Chapter 2: Setting Things Straight
I sat across from this girl named Chizuru Ichinose in a moderately chill cafe about a ten-minute walk away from our apartment. There were a few patrons left at the booths just casually sipping coffee, chatting, and enjoying themselves. Smooth, radio-friendly jazz faintly filled the room over the store's speaker system. Overall, a pretty relaxing setting...
Which totally contrasted how I felt at that moment. I'd just explained my amnesiac story to a girl who, earlier today, verbally chewed me up and spit me out like a lion. This morning, she had a fire in her eyes that could give you a third-degree burn! Now, her face was stone-serious. There was not a budge, nor a tell in her expression. It was like lava solidifying into rock. She just sat there, occasionally sipping tea, but overall listening to me talk. It felt like she dominated the conversation without even uttering a word.
I told her everything. About Mami, the sickness I felt, and the weird things I'd noticed. I told her that I'd never seen her until she opened the door this morning, and I told her that I didn't remember anyone telling me my grandma was in the hospital. To the mention of that, I could see her furrow her brow ever so slightly, but other than this one instance, it was hard to tell what she thought or even if she believed me.
After finishing my story, I let out a long sigh.
"And, that's pretty much it," I concluded.
She didn't speak yet. She just casually stirred some honey into her tea, her eyes still closed. I had my gaze fixed on my cup now.
"Probably gone cold," I thought.
The light from the overhead lamp bounced around the surface of the liquid. After a few moments passed, Chizuru finally spoke.
"So, to recap, you're saying you have no recollection of anything that's happened these past few days?"
I turned my head up to meet her face. Her head was level with mine, but her eyes remained on her drink, still stirring with her teaspoon. I nodded my head affirmatively, saying "Mmm-hmm."
"And, you're saying you've never seen me until today?"
I nodded my head once again. "Like I said, not until this morning when you opened the door."
She set the teaspoon aside and took a sip of her drink, the cup held in both hands as she sipped. Once she set the cup back on the plate, she folded her arms and looked at me.
"Honestly, I think you're a liar, but I also think you're a pretty convincing liar, too."
Yeah, I don't blame her for thinking that. I leaned back in my seat as I kept her gaze.
"The thing is, the fact that you made your grandma that upset with such a stupid excuse makes me wonder why you're choosing to go about things this way. I'd call it a cowardly way of avoiding responsibility for your actions if it weren't for the fact that you're keeping up this charade believably well."
I held fast my position.
"I swear to you, it's the truth, I don't know anything about what happened these last three days and I don't know why my grandma freaked out like that." I adamantly tried to defend myself.
Chizuru leaned more into the table.
"You know, it's pretty coincidental that you just so happen to suddenly forget all the trouble you caused not only for me but for your family as well."
My heart sank a bit, but I continued to hold fast as I leaned back into the table. I felt my face get serious. I never broke eye contact with her.
"Please, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I don't know what I did. You can tell me right now what it was and you'll see my genuine reaction! What did I do?"
I was begging at this point. I've obviously done something unforgivable and regardless of whether or not I was sick or if I can remember, I have to make things right.
Chizuru looked to one side of herself before returning her attention to me.
"Open your phone."
...
"What?"
"You heard me, unlock your phone," she restated. She sounded a little peeved.
"Uh, okay..."
I reached over and picked up my phone from the table in front of me. I unlocked it and showed it to her.
"Give it to me," she said, holding out her hand.
She took it and started scrolling around. I was very confused as to what she might be looking for. I hope it's not something too bad. A photo? Maybe a message?
"See this?" She said, leaning forward with her free arm resting on the table.
She flipped the screen towards me to show me an application that I didn't recognize. The cover featured an attractive young woman on the front. The text reads 'Diamond' in katakana.
I studied it for a second before looking back at her. "Uh, yeah... what is that?"
She paused, still keeping that same eyes half-closed expression, but she still had a visible agency about her. She flipped the phone back towards her and then clicked what I assumed was the app on my phone. She handed it back to me before placing her cheek in her fist.
"Read through it."
I held the phone, watching her with a curious look, before dropping my eyes to the text on the screen.
Diamond...
...rental girlfriend?
A "diamond in the rough"... with Diamond?
I could feel my head shake ever so slightly in confusion. What the hell's this doing on my phone? I don't remember downloading this.
