Introduction (12 April 2021)

After finishing chapter 21, I didn't feel like writing for a while. Though not because of losing interest in this story or writing in general, but it just happens sometimes, I guess. And forcing things, for instance because a story needs new content, doesn't really work. In my personal experience, it's just a matter of waiting till the drive to write return. That's the only way to keep it fun, I think. And if I'm having fun writing, I'm hoping the chances increase that others might have fun reading the result.

Sorry if this means sometimes a lot of time passes between story updates, but in the end it's probably all for the best.

Update 31 January 2022: It turned out coming up with some new content for this story would take even much longer than I expected when I wrote the first part of this intro, almost a year ago. Some explanation for this will be given in the "Chapter Afterthoughts" part, located at the end of this chapter.

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 Intro:

Still baffled by the picture that Ruka had just sent, apparently showing him having a good time with Mami, Kazuya struggled to find an explanation for all of this. While at the same time wondering how Ruka would feel, as she was probably even more shocked over this situation as he was…

For Better or Worse… - part 3

'This is crazy!' Kazuya thought, as he looked one more time at the picture that Ruka had just sent to him. 'It really looks like me, the hair, the coat… but I don't recall this moment at all! Not even from the time when Mami-chan and I were still dating…'

He shook his head, still feeling a bit dazzled over the daydream he just had about having a family with Ruka, prior to what was happening now. Waking up from such a sweet dream to a rather nightmarish reality wasn't how he had envisioned this day would go.

Kazuya stared at the aquarium for a moment, as if the solution to this strange mystery would come from his fish-buddy. 'Wait, did that fish just roll its eyes? Nah, that can't be, I am clearly starting to lose it... Focus, Kazuya, focus!' it went through his mind, as he was desperately trying to get his head around all this, and come up with a reasonable explanation.

'I mean, sure… I can be a bit absent-minded at times, but forgetting what seems like a hot date with Mami-chan? Nah… that can't right… I also haven't been out drinking for quite a while either, so that couldn't be the reason I don't remember anything about this moment…' Kazuya pondered, before a hearing a soft sobbing sound coming through his phone's speaker, bringing him back to the here and now. 'Shoot! I was so busy thinking, I almost forgot we were still on the phone! Poor Ruka! So, first things first, I must try to calm her down now somehow! Trying to find out what happened, just has to wait a little longer, for now…'

"Eh… Ruka?" Kazuya carefully started.

"K-Kazuya… why… d-do you keep h-hurting me?" Ruka stammered over the phone, in between some loud sobs; "D-Do you still not know just h-how m-much I love y-you?" Then, after a brief pause, she added; "I really dooo-hoo-oo…" before crying louder again…

"Ruka, please… listen to me for a moment… ok?" Kazuya tried again, in his most comforting voice.

His words initially seemed to have very little effect though, as all Kazuya could hear were more and more sounds of crying. For a moment he looked again at his "roomie" in the fish tank. 'I guess you're not much help either. So much for expecting to be getting something in return for cleaning up your habitat…' Kazuya thought, before looking up, to stare at the ceiling. As his eyes slowly moved down the wall, as if tracking an imaginary line, he noticed the crying sounds were starting to subside a little.

"Ruka?" Kazuya made another attempt to get her attention.

The sobbing suddenly stopped, so it seemed this time his effort to reach out, finally started to have at least some effect. He cleared his throat.

"Ruka… I deeply apologize for making you cry…" Kazuya continued, "… and it really makes me sad to see you this way. Now, I don't yet fully understand what's going on here, but I never wanted this to happen… Please believe me when I say I'm pretty sure there must be some kind of understanding and that I had absolutely nothing to do with that picture you showed me."

Kazuya paused briefly, both to try looking for what to say next, and to hear if any of his words were actually getting through. He could hear Ruka's breathing, so she was probably still listening to his words, giving him the confidence to continue talking.

"By the way, where are you now? Shall I come pick you up?" Kazuya suggested; "I don't feel okay with you walking in traffic when you are this upset…"

For a moment, the breathing sound stopped, and Kazuya quickly checked the screen of his phone, to see if the call was still active. Much to his relief it was.

"So… y-you do still care about m-me?" Ruka broke the silence, feelings of insecurity clearly audible in her voice.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I do!" Kazuya quickly replied; "I even daydream about you! You remember some moments when I was being absent-minded lately?"

"Well, yeah. Duh…" Ruka instantly responded, then on a softer tone of voice; "But I thought you might have been thinking of Chizuru-san. Or perhaps your ex. The one in the picture…"

For a moment there was an awkward silence. Just as the conversation was starting to go in the right direction, now there was a risk of reaching another standoff. With some unexpected resolve, Kazuya decided to take matters into his own hands.

"So, where did you say you were?" he asked, changing the subject again.

"Oh… eeh… near the convenience store a few blocks from your apartment…" Ruka replied, slightly taken aback by Kazuya's forward attitude, since it was more her thing to act this way.

"Ok, wait up, and I'll be there in a few minutes!" Kazuya shouted, as he quickly grabbed his coat and the apartment keys, then dashed outside.

