Kazuya glanced up and and down at his ex-girlfriend, anxiously , all traces of his sleepiness now gone . She was dressed in her usual style. A cute top , a nice skirt . Her hair was just an inch longer than what he was used to seeing , just long enough for her to tie it into the smallest of ponytails . Her smile was a perfect ten as she sat next to him .

He swallowed nervously and stammered out ,

" M...Mami-chan, w...what's up ? Em... how come you ... "

She rolled her eyes and interrupted,

" Come on now , Kazu-kun, why are you being so nervous ? It's just me you know? "

" That's the problem " , Kazuya thought to himself frantically.

"This has to be about Mizuhara. She knows that I lied about ending things with her. That's why it's a problem . She doesn't seem upset , but I don't know what's going in her mind " .

Mami cheerfully waved her hands in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts.

" Are you giving me the silent treatment now? " , she asked.

" No " , he immediately replied.

" I'm just .. I was just ... a little taken back. That's all ".

She sighed and remarked,

" Well I guess that's fair considering that I basically ambushed you " .

Both of them were silent for some time and then Mami spoke up again, her smile fading just a bit .

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something for a while but I didn't know how to bring it up. Honestly I was scared and hoped that Kibe-chan would tell you . But ... I guess it's my responsibility. And it's only right that you know " .

She paused for a while, as serious expression came over her face and then admitted ,

" I've been working with your Grandma for the last few months . And I've become kinda close with her " .

Kazuya's face remained impassive, hiding the fear pulsating through him . Of course he wasn't surprised with the information itself , but he couldn't help worrying about the implications of Mami telling him this.

" Mizuhara said that we should leave things be as long as they're fine . But if Mami-chan is telling me this now... then is she planning on telling Grandma about me and Mizuhara? " , he wondered

Mami continued, seemingly unperturbed by his lack of response ,

" And I know that you and Chizuru-san are still seeing each other " .

Some of his fear must have shown on his face because Mami immediately assured him,

" Don't worry I haven't told Grandma about you two. Or about our .. past . She's still in the dark " .

Kazuya felt a bit relieved but still mostly afraid . He nodded a thanks which Mami smiled at before continuing ,

" If I'm being perfectly honest , I felt a bit upset when I heard from Grandma that you two were still seeing each other. I mean I don't actually mind that you are , it's just ... I felt bad because you told me you had stopped. "

" I'm sorry " , Kazuya immediately apologized .

" I didn't want to lie to you . It's just ... I got the feeling that was the right answer to give at that point . "

" It's fine " , Mami told him .

" Let's leave that behind " , she suggested before continuing,

" But I wanted to ask you , do you honestly think renting her is still a good idea ? I mean it won't be just you who gets caught in the crossfire if your secret comes out " .

" What ? "

She sighed before turning away and gazing at the ceiling before resuming,

" Your Grandma is really amazing . She's so kind and open and easy to talk to . And what she achieved , after losing her husband at such a young age , is so inspiring .I can't help enjoying my time with her .

And I get the sense that it's the same for Chizuru-san as well .

From the way Grandma talks about her, it's obvious that they're close. So what I meant earlier was , if Grandma ever found out , you would be in huge trouble but not just you. Chizuru-san would have to stand in front of her and own up to the fact that she's been deceiving her all this time " .

Mami turned towards Kazuya and asked ,

" Are you prepared to watch that happen ? "

Kazuya was stunned into silence as he considered that outcome. Mizuhara standing in front of his family and friends receiving the blame . The blame that should be his and his alone.

He clenched his fists and replied softly ,

" I won't let that happen. I'll protect her" .

Mami smiled again as she spoke,

" That's good . Make sure you do what's best for her " .

Silence fell over them once more before Mami spoke again,

" It's really weird how long it's been since the two of us sat down like this and had a serious conversation right? "

" Yeah , that's true " , Kazuya agreed

" I guess it's just never been the same for us since we broke up, huh? "

Kazuya nodded again , slightly confused at where the conversation was going.

Mami stretched just a bit as she continued ,

" I didn't want that to happen, you know ? I wanted us to be close even after we broke up " .

" Mami-chan... "

" And I thought that we would be. We didn't leave on a bad note . We had both enjoyed our time together . So it was reasonable to expect us to still be close . Or at least... that's what I hoped".

She stopped just for a second as a bit of wistfullness crept in .

" I guess we just ... drifted away " .

