"Okay , pick one ".
Kazuya glanced at his girlfriend , rather confused even as she continued to beam at him .
They had reached the subway station and was now standing in the middle of the awaiting crowd.
Her excitement was almost palpable , in fact it seemed like she was floating an inch or two in the air.
Kazuya smiled , despite his confusion .
He knew what this date was about . Of course she wanted to spend time with him but it wasn't just that .
Yesterday's events had hit a little too close to home. It had affected them in ways neither had anticipated.
And so , the date today . Not just quality time together but a necessary cheer-up. A chance to toss the weight aside and to enjoy themselves .
It was already working , just walking around with her had already lifted his spirits immeasurably and a single look at Chizuru was all he needed to confirm that it was the same for her .
But unmistakably, he was still very much in the dark about Chizuru's exact plan.
"Pick what?", he asked her.
"The station ", she replied , pointing at the screen that displayed incoming trains , as if it were the most obvious thing in the world .
She waited for the answer but seeing no change in the blank smile on Kazuya's face she herself explained ,
"Pick a random station . Don't think . Just tell me ".
"Harajuku ", he answered still unsure of where this was going .
"Okay, I pick Roppongi ".
"Huh? How will go to Roppongi and ….", Kazuya began but stopped as Chizuru pulled out a coin from her purse .
"I'm heads , you're tails ", was all she said before tossing the coin in the air .
Kazuya and Chizuru sat on the subway train which was thankfully less crowded than expected , just as the train hummed and took off again .
"Good choice", Chizuru told Kazuya ,
"It's already working out well "
The coin had come down on tails and so they had boarded the next train headed towards Harajuku.
Chizuru had refused to eleaborate further and told him that she would explain once they were on the train .
"So , I have no idea what's happening ", Kazuya admiited .
Chizuru fake-sighed before replying ,
"Well if you haven't figured it out yet I'll tell you.
We're going on an unplanned date ".
"A what ?", he asked
"An unplanned date ", she replied before explaining,
"It's a date that we make up as we go along . You know , we pick a random place , we go there , we walk around randomly finding things to do . Whatever we see and we like , we're doing it ".
"That's a really good idea ", an Impressed Kazuya told her .
Chizuru smiled triumphantly before continuing ,
"There are a few rules though.
We can't go to any specific place we've already been to
We can repeat an activity we've done together before as long as there's something different about it
We can't use our phone to check where we're going
We can ask other people though .
And lastly , we take turns to pay
Is all of that okay ? "
"That sounds great", Kazuya agreed .
Chizuru's triumphant smile grew in size as she settled back on her seat.
"You could have told me earlier , though ",Kazuya jokingly complained.
"I was going to ", Chizuru replied,
"Before you took that shot about me and my hair".
"That wasn't a shot at you ", Kazuya protested ,
"That was just me appreciating how much my girlfriend cared about me ".
Chizuru gasped before hissing at him ,
"Stop it , I know what you're up to ".
"I'm not up to anything", he innocently replied .
"You know I get flustered when you call me that in public "
"You do ?", he asked , still keeping up the innocent act .
He waited a few seconds before speaking again ,
"Anyway, I would never take a shot at your hair . I know how much you take care of it".
Chizuru nodded , with a huff , calming down again.
Unfortunately for her that was short-lived because Kazuya cheekily added,
"I still remember how upset you were that I didn't compliment your hair on our first date . And how you made sure I did like it on our second date".
Kazuya earned his second punch of the day with that comment but continued to laugh at the quickly reddening Chizuru.
But it wasn't long before her combative nature returned and she remarked ,
"All I remember is how I was fast asleep in a resort and my boyfriend woke me up begging me to stay with him" .
This time it was Kazuya who blushed in embarrassment and protested ,
"I didn't beg .
And you agreed"
Chizuru smiled at him, superiorly, as she replied ,
"Don't think that I wont take revenge "
She continued to laugh at him, for a while , while he sputtered .
She then poked him on his cheek and asked him ,
"What's up with you all of a sudden , all these witty comments ".
"Eh ? Are you mad ?", he asked in return , worried .
"No , of course not ",she reassured him .
" I'm just curious . You've never teased me like this before ".
"Hmm", Kazuya thought for a couple of seconds before answering
"I don't really know . It just popped into my head".
Kazuya watched the thoughtfulness grow on her face as she asked ,
"Have you thought of something like this before but kept quiet because you thought I wouldn't like it ?"
"No , not really ", he replied before adding ,
"But yeah , a few times , before , I've thought that you were being dumb but didn't say it out aloud".
"Okay , then do you make fun of your friends ", Chizuru continued to inquire .
"Yeah", Kazuya nodded ,
"All the time , actually ".
"Oh so that's it ", she realized .
"What?", Kazuya asked nervously.
