Chizuru stood silently , still staring at the door of his apartment. Kazuya had gone in but his door was still halfway open . She could still smell him , the scent of his cologne . She could still feel her new found realization pound away in her heart . She could still hear his voice ringing in her ears and her mind .

" Mizuhara !" .

" It's almost like he's calling me towards him " , the thought flitted momentarily through her mind.

And then suddenly her right foot stepped forward. And then her left. Then her hand stretched out and pushed the door completely open. Then her feet moved again . She now stood in his apartment, staring at him . He was clearing some of the mess off his table completely oblivious to her presence . He then sat down and pulled out his phone. Chizuru found herself continuing to move forward.

Then suddenly , Kazuya laughed out aloud . It was probably something that he had seen on his phone but the sound was enough to jarr Chizuru. Suddenly it hit her . Where she was standing . What she was going to do . She regained some semblance of awareness , turned and ran straight out of his apartment, into hers and right into her bedroom . She jumped straight into her bed , shivering slightly as the weight of what had just happened fell on her .

" I ... I ... just now .. I .. admitted that I l...love him".

She sat up straight folded her knees and tried to come to terms with her feelings .

" I really do . I really.. l ...love him . After all the time I spent denying it , I was actually , all along... And right now I went inside his apartment and I was going to ... "

Chizuru lost her train of thought as a vivid image invaded her mind. Her walking up behind Kazuya, putting her hands around him, pulling him towards her and then slowly inching forward , towards him , with her lips.

" No , no ", she told herself, her face now , crimson red .

" Even if I love him , I can't just go around doing that . First we have to ..."

Chizuru was once again cut off from her train of thought, but this time with a question,

" Wait, now what do I do ? Do we start dating? Do I tell him how I feel ?"

She collapsed back as she thought about his confession and how she had lay in that exact spot and tried to understand it .

" Well ,I do want a relationship with him and my feelings are clear now . He did confess to me , but ... . There are still unanswered questions.

If he really does feel that was towards me , why has he never told me by himself? Without me asking him ? "

Chizuru sighed as she thought to herself,

" I know what he's like . If I tell him how I feel about him. How much I feel about him , then he'll say yes , no matter how he feels about me . That's just the sort of person he is . And I don't want that. I don't want him to say yes for my sake . I want him to say yes because he truly l..loves me too . I don't want him to be stuck with me for the rest of his life, unless he's happy with me too " .

She had barely finished thinking that when a few of her own words suddenly highlighted themselves.

"Rest of his life " .

Chizuru sat up straight and looked straight at the little shrine in the corner of her room , past the photos of her grandparents and at the black box that sat there .

The box with the engagement ring .

Suddenly she could see in her mind, Kazuya wearing a suit , getting down on one knee and pulling out that box from his pocket.

" No , stop it " , she told herself frantically.

" We're not even dating yet . I can't think about marriage now " .

She couldn't help fixating on that word . Marriage. She knew instinctively that her feelings were deadly serious.

" What I feel for him isn't casual or a date-for-two-months kind of thing .

I really want him for the rest of my life. "

The photos of her grandparents registered in her mind. And she couldn't help thinking about the two marriages that had created and defined her life .

The first marriage was her grandparent's. A beautiful perfect marriage of two people destined for each other . They had loved each other every day of their lives and not even death was able to tear them apart.

The same could not be said for the second. The marriage of her parents . Chizuru barely knew any details about it . She had never seen any photos. She had no idea of how her parents had known each other. All she knew was that shortly after she was born, the marriage was over . And it had scarred her life permanently.

Throughout her life, Chizuru had seen many relationships in her surroundings, many boyfriends and girlfriends who swore up and down that they loved each other and promised to be together forever , only for them to say the same lines to other people in a matter of weeks. The world had taught her that relationships were much more likely to be like her parents rather than her grandparents.

Fear washed over Chizuru as she imagined a relationship with Kazuya . And then that relationship falling apart . And worst of all , losing him from her life.

" I am afraid " , she admitted.

