Kazuya stood rooted to the spot , his heart pumping fear into his veins . This kind of situation had played out every single time he was in serious trouble. All three of them sitting like this, Grandma and Dad furious, Mom disappointed but trying to manage the situation.

He couldn't help thinking about the last time this had happened. The day he had come home and told them he hadn't gotten into college.

"What did I do now ?" , Kazuya began to panic as a bead of sweat ran down his back despite the cold temperatures of December.

"I said, sit down " , Grandma repeated, raising her voice just a bit, but it was enough to scare Kazuya and his knees buckled and he almost fell onto the sofa .

His dad now raised his gaze at redirected it towards him . Grandma also stared at him unflinchingly almost like they were waiting for him to say something.

The deadly silence persisted for some time before Kazuya gulped several times and began,

"Grandma? What happened? Why is everyone..."

"Don't you think you have something to tell us ?" , Grandma cut in with razor sharp bluntness.

Kazuya hesitated before he replied,

"Look Grandma, if this is about Miz.. Chizuru not coming , I'm sorry but I thought you guys worked that out . And it wouldn't have been fair to dump the relatives on her but she still wanted to come but I told her to enjoy the day with her friends . And ... "

This time Dad interrupted,

"Cut the bullshit, Kazuya ".

Kazuya fell silent but fear continued to rise again and again, the fear that had always been at the back of his mind for the best part of two years now.

"It can't be ", he told himself.

"There's no way they know about Mizuhara, no chance at all . It can't be that. So ..."

He raised his voice but still hesitatingly spoke ,

"Look guys , I honestly have no clue what this is about " .

Grandma answered this time ,

"Well , if you don't want to admit it , I'll certainly help you, grandson " .

Kazuya stared at her and for the first time realized that Grandma was angrier than he had ever seen her before.

"Grandma, I... " , he began to stammer but Grandma took no notice and instead stared right at him before she spoke,

"She's Chizuru's friend " .

Kazuya stared blankly at his grandmother, confused before replying,

"What ? Who ... "

Yet again, Grandma cut in,

"That's what you said that day isn't it ".

Kazuya was still confused but Grandma continued, once again exercising her scalpel-like precision

"And then Chizuru said

"Our parents were friends , so we pretty much grew up together. In fact we're practically like sisters ".

In a flash , the memory came back to Kazuya and he began to understand but before he could say anything, Grandma went on ,

"And when I started to get suspicious you told me she was a habitual liar " .

"No , Grandma ... " .

"It's not like that?" , Grandma finished the sentence for him before continuing,

"Then why was it that Sayuri had never heard about Sarashina Ruka or anyone named Sarashina for that reason ?"

Kazuya was stunned silent ,unable to think, unable to say anything, but Grandma wasn't done ,

"Of course when you told me that story , I didn't know about Chizuru's parents . Sayuri only told me later and when I asked about Ruka-san , she was confused but we both figured it was just a typical young adult not telling her Grandmother about all her friends ".

Kazuya was still frozen, of course he was . The truth was being hurled at him and he had no defense .

"But now we know the truth don't we ?" , she asked him almost mockingly.

Kazuya didn't respond and so Grandma did .

"You've been seeing her all this time " .

Kazuya's head began to drop with shame but Grandma continued,

"But why would your girlfriend, someone you've been with for two years now, forget dumping you like you deserved, not even say anything about it ? In fact she even helped you cover it up , she lied for you .

And there's only one reason I can think of that she'll do that ".

Kazuya's head dropped fully as the weight of shame overwhelmed him. He knew what was coming. They had figured it out . It might have taken this long but they finally had . Things were as horrible as they could be . Their secret was out . They knew the truth. And now there was only disaster left .

"Any second now " , Kazuya thought to himself,

"Grandma will say ,

"Mizuhara Chizuru is a rental girlfriend ".

He waited for the impact he knew would knock him out .

Grandma after pausing for a few seconds, spoke with as much contempt as she could muster .

"Because she loves you . Despite all of it, she loves you . And you know that and you have her wrapped around your little finger. You probably don't even love her ".

Kazuya froze again, but this time not shock , something deeper , something more... dangerous

"What ?" ,he asked quietly.

"She loves you " , Grandma repeated and continued, furiously

"And you had the guts to bring both those girls to this house at the same time for your party and to New Year's , last year .

You're lucky I held myself back while our relatives were here.

You've cheating on her all this time and she still supports you . You don't give a damn about her . You..."

"No " , Kazuya spoke quietly but with some anger in his voice as well .

Harumi sensing something was going to explode , tried to step in,

"Mother , that's enough. Let's put things aside for now and .. " .

"No " .

Surprisingly it was Kazuya and not Nagomi would said it .

"What you have something to say ? " , his father asked incredulously.

