Part 18: The first after party
After the play had finished the lobby was packed with people as they discussed what they had just seen. As Kazuya looked around at the other people it looked like they really enjoyed it. "I must say I was surprised when I first saw her walk on the stage," Kazuyas mother said.
"It looked like she put a lot of work into it," Kazuyas father said calmly.
"Cmon I know you enjoyed it," Kazuya said smiling. He was sitting next to him in the theatre and remembered seeing his dad smile at some points.
"Yeah but I noticed you werent happy at some points," Kibe said smiling and Kazuya looked annoyed. The play had some romance scenes and since Chizuru was playing the main female lead she had been standing close to the male lead at certain points.
"Oh come on now it was just for the play," Kazuyas grandmother said calmly while Sayuri who was standing next to her nodded with a smile on her face.
"Besides Chizuru looks completely different when she looks at you," she said.
"Shes right," Sumi said calmly.
"Well if your like this it looks like she had played the part really well," said a male voice walking over to the group.
"Whos that?" Ruka asked looking confused.
"Everyone this is Umi, he and Chizuru go to the same acting class, thanks for coming to see her," Kazuya said smiling.
"It was no problem, after I heard she got the part there was no way I was going to miss out," Umi said smiling.
"Were having a little celebration for Chizuru this evening, your welcome to join us if you want," Sayuri said.
"I appreciate the offer but I'm brining my girlfriend out for dinner this evening and shes waiting for me outside," he said shaking his head before looking at Kazuya, "Make sure to tell Chizuru congratulations for me," he said before heading to the exit while Kazuya nodded.
"Hey look there she is," Sumi said as she noticed Chizuru talking with a group of people. When Chizuru looked at them she excused herself from the group and rushed over the group, hugging Kazuya first.
"You were amazing out there," Kazuya said smiling as she looked at him.
"Really I was nervous that I was going to mess up at some point," Chizuru said smiling nervously.
"You did great, im sure everyone was mostly focused on you," Kazuyas grandmother said smiling before hugging her as well.
"Yeah you were awesome out there," Kibe said smiling and Sumi nodded.
"Definitely worth paying to see," Kuri said.
"Yeah I never been to much of these but this was really fun," Ruka said smiling.
"Lets just hope the reviews think the same," Chizuru said.
"I'm sure they'll be fine after seeing how much work you did," Sayuri said walking over to her granddaughter before the two of them hugged.
"Thanks for coming to see me," Chizuru said smiling.
"I wouldn't miss it, you've worked so hard to get here and I was happy at every movement when I saw you walk on that stage," She said, "You did well Chizuru," she said.
"Thanks grandma," Chizuru said wiping her eyes.
"Hey this isnt the time for tears," Kibe said smiling.
"Kibes right lets go celebrate," Kazuyas grandmother said cheerfully.
"Hey Chizuru," a female voice said getting their attention.
They all looked to see the person who had spoken up was one of the other female actors. She was standing with the rest of the cast, the director and writer. In front of them were some older people.
"Sorry the director wanted to introduce me to some people, ill see you at the apartment," said Chizuru.
"Ill wait for you outside," Kazuya said smiling. Chizuru gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking over as some of the other people began shaking her hand.
"Will meet you at the apartment," Kibe said.
"Yeah see you there, here you can head in," Kazuya said handing his dad the key.
"See you there," Kibe said before the group started leaving and heading to Kazuya and Chizurus new apartment that they moved into last month.
Flashback:
Kazuya had just finished putting the last box into the moving truck before pulling down the shutter. He headed back up to the apartment, knowing it would probably be the last time he would be going up these stairs. He found Chizuru standing in the doorway holding her bag.
"Everything's packed now, Kibe texted me he and Kuri are already waiting for us at the new place to help unpack," Kazuya said.
"Thats great," said Chizuru and Kazuya noticed she sounded a little down.
"Hey is everything alright?" He asked looking worried as he stood next to her.
"Yeah I'm fine, just saying goodbye," Chizuru said looking around the apartment, "It wasn't this hard back when I moved in with you, but this kind of where it started for us," she said smiling.
"Yeah it kind of is, it's the first place we had dinner together," said Kazuya smiling at the memory of her brining food to him after Mami had broken up with him.
"Also where we had our first kiss," Chizuru said before resting her head on his shoulder. "I know we both ended up living in this apartment building, but going to the new place feels nice," she said.
"Maybe its because we chose it together," Kazuya said rubbing the back of his head.
"Your probably right," Chizuru said before holding his hand, "Lets get going," she said before the two of them left.
Flashback end
In Kazuya and Chizurus new apartment that wasn't that far from college. The living room was large with a big window next to the couch. The kitchen was also part of the living room with a long table in front of the counter. Kibe and Sumi were hanging out with them when they were picking out a table.
There was hallway that lead to a bathroom and a small room across from it. At the end was the main bedroom with its own bathroom. Along with the group that had come to see the play some of their friends from college had also come to celebrate. Two of them being the girls that had gone with Chizuru to the beach last year.
"You know after seeing the play I'm going to have to order that game when its available," Kibe said as he and Kazuya stood at near the kitchen counter. Chizuru was talking with her grandmother at the couch.
"Chizuru was actually telling me the trailer should be coming out soon," Kazuya said taking a drink from his bottle when Kuri walked over with Ruka.
"Hey do you remember that crowd Chizuru was talking with before we left?" Kuri asked.