I could feel my brow furrow as I continued to read. There were detailed planners for cute dates couples could go on together. There were even options for food services that could be planned for in advance.
I looked back up at her. She seemed to be watching me carefully.
"A girlfriend renting app?"
She didn't budge. "Now, look at the top-rated girlfriends."
I briefly held her gaze before looking back down at the app. Clicking on the top-rated girlfriend section, I found at the very top of the list was...
I shot a look at her. "You're a top-tier rental girlfriend?!"
She threw her back against the booth's seat and groaned.
"Ugh, fine. I'm no psychologist, but you're either the best liar ever or you're telling the truth."
She sighed again before she sat up in her seat a bit, readjusting her hands back into her lap. I just sat there watching her with the same confused look.
"Look, I don't know why you'd be doing this, but let's say I believe everything you've told me up to this point. If that's the case, then I'll humor you a little more to see how you react to this..."
I set my phone down before folding my arms.
"Okay... react to what?"
She looked to her left out past the window for a moment before shaking her head and silently inhaling and exhaling.
"Yes. I am a rental girlfriend. And I take pride in my reputation as one of the best."
I gave her my full attention, not breaking my gaze with hers, and seating myself upright. Finally, I'm getting some straightforward answers.
"Three days ago, you rented me for the first time. We went to a cafe and an aquarium. Do you remember that?"
I felt my eyes widen slightly, but I shook my head.
"No, that was when I fell sick," I said firmly.
She continued.
"Okay, the day after, you rented me again and you flipped out at me when we were at the aquarium again. Do you remember this?"
I could feel my eyes widening A LOT now.
"No! You said I flipped out on you? What did I do?"
She sunk her eyes a little more and reseated her chin onto her hand.
"You were throwing a fit about me treating you like you're my boyfriend, even though that's what you PAID me to do." She put considerable emphasis on this statement. I could tell she was upset without even having to ask. I just sat there, my mouth slightly agape.
She started getting more animated. "On top of that, you freaked out at me in front of tons of people! You made a huge scene and embarrassed me, not to mention leaving a one-star review for the first time we dated."
I didn't know what to say. Jeez, if that's true, no wonder she's been so spiteful. I can't imagine I'd do something so ridiculously awful. I gritted my teeth and turned my head down submissively.
"I- I'm sorry," was all I could say.
She sighed and folded her arms once again, shutting her eyes.
"It's whatever," she scoffed. I could tell she had a grudge towards my abhorrent behavior. I still don't remember any of this though. What the hell.
She looked to one side of herself before continuing.
"After that, you got a call and you told me your grandma collapsed. You raced off to the hospital, so I just came along with you since I was still on the job and you didn't say anything. Your parents and your grandma all asked who I was, and before I could respond or say anything, you butted in and said I was your girlfriend."
My hands went straight to my head as my elbows hit the table. I held my head down in shame.
"Oh my God," I groaned.
She got flippant with me again, leaning forward to grill me some more.
"If you're so regretful of it now, why say all that stuff in the first place! We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't done that," she said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
I brought my head back up, my hands held in front of me as if shrugging to her statement.
"I'm telling you, I don't know! I don't remember doing anything like this. All I remember was being in my house and going in and out of consciousness for a while before finally waking up to see three days had passed."
"Well, none of that happened! The truth is you did what you did and now you've gotta fix it," she countered.
She's right. Like I'd said, regardless of whether or not I can remember, I DID do these things. There's no doubt about it. At the same time, it's hard to feel responsible too. It's not like I was conscious of the actions I'd performed. Seriously, what the hell.
My head was facing down towards the cup again and my hands balled together in frustration as I placed them underneath the table.
No, that's wrong. I shouldn't think like that. I have to have accountability here. I have to make things right.
I looked to face Ichinose-san. I could feel I had a look of seriousness on my face, which made her alert. I spoke my thoughts to her.
"I know, and I'm sorry. This is my fault..."
She rolled her eyes a bit and crossed her arms.
"Yeah, I know, you-"
"Please, listen to me for a moment." I cut her off from replying too quickly. I wanted her to hear my honest apology before anything else. My fists tightened passionately as I prepared to continue. I wasn't breaking my gaze from hers. She abruptly stopped and closed her mouth. She seemed to relax and pay close attention now.
