Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own Rent a Girlfriend, or any of its characters...

"What the hell happened to you, man? We tried calling you two days ago and you weren't answering our calls! We thought about going to your house ourselves but we were both busy doing something else yesterday. We were actually going to head there later on to check on you."

"Yeah, and we thought something bad happened to you, or worse! You were lucky that our school's still on break until now…"

Kibe and Kuri both spoke with worried looks on their faces, which was enough to convince Kazuya that they were just looking out for him like what real friends do. For that, he chose to tell them a bit about what he's up to, but he needed to be careful not to reveal much.

"It's nothing like that, just… some personal stuff I needed to deal with."

"What do you mean? Something bothering you?"

Kazuya felt the urge to facepalm.

Okay, he should've seen that coming.

Damn, he was an idiot!

Now, he was stuck between two choices. Should he tell his friends everything about what happened, including the issue with his ex-girlfriend or should he just make up an elaborate excuse so they would leave him alone?

Kazuya was honestly leaning towards the second options but at that exact moment, he was suddenly reminded of Kaji's words earlier this morning, about telling other people about one's problems, and how it was the right thing to do than keeping it buried.

These two were his friends and they were worried about him. Should he really keep his problem as a secret from them?

No.

He wasn't that kind of person.

Making up his mind, he took a deep breath and ignored the growing pain in his legs, as he sent his two friends a more serious look.

"Fine, but before I tell you, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone else about this because I'm not looking for pity from other people. Maybe I'll tell someone else when the time comes, but I'm going to trust you two with this. Alright?"

Kibe and Kuri looked at each other in slight confusion, wondering why Kazuya got serious all of a sudden but either way, they nodded at the same time.

"Sure man, we won't," Kibe assured.

"Good. Oh, and you'll have to take me to a bench before I say anything. My legs are killing me here and I'd like some rest. Oh, and can one of you buy me a bottle of water too? I'll give you some money to get one from a convenience store."

"All right, why not?"

After the two helped their friend get to the nearest bench outside of a pharmacy and bringing him some bottled water, Kazuya told his two friends everything that happened to him in the past two days. From Mami breaking up with him, spending the rest of that afternoon crying and mourning over what he lost, realizing what he needed to do all along, thinking of a plan to accomplish his new goal, up until the start of his now-regular drills with Mr. Kaji today.

By the end of it, both of his friends were left looking at him in a mix of worry for what he went through, confusion for his ex-girlfriend's actions, and wonder for his actions after the breakup.

"Damn… I never thought she would break up with you, I mean… she looked really happy when you two were together!" Kuri said, looking gobsmacked at what he heard.

"That's what I thought too. I thought I was a good boyfriend, doing all I can to keep her happy," he spoke with a tone full of sarcasm. "Heh… turns out she never liked me all this time."

"Come on Kazuya, cheer up. I'm sure you'll find someone else! Not every girl is like Mami, you know?"

"Thanks Kibe, but I'm no longer looking for relationships right now. I'm done with girls and dating."

"Dude, I don't agree with what Mami did but do you really think that's a good idea? It's not a bad thing to fall in love with someone else. Just look at your parents!"

"I know that, Kuri. But right now, I want to focus on myself first. After what happened with Mami, I realized that all I've been doing was focus on the relationship we had, I didn't give much thought about myself. Now that she's gone, I'm starting to see how much I let myself go because of her."

While Kuri was slowly absorbing Kazuya's words about himself, Kibe looked slightly worried.

Did the guy knew what he was talking about? Or was he just angry at himself and Mami?

"You sure you're not just being hard on yourself? I don't want to assume anything, but I'm worried that you're just saying all these things because Mami left you…"

He was quickly silenced when Kazuya turned to him with a serious look, before shaking his head.

"I'm not. I'm serious about everything. I'm supposed to be someone who can already stand on his own two feet since we're already in college and I'm freakin' 21 years old. But when I look in the mirror, all I'm seeing is a guy who cries about his problems and doesn't do anything to answer them by himself. I don't want to be like that anymore, because I want to act like someone my age."

Kibe listened carefully to Kazuya's explanation and as he heard more and more of it, he found himself understanding his friend's situation.

In fact, Kibe couldn't help but agree with his mindset in the end.

"You know what? I get what you feel," he shrugged his shoulders, before leaning back against the bench that they were sitting on. "You want some time to sort yourself out and you don't want anything else bothering you, right? I'm like that sometimes, but it only happens when I get into a fight with my parents about something."

