Just a heads-up before you read this story: you will need to picture Kazuya as a small kid. This is set during his younger years, so try to imagine him as a young boy. :)

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent-a-Girlfriend.

Kazuya Kinoshita sat down in the corner of the playground. He wrapped his arms around his legs to rest his head on top of his knees. The ten-year old let off a sigh as he relished the peace and quiet of being all alone in the park.

It had been another day of being in the receiving end of teasing and jeering for the small boy. All of the other children at school took pleasure in making fun of him. His closest friends, Kuri and Kibe, would often come to his defence - but even they couldn't resist having a mock at him. Any attempts to tell his family what he went through from his classmates fell on deaf ears. His mother and father would dismiss his claims as him being overdramatic - and even his grandparents would make a few digs at him.

Kazuya's shoulders sagged as he thought of how his schoolmates, his friends and even his own family enjoyed ridiculing him. They always made the small boy feel like a complete loser. He closed his eyes, wondering if they were all right about him.

Maybe it's true, Kazuya thought unhappily. Maybe I am a loser - and that's all I'll ever be.

"Eeeeeeeek!"

Kazuya jumped in fright upon hearing a high-pitched scream suddenly fill the park. His eyes shot open - and they instantly widened upon seeing who it had come from.

At the far end of the playground were two teenage boys. They both had stupid sneers on their faces which directed towards the person before them who they had made scream. Kazuya peered past them to see that trapped in the corner, looking very vulnerable and frightened, was a pretty little girl.

A glare flashed across Kazuya's face to see what this girl was going through. He quickly rose to his feet as he marched towards the bullies. Being picked on was something he could put up with - but he was not going to stand by and do nothing upon seeing it happen to somebody else.

The bullies did not hear the little boy who was approaching them from behind. They were too busy taking pleasure in how afraid of them the girl was.

"Aww, would ya look at that?!" The first bully - a large bulky boy - sneered as he pointed at their victim. "Girlie is all scared!"

The girl trembled as she gazed at the boys who had her trapped. Her dark bangs fell over her eyes that were filled with terror.

"Please…" she begged in a timid voice. "Just stop it."

"Don't tell us what to do!" The second bully - taller and scruffier than his friend - yelled. "You've got some nerve, tryna' boss is around! Ain't that right, Oro?!"

"I say we teach her a lesson, Kamono! Let's show Little Miss Prissie what happens to girls who try to tell boys what to do!"

The girl's pretty face turned white as she saw the boys coming menacingly closer to her. She could tell right away they were planning to hurt her. Having no idea how to defend herself, she squeezed her eyes she tensed up from all the fear she was in.

"Please… Just… Leave me alone!"

"Hey! You two stop picking on that girl?!"

The bullies froze upon hearing a high-pitched voice shouting from being their backs. They turned away from their victim as they swung around to find out who it belonged to. Both were astonished to see a scrawny-looking boy before them, clearing here to attempt to protect the girl from their tormenting.

"Well, what do we have here?" Oro exclaimed with an oily grin. "Some little wannabe hero!"

The small boy glared angrily at the two bullies as he pointed past them towards the girl - who was staring towards him, confused as to why this stranger was trying to defend her.

"You leave her alone right now!" Kazuya demanded.

"Oh and why should we do that, kid?!" Kamono smirked. "Is she your girlfriend?!"

"If you want someone to pick on," Kazuya hollered, "leave her and take me instead!"

"Oh, how brave and noble of you!" Kamono remarked mockingly. "But this ain't a manga or an anime, kid! There's no way you'll stand a chance against us!"

"Maybe not!" Kazuya stood his ground. "But I'm not gonna let you two pick on that girl!"

"So stupid!" Oro scoffed, ominously approaching the small boy. "C'mon, Kamono! Let's teach this little punk a lesson!"

The intense scowl on Kazuya disappeared upon seeing the two bullies charging towards him. Instant flashed across his face. He had succeeded to prevent them from attacking the girl - but he had no idea how to protect himself from being beaten up.

There was only one thing he could think to do for his own safety.

Run!

Kazuya swung around and sprinted off as fast as his petite legs could carry him. He could hear the bullies calling after him as they quickly gave chase.

"You can run," Kamono shouted, "but you can't hide!"

"We're gonna squash you, kid!" Oro added. "Just like the bugs we squish!"

Kazuya gulped upon hearing the threats the bullies were hurling at him. He was very certain they were not bluffing. Not willing to let them catch him, he jumped the fence that ran around the playground, racing off further into the park.

Neither of the two bullies let the child they were chasing out of their sides. They were both determined to catch him to deliver the pain they had just promised to give him. Upon reaching the dense he had jumped, Kamono quickly climbed over it - before landing flat on his face in the ground. He tried to pick himself up - before letting out a yell as Oro also came over the fence to stand on his back.

"Argh!" Kamono yelped in pain. "Cut it out! Get off me!"