Kazuya couldn't even open his mouth, blown away and left with no idea of how to respond. He thought back to that time in his life. How heartbroken he had been . How he had sat around feeling sorry for himself . But he had never once stopped to consider Mami's feelings. All he did was try to convince her to take him back . And once he found Mizuhara and realized his feelings for her, he moved on. He made no effort after that to talk to Mami or stay in contact with her. Sure he had never dreamed that she would still want to be friends but he had never bothered to find out .

Kazuya was filled with guilt and tried to say something but Mami continued .

" Whenever I think back to it , I can't help going back to that moment . When I refused to meet your Grandma. I feel like that was the point of no return for us " .

Just as Kazuya was going to apologize, Mami hurriedly continued,

" No , it's not your fault at all . But I do regret it now. Especially after finding out how amazing Grandma is " .

She smiled sadly for a few seconds before finally getting up .

" It was nice to catch up Kazu-kun. Let's do it again, some time . "

She walked away slowly, her skirt swaying slightly , but Kazuya was too lost in thought too notice .

" Am I really leading Mizuhara into trouble? " , he wondered.

Maybe if he had paid a little more attention, he would have seen the triumphant , yet cruel smirk on his ex-girlfriend's face as she walked away .

The smirk remained on her face as Mami strutted through the campus and got into the car waiting for her . She soon reached her house, got out of the car and walked in .

She saw her brother wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts, as he dragged his feet to the kitchen, where he grabbed a snack and began eating it as he walked back , not even bothering to use a plate . His latest flame had turned him down , a couple of days ago, and he was still moping around.

" Disgusting " , she thought to herself as her eyebrows cringed into a frown .

" But I shouldn't be too mad at him . After all I would be in the dark , if it wasn't for him " .

She chuckled softly , patting her brothers shoulder as she passed him , before heading to her room, humming , as the memories of a few months back came back to her

Memories of how her plan had breathed into existence.

Six Months Ago ,

Mami gritted her teeth in frustration. She stared coldly at the text exchange between herself and a certain owner of a sake shop.

"Yes , my Grandson's still going strong with his girlfriend. Thanks for asking . I'm so happy. She's such a wonderful girl .And... "

She drained her cup of coffee , exhausted . Once Nagomi-san got on this topic , she was difficult to stop . And despite all that she said , there was not a shred of usable information. All that she had found out was that the two of them were still seeing each other. As expected . And one more thing she had long suspected and was pretty sure of.

He was in love with the rental.

That stupid idiot .He had turned out to be another typical guy. Falling for the first pretty face that he saw after he was dumped.

And that woman . Strutting around, like she owned him . Flaunting how head over heels he was for her .

Mami had still not been able find out anything she had set out to . Who Mizuhara Chizuru really was ? What was their relationship really like? Why were those two close enough for her to go way beyond the limits of her job ? Why was her bag in his apartment late at night ?And why had those two set off on this path together?

Mami raised her cup to her lips again and was disappointed to be reminded that it was empty. She dragged herself downstairs to get herself a fresh cup.

As she was making a fresh brew , her brother walked in the door , whistling loudly with a big stupid smile on his face .

"What's got you so happy " , she asked him sourly .

"Why wouldn't I be ? I talked to this really cute girl today . She gave me this poster . Something about an amateur actress . Anyway she's hot too. Her photo's on this poster . The actress, not the girl I talked to "

Mami rolled her eyes and replied,

" You do realize that girl knew you were the sort of idiot who would take the poster and whatever else they were selling if she flashed her dimples "

" For your information, she wasn't selling anything " , he replied indignantly.

" And if you saw how hot this girl on the poster is , you would understand " , he insisted as he waved the poster in her face .

Mami rolled her eyes disinterested, but something caught her attention, something that caused a flare of anger in her. She grabbed the poster and stared at in shock.

That face . Her face . Smiling broadly . Like she was the queen of the world .

"Who gave this to you ? " , she asked.

" I don't know. The girl was my age . Really cute. High school uniform. Ribbons in her hair " .

Once again, Mami was shocked as she remembered a ribboned high schooler in a waitress uniform screaming at her .

" Ribbons ? She's involved too ? " .

Mami stared at the poster once again , this time reading the wealth of information , it so generously provided .

" Amateur actress ? Indie movie ? Crowdfunding ?

Producer Kinoshita Kazuya? "

But the crown jewel was right at the bottom .

