Rent-a-Girlfriend (彼女、お借りします)

I'm pretty sure I'm on my way to get rejected.

And it's probably gonna hurt like hell.

I'll feel sad and cry a lot.

If I knew our time together would end like this

or hurt so much.

Huh?

Then maybe I never would have

rented you in the first place.

Save us both the trouble.

Hear me out, OK?

RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND

"ROUTINE AND GIRLFRIEND"

The calendar says October.

But the trees are still green, so you wouldn't know it.

At least the heat wave's gone.

Now nature can't decide whether it's summer or fall.

Couples everywhere start getting revved

up with the Halloween spirit.

They begin fantasizing about purple and orange.

NO LOOKY!

Oh, man. I really want a girlfriend.

Did you see Bachelorette?

The final rose made me cry.

The first day of classes is here.

The screening the other day marked

the end of one of the most chaotic summers of my life.

And now it's back to normal.

Seriously, it was pure chaos.

Hey, how's it going?

Who are you?

It's Kuribayashi.

No reason to be rude about it.

Jeez, you got a tan.

Oh, yeah.

I hit the beach like five times.

What a wild summer.

You gotta learn some restraint.

You're burnt.

He was out having fun while I was working my butt off?

Hey, I'm not burnt. You're just pale next to me.

WHO WEARS A WHITE HOODIE WITH THAT SKIN TONE?!

Wait where's Kibe?

Oh, he's skipping class.

Really? On the first day?

What? A thriller bar?

Huh?

That's right.

Every 45 minutes,

a master of horror recites a scary story.

No, if we do something like that,

you'll be up all night again.

You can't handle scary stuff.

I even had to walk with you to the bathroom that one time.

Let's go. We'll be up anyway.

Lower your voice. We're at school, you idiot.

Well, I guess those two got freaky over the summer.

It always happens after a long break.

Weird pairings, man.

OK.

Wait, hold up.

I'm pretty sure that's Mizuhara's friend, Shinbo.

Is this gonna be OK?

I'M WORRIED ABOUT LEAKS

I guess it's fine.

Her friends don't seem like they know anything yet.

Hey, you doing all right?

Huh?

You know, with Chizuru.

You get everything sorted there?

It didn't seem like Kibe knew anything.

We'll talk later.

A nice, long chat.

Whoa, dude, it's way more serious than I thought.

Just forget I ever asked, really.

Hey, Master!

Uh, Yaemori, hey.

Oh, crap.

I don't think she and Kuri know each other.

Huh? Mini girl, what's up?

Hey, Kuri!

You've met?

Of course, we have.

One of my friends is in a club with him.

No way.

How do you two know each other?

Me and Master?

We're next door neighbors.

Wow.

I mean, what are the odds?

Hold up.

Did you say master?

Her?

No, that's crazy talk.

You're so tan, Kuri.

Cheese.

What a small world, huh?

Kuri and Yaemori knew each other the whole time?

I may be compromised.

They both know about my rental girlfriend thing.

So that part's fine.

But the Ruka thing, that's a frickin' ticking time bomb.

I suppose it's not that crazy.

I've been lying about Mizuhara for the last year and a half.

Everyone has their own lives and friends.

They're bound to intersect.

So spill the beans, bruh.

I was too busy with the movie

to focus on life around me.

And now keeping the status quo will be impossible.

Something's gotta give.

I need to figure this out.

Hello, and welcome back, my lord and master.

What's with the whole maid thing?

Oh, this?

It's a special seasonal uniform.

It's an original exclusive to our store.

Isn't it cute?

Hey, boss, isn't this the kind of stuff you're into?

That a problem?

SHE LIKES IT, SO LAY OFF

Whoa, freaky.

Come here, drink it up.

Your cute girlfriend's in a maid outfit.

Hey, if we're not careful, the boss could find out.

You're saying this doesn't do something for you?

Uh, yeah!

Now that you mention it, it's doing a lot.

Maybe a little too much right now.

Hey, Hornoshita. Uh, it's Kinoshita.

I need you to clean and disinfect rooms one through 15,

then the bathrooms after that.

And you got an advance on your pay.

You've got a lot of work to do.

Oh, yeah.

You got an advance?

For what?

Don't worry about it.

I'll fill you in later, OK?

I see.

You just booked a date to cheer her up?

Yeah, that's right.

It's fine. Since it's only a work thing for her,

I know nothing weird would happen.

Really, that was the right way to go.

No way I can tell her the truth.

Hey, do you think the date helped cheer Chizuru up?

I'd say so.

Good.

I'm happy to hear that.

Ruka is handling this pretty well.

She didn't blow up about me renting out Mizuhara.

In fact, she actually seemed kind of worried about her.

From this point forward, it's business as usual with me.

Wait, what are you talking about?

Like I told you, I cut her some slack because

of the stuff with her grandma.

But I have zero intention of rolling over

and letting Chizuru have you.

OK, back up a sec.

So do you want to go on a trip together?

You and me?

Where did that come from?

You and Chizuru will get closer and closer if I don't

do something to intervene.

As your girlfriend, I deserve the same chance

as her, at the very least.

I'm still not over the fact that you two went

on a little filming trip together,

and you told me there wouldn't be any more dates, either.

Look, I tried to tell you, Yaemori set that up.

You're not getting out of this.

I've got a lot of pent-up stress

from when Chizuru was sad, and I'm going to get

my release if it kills me!

Huh?

What stress?

And where'd you have in mind?

Hot springs, maybe.

Wait, hot springs?

Not like an overnight trip, right?

Sheesh.

I don't think the hot springs are such a good idea.

It's been nothing but Chizuru this and Chizuru that.

You should be tending to my needs.

I'm your actual girlfriend!

That's not fair.

I feel like I'm doing my part.

I don't think we can go on a trip like that together.

Oh, yes, we can.

And when you say needs, what do you mean by that?

Really?

Do I have to spell it out for you?

We get close.

And then...

take your hand-- and rub it around.

OK. We're making all kinds of physical contact right now.

This is a red alert.

Mood lighting in the karaoke room isn't helping.

And you need to start doing that without me telling you.