Since the house had only just been completed, the scent of fresh paint still lingered in the rooms. Ryunosuke threw all the windows wide open to encourage circulation and prevent formaldehyde buildup.
Chizuru gazed at the new house. Seeing the furniture—her grandfather's final handiwork—a sudden, suffocating tightness gripped her chest. She traced the surfaces of the wood, remembering him vividly. It was as if he were still right there before her eyes, busy carving away.
Ryunosuke headed toward the third-floor balcony and gestured for Chizuru to follow. Her gaze dimmed; she stepped onto the balcony with a sense of numbness. Her feet felt as heavy as lead as she moved with agonizing slowness.
Meanwhile, Ryunosuke was already lounging back on a recliner, sporting sunglasses and taking in the moon and stars. Chizuru approached him, her face a mask of tension. She took a deep breath, as if she had finally steeled herself for a definitive choice.
"Just say it. What do you want from me?" Chizuru asked. "Don't waste any more time. And whatever happens tonight, please don't tell Grandma. I don't want to hurt her."
Ryunosuke took off his sunglasses. He found her words strange but didn't overthink it.
"In that case, let's begin." He pointed to the recliner beside him, signaling for her to lie down.
Chizuru assumed the "activity" was to take place right there on the chair. She didn't argue, choosing instead to comply with the man's odd preference. She sat down and began unbuttoning her clothes, one by one.
Ryunosuke was just about to comment that "the moon is beautiful tonight," but when he turned his head, he saw a sight he was definitely not supposed to see. He let out a panicked shout to stop her!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!"
Chizuru looked confused, her hands frozen. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
"Wanted, my foot! Did you misunderstand something?!" Ryunosuke was genuinely shell-shocked.
Chizuru looked up, her gaze completely bewildered. "Then why did you rent me for the night?"
Ryunosuke covered his face with both hands, feeling utterly exasperated. "I rented you for a date, obviously! Your job tonight is to keep me company while I look at the moon and stars. What exactly was going through your head, huh?!"
Chizuru's face turned a violent shade of crimson. She went as red as a boiled lobster; it was as if steam were literally whistling out of her ears. She immediately exploded in a fit of emotional rage.
"What kind of person invites a girl to his house just to look at the stars?! If you do it like this, anyone would misunderstand!!!"
Ryunosuke threw his hands up. He knew she'd gotten the wrong idea, but he still defended himself. "So this is my fault?"
As she hurriedly buttoned her clothes back up, her face burning with immense shame, Chizuru grumbled, "Ugh! I've had enough! You're a spineless coward. Just drop dead!"
She moved to grab her bag to leave, but Ryunosuke caught her wrist and forced her to stay. "Stay with me tonight. I paid for this, remember? My Rental Girlfriend."
Chizuru bit her lip. Reluctantly, she sat back down and muttered, "That's why I'm saying, can't you stop using words that trigger misunderstandings? You clearly have no intention of doing anything to me, so why talk like that?"
Ryunosuke placed his hands behind his head and lay back. "How was I supposed to know you had such a dirty mind..."
Chizuru erupted again. She vented her frustration by hitting him repeatedly with her small handbag.
"Ow! Stop! Stop hitting me!" Ryunosuke shielded his head, begging for mercy.
Once she'd had her fill, Chizuru finally stopped and sat on the recliner with her arms crossed. Gradually, her anger began to subside. She hugged her knees; her ten bare toes occasionally curled and uncurled. Finally, she voiced the doubt in her heart.
"You... you're really not going to do anything to me? Tonight is a rare opportunity..." What Chizuru meant was that with the mood set like this, even if Ryunosuke had touched her, she might not have refused.
But Ryunosuke didn't take the bait. Instead, he pulled out his phone, opened the Rental Kanojo app, and clicked to complete today's date status. He muttered to himself, "Today you watched the moon and stars with me, so that counts as one date. Tomorrow, you'll go to a movie with me—that's another. The day after, we have lunch; I'll count that as a date too."
He was mentally calculating how to burn through the 1,000 bookings he had made. After all, he only had a month before he had to return to school.
The moonlight illuminated Ryunosuke's face. Chizuru watched him in silence, and for some reason, her heart began to race. She quickly looked away.
Ryunosuke didn't notice the change in her. Seeing that she had calmed down, he put his sunglasses back on and said casually, "The moonlight is quite beautiful tonight. Just be good and stay with me all night."
Chizuru snorted, but she lay quietly beside him as they gazed at the night sky together.
The night grew late. Without realizing it, Chizuru drifted off. Looking at her sleeping face—which appeared flawless and perfect—Ryunosuke didn't harbor a single ill intention. He took a blanket and covered her, then went back to observing the stars alone.
After some time had passed, Chizuru—who had actually been faking sleep after waking up briefly—asked in a low voice, "Why are you being so kind to me?"
Ryunosuke answered with total calm, "Does there have to be a reason? If I'm kind to you, does it have to mean I have an ulterior motive? What kind of person do you think I am?"
Chizuru gave a small smile, appearing relieved. She pulled the blanket tighter, whispered "Goodnight," and truly fell into a deep sleep.
Ryunosuke didn't know that because of that single sentence, his remaining 999 dates were about to turn into "forever."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Dawn arrived, and the sun began to rise.
Chizuru woke up, her mind still foggy. She sat up, the blanket sliding down to her waist. She rubbed her eyes and saw him still asleep. She approached Ryunosuke and draped the blanket over him.
Chizuru knelt, staring at Ryunosuke's sleeping face, and for some reason, she felt like laughing. As a thought occurred to her, her face gradually flushed. She slowly leaned forward, tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and gave him a fleeting kiss before fleeing the house in a panic.
Ryunosuke opened his eyes, watching Chizuru's receding figure. In truth, he hadn't been sleeping... but now his head was spinning. How was he supposed to handle this now? "Should we just make this official?"
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The next morning, Ryunosuke took a firm hand in managing Chizuru's grandmother's health. To him, this was no longer an outsider's business; he considered Sayuri family.
Ryunosuke reviewed Grandma's medical records and asked the doctor if there was any hope for recovery. Chizuru just stood frozen behind him without saying a word.
The doctor explained that Grandma's condition was critical and incurable—at least, this hospital had reached its limit. However, the doctor did mention one thing: "If the best doctor in all of Japan, Nakano Maruo, were to handle it, there might still be a way out."
Ryunosuke was stunned. The best doctor in Japan? Nakano Maruo? Wasn't that the father of the quintuplets? As luck would have it, he knew the man.
Ryunosuke clarified, "Can he really help?"
The doctor couldn't guarantee it 100%, offering only an objective answer: "If the best doctor in Japan can't do it, then no one else can."
Ryunosuke had made up his mind. He told Chizuru to watch over Grandma while he went to make a call. Chizuru wanted to stop him, feeling she could never repay such a massive favor... but the words died in her throat. Her hand, which had started to reach out, gripped the air tightly as she clutched her racing heart. Her face felt hot to the touch...
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