"What are you doing laying down, Kamono?" Oro frowned down at the boy he was standing on. "Get up and get that kid before he gets away!"

Oro jumped off Kamono and charged after Kazuya without waiting for his friend. The scruffy boy groaned as he scrambled to his feet. He raced after his fellow bully - although he could not go as fast due to the pain he had given to his back.

Kazuya continued to run through the park, dodging in and out of many startled people in his way. If they noticed at all that this small child was on the run from two teenage bullies, they did nothing to interviewer and help him. He looked back to see that Oro was close behind him with Kamono behind a little further away.

Not wanting to find out what would happen if they caught him, Kazuya looked ahead again - and let out a cry as he came to an abrupt stop.

He had run up to the park's lake - and had only just prevented himself from falling in. He teetered on the edge as he stared with wide, alarmed eyes down at the water. It looked very deep and cold.

Kazuya regained control of himself to avoid overbalancing and falling into the lake. He turned around to prepare to run off in a different direction - only to freeze upon seeing Oro standing before him, blocking his path.

"I have ya now, ya little brat!" he sneered. "I'm gonna show right now that you are no hero who can take me on."

Kazuya tensed up, shuffling backwards from the bulky bully he couldn't get away from. The water of the lake lapped behind him. It was ready to swallow the boy up when he plunged through it.

Oro flashed a nasty smile at the child he was prepared to do terrible things to. Grabbing the front of Kazuya's shirt, he lifted him up off his feet. He held the boy up before him in the air, enjoying the sight of all the fear filling his face.

"First, I'm gonna beat you up!" Oro promised. "Then, I'm gonna throw you in the lake!"

With a nervous gulp, Kazuya closed his eyes. He braced himself for the intense pain and cold water that was to fill his small body. He had failed to keep himself safe from bullies. He just hoped they wouldn't attack the girl when they were done with him.

THUMP!

Kazuya heard a loud pounding sound - but felt noticing struck his body. He opened his eyes - just as Oro released him from his hold. The small boy fell the ground, unharmed. Completely puzzled, he peered up to see that Kamono had caught up with his fellow bully - and had crashed into the back of him. The pair of young thugs staggered forward - to fall into the lake, landing with a splash in the water.

Safe at last, Kazuya jumped up to his feet. He ran hastily away from the lake, where the two bullies came up to the surface, both soaking wet and extremely humiliated.

"Idiot!" Oro hollered, splashing Kamono with water. "What d'you go and do that for!"

"Hey!" Kamono shouted, holding up his hands as showers of cold water rained all over him. "Cut that out!"

"You may be the filthy one who needs a bath - but I don't!"

"Well this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't stood on me and busted my back! You could really do with losing a few pounds!"

"Are you trying to say this is my fault?!"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say!"

While the two bullies argued in the lake over who was to blame, the boy they had failed to beat him his behind a tree. He rested his back against it before whiling his brow. How relieved Kazuya was feeling. He had managed to escape being attacked by those thugs.

More importantly, he had prevented them from doing the same to somebody else.

"Hey…"

Kazuya blinked upon hearing a voice speak to him from nearby. He turned to find out who was joining him by the tree - and smiled upon seeing it was the girl.

"I saw what happened," she murmured. "Are you alright?"

"I sure am!" Kazuya's eyes twinkled as he took in how pretty the girl was. "More importantly, are you okay?"

"I am now, thanks to you," the girl answered. "But why did you do that? Why did you help me?"

Kazuya observed the girl upon hearing her confused question. She looked so sweet, so small, so helpless. The idea of anyone trying to harm her was sickening to him.

"I can't stand to see people being picked on," he said. "It's something I go through all the time. It's not anything I can't deal with - but there's no way I'm gonna stand by and let anyone pick on a lovely young lady like you. I'd get beat up a million times before I'd let any bully harm a hair on your pretty head."

The girl giggled and shook her head. The way this boy was complimenting her and saying how willing he was to protect her, anyone would think she was his girlfriend.

"Well, thank you," she said gratefully. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's okay. Don't mention it."

With a humble smile, Kazuya took a final look at this girl to relish how pretty she was. Then he raised a hand, starting to walk away as he prepares to leave the park to head for home.

"I'd better get going now," he said. "See ya."

"Yeah. Thanks again. See you."

Kazuya kept his gaze for a few moments as he waved to her. Then he turned and made his way out of the park, unable to keep the smile off his face. No one would ever believe him if he were to tell them that he managed to rescue a pretty girl from being picked on by bullies. The idea of the scrawny luckless boy being a hero was something his family and friends would never buy.

He didn't care. He would always know it to be true. If he did nothing else in his life, Kazuya could remind himself that he at least managed to come to somebody's rescue.

The girl lowered her hand she had been waving with upon seeing the boy leave. She was astonished by what had happened to her that day. Being bullied by the local children was something she often went through - but for the first time, somebody had come to her defence. Nobody had ever stepped up to protect her from her tormentors before. This boy had to be one of a kind.

