35 Chizuru’s Opportunity (2/2)

Sadly for her, Kazuya wasn't planning on letting her go anywhere for now.

She tried to push herself off of his chest but his arms around her didn't budge.

"Let me go." Even from her voice, Kazuya can tell that she's struggling with something within her.

"Just… Shush." He brought one of his hands to her head and pulled it back into his chest.

He continues, "You don't need to feel obligated to tell me anything just because I brought you to my home and told you things about me. You can just enjoy the time we spend together."

He brought her face up gently and looked into her eyes, "I know that you'll tell me whatever it is that you want to tell me when you're ready. You don't have to worry about anything for now. Got it?"

"Mhm…" She looked down and buried her face in his chest.

He didn't say anything and kept rubbing her back gently.

"I'm hungwy." He hears a muffled voice coming from his chest.

"What do you want to eat? Do you want to cook with me or order some takeout?"

"I'm tired. Owder." Her voice is still muffled as she doesn't bring her face up.

"Okay." Kazuya somehow reaches his phone without disturbing the clingy tsundere.

"Any preferences."

"Same as you." She says from his chest in a muffled voice.

"Chicken wings it is then." He gets an affirming nod from Chizuru.

Kazuya orders two large buckets of wings with a whole lot of extra sauce.

"Our food's on the way."

She doesn't reply.

'Is she taking a catnap… I don't care, it's decided. I'm buying a kitty cosplay outfit for her. I'll make her wear it someday.'

Kazuya's perverted conviction sends chills down Chizuru's spine and she wakes up.

"Umm?" Feeling the familiar yet unfamiliar chest below her and the protective arms wrapped around her frame she unconsciously mumbles, "5 more minutes grandpa."

Then she snuggles back into his chest.

'First I was her grandma, then her grandpa. At this point, you might as well call me daddy, too.'

He feels her stiffen up a few seconds later and expects that she'll jump out of his arms but is surprised to feel her arms wrap tighter around him.

He then feels something warm on his chest.

Kazuya doesn't know how to comfort her other than rubbing her trembling back and enveloping her in his arms protectively while letting her cry into his chest.

Neither of them does anything for a while when finally the doorbell rings.

"Our food's here Chizuru." He says in a gentle and soothing voice.

"Yeah." Even though she says that she doesn't make any move to get off of him.

Kazuya could only open the apartment complex gate using his phone and text the guy to bring the wings up.

"You planning to get up?"

She sighed, "Hah… Yeah." She gets up and sits on the couch.

Kazuya collected the wings from the door and paid the guy before coming back.

"Here… Eat." Kazuya brought the wings and put them on the table.

He decided to pretend that nothing happened since he was sure that she'll try to run again if he mentions anything related to her feelings.

"…I'm sorry about your clothes."

Kazuya looked down and noticed a wet patch on his t-shirt.

"Don't sweat it, here." He brought a wing in front of her face.

She looked at him and took a bite out of it.

"This is amazing." Her face gets a happy smile as she takes the wing from him and starts chowing down.

"I know." Kazuya picked up another wing and ate it.

"What kind of play are you starring in?" Kazuya was curious about her play.

"…The play is called 'The Princess and the Blue Heron'. It's a comedy play about a princess and her attendants in the Edo period. I'm the secondary lead. I'm supposed to be the comic relief character with a good amount of screen time… So, let's see how things go…"

"You'll do amazingly, I'm sure of it. Do you mind if I come watch?"

"Not at all, I'll get you a front-row ticket. As the secondary lead, I get the privilege to bring two guests to watch the play."

"Sounds pretty cool."

"It is. Also, I've already promised the other one to a friend so don't think I'll give you both of the tickets."

"I wouldn't dare. Though aren't you going to bring your grandma to watch?"

She goes silent for a few seconds, "Tokyo Ensemble Theatre, Princess Aowashi, At the end of February."

"What?"

"That's the place where the play will be showing. Look for that name, you'll find the play."

Kazuya decides to not insist and doesn't bring up her grandma again.

"I guess that both of our dreams will be coming to fruition pretty close, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"The app… It's also launching at the end of February, at least the alpha build."

"Talk about a coincidence." She brings up a wing that she'd dipped in the sauce and raises it.

Kazuya does the same, they toast to both of their dreams using chicken wings.

Both of them laugh at their bullshit before focusing back on the wings.

They spend some more time talking about Chizuru's play and eating the wings and don't realize as time passes.

"It's pretty late… You want to stay here?"

She narrows her eyes and somehow her pupils also narrow, making her look like a cat.

Looking at her expression, Kazuya's resolve to buy her a catgirl outfit is renewed.

'Maybe I could get her one of those sex outfits… With certain attachments for the tail and all…'

"It's fine, I'll walk home." As if she has some sort of sixth sense about his intentions, she gets up and was ready to walk home by herself.

"So untrusting… Fine, I'll walk you back, let me close up this place, I don't plan to come back here tonight."

"I can go back alone. You don't have to do anything." She doesn't want to trouble him.

"Can't. Doesn't sit right with my conscience to let you walk alone so late in the night."

"Fine… Thanks, I guess." She doesn't refuse his offer a second time since it warmed her heart to see him care about little things like this.

Kazuya walked Chizuru to her apartment and went back into his old apartment.

'Since she's got a play coming up… I guess at the very least I should get the film industry knowledge but that needs her to admit to being my girl. Does she just need to say it or does she need to mean it for the quest to be complete? I guess it wouldn't hurt to try… I'll talk to her tomorrow.'

…

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Kazuya looked deeply into Chizuru's eyes and asked her with a sincere expression.

"W-What?" She is baffled at his actions.

He waits for her response.

"I-I can't. Y-You know, d-don't you? I don't h-have any-" Chizuru's face was getting redder by the second and she was stuttering before Kazuya interrupted her.

"I understand." He interrupts her because he doesn't want to listen to her say so much stuff for the damn quest, "I just need you to say that you'll be my girlfriend. It doesn't have to mean anything. I just need you to say it."

She narrows her eyes in doubt and asks, "Are you recording me?"

"What? No. I just need you to say it"

"I don't believe you. Show me your pockets." She abruptly starts frisking him as if he was going through airport security.

"What the hell?" Kazuya is dumbfounded as she asks him, "Where's your phone?"

"In my damn room, I just came to meet you. Why are you checking me as if I'm going through airport security? You could just refuse, you know?" He noticed that after running her hands over his pockets, she'd been rubbing them over his chest and abs, feeling them more than looking for the so-called recording device.

She stiffens up and realizes that she indeed could've just refused.

"My bad, I guess. Why do you even need me to say it though?"

"I'm very lonely, hearing it from a beautiful girl like you would soothe my broken soul."

She is not impressed since Kazuya has a habit of spouting cheezy shit like that regularly.

"And the real reason is…"

"I can't tell you. Please…" He tries the puppy-dog-eyes expression, hoping that they would work.

"…You look creepy. Stop that." Chizuru is outwardly disgusted while on the inside she was squealing since he actually looked very cute to her.

'Please change your expression or else I won't ever be able to refuse you. No! Bad Chizuru!'

"Damn…" He slouches his shoulders and looks down sadly.

"I'll be your girlfriend."

"Really!?" His face gets a bright smile.

"Of course not. I did what you asked, now stop bothering me." Her face was getting redder by the second and she abruptly closed the door to her balcony after going into her home.

Kazuya is left standing outside in the cold thinking, 'Good enough. Thank fuck it worked…'

He hops back over to his side and goes back into his apartment.