"Yeah, she had actually gotten a few business cards," Kazuya said smiling remembering when they were leaving she had put a few in her bag.
"Well I recognized one of the people in that crowd," Kuri said making his friends look confused.
"I told him about this movie I had seen recently and turns out Kuri saw it too," Ruka said.
"I remembered one of the people who had worked on it and I remembered seeing an article online that he was working on something new," Kuri said.
"Great, this means Chizuru has a chance of getting a part in a movie," Kibe said smiling. He was about to get a drink when Ruka spoke up.
"Yeah but apparent he mostly films at places far away from here," Ruka said looking down making Kibe look worried while Kazuya looked down.
He had started wondering if Chizuru was willing to move so she could continue her acting career. Or if she was going to finish college now that her acting career was finally making a good start. His thoughts stopped though when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see it was Kibe who was smiling at him.
"You got nothing to worry about man, I know Chizuru cares about you to much to just up and leave," he said.
"Yeah she loves you," Ruka said smiling.
"Thanks," Kazuya said smiling a little.
Sumi walked over to Chizuru and Sayuri with an nervous look on her face before she sat down next to Chizuru, "Chizuru," she said.
"Hey Sumi, wait whats wrong?" She asked looking worried.
"Well, last week Kibe asked if I wanted to move in with him during the summer," she said making her look surprised.
"Wow that's great," Chizuru said smiling before noticing the still nervous look on her friends face, "You didn't give him an answer yet did you?" She asked and Sumi nodded yes.
"Your not sure on what answer to give him," Sayuri said and Sumi nodded again.
"Ive slept in his place a few times now but the first time I was nervous when I first woke up next to him," Sumi said, "I'm nervous of how ill act if I wake up next to him every morning," she said.
"You think youll start acting shy," Chizuru said calmly and Sumi nodded.
"Yeah but one morning we woke up at the same time and the way he smiled at me made me feel really happy," Sumi said smiling at the memory.
"Sumi," Sayuri said getting her attention and she looked to see the older woman smiling, "Do you like him?" She asked.
"Yes I do, he and also Chizuru helped met get over being shy around others," Sumi said.
"Do you feel like living together would be a bad idea," Sayuri.
"No I really like it, but I'm just nervous," Sumi said before remembering something Kibe told her. "But he did tell me to take my time to make my choice," she said smiling.
"There you go, he wants this to be your choice too," Sayuri said smiling.
"He really does care about me," Sumi said smiling over at Kibe. Now knowing her decision.
"Thanks Grandma, looks like she knows her choice now," said Chizuru smiling before noticing Kazuya stand in front of the couch.
"Hey, can I get everyones attention please," said Kazuya as everyone now looked towards him. "I don't make that many speeches so I'll try to keep this short," he said smiling nervously.
"First I'd like to thank everyone who came out to see the play and Chizuru you gave a really good performance," said Kazuya as everyone cheered in agreement. "Chizuru when you told me your dream I knew you could do it and now you've made it," he said.
"I hope I speak for everyone when I say were looking forward to your next performance," he said holding up his bottle.
"Looking forward to it," Kazuyas grandmother said.
"Ill make sure to buy the tickets," Kazuyas father said calmly.
Chizuru smiled before getting up as well and standing next to her boyfriend, "Thanks Kazuya, but you supported me a lot as well," she said.
"Especially helping rehearse my lines for the last few weeks," she said.
"Here's hoping your next speech is at your wedding," Kazuyas grandmother said making everyone cheer.
"Grandma," Kazuya said looking embarrassed.
"Well I'm still waiting for him to pop the question," Chizuru said blushing a little while everyone cheered again. Kazuya just took a drink before smiling as the party continued.
Later as it was night out and everyone had gone home. Kazuya was finishing cleaning, "Alright looks like that's everything done," he said wiping his forehead when the bedroom door opened. Kazuya looked to see it was Chizuru with her head looking out.
"All done," she said.
"Yeah," Kazuya said smiling before looking surprised as Chizuru opened the door fully revealing she only had towel on.
"Want to join me for a bath," she said and Kazuya nodded blushing while she smiled. One of the benefits of their new apartment was it had both a bath and a shower. When Kazuya had reached the bedroom and taken off his shirt he noticed Chizuru take off her towel revealing her body.
She got in the bath and waited for him. When he got in, both of them now naked, she sat between his legs. "This is nice, I wish I went for a shower when we got back," she said.
"Well at least you want have to remember lines for a while now," Kazuya said wrapping his arms around her.
"Sounds great," Chizuru said. "I was offered to audition for a few shows and a movie," she said making him look surprised.
"So what did you say," Kazuya said remembering what Kuri had told him.
"Told them I needed time to think about it, sounds like some of the filming is happening far from here," she said.
"Are you sure?" Kazuya asked looking a little surprised before she turned around and kissed him.
"Definitely, I couldn't have made this far without you after all," she said smiling before hugging him. Kazuya smiled before hugging her back. He then looked surprised when he felt he was touching her lower half.
Chizuru then sat up smiling, "Now how about we celebrate our own way," she said before getting close to him and kissing him. Kazuya looked surprised at first before kissing her back.
After a good while the two of them ended up under the covers of their bed. Chizuru sleeping with her head on her boyfriends chest as he had his arm around her waist. He smiled at her before he remembered the look on her face when he asked her if she was sure.
"She really wants to stay with me, maybe I should show my own determiantion," he thought before looking at the locker next to his bed. In the top drawer was where he kept the engagement ring.