Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

The tension between the two teenagers continued to grow as the seconds passed, which only caused Chizuru to become more anxious about what he would say.

From how Kazuya was smiling at her as if nothing was wrong, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he had something devious in mind, but there's no telling what he was truly thinking about. Who knows? He may be thinking about forgetting this all ever happened and go back to how they were earlier…

Finally, Kazuya broke the silence between them when he started to laugh for the better part of a minute before he finally spoke, then shaking his head in amusement.

"Nothing. If you're worried about me telling someone about what your job is, don't be. It's not like I have someone to tell anyway. I just wanted to confirm what I had in mind. When you told me your name last night, I was starting to wonder if you were really Chizuru Mizuhara until I thought of the possibility that it was just an alias you're using while you're working as a rental girlfriend."

Chizuru could only stare at him blankly, thoroughly confused with what just happened that all she could utter was one word by the end of his explanation.

"…Huh?"

She had no idea what just happened nor did she know if she heard him right. Did he just say that he won't do anything? That he won't tell anyone about her secret?

That almost seemed too good to be true.

Fortunately, Kazuya was expecting an answer like that from the girl, so he took a deep breath and began to explain further in detail.

"My answer is nothing. I'm not going to do anything, alright? You seem like you're trying to hide the fact that you have a job as a rental girlfriend because you're using another name, so I'm keeping my mouth shut. You have my word."

The girl was speechless.

After realizing that Kazuya had connected the pieces and found out what she really is, she completely expected him to do something with that knowledge, perhaps telling someone else about it or even using it as leverage against her.

But she was wrong.

This young man whom she met the previous night, he had shown her care and kindness when he saved from Motohiro and took her home even when he didn't have to.

He had shown her forgiveness when he didn't hold it against her after she wrongly accused him of being something he was not.

And now he was showing her how much of a good-natured person he was by telling her that he wouldn't tell anyone about her secret, despite having the opportunity to do so.

"You're not… going to tell anyone about me?" she asked slowly, almost unable to comprehend the fact that this young man didn't really have any bad intentions when it came to her.

Kazuya was almost tempted to sigh because this was going to be the third time he explains his reasons to her, but stopped himself. He caused this to happen, and he knew that he had to take responsibility for what he did.

Yeah, he had brought this on to himself, since he may as well have scared her earlier when she asked him what he was going to do, and he didn't choose to answer right away. Maybe he should have thought better regarding that…

Plus, Chizuru was likely sensitive about this topic, so it's understandable why she wanted to be absolutely sure that he won't tell anyone about her secret.

"Look, I'm not gonna expose you or anything like that. It's your job, not mine. Admittedly, I don't really like rental girlfriends and that business in particular, but it's your choice for a job and I'm not gonna hate someone over that. Besides, I have nothing to gain from telling someone else that I'm neighbors with a rental girlfriend. It's not like I can do anything with said rental girlfriend, right?"

He explained a lot more slowly this time in order to make sure Chizuru understood him word for word, and she was left staring at him with wide eyes, completely speechless for a whole minute while he waited for her to say something.

Finally, when she felt that she could finally speak, Chizuru could only bow her head in gratitude, hiding her face as she felt a few tears building up in her eyes.

Kazuya truly was a good and noble person, and he has been nothing but considerate to her ever since they met. She didn't understand what the Chizuru from last night was thinking!

How could she ever think bad of him?

"…Thank you," she spoke quietly, quickly wiping away the forming tears in her eyes before Kazuya could see them.

Fortunately for her, Kazuya had his gaze elsewhere, looking in deep thought about something important.

"Just be careful about who you go with next time. A lot of people like that jackass from last night may try to pull off something stupid too if they're renting you. Besides, what were you doing there for real? I don't really think a nightclub is a good place to have a date…"

"I didn't go there out of my own will! Motohiro-san just took me there and I had to go along with where he wanted to go! I didn't want to be there and I wanted to leave as soon as he started getting drunk, but I couldn't…"

Chizuru exclaimed with a deep frown, and it seemed like she was finally back to normal after feeling utterly defeated and helpless just a while ago.

"Do you normally have customers like that guy, then?" he asked, turning his gaze back to her.

"Of course I do," she answered while crossing her arms, before letting out a deep sigh. "Oh, what am I doing? Telling these things to another person…"

Kazuya shrugged.

"Hey, I told you. I'm not telling anyone about this and if anything, I'm asking because I can't help you the next time something like last night happens again. It's not like I can find out where you are all the time and come right away."

Chizuru pouted at him, getting the feeling that Kazuya thought of her as some damsel in distress who needed help every time she got into trouble.

"I can't take care of myself, you know. I'm not some girl who needs someone to save her every time she's in trouble. I told you, the only reason why I couldn't fight back against that jerk was because we were in a club."

"Well, that's good. It feels reassuring that you can handle yourself, but what if another jackass takes you to a nightclub and you feel uncomfortable again?"

Chizuru scoffed, feeling the urge to vomit at the thought of going to a nightclub once again.

"Oh, that'll never happen again. I'm definitely telling my agency later on to make a damn rule about taking rental girlfriends to places where there's drinking involved. I'm never going to another club again if I can help it."

"Sounds like a plan, then. It's a good thing you know what to do. Better hope that your agency does listen to you, otherwise I'm gonna say that the place doesn't give a damn about its employees."

Kazuya chuckled and shook his head before he stood up and placed the pot of soup in the fridge. He then took the bowls and utensils they used and piled them together in the sink.

