Introduction (13 jan 2021)
Part of the inspiration for this chapter came from an amazing piece of fanart of Ruka, which someone posted on the main KanoKari Sub-Reddit. I can't post links on this website, these will automatically be filtered from the text, but if you want to have a look at the picture I am referring too, try googling for "winter season Ruka Sarashina" and it should be among the first results. I tried to put the emotion captured in this picture into a scene in this chapter. You get to decide if I succeeded at this…
Note: If you want to comment on this story, or any of my other stories, you're welcome to leave a review, preferably as registered member, as this allows much more interaction between writer and reviewer. If there are parts you felt lacking, or disliked, please let me know this as well. Things can appear amazing in my perception, while others might think very differently. I'm eager to hear such feedback as well, since praise is always nice, and can confirm being on the right track, criticism is often what helps more to improve.
Chapter Prologue:
After having discussed the Kinoshita's liquor store's results with Mami, Kazuya was expecting Ruka to come back from shopping for groceries any time now. So, when he heard his doorbell ring again, this could only mean one thing, that she had returned. Or maybe…
Memories
"Do you need a hand with the groceries, Ruka?" Kazuya said, as he was almost at the front door.
'Bit strange though, if Ruka is able to ring the bell, couldn't she just as easily have opened the door herself? She knows I never keep it locked during daytime…' Kazuya wondered. 'Oh well, maybe she forgot, or something like that…'
With a smile on his face he opened the door, and…
"Huh? Mami-chan? Did you forget something?" Kazuya asked, surprised to see her back so soon.
The blond-haired girl didn't say a word however, but leaned forward, and pressed her lips gently on Kazuya's mouth!
'Wh-what!? Mami-chan, what are you doing!?' it quickly flashed through Kazuya's mind. In the cold midwinter air, Kazuya could feel the warmth of Mami's lips even better. Lips he'd been wanting to kiss over and over when they were still dating. Lips he'd never expect to feel ever again…
"S-Stop!" Kazuya said, while suddenly pulling away from Mami, after he soon realized what they were doing right now.
"I'm s-so sorry, Kazu-kun, I… I did it again…" Mami stuttered, while looking down at the ground, and blushing heavily.
"M-Mami-chan… why d-did you, eh…?" Kazuya started.
"P-Please forget this ever happened… ok?" Mami whispered.
The delicately built girl put the hood of her winter coat over her blond hair, turned around and ran off, as quickly as she could!
"Mami-chan! Wait up!" Kazuya yelled, while trying to keep his voice down a little, so as not to risk disturbing the neighbours too much.
'I can't just run after her like that and leave the door unlocked, with no one home. But if I lock the door, Ruka won't be able to get in when she comes back, because I didn't give her a key yet…'
Starting to feel the cold - the weather forecast had even mentioned the possibility of snow - Kazuya went back inside, still pondering about what had just happened, and closed the door behind him. 'this was just like back then, on the beach, when I had just started 'dating' Mizuhara. When Mami had lost her bracelet and asked me to come help her looking for it…'
"What do you think of it, Mr. Fish-kun?" Kazuya thought out loud, while looking at the large fish tank in the living room.
Kazuya stopped in front of the wall, then leaned back against it, as if it could give some support for his troubled mind. He slowly moved his index finger over his lips, from left to right, as if he was still feeling the kiss from moments before. 'Mami was over me a long time ago already, right? Didn't she say she had found someone else, when she broke up with me? Did something happen, to make her do this? Maybe I somehow made her feel like it was ok to kiss me?'
"You're not much of help today…" Kazuya mumbled, as he looked at the fish tank again.
'Perhaps this is all my fault…' Kazuya started wondering. Though he really couldn't think of anything that might have given Mami the idea it was ok to approach him like that. The ringing of the doorbell woke Kazuya up from his thoughts, and he walked towards the entrance to his apartment.
"M-Mami-chan?" Kazuya stuttered softly, as he opened the door.
"Wrong, you silly!" Ruka greeted him; "I know it took me a little longer than expected, but if you start forgetting my name after being away for such a short time, we may need to get you to a doctor as soon as possible," she added, with a teasing smile on her face.
"Ah… yes…" Kazuya replied, still feeling a bit dazzled about the situation with Mami.
"Kazuya, are you ok?" Ruka asked, as her faced started to look a bit worried now; "did something happen when Mami-san was here?"
