u/Huritakiruy

The Confession: Starting from Zero (Rent-a-Girlfriend Edition)

Kazuya: I've decided, Ruka. Run away with me. As far as we can go.

Ruka: Huh?

Kazuya: Let's drop out of college, leave Tokyo. Disappear from my grandma's sight, my friends'... everyone's. We can go to the countryside.

Ruka: P-Please, wait! Kazuya-kun, this must be because you had another idea, right? Something to fix the mess with your family and help Chizuru-san!

Kazuya: That's not it, Ruka. There's nothing I can do. Everything I touch, I ruin with my lies. That's what I figured out. So run away with me. We can't stay here. No one ever truly needed me. It was all just a paid contract.

Ruka: Kazuya-kun... I can't run away with you.

(Ruka smiles sadly, her eyes shining)

Ruka: If we went to the countryside, we could get normal jobs. Maybe you'd help manage a small shop, and I'd work right there with you. And when we saved up enough money, we could buy a house. We could have kids... and my heart would beat so fast every single day, surrounded by the family we'd build. I would be so happy. But I can't. Because I know that if we run away together now, I'd be leaving behind the passionate and determined Kazuya-kun that I love the most. Please, let's think of a solution.

Kazuya: Solution?! I've already agonized over this! I've thought so much about it! That's why I gave up!

Ruka: Giving up is easy, Kazuya-kun...

Kazuya: Don't give me that! There's nothing easy about giving up! Do you think I'm just sitting around doing nothing?! The only path everything leads to is giving up! If I could do something, I would!

Ruka: I know you're someone who can't give up on the future. You haven't given up on Chizuru-san, or your grandma, or your friends...

Kazuya: What do you know?! What do you know about me?! This is the kind of guy I am! I don't have the guts to face the truth, but I want everyone's love! I don't have my own money, yet I keep wasting my parents' allowance renting a fantasy! There's nothing I can do except cry and lie!

(Kazuya falls to his knees, clutching his head)

Kazuya: I hate myself! I'm trash! I only know how to make up excuses for my grandma and pretend I'm this amazing guy, when I can't do anything! I never do anything but stare at girls' bodies and have pathetic, perverted thoughts! Who do I think I am?! The cost of my cowardice and compulsive lying ended up destroying your lives! I dragged Mizuhara into this web, I trapped you in a fake relationship because I don't know how to say "no"... I'm the scum of the earth. I'm just a pathetic, horny, and insecure loser...

Ruka: I know... that even being so indecisive, you'll throw yourself into the water to save someone who's drowning. I love the way you get desperate to protect the dreams of those who are important to you. I love how, beneath all that panic, you have a kind heart. I love you, Kazuya-kun.

Kazuya: Why? I'm weak. I lie. I pay for attention. Just like I'm running away right now! So why?!

Ruka: Because you made my heart beat, Kazuya-kun!

(Ruka takes a step forward, tears in her eyes)

Ruka: Ever since I was born, my world was gray. My heart beat so slowly that I thought I would never know what love, passion, or youth felt like. I was empty. But when I saw you... when I saw you risk your life and your pride for a girl, even if she was a rental, you melted the ice inside me. My heart raced! You saved me from an emotionless life. That's why I believe. Even if you lie, even if you think you're a failure and a coward... I will believe! That the Kazuya-kun who made my heart beat faster is a true hero.

Kazuya: I... I never did anything. No one expects anything from me but disappointment.

Ruka: I'm right here. The girlfriend whose heart you made race is right here. Let's start from here, right now. We'll make your life, the one you feel is just a big lie, into something real. Let's start here. From zero.

Kazuya: (Crying, finally lifting his head) Ruka... I love Chizuru.

Ruka: (Swallows her tears, keeping her smile) Yes.

Kazuya: I want to see Chizuru smile. I want to help her achieve her dream of being an actress, of showing her movie to her grandma. Even if she says I'm just a client... even if she charges me by the hour... I want to be near her. Using my lies to keep her close was selfish and cowardly. I want to truly save her, without renting her. Will you help me? I'm a liar, I'm broke, and I have absolutely no confidence in myself.

Ruka: You are a cruel man, Kazuya-kun. You're asking all of this from the girl you just rejected, the girl who proclaimed herself your girlfriend?

Kazuya: It's hard for me too, asking this from the girl who rejected my cowardly proposal to run away.

Ruka: I accept... If it helps you stop lying and truly smile in the future, then yes.

Kazuya: Yeah, just watch. You'll have a front-row seat... to see the most pathetic and lying man in the world become someone worthy of standing by her side.

Ruka: I'm watching you.

Kazuya: The story of Kazuya Kinoshita... no, my real life, with no rentals, will begin right here. From zero!