-chan . Hi " , Kazuya managed to stammer out.
" Great , Mami-chan too . What does she want now " , Kazuya began to worry internally.
Mami beamed a bright smile and began to speak
" It's been so long , Kazu-kun . It feels like we haven't seen each other in months . Kinda weird if you think about how we used to spend so much time together right? "
" Umm. Yeah, pretty weird " , he replied.
" Now ? She chooses now to bring this up " , he thought to himself
" Anyway , how are things ? Anything happening to you now ?", she enquired
" No, no . Everything's normal. Nothing happening " .
" Really? That's great to hear. Okay I gotta go . See you some other time. " , Mami said as she skipped away .
Kazuya turned and breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her leave .
" Thankfully she didn't ask anything about Mizuhara . I told Mami-chan that I'd stopped seeing her months ago. Looks like she still doesn't know "
Kazuya turned away and headed home.
Mami dropped the over-friendly bright smile that she had on her face and looked back . He was walking away seemingly without a care in the world.
" He has no idea what I know " , she chuckled .
" Not just about him, about her as well "
Mami spotted three girls talking amongst themselves as they walked towards the library . One of them was wearing glasses and had her hair tied in twin braids.
Mami's lips curved into a little smile as she thought once again,
" They have no idea at all " .
Kazuya reached his apartment about half an hour later . He unlocked the door , put his phone on the table and then sat down on the floor. He clutched his head in his hands and promptly began to lose his mind.
" I can't do it . I just can't. I need to escape somehow. I need to run away. Where will I go ? I don't know . I just need to get away "
Suddenly Kazuya heard a snickering laughter . He looked up to see his neighbor, Yaemori covering her mouth with her hand trying unsuccessfully to prevent her laughter from being heard
" Yaemori , what are you doing ? "
She burst into peals of laughter . Kazuya waited for her to calm down and then asked her again.
Yaemori still laughing a little replied ,
" I heard a noise and came over to see you making a fool out of yourself " .
She then continued,
" Why do you want to run away ? "
Kazuya walking quiet for a bit and then replied,
" Mizuhara's coming over later today. She said she wants to talk about something " .
A delighted expression rose in Yaemori's face.
" Mizuhara-san is coming over ? Why would you be upset about that? More importantly this is your chance to seduce her . Now listen to me , Master . Here's what you ... "
" No " , Kazuya interrupted, " Your crazy ideas aren't going to work here . And anyway I couldn't even do them normally. In this situation it's impossible. "
" What situation? " , Yaemori asked .
With a sigh , Kazuya explained everything to Yaemori whose eyes widened in shock. After she heard the entire story, she was silent for some time and then exploded.
" You CONFESSED ? You stood right outside there and confessed to her . And then you thought that she didn't hear you . And now you're afraid that did " .
Kazuya nodded .
Yaemori began to think carefully.
" This whole thing doesn't make sense . I told her that Master liked her , months ago .Why would that still be bothering her ? Why would she bring it up now ? And obviously that is what she wanted ask him all along. That's why she invited him out .It's not something that just happened . So she wanted to know. If Master liked her or not . Why? It can't be because of her clients or whatever . She wanted to know . And if she wanted to know then... "
Yaemori , now completely serious, looked straight at Kazuya and told him .
" Master you have to confess again. No matter what she says . Whether or not she heard you yesterday . Just directly confess to her. "
" What ? " , Kazuya responded, shocked.
" No way . There's no chance of that happening. I'm not doing it .I don't have a suicide wish ", he continued.
Yaemori gritted her teeth in frustration . She could see the resolution in his eyes .
" Maybe he's right" , she thought to herself, " I'm pretty sure that she likes him but he definitely knows Mizuhara-san better than me . Maybe she would get mad at him . But... if she asks him again, then that definitely means...
" Okay " , she told Kazuya and continued.
" But if Mizuhara-san asks you again, don't lie to her . Tell her the truth . If she asks you again how you feel about her or what you were yelling yesterday , tell her the truth. "
Saying that, Yaemori got up and went back to her apartment.
Kazuya lay down on his bed , pondering his next move.
A few hours later,
Kazuya glanced at the time on his phone as he walked . It was just after 6:30 and he was nearly back home .He had thought about it all day and finally he had decided to take Yaemori's advice. He had decided that he wouldn't lie to Mizuhara. If she asked him again he would tell her the truth
While it had initially started out as fear , Kazuya was now feeling completely miserable. He thought to himself
" This could be it . This could really be the end of Mizuhara and me " .
After he got home, Kazuya showered and changed . Feeling much more refreshed , he cleaned up his apartment . Then he pulled a clean cushion out of his cupboard and put it on his futon . During the time spent together making the movie , Kazuya and Chizuru had fallen in the habit of sitting on his futon and using the round table next to it . Back then he had usually sat next to her but Kazuya decided that it was probably best for him to keep some distance between them and sit on the opposite side, leaving the more comfortable seat for her
Just as he had finished doing that, he heard a knock on his door . Ignoring the desire to run away, he opened the door and saw Mizuhara standing there. She was dressed in her usual home clothes - a hoodie, skirt and black tights. Her hair was let down and was a bit more shiny than usual .
" Can I come in ? " , she asked.
" Yeah , of course" , Kazuya replied, moving aside to allow her in .
Chizuru walked into his apartment, straight to where he had expected her to sit , and promptly sat down. Only then did Kazuya notice a thermos flask in her hands , which she placed on the table.
" I made some tea for us " , she explained.
Kazuya quickly grabbed a couple of cups and placed them on the table. Then he sat down opposite Chizuru. When she saw him sitting there , she raised an eyebrow and asked ,
" You're sitting on that side . Isn't it more comfortable here ? "
" Eh ? Yeah but ... I thought you might be... umm I mean that it might be better if "
" Just sit on this side " , she interrupted him .
Kazuya got up and sat down next to her but was careful to leave a more than respectful space in between them .
Chizuru sighed and poured out the tea into the cups and then handed one to him . Kazuya drank a bit of it and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
" It's really good . Thanks for bringing it over " , he told her.
" It's no big deal " , she replied .
There was a pause for a minute or two while they drank the tea and then Chizuru spoke .
" Look we need to talk " .
Kazuya nodded but inside he was barely managing to hold himself together.
Chizuru continued ,
" About what happened today "
Kazuya was surprised,
" Today? Why ? What happened today "
Chizuru stared at him incredulously for a few seconds and then asked,
" How hungover were you ? Don't you remember seeing me and my friends in the morning? "
Relief flooded through Kazuya as he happily nodded and told her ,
" Oh that . Yeah I remember " .
Chizuru sipped some of her tea and continued,
" Listen my friends really like the idea of hanging out with you guys . And I tried to dissuade them but that only made them more determined to do it .
" Well thats not a big deal. I'll just turn them down " , he assured her.
" That's exactly the problem "
" What ? "
" Haven't you wondered how it's weird that despite how much fun everyone else had last time, we never hung out again ? That's because whenever they started to make plans , I said no . Then today you said no
And now they've started to get suspicious of the fact that it's always either you or me who is saying no . "
Chizuru paused and continued,
" Tomorrow Yoko and Yuuki are going to ask Kibe-kun and Kuri-kun. What would they say ? Will they agree to it ?
" Pretty sure they will "
" Then there's nothing else we can do . If you try to stop them, they'll get suspicious too . So we can't pretend like we're strangers at Uni anymore . We have no other choice than to go along with it . "
" Go along with it ? You mean... "
" Yes , we have to be part of it . And we have to be really enthusiastic about it . We can't just mope around or stick out. Last time we were caught unawares and nearly got found out . This time we know it's happening, so we can control it to a certain extent. That's really the only thing we can do now."
" Mizuhara , are you sure ? "
" It's our best and honestly only option at this point . Particularly because my friends are now wondering if I've dated one of you three in the past " .
Kazuya nearly spat his tea out ,
" What ? One of us ? " .
" I was shocked too when they asked me . But that proves my point. We can't try to manage things by pretending that we don't know each other and hoping that our friends don't become friendly. It's too late for that. Now we have to go along for the ride and make sure that they don't ever get suspicious about us .