"Huh? No, everything's fine…" Kazuya quickly responded, "... it was just a lot to take in, all these numbers and graphs, you know."
'I hate to lie to you about this, Ruka. Though technically, I'm not lying. Mami wasn't in here, she was outside, when 'it' happened…' Kazuya tried to excuse his behavior somewhat.
"I know I wouldn't want to trade places with you, running a store is so totally not my thing," Ruka continued, apparently buying Kazuya's excuse; "I feel much better becoming a nurse, and care for the elderly. Maybe I can even take care of your grandma, when she starts needing some help."
"I guess…" Kazuya responded, looking somewhat dejected.
"Hey! I didn't mean to make you sad…" Ruka tried to comfort him, "… your grandma is such a strong woman; it will be ages before she really needs extra help. Don't worry too much about it, ok?" she added, before giving Kazuya a quick kiss on the cheek, which slightly startled him.
"Uh, ok…" he reacted, trying to sound a bit more uplifted.
"Now, if you quickly help me put away these groceries, we can still drink something before we have to go to work," Ruka added, with her usual cheerful voice.
While the two youngsters had different career plans, both were still working at the Karaoke Village. The extra income was nice, and they also had some special memories of the place, so neither of them had considered quitting their part time jobs anytime soon. While walking towards the place, holding hands, Ruka was talking about all kinds of things, but Kazuya was once again lost in thought about only one thing; the unexpected kiss…
"Right, Kazuya?" Ruka asked him for confirmation about something that she had just said.
"Huh? Wait, what?" Kazuya wondered, as he had totally missed most of the story Ruka had been telling for the past few minutes.
"You're so absent minded since I came back from shopping," Ruka commented; "is something wrong with the liquor store? Or wait, something with grandma!? Is that the reason you were so upset when I mentioned having to take care of her, when she would begin to need more help? You know you can tell me, right?" Ruka added, as she stepped in front of Kazuya while turning around to face him and firmly took his other hand, looking him in the eye.
'Great, now I've got Ruka worried about something that totally has nothing to do with her. She's such a sweet girl…' Kazuya thought, as he looked back into Ruka's eyes, seeing the loving and caring look that was written all over her face.
"No, that's not it, but I just remembered I forgot something back at home…" Kazuya started, "… can you please tell the boss I'll be there as soon as possible?"
"Huh? Sure," Ruka agreed; "do you need me to help looking for what you forgot?"
"Nah, I'm good, you just go ahead," Kazuya reassured his girlfriend; "that way the boss at least won't be able to get mad at the both of us, for not showing up in time."
"Ok, I will…" Ruka started, but before she could finish her sentence, Kazuya had already started running away.
Slightly disappointed, Ruka walked on alone, to the Karaoke Village, and once there, explained to the owner why Kazuya wasn't there yet. After that, she started preparing the entertainment rooms for the customers. Time passed by, but still no sign of her boyfriend…
Meanwhile Kazuya had lost track of time, during his search for Mami. 'Where could she be?' was the question running through his mind. He had tried calling her and sending a few text messages but no response to any of these. 'What if Mami-chan had an accident because she didn't look where she was going? If I caused her to be like this, that would make me responsible…'
Kazuya looked around, and saw a staircase not too far away, leading to a pedestrian bridge. 'Maybe I can get a better view from above!" he thought, and walked towards the staircase, then started to climb it…
'It's taking him way too long! He should have been back by now, if he really just needed to pick up something from back home…' Ruka thought, as the worries started to grow bigger and bigger inside her mind. 'Kazuya, my love, where are you!?'
"Sir, I'd like to take a short break and check if Kazuya is alright…" Ruka suddenly asked the Karaoke place's owner, who had come to check up on her progress.
"Look, Sarashina, I understand you want to go looking for your boyfriend, but if you leave now, I'm not sure if I can guarantee you both will still have a job, by the time you come back…" the Karaoke Village owner stated with an almost solemn voice.
'I don't want to get Kazuya into trouble… or myself…' Ruka pondered. 'But maybe Kazuya is in some real trouble right now! And this is just a part time job… True, it is a really nice one, but not nearly as important as being there for my Kazuya!'
"Sorry, Mr. boss-owner, but it can't be helped!" Ruka yelled, as she rushed outside.
"Sarashina, wait! You and Kinoshita are the only people I have today!" the owner shouted, with more than a little despair in his voice, after stepping outside himself.