"Ehh, sure…" Ruka replied, not really sure what to feel at this moment.

A little later, both youngsters were back at the apartment. Kazuya wanted to take Ruka's coat, but while she had calmed down a lot since the start of their phone call, her overall expression showed she was still clearly "not amused" by the recent events around the video she had received.

"Ok Ruka, I can totally understand if you're still mad at me…" Kazuya started, after taking a deep breath first, "… but can you please tell me where you got that video and picture from?"

"It's just a video, the picture is just a screenshot I took," Ruka sighed, then presented her phone to Kazuya; "Here, it came with this message:"

"Hiya Ruka-chan! You probably don't know me, but are you still with Kazuya-kun? If you are, then it seems to be he's cheating on you, as you can see on the video I've attached. I am terribly sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I felt it as my duty, from girl to girl, to warn you about this. Men are such simple creatures, don't you agree? One moment they say they love you, the next moment, they are swooning over another girl. Ugh! Anyway, I wish you all the strength and wisdom you will need to do what's right!

An anonymous friend"

Kazuya re-read the message a couple of times, to see if he could get some clues from it. The person who sent it had blocked providing any sender info, thus making it quite a challenge to see who was behind all this.

"I can't figure out who sent this, but I didn't try to get back with Mami-chan, honest!" Kazuya said, as he grabbed Ruka by her upper arms, in a firm, but loving way and looked her in the eye.

A slight blush appeared on Ruka's face, due to this unexpected sudden physical closeness. One part of her wanted to break free and run. Yet another part wanted to just give in and hold him close. 'Is he telling the truth? It's true it would not make any sense for Kazuya to suddenly start running back to his ex, when he has me, and has also repeatedly shown that it's really me he wants…' Ruka pondered. 'Unless… he is also one of those guys who just likes the thrill of the hunt, and after finally winning over one girl's heart, moves on to the next, because it's no longer a challenge... D-Did I let myself get tricked by falling for such a shallow person!?' it flashed through her mind for a second, as she looked away from him, to the ground.

'No, Sarashina, stop fooling yourself! If Kazuya would really be like that, he wouldn't have jumped off a ferry for Chizuru-san. Or have dived down the stairway to keep me safe when I tripped, even though I was being a nuisance to them, back then. That is not how Kazuya is, he is different from those guys!'

"So… you haven't thought about cheating on me?" Ruka whispered.

"No, never!" Kazuya firmly replied; "I may have my share of flaws, but two-timing isn't one of them."

"Then… I-I shouldn't have doubted you… sorry for that…" Ruka apologized, as she looked away from him, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, that video looked so real, I almost started doubting myself," Kazuya said, while laughing sheepishly; "oh?"

Before he knew it, Ruka had pressed herself tightly against his chest, just like a small animal looking for shelter and warmth.

"It's ok…" Kazuya whispered, as he put his arms around the dark-haired girl and gently caressed her on the back.

As she started feeling much better, Ruka released her grip on her boyfriend, and took a few steps back. She took a moment to straighten her hair, which had gotten a bit messed up.

"So… uh, what's up with this video? Did somebody try to set you up, then?" Ruka wondered; "who would do something like that, and why? Could it be Chizuru-san did have second thoughts after all?"

"I doubt it, she's not like that…" Kazuya replied, "… and besides, she's way too busy living her acting dream."

"Hmmm, that sounds reasonable enough…" Ruka agreed, "… and also, Chizuru-san has been nothing but supportive of us lately."

"Exactly!" Kazuya said; "so it must have been someone else… Kibe!"

"Yoshiaki-kun would do such a thing?" Ruka wondered; "I thought he was your best friend?"

"No, but he's calling me on LINE right now, please hold on a sec…" Kazuya explained, as he swiped his finger over the screen to answer the incoming call.

"Kazu-chin, I hope I'm not interrupting anything…" Kibe's voice sounded loud and clear through the speaker; "… but if I did, you better make sure to tell me everything, including the details. Especially the details…"

"Sssshht! Tone it down a little, Ruka is here with me too," Kazuya hissed back through the phone.

"Ah, I see…" Kibe replied, on a smug sounding tone; "well, you can always leave the connection open and continue with what you were doing. Make it like a radio play, if you get my drift."

"Very funny, but that's not going to happen…" Kazuya replied, "… in fact, we were just discussing some serious matter. So, unless you have some kind of emergency, it will have to wait, dude."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot why I called…" Kibe said, "… there is something important I needed to tell you as soon as possible…" he added, suddenly speaking in a very serious tone…

(To be continued…)

Chapter Afterthoughts (3 February 2022)

This must have been the longest time a chapter for one of my stories has been in the making. Though technically, I didn't really work on this story for quite a while, but more or less shelved the part that was already done, partially since the manga had lost some of its appeal for many, including for me. On top of that I was also focusing on writing another fanfiction story, for ToniKaku Kawaii series. All these things combined resulted in a massive delay in getting a new chapter ready. Sorry for that, but I guess it couldn't be helped.

Anyway, I hope this chapter was somewhat worth the wait, and I will try to have the next chapter ready in a bit less time than this one took to create.

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!