Chapter 3: Kazuya's Change

Inside one of the various classrooms of his university, Kazuya was following one of his lessons with a big silly grin on his face while his friends were glaring at him. The reason being the fact that he and Sumi were officially a couple and that he told Kibe and Kuri about it.

Obviously, he said the news to Chizuru too, who was glad to know that her neighbor and friend became the real boyfriend of the shy girl; Sumi texted her about how overjoyed she was to be Kazuya's girlfriend, so the aspiring actress could be only happy for the newborn couple.

She was also currently helping the boy to take notes during the lesson, finding cute his big smile; he had told her about the way he was dumped by his ex and how hurt he felt after that, which made her dislike Mami very much.

Even if she was just a rental girlfriend, Chizuru hated the way Mami dumped Kazuya because staying with him for just a month and then telling him that she found someone else was just cruel. Fortunately, Mami wasn't present at the lesson because the brunette wouldn't hesitate to give her the stink eye.

Despite being just his neighbor and friend, Chizuru was very affectionate to the young man, to the point of being also very protective of him just like she was of Sumi. That was why she didn't want Mami to get close to him, as she wouldn't forgive her for hurting his feelings another time.

'Even he's a little dumb, he's very kind and is the person that Sumi-chan fell for. So I won't allow Mami-San to approach him and hurt him again.', thought the brunette while showing her notes to the boy, feeling a strong determination that guided her.

Kibe and Kuri were watching her and Kazuya with comical anime tears in the eyes, extremely envious of their best friend to have such a beautiful friend. They knew that she was just that for him, since his heart beat faster only for Sumi, but they couldn't help be jealous anyways.

'I want his same luck, damn it!', they both thought, gritting their teeth and with an aura of depression surrounding them. Such aura was so noticeable that also the other students and the teacher felt it, sweatdropping at seeing who emanated it.

As Kazuya had only some morning lessons for the day, they all went fine until they weren't finished. So he and Chizuru left the classroom to go back to home, as they usually went together to chat together about her future career as actress and how his relationship with Sumi was going.

"How are you doing with the drama club, Chizuru-San?", he asked her while walking.

"I'm doing very well, everyone is very nice there and they help me to ameliorate my acting skills. I have also a friend there that can find some acting jobs for me.", she replied, smiling at him.

"T-That's fantastic! If you go on like this, you will become a great actress just like your grandmother!", he told her enthusiastically, making Chizuru blush.

'I feel bad for not telling you that I'm rental girlfriend, but I don't want to lose a friend like you. When you told me that you felt honored to have an actress like me as neighbor and friend, I was happy to hear those words. You're too kind, Kazuya.', she thought, smiling brightly at him and thanking him wholeheartedly.


They continued to walk together until they didn't reach their apartment complex, where they climbed up the stairs and greeted each other before entering in their respective houses. Once inside there, Kazuya took care of feeding his fish and put away all his textbooks before going to take a shower; he didn't have anything to do for the afternoon, so he would go with Sumi to search for a job together.

In fact, his angelic girlfriend had stopped working as rental after they became a real couple, and since he wanted to find a job too to make some experience, they had decided to search for one both of them could do. And while he was thinking about the various possibilities to work, an image of a maid Sumi appeared in his mind, making him smile and blush.

'M-maid Sumi-chan hehe.', he thought, smiling and imagining said maid closing her eyes and cupping his face to kiss him. Speaking of kisses, he and she had not kisses yet, even if now they were a real couple.

Considering the huge shyness of the pinkette, Kazuya didn't want to put pressure on her about kissing each other; being loved by her was already enough to make him happy, so he could wait to kiss her. Besides, he could also think on how make their first kiss something of special and unforgettable.

Obviously, he didn't think about not innocent things about her because he didn't want to scare her by being a pervert. He was of the idea that it was also because of his lecherous thoughts that Mami dumped him, even if he still thought that the blondie never liked him for real in the first place.

'I don't care anymore about Mami, I have Sumi-chan that truly loves me now. What my ex and her stupid boyfriend do is not business.', were his thoughts while he was drying himself after the shower before opening the wardrobe to choose an outfit to wear.

Although going somewhere with Sumi was like a date, he needed to dress up elegantly for the potential job interviews. Which was the reason he wore a light blue shirt, a dark blue jacket with matching trousers and black shoes instead of the white sneakers he often used. He also fixed his hair a bit .