But Ruka was already too far away, she didn't even hear his voice anymore…
"Ah, young love…" the Karaoke Village owner sighed.
'Back in my days, things were so simple, I think I even told that Kinoshita boy once that a man has one purpose, to be there for women…' the middle-aged man started reminiscing. 'But with these modern kids, it is different, it seems. I guess the times really are changing. Wait, that reminds me of a song from some American singer, Bob…'
"You know what, it's been very quiet all day anyway, not a single customer yet. They are all staying at home with this cold weather. I might as well take some time to 'test' if the equipment is still working as it should," the owner thought out loud. He turned over the sign at the front door from 'open' to 'closed' and walked towards the karaoke room that was close to him, turned on the equipment and picked up a microphone.
At the same moment, Kazuya had reached the top of the staircase, and from above, looked down along the street in both directions. 'No sign of Mami-chan. Though it sure would have been a massive coincidence to find her here…' he thought, while sighing. Kazuya checked the time on his phone; 'it's that late already? Ruka must be pretty worried by now!' Looking closer at the screen, he also noticed a number of missed calls. 'I must have forgotten to set my phone back to normal mode again…'
A slight breeze was picking up, and Kazuya put the collar of his winter coat up, to protect himself just a little better from the cold. He was about to dial Ruka's number, but then noticed a figure, standing at the far end of the bridge, on the other side. 'Wait, could it be…?'
"M-Mami-chan?" Kazuya said, just barely louder than a whisper.
The figure turned his way, and as he stepped closer, Kazayu's first impression was confirmed, it was indeed Mami…
"K-Kazu-kun, what are you doing here?" the blond-haired girl asked him, clearly very surprised to see Kazuya at this deserted spot.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you the same thing…" Kazuya replied, "… but, you see… I have been looking for you," he added, as he bowed down his head, to avoid looking into Mami's eyes.
"Huh? W-Why would you do that?" Mami wondered; "are you still mad at me?"
"No, I-I was worried about you..." Kazuya admitted, as he looked up again, still only briefly making eye-contact.
"Oh… but…" Mami started, "… then you came after me, even after what I did… earlier today?"
"Yeah... I wanted to know, well… why you did it…" Kazuya explained, now looking directly at Mami's face, which had confusion written all over it.
For a moment both youngsters remained completely silent, first staring at each other, as if trying to find answers there, then looking away.
"I… just couldn't control it…" Mami started; "I guess it's harder than I thought, to leave the past behind. To forget about what we had, even if it was just for such a short period of time…"
"I don't understand… you said you had found someone else, when we broke up…" Kazuya replied.
"That… that was a lie…" Mami admitted, her voice sounding pretty feeble now, almost shy.
"Huh? But why?" Kazuya wondered, when hearing this revelation.
"I don't know… maybe you got too close and I freaked out…" Mami continued; "you know I'm not good at relationships… I'm really sorry for all this…"
"Mami-chan…" was all Kazuya could say.
In the meantime, Ruka had been roaming around the route between Kazuya's small apartment and the Karaoke Village for a while. She had been running at first, but then slowed down her pace, as the cold winter air was making it harder for her to breathe. While going slower did help Ruka to catch her breath, the downside was that she also started feeling the cold way better now… 'I really should have grabbed my coat before running outside…' Ruka thought, as she wrapped her arms around herself to try stay warm. It didn't really help…
"Kazuyaaa!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
'Nothing… Why doesn't he return my calls?' Ruka pondered. 'Maybe I should go back to work? What if Kazuya is already there…' the dark-haired girl considered, as she was about to give up the search. Then, all of a sudden Ruka thought she heard a familiar voice talking. It had sounded quite faint, but still… 'I think it came from over there…' Ruka decided, turning her face into the direction where the cold winter breeze was coming from. With renewed resolve, she started running again!
Halfway down the street, a pedestrian bridge came into view. Ruka took a closer look, and then saw two figures standing on it. 'Could it be…?' it flashed through her mind, as one figure did look so very familiar to her. 'Wait, it is Kazuya! But who is he talking to?' Ruka walked towards the bridge, and slowly climbed the steps, so as not to startle anyone. But also because running over here had tired her out even more. She was forced to rest at the top, and sat down against the railing, just out of view of the two people who were still having a lively conversation.