She smiled at how good he had to be to have saved her. She wished she had asked him for his name.

"Chizuru!"

Hearing a familiar voice calling her name from nearby - the girl peered around and beamed upon seeing an elderly woman approaching her.

"Grandma!" Chizuru cried, running towards the old lady. "Oh you won't believe me when I tell you what just happened to me!"

"Come on, dear, we've got to get you home," the woman told her. "It's time for you to get ready for your acting lesson this evening."

"But, Grandma! I just had an amazing adventure!" Chizuru followed her grandmother with a bright smile. "I was being attacked by two mean guys! They had me trapped in the playground! was scared, I was terrified! They were going to beat me up! But then this boy came along! He stopped the bad guys and saved me!"

"Oh, that's nice, dear."

Sayuri agreed with what her granddaughter told her; she didn't believe her. With her dream to be an actress, the small child had an enormous imagination. The old woman believed what Chizuru was telling her was one of the many stories she made up in her head and would proceed to act out. The idea of her being saved from being attacked by a brave boy certainly sounded like something that happened in the little girl's own fairy tales.

What Sayuri was aware of, however, was that Chizuru was often being tormented by bullies in the park. The thought of her beloved grandchild being ruthlessly picked on by such cruel children was horrible for the doting grandmother. It was why she was was considering signing her up for self-dense classes to attend along with her acting lessons. Being constantly hassled by so many cruel children had made Chizuru become so clingy and dependant on her.

Knowing she wasn't going to be around forever, especially if the illness she had begun to develops early symptoms of was any indication, Sayuri hoped there was indeed some boy out there who she could entrust to take care of her precious Chizuru.

As she followed her grandmother out of the park, the little girl couldn't stop thinking of the boy who had saved her. She really wished he had stayed around for longer to get a chance to know who her rescuer was. She didn't think she'd ever find out what his name was, let alone see him again.

How wrong she was. Little did young Chizuru know that she would be seeing a lot of Kazuya in the future when she would grow up to become a rental girlfriend.

"I can't believe we didn't squish that punk!" Oro grumbled, shaking his soaking hair from his eyes.

"Or his little girlfriend!" Kamono added as he stared down at his clothes - which had been given a bit of a wash in the water.

The two bullies had climbed out of the lake. They were dripping wet as they made their way through the park, thinking about how humiliating it was for a pair of tough guys like them to be outdone by a little kid. The saturated pair were leaving footprints of water behind on the path they were following - before coming to an abrupt stop as something caught their attention.

Standing alongside a trash can next to the path was another girl. This one was a little shorter than the one they had been stopped from picking on. The boys peered closer to notice she was typing away at the screen of a cell phone. They could see it was a very expensive type; the kind which only rich people could buy.

The two bullies exchanged sly sneers. They both had the same scheme on their mind. Unlike the last girl they had tormented, this one had nobody to protect her. Taking that high quality phone from her would be all too easy - and they would get the chance to beat somebody after all.

"Hey, you!" Oro shouted, making his way towards the girl. "Give is your phone right now!"

"Yeah, hand it over, girlie!" Kamono smirked as he walked alongside his friend towards the short person they were preparing to attack. "Or we'll beat your pretty little face to a pulp before throwing you in the trash!"

Hearing the bullies approaching and making threats towards her, the girl looked up from her phone - to shoot them both a scary glare on her face.

"What?" she whispered in a low yet eerie voice.

"Eep!"

"Yikes!"

Both boys let off squeals of terror as they stopped in fear before the girl. They tensed up over the frightening way she was looking at them. Alarm crept across their own gazed as they backed away. Neither of them felt so tough now. They no longer had any intentions to provoke this person who appeared to be someone not to be crossed.

"N-Nothing!" Oro stammered nervously. "It d-doesn't m-m-matter!"

"We'll l-leave you alone, M-Miss!" Kamono stuttered. "We don't want any tr-trouble!"

Not wanting to stay to feel the wrath this girl, the cowardly bullies swung around and ran away like a pair of dogs with their tails between their legs. She remained behind at the trash can as she watched them run away. An intense frown filled her face as she shook her head in disgust.

"Boys are so pathetic," she murmured bitterly.

The bullies were not the first to be frightened off by this girl's scary gaze, nor would they be the last.

It did not matter how young or small this child was. There were few people who were able to not let themselves be intimidated by the icy, sinister glare of Mami.

Thanks for reading this story! Sure hope you enjoyed it! The inspiration for this came to me while watching the second episode of series two. Upon hearing Sayuri tell Kazuya how Chizuru often got picked on by other kids as a child, I wondered if would happen if she got saved by those bullies - without knowing her protector was Kazuya. I thought it would be fun to have them meet as children - with no idea of the crazy drama they were to go through together when they'd grow up! XD

Thank you again for reading! See you soon - and be careful, all you single guys out there, should you choose to rent a girlfriend! :P