" And I have to figure out my fears " .

Chizuru took a deep breath as she stared to think about what exactly she was afraid of .

"Is he really in love with me ?

Am I really the one who makes him happy or is it Mami-san or Ruka-chan or someone else ?

If I am his choice , is it influenced by Grandma or is it his own feelings ?

If he does choose me and we start a relationship, will we survive together? Or will we break up? Will it be like my parents ? Will we fight and then destroy our relationship completely ?

Those terrible fears stung her and brought tears into her eyes . They started to roll down her face and splashed onto her hands.

" If I take this risk and go ahead, if my fears come true, I won't be able to handle it . I won't be able to handle knowing that he doesn't love me or that he won't be a part of my life " .

The tears fell a little more freely for a few minutes but under that suddenly her love for him flared up again . Teary eyed and choking, she whispered softly,

" But I really want him. I need him . I can't go on , not knowing like this " .

She stopped crying , wiped her cheeks and found determination within her.

" I have to find out.

If he confesses to me then its fine but I won't ask him again directly how he feels about me . If he doesn't ,I need to find answers by myself, whether or not I'm the person whom he truly wants with all his heart. One way or another I'll get my answers and if it's the ones I want , then I'll confess to him " .

Chizuru thought over what she had decided and realized that it was indeed her best option . Then something struck her.

" I don't want to put any more obstacles between us . And that... yes, that brought us together and then pushed us closer, but in the end it's also an obstacle. So I'll make sure that when the time comes , I'll be able to end that, without any problem. And I can't put everything on him , I need to sacrifice as well " .

She took a few minutes to compose herself and then called a number on her phone , setting up a meeting with that person for the next day .

Then she finally lay back. It was barely afternoon but she felt exhausted by the weight she had been carrying and the effort it took her to deal with everything she realized. And so she found herself drifting off to sleep .

The last image she saw before her eyes closed was him which gladdened her heart immensely . With whatever energy she had left , she swore to herself, before drifting off to sleep , with a tiny smile,

" I'll make this work, no matter what

As long as he's happy with me , I'll fight as hard as I need , to make it work . To make ... us work " .

The Next Morning ,

Chizuru stepped off the subway , out of the station and headed steadily towards her destination. Her presence ,as she strod down the street ,was striking . She wore a mid-length, pleated, grey skirt , a matching bow on her waist , a form fitting black full sleeved top and a jacket .

Of course it being Ichinose Chizuru meant that every eye was on her till she was out of their range of vision

Soon she reached the headquarters for the Diamond Company which was fully functioning on Sunday as it was the day people were most likely to go on dates .

She walked in waving and saying hello to a few others there and then went straight to her manager's office on the fourth floor . She waited for a while before being called in . She entered the office and took her seat , directly across a striking woman in her mid thirties . Even though she had seen it several times before , Chizuru couldn't help glancing at the woman's platinum wedding band with more than a hint of jealousy.

" So , Chizuru what did you want to talk about ? ", asked .

Chizuru steeled herself and spoke ,

" First off , Kaori-san , I want to say that I'm really grateful for everything you and the company have done for me . Like I told you when I joined, my dream is to become an actress and the company and this job has really helped " .

Kaori sighed out loud. She was very experienced in her job and had heard these lines before.

Unperturbed, Chizuru continued ,

" But , right now , I'm thinking of ... quitting " .

Kaori sighed again and spoke ,

" That's really unfortunate to hear. It's no secret that you're our best amateur and it would be a big loss for us . Are you unhappy with the way the company has treated you or are you worried about your confidentiality or .. "

" No , no its nothing like that " , Chizuru assured her and then explained further,

" It's just... I feel like I've grown as much as I can at this job . And now I feel like I should start looking for something new " .

Kaori listened carefully and told her,

" Like I said it's a blow to us . And I probably shouldn't tell you this but you were being considered for another promotion. More money, exclusive clients , less hours ... " .