After he was done, he looked at himself in the mirror and smiled, satisfied with the result. He also checked the time and saw that there were just 10 minutes left before going to meet Sumi, so that was his cue to leave the apartment to take a bus for the city center.

His very elegant outfit combined with his fixed hair were attractive for the eyes of the female passengers of the bus, even if he didn't pay attention to them because he was busy with looking at his phone to see the greeting dog emoticon he received from Sumi that made him smile. The pinkette had told him that she had a dog as pet and that she would like to make him know it; even if Kazuya liked fish more, she was sure he would gladly play with her dog.


Several minutes later, the bus stopped inside the city center and the orange haired boy got down from it to start searching with his eyes for Sumi. But suddenly, he felt someone hugging him from behind, so he turned his head to see his dear angel clinging on him.

"Hello, Sumi-chan! I'm glad to see you too.", he told her, smiling and reciprocating the hug.

"H-hello, K-Kazuya-San.", she shyly told him, blushing profusely and smiling while hugging him. They clung on each other for some seconds more before pulling away, so the boy could admire the nice reddish blouse, the long pink skirt and the red shoes that she was wearing.

Sumi took a look at his outfit as well and on a cue, she complimented him in the same moment he told her that she looked great. That made both of them blush and smile before Kazuya took her hand. "Let's go to search for a job, Sumi-chan!", he told her energetically, getting a smile and a nod from her.

So the young couple started to walk together to take a look at the various shops or cafes to see if one of them searched for new employees, with Kazuya ignoring the annoying comments of the envious boys that saw him and Sumi.

'Go to find yourselves some gilfriends, assholes!', he thought, hiding his annoyance with a smile to not make worry his angel. Unbeknownst to them, a certain blonde girl noticed them and started to follow them.

'That's Kazu-kun? How did he find another girlfriend?', thought Mami, annoyed by how happy he and Sumi looked. She continued to follow them without being found out until they didn't stop and entered inside a coffeehouse and took place to a table.

She watched how the two of them ordered two coffees and a slice of strawberry cake t-to share together, getting more annoyed by their smiles. So she approached them and asked, "Is that you, Kazu-kun?"

"Huh? M-mami? What are you doing here?", was his reaction, confused like Sumi.

"I just entered here and saw you, so I thought of saying hello. Who's the girl with you?"

Blushing, Sumi got up and bowed out of education, "M-my n-name is Sumi Sakurasawa and I'm K-Kazuya-San's girlfriend."

Surprised by the answer, Mami smiled and sat down to their table. "You're his girlfriend? Nice to meet you. My name's Mami and I'm basically his ex. It's incredible how a pervert like him found another girlfriend so soon.", said the blondie, irritating Kazuya and shocking Sumi.

"You know, when I was together with him, he always took glances at my thighs and wanted to hold hands often. He was easy to get jealous too because he didn't want me to wear miniskirts. He was kinda ridiculous hehe.", she said, giggling and without noticing how Kazuya was glaring at her.

"K-Kazuya-San is not like that. H-he's always nice with me and loves me despite my s-shyness. D-don't say bad things about him.", said the pinkette instead, whose eyes started to water. The other customers and the coffeehouse's staff got worried at that sight, giving the stink eye to Mami for making Sumi cry.

"Why not? I'm just saying what-"

Mami's sentence got interrupted by the sound of the slap delivered to her face by Kazuya, which left the crying Sumi stunned while the staff and the other customers smiled for his action. Glaring at the blondie, he told her, "What the heck do you want?! You dumped me after only a month of going out together and come here to do what? To insult me and make Sumi-chan cry? Don't screw with me! You're the one that never really liked me in the first place and told me you found another man, so it's just your fault!"

"K-Kazu-"

"And stop calling me that! We're not friends, and after how you talked about me in front of Sumi-chan and made her cry, we will never be. Do me a favor, will you? Get out of my sight, scumbag.", he told her with a stern voice and intensifying his glare, which made Mami tremble in fear.

The staff of the coffeehouse didn't intervene because they were on his part, especially after knowing why she dumped him. Sumi was deeply moved by how much he cared for her, so she got up from her chair to hug him, snuggling her face into his chest.

The young man smiled and hugged her while patting her head, changing his smile into a angry expression when he looked at Mami again. "What are you still doing here?! Leave!", he told her aggressively, scaring her even more.