Kazuya only nodded, as it seemed like Kibe finally understood what he was trying to say.

"Okay, let's get this over with, then. I won't bother you about Mami or having a girlfriend anymore, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't call me when you're going through something, alright?!" he exclaimed, giving Kazuya a pat on the shoulder. "I'm your friend, dude! Of course I'm going to worry about you."

Kazuya smiled.

"Yeah, I got it."

"All right, then me as well," Kuri said as he stood up and grinned at his friend. "Whatever you decide to do, I'll be right behind you, Kazuya. In fact, I got something that you might like right here."

Kuri brought out his phone and pressed a few buttons, earning Kazuya's curiosity since he was mentioned for some reason. A few seconds later, he felt his phone vibrate and quickly checked what it was, only to see that it was just a message from Kuri.

"What did you just send to me?" he deadpanned.

"Just check it out, dude. It should help you after what happened with you and Mami. I've been checking it out recently and I think it's pretty interesting."

From the look on Kuri's face, it's like he was immensely proud of himself over what he did. His expression alone got Kazuya curious and almost made him want to see what the message was, but kept himself in check.

Nope, he wasn't going to fall for it. If his instincts served him right, then Kuri sent him something stupid, that of which he thought would be considered funny.

Unfortunately, his jokes and sense of humor were lame most of the time.

Kazuya rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll check it out when I get home. I still want to lie down on my bed, first."

"You're gonna like it, I guarantee you! You'll even thank me after you see it."

Kuri grinned wildly before he pushed his glasses up, a beam of light suddenly shining in his lens which made him seem like a villain with malicious intentions.

"Whatever you say…"

Kazuya eyed him suspiciously for a few moments, before dropping the matter for now.

"By the way, you said that you were working out earlier? Was that why you look like you were about to fall over earlier?" Kibe asked curiously.

"Yeah, I actually just started earlier, but my legs have been in pain since I left the gym. I did so much today for someone new, honestly…"

"Damn, you weren't kidding when you said you wanted to change yourself… wait, you didn't quit right away, did you?"

Kazuya looked offended at that statement.

"What? No!" he denied hotly. "I knew what I signed up for the moment I thought about starting all over again. I'll come back tomorrow and the day after then the day after that and so on. I want to be a better person and I'll do whatever it takes for me to reach that, even if I feel like whole body is about to give in."

Kibe was left speechless at his friend's resolve and quickly realized that he truly wasn't speaking to the Kazuya whom he once knew anymore. He wasn't the same orange-haired college student who easily gets embarrassed, weak around the opposite sex, and a bit of a pushover.

With this in mind, Kibe felt proud for his friend and somehow, a little envious that Kazuya already knew what he wanted to do with his life, something that he hasn't given much thought about yet.

"Ugh, I wish I had time like you, man. Maybe I could join you if I did… would be good to get back into shape for a change…" he complained in a playful manner, stretching his arms out.

"Well, if you have time, you can always drop by the gym I go to. Kaji-san doesn't mind new people coming in to grow some muscles," Kazuya smiled.

"Heh, I'll think about it."

The three friends shared a laugh for a few moments until Kazuya looked up at the sky, where he noticed that the sun was approaching the horizon fast, which reminded him that he still needed to get home to rest after a long day. After that, he would have to prepare dinner for himself then clean himself up, before calling it a day.

"I suppose that's everything that we needed to talk about then…" Kazuya stretched his legs for a bit before he stood up, and he felt relieved that there wasn't any aching pain in his legs anymore. "I really need to get going now. I still want to get home and dump myself on the bed until the sun sets. Who knows? Sooner or later, my arms might start to give up on me too."

"You sure you're not gonna need some help getting back home? Me and Kibe can spare a few minutes to help you until we reach your place," Kuri asked.

Kazuya shook his head with a smile.

"Nah, I've rested my legs long enough. The water helped so much too. I can walk back home perfectly fine, so don't worry about me. Thanks for helping me out here, you two."

Feeling reassured from those words, the two decided to place their faith in their friend and stood up as well, facing the opposite direction to where Kazuya was heading to.

"Well, if you say so… we'll be going on ahead then. There's still an important event at the arcade that we want to catch up on."

"But don't forget, dude! Give us a call if you need us, and we'll be there. What friends are for, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you two around."