" I'm glad to hear that, but I want to leave " , Chizuru stated firmly . And then she added ,

" But I don't want to leave right away . I was planning on working another month or so , probably till January " .

Kaori thought carefully and replied,

" January huh? Well that makes things easier . We have a bit of time to hire someone and we'll be able to facilitate shifting your clients among the other girls and you'll have to ... " .

The rest of the meeting consisted of Kaori explaining the details to Chizuru . It went quite well and in an hours time Chizuru was striding out in the sunshine once again.

She had one more person to meet . If she was quitting her job , this person would have to be told well in advance and it would have to come straight from her and so she headed to Shinjuku where she met up with the shy-beyond-words , strawberry-haired beauty, Sakurasawa Sumi .

" Sumi-chan , it's so good to see you " , Chizuru greeted her cheerfully.

Sumi-chan immediately nodded , a giant smile spreading across her face and replied softly,

" You too , Chizuru-chan " .

Her quietness did not mask her enthusiasm. They had planned a nice little half-day together. First lunch , then shopping (mostly for Sumi ) and then finally a visit to a new Cafe already very popular for its pastries and coffee .

And so the two twenty year olds enjoyed the day together and at last sat at the Cafe with a plate of assorted slices of pastries in front of them where they spent a good time , exchanging stories. Sumi as usual had become more comfortable throughout the day and now was chatting cheerfully.

Finally , Chizuru decided that she couldn't delay it anymore . She knew that she would have to bring it up sooner or later . And she knew that the person who would be hurt the most by her quitting , was the one in front of her .

They were an unusual combination. They were as different as possible, in terms of personalities , interests and backgrounds but they had forged a sisterly bond. Chizuru hadn't been able to help seeing a bit of herself in Sumi , the bit of herself from before she had been forced to grow up . The shy little girl who was constantly bullied and couldn't stand up for herself. And so Chizuru had always looked out for and helped Sumi, being a big sister to her, even though they were the same age . And she knew that Sumi depended on her and looked up to her .

Chizuru swallowed uncomfortably, hesitated for a second and then spoke,

" Sumi-chan I have to tell you something. I'm... leaving the job " .

For a while Sumi stared at her blankly without saying anything. And then a teardrop fell from her eye . And then several more . Chizuru immediately waved her hands around and told her,

" Don't worry, I'm not leaving right away . I'll be at the job till January. And even after I quit , we'll still be friends right? I'll still help you out and we'll go out together like this all the time " .

Sumi immediately perked up when she heard that . She wiped her tears and then pulled out her phone and typed out,

" We'll still be friends?"

" Of course, Sumi-chan . That won't change . "

Sumi smiled happily . Then she reached for and ate a slice of pastry . Chizuru was also glad to see that Sumi was okay .

Suddenly Sumi gazed off into the distance thoughtfully and after a few seconds she typed out ,

"Why are you leaving? "

Chizuru had prepared this answer beforehand and replied without skipping a beat , the same reason she had told Kaori-san .

" That's all ? " asked/typed Sumi .

Chizuru shifted a little uncomfortably and then replied,

" Well , I'm good financially right now . And I don't have my Grandma's medical bills to pay anymore . And .."

She was interrupted by Sumi furiously typing something which she soon showed her.

It said,

" Chizuru-chan, those are all reasons why it's okay for you to leave . As in, leaving won't cause you any problems . None of those are reasons for which you would quit a job you enjoyed and were really good at " .

Chizuru hesitated again and looked away, uncomfortable once more .

" There's no way I can tell her " , she had just thought to herself when Sumi herself spoke up ,

" It's Kazuya-kun isn't it ? "

Chizuru recoiled in shock, reeling at what Sumi had just asked.

" How could she ... There's no way ... " , she thought, panicked .

" Kazuya-kun? No , it's got nothing... " , Chizuru started ,but her voice faded as she saw the knowing smile on Sumi's face .

Chizuru sat silently, looking anywhere but at Sumi as she turned various shades of pink and red before finally admitting,

" Yes " .