I began.
"Regardless of whether or not I remember anything, It's no excuse to dodge accountability for my actions. To flip out as I did was stupid and unfair to you; you were just doing your job. To tell my family that you were my girlfriend when I knew that wasn't the truth is not only pathetic, but also it's inappropriate to you, your feelings, and the feelings of my family. I don't have a 'why' for my actions, and I don't wish for forgiveness, but only that you accept my apology."
I bowed my head deeply. I could feel the coffee hit my nose a bit on the way down. It was cold.
"I am so sorry," I firmly exclaimed.
...
There was a pause. I heard the soft and sweet jazz music playing, and I heard a few patrons conversing or ordering drinks, but I didn't hear a response from-
*pfft*
A slight chuckle was what I heard next... is she laughing?
I turned my head up to look. She was laughing. She had her hand covering her mouth to conceal a smile but it was blatantly obvious.
"Geez, you realize you dipped your nose into the coffee when you bowed," she laughed.
My eyes grew slightly at the realization that my nose was dripping a rich Colombian blend of coffee. I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose a bit, wiping it off. As I did so, Ichinose-san began to respond once more.
"Well... wow. All jokes aside, I guess I'm impressed you apologized to the level you just did..."
I set the napkin down and turned my full attention back towards her.
"...still, whether or not I forgive you is pointless. You have to tell your family the truth first."
I nodded. "Of course, that's actually what I planned to do tomorrow."
"And how are you gonna break it to your grandma and parents?"
I placed my thumb under my chin and paused for a moment, thinking about the best way to approach telling the truth before looking back up.
"I guess I was hoping you'd be there to help me break the news? It'd be easier with you there," I said, matter-of-factly.
Chizuru only blinked. Her eyes then took on that half-closed expression again.
"I can't."
Damn it...
She leaned in with her arms crossed, resting on the table.
"Look, I'm glad you've realized that you need to fix things straightforwardly, but I have things I need to do. I'm very busy balancing school and a job to spend any time for myself, so you'll have to handle this on your own."
I sunk into my booth, placing my head against the back of my seat, and glanced out the window.
"Yeah, I guess I don't blame you there."
"Thank you for understanding," she said curtly.
I stared out the window, watching pedestrians walk by, trying to think about how I'd best deliver the message by myself before I glanced down towards my phone.
...
Wait a minute?
I shot a look back at Chizuru. She was about to take another sip of her tea before her eyes caught mine again.
I had an idea.
"What if I rented you tomorrow?"
She blinked, setting the teacup down and folding her arms.
"Well... if I'm getting paid for my time tomorrow it'd make it worth the trouble... that's if I agree to do so."
I leaned forward a bit.
"Will you?" I said curiously.
She glanced to one side of herself. She took a few moments to decide before turning back towards me.
"As long as you promise me that it'll be the last time you rent me, and as well as promising me you'll tell the truth and end things for good tomorrow."
Fair enough. I would've made sure of this with or without her being there because at the end of the day this was my burden to bear.
I lowered my brow and nodded once.
"I promise."
She placed her hands back onto her teacup and raised the cup to her lips.
"Good, then it's settled. I'll meet you outside your apartment tomorrow after school. You can pay me then. You'll have to pre-arrange the date through the phone app."
I blinked.
"Wait, how does that work? I hand you the money but I have to pre-arrange the date on the phone?"
She took the last sip of her tea before placing it back onto her plate.
"Yeah, you've done it before," she said as if it was a stupid thing for me to say.
"Well, yeah, but I don't remember-"
"Mmm," she mouthed as if just now remembering something.
"Right, right, you don't remember anything, I forgot," she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
She got up from her seat and grabbed her purse from next to her. I mimicked her actions, grabbing my phone and stuffing it into my pocket, getting ready to follow her.
"Well, it's not rocket science; you just pay me in cash or digitally, and once that's done the date you've planned out commences."
I looked back at my coffee before deciding to take one last sip before leaving...
Eww... definitely cold.
She looked back at me as I set the cup back down.
"You know, you shouldn't drink stuff like that before bed. It stays in your system for a while."
I shook my head as I placed my hands into my pockets. Little did she know, it was gonna be hard for me to sleep tonight.
The next day after school, I texted my grandma.
'Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm coming with Chizuru to explain everything in a few hours.'
Afterward, I waited in my apartment, scrolling around on the Diamond app.
I couldn't believe that I'd actually decided to use something like this. Whatever happened to me in between the days that I fell ill to make me download this, I'll never know. This completely goes against what I was thinking to do after I'd broken up with Mami. Once I set this date up, I'll just delete it. And honestly, paying for a girlfriend? Not that I'm one to cast stones, but this seems pretty pointless. And in my case, this app has only done me more harm than good... or so I'm told. On top of that, twelve thousand yen for a date with a woman whose job is to also be catered to? This is highway robbery!
Whatever. I set up the date anyway. After a while, I heard a knock at the door. After feeding my fish, I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone, and made my way for the exit.
When I opened up, nobody was there. I looked to my right towards Ichinose-san's door but saw nobody.
"Hey," a soft voice called from my left towards the staircase.
I looked over and saw her.
Wow, she looked amazing!
Her hair was braided back and poked out on the side, she wore a light, sew-in sweater with a beautiful plaid skirt. She had on a pair of heels with black, transparent pantyhose. Her looks from when I met her a few days ago were like night and day. I could see why she was one of the top-rated rental girlfriends on the website.
"Are you gonna keep staring or are we going?" She snapped me out of my fixation.
I shook my head and chuckled, embarrassed.
"Yeah, sorry. You look great, by the way!" I complimented.
She leaned up off the guard rail and clutched her hand around her purse.
"Thank you. I take great pride in what I do. It's why I'm top-rated, after all."
Jeez, okay, way to make me regret that compliment. She's got quite the ego.
We began walking in the direction of the hospital.
"Uh, I dunno if you saw, but I already paid you through-"
"I know," she said quickly. "I got the notification and the money, so for today, think of me as your girlfriend."
I felt my face cringe a bit as she said that.
"Eugh, yeah," I laughed.
"What's so funny?" She sounded a little annoyed at that.
"Oh, nothing, it's just a little uncomfortable, I guess."
She closed her eyes and placed her hands behind her back as we walked.
"Hmpf, you were red in the ears last time we did this."
I winced. "Yeah, well I want to punch myself in the face from the last time we did this," I joked.
I actually heard her laugh once at this.
"Yeah, you and me both. But honestly, you seem different than how you were from a couple of days ago... not saying I believe your story, though."
Yeah, that's because I AM different from how I was a couple of days ago. There's no way in hell I'd ever see myself ever doing the things that I'd allegedly done.
We made our way into the busier part of the city. I started catching glimpses of people eyeing and gossiping about me and Ichinose-san. From out of ear-shot, I could hear people saying things.
"Dude, did you see the chick?"
"Are those two together? There's no way."
"She's with HIM? Then what the hell am I doing wrong, man?"
...
Jeez.
What a bunch of dicks!
I looked at her. She kept her head down, smiling as we walked.
"You seem to be quite the attention-grabber, Ichinose-san."
She shot me a venomous look. "Shh, it's Mizuhara... and God, please drop the san."
...
What?
Oh right, her name was Mizuhara on the website. "What's up with that, anyway? Your name on your door is Ichinose, isn't it?"
She turned her head towards me with a serious look on her face.
"I go by Mizuhara to not attract the attention of people who know me in my private life. If word got out that I was a rental girlfriend, it'd really mess up what I've got going for me right now."
I nodded, looking down at the ground.
"Mmm, I can understand that." A realization dawned on me. I looked at her now. "Sorry, I guess me knowing who you are outside of your work life makes you apprehensive, huh?"
She had her hands on her hips now, her full body turned towards me. I stopped walking to face her.
"Yeah, of course, it does. It's two parts of my life I'd rather not make one. As long as you're not blabbing about it to everybody you know, then we don't have a problem as I said before. Speaking of which, my grandma stays at this same hospital we're going to, so make sure to not mention ANYTHING to her if you see her," she said, pointing a familiar finger in my face.
I smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I don't believe I've told any of my friends about-"
"Kazuya?"
...
Oh no, that voice...
I and Ms. Ichinose both shot our heads back in the direction of the voice. In front of me were two familiar faces. Speak of the devil, huh?
Kibe and Kuribayashi. My friends.
