Rent A Girlfriend: The Past Hurts

Part Eleven: Winds of Change

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Boom.

Boom.

Crack.

"Chizuru...are you scared?"
Opening her eyes, she could see her grandmother kneeling beside the futon. The twelve year old could only shake her head as she covered herself in the blankets.
The storm never seemed to end, and Chizuru's body squirmed with every loud boom that echoed through the sky. She was paying too much attention to the noise that she hadn't realized that two arms were wrapped around her, pulling her into a hug.
" It's okay." Her grandma started. " It's okay to be scared sometimes."
"R-really?" She asked, looking up at her. Her grandmother smiled as she held her tighter, soothing her head as she spoke. " It is. And do you know what can help in times like this?"
"No."
"Being with loved ones. Do you love me, Chizuru?"
" O-of course I do, grandma!" She exclaimed, closing her eyes as she held her as tight as she could. " I always will!"
" So do I."
As the storm continued, Chizuru felt relaxed in her grandmother's arms, and as she started to feel herself fall into a slumber, she reflected on what she was told.
' With a loved one? Although I love grandpa and grandma... "loving" someone else is gross. Boys are gross!'

*************

Locked inside the bathroom, Kazuya was panicking as he sat on the toilet. He felt as though he was going to pass out, or throw up. The reason why: his dream girl was currently in his room, and he had a feeling that she was going to stay for the majority of the night.
'What are you doing, Kazuya?!' He thought, running his hand through his hair. 'You invited Mizuhara to stay and your hiding out in the bathroom?! And you call yourself a man?'
After a while, he was able to muster up enough courage to walk up to the door.
' Okay, no matter what..' he hovered his hand a few inches from the handle. ' I will make sure that she feels comfortable.'
Kazuya took a deep breath and pulled the door open, and he saw that Mizuhara was still standing where he had left her. " I'm back."
" You took quite some time." She said as she walked up to him. " I thought you died or something."
" Uhm..it's just that I couldn't find it for a moment."
"... In your own room?"
Realizing what he had said, Kazuya turned red out of embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head. " Yeah..?"
'You know, I kinda wish that I did die.'
He was surprised to see that Mizuhara was giggling, holding her hand over her mouth as an attempt to hide it.
" I'm sorry, it's just that- " Midway through her sentence, she lowered her hand back down, and she gave him a smile. "- you are so weird."
Unsure whether to take it as a compliment or not, he walked away from her and took a seat on the ground a few feet from the television. After motioning her over, he started to get nervous as Mizuhara took a seat next to him.
" Let's see.." he said, using the control to look through the channels. " What to watch.."
" Do you only have cable, Kazuya-kun?"
" Yeah..." he responded, still searching.
" So you don't have Netflix? Or YouTube?" She asked, causing him to lower his head.
" I..uhm.. I don't think my T.V. has the ability to..to get them."
Just like his grandma, they both used the same type of television. Although the screen was medium-sized, it didn't exactly have the greatest quality, and it definitely wasn't the newest.
"I don't like to spend too much money unless I have to. Ever since my grandmother retired, I have tried my best to send her money from time to time, but I can't do much working at a karaoke place."  He explained, scratching his head once again with a smile on his face . " Thus, I don't own the fanciest television, but I'm grateful to just have one."
"...oh."
" Yeah. I'm sorry that it isn't much." He said sadly.
' She probably thinks that I'm pathetic.. Well, can't blame her..'
He looked to the side and was surprised to see that Mizuhara was looking at him with a smile on her face.
" I can understand." She started. " Money is a hard thing to earn, but instead spending it all on yourself, you give some to your grandmother."