Rent A Girlfriend: The Past Hurts

Part Fourteen: A Month to Prepare

August 23

'It's time.'
Opening the door to his balcony, Kazuya zipped up his sweater as he stood outside. He had to wait a few moments before he could hear the sound of footsteps coming from the left of him.
"Are you there, Kazuya?"
"Y-Yeah!" He responded, moving closer to the blinder that stood between him and Mizuhra.
"..So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.
A few days ago, Kazuya was surprised to learn that Mizuhra had bought a ticket to join him on a trip to Kyoto. He wanted to learn more about why she wanted to tag along, so after making sure that they were both free, he texted her if she could talk outside on their balconies.
" Uhm...So I was wondering..Are you fine with this?" He managed to get out, gripping the railing with both of his hands.
"Fine with what?" She asked.
Gulping, Kazuya tightened his grip as he stared out onto the street. It was a simple question, but he was having a hard time getting it out. "..W-With...The trip..to Kyoto?"
He glanced to the side and could see that she was resting her arms on the railing. Quickly turning his head back, Kazuya panicked as the silence grew more and more noticeable.
'Why is she saying anything?! Did I say something wrong? Oh man.. I just wanted to know why she decided to come with-'
" Yeah." She started, and Kazuya looked over once more to find that she was looking up to the sky. " You must miss your mother as much as I miss my grandparents, so it's only natural for you to want to go see her grave. You said that your grandma wasn't going to join you, and ...I wanted to help. I didn't want you..you to go alone.." She said that last part with a tone of sadness. Mizuhra stared at her hands as they started to grip the railing. " I should've asked first. I'm sorry.."
As he watched her, Kazuya could sense that she was feeling guilty and sad, and it made his heart ache as he looked down as well.
'I didn't mean to make her feel like this.. This wasn't my intention at all..'
Walking closer to the binder, Kazuya leaned his head on it along with his hand.
" Chizuru, I'm sorry. I never wanted you to feel guilty or anything." He said softly. "It's just.. I couldn't believe that you wanted to come with me, and I was worried that you only wanted to come because you felt bad for me.. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."
Another pause.
As he was starting to move away, Kazuya could feel something warm coming from the other side of the binder. Slowly raising his head, he saw the silhouette of Mizuhara from the other side, and she was resting both her head and hand in the exact spot where he was.
" Kazuya. Please believe me when I say that I really do want to come with you." she said softly as well. " I want to help you. Not as your rental girlfriend, but as your friend.."
Kazuya smiled as he rested his head on the binder again, feeling the warmth of her head from the opposite side. "Of course I do. Thank you."

September 2

Checking the price of a black denim jacket, Chizuru placed it back with the other clothing before moving on.
'Too expensive.'
She was out shopping in preparation for the trip to Kyoto, plus she was in need of some new clothing. After the talk they had on the balcony, Kazuya had sent her a list of things she might need. Chizuru pulled out her phone and opened up the list:

What you should consider bringing :
-Cloths(Staying for almost five days)
-Sweaters(Will be cold)
-Camera(I like to walk around, so you might want to take pictures)
-Pillow and blanket (I don't really like using the ones from the hotel, so I will bringing one)
-Elegant Clothing(There's this cool restaurant I want to check out, but if you don't want, you don't have to go)

She couldn't help smiling as she read through each of Kazuya's notes, and she thought as she stared at the last note.
'Of course I would go, idiot. The only problem is..'
Chizuru started to grow red as she started to recall that all of her dresses back home weren't exactly the kind that she wanted to wear on such an occasion. Especially with a certain someone being there with her.
Spotting one of the employees, she walked over to where they were standing. "Excuse me?"
" Hello, how may I help you?" She said.
" Yes, I was hoping to buy a new dress. Can you tell me where I could find some?"
" Of course. Follow me."
The woman led her through the allies until stopping at the women's section, then Chizuru followed her to the back part where she could see the various dresses they had displayed.
"Here we are." The woman told her, moving to the side. "If you like, I could help you choose one."
"..Uhm..yes please." Chizuru said, feeling slightly embarrassed. It had been quite some time since she last went shopping for a dress, and this time she had a reason to choose wisely.
The woman gave her a smile before walking up to the ones which were being hanged using  coathangers. " Very well. First, what is his favorite color?"
" H-His?"
" I've seen that look before. You're thinking about a boy, right?" She explained, and a smile grew on her face as Chizuru reluntaly nodded her head.
" I guess.. I just want..want to meet his expectations." She muttered, looking to the side a little bit. The very thought of seeing him disappointed with how she looked was just too much to bear.
" I may not know that much about you or that boy, but what I do know is that you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." The woman told her, and Chizuru started to grow red out of embarrassment.
'I'm not that pretty..'
" And I'm sure that the boy would agree with me that you would look amazing in anything."
'She's right. I know that he wouldn't care how I look, but still..'
With a smile growing on her face, Chizuru walked over to where the woman was standing. "Do you have any red ones? Also, do you have any accessories with fish designs?"

