Kazuya stood frozen in shock for a few seconds as Mizuhara and her client entered the shop . He then slowly walked close enough to the shop that he could see through the window . He saw Kibe and Mami seated at the far end and Mizuhara and her client at the counter , oblivious to each other's presence . He gulped and tried to come up with something to rescue the situation but failed.

" I've at least got to tell Mizuhara somehow", he decided and pulled out his phone and sent her a message on Line . He watched her carefully , her phone wasn't in her hand but he hoped that she could hear it buzzing.

Sure enough, a couple of seconds later she glanced at her handbag . Kazuya was delighted thinking that she would check her phone but instead she turned back to the client and continued talking with him.

Kazuya desperately sent her a few more messages but to no success . He even called her a couple of times but she didn't even glance at her bag.

" There's no way she'll check her phone " , he realized, remembering that he had never seen Mizuhara so much as check the time on her phone while they were on a date

" She's the ultimate professional. She's not going to be on her phone while she has a client , no matter the reason . "

His heart sunk as he saw the client turning towards the seats and gesturing towards the general direction that Mami and Kibe were in . Kazuya watched them in fear anticipating what was coming next .

And then a lucky break .

Mizuhara said something to the client and then turned towards the back of the shop and walked off . The client headed towards the seat and sat down at the table just in front of Mami and Kibe .

" Of course, he had to sit next to them " , he thought , frustrated.

Suddenly he felt a buzzing in his hands . His phone was ringing . He checked the caller ID and was elated when he saw the name Ichinose Chizuru on his screen . He quickly answered the call ,

" Hello , Mizuhara? It's me . I... "

" What the hell was that " , she interrupted angrily.

" I'm in the middle of a date. Why did you call me so many times ? It better be an emergency " , she hissed through the phone.

Kazuya swallowed uneasily and then spoke,

" Mizuhara I'm sorry but it's important. "

He hesitated for a second and then continued,

" Right now you're at the Mr Donut in Shinjuku aren't you? "

He heard a gasp of shock followed by a few moments of silence. Then she slowly asked ,

" How on earth did you .. "

" There's no time to explain now " , he interrupted.

" You have to listen carefully. Mami-chan and Kibe are there in the shop with you " .

" What ? Mami-san and Kibe-kun ? "

" Yeah , both of them are there inside . And your client just sat down next to them " .

Mizuhara was silent but Kazuya could almost hear her mind racing a hundred miles a minute trying to process what he had just told her.

" Where are you right now " , she finally asked.

" Eh , me ? Just outside . Why ? "

" Then come straight inside . Don't look left and right . Just walk straight past the counter to the back of the shop where the washrooms are " , she told him before ending the call .

" She wants me to come inside ? How is that going to help . That's just going to complicate things " , he panicked.

Kazuya glanced inside the shop at the three people sitting at adjacent tables. Mami , Kibe and the client all blissfully unaware of the common thread that connected them .

" I can't leave her alone there " , he thought to himself .

" If she's seen with that guy, it's game over . Kibe will go straight to Grandma and tell her, not to mention Mami-chan finding out that we're still seeing each other. Who knows how she'll react ? And if everyone finds out , Mizuhara would get blamed for everything. And .. it would be the end of us " .

Kazuya steeled his nerves and headed in. Just as she had commanded , Kazuya walked straight inside and towards the washroom . He got there and glanced around expecting Mizuhara to be standing somewhere nearby, but she wasn't. He was about to call her again when the door of the women's bathroom creaked open and he saw her peeking out at him.

She gestured towards herself, asking him to come in . Kazuya glanced at the sign above the door and shook his head furiously. Mizuhara frowned and then stepped out , grabbed his shoulder and pulled him inside.

Kazuya turned a pale white as he nervously glanced around the well lit bathroom, shivering slightly.

" Mizuhara, I.. I can't be here. If I get caught... "

" Relax there's no one else here. And it's not like you're here alone which would be creepy . I'm here too . If someone comes in we'll make up some reason and apologize together, okay ? "

Kazuya slowly nodded his head , temporarily putting away that particular worry .

" So what happened ? Did those two see me and come in ? " , she asked .

