Rent a Girlfriend Fanfic: Stepping Out of the Shadows
Chapter 7:
Akane: "Hey Kazuya, are you free tomorrow? I was thinking we could go shoe shopping at the mall. I noticed your shoes aren't really suitable for the gym, so I thought we could find some good ones together."
Kazuya smiled to himself, happy that Akane was looking out for him. He quickly replied, "Hey Akane, thanks for thinking of me. I have morning classes tomorrow and work after 4 PM, but I can squeeze in sometime between those. What time were you thinking?"
Kazuya thought for a moment. "I have morning classes tomorrow and I'll be working after 4 PM. But I can make some time in between. What time were you thinking?"
Akane: "I'm pretty flexible tomorrow, so we can go whenever works for you. How about we meet at the mall around 1 PM?"
Kazuya nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's do it."
"She is a wonderful person."
The next day, Kazuya finished his morning classes and rushed to the mall to meet Akane.
Chizuru sat nervously on her futon in her apartment, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. She could not help but feel anxious as she waited for her friend Mini to arrive. She needed to know what had happened between Kazuya and Mami, and she knew that Mini had been at his apartment recently.
Chizuru looked at the clock as the doorbell rang; it was already 10 p.m. She was hoping that this person would be Mini, Mini was standing there when she opened the door.
"Hey Chizuru, I apologize for being late." I went to Kazuya's place earlier and I thought you should know what happened."
Chizuru's heart rate increased. "Can you tell me what happened?" "Is everything all right?"
"Well, Mami was there, and she advised him to give up on you and move on. His apartment was also in a state of disarray. It looked like it wasn't cleaned in months."
Chizuru felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She knew that Kazuya was struggling with her sudden disappearance, but she never realized just how much it was affecting him. Even so much that he did not take care of himself and his apartment.
"I had no idea it was affecting him that much. I knew it would be hard for him, but I never realized the extent of it." Chizuru said
Mini nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, it seems like he's really struggling. He is not taking care of himself or his apartment like he used to. He's really down, Chizuru."
"Do you think Mami likes Kazuya?" Chizuru asked quietly.
"I don't know, do they have any kind of history?" Mini asked rhetorically
Chizuru has realized that Mini has no concept of who Mami is. "She is Kazuya's ex-girlfriend." They dated for a month and then broke up and Kazuya began renting me later on." Chizuru mentioned this.
"If she's his ex, why would she go to his apartment?" Mini asked, clearly interested.
"I don't know, maybe she just wanted to talk about me." Chizuru stated this.
"Why would she be interested in you?" Mini asked.
"Mami has been bothering me and Kazuya for the past 1.5 years. She knows that I'm a rental girlfriend and since she found out, she is scheming to reveal the secret to Kazuya's family and friends." Chizuru said.
"She even did it on the trip, but Kazuya and I persuaded them that we are now dating for real by kissing him in public twice." Chizuru elaborated.
"So, she's a real pain in the ass." Mini smiled as she spoke.
"Yeah." Chizuru said softly.
"So, why do you care that another girl went to his apartment?" Mini inquired, a smirk on her face.
Chizuru is caught off guard by that question, and she can only react with a gaping mouth.
"Are you jealous? Do you have feelings for him? Do you desire him so much, that when you look at certain items you see his face in it?" Mini said enthusiastically.
Chizuru is becoming agitated because of Yaemori's rapid barrage of questions, which she is unable to answer.
After regaining her calm, she was able to respond to the heated questions.
" After the death of my grandmother, Kazuya is the last person who is close to me, so he is important to me. I feel something for him, but I don't know if it is love." Chizuru managed to get out.
"Oh, am I not important to you?" Mini stated while feigning tears.
"No no! You are a good friend to me, but we are not as close as Kazuya and I am or me and my family." Chizuru said while shaking her head.
"No, it isn't a problem. I understand." Mini said reassuringly.
"Look, I care about him, but I don't know if I see a future with him. And yet, I can't seem to let him go." Chizuru admitted.
Mini nodded thoughtfully. "I understand, but you can't keep him waiting forever, Chizuru. You need to decide soon or someone else might come along and snatch him up. Maybe his ex wants to date him again."
Chizuru knew Mini was right. She could not keep dragging things out with Kazuya. But the thought of losing him to someone else was almost unbearable.
Mini gave Chizuru one more bit of advice as she gathered her stuff and prepared to leave. "Just remember, act quickly before it's too late."
Once Mini leaves, Chizuru takes a deep breath and looks at her phone. She has morning classes and a rental date with a client tomorrow. The client wants a second opinion on some shopping at a mall. As Chizuru starts to find an outfit for the rental date, she cannot help but feel the weight of Mini's words on her shoulders. She knows she needs to decide about Kazuya soon, or she could lose him to someone else.
Kazuya was relieved to be back at his apartment after a long morning of classes. He dropped his heavy schoolbag on the floor and flopped onto his bed, letting out a long sigh. He checked his phone for any messages, but there were none.
Just then, he remembered that he was supposed to meet Akane in front of his apartment. He quickly got up, grabbed his phone, and headed towards the door. But as he opened it, he saw Chizuru stepping out of her own apartment at the same time.