September 10

Ruka was starting to grow impatient as she continued to sit in one of the karaoke rooms. She had been waiting for about thirty minutes under the orders of Kazuya. He told her that he wanted to talk to her, but never mentioned why. And that was worrying her a little.
'What's the deal? He should've been here already!'
Hearing the sound of footsteps, Ruka turned her head to the left to see Kazuya opening the door. He appeared to be sweating a little, and it was even more visible when he sat across from her.
"What took so long, Kazuya-kun?" She asked, a little irritated.
" S-sorry.." He started, wiping the sweat off his forehead. " I didn't mean to. It's just that the boss wanted me to do something, and it took longer than I thought. Again, sorry."
Uncrossing her arms, the anger started to fade away as she gave him a smile. " It's fine. So, what did you want to talk about?"
As soon as she saw that he started to fidget a bit, Ruka knew that it was not going to go well. Kazuya couldn't meet her gaze as he started to talk. " So..uhm..Every year, I go to Kyoto to..uhm.. visit my mother."
"And?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he started to rub his arm.
"And..this year my grandmother wanted M-Mizuhara to come along..so we had no choice.." He muttered. " I wanted you to know.."
Ruka stared at him quietly, trying to figure out how to react to what he had just told her.
'Is he serious? Who does that?! Who in their right mind tells their girlfriend that they're going to go on a trip with another girl?! And worse, with the girl that he likes?! Wait..'
" How long will you be gone for?" she asked, trying her best to sound calm.
" Well, we're leaving on the 25th and we'll come back on the 1st of October..."
' Five days?! They're going to be gone for almost five days!?'
Standing up, Ruka crossed her hands as she glared at the orange-haired boy. "No! I will not accept it. You have to cancel your trip."
"But-"
"No buts! You are not going and that's final! Now, let's go back to work-"
"No."
She stared at him with disbelief as he stood up as well, and for the first time, Ruka could see the confidence all over his face.
" I'm going, Ruka." He stated. " I wanted you to know because as of right now, you're my 'trial' girlfriend. But I think... I think that the trail is going to finish soon."
"Finish soon..?" She said softly, backing away from him a little. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
" I don't hate you or anything, Ruka. I could never." He continued as he looked to the side a little. " I do think that you are cute and kind, but... you don't deserve me. I love someone else."
And with that, Kazuya left the room, leaving Ruka where she stood. She didn't know what to do except sit back down and cry onto her hands. While she sobbed, an alert came from her phone. Ruka reached for the phone and saw that Mami had texted her. She wiped her eyes before opening her phone and clicking on the message, reading what she had sent:

{ Ruka-chan, I got everything ready, but I still need to figure out what day to do it on. Do you know when Kazuya and Mizuhara will be free?}

" Now I do.." she said angrily as she typed onto her phone, her already broken heart shattering into smaller pieces..

September 25

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Pressing the snooze button on his phone, Kazuya gave a small groan as he rose from his bed. He rubbed his eyes before standing up, and then he proceeded to change into some sweatpants alongside a grey sweater. His whole body was aching, begging him to go back to bed but he ignored those thoughts as he put on his shoes.
He could see out his window that it was still dark, but given the fact that it was just four in the morning, he wasn't suprised. Closing the blinds, he walked over to the bathroom to fix himself.
While he was brushing his teeth, Kazuya could hear someone knocking on his door. Quickly checking out he appeared in the mirror, he walked over to the door and pulled it open to reveal Mizuhara standing outside.
"Hey."
"Hi." She responded. He could see that she had her classic red hoodie on with black sweatpants, and she had on her glasses. Mizuhra had a backpack on, and beside her was a suitcase. " You ready?"
" Hold on."
He hastily grabbed his suitcase and made sure that he had everything he needed in his backpack before placing it on and walking outside. "Now I am."
Closing the door behind him, the two started to walk down the stairs and through the streets of Tokyo.

10 minutes later...

Standing outside of the airport, Kazuya turned his head towards Mizuhara. " Are you ready, Chizuru?"
She gave him a smile and a nod, making his heart jump with joy as he looked back at the entrance.
" Alright then, let's go."

To be continued...