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

"Yeah…" Chizuru muttered quietly, looking alarmed for some reason.

The boy noticed her look and while he was confused about what it meant, he didn't think about it much and focused on the task at hand. He took his jacket from the coat hanger and put it on. Meanwhile, Chizuru immediately turned her head away as soon as Kazuya turned away in order to hide her blush. It's a good thing that she was behind him so that he wouldn't see the look on her face right now.

Oh, dear… if she was able to deny thinking that he was cute earlier when they crossed paths in the afternoon, then it was only because Chizuru didn't see him smiling.

The moment she saw him smile just now, Chizuru's eyes widened slightly and she felt her chest tighten for a brief moment, as if it was telling her it wanted more. She was asking herself what that feeling was until Kazuya looked at her, forcing her to snap out of it in alarm.

With Kazuya directing his attention elsewhere, Chizuru started to think deeply to herself about her recent actions. It was confusing the hell out of her how he was easily breaking through her when she was perfectly able to pull off her 'Mizuhara' mode just a few minutes ago!

"Why did I act that way just now? It wasn't even a big deal, he just smiled! Why did my chest suddenly feel weird? Better yet… why can't I keep my emotions in check like I always do? What's wrong with me?"

The first thought that came up in her mind was because of Motohiro's attempted assault on her where he would have succeeded had it not been for Kazuya's interference, but Chizuru shook that thought off her mind while looking pissed.

"No, this isn't because of that stupid Motohiro-san, I could care less about him… the only reason why I couldn't kick his face to the curb is because I'm here in this place…"

Struggling to think of another reason, Chizuru almost stumbled in her footsteps when they were leaving the establishment but fortunately for her, she was able to regain her balance before Kazuya could even notice. She didn't want to embarrass herself a second time in front of him…

Her eyes then widened slightly in realization, as she turned her attention towards Kazuya himself in wonder.

"Wait… is it because he saved me?"

Chizuru thought about that possibility and she felt herself blushing right away, which gave her the answer she needed.

Maybe it's to be expected… after all, he did catch her attention this afternoon without even doing anything and to add to that, she was in 'Mizuhara' mode at the time. She shouldn't have cared about him and simply focused on her job, but she did. Whether it was by coincidence that they would meet again in the same place or not, it can't be denied that if it wasn't for him, she might've gotten hurt or worse.

Not to mention, uhm… she also thought he was… cute—never mind, that wasn't the point!

"I… guess it's natural, feeling this way for the person who saved you… right?" she told herself, denying any possibility that she was having these weird sensations because of him personally. "Well, it's not like I'm making a fool out of myself, right? Let's just get this over with…"

Due to her being distracted within her own thoughts, Chizuru was unable to notice that they already had reached the parking area for motorcycles and Kazuya seemed to be getting something from his bike's top box. Therefore, she was completely out of it when the young man brought out another helmet and handed it over to her, which finally brought her out of her thoughts.

"Wear that and hop on," he said, plopping down on his seat before starting the engine, then revving it a few times.

"We're going on a bike?" Chizuru asked, looking genuinely confused although her current thoughts were completely different, which involved her panicking internally. "He has a bike?! I thought he was just going to walk with me the whole way! Does he even know how to drive— oh my god, are we supposed to sit next to each other?!"

He nodded, unaware of what she was going through at the moment. "Yeah. We'll move faster riding this. Never ridden a bike before?" he asked, hiding a little smirk to himself.

"Not really…" she muttered shyly, rubbing her arm up and down.

Kazuya blinked, completely surprised with her answer. As a rental girlfriend who spends time with various clients, one of them must have had a bike where she managed to get a ride on. Hearing Chizuru say that she had never ridden a motorcycle before made Kazuya think about how did she get here. This place was located at the edge of Tokyo and the road where it was located led straight to the main highway.

Actually, forget it. He could think about it some other time because for now, he had to take this girl back home. Her parents might be worried about her by now.

"Don't worry, you won't fall off if you just hang on to me. Come on, we don't have all night, or don't you want to go home?"