Sumi's smile broadened and she clapped her hands together visibly, thrilled.

" How ... how do you know ?" , Chizuru asked her embarrassed.

Sumi put her phone away and then answered ,

" I always thought that it was weird how the two of you were friends, but he knew about your job as well and he mentioned to me that he rents you from time to time . There's no I way I could ever tell anyone in my life about this job , so I knew that you two have a close bond because you trusted him with your secret. I actually thought that he was your boyfriend , in the beginning, and when I asked, you said that he wasn't. But it's obvious that you two are really close .

And every time I've gone out with him, all he wants to talk about is "Mizuhara" . He's always asking about you . He's always thinking about you . And he's always worried about you. And from the time I've spent with him , I know that he's a really special guy. And that only a guy like him could make Chizuru-chan like this" .

Sumi chuckled a bit and continued,

" You always told me how shy and awkward you used to be around guys , to encourage me, but honestly I never believed it . But now I can see you like this and I'm really happy about it " .

Chizuru listened to it all and then took a few deep breaths and then told Sumi

" It is because of him that I'm quitting. But we're not dating or anything like that. He doesn't know about this at all . So don't tell him anything. There are still things we both have to resolve " .

Sumi smiled and nodded her head in agreement . Then suddenly Chizuru picked up on something Sumi had just said and asked ,

" Few times? "

" What ? " , Sumi asked

Chizuru raised an eyebrow and asked her suspiciously ,

" You went out with him a few times? Wasn't it just twice? Have you two been.. "

" No , no " , Sumi shrieked.

" We went out a couple more times ,but just as friends . And it was to talk about you . Once it was your birthday and the other time was when you were sad about your Grandma. He just wanted someone to tell him that it was okay for him to help you . That's all . I swear nothing happened between us " .

Chizuru had felt a little pang of jealousy but now was touched by the caring nature of both Sumi and Kazuya and mumbled a thanks to her .

After a few awkward minutes of silence , Sumi slowly broached the topic of how exactly Chizuru fell for Kazuya and Chizuru eventually gave her some answers despite getting more and more flustered with each word.

Finally they parted after promising to meet up again next week. Chizuru headed straight back to her apartment , reflecting on the day .

" I can't believe I actually took a concrete step towards quitting my job. And I admitted out loud that I had feelings for him, for the first time.

But this is just the start . I have to do more . I have to get my answers " .

Chizuru was soon a few minutes away from her apartment when she remembered that she had some grocery shopping to do . She stepped into the first convenience store she saw , grabbed a shopping basket and walked in .

She was still a bit flustered and distracted by the events of the day and so she ended up accidentally bumping into a man in his forties.

" Sorry ", she apologized immediately and stepped back instinctively only to bump into someone else .

" Sorry " , she said once again automatically as she turned around and was shocked to see a certain someone, staring at her .

" M...Mizuhara? " , Kazuya stammered.

" W..What are you doing here ? ", she asked equally flustered.

The man whom Chizuru had bumped into first, spoke up ,

" Excuse me miss , but can you and your boyfriend please move out of the way ?"

Both Kazuya and Chizuru instinctively jumped out of the way and began apologizing profusely, both flustered and secretly pleased at having been mistaken for a couple.

Once the man had passed them , they turned back to each other .

Chizuru felt a heat blossom in her chest and then flower to all ends of herself, from the tips of hair to her toes as she took in his presence for the first time since she realized her feelings.

She managed to gather herself and repeat her question ,

" What are you doing here ? "

" This the closest convenience store to our apartments " , he replied indignantly.

" That's... a fair point " , she admitted.

She then noticed his eyes sweeping across her, taking in her clothes. Her free hand moved automatically, tugging her skirt ,smoothing out her top and brushing back a few strands of her hair , nervously wondering if he thought she looked good .

She stared at him , hoping to see some sign on his face but was unpleasantly surprised to see a frown appear on his face .

" Were you on a booking? ", he asked in a neutral voice.

Chizuru was confused for a few seconds before recalling their conversation and his suggestions from the previous day .

