5:30 PM, Renma University.
Cafeteria.
After an intense afternoon of tennis with Koki and Oguri, Konomi Kazuya's stomach started grumbling.
Although college students had more freedom and didn't have to eat every meal at the school cafeteria, it was undoubtedly the most cost-effective option.
The three men walked into the cafeteria together.
Kazuya ordered a grilled meat set meal, found a seat in the corner, and soon Koki and Oguri arrived with their trays.
"Kazuya, I saw you interacting with Nana-chan today. Are you planning to get back together with her?"
Koki, being his best friend, wouldn't be out of line to intervene in Kazuya's love life. He said this while picking up a piece of pork chop.
"Kazuya, it's best to give up sooner rather than later. Nana-chan is out of your league," said Oguri, though his words were harsh, they were objectively true.
Nanami Asami, her family was wealthy, rumors spread that they owned mansions and luxury cars, although she didn't care, her accessories, bags, and clothes were all expensive.
Her entire outfit was probably worth more than the 1 million yen Kazuya received from his family for his entire college life.
"It's fine, Nana-chan and I are just friends now." Kazuya didn't want to comment on his past and his seemingly inappropriate relationship with Nanami Asami.
However, the future is more important than the past.
Even without the system, Kazuya, who had replaced his core drive, might not be inferior to Nanami Asami.
Moreover, he wasn't sure if it was true, but Kazuya always felt that a beautiful girl like Nanami, who had a competitive spirit, wouldn't care about social status, despite her arrogant nature.
"Yo, Kawazumi-kun, over here!" Koki waved to a group of three, looking excited to see familiar faces.
"Hey there, Yoshimura, you guys eating at the cafeteria too?" A female college student, seemingly a B-rank beauty, seemed to know Koki.
"Yo-ko, Chizuru, can you guys sit here?" she asked her two companions.
"Sure." Yo-ko, with her black hair tied in a bun, seemed to smell gossip and looked at Koki and Kawazumi with a mischievous smile.
"It's okay." The last one was Suzuhara Chizuru, who was dressed in a plain, completely unremarkable short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, but she had a slender, well-proportioned figure, a straight, proud back, and wore glasses. Her brown hair was tied into two rustic braids, and her glasses were large, round, black-rimmed glasses, covering up most of her delicate face, different from the previous rental girlfriend and current girlfriend versions.
Kazuya kept staring at Suzuhara Chizuru, looking for any differences, feeling like he was playing a "Spot the Difference" game.
"Yo, Kazuya, do you know Ichinose-san?" Koki noticed his friend's unusual gaze.
"Mhm." Kazuya gave Chizuru a look, giving her the initiative to speak.
Fortunately, Chizuru had high emotional intelligence and understood Kazuya's meaning through his gaze.
"I... I've met Kazuya-kun once, at the hospital." She had met Kazuya twice, but compared to the unspoken rental girlfriend job, Chizuru, who didn't like lying, selectively revealed the other meeting.
"That's right." Kazuya nodded in agreement.
"My grandmother and Kazuya-kun's grandmother were patients together, they knew each other." Chizuru's gaze didn't meet Kazuya's, she explained to her friends.
"By the way, Kazuya, how's your grandma doing? I haven't had time to visit her lately." Koki had known Kazuya since childhood, and he also respected his grandmother.
"She's fine, if you don't have time, you don't have to visit, it's the thought that counts." Kazuya said.
Later, the six college students gathered together to chat about college life.
As they talked, they finished dinner, and it was getting late.
Leaving the cafeteria, the group of six walked towards their dorms.
They separated at the school gate, Kazuya and Chizuru walked in the same direction.
“……”
Kazuya looked at Chizuru beside him and started a conversation: "I didn't expect Ms. Suzuhara Chizuru to dress like this at school, I was startled when I first saw you."
The black-framed glasses girl pushed her glasses up: "There are various reasons, I don't want to spend too much energy on my appearance at school."
Kazuya retorted: "Does that mean Ms. Suzuhara Chizuru was saving the world from monsters in high school and still being disturbed by them in college?"
"No, I just have acting classes at the talent agency," Chizuru's tone was full of the hardship and boredom of a social person, she walked with her arms crossed. "Also, at school, I hope you can call me by my name, Ichinose."
"Okay, no problem." Kazuya nodded understandingly: "Also, Suzuhara, …Ichinose Chizuru-san, do you plan to become an actress in the future?"
"Yeah…"
Chizuru sighed softly, her lips tightened, but her expression became serious: "After all, it's my childhood dream..."
Does that mean Ichinose Chizuru, as Suzuhara Chizuru, is doing the rental girlfriend job for her dream?
Kazuya couldn't help but exclaim when he heard this: "Dreams…."
The reason why dreams are dreams is because they are out of reach. Before, after graduating from college, how many people around him had achieved their dreams…
Kazuya didn't know whether to encourage or lecture, but he said: "Ichinose Chizuru-san, dreams are your own, it takes courage to persevere and to give up, just do your best."
Sometimes dreams are not important, what matters is how much you pay for them.
"Yes…." Chizuru looked at Kazuya, surprised by his insightful words, "Thank you."
"Okay, Mr. Konomi Kazuya, I'm at the dorm." Chizuru walked up the stairs of the simple apartment building and turned around to Kazuya: "See you next time."
“……”
Kazuya followed Chizuru up the stairs to the second floor, outside her room.
His expression was a mixture of amusement and bewilderment: "Ichinose Chizuru-san, we really are destined to meet!"
"Eh?" Chizuru was puzzled.
"Good evening, Ichinose Chizuru-san." Kazuya stood at the door of his own room, pointing to his nameplate: "Please feel free to contact me in the future, as your neighbor."
"Neighbor?" Chizuru, still lacking a sense of reality, looked at the nameplate with Kazuya's name on it, then turned her head to look at the nameplate outside her room, with Ichinose's name on it: "Eh?"
Chizuru also managed to force a smile: "That's true, we are quite destined to meet (fates)!"
"…Then, I'll see you tomorrow." Chizuru put away her surprised expression, without waiting for Kazuya's reply, she turned around, opened the door, entered the room, closed the door, all in one go.
…
Kazuya turned and opened his door.
After taking a bath and reading for a while, he signed in for the night.
Today was the 7th day of signing in, he wondered what special item he would get, could it be another pair of 【Goddess's Silk Stockings】?