"O-Of course I do, you don't need to say it over and over!" she shot back, letting out an exasperated sigh nefore finally putting on the helmet he gave her.

Afterwards, Chizuru a deep breath before taking the empty spot behind him, feeling extremely nervous while doing so. She was on a motorcycle riding with some boy whom she didn't know and they even looked like they were the same age! What if they get into an accident or something?

"Do you even know how to drive?" she asked without thinking.

Kazuya felt genuinely offended, but he didn't show it.

"You wound me, Ojou-san. Of course I know how to drive. Why would I even have a bike in the first place and how did it get here if I didn't know how to drive it? Do you need me to show you my license?" he asked calmly, turning around slightly so he could see her.

"T-There's no need, I'm sorry…! I asked without thinking!" she quickly said, feeling terribly embarrassed about what she said that she had to turn her head away.

He only chuckled in response, enjoying the embarrassed look on her face. Was this how she usually is whenever she's working as a rental girlfriend?

Wait, that may not be true since he could remember her smiling when she entered the nightclub with that Motohiro. Then again, she didn't bother showing her distaste for the guy when she was about to leave, so perhaps she was just acting but this didn't feel like an act of any sort.

"None taken. We look like we're the same age, so I guess I can see why you'd think that way. Now hang on, we're moving."

With that, Kazuya drove out of the parking lot and into the main road, a huge smile on his face as he felt the wind against his face just like earlier. Meanwhile, the girl behind him felt otherwise.

Living by herself ever since her grandmother was admitted to the hospital, Chizuru never had the luxury of experiencing to ride a motorcycle. With her mother gone and her father not around, she was left to her own with only her grandparents. Her grandfather was a taxi driver but he never owned any bike, so her family was out of the question.

Not even her previous clients had taken her on a motorcycle, because they would rather walk with her or ride on a public vehicle. One would think there's at least one rich guy who rented her but contrary to that, most of the people who use the rental girlfriend service are those who belong in the working and low-class.

Rich people have no need for a rental girlfriend, anyway…

But to put it simply, Chizuru Ichinose felt nervous while they were moving along the road.

Because of this, she couldn't help but quickly wrap her arms around Kazuya before burying the side of her head into his back despite her helmet, as if she was seeking for comfort and reassurance that nothing bad will happen.

"He's… warm…" she thought to herself with a small smile, until she realized what she just said. "Bah, of course he's warm! He's wearing a jacket!"

A huge blush exploded on her face before she tried to banish her previous thought, although she made no attempt to let go of him, and it didn't seem like she wanted to.

Since the nightclub was located at the edge of the city and the road there was one-way, the two had to go through the main highway first before returning to the city. Their journey went by quietly, with Kazuya focusing on the road and Chizuru choosing not to say anything yet, at least until they reached a stoplight at the Nakano district.

It was at this point that Chizuru realized she couldn't bear the silence between them and decided to say something. There were just many things that needed to be said, and she didn't want to go home without telling him one of them.

"Wait," she said quietly, loud enough for only the boy with her to hear. "You're Kazuya, right? That's what the man called you earlier."

"Kazuya Kinoshita. And you are?" he introduced himself, before asking her for the same courtesy.

In truth, he already knew who she was from the rental girlfriend ad, but it would be disrespectful for the other person if he didn't ask for who she was in return.

Meanwhile, Chizuru was thinking deeply about something important. What exactly should she tell him? Her real name or the other one? She was pretty sure that this would likely be the only time where they would meet, so wouldn't it be a waste to introduce her real self? They literally met today by coincidence, and there was like a one in a million chance that that could have happened!

...

...

You know what? Forget it. It's not like it's the end of the world if she tells him the truth. It's just her name and furthermore, he didn't know of her job as a rental girlfriend. He didn't seem like he could recgonize her either if he ever did. Plus, it wouldn't feel right to lie to the person who helped her.

"Chizuru Ichinose," she said before turning her head away shyly. "I… want to thank you for what you did back there, saving me. Honestly, you didn't have to because I would've loved to teach him a lesson myself, but… I wasn't feeling well earlier."

Kazuya looked genuinely curious with what he just heard, considering what he knew about her already.

