Don't Rent a Girlfriend: High School
Chapter: NINE
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The air felt heavy, an uneasy suffocating feeling made it harder for her to breath. She couldn't concentrate no matter how much she tried. The words from the English lecturer ringed like alien whispers to her ears. Her eyes averting from her textbook to the front of the class in a frantic attempt to pay attention didn't come to fruition either. The absolute worst case scenario, Kazuya sat just across her line of sight after all.
Piled up with everything that happened yesterday, the sight of him showing no signs of discomfort about the whole situation was just too much for her to comprehend. The awkward situation in the morning when she somehow ended up meeting him in the entrance, didn't bother him either. She hated the way he greeted her as if it was the simplest thing to do. What the heck was she supposed
to do after everything that came out of his mouth last night? Nothing made sense. His confession didn't make sense, he didn't make sense!
"Ah, Ichinose-san. Can you please read the next paragraph?"
"Ah..." Startled from suddenly being addressed, she stood up abruptly while holding her book. She looked at the words and went completely blank, having no clue where to start at all. Was she even on the right page?
"Ichinose-san?"
"Ah... yes... umm." She was sweating bullets as the stares of her classmates were on her. Instinctively her eyes went towards Kazuya and much to her annoyance, he wasn't facing her, too busy reading English? Now? Since when was that idiot interested in foreign languages?
She bit her lips to brush off the annoyance and the growing anxiety as she spoke. "Sorry Sensei, I wasn't paying attention..."
The teacher looked at her slightly surprised before instructing her the current line.
"Tim was worried that he would miss the assassination of ..." She stopped as everyone began to giggle while others looked at her with a gasp.
Confused, she averted her attention towards the teacher who seemed visibly shocked. "It's assignment..."
"Huh?" She looked down on the book and her face flushed red. How could she mistake the two?! "Ichinose-san, if you aren't feeling well you can go to the nurses office. It's okay."
Embarrassed to tip, she found herself nodding as she exited the class quickly after gathering her books.
Kazuya watched her depart and sighed before going back to daydream while he pretended to read. (Scene Change)
It was midday, time for recess for the students. Time for gossip and sharing Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Time for meeting friends and complain about useless shit.
"Kibe, what do you plan after high school?"
The sudden bombshell that spread across their lunch table was enough to shut Kuri about his new girlfriend. Make Kibe choke on his tuna sandwich while Mami's ever so sensitive ears perk up from across the cafeteria.
It was a simple question, nothing out of the world for a second year student. It was simple, but not when the person asking the question was Kazuya.
Kibe grabbed his water bottle to clear his throat as he broke the silence. "Huh? What brought that suddenly?"
Kazuya shrugged, dismissing the weird looks from his friend. "It's not sudden. We only have a year left after this year... before you know, it will soon be half term."
This was convincing enough yet Kibe could see something wasn't right. So being the good friend he was, it was his duty to get to the bottom. So he asked...
"Kazuya, you okay? Did Mizuhara-san's rejection knock some off?" He joked. A tick mark appeared on Kazuya's back as he let out a nervous yet angry laugh. "You sure don't hold back, do you?"
Kibe looked serious until he burst out into a pit of laughter along with Kuri.
A sweat drop appeared on Kazuya's head before he shook his head. 'Ah, must be fun laughing so loudly...' He looked down on his plate, half empty, as complicated thoughts he wanted to avoid, resurfaced from his joke.
'Sigh...'
"Besides, isn't it a bit early to think about that?" Kuri was the one to speak up this time. "After all, we are just in high school. We should be having fun! Like fun! Like, having a beautiful girlfriend like Ruka-chan. "
"Dude you don't even hide the bragging anymore..." Kibe looked at his friend awkwardly while Kuri continued the tale of his eternal love life.
Kazuya finished his food and decided to just listen to them while he thought of a plan to quit his part time job.
'The pay is great though...' He sighed. 'I was hoping they would kick me out after what happened last night... Guess Umi never complained.'
"Speaking of, Kazuya, we need to go shopping remember?" Kibe's ever so loud voice brought him back to attention. Having no clue what he was talking about, he just looked at him blankly.
"You forgot... dude." Kibe slapped his hand on the table, earning a few looks from people around them. "The field trip, remember? We need to buy sleeping bags, a rod to catch fish... and the most important thing, hand-wash!"