" Ichinose Chizuru? "

Waves of shock spread through Mami as her mind brought forth a bespectacled pigtailed girl . Then mentally, Mami removed the glasses and the braids. And then finally Mami found her answers .

After that she had analyzed everything and realized that the entire beach incident finally made sense. How the appearance of "Ichinose" had put an end to Kazuya's effort to win her over again. How "Mizuhara" had magically appeared again.

Mami had also finally gotten a clear picture of how entangled with each other those two were .

But knowing was only half the battle . Mami had realized then she needed to act.

And so Mami had pushed herself closer to Nagomi . Week after week , gaining more and more information, waiting for the perfect time to unleash what she knew . And when Grandma had told her about the plan to take a trip in November, she had rubbed her hands together in glee .

" Absolutely perfect " , she thought to herself

" I can't wait to see the look on their faces when I reveal the truth " .

It was only that night as she lay in bed as she felt an uneasiness within her.

An uneasiness that had been pricking at her since she had sent the friend request to Grandma Nagomi .

" Don't tell me " , she told herself as she began to realize the reason for her uneasiness.

"I'm feeling guilty ? For what I'm going to do to them ? "

She bit her bottom lip as she thought more carefully ,

" No , not them . I don't care about her. But him ... He's going to be really hurt by this. And ... I don't really like that idea " .

She felt a tightening in her stomach as she remembered how Kazuya had acted at the bar and the beach when he had her with him .

" No , he deserves it " , she told her pricking conscience .

" For the way he treated me back then . Showing up with her, humiliating me like that. And ... and even after I showed him that I wanted to get back together , even after he knew, he still went after her " .

Mami was shocked to feel a few tears run down her cheeks as she remembered that day at the beach, as she waited in the pool only for him to never come . And the following days she spent staring at her phone, waiting for him to call , to text , to apologize and to ... once again tell her that he wanted to date her .

But it never came and Mami felt like she had been sliced open with a scalpel .

" But now .. " , she wondered ,

" Is just breaking them apart all I want ? "

She had barely asked herself that question when she instinctively knew the answer.

" No .

That's not enough.

I want him back . "

Mami sat up straight on her bed , struck by her realization . And immediately she knew what she had to do .

Breaking them up wasn't enough.

She had to make sure he ran back to her .

The number one obstacle to that was Mizuhara.

She would have to be removed.

But just removing her wouldn't be enough.

If she herself removed Mizuhara from his life, he would never come back to her.

More likely , he would hate her .

And that meant...

Mizuhara had to be removed, but Kazuya could never be allowed to get the slightest inkling of a doubt that she was involved.

If she managed to pull it off , Kazuya would run back into her arms .

And all would be right again.

The Present ,

And so Mami had refined and retuned her plan . She prepared for every eventuality. Readied exactly the right amount of information to reveal to the right person.

The original plan had been to talk to Chizuru before the trip and reveal her knowledge of her true identity .

Mami wasn't sure exactly how but she knew that the ribboned girl was in the picture as well . And from the way she had yelled at her at the Karaoke bar , Mami was certain that "Ribbons" would cause just the right amount of trouble for the two of them .

And then at the trip , the final act would play out . She would manipulate all of them .Controlling all of them like chess pieces , making them scurry around doing all the work for her until she took the queen off the board .

All while appearing as innocent and blameless as an angel.

The trip had been canceled, but Mami's plan had only been modified.

She decided to sow a solitary seed of doubt in Kazuya instead while appearing to be on his side.

Now she would wait for this seed to sprout.

Then she would plant another one and watch as things became more strained between them .

Even if the first seed didn't cause too much of a problem, it would be a foundation and would prove a stronger blow later on when the second was revealed.

And then when she got that woman to herself, she'll do just enough to manipulate Mizuhara Chizuru into ending things.

Without anyone realizing the role she had played.

The smirk still hadn't faded from Mami's face.

A/N : A Mami centered chapter and one I hope everyone enjoys without hating on her .

Announcement : I will be publishing two chapters this week ( Chapters 12 and 13)

Chapter 13 will be released this Friday .

Originally this chapter and the events of Chapter 13 were meant to be a solitary chapter but it turned out longer than expected and I really wanted Mami to have her own chapter .

Cheers and be ready for the next chapter in just two short days .

Next Time : Mami's words bring about a change in Kazuya , a change that Chizuru struggles to deal with .