Kazuya stood up and for the first time looked all three of them in the eye and matched their determination.

"Yes I do " , he started , quietly but firmly.

"I haven't cheated on Chizuru. Never , not once. I never would " .

"Don't try to lie anymore, Kazuya " , Grandma retorted.

"I'm not lying " , Kazuya raised his voice and continued,

"None of you have no idea what things are really like between us . It's not ,and never has been, as simple and problem-less as we made it seem when we came here. We did that only to keep you from worrying .

But the truth is we've had a lot of problems, we've had so many difficulties , but we've handled them on our own . And what happened with Ruka-chan was one of those problems.

It's true , she has feelings for me . And months back, she came to my apartment to try and tell me that and Chizuru was there as well. But I rejected her, of course I did , but Ruka-chan cried so much , she was so hurt , both of us... couldn't help it . We made an ...arrangement. I'd take Ruka-chan out . That's all . Nothing more, just take her to a Cafe or a movie . That's it .

But she wanted more. Ruka-chan turned up at New Year's and at my party by herself. Neither of us told her, she did . And she's tried to be my real girlfriend a hundred times but I've always turned her down . Always " .

Grandma stared at him coldly and asked ,

"How on earth do you expect us to believe this ?"

"I don't care if you do. I don't care if you think the worst of me " , he retorted, slightly shaking as some of Grandma's words played through his head , words that infuriated him and he said out aloud,

"But ... don't say .. that I don't love her ".

He had tried to reply with fury but somewhere along the way , he was overcome with a different emotion and so his voice broke as he said it.

"What ?" , Grandma asked genuinely taken back .

"You have no idea ...none of you do , how much I love her . How madly I'm in love with her ...with Chizuru.

Everyday I get up in the morning with a smile because I know I get to see her , to talk to her. To be close to her .

And I still have no idea how I got where I am.

And I'm not dumb enough to throw it away.

That's why even though , nothing was happening with Ruka-chan, I've still been trying to end whatever I have with her , completely. I've done my best, but she's refusing to budge .

That doesn't mean I'm leaving things be . I'm ending it with Ruka. And I'm committing to Chizuru. And I don't care what any of you have to say about that ".

Some of his fury returned with those last words and for a few seconds they all were silent looking at each other .

Then Kazuya turned and headed to his room, quickly grabbed his things and returned downstairs, heading to the door , announcing as he left,

"I'm leaving " .

He walked away as quickly as possible , desperate to put some distance between his house and himself .

He got into the first bus he saw and sat down stewing in anger but soon that faded and the reality of it all hit Kazuya hard.

He buried his head in his hands as the implications of everything that had just transpired threw him into a pit of dread , fear and guilt.

Kazuya put his phone back in his pocket, frustrated . He had been trying to call her but she hadn't answered .

"She can't risk her friends seeing my name on her phone " , Kazuya guessed correctly and so chose not to send a message on Line .

He put his hands in his pockets and continued to walk. He had gotten out of the bus twelve minutes ago and was now heading back to their apartment so that he'd be able to tell Chizuru what had happened, so that she could prepare for what to do .

Kazuya flinched as even thinking about what had just happened made his stomach clench and those terrible jumble of emotions clawed through him again.

"This is really bad " , he thought to himself.

"Grandma must have put things together when Ruka-chan called her about Christmas.

"And I made it worse by yelling back at them. I should have kept quiet but I couldn't... not after they were thinking that I didn't love Mizuhara. I couldn't handle that.

But... now that I did I can't even do what I had always planned to ,if things got out of control . Tell them that I broke up with Mizuhara ".

He pulled out his phone and tried her again, desperately but to no avail .

"I have to warn her . We need to figure something out ".

He had barely put the phone back in to his pocket when it rang. Breathing a sigh of relief , he immediately accepted the call and began ,

"Hey , where are you ? We need to talk . Now".

The response was not what he expected.

A small giggle .

But more surprising was the laugh itself. It was familiar but not Mizuhara's.

"Geez " , the voice continued,

"Do you still not look at who's calling before you answer, Kazu-kun? "

Not for the first time that day Kazuya was left speechless .

"Mami-chan? What the hell ? " ,he thought

"Kazu-kun? Are you there ?" , Mami asked inquisitively .

Kazuya swallowed uncertainly and answered,

"Yeah ... Mami-chan, I'm here . I was surprised that's all . What's up? "

She was silent for some time before answering in a much more serious tone than she had started with,

"I need to talk to you, it's important ".

"What the hell ?" , he thought to himself again before replying,

"Um , I'm sorry but I'm really busy now . Can we do this a couple of days later? I really am swamped and ... "

"I'm not going to beat around the bush " , she interrupted.

"Kazu-kun ... it's about Chizuru-san" .