Kazuya sent them a friendly wave and they did the same, before finally going their separate ways. The young man had a smile on his face, feeling a massive weight being lifted off his chest after that conversation he had with his friends.

Kaji was right, it did feel good to open up to others about your problems.

That Night

"Now let's see what is it that Kuri sent me…" Kazuya spoke as he gulped down some noodles from his cup.

After reaching his home several hours ago, he quickly threw himself to the bed and immediately fell asleep since he still felt tired from his workout with Mr. Kaji. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to set an alarm before shutting his eyes, causing him to wake up at 8:16 in the evening.

Looks like he was indeed able to get a good sleep, only at the cost of preparing a proper dinner and forcing him to resort to a cup of instant noodles instead.

"Ugh, a rental girlfriend ad? Give me a break, Kuri… I just went through a breakup and explained that I didn't want to focus on relationships right now!" Kazuya groaned in displeasure, almost feeling tempted to throw his phone to the wall for what his friend did but managed to calm himself before anything else.

It turns out that Kuri sent him a mysterious link and upon clicking it, Kazuya saw that it was all about a rental girlfriend agency where a customer can 'rent' one of the girlfriends who were being advertised there and spend time with them, depending on the amount of money paid for their services.

Everything that the customer and the 'girlfriend' do during their time together is simply an act, and none of it is true because someone is getting paid to do a part.

By the end of a customer's session the two would return to a business relationship and nothing else happens, unless said customer decides to extend his time with her, which only leads to a higher pay.

To put it simply, it was a waste of time and money.

"Besides… who the hell would want a fake relationship? Certainly not me. The only thing you can do with this thing is show off to your friends that you have a girlfriend. People who do something like that have to be desperate. You can't even hug or kiss the girl you're with because it's all just an act. You'd just be wasting money in the end because you're not in a relationship with anyone."

Deciding that he would have some fun by laughing at the absurdity of this so-called 'business', Kazuya took a look at the various 'girlfriends' that the agency offered. There were names like Miyu Sakamoto, Saori Nakano, and Chizuru Mizuhara, all of whom have a five-star rating that classified them as the best that the agency had.

"She's so pretty, if only I can be her real boyfriend… Very professional and understanding, she knows her job well… She's very beautiful and she knows how to present herself well…"

Kazuya read some of their reviews aloud, while having a good laugh about each of them. It seems like the people who rent these 'girlfriends' were well aware that they are only putting up an act, yet they continue to spend money on it for unknown reasons.

Maybe that's just how men work when they see a cute and beautiful girl right in front of them.

"Heh… if I saw this ad two days ago, I would have checked this out just so I can get over Mami and stop being miserable." Once he felt that he had enough, he closed the link and shook his head in amusement. "I'm getting that Kuri back for this the next time I see him…"

Kazuya gulped down the last of his dinner before getting ready to put his dish in the sink. After this, he still needed to take a quick shower and sit around before going to sleep. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow…

However, before he could head to the sink, a quick realization then hit him.

"Wait a minute…" he muttered, looking back towards his phone.

Being a rental girlfriend was a profession, right? Where else would that agency acquire the 'girlfriends' that they were offering?

Viewing that ad suddenly reminded Kazuya of one of his other goals, and it involved making money for himself.

He dropped his used dish and utensils into the sink and quickly opened his phone at the table, searching up open job offers online that he can apply for. Sure, he may be a student right now, but he can apply for a part-time instead of a full-time job, right? That way, he can make time for school, the gym, and his job all at once!

Kazuya stopped in his actions and looked uneasy for a moment, wondering if he can balance all three of those at the same time. Before he dwell on it for long, though, he quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it.

Of course he had no idea if he can pull off such a feat. However, he would never know the answer if he doesn't try it, right? Plus, getting a job was one of his goals in order to earn a steady income for himself.

Just like with working out at the PRIDE Gym, Kazuya wasn't going to back out of applying for a job, either!

Feeling reassured with himself, Kazuya continued scrolling down to see more of his possible options until one particular profession caught his eye.

"An open position for a bouncer, huh? This should be good…" Kazuya mumbled, taking a seat so he can think about this a lot more.

Not to worry, the dishes can wait until he's done.

Kazuya has told his friends about his problems, and the two show how good friends they are by supporting our guy in his mission. Best bois, right? Kazuya has also seen the rental girlfriend ad, but he doesn't look like he cares, lol. He even made fun of the business itself. That's what happens when you have a brain and use it! :)

MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance