The two young men stared back at her, Kibe with genuine surprise but Kuri with bewildered shock .
"Don't just stand there , come on in ", she invited them while wishing she could do just the opposite.
Chizuru opened the door wide and stepped aside, trademark smile on her face , allowing Kibe and Kuri to enter .
They glanced at each other , clearly hesitant, before awkwardly shuffling inside .
The second they were past her , Chizuru's smile cracked just a bit , as she bit her bottom lip in frustration before resuming her smile and following them in .
Seeing them standing near the table , Chizuru hurriedly pulled out the spare cushions from Kazuya's cupboard , and then gestured at them to sit down .
"Would you like some tea ? ", she asked, every bit the perfect host on the outside, while internally seething away at them .
"Yeah sure " , they replied together, sounding anything but sure
Chizuru made her way to the kitchen as quickly as she could , grateful for the reprieve and the chance to take stock .
She first gave herself a once-over, glad that she still had her contacts on and that she hadn't tied up her hair , that seemed enough to convince Kibe and Kuri that she was Mizuhara and not Ichinose.
She then leaned against the kitchen counter, away from their view , wondering,
"Is there any way to get them to leave quickly?"
She pondered about it for a minute or so before realizing that was impossible and would seem oddly suspicious.
"We haven't told them the entire truth after all ", she reminded herself .
"We can't actually ", she affirmed remembering Kazuya's words on the matter .
"Telling Kibe is the same as telling Grandma . That blabber-mouth will have her here before we finish a third of the story ".
She sighed out aloud before putting the water to boil .
"I suppose it's best to manage the situation ".
She soon added the tea and she watched it swirling around in the kettle, she surreptitiously peeked at them .
They were clearly uncomfortable, Kibe nervous and fidgeting, Kuri stone faced staring at the ground .
"It's to be expected ", she thought to herself.
"From Kazuya's stories , this kind of situation is not one they're used to .
It was one thing for them to see me with Kazuya in an outdoors setting.
But this ?
Seeing a girl in pretty casual clothing hanging out by herself in a guys apartment , a girl who clearly knows where he keeps everything and is completely comfortable here .
They're not idiots , they're clever enough to pick up on what that means .
They're obviously not used to seeing a relationship as close as this one , or any relationship for that matter, up close and personal .
Kibe-kun at least had an idea or expected that this is where Kazuya and I would be ,but even for him it's difficult to watch first hand.
But Kuri-kun ... "
She stopped to glance at Kuri still motionless as he stared fixedly at the ground .
"Kuri-kun knows that I'm a rental girlfriend, but to see me here , like this ?
He himself was rejected by Ruka-chan, even as a client and he only recovered when he realized that Kazuya was in the same boat .
But now ...
Now he's obviously wondering.
No ,he's probably caught on but either denying it or struggling to process it .
I have no idea how he'll take it
And honestly I can't tell him . He wouldn't want to hear it from me ".
She poured the tea into glasses and then placed them in a tray before deciding ,
"But I have to at least say something "
She called out loudly ,
"Kuri-kun, could you help me with the tray ?"
His eyes flickered upwards before he slowly got up and walked into the kitchen, ducking outside Kibe's eyeline .
Chizuru watched as he looked at the ceiling nervously , as he struggled to get the words out.
"Yes " , she told him herself.
"What you're wondering right now , the answer is yes " .
She watched as a nervous shiver ran across him before he spoke,
"C.. Congratulations, Chizuru-San ".
"Thank you " , she replied before smiling a bit and reminding him,
"In the end you were the first to see it coming ".
That got a little smile from him as he picked up the tray and carried it to the living room .
Chizuru sat opposite them and handed them a cup each along with a tray of biscuits.
She asked them ,
"So why did you guys decide to drop by ? "
"Oh ... we were going to meet up with Kazuya. We had plans for tonight ", Kibe answered.
"Plans ? ", Chizuru asked genuinely surprised.
"He didn't mention anything about that ".
"We had made them a while back like a couple of weeks , maybe he forgot ? ", Kibe guessed .
"Probably ", she thought to herself.
"A lots been going on lately , after all " .
"He's been busy with work recently ", she told them sneakily laying the groundwork for Kazuya to refuse said plans .
Then ensued an awkward silence for a couple of minutes as they both sipped their tea .
Chizuru ran her eyes across them , scanning them carefully before almost laughing out loud at the irony of the situation.
Except for the orange haired commonality it was almost exactly like every rental client she'd ever had .
The emotions were all the same whoever they were and wherever they were from.
Sure they may be others like fear or envy or pride but ultimately it all boiled down to loneliness.
She knew that both of them loved Kazuya like a brother but that didn't stop the pang of jealousy accentuating their own loneliness.
Loneliness is a curious monster after all ,the mere sight of anyone who had escaped its clutches , granting the monster more power in the hearts of those still ensnared by it .
Chizuru knew that at that moment, they were both wistfully thinking,
"If only ... I "
"Let's take care of that ", she decided.
Chizuru took the initiative, pointing out that it had been a while since they'd last met , asking about the general happenings in their lives all while making casual references to Kazuya.
She was a master at taking charge of situations like this after all , an expert in diffusing the awkward tension and filling the atmosphere with a pleasant , yet comfortable air .
It worked perfectly as they in turn slowly relaxed, especially Kibe and soon the hilarious anecdotes of Kazuya were being exchanged rapidly .
And in the middle of Kibe narrating a particularly hilarious story about Kazuya involving their high school principal in which Kazuya had slammed into the principal knocking the wig, nobody knew he had , off his head , Kazuya finally returned .
Chizuru who had been keeping her sharp ears attentive for any sound , stood up as soon as she heard the doorknob rustle .
The pleasant polite smile that had worn itself on her face up till now , grew into the warm happy smile that always seemed to find its way to her with the slightest hint of Kazuya's presence .
The second she saw him , she noted the troubled look on his face, even before he saw his friends sitting in his apartment.
Once he did see them , Kazuya exploded,
"What the hell are you guys doing here ? "
"Huh ? We made plans , remember? " a slightly irritated Kibe reminded him .
"I don't remember ", he replied before throwing his phone and wallet on the table .
It was then that he noticed the empty cups and plate on the table , following which he asked Chizuru,
"You made tea for these guys ? ".
"Of course I did ", she replied.
"At this point, they're like my friends too " .
Behind Kazuya's back , she saw them smiling at that .
"Well , not like it's a lie , they are friends with me at Uni ", she thought to herself.
"So you coming or not ?", Kibe asked .
Kazuya didn't hesitate for a moment
"No , not today ".
"Fine , some other time then ", Kibe said before they both got up and headed for the door , neither particularly surprised by Kazuya's answer.
They wished Chizuru a good night and exchanged goodbyes before they left down the stairs .
Kazuya and Chizuru stood on top of the stairs seeing them off and just for a second, Kuri turned back and met Kazuya's eyes , nodding knowingly before climbing into their car and driving off .
Kazuya froze in shock , staring blankly at the spot where Kuri had been .
He breathed out loud slowly, before muttering,
"I'd forgotten , Kuri knows you're a rental girlfriend.
And he just saw you in my apartment " .
"Yeah ", she agreed softly before adding ,
"You should probably talk to him tomorrow ".
Kazuya nodded before he sighed out loud , clearly troubled, as they walked back inside .
"What happened at work ? ", Chizuru asked sharply , already having picked up on Kazuya's expression as he'd entered the apartment.
He jumped, started by her before smiling,
"You're as sharp as ever , huh ? ".
He waited till they'd both sat down before he let his mind drift back to about thirty minutes ago.
Unsure but drawn in , Kazuya turned around and faced the Karaoke Bar once again.
And then his smile faded and his eyes widened in shock .
"So that's it ... ", he realized.
"That explains everything ".
It had barely lasted a second, but it might as well have been an hour because the sight of the familiar blue ribbon had fixed in his mind , bringing back the whispers of guilt .
"Ruka-chan ? ", Chizuru gasped .
Kazuya nodded before explaining,
"I think she's still working at the Karaoke Bar .
She had quit her job when she found out about us but sometime after I spoke to her , she must have joined back .
It's the only way that makes sense .
She must have asked the boss to change the shifts around so that she doesn't have to see me.
That would also explain why everyone at work's been jumpy around me ".
"Do they know about us ? Or about Ruka-chan? ", Chizuru asked .
"About us , not really. But about Ruka-chan ? You know how she is right ? The way she acted at the Bar , nobody could have imagined that we weren't together.
Except the boss , he kinda had an idea that something else was going on .
I still can't figure out why Ruka-chan's still working there ", he admitted.
Chizuru thought about it for a while before she smiled sadly and told him ,
"If I had to guess , she probably wants to stay connected to you " .
"Why would she want that ? After everything I did"
Chizuru exhaled slowly and then spoke,
"Ruka-chan didn't meet you like I did . She didn't have all these connections to you like I did . She didn't keep running into you wherever she went, even when she didn't want to .
Our connection, yours and mine, a lot of it was ... out of our control , almost like we were brought together, like we were being kept together .
But for Ruka-chan... she had to fight for everything, she had to forge every single connection.
And now that the relationship is gone , she has no other connection to you .
Except for the Karaoke Bar .
She might not want to see you today , but somewhere deep down , she's probably hoping to reconcile with you someday ".
"And you're okay with that?", Kazuya asked after a few breaths .
"Geez I don't mean a relationship. She probably just wants to be friends.
And even if she wants more, do you think I'll let her ? ", she asked Kazuya with a little fire flickering in her eyes .
Kazuya hurriedly and gladly shook his head and the fire in Chizuru's eyes died before she admitted,
"I know that I've told you this before but I'd like to apologize to her too , one day ".
Kazuya reached out and squeezed her hand , his way of telling her that she had nothing to feel guilty about .