" No , no . They were already here . They didn't see you " .

" Where exactly are they sitting ? "

Kazuya explained where they were sitting and pointed out the client's close proximity to them .

Chizuru raised her hand to her brow and brushed back a few strands of her hair

" This is the worst " , she complained.

" A one in a million chance of things going wrong".

Kazuya thought carefully and then slowly suggested,

" I know you won't like this idea but could you consider bailing on the client ? Telling him that something's come up and that you need to reschedule " .

" No chance . Hiroto-san's a new client. This is just our third date . The first couple were a month ago so I thought that he wasn't going to rent me again . And this date just began . He booked me for two hours. I can't blow this . I need this client. "

They were silent for some time and then Chizuru reached for the door handle and told him,

" Come on , we can't stay here forever " .

They cautiously walked out and peered at the dreaded table . Mami and Kibe were peering at a laptop and were in deep discussion while Hiroto-san was on his phone, drinking some coffee

" Dammit they're right next to each other " , Chizuru swore .

" If I had noticed them earlier , I could have led Hiroto-san away naturally but now it's too late. There's no way I can get to him without being seen" .

The gravity of the situation was weighing heavily on their backs as both tried to rack their brains for a solution. They were so engrossed that they didn't notice a waitress walking past them and when they did Kazuya's sudden movement nearly caused the waitress to spill coffee on them . Both parties apologized profusely and the waitress left without making a mountain out of it .

Suddenly Kazuya got a spark of an idea.

" This isn't a good idea at all . But.. " , he thought to himself.

He turned to her and asked ,

" If the client is forced to leave , there's no problem for you right? "

" Eh ? No . If he leaves there's nothing wrong . But .. what are you going to do " , she asked puzzled.

Kazuya walked towards the counter and bought a bottle of water and then headed straight for the table.

" It's simple " , he told himself.

" Walk past him. "Accidentally" slip and spill the water on him . Mami-chan and Kibe will notice me but I can take care of that . The important thing is that the client will want to leave and so Mizuhara can walk out without being seen "

As he approached closer , he suddenly felt a bit of apprehension .

" I'm sure you're a nice guy and all Hiroto-san , but this is for Mizuhara's sake. So I have no other option . Plus this is water, so there won't be a stain on you clothes or anything . Please don't punch me " , he thought to himself as his opened the bottle and was about to "slip"

Suddenly Hiroto-san's phone rang loudly . Kazuya was thrown off by it and ended up walking past him without being noticed . He headed straight back to Mizuhara who seemed to be fuming .

" That was your fantastic plan ? Throw water at him ? " , she hissed at him.

" I couldn't think of a better plan . And neither did you " , he replied indignantly .

" Why didn't you do it then ? "

" Well his phone rang and I got distracted by it . It's fine . Once he's done talking , I'll go again " .

They both watched the table again as Hiroto-san talked on his phone. Once he was done , he suddenly got up and started to head towards the counter.

" He's coming here " , Kazuya said, panicking once again .

Chizuru pulled Kazuya behind her and gestured towards the counter . Kazuya turned and pretended to be deciding what to order , but was listening carefully.

" Hiroto-san, sorry to keep you waiting " , Chizuru told him quite cheerfully.

" It's fine " ,he replied and continued,

" I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cancel the date " .

Kazuya's heart sank when he heard that.

" Dammit, I must have messed up. He probably got tired of waiting " , he thought to himself.

" Oh ? Well there's no problem but can I ask ? Were you unhappy with the service or ... " , Chizuru asked slightly apologetically.

" No , no nothing like that " , he assured her .

" My younger brother got into some trouble at school , so I have to bail him out " .

" I hope that he's fine " , Chizuru replied, concerned as Hiroto-san paid the bill and headed out .

She followed him out and disappeared through the door . Kazuya watched as they walked past the shop's window without being spotted by Mami and Kibe . Finally breathing a sigh of relief, he walked out of the shop and began on his way to the subway . He had barely gone a little way when he heard footsteps , pounding furiously on the ground towards him . He had a fairly good idea who it was but before he could turn around , she grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him back to the shop .

" Wait , why are we going back ? " , he asked, confused .

