Rent A Girlfriend: The Past Hurts

Part 10: A Rainy Afternoon

"Tell her Kazuya-kun. Everything you told me..."
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" Here you go. Please take your time."
After they thanked the waitress, Kazuya and Chizuru both looked at their menus. As he looked at his, Kazuya couldn't stop thinking about something.
' We're actually at a diner right now. Me and Mizuhara..' Deciding to go with the classic cheeseburger, he placed his menu down to see Chizuru still looking over her's. ' Is this a rental date? Am I still going to have to pay? Or is it... a date? I mean, she did invite-'
" So, what are you getting?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he could see tha Chizuru was now staring back at him, with her chin resting on her hand. " Uhm..what?"
" What are you getting?" She repeated herself.
" Oh! I'm getting the cheeseburger. I haven't eaten one in forever. You?" He added, attempting to hide the fact that he had been staring at her.
"A cheeseburger, huh?." She said before looking back at her menu. " That looks good actually."
Soon, the waitress came back and took their orders, with Chizuru ordering a cheeseburger for herself as well. When she left, the two stared at each other silently for a while until Chizuru sat up straight and cleared her throat. " So.. How are things?"
" Good, I guess." He replied, a bit confused by her question. " And you?"
"Same."
"..."
Once again, the atmosphere shifted to that of awkward silence. Kazuya could see that Chizuru wanted to say something else, and he had a small feeling that he knew what it could be. Before he could start, she had beat him. " And..are you feeling better? You know, with that."
'I knew she was going to bring this up. Luckily, I've come prepared.'
" Mizuhara. I'm fine." He started, unconsciously grabbing her hand. " You don't need to worry about me. It's my problem, but thanks for asking."
It wasn't until long that he realized that he had been holding her hand, and he immediately pulled it back. His face was now bright red due to embarrassment as he apologized. "S-Sorry..I uhm.."
"It's..It's okay." She interrupted him, and before she turned her head, Kazuya could swear that he saw a hint of red on her cheeks.
' You idiot! Why did I do that..but..Was she blushing? No. It had to be my imagination..right?'
Before he could think more about it, the waitress came back with their food. They both thanked her and started to eat their own cheeseburger.
"You were right." Chizuru said as she reached for a napkin. " It really has been forever since we've ate one."
"We've?" He asked, and he saw Chizuru stare at him with a confused expression.
" I mean, wasn't the last time you and I had one of these was the night of Umi's party?"
Scratching his head, he searched inside his memories until he recalled what she was talking about. " Oh yeah. How did I forget that?"
" What did you think I meant?" She asked before taking another bite.
"..nothing." He murmured as he took a bite as well.
' Right, of course she meant that.' He thought sadly as he looked out through the window to the right of him; It had started to rain. 'She would never see me like that. I don't blame her, especially after what happened last week..who would?' As he continued to watch the rain pour down onto the window, Kazuya was unaware that Chizuru was staring at him with a faint blush in her face.

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... 20 minutes later...

Walking through the exit, Chizuru could feel the cold blast of wind hitting her face. They were still underneath a part of the roof, so they were saved from the rain for now.
' I'm glad that I brought this.' She thought as she pulled out a small umbrella from her purse. While she was preparing to open it up, she heard the sound of the door opening and turned to see Kazuya walking up to her.
" Are you sure that I couldn't pay for the whole thing? I mean, I was the one who invited you?"
When they were given the check, he had kept insisting to pay for the whole thing despite her saying that she was going to. Eventually coming to a compromise, they had both agreed to pay for each of their meals.
" No, it's fine." He said with a smile on his face. "I mean, what kind of a friend would I be if I made you pay for the whole thing."
Kazuya walked up to where she was standing and he looked up to the sky. " I guess that hurricane is no joke."
"Yeah." She started as she pulled the umbrella over her head. " We should get going before it starts to become more windy."
' Hopefully, we can both stay dry underneath this umbrella. I really don't want to get my clothes wet.'
Chizuru was walking for a while before she turned her head to see Kazuya behind her, holding a piece of cardboard to shield himself from the rain. She stopped and turned herself completely, surprising Kazuya in the process.
" What are you doing?" she asked him.
He moved closer to her, and Chizuru could see that the cardboard wasn't doing him any good; his face was covered with water and his flannel appeared to be soggy. " Walking back home? Or did you want me to take another way? I
should've asked."
Giving a small sigh, she took the cardboard away from his hands. Then, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him underneath the umbrella with her.
"Mizuhara?" He asked, and she saw the confusion on his face. " W-what are you doing?"
"You're wet. It's better if you use this."
"But...are you okay with this?"
"Yeah.." She started, unaware that a smile was forming on her face. " Now, let's go".
Chizuru felt a bit relieved when he gave her a nod of approval, but before they could get too far, Kazuya stopped her. " Let me hold it."
"H-hold what?"
"The umbrella. It's the least I could do.." He explained, and she reluctantly gave it to him. Kazuya gave her a smile, and the two started to make their way back to the apartment.
' Let me hold it.'
Chizuru thought as she lowered her head a little, unintentionally scooting closer to him and with a small blush, she stared at one of her hands.
' Next time, be more clear...'
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