They were silent for a couple of minutes before Kazuya spoke ,
"Well enough about everyone else , how was your day Chizuru ? "
"Oh , the usual. Acting class was great , I was asked to play the lead in our practice session , I delivered all my lines really well , and exactly in the manner that we had been taught to do in last week's class and my teacher praised my
"Commitment to this beautiful art-form " , as he put it ", a smug Chizuru answered .
"Wow ,that's awesome! ", Kazuya exclaimed.
"You're definitely the top actress of your class now. I bet the director is lining you up for another huge role soon " .
She smiled broadly, used to his reactions now, slightly over-the-top as they might be , they still made her feel rather pleased with herself.
"Thank you ", she told him .
"What else happened ? ", he asked .
Chizuru paused pretending to think before she replied haughtily,
"Well if I remember correctly, I was seduced by my boyfriend last night and then promptly abandoned for the whole day afterwards ".
"Wha... I didn't ", Kazuya yelped .
"You didn't what ? ", she asked playfully,
"Seduce me or abandon me ? ".
"Neither, and for the record, you seduced me last night ", he indignantly replied .
"Last night ,maybe ", Chizuru admitted.
"But you definitely seduced me before that ".
"I didn't ", Kazuya denied .
"Well , let's see ", Chizuru began , tapping her chin with her nails .
"There was the time you got on top of me on the hospital bed " .
"You did that ", Kazuya insisted .
"Then when you pulled me to the floor on your balcony " .
"Accident "
"Then you groped me on the Ferris wheel "
"Another accident. And you hit me for that ".
Chizuru burst into laughter, Kazuya's panicked indignation too much for her to bear .
After she stopped laughing, she shifted slightly so that she was closer to him before admitting,
"Okay I seduced you last night . And you didn't abandon me ".
She stopped for a moment as the humor drained out of her face before she told him ,
"But I did miss you ".
He smiled before answering,
"I missed you too ".
The pleasant twilight draped them in it's daily devotion as Chizuru too smiled before continuing,
"You were right , thinking about last night isn't that embarrassing anymore .
It's... "
"Amazing ", Kazuya put in .
She nodded , glad for that wavelength they always shared, before speaking ,
"It makes me feel warm and fuzzy . And most all ... it makes me feel loved.
The whole thing was like us repeatedly telling each other .
I love you
And waking up today with you made me feel cherished and safe and all of that ... all of this was just... "
"Amazing, ", Kazuya repeated before continuing,
"Unbelievably amazing , and I keep wondering how I got so lucky . I'm so happy that I can barely believe it's real ".
"Yeah ", Chizuru nodded .
She then added softly,
"That's why ... I missed you a bit more today ".
They sighed in unison because they had both felt that way .
Chizuru then suddenly felt Kazuya shifting next to her , coming closer now so that her shoulder and hips and legs was touching him, the entire side of her body gently pressed against his , before he wrapped his arm around her bringing her even closer .
"Kazuya? ", she asked softly.
"I heard what you said last night . About how I kept leaving a gap between us even though I didn't want to .
I was scared but I'm not anymore.
From now on I want to be closer to you " .
Chizuru felt those emotions welling up inside her again her , once denied , now floating freely to the surface, reddening her cheeks and catching her breath .
She closed her eyes and relaxed leaning on him , letting him hold her, trusting him with her weight .
They were silent for a few minutes before she spoke again ,
"One more thing happened today .
I got an email from Diamond .
The official confirmation .
My career as a rental girlfriend ends this weekend " .
Kazuya smiled broadly and squeezed her just a bit before leaning in and kissing her on her forehead .
Intense red spread in waves across her face as she asked ,
"What was that? ".
"A publicy acceptable kiss . Remember you made it up today morning ", he replied matter of factly .
"Why ? You didn't like it ? " , he asked .
"No I did ", she admitted, squirming before continuing softly ,
"We're not in public now ".
Kazuya smiled again before leaning in again, this time Chizuru was ready and met him , their lips gliding and dancing across each other softly as they held their tender kiss .
They broke apart and after a few minutes of silence enjoying being next to each other , Chizuru stood up and declared ,
"We're going to have to go to the convenience store if we plan on having dinner ".
"I would have got what you needed if you'd messaged me ", Kazuya complained as he too got up.
"What and have you come back even later? Yeah right ", she replied, heading to the door , Kazuya right behind her
"And besides, we'll have to buy some more ", she remarked .
"Some more what ? ", Kazuya asked
"Eh ? You don't know ? ", Chizuru asked back , pretending to be puzzled.
She then grinned at him deviously before adding
You finished all of them last night
I'll definitely need to keep some in reserve knowing you ".
She laughed out loud as a flustered Kazuya began to sputter, turning red hot with embarrassment as he tried to reply before Chizuru wrapped her hand around his and pulled him outside.
A/N : Kibe and Kuri catch a glimpse of a life they desire but could not be further from after which Kazuya and Chizuru try to understand Ruka's intentions before they sit down and share their day with each other .
Edit : Sorry guys , I tried my best but just couldn't finish Chapter 41 in time , so unfortunately the next chapter will take another week
Chapter 41 will definitely be out on the 21st , so please stay tuned and apologies once again
Next time : Goodbye to diamond .