Chapter 2 : The Rental

For a moment, Kazuya was speechless. In person her beauty felt like he was looking at a famous actress or idol. The pictures on the app didn't do her justice in the least! Her white rose patterned dress and the off pink cardigan she wore loosely over it were a deadly combination, not to mention the way her black tights accentuated her slender legs. Long black hair that looked like freshly spun silk went all the way to her waist. To be honest he felt a little underdressed in a casual tee and blue jeans.

Realizing he'd yet to reply to her and even though it'd only been a second or two he felt a little embarrassed for staring like a weirdo. "Yea, that's me. Mizuhara right?" he played it as cool as he could, attempting to channel some of his Keikai charisma. He didn't feel like he did a great job, but as long as he didn't stutter, he'd be happy.

"Thank goodness, it's so crowded I was afraid I might not find you!" she said with a little laugh that felt like a cool breeze on a warm summer afternoon.

"Do you live in the area?"

"Yea, I'm actually just a fifteen or so minute walk away." he replied to the question while internally wondering why she'd ask. He'd never been great with small talk, so he figured that's just something people said to one another.

"It's actually the first time I've been to this station. Even though I've lived in Tokyo my whole life, isn't that crazy?" She looked around at the surrounding shops, almost like a tourist in her own city. "It's embarrassing but I got a little lost on the way here..."

"Oh, that's no problem, sometimes I feel like I could take the train three stops and not find my way home for hours." While it wasn't entirely true, he felt it was the right thing to say in the situation. She laughed again, and there was a quality to it that made him want to hear it as many times as he could feasibly do so.

Pointing down the street, Mizuhara looked at him. "Instead of just standing out here, why don't we head into that café and talk?"

"Sure, sounds good." She started off ahead of him and he quickly followed.

Now seated with menus in hand, they continued their chat. "So you're in college, right? What year?"

"First actually. I took a gap year while I did some lab work for a Professor at the university before I officially enrolled."

"Oh, that's exciting! What kind of lab, if you don't mind me asking?" If Mizuhara's interest was faked then she was one amazing actress.

"Well it's bioscience, specifically biomedical. We've actually been working on potential treatments to some pretty big illnesses, and there's like an endless number of projects I want to work on in the future. The opportunity to get to do all this is really...sorry I'm kind of rambling." he stopped himself before he got too caught up in his work. He doubted she'd want to hear him drone on about medicine for thirty minutes.

"That's not a bad thing, it just means you've got passion. A lot of people don't have that drive when it comes to school or work." Her smile as she said seemed genuine to him, not like she really had any reason to lie on a point like that. Picking up her menu, she started to look through it. "Hmm, what to get..." Kazuya overhead her mumble to herself.

If dates really felt like this then there was no way he regretted doing this now! The way she carried herself, her gorgeous looks and the warmth and comfort he could feel from her presence alone made his heart beat in a way it hadn't in...well ever really. There was no way he could work up the nerve to ask a beauty like her out in real life, so this rental deal was an awesome opportunity.

Man, whoever she decided to go out with for real was one lucky guy. If they wanted to, they could brag about her to just about anyone and make them jealous as hell!

"Um, would this be a good time...?" Mizuhara asked, drawing him away from his thoughts. She held her hands in front of her, and it was clear what exactly she was asking about.

This was a transaction after all, not that he deluded himself into seeing it as more than that.

"Oh yea, of course." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a roll of bills and counted out the appropriate amount. ¥15000 for the hourly rate plus her travel costs made for a tidy sum, but it looked like it was going to be worth it.

After they finished at the café, where he'd paid obviously, they headed out to the place he'd chose for their date. On the way there Kazuya truly noticed the effect Mizuhara had on others. People's eyes, both men and even some women, were transfixed on her as they walked down the street, and he couldn't blame them. She was a real S-class girl, and there was no way she didn't know it.