"What are you doing?" Kibe asked, pointing vaguely towards Ms. Ichinose's direction. They both looked bewildered.
I looked towards Ms. Ichinose. Her mouth was agape, her hands pressed together in a sweet and innocent way.
I looked back at them confidently.
"I'm just on my way to go see my grandma at the hospital," I exclaimed.
"Yeah, but... you and her, who is she?"
He looked right past me towards Ms. Ichinose. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see she was stone-still, unable to move.
Okay, time to start being honest.
"This? This is my neighbor! Her grandma actually stays at the same hospital as mine, so we decided to go up there together to visit."
Kibe and Kuribayashi both blinked and looked at each other. Despite telling the truth, I don't know if they actually believed that. I looked back at Ms. Ichinose to see her reaction. Before I could get a good look at her, there was a forceful tug at the collar of my shirt. I was soon huddled into a discussion between my two friends.
"Dude, what the FUCK! Your neighbor is SMOKING HOT! There's no way she dressed up like that just to go to visit her grandma, she's gotta be into you!" Kibe sort of whisper yelled this in my ear.
"For real! You are seriously the luckiest guy on Earth! This is like the setup to a romance manga. Do NOT MESS THIS UP!" Kuri added. They both had the same enthusiasm for the situation.
I pulled myself out of the huddle before fixing my shirt and brushing the wrinkles out that my friends created.
"Will you guys chill?!" I said, quietly but firmly. "It's not like that, okay? We're just neighbors with something in common."
Kibe and Kuri glanced at each other sideways with a look of "yeah right," plastered on their face.
Kibe strolled up to me and slapped his hand on my back.
"Well, aren't you gonna introduce us properly?" Kibe said, still smugly chirping from ear to ear.
I rolled my eyes...
Wait, introduce?!
Which name do I use?
For a brief moment, I stumbled with what to say next.
"Uh, introduce yeah, of course!"
Ms. Ichinose looked a little frightened now. She held a pleading look in her eyes towards me. I nodded to her affirmatively.
"Guys this is..." I blanked for just a moment. Mizuhara or Ichinose? Which one would be better... shit, hold on, what am I thinking?! This shouldn't even be a question.
"...this is Ichinose Chizuru, my neighbor!"
...
I could see her drop her mouth and flick her head towards me at the same time. I looked at her with a half-smile and nodded reassuringly.
She quickly regained her composure, having a little bit of a head shake before perking back up.
"Pleased to meet you," she said with a beaming and beautiful expression.
Kibe and Kuri almost melted in her presence. Hell, I nearly did too. This girl truly does have a powerful way of captivating the heart of her audience.
Kuri was the first one to speak up. "P-pleased to make your acquaintance, m'lady!" Kuri sheepishly exhumed. Kibe nudged Kuri in the ribs with his elbow. He staggered a bit. I could hear him mutter something to Kuri under his breath, probably something chiding about the "m'lady" thing.
Kibe rubbed that back of his head, holding one eye open towards Ichinose. "Sorry about him, I'm Kibe. We're Kazuya's friends," Kibe said as cooly as he could.
Ms. Ichinose nodded positively. "Oh, it's very nice to meet you!" She was in no mood to get to know my friends, however. "We're in a rush right now to get to the hospital, so if you don't mind we really ought to get going," she said, shooting a look at me immediately after.
Kibe nodded. "O-oh, of course! We don't want to keep you up." Kibe turned towards me one last time. "Uh, Kazuya... and Ms. Ichinose, if you want, we're gonna be at a drinking party in town later. Not sure if you'd be down?"
Drinking? Hell no. Who knows what'll happen if I black out again. I shook my head. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna have to skip out, and Ms. Ichinose doesn't drink."
Kibe shrugged. "Suit yourself." He leaned in a bit towards me. "Just so you know, Mami-chan was gonna be there."
I shook my head again, cupping my hand over his ear. "I'm good, man. And I told you, we're just friends."
Kibe seemed content with this and retreated back towards Kuri. "Alright, well, it was good meeting you, Ms. Ichinose!"
Kuri waved to us. "Yeah, good seeing you, Kazuya! Also, good meeting you as well Ms. Ichinose!"
Chizuru waved with a smile. As soon as they were out of sight, I turned to face Chizuru, but I saw a finger shoot into my face, to which I flinched out of reflex.
