Leaving her apartment, Chizuru made her way to the local café that she usually gets her things in the morning. After ordering herself a coffee and a light pastry, she sat at a two-seater table and waited for a bit. 3 minutes later, her shy friend, Sumi, arrived and ordered her things before sitting with her.

"Hey Sumi" Chizuru greeted.

"Hi Chizuru" Sumi replied.

"Need some advice for a date or something?" Chizuru asked.

"Oh no, I need to ask you something about Kazuya" Sumi answered.

"What do you mean?" Chizuru questioned.

"Well, you see, I called him yesterday to see if he would help me out with a practice date and he immediately declined" Sumi explained, "At first, I didn't think much to it but when I asked him for another day, he said he can't and hung up"

"That's weird" Chizuru commented.

"I know, so I wanted to see if you knew anything" Sumi exclaimed.

"I am not too sure, during the times when I was with him, he said he was busy with some personal things and work" Chizuru replied.

"I see, well, I know you like him so I hope you can help him out if you can" Sumi randomly pointed out.

"Wait what?" Chizuru said with a huge blush.

"I know how you feel about him Chizuru, I like him too, but I can see that he really cares for you" Sumi told her, "I just wanna look out for my friend, anyway, I've gotta go now"

Getting up, Sumi left, and Chizuru sat there quite shocked. She knew Sumi had interest in Kazuya, but that comment was one she didn't expect. However, she was right about the fact that she should check on him. After finishing her coffee, she got up and left the café.

The next day

Today was Chizuru's acting class and it was nearly time for it to end. Everyone was packing away their things to get ready to go home. While she was closing her bag, her friend, Umi, walked up to her.

"Yo, Chizuru, you got a minute?" He asked.

"Uh, sure, what's up?" She replied.

"It's about Kazuya, I saw him the other day and he was walking with a girl I wasn't too familiar with" Umi explained, "Do you know anything about it?"

Chizuru thought 'If he was with another girl that Umi's not familiar with, it might be Sumi, I better ask about the details'

"What did she look like?" Chizuru asked.

"She wore glasses, had dark brown hair that was let down and was carrying a black case" Umi answered.

"Oh, no, I don't know anyone of that description" Chizuru explained.

"Oh well, just wanted you to know since I heard he hasn't been hanging around much with you" Umi said, leaving the class. This really made Chizuru suspicious because she has seen a bunch of his friends at the beach trip and didn't know anyone that looked like that. She had to get the bottom of this however, this wasn't even the half of it.

2 days later

It was late that night and Chizuru was done with another terrible rental date. For some reason, the guy in question asked her to meet him at 9PM. To make matters worse, while they were at the cinema, he kept on pushing himself towards her which she didn't like of course. After leaving however, he tried to kiss her which resulted in a kick to the groin. Now, she was just making her way back home. As she was walking near the convenience store, Kibe came walking out and noticed her.

"Hey, Chizuru" He called out.

Turning around, she replied "Oh, Kibe"

"Great, you're here, I really need to ask you something" Kibe exclaimed.

"Oh, what is it?" Chizuru asked.

"Do you think you can check on Kazuya? I'm really worried about him" Kibe requested.

"What? What do you mean?" Chizuru questioned.

"Well, every time me and Kuri want to hang out with him, he has been declining saying he was busy for the past few weeks" Kibe explained, "Not only that, but we also don't see him that much during university. When I called about how he's doing with his assignments, he says he's doing fine"

"Alright, I can go check up on him" Chizuru replied.

"Great, thanks, I gotta go, later" Kibe said, waving goodbye.

After he left, Chizuru went back to her apartment to go see Kazuya. As she was walking up the steps, she checked the time on her phone and realised that it was nearing 12AM. 'He's probably asleep' she thought. Sighing, she just walked into her own apartment.

The next day

Today, she was getting ready for the day since she had 1 booking to do. While doing her morning routine, she was listening to the new song that was released for the 14th time already. The song was called "Centimeter" and she really liked the meaning behind the lyrics and how catchy the tune was. After finishing up, she was going to head out and do some things before the booking. Opening the door, she heard a familiar voice.

"Drat, he isn't home" a female voice exclaimed.

"Ruka, what are you doing here?" Chizuru asked causing the high school girl to turn to her left.

"Chizuru, you must know something" Ruka exclaimed. The two decided that they would speak in the café.

"So, what is going on?" Chizuru asked.

"You see, last week, Kazuya didn't go to work, so when I called him about it, he told me he was sick and needed time off" Ruka explained, "However, after not seeing him this past week, I asked my boss about it, and he told me he quit last week"

"Huh?" Chizuru exclaimed.

"I had the idea that you might be involved, but judging by your reaction, I can tell that you have no clue" Ruka added.

"Alright then, I will get to the bottom of this" Chizuru said.

"Really?" Ruka exclaimed.

"This whole week, I've been told that something's up with Kazuya, Sumi told me he couldn't help her out, Umi saw him with another girl, Kibe says they haven't been hanging out much and now this" Chizuru explained, "I will make sure he tells me what's happening, or it will be number 3"

"Number 3?" Ruka questioned.

"His 3rd kick" Chizuru answered.

"Oh, okay, good luck then" Ruka told her before leaving.

Later that evening, Chizuru made her way home after the booking to change out into her usual at home clothes. After washing up and putting her clothes into the laundry basket, she left her apartment and walked towards Kazuya's. She rung the doorbell and waited until it finally opened.

"Hi Mizuhara, something up?" Kazuya asked.

"Can I come in? We need to talk" Chizuru answered.