Sure, people looked at him when he was running around as Keikai, but this was different. Mizuhara didn't have to wear a high-tech armour suit and fight crime to get stares, she did it all on her own. He felt something brush against his hand and it startled him, looking down and seeing her hand next to his.

"Did you want to hold hands? I am your girlfriend right now after all." she said quietly as he looked back up at her.

"I thought physical contact wasn't allowed? Isn't that what the rules said?" He had read through all the rules and a bunch of reviews for Mizuhara before he'd set up the date last night.

"Hand holding is allowed. It's actually encouraged as an essential part of the experience. Didn't you see that exception?"

He shook his head. He must have missed that part somehow, although if he was to critique a bit "Physical contact is prohibited" was a pretty final sounding statement.

"Well it is, so did you want to?" She offered he hand to him again.

Instead of a verbal answer he chose to simply take her hand in his, gently closing his fingers around hers. She smiled at him as they continued to walk, while he learned to enjoy the new feeling of walking hand in hand with a beautiful woman.

"Wow, this place is really big! And look how many different kinds of fish there are!" Mizuhara reaction reminded him of a younger version of himself, almost awestruck in a way.

"Have you ever been to an aquarium before?" he asked, feeling pretty confident he already knew the answer.

"Nope." she said shaking her head "I guess I'm glad I hadn't because now I get to share the experience with you!" Man, she really knew how to play the perfect girlfriend. Her every answer was like exactly what a guy would want to hear.

As they walked further in, they passed by an assortment of tanks filled with different species of fish from all over the world.

"Oh, those one's are so cute! That stripe they have looks really pretty." Mizuhara said looking into a particular tank.

"Those are Glowlight Tetras. You can tell the males and females apart by their sizes." Kazuya said without thinking while looking at the fish himself.

"Really? Do you have an interest in fish too?" She sounded almost surprised as she turned to face him.

"Well I used to come here a bunch when I was younger because the owner is a good friend of my grandma. I'd get a bunch of free passes so I learned as much as I could about them."

"That's awesome! Lucky me getting my own personal guide to all the fish in here." She'd been all smiles this whole time. She really gave this job her all. That enthusiasm alone brought a smile to Kazuya's face.

As they walked the halls more and more, eventually his mind began to wander more and more. To his future, how he treated his vigilante work and the choice he'd have to make come the end of university. It had weighed on him previously of course but being out like this and being filled with such a rush of positive emotions pulled the consideration to the front of his mind.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" he said after slowing to a stop.

"Hmm, what is it?" Mizuhara stopped as well and turned to look at him.

Before he could stop himself, he started talking. "If you had a dream, something that you wanted to achieve with all your heart, would you take any step to reach it? Even if it might hurt you or your loved ones in some way?"

The look on Mizuhara's face was one of shock. Genuine, honest to goodness shock. When he thought more on his melodramatic question he could get why. God dammit why did he have to bring up something so cringy and lame on a fake date?! Why couldn't he just keep his idiotic mouth shut!? She's a rental girlfriend for fucks sake, not a therapist! She wasn't getting paid to deal with his personal problems! Shit, he just wanted to disappear, run back home and sleep until he could forget all about today!

"S-sorry, you can ignore that. I'm just being stupid. Hey, want to go see the big tank with all the tuna? They're really..." His attempt to salvage the experience was interrupted.

"It isn't stupid." Mizuhara said in a quiet voice.

Kazuya looked back at her, as she'd remained in place as he walked by her. She looked him in the eye, and he could see the conviction in her.

"Everyone has a dream. Something they want and will throw themselves at no matter what. It's important to have goals, and whatever yours is, you should go after it." A little surprised at her genuine outburst her cheeks flushed a bit. "A-at least, that's what I think."

Kazuya was stunned. That passion, and the determined look on her face when she said it. That wasn't part of the girlfriend act. That was a look at the real Chizuru Mizuhara.

And to be honest, he liked what he saw.