"What the HELL?!" She fumed, "I told you, don't use my real name! Especially not with people you know, and ESPECIALLY not people from our school!"
I threw my hands up defensively. "Wait, please! I have a good reason for using your real name."
She threw her hands back down to her sides. Her hands were on her hips. "Why?" She snarled.
I put my hands down slightly. I breathed to calm myself. "I-if I used your rental alias, my friends might find you if they dug around for your social media. It's better not to lie about anything else from now on."
Her eyes looked down towards the brick pavement. She thought for a moment before nodding her head in agreement.
"Yeah. Fair enough, you're right." Her eyes looked back up at me. "That still means they're gonna look me up though."
I nodded my head. "Yeah, it's unfortunate we had to run into them today, but it's not the end of the world now, I think."
She rolled her eyes as we continued to walk towards the hospital. "You don't know that just yet. I just hope you know what you're doing. I'm walking a tight rope as it is."
I shoved my hands into my pockets and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I've drug you into this."
She looked away and to the side of herself. "I said it's fine as long as today is the last day we do this. I don't mind doing this one FINAL time," she said, putting much emphasis on the word 'final.'
We walked a bit longer before she looked towards me. She held out her hand.
"Since I'm your girlfriend, do you want to hold hands?"
I looked at her hand, and then towards her face, never taking a hand out of my pockets.
"Nah, it'd be a bad idea if we ran into any more people we know. Plus, I don't feel comfortable with that idea since we're not actually a couple."
She placed her hand back to her side as if embarrassed. She looked away from me. "Yeah, well, you didn't seem to mind it a few days ago. Just trying to do my job," she said defensively.
I looked towards her. "Look, I know you don't believe me, but I'm honest when I say that I don't remember anything. I know you're just trying to do your job, but whatever 'me' was with you a few days ago, the 'me' that's here now is the real, true, and conscious me. And I don't feel comfortable holding hands."
She just shook her head and looked down. "God, that's such a confusing statement, but I guess I understand. And yeah, I don't entirely buy your story, but as long as this whole thing gets resolved, I don't care what you come up with. After this, I just want to get back to my regular life."
Don't worry, Chizuru. We'll fix this.
We kept walking until we got to the hospital. Once we were inside, I told the nurse who I was and where I could find my grandmother. She directed us towards the upper floors and we took the elevator up. Ms. Ichinose held her head down the entire time. She seemed to be pondering something. I looked at her concerned.
"Are you okay?"
She seemed to snap out of her thoughts to look at me. She nodded her head affirmatively.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
No, she's not. There's no way she's okay. I'd be nervous too if I were in her situation. Here she is, having to follow someone who seriously messed up her life by getting her involved in something so selfish, now having to be there to undo the problems that they... no, that I created. On top of that, living a double life must be hard when you're forced to be in a place where the one person in the world you wouldn't want to offend is here, her grandmother. She must be anxious about seeing her and her learning about what she does for a living.
God, I'm so sorry, Chizuru.
Not knowing how else to help her, I took her hand. She gasped and looked up at me with a look of surprise. She only caught me looking out of the corners of my eyes, I tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
For just a second, I thought she blushed. She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. "God, don't just grab my hand like that. Who said you could do that?" She chastised.
I laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be my girlfriend?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
She got flippant. "Aren't you supposed to be uncomfortable?" She rebutted.
I half-smiled. "Sorry. I just wanted to snap you out of any bad thoughts you might be having. I promise it'll be okay."
She turned away from me and shook her head.
"Yeah, I know. Let's just get this over with," she said, trying to not sound bothered.
*ding*
The elevator doors opened. We walked out into the hallways and walked down to where my grandmother was. I put my hand on the door handle, psyching myself up to step inside.
Okay. Time to fix this. For Chizuru's sake.
Hey guys!
The reception to my story thus far has been very positive! I'm glad you guys find this story interesting.
This chapter could've gone on longer, but I decided I want to try and keep these chapters between 5-6k words as to not make them TOO long.
I think I'll keep doing these end-of-chapter author notes for each chapter. Again, thank you so much for all the love thus far.
Soon, I'll have a Ko-Fi page open in case anyone would like to support me, (hopefully that's okay to advertise here LOL.)
Yours truly
- Ady Art