"Eh? Why hand-wash?" Kuri asked.
"HUH? Didn't you watch ? We will visit a forest area, what if we..."
...
Kazuya zoned out again, thinking about the field trip as it brought back memories of the last trip where he first confessed to Mami.
'And the next month, I was dumped.' He laughed.
"Now what? Creepy."
Kuri nodded.
"Leave me alone..." Kazuya puffed his cheeks as he looked away from them only for his eyes to meet with Mami's.
Mami briefly widened her eyes before sparing a sweet smile towards him.
Kazuya smiled back before she went back to talk to her friends.
"Ara~ staring at your ex because Mizuhara-san ditched you?"
...
"Are you guys even my friends? Traitors..." Kazuya deadpanned as they laughed at the expense of his misery.
"Hey! Why don't we expose Ichinose-san and watch people laugh at her? That will be a good revenge!"
A swift glare from both Kazuya and Kibe was enough to make Kuri shriek in fear. "J-Joking!"
Sigh...
"Honestly..." Kazuya looked at them solemnly. "Can we drop the topic about Mizuhara? Everything between us is over... everything that I thought we had, is over."
They could see how desperately he was trying to show his conviction but it was plain obvious by the looks of things, but they didn't comment and just agreed to drop the matter.
A smile plastered Mami's face as she heard their conversation.
(Scene Change)
"Oh Chizuru? Don't you have school?" Sayuri was visibly surprised to see her granddaughter at this time but her focus soon shifted to her face, her eyes seemed strained and her usual confident posture was missing. She looked tired and somewhat worried.
"I... bunked..." She answered truthfully.
"Is something wrong?"
...
She wanted to say everything was fine and not worry her but she just couldn't. She desperately needed someone to talk to about her worries. There was no one else left to hear about them anymore.
'Not even him...' She sighed and took a seat beside Sayuri's bed.
"I..." She began but no words sufficed her internal conflict. She didn't know how to deal with the ticking whispers in the back of her head. She didn't want to deal with them but it just ate her consciousness.
"Is it related to Kazuya-kun?"
...
She nodded, looking down on her lap, eyes glimmering with moisture. She felt a pang in her chest, her shoulders stiffened as she suppressed a whimper that stuck on her throat.
"Did you guys have a fight?"
She nodded twice, still looking down as a sense of worry surfaced.
"Does he hate you?"
...
"Perhaps..." She whispered sadly.
Her grandmother patted her on her head as she allowed her to continue.
"Y-yesterday he told me... that... t-that he loved me..." She felt a pang in her chest as she remembered his face. The way he looked at her, his eyes, his words.
"So, did you reject him? Is that why you are worried?" Sayuri asked and for the first time Chizuru looked at her in the eye. Desperation and confusion were written on her orbs as she didn't know how to answer that but she didn't like the way she sounded.
"I mean, I can understand Chizuru." Sayuri commented, analyzing her face as she continued a mission. "Kazuya-kun isn't really someone a girl would fall for."
"Huh? W-what do you mean?" Chizuru asked, surprised by her words as her fist flinched with a growing anger oozing her spines.
"I mean, Kazuya-kun is just average. It must have been hard for him to confess to someone like you." A smile crept her lips as Chizuru stood up furiously, glaring at her with the intensity that she never did before.
"How dare you!"
...
A gasp soon left her lips as she sat back, staring down on her feet. Her heart was racing as her cheeks flushed with blood rush.
"I am sorry..."
Sayuri let out a small laugh as Chizuru looked at her in response.
"This is the first time you got angry with me, Chizuru."
"I-I am sorry." She apologized again.
Sayuri shook her head. "Don't be. I just wanted you to understand what this means." She pointed her finger to her heart.
"He is precious to you, isn't he?"
Chizuru nodded without hesitation.
"Then you should be fine." Sayuri answered with a smile.
Chizuru didn't understand what she meant by that but a smile flashed her face when she thought about him being precious to her. She nodded to herself.
'Yes. He is precious to me.'
'You are just a rental.'
A tick mark appeared on her cheeks as she remembered his words. Soon the smug look of his face flashed in her mind and she grew more angry each second.
Sayuri could almost see the angry aura around her.