For the first time, the blondie was feeling terrified of how Kazuwa was looking at her; compared to his usual nervous look, his eyes showed only anger and annoyance. Plus, the mark he left on her face by slapping her still stung, and feeling he would hit her again, she apologized and left at once.

She noticed how the other customers and the staff glared at her and shaked their heads, which made her feel humiliated. Once she left, Kazuya's expression changed into a worried one when he gazed at Sumi, hugging her tighter and patting her head.

"Everything's ok, Sumi-chan. Don't listen to that jerk.", he told her sweetly, making the waitresses look at him with smiles.

He then looked at everyone inside the coffeehouse and said, "I-I'm sorry for all the commotion that I caused, everyone."

A middle aged woman with an apron and long brown hair approached him and Sumi while smiling. "Don't be, young man. That ex of yours badmouthed you and made your girlfriend cry, so you were right to get angry. My staff and I hate it when some customer makes a girl cry."

"That's right! You did well with slapping that woman and scaring her away! She deserved it!",told him a male customer, giving him a thumbs up like the others did.

Kazuya blushed out of embarrassment to receive such compliments from everyone, noticing also that Sumi calmed down.

"I-I don't believe in anything she said. K-Kazuya-San is a nice person and I love you very much.", she told him, blushing deeply and keeping to hug him.

"I love you too, Sumi-chan.", he told her, smiling and caressing her hair.

Such scene was so sweet that the owner of the coffeehouse felt moved by them. She also thought of an idea, so she called for the couple's attention.

"Hey, you two. Would you like to work here for me? I'm in need of a maid and a waiter, and you two seem perfect for those jobs."

"Huh? A-are you serious?", asked an incredulous Kazuya.

"Yes, I am. You see, some of the girls that work here get arassed often by the boys, so someone so protective of his girlfriend is perfect to scare the assholes away. Plus, you and your sweetheart can be together while working like that.", replied the woman, smiling at them.

The thought of a maid Sumi becoming a reality made the boy smile too, so he looked at Sumi to see if she was fine with working there. She smiled and nodded, so he told the owner that they would gladly work for her.

"Splendid! You can start from tomorrow, and since I want to reward your courage of earlier, young man, you two can eat all the pastries you want! They're on the house!", told them the woman, making appear some stars in their eyes.

So they sat back to their table and ordered all the pastries and cakes that were available, with both of them savoring them and smiling in delight for how good they tasted. Some of the other customers were stunned from what happened, feeling envious of the couple for having the opportunity to eat all they wanted.

Meanwhile, Sumi noticed some cream on her boyfriend's cheek, so she took a napkin and cleaned it off. Her move made her and him too blush, with him thanking her with a nice headpat.

'T-thank you for being so kind with me, Kazuya-San.', thought the pink haired girl, enjoying the gesture and smiling. She loved being patted on the head by him, after all.


Some hours of eating later, the couple greeted the owner, whose name was Shirayuki Sadako, and everyone else before leaving to go to take a look at the shops around. Sumi clung on the boy's arm during that, smiling and feeling safe.

Kazuya was glad that she wasn't sad anymore because of what Mami said; seeing Sumi cry was something he really hated, just like he hated the blondie now. He was already annoyed by the way she dumped him, but after what she did earlier, he felt only disgust while thinking about her.

What did she want? Did she think that badmouthing him in front of other people was funny? She was just stupid and ridiculous if that was the case, because what she got was a slap from a pissed Kazuya.

In the past, he never hit a girl because he was always nice with them and tried countless times to get a girlfriend. But since he got dumped by Mami, he changed and hated it whenever someone made fun of him. If it was his family and his friends, he could tolerate some playful mocking, but not the way his ex insulted him.

If she was now afraid of him, he didn't care; she made an angel like Sumi cry, so she deserved the harsh words he told her. He was sure that Chizuru would have slapped Mami too, as the young actress was protective like him of Sumi.

'I wish I never had that jerk as first girlfriend.', he thought, regretting the day he asked her to go out with him. She looked like a good person when they met for the first time, but it seemed that it was a mask to hide her true and ugly character. Compared to Sumi, she was just a bad person in the end.

And about the pinkette, she caught his attention by asking him if they could go to ask to the street artist she saw to make a portrait of them. Liking the idea of having a portrait of him and her together, Kazuya nodded and went with her towards the artist that gladly accepted their request.

He made them pose for the portrait by asking Kazuya to hug Sumi from behind, which made them blush before smiling. Considering that a portrait needed some time to be done, they posed for quite a while. But such sweet contact between them was something blissful for the young couple, especially for Sumi.