Chizuru suddenly winced and then stretched her legs out .
" Is something wrong ? " , Kazuya asked .
" No , nothing. It's just.. my feet are sore. I've been on my feet all day . It's nothing. I'll be alright. "
Kazuya was quiet for some time and then got up. Chizuru heard the sound of him rummaging through some stuff and and then a few minutes later , he came out holding a hot gel pack which he handed to Chizuru.
" This'll help " , he told her .
Chizuru took it from him and placed it on her feet which immediately made her feel better. Chizuru turned her face away from Kazuya slightly so that he couldn't see her cheeks turning slightly red . A heat that had nothing to do with the hot pack spread , through her .
" He's such a nice person " , she thought .
" Thanks " , she said out aloud to him .
" No, it's fine " , Kazuya replied.
They were silent for some time and then Chizuru turned back towards Kazuya . She could see that he was thinking something and so asked him ,
" Do you want to ask me something?"
Kazuya hesitated for some time and then asked,
" Won't it be better for you if I'm not there? I mean if I'm not there then it's less likely that Kibe and Kuri will recognize you right? And you'll be able to enjoy yourself more . And .. "
Chizuru recoiled slightly when she heard that question and then replied ,
" Of course not " .
" Eh ?
" Don't you remember what happened last time. Between them they nearly connected the dots . They realized that both me and your "girlfriend" have the same name and and have their birthdays around the same time . Yoko took my glasses off and it's only because they were drunk that Kibe-kun and Kuri-kun didn't realize . Even then we only escaped because of you. If it wasn't for you , I would have been found out . "
" But ..."
Chizuru looked away for a second and then quietly replied,
" It's way better for me if you're there " .
The two fell into silence for some time and then Kazuya spoke ,
" All right . If you think it's best , then I trust you. "
Chizuru turned back and smiled at him. Then she continued,
" When we're with them , don't act all weird around me . Just talk normally and be yourself.
Kazuya smiled too and nodded.
They sat in silence a little longer before Chizuru got up picked up her flask and told him ,
" Well it's getting late , so I better get going" .
Kazuya also got up and walked her to the door .
" Goodnight " , he told her .
She turned and smiled again,
" Goodnight. See you tomorrow " .
Chizuru left his apartment and went inside her own. She went to her bedroom and sat down. She pressed her hand to her heart and felt it pounding away like she had never felt it before. It was just like when she had run into him in the morning. Once again , her heart felt like it would explode and those words kept ringing in her ears
" I've been in lo..."
She had just about managed to hold herself together As she remembered their conversation , something came to mind,
" Today felt different " , she reflected . " It felt like the start of something different.
Was it... Was it because of what he said " .
Her slightly red cheeks now turned scarlet as she blushed furiously.
" It's all his fault " , she whispered.
In the adjoining apartment , Kazuya felt something too . He thought to himself,
" It's strange. Something about Mizuhara today seemed different . She looked the same , she talked the same. Sure the whole being friendly at college was unusual but I get why she wants that. But still... something else.. something I can't quite figure out seemed different today" .
Both Kazuya and Chizuru felt something inside them that night . They did not realize it yet but what had changed was their relationship. Up till now their relationship could be described as two intersecting circles. They shared the parts of their lives that came in the intersection and kept the rest separate. As they spent more time together, the circles intersected more and more. But now all that had changed . Chizuru's tears on that fateful night and Kazuya's confession had changed the very matter of the relationship. The circles were gone and in their place a new structure, a new relationship was starting to become visible.
A/N : A proper conversation between Kazuya and Chizuru and one of the original cardinal rules of their relationship is destroyed ( Don't speak to me at college ) . The relationship starts to evolve . Mami and Yaemori both enter the story
" It's way better for me if you're there " .
While the Chizuru that we are all used to is not very likely to say a line like this, keep in mind that she has just been confessed to by Kazuya and has no idea how to deal with it . Her usual iron lady armor is not saving her now and that results in a rare moment of pure honesty
.Chapter 2 came out later than expected . Apologies. Chapter 3 will be out in about 4 days
Next Time : Chizuru and Kazuya attempt to handle their friends without revealing their secrets