Her answer was something he'd been looking for months now. Finally hearing it from somebody else, even if she was a rental girlfriend, meant a lot. He felt more confident in his decisions, and sure of his long-term goals. Maybe they weren't what was best for his family or friends or even himself, but they were what's best for the rest of the world. The pros far outweighed the cons in that scenario, and he'd be some kind of selfish to make the wrong choice there.

"Thanks. That means more than you think." It was all he could say in return, and hopefully it was enough to show his gratitude. His smile now wasn't just one of happiness, but of content.

"Don't mention it." Mizuhara said with a nod. "So, are you going to educate me on the finer points of marine life, Professor?" Offering her hand for him to take again. Right back into girlfriend mode. What a pro.

He took the offered hand in his. "It would be my pleasure, just don't expect the test at the end to hold anything back." Whether or not it was actually funny she still laughed, and they continued on with their date.

Visiting the gift shop was a customary part at the end of any good aquarium visit. Some of the stuff was cheap crap meant for kids to be bought by begrudging parents, but a majority was quality merch, if a bit marked up.

"Aww, this one's really cute! Look at its little hat." Mizuhara held up a stuffed penguin wearing an orange and yellow stripped pom-pom ski hat.

"Want me to buy it for you?" he offered, holding his hand out. It seemed like a nice thing to do, and it wasn't like he was hurting for cash.

"Are you sure?" When he nodded, she smiled. "Thanks!" She handed the stuffy to him. He looked it over and remembered the small collection of stuffed animals he had back at his parent's house. His apartment didn't really have much room what with all his lab equipment, so he'd left them all behind. Maybe...

He reached over and grabbed another penguin with a blue and white hat and smiled. Maybe it would be nice to have a few in his room to brighten it up a bit.

After paying and leaving the shop, Mizuhara wrapped her arms around her gift and held it to her chest. "So, we still have over an hour left, was there anything else you had planned?"

Before he could answer, Kazuya felt a call coming in. Since he normally kept his cell phone broken down and had its functions integrated into his nanomachines, so he didn't need to physically hold it to answer. However, standing in front of someone and just talking to thin air without any earpiece would look insane, so he quickly reformed his cell in his pocket at pulled it out. Looking at the caller ID showed that his father was calling.

"Hello? Yes of course it's me dad, what's..."

As Mizuhara looked at him questioningly, his expression shifted to one of fear. "Is everything all right?" she asked, leaning in closer.

"I'll be right over!"

Frightened by his sudden outburst Mizuhara recoiled a bit. He hung up his phone and looked at her.

"My grandmother...just collapsed."

Her expression too shifted to one of horror as some colour drained from her face.

"Sorry but I have to go! There's nothing else I owe you right?" He asked already turned to walk away.

"Well no, but-"

"Alright I'll head out. Sorry about this!" As he turned fully to leave, he felt her hand wrap around his wrist. Looking back at her he saw that her face was a more than a little conflicted.

"We still...have time left." She said not meeting his eyes.

He was confused. He needed to go see his grandmother, and there was a strict "no personal life" clause in the agreement he confirmed. There could be no family involvement between a rental and their client. Absolutely none.

So what was she saying? Was she planning to come along with him? Wouldn't that put her job at risk?

"Are you sure?" he asked her. Maybe she knew the rules better than he did, there could be some emergency exception. She nodded, and it was all the confirmation he needed.

"Honestly, the doctors exaggerated the situation again. Just a little faint and everyone comes running." Nagomi Kinoshita may have been older at 76, but she has all the ferocity and attitude of someone a quarter that age.

"Well of course we're worried about you Mom, we need to make sure you're doing okay." His mother Harumi held her in-law's hand with a look of concern.

"She's right you know. At your age people need to take extra care of your bodies. You also have the shop to worry about." Kazuo, his usually stoic father, said in a rare display of emotion. "And this isn't even your first time in the hospital, so we need to be extra careful."