"Ichinose? It's not Mizuhara? Hmm… I don't think she would lie about her name at this point, so it must be her real one. 'Mizuhara' could be the one she's using while she's a rental girlfriend…" he thought to himself, before shifting his attention to Chizuru's next words.

"I was just doing my job, Ichinose-san. There's no need to thank me for doing what I'm supposed to do," he said as the stoplight turned green, prompting him to start driving which also got Chizuru to hang on to him tightly once more.

"Was that really necessary, though?" she asked through her blush from having to sort-of-hug him from behind.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly?"

"Leaving your job for the night! You couldn't just take a break instead? You're just going to take me back home, right?" she replied, seemingly angry for some reason.

"Actually, I'm supposed to be on break right now, but since I saw what was happening with you and that guy earlier, I had to step in and right now, I'm taking you home," he explained slowly for her to understand. "I have no idea where you live and who knows? By the time I get back to the club, my break may be already over and I was even looking forward to it all this time. So, I thought of doing this instead to save myself the trouble of missing my opportunity to eat. Why were you asking?"

"Uh, just making sure you don't get yourself in trouble after this…" she quickly said, calming down from her outburst a while ago.

If Chizuru had to be honest, she didn't know why Kazuya needed to take the night off when all he was going to do was take her to home. He could just come back to the nightclub when he was done, right? It didn't feel right that he would just ignore his job because of her.

But alas, there was nothing she could do. He was already gone from the club, and it doesn't look like he had any intention of returning tonight.

Oh, and speaking of which, she had to voice out this concern to the higher-ups in the agency! She had to report her situation and hopefully, they would add another rule about being customers being prohibited to go to places where alcohol is served.

She didn't want another incident like this to happen to her, or her fellow rental girlfriends ever again!

"I'm sorry about you missing your break. I could have handled that guy on my own, but I had to feel unwell at the wrong time and now you had to take a leave too."

Kazuya began to laugh in amusement.

"Don't worry about me, Ichinose-san. James already said he's fine with it earlier. I'll just make up for what I missed tomorrow."

After hearing his answer, Chizuru stayed silent and simply stared at the young man whom she was sort-of-hugging at the moment. They had just met and he already caught her curiosity that she already forgot that Kazuya looked familiar to her and that she saw him somewhere before.

"He doesn't want to go back there because his break may have ended by the time he gets back after taking me home, but he still helped me even though he didn't have to…" she thought to herself, before a flustered expression appeared on her face. "Does this mean— n-no…! He said it himself! He was just doing his job, nothing else! It's not like he was doing it for me or anything…!"

She began shaking her tomato-red head frantically to remove that thought from her mind. Chizuru was lucky Kazuya didn't care about her helmet continuously hitting his back, though he did turn around slightly to tell her something.

"Any more questions? I'd like to focus more on the road so we don't get into an accident."

"I'm shutting up," she quickly said, still looking embarrassed from her last thought.

"Uh, actually, I'm going to need you to point out directions for me, Ichinose-san. I don't know where you live and I might end up taking you somewhere else that isn't your house."

The red hue on Chizuru's face suddenly disappeared as she looked up at Kazuya in surprise.

"Ugh, you're right. You don't know…" she grumbled, suddenly feeling stupid about what she was thinking before she took a good look at where they were. Fortunately for the both of them, Chizuru looked like she knew this area which led to her sighing in relief. "Well, you're in luck, because we're getting close. I know this road. Make a right turn on the next one."

Kazuya nodded. "I'll be counting on you, then."

As Chizuru carefully watched the path they were taking, she didn't notice how she was unconsciously hugging him tighter while letting out a deep breath that she had been holding in for some reason.

Slowly but surely, she no longer felt herself being nervous while riding this thing… most likely due to the person sitting in front of her.

Oh boy, Chizuru is falling and she is falling HARD! She only met Kazuya and she is already thinking about him like a schoolgirl having a crush, lol. It's not gonna be long before she realize she is definitely into him. Hope you enjoyed their romantic motorcycle ride together, hahaha!

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

-Lance