"I'll eat the rest of the soup later for lunch. Don't worry, I'll return your pot later on before I go to work. Again, I have to say that it tasted really good. You can leave if you want, but just remember to close the door, okay?"

He told the girl with a smile on his face before he started to work on the dishes.

Meanwhile, the girl sitting at the table made no move to leave the place and simply kept her gaze towards the young man who stood by the sink.

"Kazuya-kun… what are you doing to me? Why is it that I'm like this when I'm around you?"

Chizuru couldn't explain why, but she felt as if she knew Kazuya for a long time, despite only introducing herself to him last night. It's like she was friends with him for years, because she felt like she can willingly trust him with something big.

It may even be the reason why she couldn't keep her act around him like she always does. She was always blushing and acting all nervous while he was around, which was more than anything that happened to her while being with another man.

Heck, she didn't even notice how she used a different honorific for him in her own thoughts!

Taking a deep breath, she stood up from the table and followed him to the sink, where she stood right behind him with an unsure expression on her face.

"You really promise not to tell anyone?"

She asked slowly, her voice taking on a pleading tone as Kazuya turned his head slightly to glance at her. He noticed how she had a pleading look on her face too, meaning that this must be something serious.

Taking a deep breath, Kazuya stopped washing the dishes momentarily so he could turn around and face the girl behind him.

"Like I said, what would I gain if I do? I admit that I don't like that sort of business and profession but I'm not going to ruin someone's life because of it. Besides, what's the point of telling if I have no one to tell? I live alone here and I don't have many friends. The only friends I have would rather spend their time playing videogames or ask me about my personal life."

Due to him being taller than her, Chizuru kept looking up and didn't turn away the whole time while he was speaking. However, as soon as he was done, the girl turned away for a brief moment to take in his words before looking back towards him.

"Pinky promise?" she asked, holding up her pinky in front of her.

Kazuya blinked owlishly at her sudden gesture, having caught off guard by it before he rubbed the back of his head and began to chuckle nervously.

"Uh… isn't this a bit childish, Chizuru-san…?"

"Promise me," Chizuru said in a firm tone, her pleading look returning as though she wanted to be sure that she can trust him without any regrets.

She didn't even care that initiating a pinky promise between them was indeed childish. Chizuru simply wanted an indication that he was someone whom she can place trust in, one whom she can confide in when she needed to, and one whom she can approach anytime.

Finally, Kazuya sighed in defeat and accepted the gesture with a smile, hooking his pinky with hers tightly as a sign of him promising to be true to his word.

"Alright, I promise, I won't tell anyone."

For the first time since she stepped into the flat, a big smile had formed on Chizuru's face as a massive wave of relief washed through her. She felt that she could finally breathe normally after all that tension and nervousness she went through.

Even Kazuya couldn't stop himself from smiling in return.

And so, what was once a secret belonging to one person, became a symbol of trust between two.

Monday

One month ago, it would take Kazuya at least three hours to prepare himself to go to school. That included taking a bath, cooking breakfast for himself, organizing his school stuff, making sure he did his homework, and waking up extra early in order to do all these things.

Yeah, he had a lazy streak back then which can affect his performance terribly if he wasn't motivated…

Unfortunately, he normally struggled to do the last part, leading to many instances in which his efforts to start the day right to blow up in his face.

However, a lot of time had passed since then and Kazuya already showed a massive amount of change within only the span of a month.

"Keys? Check. Lunch money? Check. Homework? Check. I suppose that's about it," the young man did a quick checkup of the things he needed to bring along with him before leaving, and it seemed like he didn't forget anything.

Ever since he started his regular workouts under Kaji's guidance, Kazuya no longer had any problems waking up early in order to do everything he needed to do before leaving for school.

He would wake up and after heating some hot water for himself, he'd proceed to do some stretching and a few warm-ups to wake up his body even more. After that, the next thing on his list was breakfast and at the same time, check his homework. Once he was done cooking, he would then pour himself a cup of coffee and enjoy his meal. Afterwards, he would then continue on to gather all the things he would need to bring to school and then finally head to the bathroom!

All in all, his new daily routine saved him more than an hour of free time to himself before he eventually leaves for school and that wasn't all.

He had a bike that he can use to get to the university, which saves him even more time because he can drive to that place in a matter of minutes!

"I better get going… I have nothing else to do here and if I'm early, I can already get a spot at the parking area."

Kazuya smirked at the thought of claiming a small part of the place that normally 'belonged' to the seniors and teachers, and it was enough to convince the young man that he should leave now before all the available spots get claimed.

After putting on his jacket, he quickly slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed his keys before heading outside.

"Kyaaa—!"

The young man was caught off guard with that sudden yelp and caused him to turn his head to the source of that voice, and he saw Chizuru Ichinose standing there with a flabbergasted look on her face.

However, that wasn't all.

Her appearance was completely different compared to the last time he saw her; instead of her hair being let down with one small sidetail, they were braided into twin pigtails. There was also a small butterfly hairpin near her forehead but perhaps the most eye-catching detail about her new appearance was the pair of glasses on her face.

It's like he was staring at another person completely, and he couldn't stop his eyes from widening momentarily.

And would you look at that? Kazuya's not a bad person, of course he wouldn't expose Chizuru no matter what. He even scored points with her because she trusted him with her secret! By this point, Chizuru might be falling for him already, but she just doesn't know it yet. Time for them to go to school!

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

-Lance