"I wonder what the Wi-Fi is like in this room?" Classic grandma, not even letting them fuss over her. When they offered to grab her some food or a magazine she retaliated. "Don't treat me like some old bag of bones! I've still got plenty of fight left in me!"

Kazuya was glad she was alright, but was slightly concerned regarding the woman sitting next to him. Hopefully they wouldn't question her, because telling them the truth seemed too pathetic even for him.

"So, who's this little Miss you brought with you Kazuya?" Of course, grandma would ask that the moment things had calmed down.

"Ah, I was actually wondering that as well." his mother added. "She's a very charming young lady, are you a classmate perhaps? You couldn't possibly be...his girlfriend, could you?"

That perked up his grandmother's ears as she looked at the two of them.

The question hung in the air as Kazuya's chest tightened. Dammit, what was he supposed to say?! That she was a rental? No, telling his family that would kill whatever little hope they had for his love life. That she was his girlfriend? Yea, no. That would the dumbest choice of all. It'd be better to say she was just some stranger that followed him in. Looking over at Mizuhara he could see she was struggling in the same way he was, and she looked no closer to an answer. Well, there was one route open to them that wouldn't cause any problems.

"Oh, this is Chizuru Mizuhara. She's a friend from university." The tension left the both at the same time with the lie, letting go of breaths they didn't know they were holding. It was comfortable, easy and didn't leave any threads. Perfect.

"Really? Well, it's always nice to see Kazuya making new friends, he's never been very good at that. Especially with girls." Everyone laughed a little at that.

"Mom, please. You're embarrassing me." a little embarrassment was lightyears better than the pressure of the unanswered question, and the feeling of the room had lightened significantly.

"Girlfriend, honestly honey. Our son with a girl like her? What are the chances!" His parents laughs darkened at the remark from his father. Ouch dad, way to root for your son.

He wasn't wrong though.

His grandmother, however, didn't laugh along with everyone else. "What are those?" she asked, pointing to their laps. Looking down in sync the young pair of liars' eyes widened.

The penguins! Matching penguin dolls! Yea that totally wasn't suspicious that two "friends" would have something that basically screamed 'couple' as loud as possible!

It was Mizuhara's turn to build on the lie he'd started. "Well, when I told Kazuya I'd never been to the aquarium before he invited me out. Then we decided to get matching dolls to remember it!" The smile she wore was a genuine as could be.

Not a perfect fib, but it wasn't like there was anything else they could say. His grandmother still looked suspicious, and maybe even a bit somber at her not being his girlfriend, but seemed to accept the answer for now.

"Like Harumi said, our Kazuya has never been very good with women. Thank you, for putting up with him." she said with a bow.

"Oh no really its fine. Kazuya is a great guy. If anything, I'm lucky to be friends with him! He's really smart and funny, I'm sure he'll find a great girlfriend someday."

Where did that all come from? Laying it on a little thick there, aren't you Little Miss. Rental? It seemed to have the desired effect however as his family's smiles brightened considerably.

"If a girl as gorgeous as you thinks so, then I'm sure he will! Kazuya!"

"Yes, grandma?" he replied, startled by her yell.

"You'd better not make Miss Mizuhara here into a liar now!" Nagomi pointed at her, she could be really frightening when she wanted to. Oh, if only she knew. "I'm not crossing the Senza river until I see you with a woman at least half as good as Chizuru here!"

"Yes grandma, I won't let you down!"

"Sorry about all that back there."

"What do you mean?" Mizuhara looked at him.

"Making you lie like that. Saying we were friends and everything. I just don't think I could have stomached telling them the truth." The two of them were sat on a bench in the hospital hallway.

"Don't worry about it, you handled it pretty well. There are actually a lot of guys that want to introduce me to their families as their girlfriend." Chizuru said looking to the ceiling.

"Wait seriously? Ooo man, that's some serious cringe, I feel like I'm going to be sick." Kazuya clutched his midsection in mock agony.

