From Today On, You're My Rental Boyfriend

Several days had passed since the swimming test ended, yet Tatsuya Sakuya of Class 1-D had become a hot topic throughout the entire first year. At the very least, he had gained some influence within Class 1-D.

With an overwhelming performance, Tatsuya Sakuya swept aside athletic standouts like Sudo Ken and Kouenji Rokusuke, pushing the school's best record forward by a huge margin.

The ordinary student nobody had paid attention to before had now become a somewhat famous swimming ace in the class.

Karuizawa Kei had witnessed this sudden transformation firsthand.

The hallway of the school building in the afternoon.

The noise of students during break rose and fell, while only the corner at the end of the hallway remained relatively quiet.

Karuizawa Kei stood there, absentmindedly looking down at the field below as memories of the past resurfaced.

No one understood the price of weakness better than she did.

She had suffered malicious bullying from groups of girls for a long time. Thumbtacks in her shoes, slaps across the face in public, animal carcasses stuffed into her desk—such things had become everyday occurrences for her.

At first, she had sought help from teachers and the school, but her abusers had influence. The school chose to downplay everything and cover up the truth, refusing to intervene at all. Instead, the bullies only became worse.

The despair of being bullied, isolated, and humiliated at will had long left scars in her heart that could never be erased. She had entered Advanced Nurturing University so she would never again become a weak person who was bullied.

To achieve that, she had desperately disguised herself as a cheerful, assertive, popular gyaru, painstakingly maintaining her social circle. None of it had ever been for vanity. She simply did not want to repeat the unbearable life she had lived before.

Originally, she had thought Hirata Yousuke would be the safest person to rely on.

Hirata Yousuke had a gentle personality and considerable influence in Class 1-D. Their public relationship as a perfect couple was enough to shield her from most malice and bullying.

However, after observing him for some time, she realized that Hirata was gentle with everyone. Whenever something happened, he only tried to smooth things over and preserve peace. He would never firmly stand up for anyone, so he simply could not give her absolute protection.

She needed someone stronger, more dependable—someone who could shelter her from the storm.

Tatsuya Sakuya's sudden rise happened to fulfill all her requirements.

He was powerful, had crushed the school's athletic elites in the swimming test, and possessed undeniable strength. He was much better than the other oddballs in Class 1-D.

Just as she was thinking, Tatsuya Sakuya passed by.

"Tatsuya, wait a moment."

Karuizawa Kei stepped forward and blocked his path.

Passersby who caught sight of the scene would only think that a pretty girl had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation, the whole sight brimming with youthful energy.

Tatsuya Sakuya stopped, his gaze falling on the gyaru before him as he spoke calmly.

"Karuizawa, is there something you need?"

There was no excessive warmth in his tone, nor was there deliberate distance. He had struck just the right balance.

Karuizawa Kei tilted her head slightly, her smile sweet and natural as she looked directly at his face.

"Of course there is. Tatsuya, you're a big name in our year now. You got first place in the entire school in the swimming competition. That's super impressive."

Karuizawa Kei began with a perfectly timed compliment, drawing them closer.

Tatsuya Sakuya raised an eyebrow. "I just got lucky."

"That wasn't luck."

Karuizawa Kei gently shook her head, her tone serious. Then she put away some of her playfulness, becoming more solemn. "I came to you because I have something important to discuss with you. I want to make a deal."

"A deal?"

A trace of amusement flashed through Tatsuya Sakuya's eyes, though his expression remained composed.

"There are too many people here. Meet me at the café in Keyaki Mall this afternoon. Then it's settled. Don't stand me up."

Karuizawa Kei leaned slightly closer and lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear.

Tatsuya Sakuya entered the café in Keyaki Mall at the agreed time.

"Over here, over here."

The moment Karuizawa Kei saw him, she immediately called him over.

Karuizawa Kei's outfit today consisted of a light blue shirt with a bow, a burgundy jacket, and a white pleated skirt.

Her slender, well-proportioned legs were wrapped in pristine mid-calf socks, their lines clean and elegant. Her brown-gold hair was tied into a high ponytail. She was undeniably a beautiful girl.

"What did you need, Karuizawa?"

Tatsuya Sakuya sat across from Karuizawa Kei.

"Tatsuya, what kind of person do you think I am? Or rather, what do you think of me?"

Karuizawa Kei got straight to the point.

"Hmm. Karuizawa, you're a very impressive person. Not long after school started, you had already become close with all the girls in the class."

Tatsuya Sakuya seriously considered her question.

"What about my looks? What do you think of my looks?"

"You have the looks of a beautiful girl with a classic gyaru style."

Tatsuya Sakuya carefully looked over the girl in front of him again.

"Great. Then can you be my boyfriend? Oh, no, that's not right. I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend and protect me."

Be Karuizawa Kei's boyfriend? Damn it, there was no need to think about something like that at all!

An ordinary boy would probably have already lost his composure, but Tatsuya Sakuya merely sank into a storm of thoughts.

"Hey, Tatsuya, are you even listening?"

Karuizawa Kei saw that Tatsuya Sakuya had not reacted for a long while.

"Why would you say that, Karuizawa?"

Tatsuya Sakuya asked, pretending to be reserved.

Karuizawa Kei spoke frankly, without the slightest trace of shyness.

"I think you have a bright future. Besides, you're handsome too, and you'd make me look good when I take you out."

This was Karuizawa Kei's way of surviving: entrusting herself to someone else.

"How about this? I won't let you lose out. I can give you ten thousand points every month to rent you as my pretend boyfriend."

A beautiful girl practically delivered herself to his door, and he would get points too. What kind of amazing deal was this? Was he dreaming?

For a moment, Tatsuya Sakuya felt dazed, as though none of this was real.

"Karuizawa, could you pinch me? Am I dreaming?"

Karuizawa Kei gave a helpless little laugh and extended a slender finger, gently pinching Tatsuya Sakuya's arm.

"Hiss."

The warm sensation through his clothes assured Tatsuya Sakuya that he was truly alive.

"Princess, please pay up."

Tatsuya Sakuya laughed and casually brought up his Line QR code.

Teased so directly, a blush spread across Karuizawa Kei's delicate neck, lending her a touch of girlish shyness.

But she did not hesitate. Obediently, she opened Line, added him as a friend, and transferred ten thousand points to him.

"Ten thousand points received through Line."

A crisp payment notification sounded from his phone, formally confirming the special contractual relationship between them.

All right. From today onward, I was Karuizawa Kei's rented boyfriend.

Your stubbornness, rebellion, willfulness, melancholy, and girlish worries—I would accept all of it.