Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

As soon as Chizuru was gone, Kibe and Kuri made their move and leapt out of their hiding place, before they marched towards their friend with displeased looks on their faces, as if they had been stabbed in the back unknowingly.

"Hey, Kazuya! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Kibe practically shouted in Kazuya's face, pointing towards his friend in an almost-threatening manner.

"Yeah! Did you really think you can hide this from your friends?!" added Kuri, placing his hands on hips as he sent a stink-eye in Kazuya's direction.

Thankfully, their voices were enough to snap the young man out of his little trance, and he now found himself facing his two friends.

"Oh, it's you two," he spoke, his shocked expression a while ago turning into a neutral one. It's like he wasn't looking forward to seeing them at all.

The two flinched from the bored look that Kazuya gave them, but they quickly bounced back by glaring at him. Of course, they weren't completely serious because they were very much aware that Kazuya was completely different from how he was back then…

"Don't play dumb with us, you bastard! Since when did you get yourself a bike, Kazuya?!"

"Yeah, and how come you never told us you had a license?! We're your friends!"

Kazuya stared at Kibe and Kuri for a few moments before he shrugged. He didn't see what was wrong with what he did. Besides, if he did tell them that he had a license way before, it would be embarrassing for him because he had no vehicle of his own until now.

"Well, I can keep secrets, can't I? I'm pretty sure you two have secrets of your own that you don't want to tell me."

The two grimaced, knowing that Kazuya was right about keeping secrets but they still had a way of getting the information they wanted.

If he didn't want to say anything about his license, then he would surely tell them something about the girl with him earlier!

"Oh yeah? Then what about that girl you were with just now?! Did you somehow find someone that can replace Mami over the past few days or something?" Kibe asked, looking at his friend suspiciously.

Now that was something that caught Kazuya's full attention, and caused him to send a frown towards Kibe out of a sudden spike of anger building up inside him.

"What? Of course not," he scoffed, narrowing his eyes at his friend. "Didn't I already tell you that I'm done with that stuff?"

Kibe narrowed his eyes as well. "Then who was that girl you were with just now? We saw you two arrive on a fancy bike and then she hugged you all of a sudden! Did you really think we won't assume something's going on between you two?"

Kazuya sighed before rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"She's my neighbor, and we happen to go to the same university. I just offered to give her a ride when we left home, that's it. As to why she hugged me, I have no idea. Are you happy now?"

"What about the bike, then? Did you somehow save up a pile of money to buy that?" asked Kuri.

The young man turned towards his friend who was wearing glasses, a hint of smugness in his eyes.

"What if I did?"

"Then you have to treat us," Kuri spoke as if it was the right answer, and he even looked like he was proud of what he said. "It's only right that the one with money between bros has to be the one to treat the others."

"Unfortunately for you, I didn't buy the bike. It was just loaned to me by my boss."

Kazuya smirked as he said those words, causing two different reactions from his friends. Kibe gritted his teeth in anger while Kuri joined his hands and started bowing his head in a pleading manner.

"You lucky bastard!"

"Please let us give it a go!"

Kazuya stared at them as if they had gone mad.

"What am I, stupid? You two don't have a license so you can forget about taking my bike out for a ride."

Both Kibe and Kuri hung their heads in defeat, feeling as though Kazuya didn't care about them at all.

"Can you at least give us a ride? You gave that girl a ride, so why not your friends too?" Kuri cried, shedding anime tears as he pleaded for Kazuya to let them use his bike just once.

"No," he said flatly.

"Now you're just showing off, you bastard…" Kibe growled, quickly getting over his dilemma.

"That's your problem."

Kazuya chuckled as he continued on his way, with his two friends following behind him. While they were walking, Kibe and Kuri took notice of the various students around who had their eyes directed towards Kazuya, while their friend either looked oblivious to their gazes or he just didn't care.

Obviously, they had their eyes on Kazuya, right? They would never attract that many eyes on themselves because they were losers…

"Jeez, you just had a month of buffing yourself up, and now you got a popularity boost… just look! A lot of other people are staring at you now!" Kibe remarked, pushing his hands into his pockets. He didn't feel envious since he didn't really want to be popular, and he actually wondered if Kazuya can handle this kind of thing.

"I didn't ask for people to stare at us when we got here, and that includes you two. There are other students and professors who use a bike to get to school and nobody cares, so how am I different?"

Kazuya patiently waited for an answer from his two friends, but neither of them could say anything to counter his last statement because he was right. There were a bunch of seniors who normally use a bike to get to college and nobody spares a glance at them, except for those who were crushing on them.

"That's what I thought," he said, before he quickly remembered something important. "Oh, that reminds me, Kuri… would you mind coming here for a second? I got something important to tell you."

Kuri looked up in surprise, before he glanced at Kibe in confusion. The other boy simply shrugged before Kuri turned back towards Kazuya.

"Uh… sure," he sped up in his walking so he could catch up to his friend, before lending his ear. "Lay it on me."

*WHACK!*

Kibe winced and had to stop in his tracks when he saw Kazuya punch Kibe in the back of his head so hard, it almost caused the latter to fall to the ground.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!" Kuri screamed aloud, holding his head in pain before he glared at his friend.

"That's for sending that rental girlfriend ad a month ago. You knew that I just went through a breakup, and you send something like that to me?"

"Oh, come on! It's already been a month ever since then, you're really going to bring that up now? Besides, it was just a joke!" he groaned.

"You're lucky I didn't have it in mind until now, because I've calmed down about it. You'd be in worse shape if I wasn't," Kazuya spoke with an innocent grin, which only got Kuri to pale from the hidden meaning behind his smile.

"How are you gonna deal with your growing popularity, by the way? I mean, it's pretty obvious that after what happened today, a lot of people are gonna have their eyes on you from now on," Kibe asked, wanting to take the conversation somewhere else.

"Especially the girls…" grumbled Kuri, still holding his head in pain.

"Nothing," Kazuya shrugged, calming down from his little outburst. "I don't really care about being popular, even back when I was still a lazy slob. I'll just keep on doing what I do, no matter what."

However, it seems like he wouldn't be able to calm down completely from what he saw next.

Kazuya suddenly stopped in his tracks when he spotted a familiar face in the distance, a girl with short blonde hair whom he swore to forget about a month ago. She was wearing the same exact clothes as that day, and it's like she wasn't changed one bit.

"Hey, isn't that Mami?"

"What's she doing there?"

Both Kibe and Kuri asked, feeling confused with the girl's sudden appearance. Their friend was on the same boat as them, but he was actually starting to feel more angry than confused.

Mami Nanami stood in the distance, keeping her gaze locked on one Kazuya Kinoshita, who was her boyfriend up until a month ago when she broke up with him. One would think that she would be happy after breaking up with a pathetic loser like Kazuya but surprisingly, she had a conflicted look on her face, as if she was being torn apart on the inside.

The young man sent a glare towards her and remained quiet for a few moments. This was the first time he saw her again in many weeks that he had forgotten they were attending the same school.

But now that he saw her, Kazuya couldn't help but be reminded of his past blunders while he was still someone who was desperate for love from somebody else. He continued glaring at her for a few more moments before he walked away, this time being considerably faster in his pace than before.

"Woah, Kazuya! Wait up!"

"Dude, you're walking too fast for us to catch up!"

The two called out, quickly running after their friend who was surely feeling pissed at the moment. In fact, he couldn't even spare them a glance and just kept his focus on walking.

"You're too slow, then."

They immediately noticed the infuriated tone in Kazuya's voice, and they quickly agreed with each other that it's because of Mami. Seeing his ex-girlfriend again must have hurt him inside and he was trying to hide it under his anger, so they quickly thought of something they can do to calm their friend down.

"Oh yeah, me and Kibe were gonna go check out the newest game being advertised at the arcade later on! You wanna join us since you're not going to that gym anymore?" Kuri asked in a casual tone, not wanting to make it obvious that he was doing this to make Kazuya feel better.

Meanwhile, Kazuya thought about his friend's offer and took this chance to get his ex out of his mind after seeing her again. While he would rather spend his afternoon doing various workouts, he wanted to get Mami off his mind a lot more.

Perhaps spending time with his friends could do just that, knowing how they were and their usual antics.

"Why not? Could be fun," he shrugged.

"Finally! It's been a while since we last hung out, you know!" Kibe exclaimed, walking closer to his friend and placing a hand on his shoulder. "It was kinda lonely without you around, Kazuya."

Somehow, those words appeared to have touched a nerve in Kazuya which caused him to stop in his tracks. The angry look on his face seemed to disappear as he got reminded that he had not given his two friends some of his time lately, mainly because he was too busy with either his regular workouts, or his job at the nightclub.

"Yeah, I know… sorry about that," Kazuya sighed, feeling horrible for forgetting about his friends until now.

"It's okay, man! We know you were busy taking care of yourself, so we just left you alone! But now, we're gonna have fun and you can't say anything about it!" Kibe reassured him, not blaming Kazuya one bit that they haven't gotten to hang out a lot more lately.

Despite seeing Mami again earlier which completely soured his mood, a small smile formed on his face just from his friends' attempt to cheer him up. He still couldn't quite get his ex-girlfriend out of his mind, but he didn't feel bothered by her anymore.

"I guess I can't."

"Well, since Kazuya's coming, you should probably take this," Kuri spoke with a little smile, bringing out a small wad of yen bills from his pocket before handing them over to his friend.

"What's this?" asked Kazuya, looking at the stash of money on his hand in confusion.

"In case I come running late to the arcade, I want you to buy that game for me. My parents wanted me to do the groceries today, hehe…" Kuri said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Why me? Shouldn't you ask Kibe instead since you two look hyped for that game you're talking about?"

"Dude, you have a bike! You'll get there before us, which also means you can get in line early!"

Kazuya deadpanned.

"I wasn't planning on using it, honestly…"

"Come on, pleeaaseee? We really want to get that game, but I can't get it early because I have an errand to run and you can get there before Kibe does if you ride your bike!" Kuri pleaded, imitating his earlier action when he asked for Kazuya to let him ride his bike.

"Fine," he groaned while rolling his eyes, as he sent a serious look towards his glasses-wearing friend. "But you owe me for this, alright?"

"That's completely fine with me! Thanks a lot, man!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he let out a deep sigh before bringing out his phone to check the time. "Well, we should get going. Class is in ten minutes."

"Lead the way, Chad-zuya!" Kibe cheered on as the three continued on their way, although his words didn't seem to be greatly appreciated by the person he mentioned, made obvious by the scowl that was semt towards him.

"You call me that again and I'm bashing your head in, Kibe."

"What? It has a nice ring to it!"

"Don't test me," he warned while raising his fist dangerously.

Kibe started to pale.

"Shutting up now…"

While Kazuya was being constantly bothered by his two friends on their way to class, Chizuru was walking quietly towards the doors of the school on her own, although it couldn't be said that she was in the same state as the young man.

Her head hung low to hide the deep blush on her face, while she covered her cheeks with her hands in embarrassment.

"Why did I hug him like that?! Right when we're in public too?! My god, this is way worse than what I did when I went to his apartment! What the hell was I thinking?!"

Hugging someone in public is worse than drooling over a boy's naked chest?

Not sure if your logic has sound there, Chizuru…

"Okay, maybe I just felt really happy earlier and I had to show my thanks to him somehow, but I didn't have to hug him! Maybe I could have done that when we're home instead of this place but I did and now, I'm sure that a lot of other people saw us! I'm such an idiot!"

She was the one telling Kazuya that she was used to the prying eyes of everyone else as one of the effects of being popular yet here she was, blushing and thoroughly embarrassed after that act of intimacy that she just pulled.

Way to prove a point.

The girl was completely distracted because of her thoughts that she wasn't able to notice her two friends sneaking up on her from behind.

"Kyaa—!" she yelped upon feeling a pair of hands grab her shoulders, causing her to look up and she sincerely hoped that it wasn't Kazuya because who knows how she might react upon seeing him so soon…

"Chizuru, was that your boyfriend?!" asked Yoko Shinpo, one of her best friends in school. She bore a look of excitement on her face, since she was one of the people who watched them arrive here earlier, and she was in need of answers.

"When and where did you meet him?! I have to know some details!" asked Yuuki Kawanaka, another one of her best friends around here and like Yoko, she was eager to know more about the mysterious boy who took her friend to college on his bike.

"E-Ehh…?!" she cried, her embarrassment growing as she was met with her two closest friends in class.

While she could take a deep breath that it wasn't Kazuya who surprised her just now, she didn't feel like celebrating just yet.

"Uhm… w-we're not…"

"Come on, tell us! We need details, Chizuru!"

"Yeah! Did you really think you can escape our eyes the moment you get yourself a boyfriend?"

It's a really good thing that she wasn't in 'Mizuhara' mode when she did hug him, or the effects would've been catastrophic.

That Afternoon

"I could have been spending the afternoon doing my usual workouts but no, Kuri wanted me to get his videogame…"

Kazuya stood outside the arcade, looking at both sides of the sidewalk and even the opposite road to see if his two friends have showed up yet.

He had been standing at the same spot for more than ten minutes now and honestly, he was starting to get bored. They had agreed to meet up at this place at three in the afternoon so they can buy the game together, but it was already ten minutes past their due time.

"I knew I should have just walked instead of going here on my bike," Kazuya groaned, regretting the fact that he showed up here earlier than three and riding his bike, no less!

After a few more minutes of waiting for his idiotic friends to show up, Kazuya finally sighed in defeat and simply accepted that those two aren't gonna show up anytime soon.

"I should just make the most of it while I'm still out here…" he rolled his eyes and swore to himself that he would bash his friends' heads against a wall the next time he sees them.

Well, since he was out of the house right now, he should just accept the outcome of things and roll with it, right? Perhaps he can find something to do other than lift weights and train his body the rest of the afternoon…

"Maybe I could pay Kaji-san a visit? I know it's only been a few days since I stopped going to his gym, but it's not like it's a bad thing to drop by this soon…"

"Shun-kun…? Are you around here somewhere?"

He heard a familiar voice drawing nearby, which caught his attention and got him to turn towards whoever was speaking.

Kazuya blinked in surprise when he saw that it was just Chizuru, although she didn't look anything like her earlier appearance when they went to school.

Her hair was let down, just like how it was when he first saw her. She was also wearing a small blue jacket with only the top button being fastened and underneath was a dress with a flower pattern. To top it off, she wore black thigh-high stockings and black low-heels.

"That's Chizuru-san… what's she doing here?" he asked himself, confused with the girl's sudden appearance.

She can't be here to go to the arcade itself, can she?

While Chizuru was searching left and right for the person whose name she had been calling out for a few minutes now, she saw someone familiar standing outside of the arcade.

"K-Kazuya-kun, is that you?" she asked, surprised to see him here, of all places.

It seems that coincidences have a way of happening between the two of them all the time…

"Hi?" he said, unsure of what to say to the girl at this moment in time.

"Well, at least it's someone I know," she let out a deep sigh, relieved that she could have a few minutes of rest. "Can you help me for a bit? I'm looking for a boy with blonde hair, wearing glasses, a blue shirt, and grey pants. He made a reservation for me today at three o'clock and we were supposed to meet here. Have you seen one somewhere?"

Kazuya quickly deduced that she was referring to a boy who rented her since her job was to be a rental girlfriend. While he didn't really like that profession and the business itself, he wasn't about to deny a friend some help when they need it.

"Blonde hair… wearing glasses…" he pondered over her words for a moment, before his eyes grew wide as he thought of one person who fitted her entire description quite easily. "Wait, you can't be talking about Kuribayashi?!"

"Yeah. Him exactly. I didn't know you two were friends, but that makes things easier for me," Chizuru giggled, before she looked at him with a bright smile. "So have you seen him anywhere?"

Kazuya rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how he would explain to her that Kuri was supposed to be here with him and Kibe, but he was gone buying groceries for his family.

He never really thought Kuri would be that desperate regarding his love life that he would rent a girlfriend, though…

"Uh… he's gonna be running late, because he said that he was going to—" Kazuya suddenly stopped in his words as something clicked in his mind.

His eyes grew wide before he ran towards one of the posters hanged outside of the arcade, the one about the game that Kuri was talking about, reading through its contents as fast as he can. Meanwhile, Chizuru was only staring at him in confusion, while wondering what he was about to say to her before he cut himself off.

Kazuya gritted his teeth in anger as he brought out the money that Kuri gave him at school, comparing the amount with the one that was shown on the poster. His eyes widened when the money on his hand didn't equate to the amount on the poster, leading to him being tempted to crush the wad of bills in his hand until they were gone.

"Kazuya-kun, is something wrong?"

He slowly turned towards Chizuru, who was tilting her head curiously, as a massive wave of realization hit him.

"Kuri, you damn sneak… I'm gonna kill you the next time we meet! The same goes for you, Kibe! If I find out you teamed up with Kuri on this, you're dead!"

Kazuya couldn't believe it.

How could he have not seen this coming from a mile away, especially from someone like Kuribayashi?

The money that Kuri gave to him wasn't for the game that he wanted to buy, but rather it was for the rental girlfriend whom he rented beforehand, Chizuru Mizuhara.

Mami has made another appearance and Kazuya is NOT happy to see her. Sheesh. Better hope she doesn't rain on the parade, but it doesn't seem like she will. Ecchizuru also thinks hugging Kazuya in public is worse than drooling over him, not a surprise! And now, Kazuya is stuck with Chizuru in rental girlfriend mode because he got played by his friend once again. I wonder how will Chizuru react to this. Good luck, Kazuya!

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

-Lance