Mizuhara burst out laughing at his antics, and her laughter was infectious. After they'd calmed down, they just sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"The thing is, my grandma has been in and out of the hospital a lot these past few years. She's got a ton on her plate. After my grandpa died when my dad was just a baby, she had to take care of both him and the liquor store he'd started. She's done so much for all of us that she's almost like our own family deity." He slumped in his seat, back sliding down the wall. "I've always wanted to be strong like her, to be able to call myself a great person. My family's only ever done what's best for me, and their only wish for me is to be happy. She wasn't joking back there. They all really want me to get a girlfriend, but I've never had the confidence to do anything about it. I guess that's why I rented you." Kazuya look up at her. "Pretty sad, huh?"

She listened attentively to every word, and seemed to gather her thoughts for a few moments. "It isn't sad. A lot of people use rentals for that reason. If we can help someone gain the confidence they need to get themselves a real partner then we've done our job. And the part about you being a good guy? That wasn't a lie."

"Really?" He straightened up, surprised by her admission.

"Really. If today was any indication I think you'll make a girl really happy one day. Until then, if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call on me again!"

"No offense, but that's unlikely. It was great, don't get me wrong," he hurried to correct himself at the sight of Mizuhara's worried look, "and you were amazing, but I think I've got a lot of personal stuff to sort through before I can even dream about having a real girlfriend."

"Well, if you say so. Maybe we'll meet again sometime. You still didn't give me that quiz, remember?" she said with an impish smile.

He laughed at the remark. "I'll have it ready by the next time." As she walked away, he knew there would be no next time. Mizuhara was great, but getting himself wrapped up in too many people was a problem for his future. The less people around the easier it would be too...

"Four years, just need to wait four more years." He repeated to himself.

After getting home, he pulled up the Diamond app to leave his review. "5 Stars. Beautiful, kind and caring. The Perfect Girlfriend." It was one of the few truths that came out of today. With his Saturday basically finished he decided to head to sleep early to get a head start on tomorrow's work, so he could get out on patrol a little sooner. As he was lying in bed, he thought of Chizuru, and how glad he was that he'd done this. At least the feelings of longing were gone now that he'd gone out on a date finally. Now, it was time to hunker down and focus ahead.

Arriving on campus early Monday morning, Kazuya yawned. His patrol last night had dragged on longer than he would've like because of a few street racers he'd had to stop. He made sure their luxury sports cars were write-offs for the extra trouble they'd given him. Selfish bastards...

"Sup Kazuya, how was the weekend?" a familiar voice called as he felt a slap on his shoulder. Looking behind him were his two best friends Kibe and Kuri.

"You know, same old same old. Spent most of it stuck in my apartment working." A lie, but a believable one.

"As expected of the eternal nerd. How's your grandma by the way? Kibe said she fainted again at the hospital." Kuri asked. News travelled fast in their group, as always.

"She's fine now, she's strong you know. Speaking of grandma, how's the website going Kibe?" The website Kibe was helping his grandmother build had been developing for a few weeks now, and the two were in relatively close contact because of it.

"Oh, it's going. She's more tech savvy than any other person her age I've met that's for sure. It's just kinda weird building what's essentially old folks Tinder." Kibe said with a bit of a shiver. The other two did the same. Eww, that was not a thought he needed at nine in the morning on a Monday.

"Hey guys!" called a young woman's voice from behind them. Looking up they saw a familiar face they'd all known since elementary approach as she waved enthusiastically.

"Hey Mami, Good morning." Kazuya greeted the blond as she stopped by them and smiled. She was as happy as always as they all exchanged their greetings as usual.

The group of four turned to head to the main building and began chatting, but not before Kazuya noticed a seemingly familiar not ten steps away.

She stumbled slightly as she saw him and dropped a few books she'd had held against her chest, he glasses askew and her face rapidly turning red as her eyes met his.

"Mizuhara?"