"C-Chizuru?"
"He is an asshole!"
...
"Huh?"
Chizuru groaned and stood up.
"I will come back later... bye."
Sayuri nodded as she left, closing the door with a thud.
"I should have made things easier for her... but I don't want to pressure her anymore." Sayuri spoke to herself.
'She has to understand her own feelings.'
Sayuri smiled. "Though it will be hard... she is stubborn. I feel somewhat sorry for Kazuya-kun." (Scene Change)
As the bell rang announcing the end of lunch break, Kazuya said goodbye to his friends and took a detour to the library to bring some books for the next class.
He wished he didn't.
'The cliche is too obvious... it is a romcom plot isn't it?' Kazuya sighed as he looked at Chizuru who seemed breathless. Was she running?
'Oh, didn't she leave during our English class? I wonder what happened.'
"Yo." He greeted.
She glared.
'Ah...' He sweat dropped as he stepped aside. She rolled her eyes and sped up and left. 'Awkward...' He sighed.
Only if that was the end.
"Kazuya." She called out.
"What?" He looked at her back, waiting for her reply. He could see her shoulder shake and without a word, she left.
...
'Seriously?' He stood there dumbfounded before gritting his teeth in frustration as he took annoyed steps towards the library.
(Scene Change)
Chizuru felt as if her heart would pop out of her throat. Every single meeting with him was turning out to be a physical spar with her messed up head. 'Ahh! I am turning insane. What even...'
Her phone vibrated on her purse, a perfect distraction she welcomed with open arms. 'Who is it... Oh.'
From: Umi-Kun
Subject: Hi
: Hey Chizuru-san, had some last minute changes. The company wants to shoot the trailer this evening. Sorry for the late notice, hope it's not much?
Let me know!
...
She sighed. It was indeed too much in all honesty. She was physically exhausted from all the stuff and going for a shoot after school...
'I guess I don't have a choice... I did sign a contract.' She quickly sent a reply before walking into the classroom.
She could instantly spot Kibe staring at her. A rush of worry showered her until he flashed a smile. She smiled back, awkwardly and was glad that was the end of it. She really didn't want to face any of his friends right now.
The class continued as usual with Kazuya being late with an apology. The chemistry teacher was nice enough to let him in without much of an issue. But that didn't stop the whole class to shift their attention towards him as he tripped over his feet and fell flat on the ground face flat, all his books scattered in the process.
Chizuru shook her head from his clumsiness but soon her face changed to an involuntary frown when someone helped him pick up the books. It wasn't just someone she didn't care about, it was the wench that had threatened her with scissors.
Chizuru thought the reason for her annoyance was the fact that she despised Mami after what she pulled the other day. But watching Kazuya smile at her like an idiot just made her feel a whole different level of annoyance. The fact that Mami was helping him, their hand brushing against each other as if it was some teenage romantic first meet, the way she acted shy, everything pissed her off. Chizuru didn't realize until everyone looked at her that she had broken the pencil that she was holding while staring daggers at the duo. She didn't care about their stares either, after all the two love birds didn't even notice the snap of her pencil, too busy thanking each other.
'How long does it even take to pick a book?' She frowned as she shifted her eyes from them to her textbook, anger swirling her consciousness without notice.
(Scene Change)
Chizuru was tired, her eyes felt like they would give up at any minute. She didn't sleep last night at all thanks to a certain someone. She didn't sleep well the night before that either, thanks to a certain someone!
Washing off her light makeup also made her tear stains visible.
'This is a problem.'
(Scene Change)
'I was worrying about nothing.' Chizuru stared at her reflection in awe as the makeup artist took care of them.. Her tear stains were long gone with makeup, in fact she could hardly recognise herself.
'Wow... I am honestly pretty...' She couldn't help but feel haughty and somewhat proud. "Makeups done. Your hair is so beautiful Chizuru! I will just give you a light touch-up." "T-thanks Lucy-san."
"Lucy is fine. I am from USA, we don't really have such customs." She smiled at her. The door to their makeup room soon burst open, a panicked girl gasping on the doorsteps. "H-Have you seen Rei-san?"
Lucy shook her head and the girl swiftly left in a hurry, leaving the door open. "Huh? Who was that?" Chizuru asked as Lucy closed the door.