" They're still in there. We have to find out what they're talking about " , she said and marched inside the shop with him in tow.

She asked the waitress for two coffees and then took him to a table that was sprayed from Mami's and Kibe's by a partition. So they couldn't see them but they were close enough to make out some of what they were saying.

" by .. Saturday we'll finish "

" And ... definitely. "

" We should tell ... she'll want to know "

" I'll call ... night "

After a few more minutes of similar conversation that Kazuya and Chizuru couldn't hear completely, Kibe and Mami left the shop . Kazuya and Chizuru stayed for a few more minutes and then headed out themselves. Kazuya was about to set off behind them but Chizuru pulled him back.

She started off in the opposite direction towards the subway and Kazuya followed her .

" Shouldn't we go after them " , he asked.

" No , they're bound to notice us at some point. The best thing to do is ask Kibe-kun directly . We'll wait for some time , enough for him to get away from Mami-san and then you call him " .

Kazuya nodded in agreement and they walked to the subway station without saying anything else . Once they got on the subway ,heading back home, and sat down ,Chizuru turned to him with her eyebrow raised and asked ,

" Well ? How did you know where I was ? "

Kazuya sheepishly explained how he had seen Mami meeting up with Kibe and the events that followed. Chizuru listened patiently and then commented,

" Like I said a million to one chance of all of us ending up at the same place . Though we got lucky this time . I nearly walked straight into the tiger's den . I guess it's a warning to me to be more careful " .

Kazuya was silent and then asked,

" What about your client Hiroto-san? Was he upset or anything? "

" No , not at all . In fact he already made a booking for next week " , she replied .

Kazuya suddenly realized that she was glancing at him like she wanted to say something else .

" Do you want to ask me something ? " , he asked nervously.

She glanced at the floor for a second and then spoke , a little uncomfortably

" Well , back to the matter at hand , most likely Kibe-kun and Mami-san were taking about us but in case it wasn't... um .. you should know that there's a possibility that they might have been on a ... you know "

" Eh ? What ? " , he asked confused .

" On a date " , she managed to get out .

" A date ? ", he exclaimed, taken aback.

She nodded and continued,

" I know that he's your best friend and she's your ex and it's weird but it did look like they were pretty comfortable and like I said it might be.. I know you don't like the idea of it and ... "

" No actually if that's the case, I'll be relieved " , Kazuya interrupted

" What ? "

" I mean , yes it'll be weird at first if they were together but I'd be happy for them . Both of them. And more importantly that would mean that it wasn't about you " .

She was silent for some time and then spoke up ,

" About us "

" What ? "

" About us " , she repeated and then continued,

" Not just me . If our secret got out , you'd be in much more trouble. So look out for yourself as well " .

" But I dragged you into this , so I.. "

She turned and glared straight at him, at which Kazuya relented .

Soon they were climbing up the stairs to their apartments. Kazuya hurriedly opened his apartment and went in . He was surprised to see Chizuru coming in and kicking off her shoes as well.

They both sat down on his bed and waited for another ten minutes silently before Chizuru spoke,

" That should be enough time . Call him and put it on speaker " .

Kazuya rang Kibe who picked up on the fourth ring .

" Hey man what's up ? " , he answered

" Oh nothing. It's just something weird that I saw . I was in Shinjuku today and I thought that I saw you and Mami-chan together " .

Kibe was silent for some time and then replied

" Yep that was us . I've been meaning to tell you . Mami-chan is helping Nagomi-san and me with our app " .

" Grandma? " , Kazuya asked , the shock on his face reflected on Chizuru's as well .

" Yeah . She's been really helpful and .. "

Kibe went on to describe how Mami had helped them over the past few months first over the internet and then face to face . Kazuya listened to it all carefully and then asked ,

" Listen all that's fine , but I need to ask you something important. "

Kazuya hesitated for a second and then glanced at Chizuru before asking,

" Has she asked or have you told her anything about Ch.. Chizuru? "

Behind his back , unbeknownst to him , Chizuru's face flushed a scarlet red .

" About Chizuru-san? No " ,Kibe replied.

" What about Grandma? Has she been talking about Chizuru? "

" No, she hasn't .Why is there some problem or ... " .