"When you broke up, at first, I didn't know what to do…" Kazuya started, "… there was a time when I genuinely wanted to make you happy. Do everything within my power for that, and more... And I still want you to be happy..."
"Kazu-kun?" Mami said, as she swiped a lock of her blond hair aside, that the wind had blown over her eyes.
'Mami-san? Sounds like they are talking about the time when she and Kazuya were still dating! Could it be that Kazuya… has second thoughts after all?' Ruka shook her head, as if to get this disturbing idea out of her mind as quickly as possible.
"But as things are now…" Kazuya continued, "… well, I can't be the one to make you feel that way."
"It's probably because of your girlfriend, that you feel like this. Right, Kazu-kun?" Mami asked, as she looked straight into Kazuya's eyes.
"Ehh… yes," Kazuya replied, as he nodded shortly; "You see, all this time Ruka just kept believing in me, in us, even when I was hurting her. She might look frail, but inside she is so strong. No matter how many times I pushed her away, it's like nothing can keep her down..."
Ruka felt a tear rolling down her cold cheeks, hearing Kazuya talk like that. And another one, and another, as his kind words went straight to her heart…
"Kazu-kun…" Mami started, after listening to Kazuya's words; "you really have grown up lately."
"I guess so…" Kazuya said, while rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand; "it just seems like things are all starting to fall into place lately…"
"Well, perhaps… it would be best if I we don't see each other for a while…" Mami suggested; "we could do the next store review online. To prevent another 'beach incident'…"
"If you really think that is necessary…" Kazuya said, still not fully sure what to make of the situation.
"I do…" Mami replied, with a serious expression on her face, "… I'll send you an invite for the next store results review over mail. You can use that code to login. Gotta go now! Cya, Kazu-kun!"
The blond-haired girl rushed down the stairs, and quickly disappeared in the distance, leaving a still somewhat baffled Kazuya behind. 'I still don't fully get it, but still it seems we did have a nice talk,' he thought, while walking back towards the other end of the bridge. 'I really should call Ruka, she must be worried sick by now, and…'
"R-Ruka? W-What are you doing here, sitting down on the ground like that?" Kazuya asked, when he suddenly noticed his girlfriend, still with tears on her face; "Ruka, what's wrong, are you hurt? Were you that worried about me!?"
"W-What you s-said to Mami-san, I-Is that r-really how you feel… about m-me?" Ruka stuttered, both from the cold, and from the emotions that overhearing the conversation between Mami and Kazuya had stirred up inside her.
"Yeah, I do, and I was hoping you would already know that I think you are that strong," Kazuya assured her, as he gently wiped the tears from her face; "because you really are."
Kazuya helped the dark-haired girl back on her feet, which took a bit more effort than expected.
"You're shaking! You must be freezing from sitting down there, in that cold breeze!" Kazuya said with a worried voice; "What were you thinking, going outside in this weather without your winter coat?"
"I-I'm s-sorry…" Ruka stammered, while shivering.
Kazuya quickly took off his own coat and instead put it around Ruka's shoulders.
"T-Thanks…" Ruka whispered, feeling just a little bit better, now that Kazuya was here with her.
"Now let's get you back to my apartment so we can get you warm again! Can you walk?" Kazuya asked, as he put his arm around her.
Ruka nodded, and slowly but carefully they went down the staircase, and as fast as they possibly could, headed back to Kazuya's place…
(To be continued…)
Chapter Epilogue (2 feb 2021)
This chapter again took a while to write, but that was mostly because I first had too many different directions to take the story, before it dawned upon me how to let it progress. On the positive side, I now have ideas for at least two more chapters after this one…
This chapter contains more than a few references to the Rent a Girlfriend manga. I wonder if you can spot all of these. Entries with the solution to this little 'puzzle' can be submitted in a chapter review. "Gotta catch 'em all!" right? Oh wait, that's another franchise… ;-)
Disclaimer
Please let me know what you think of this story and leave some feedback in the form of a review. If you are logged in on this fanfiction website, and post a review as registered member, I can even reply to your comments. I'd be happy to have some more interaction with the people who read my stories!
Btw, since I am not a native speaker, there will likely be some silly mistakes in this story. And in punctuation, maybe I made the same mistakes as in previous stories, or even made new mistakes. Hope you can bear with me and see through that. Helpful tips and suggestions are welcome.
Stay safe, and maybe until soon!