She didn't understand why his ex was so cruel to someone so kind like him; perhaps he wasn't perfect, but Sumi loved him anyways. Besides, she wouldn't mind start to live together with him already because she could spend every day with him like that.

'I-It would be like we w-were newlyweds.', she thought, blushing with an intense shad of red but keeping her smile for the portrait. Kazuya noticed her blush as well, but he thought it was due to him hugging her.

After several minutes, their portrait was complete and the boy paid the artist that gave them the result of his work. The young couple could admire it in this way, smiling happily for how good it was.

"You can keep it with you, Sumi-chan. C-consider it as a present from me.", he told her, caressing her head.

"B-but I w-want that you have a copy of this too.", she said with a worried expression.

"It's ok, the selfies we took together during our first dates make me happy anyways.", he said to assure her, giving her a toothy grin too.

Feeling her heart skip a beat at such reply, Sumi gave him a shy kiss on the cheek that caught him off guard and made him blush brightly like her. "S-Sumi-chan?"

"Y-you're so nice that you make me love you more, K-Kazuya-San.", she told him, keeping her gaze down while some steam came out of her ears due to her bold move.

Some passersby that saw them giggled at their cute interaction, especially some old women that found them adorable. Feeling very embarrassed, Kazuya took his girlfriend's hand to go towards a park to stay alone with no one around.

Since it was a sunny day, they decided to sit on the grass to enjoy some fresh air, with the young girl leaning her head on his shoulder. "Y-you know, I feel like I'm living a dream; in the past, no girl that I confessed to accepted my feelings and I always felt like I was a good for nothing. Still, when I met you and you liked me despite my faults, I was truly glad to have found someone who loves me.", he suddenly told her, using his right arm to keep her closer.

Sumi blushed at hearing that from him, smiling and hugging him. "Y-you didn't hate me for being too shy or awkward like the customers I had before did, s-showing me how gentle you are. W-what Mami-San said are just lies and s-she didn't appreciate your kind heart like I did. I-I can only be overjoyed to be your girlfriend.", she told him, tightening her hold on him.

Feeling his heat beat faster due to her words, the young man asked her then to look at him in the eyes. When she did it, he didn't hesitate to kiss her on the lips, surprising her and making her blush like never before.

'K-Kazuya-San is k-kissing me!', she thought, completely flustered. Though, such show of love prompted her to kiss him back anyways while some tears of joy fell for her eyes.

She was having her first kiss with the first boy that liked her despite her big shyness; there weren't any words that could describe how immensely happy she was. The same went for Kazuya, who was overjoyed that his first kiss with her was being special and romantic as he wanted it. He also wished that Nagomi or Chizuru were there to take a photo of the moment to put in a picture frame.

'Haha, Kibe and Kuri will be more envious of me when I tell them about this.', he thought, chuckling in his mind at imagining the reaction of his best friends.

The kiss lasted some other seconds before the two lovers pulled away, still looking at each other in the eyes. "I-It was beautiful, Kazuya-San. I-I love you.", told him Sumi.

Still flushed, the boy smiled and cleaned her tears off with his thumb. "I-I wanted to make our first kiss special, so I'm glad to know I did it. I love you very much too, Sumi-chan.", he said, hugging her.

She smiled and hugged him back, enjoying his warmth and feeling safe between his arms while the sunlight was over them and the grass full of different coloured flowers of the park. It was like one of those scenes that someone could find in a fairytale or a romantic story, with the difference that the protagonists were a dumb but kind boy and a shy but sweet girl whose love was now even stronger.

A/N

And here's the third chapter for you, everyone! Sorry I didn't update for a while, but I've been kinda busy with job interviews and all and I didn't have time then. Anyways, as you can read in this new chapter, Kazuya and Chizuru are basically best friends now and his relationship with Sumi changed so much that he didn't hesitate to slap Mami for making her cry.

I'm aware of Mami's past and all in the canon story, but that doesn't mean that she can butt in other people's relationships; in my story, Kazuya disliked her for the way she dumped him, arriving to hate her for spouting rubbish about him and making Sumi cry. In this way, Mami now fears him while the bond between him and the pinkette became stronger, especially after they shared their first kiss.

They will also start to work together in the same coffeehouse, where he could blush a storm at seeing a maid Sumi haha. How will their first day of work go? Stay tuned to find out.

See ya!