" No , no problem " , Kazuya hurriedly told him .

" It's just Grandma doesn't know that I used to date her . She thinks that Chizuru is my first girlfriend . It's not a big deal actually but it is a lie and it would be awkward to tell her now. So ..."

" Don't worry . I talked to Mami-chan about that when she started helping us out. Actually she brought it up and she promised that she wouldn't say anything to Nagomi-san. She didn't even know that she was your Grandma until I told her".

Kazuya was reassured by that and was about to wind up the call when Chizuru mouthed something to him. He nodded and spoke out aloud,

" Hey , one more thing . Don't tell Mami or Grandma that you told me about this . If things are okay as it is , I don't want to cause any trouble " .

Kibe agreed and then he cut the call as Kazuya turned back to Chizuru. They were silent for some time as they processed what they had heard.

After some time, Kazuya spoke ,

" So , things are okay right? Mami-chan said that she wouldn't say anything and if she wanted to she already would have. "

" Yeah I guess " , she agreed and then added ,

" But we should be careful anyway. It's likely that she knows that we're still seeing each other . Either way don't go and ask Mami-san about it . Like you said, if things are okay and all that " .

She got up and headed to the door, saying,

" Well it's been a long day. I should get going " .

Kazuya nodded and got up as well . She slipped her shoes back on left the apartment with her classic ,

" See you later " .

Kazuya sat back down on his bed and decided,

" It's probably time I called Grandma" .

Inside her apartment, Chizuru put her handbag away , took her contact lenses off , found her glasses and sat down , now allowing the worry to permeate her face . She was much more concerned about the Mami situation than she had made Kazuya believe and so began to review what she had heard,

" It can't be a coincidence that she happened upon Grandma like that . Unless it is . Everything that he pointed out is true. She hasn't bothered us at all since she rented me . She's had multiple opportunities to out us but she hasn't. So is this really nothing? "

Chizuru frowned as she tried to figure out the answer,

" I don't trust her at all . Every instinct of mine is telling me that she's upto something. But why hasn't she said something yet? Is she waiting for something? Us to find out that she's connected with Grandma? If that's the case , then we can't let her realize that we know . The only advantage we have now is that we're onto her and she doesn't know that . So all I can do is wait and see . I can't tell him about my suspicions. I don't want to poison his memories of her unless I'm absolutely sure " .

Chizuru bit her lower lip in frustration, trying to come to terms with the fact that her best move was to essentially do nothing .

Suddenly a word pierced through her mind, one that immediately pushed away her worries and fears about Mami .

" Chizuru "

Heat radiated through her body as she felt herself turning shade after shade of red but her name kept repeating in her mind .

" Th..That guy. What on earth was that . He didn't even give me some sort of warning. He just casually started throwing out my first name like that . Without any honorifics . He's never shown any interest in my first name before. Its always "Mizuhara" with him . But has he been calling me Chizuru all this time behind my back ? Wait am I supposed to call him Ka.. in the same manner in front of the others? That absolute idiot " .

Chizuru slapped herself lightly on her cheeks, breaking herself out of her inner floundering and scolded herself,

"Come on. I've got more important things to worry about now. "

Her mind returned to Mami and she resolved,

" Whatever her plan is , I won't let it happen. I'll make sure that she fails . I won't let her pull us apart " .

Several miles away , a high school girl with short dark hair, unlocked the door of her house and went in . Her parents were still at work and so she had the house to herself. She headed straight upstairs and sat dowm on her bed , still frowning at how badly her date had ended.

" He's becoming worse " , Ruka thought to herself.

" He's slipping more and more away from me " .

A wave of anger rose in her but it wasn't directed towards that orange haired twenty one year old but rather towards the object of his affections , a long haired brunette with supermodel looks and the style and body to match.

" Chizuru-san " , Ruka breathed out aloud.

" Even after a year , I still can't ... Kazuya is still ... "

Her mind slowly dipped into her memories pulling her back little over a year ago to when she first heard the name " Mizuhara Chizuru" .

A/N: New chapters will once again be released every week .

Next Time : Ruka reflects on the past year of her life and how she's witnessed Kazuya and Chizuru changing