Kazuya was silent for a few seconds stunned by what she had said.

"She's been hanging out with Grandma, maybe she has an idea about what exactly happened ", he thought , once he had recovered ,and then replied,

"Let's meet up " .

Kazuya sat at the Cafe they had agreed to meet at , sipping his coffee but couldn't shake the feeling of dread he had.

After about five minutes Mami arrived, ordered coffee herself and began to apologize about making him wait but Kazuya waved it off and spoke,

"Mami-chan, what did you want to tell me ? "

For a second or two, she just looked back at him with those sky blue eyes as soft as a pillow before taking a deep breath and beginning ,

"I have to apologize first Kazu-kun " .

"For what? " , Kazuya asked surprised.

She hesitated again and Kazuya was struck with that shrill fear again just before she spoke ,

"I know about you and Chizuru-san " .

Kazuya calmed down a bit as her revelation was nowhere near as problematic as the one he had just come from . It was still a problem though and so he replied,

"I'm sorry for lying to you Mami-chan. Again. After we talked at Uni , I told you I'll take care of things and .. "

"It's not that " , she interrupted slightly forcefully and Kazuya was surprised to see a look of guilt on her face.

Fear seized him once again as he watched Mami turn to her handbag and pull out a folded, printed, brightly colored paper. She handed it to him, repeating again,

"I'm sorry " .

Kazuya swallowed and opened the paper . It felt familiar to the touch and once he opened it ,he knew why .

The poster he had made for Chizuru's movie stared back at him .

The poster with her real identity. And with undeniable proof of her association with him .

Ichinose Chizuru's two biggest secrets .

Kazuya's mouth went dry and he stared at the poster in shock .

"Turns out , my brother was one of the people who you handed a poster to" , Mami explained sadly .

"I played a stupid prank on him . I told him I didn't get him a present for Christmas and then last night I snuck into his room with it so that he'd see it when he wakes up.

And I found the poster in his room ".

Kazuya was still fixed on the poster , the name "Ichinose Chizuru" pulsating in his mind .

"I was shocked " , she went on.

"Chizuru-san looks nothing like the Ichinose I met before. And she's an actress ? And you guys made a movie together? That's amazing".

Kazuya finally looked up and staring right at Mami , he pleaded

"Mami-chan, please don't tell anyone ".

Her eyebrows scrunched together in a frown and she told him with deadly seriousness ,

"I would never do that. But .. you should know there's a good chance more people around us have that poster .

If they put two and two together, things could get really bad for her."

"What ?, Kazuya asked softly

Mami hesitatingly replied ,

"She could ...get harassed and mocked on campus. She could... get fired from her job . She could be... completely humiliated ".

Kazuya almost stopped breathing when he heard that and images of just that flooded his mind.

Mami suddenly reached out and squeezed his hand gently .

"Don't worry , Kazu-kun . I'm probably just being paranoid . But either way it's better to be prepared. So talk to her and figure out what to do okay ? "

Kazuya stayed motionless without answering and so Mami also sat there for about ten minutes before Kazuya got up and walked towards the door .

Mami paid , followed him out of the door and stood on the pavement with him for a few more minutes before Kazuya turned to her and said,

"Thanks for this Mami-chan, I really owe you but it's fine you can go back now ".

Mami looked at him carefully before she sighed and said ,

"Goodbye then , Kazu-kun" .

Kazuya muttered a goodbye as well and watched her cross the road and walk away .

Mami turned the corner and instead of continuing to walk away ,she stopped and turned back to look at him . He was just standing there not moving as people walked all around him .

Her expression changed into one, no one who knew her would have ever recognized. A cold hard stare and those bright blue eyes suddenly held the icey darkness of a glacier.

"Too easy" , she muttered

"That was way too easy .

Every move you both make is on the palm of my hand ".

Her lips curled into the smallest of sneers as she thought back to how she had brought things to this point .

After taking to Kazuya at Uni , Mami knew that what she said wouldn't have any long lasting effect and that it would be resolved soon enough. But she bided her time, outwardly smiling ,as Grandma Nagomi gushed about that fake . Even Grandma describing how she had given the rental woman a family heirloom , that too a diamond engagement ring , had not pulled any reaction from Mami .

Outwardly, of course .

Inside she seethed with rage and hate.

She was surprised when Grandma mentioned Ribbons as well , describing her as a close friend of that woman's

That was the instant Mami knew that she had found it .

What she was looking for . A way to do what she wanted without anyone ever suspecting her.

She knew from the time that she had run into the high schooler that she wanted to be Kazuya's girlfriend. So Mami was sure that she would still be trying to do just that and so waited patiently till the 20th of December ,by which time her plan had been meticulously fine tuned and perfectioned .

As usual, when she met with Nagomi-san she lavished praise on Chizuru and this time Mami knew what to say .