" No , I wasn't " , she replied immediately.

" I had a meeting with my manager and then after that I spent the day with Sumi-chan " .

" Oh , okay then. That's nice" , he said smiling now.

Chizuru then turned , fully intending to walk away and continue her shopping by herself, when a thought struck her,

" Wait a minute. Things are different now. I know how I feel about him . And I won't be a rental girlfriend for much longer .So I don't have to stay away from him " .

She fidgeted on the spot for a second and then blurted out ,

" Let's finish our shopping together " .

" Huh ? " , Kazuya replied, beyond surprised.

" Well ... we're here anyway. And we're headed to the same place . So it's fine. Come on " , she told him hurriedly and began marching towards the aisles.

Kazuya blinked for a few seconds and then followed her.

Chizuru couldn't help glancing at him through the corner of her eyes . He was wearing a crumpled t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. His hair was messy , like he had just rolled out of bed , despite it being well into the evening.

Chizuru suddenly felt an almost irresistible urge to run her hands through his hair. She was just about able to control herself when she noticed that he was also glancing at her.

" What are you doing? " , she asked without thinking.

" Eh ? You saw me ? " , he asked.

She nodded and after a few seconds he smiled and answered,

" It's just .. I was thinking that when you get dressed up like this , it's hard for me to remember that I'm a year older than you . You look so mature and confident, you could easily pass off as someone in her mid-twenties " .

" Are you calling me old? " , she retorted trying to hide how pleased she was with his praise.

" No , not at all " , he yelped .

" What I meant was that you'll still be in your prime even when you're older. And anyway I'm sure you'll look really good even when you're... " .

He suddenly stopped talking as if he had just realized what he was saying.

It was too late for that though. Chizuru was being taken to new heights of embarrassment. She stared at the ground unable to say anything.

She then noticed the things in his basket. Chocolate , instant Ramen and microwaveble meals .

She grabbed his basket and started pulling things out .

" This is what you're buying? " , she asked.

" Um , yeah " , he replied hesitatingly .

" None of this is healthy. And what's this? Soda? "

Kazuya scratched his head nervously.

Chizuru sighed and then replaced most of the soda picking up packaged tea and fruit juices instead .

" Eat more healthy, you idiot " She told him firmly .

She then pulled him to the vegetable aisle and started picking out some vegetables.

" Steam these and put them in your meals and your Ramen , so that you'll at least get some nutrition " , she told him .

Kazuya nodded in submission.

She also started taking some fruits as well. Kazuya realized that it would be futile to argue with her and so didn't say anything till he saw the sheer volume of fruits and vegetables in her hands.

" I don't need that much " , he protested nervously.

She raised an eyebrow and answered ,

" This is for both of us " .

" Both of us ? Then why aren't you putting them in separate covers ? "

" We'll get a discount if we buy them together " , she told him matter-of-factly , secretly enjoying playing couple-shopping with him .

Kazuya sighed in defeat and watched as she piled on the healthy agenda on him. After that they moved on to the various spices and sauces Chizuru needed for her cooking . She crouched down, selecting the ones she wanted carefully. Suddenly she pointed at the topmost shelf and asked him to get a bottle of soy sauce .

She watched , still crouching down , as he leaned forward and stretched for the sauce . His loose t-shirt rode up and from her position , she could see the entirety of his bare chest.

Chizuru turned violent red but couldn't look away from him . She continued to stare it , burning it into her memory.

" It's nice " , she thought to herself.

" Not too muscular , but still strong and warm and comforting " .

She was lost in her thoughts and didn't realize Kazuya calling her till he waved his hands in front of her face . Then she snapped out of it .

" Is this the one you wanted? " , he asked.

" Yes" , she squealed and then clapped her hands over her mouth, mortified by the sound she had just made .

" Eh ? Are you okay . You're staring at me funny ? "

" Sh.. Shut up " .

Kazuya and Chizuru walked back towards their apartments . Chizuru glanced at the bags in his hands as they walked next to each other . He had stubbornly insisted on carrying their bags and she had finally smiled and relented.

