Part 14: The formers talk
With Christmas just a week away people were looking forward to the holiday. But some people were still doing some shopping for friends, family or in one young woman's case the person their in a relationship with. Chizuru had gone on a shopping trip with Sumi to the mall to do some present shopping. She was currently in a clothes store looking through some shirts with an annoyed look on her face.
"Uh is everything okay Chizuru?" Sumi asked walking over to her friend while carrying a few shirts.
Chizuru sighed before looking at the shirts Sumi was carrying, "Looks like your having better luck then I'am," she said before looking through another section.
"Still cant find anything," Sumi said as Chizuru looked through more shirts.
"Nope, I used to get gifts for clients back when I was still working as a rental," Chizuru said before looking at a dark blue shirt. "This is nice, but I want to get him something else too," she said before heading to the counter.
As they walked back into the mall Chizuru still looked down. "I mean why is it so hard to find a gift now," she said.
"Maybe its because you want to make it special for the one you love," Sumi said smiling.
Chizuru smiled as well. "Yeah your probably right, I should get him something he would really like," she said. "So how did you know how to get Kibe those shirts?" She asked smiling while Sumi looked embarrassed.
"Well uh we came here last weekend, we went there together where he got one shirt but I noticed he liked some of the others," she said.
"That's nice, I got Kazuya this shirt because he likes it whenever we go to the aquarium," Chizuru said holding up the bag the shirt was in.
"So you wanted to get him something else right, is Kazuya into gaming," Sumi said pointing at the GameStore ahead of them.
"No not really, we mostly watch tv whenever were at home together," Chizuru said. "Though we recently got into reading manga," she said smiling at the memory of them sitting together on the bed and reading.
Chizuru then remembered something that happened earlier in the day before one of the nights they read together. With a smile she started walking towards the gamestore making Sumi look confused.
"Chizuru," she said before following her into the store.
"You remember when I told you I was doing voice acting for a game?" Chizuru asked and Sumi nodded. "I just remembered the system they were making it for, the nitendo switch," she said before heading to the counter.
A few minutes later the two of them walked out of the store with Chizuru carrying a large bag. "Oh that's right, Sumi I got to drop by here too," Chizuru said pointing at a book store at the other side.
"Okay," she said before the two of them walked into the store and spent a few moments looking for the manga section.
"I told Kazuya I would pick up the latest volume for him," Chizuru said holding up the volume of what looked like a romance manga.
"So your both reading this right?" Sumi asked.
"Yeah we came here one day after classes and I wanted to check this out," Chizuru said smiling. "He was cooking dinner that night and I read through it then, I told him about it when we were eating and before we went to bed he read it himself," she said.
"Hmm, maybe ill give it a try," Sumi said picking up a copy of an older volume. Before she headed to the counter she noticed Chizuru had the book by her side and was looking annoyed at someone. Sumi looked in the direction her friend was looking and saw a short haired girl that looked familiar.
"Oh it's you," she said looking at Chizuru.
"Ruka," Chizuru said calmly.
"Wait Ruka, you're the one Kuri rented," Sumi said.
"That's right Sumi," said Chizuru.
"Yeah but she quit a few weeks ago," Sumi said making Chizuru look confused.
"What does it matter anyway," Ruka said walking towards the counter. "After all Chizuru is the one with Kazuya after all," she said.
"Hold on," Chizuru said before looking at Ruka with a serious look on her face. "We need talk about what happened, so lets meet at the food court," she said.
"Is there anything wrong here," one of the store employees said walking over to the group.
"Yes we're fine, will just buy what we want and go," Chizuru said calmly before walking to the counter with Sumi. A few minutes later the three of them sat at a table in the food court. While Sumi looked nervous Ruka looked annoyed that she had to talk with them.
"Whats this about, like I said Kazuyas with you after all," she said.
"This isn't about Kazuya, this is about what you did to Kuri," Chizuru said looking serious.
"I was just a rental to him," Ruka said calmly.
"Yeah but you still revealed you were one to him in front of his friends," Chizuru said. "Do you know how he felt after they found out, he barely talked to them after it happened," she said.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Ruka said.
"May I ask you something?" Sumi asked.
"Sure," Ruka said looking serious.
"Why did you go after Kazuya in the first place, from what Chizuru told me the first time you met him was when you accidentally ran into him," she said.
"I didn't know what kind of guy he was back then," said Ruka sitting back. "I wanted to experience what love felt like and that's why I started working as a rental girlfriend," she said.
"When I met Kuri he told me what Kazuya was like," said Ruka smiling sadly. "The thing that stood out the most was how he spoke up at a bar," she said.
"When I found out the name of his girlfriend I looked you up and found out you were a rental girlfriend," Ruka said. "I thought it would be nice to see how he would treat an actual girlfriend," she said.
Ruka then looked down. "I didn't look close enough to see you had actually quit," she said.
"The person he spoke up against was his ex girlfriend," Chizuru said calmly. "I met Kazuya a few days after they broke up, we were friends before he found out about my former job," she said.
"We got together that night when I told him I had feelings for him," she said. "I quit that same night and we've been together ever since," she said.
She then looked at Ruka with a serious look on her face. "I'm sorry Ruka, but just because you like someone doesn't mean they'll like you back," she said.
"But that doesn't mean you cant find someone," said Sumi speaking up. "If it wasn't for Kazuya and Chizuru I wouldn't have met my boyfriend," she said.
"Thanks for that," Ruka said still looking down.
"Why did you quit your job as a rental anyway?" Chizuru asked.
"After Kazuya I decided to give up on trying to find love through the app," Ruka said. "Ive been also distancing myself from everyone since then," she said.
"I'm sorry, but I think you still owe Kuri an apology for what happened," Chizuru said and Ruka nodded.
"Yeah your right, when can I talk to him?" Ruka asked looking up.
"Well were all getting together on Christmas, how about then," Sumi said.
"That sounds fine, ill tell Kazuya about it later," Chizuru said. "Do you have anything planned," she said.
"No I'm free," Ruka said. After telling Ruka where they were going to meet up on Christmas Chizuru and Sumi headed to Chizuru and Kazuyas apartment. As they walked up the stairs to the second floor.
"Do you have a place where you can hide it," Sumi said looking at the bag from the game store.
"Yeah don't worry, I have a place in mind," Chizuru said as they reached the door. "I just hope he isn't home yet," she said reaching for the door knob when she heard voices from the other side.
"Are you sure its going to be safe in there," Kibe said.
"Yeah we just gotta get it in here before she gets back," Kazuya said as the door to the apartment opened. Kibe and Kazuya who were standing next to the closest looked surprised to see their girlfriends standing there. Sumi waved at them with a nervous smile on her face while Chizuru just smiled.
"So what are you boys up to," Chizuru asked.
"Uh," Kazuya said looking at Kibe.
"I asked Kazuya if I could hide some presents here, so please don't look Sumi," Kibe said smiling nervously.
"Okay," Sumi said.
"Hey how about we all have take out, me and Sumi will go get the food," Kibe said smiling as he headed towards the door.
"Hold on," Chizuru said calmly and Kibe stopped walking. "You'll have to stick around for a while after eating, we have to tell you about someone whos joining us on Christmas," she said.
Kazuya and Kibe looked at each other confused. Wondering who it was.