"Oh ,by the way Nagomi-san, I saw Kazu-ku... I mean Kazuya-kun with his girlfriend, the other day " .

All this time Mami had played off her connection to Kazuya being bare acquaintances and she had the foresight to pretend to not know Chizuru either.

And what made that day perfect was that Kibe had left with his family for a trip and couldn't deny anything she said .

Grandma immediately replied,

"You did ? Were they on a date ? What was my princess wearing?"

Smiling outwardly ,Mami replied,

"I was surprised by how young she looked actually " .

"Really ?" , Grandma asked, surprised.

"She actually looks very mature "

"Yeah , must be " , Mami answered before waiting a second and saying those carefully prepared words .

"It must be because of her short hair and her ribbon , she kinda looked like a high schooler ".

Instantly Grandma's expression changed but with extraordinary control, she asked,

"Were they on a date ? "

"Yeah , pretty obvious. " , Mami replied while marveling at the older woman's control.

She then changed the topic but she knew that she had succeeded.

Mami was smart enough to talk to Grandma the next two days as well, normally , to make sure that she didn't suspect her .

Sure that Kazuya would meet his family at least by Christmas she had waited till now to make her next move .

To completely crush that woman .

Mami continued looking at Kazuya as she thought to herself,

"It wasn't even a lie , I'm sure Ribbons made Kazu-kun take her out , several times. And she's that immature bubbly type, once Grandma confronted him , he'll automatically think she let the cat out of the bag . And once that happens , that's the end of her.

But more importantly .

This is goodbye to that fake."

Anger burned on Mami's face as she thought about Chizuru.

"That fake , the nerve of her! Leading him on , getting him to make a movie for her , even taking an engagement ring from his family? All with that fake smile plastered on her face and pretending to be an innocent, wonderful angel ".

A triumphant smile broke out on her face as she continued,

"But this is the end . Once she realizes her secret is out , and that Grandma is nearly onto her as well , she'll be forced to end things. And crawl back to wherever she came from . " .

Mami smiled again but felt a sudden dullness in her and that feeling of triumph faded as her eyes focused on him .

"That won't be all " , she realized.

"He'll be heartbroken because he'll blame himself too . Because, it's clear as day that he loves her

But he's too dumb to see that she doesn't give a damn about him " .

Mami couldn't take her eyes off his almost lifeless figure .

Suddenly, without her permission or control, her feet took a couple of steps . Towards him .

Shocked, Mami stopped and asked herself,

"What the hell was that?"

But she knew . Why, in that moment , she wasn't as happy or satisfied as she should be . Why she didn't feel that rush of triumph again, even though her plan was bursting to life in front of her eyes .

Because she knew Kazuya would get hurt . He was hurting right now in front of her eyes.

And she hated seeing that.

She hated being the cause of that.

"I'm not! " , she screamed at herself furiously .

"I'm not the cause of this . She is. That woman. She took him from me . She kept him from coming back to me . She twisted him around her little finger . She knows that he loves her and she used that to get him to do whatever the hell she wants . It's her. She's the cause of this . Of all of this .

She's a parasite " .

She addressed Kazuya with her next thought ,

"That's why I have to do this. And to pull out a parasite sometimes you get hurt especially when she's burrowed deep like this " .

It didn't work though. She believed what she had just said in her mind with every inch of her conviction but it still didn't work .

She still felt guilty. And responsible.

She swore loudly and then decided,

"I have to leave him alone now . If I see him again , I might lose control and tell him especially if he's in a bad place. But I have to leave him alone now , till he's thrown her out of his life .

But after that, I won't leave you alone, Kazu-kun",she decided .

"I'll make up for all this, I swear".

With all her strength, Mami forced herself to turn and quickly hurried away, before tears that were on the brink , could overwhelm her .

Kazuya somehow stumbled his way across the street and found that he had no strength left . The next thing he knew , he had collapsed on a park bench and so he sat there , increasingly numb , barely able to think, unable to process or even understand what had just happened.

But all the same images flashed in his head, torturing him. Images of a crying Chizuru, a Chizuru who's life had been ruined . A Chizuru who turned to him with rage burning and told him that she wished she'd never met him .

He had no idea how much time passed but at some point he realized that it had been snowing heavily for a while. And before he knew it , he was walking into his apartment where he collapsed on his bed, before descending into tears of shame and guilt.

A/N: A terrible, difficult day , one that guarantees that there can be no return after this.

Mami is an outstanding antagonist here , the way she's understood and manipulated everyone without the smallest trace of her actions .

But just like in chapter 12 , she hesitates , she feels guilty because under all of it , she cares for Kazuya deeply and believes she's doing what's best for him

Next Time : The fallout and Kazuya is left worse for the wear .