She smiled broadly as she explained,
"You've gotten comfortable with me , comfortable enough to tease me without being afraid. "
"I like that ", she added
"Our relationship is evolving little by little and you're changing a bit as well
It means that you're growing ".
Kazuya grinned cheerfully and was about to respond when he suddenly noticed a little wistfulness in her eyes and asked ,
"What's wrong ?"
She jumped a little , startled by his keen observation . She opened her mouth in what seemed to be indignation but realizing that he was starting to worry , she stopped .
She sighed deeply before answering ,
"Nothings wrong
It's just that I feel like I haven't changed at all".
"What do you mean", he asked .
She sighed again before answering,
"Actually I've been thinking of going on a date with you for a few days now , even before the whole Ruka-chan thing .
But every time I started to think about an idea , I realized that I was thinking like a rental girlfriend .
I didn't mean to , I wanted to plan a real date with you but I just kept reverting to how I would plan a date or how I would act as if I was with a client
That's why I decided on this unplanned date and why I insisted on it , because its not the ….. "
"No, you've got it all wrong ", Kazuya interrupted.
"You didn't treat me like a client . Not at all
But of course its natural that some of the things you wanted to do were the same as you did on our rentals ".
"Huh ?", a confused Chizuru asked .
Ignoring her reaction , Kazuya asked ,
"You told me once that every time you act , you put a bit of yourself in your performance right ? "
She nodded and Kazuya continued ,
"Your job as a rental girlfriend was one of your greatest performances . And you managed that by asking yourself ,
"If I had a boyfriend what would I do ".
That's why even now you have the same ideas you did back then , because you're asking yourself the same question .
The thing that has changed is your feelings . Now you have real feelings .
That's why I don't mind if some of the things we do are the same from back then .
Because either way it's the things you want to do with your boyfriend .
And I'm more than happy to do them with you. "
"But …", she began but Kazuya continued even more forcefully ,
"And it's not like you haven't changed either . You do so many things with me that you never did as a rental girlfriend .
You're so happy around me , you smile and laugh so much more now . You worry about me all the time .You take care of me. You make delicious food for me . You get jealous when other girls look at me . You get all embarrassed when I say something nice about you. You spend as much time as possible with me . You hug me and sometimes you even .. ".
Chizuru suddenly lunged at Kazuya's shoulder , startling him .
"Geez , I get it ", she mumbled .
It was only then that Kazuya realized how flustered she was . Her face , up to the tip of her ears was as crimson as it could be as she stared fixedly at his shoulder.
After a minute or so , she looked up , smiled gently and told him,
"Thank you. You always know just what to say ".
"Eh ? I just sort of went with the flow ", he admitted, slightly sheepishly.
"Well it's what I needed ", she replied .
"It's your special ability , after all", she remarked good naturedly.
They were silent for a few minutes before Chizuru spoke ,softly and carefully
"There's something that I haven't told you about yet"
Kazuya was taken aback and immediately asked ,
"Why ? What happened?"
"Nothing happened", Chizuru assured him ,
"I was just hoping to surprise you later on "
She smiled broadly , quashing Kazuya's fears before revealing ,
"I'm quitting my job".
Kazuya was silent for a second or two before replying ,
"Huh?"
Chizuru rolled her eyes before repeating ,
"What !", Kazuya reacted loudly earning both of them disapproving stares from fellow passengers.
"You're quitting ?", he asked , after calming down a bit .
She nodded in response , beaming as she did .
Kazuya couldn't help feeling more than a twinge of guilt . She didn't have to say why , after all it was obvious why she was quitting ,
It must have shown on his face because before he could even open his mouth , she began speaking firmly ,
"Now listen here , Kazuya . Don't even think about saying that you're fine with me working or that I need the acting experience or the money or whatever.
I'm not doing this on a whim , I thought about it carefully before deciding .
I've already got all the acting experience I can from the job and I've saved up quite a bit of money . More than enough till I get myself a new job
And most importantly ", her voice softened just a bit but did not waver an inch in determination as she continued ,
"I'm not fine with keeping the job.
And the truth is you aren't either ."
Kazuya had been stony-faced since she had begun but now he smiled with unbridled happiness and wondered to himself ,
"Man , how did I get so lucky ?"
"You're right", he admitted .
"I don't like the thought of my girlfriend with other guys even if it was just your job
So thank you , for giving it up for me ".
Her face lit up immediately sweeping away the determination on her face as she replied soflty ,
"Of course I'd give it up for you "
They sat quietly like that staring at each other , basking in joy before Kazuya remarked ,
"See , this is what I was saying . You've changed so much
You fell for me and you're giving up your job for me and you get embarrassed when I call you my girlfriend and … "
"Stop it ", Chizuru cried out in embarrassment, lunging at him again .
A/N : Apologies but no chapter next week
Next Time : The date