"She is the event manager." She answered. "Rei should be the male lead for the trailer that you will be part of." She sighed as she continued to fix Chizuru's hair. "He is missing, as usual."
"Missing? But we have to shoot in half an hour?"
"Yea... when you get fame, you start doing whatever you want." Lucy sighed, finishing some final touches to her hair. "All done, what do you think?"
"I think I am really pretty." She answered with a tint of blush.
"Heh, modest aren't you."
(Scene Change)
Chizuru collapsed on her bed as soon as she entered her apartment, not bothering changing her clothes as she closed her eyes.
'What a wild day...' A smile spread across her lips as she fell asleep.
'First ever contract. Huge success.'
(Scene Change)
A goodnight sleep was supposed to restart her healthy life, but it just made it worse for her.
Chizuru could feel her head popping with a headache, her temperature raised, her throat sore. As she walked through the corridor towards the classroom, a sneeze made her stand to a halt.
Wiping her nose, her eyes rose up and was met with Kazuya. The brief interaction ended soon as he just walked in without speaking.
...
'Well... I did the same yesterday...' She sneezed again before entering the classroom.
One after another, classes seemed to go extra slow for Chizuru. She wished she had not taken the dumb decision to leave the house when her temperature was skyrocketing. She wanted to just call it a day and leave but her mind just felt foggy. Her limbs felt weak and overall, a shitty feeling.
Kazuya noticed her sneeze multiple times, her face was red and her eyes puffed. He really wanted to avoid her but watching her suffer just made it impossible to not feel worried.
'Go home, baka!' He cursed under his breath as he watched her continue to attend classes, one after another.
The next day...
'She looks worse!'
And the next day...
'What the?'
Then the next day, she didn't come.
'Good.'
Then a few days went by and she was still absent from classes.
Kazuya had visited his grandmother and heard that she didn't visit Sayuri for the past few days. 'She is fine.' He thought. He thought. And he thought.
'I...I should give her a call and see how she is doing.' His brilliant plan further added salt to his worries as her phone was switched off.
...
'What the heck am I doing here...' Kazuya really felt like an idiot as he stood in front of Chizuru's apartment. Swallowing all his pride for the time being, he decided to knock. But then stepped back.
"This sucks..." He knocked.
...
Knocked again.
No response.
"Maybe she isn't home." He tried to twist the knob to check if it turned to see if it was locked. It wasn't.
He gulped. 'She never leaves her door open... burglar?!'
He quickly opened the door and then he went silent, eyes wide open in shock. Chizuru laid unconsciously on the group, holding onto the door keys.
He couldn't move for a brief moment, watching her lifeless body.
"Mizuhara..."
...
Finally snapping out of his trance he kneeled down to shake her.
"Mizuhara!" He yelled and his eyes widened again. 'She is burning hot!'
He quickly checked her pulse, and while it showered a sense of relief that she was alive, he was still panicked.
He quickly picked her up and laid her on the bed. He could feel her chest slowly rise up and down much to his relief.
"What do I do..." He gritted his teeth and bit his cheeks to calm his nerves.
He eyed her room frantically and found her towel laid across the room. Rushing as fast as he could, he went to the kitchen and brought a ball of cold water and drenched the towel on it. Squishing the extra water, he laid the damp towel on her forehead.
'Next... thermometer... where, where...' He rushed to her study desk and checked her drawers but couldn't find any.
He rushed back to her, full panic mode taking over his reasoning.
'119... right!' As he was about to pull out his phone, he could feel a tuck on his shirt.
"K-Kazuya?" Her breath was uneven, voice cracked as her face flushed with fever, she called out. "D-dream? Y-you are real?"
Shocking her completely, he hugged her.
"Baka! Why didn't you call me? You are sick!"
...
Chizuru didn't know why her heart suddenly beat faster. Nor did she care as her arms involuntarily raised and hugged back.
But he broke the hug, much to her annoyance.
"I will call the doctor right now! Just give me a moment." He tried to call again but she pulled the end of his shirt again.
"I am... fine." She tried to sit up but the headache made her flinch in pain.
"Shut up dumbass! Sleep! And wait." He yelled at her, as she whimpered, closing her eyes in fear. She could faintly hear him making a call as she drifted back to sleep.
To be continued...