Chizuru felt a lightness as she walked. The joy of the new and unknown swept her and she began to talk, pulling something that had been on the back of her mind since she talked to Sumi

" Hey can I say something? "

" Sure ", he replied.

" Thank you so much for yesterday. You really helped me " .

"No , I didn't do much " , he insisted.

" No you did " , she told him and continued.

" I'm really grateful for everything and I know that you probably do a lot for me that I don't know about. When I talked to Sumi today, she told me about how you've been looking out for me behind my back . And I'm sure that there are a hundred things you've done for me these last eighteen months that I never realized.

But I feel guilty just being the one who gets help from you . I feel like I don't do enough for you especially because we started this whole thing with the agreement that I would help you and I feel like I haven't done that in a while ".

" That's not true at all ", he interrupted passionately .

"You do a lot for me . Remember the mall when you pretended to be my girlfriend. That was just the most recent one . You do so much for me " .

She smiled, genuinely gladdened by his words and continued ,

" Either way , what I wanted to say was .. if there's something that's bothering you or you just want to talk about anything , I'm ready to help you. Just like you did for me . Whenever and wherever, if you need my help, I'll give it to you " .

" Th..thanks Mizuhara ", he stammered scarcely believing what he was hearing.

As they walked into the parking lot of their apartment building , his confession rung through Chizuru's mind. The confession he had screamed from that very parking lot .

A thought arose in Chizuru's head as she remembered the words of his confession,

" Is he not confessing because he's scared that I won't take it well? Because he's afraid I'll get angry with him? "

She suddenly felt directed by something deep in herself and began to speak,

" So if there's anything on your mind .. " .

She hesitated for a second and was urged once again

" If there's anything you're torn up about , don't worry about whether I'll get mad . I won't. Whatever you have to say I'll listen to it . I won't be upset . So if there's something on your mind, you can say it to me " .

She barely managed to get the words out and slightly increased her pace so she was a few steps ahead of him before he suddenly called her,

" Mizuhara " .

She turned around violently

" Yeah ? ", she asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice .

He swallowed hard like he was trying to muster up the courage.

Then he opened his mouth and spoke,

" Thanks . I'm really happy you said that " .

Chizuru turned back forward, disappointed that her plan hadn't worked . But she couldn't help smiling happily.

" Everything seems good for me right now. He may not have said anything now, but he knows that he can if he wants to . And all signs seem to point towards him having feelings for me . But even if he doesn't confess, I will once I have my answers " .

She felt that dizzying , overwhelming sensation again, the sensation that she now knew was her love for him and thought to herself,

" I'm really happy about what I've done today" .

Chizuru could feel the warmth of a new dawn descend on her. The dawn of a new chapter in their relationship.

They climbed up the stairs and Kazuya pointed out that they had to divide their groceries. She nodded , still beaming and headed for his apartment door which she found half open .

" You should really lock your door when you go out " , she told him.

Kazuya replied, quite puzzled ,

" I could have sworn that I did " .

She giggled and asked him teasingly ,

" When did you become a forgetful old man ? "

She pushed the door open and stepped inside and turned back towards him and watched as he entered the apartment too.

Then to her surprise, he suddenly froze on the spot as fear crept on his face .

She turned around to see what had shocked him and was frozen in shock herself.

She heard him stammer behind her,

"W..W..What are you ... " .

A/N : Another early release. Sorry for the inconsistent release schedule .

Next Chapter will also come on Wednesday instead of the usual.

Ten Chapters done and I feel like this story still has a few more chapters to go and more content to tell. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story even if it does get a bit long

In this Chapter , I really wanted to showcase a Chizuru who was jumping from one emotion to another constantly , a Chizuru who was overwhelmed and at the same time joyful with her new found feelings and I hope I've managed to do that .

Thanks for all the support . Cheers .

Next Time : The mysterious visitor in Kazuya's apartment wants something from the both of them.