Pay Me and I'll Tell Everyone We're Dating (Rent-A-Girlfriend SI)

This fic is a product of seething hatred for Kazuya. Don't take it seriously. This story also won't be long. 3 chapters tops. So, enjoy the ride I guess.

---

Sometimes, Vanessa tried to convince herself that as a "rental girlfriend" she's providing a much-needed service to lonely, socially disadvantaged men by giving her time and energy to spending a few hours a day with unfortunate bachelors and was not blatantly participating in softcore prostitution.

Of course, this was a load of shit, but it was a nice thought to have as Vanessa prepared for another "date". Checking the clock on her phone, she only had about an hour left before the "date". She rolled her eyes and cracked her neck, "Let's get this shit over with", the brunette sighed under her breath as she removed herself from her desk, pushing her chair against her bed as she stood up.

She made her way through her currently messy one-bedroom apartment into her bathroom to shower. This has been Vanessa's life for the past several months since coming to Japan. Though less "sudden" and more "inexplicable conjuring" as she had no idea how the fuck she got here after all.

One day, she was sleeping in her house in Texas and then the next morning she was in some cheap looking apartment you'd find in a porno.

Of course, Vanessa lost her shit completely at the time. Lost her shit so bad in fact that multiple residents of the apartment complex thought I was being literally murdered and called the police. It was a very awkward moment to explain to the very Japanese cops that she was fine and she had just 'slipped in the shower'.

As discombobulated as she was at the time, Vanessa still had enough self-awareness to know that explaining her situation to the cops would just get her sent down to the station as some druggie and fuck being near cops any longer than I have to be Obviously, the cops could tell she was bullshitting but decided not to pursue it and dropped it, though not before asking, "Are you American?" a heavy set cop asked, turning back to me.

"Uhm huh?", the introverted 25-year-old eloquently replied.

They must have taken that as a yes as the cop's eyes widened before the thinner partner retorted, "You have a bit of an accent, but your Japanese is very good."

"T-thanks?"

"Well, have a good night ma'am. And please, try not to cause any more trouble for the other residents", the heavy set officer tips his hat as he and his partner walk back to their patrol car. The latina watched them enter the car and drive off, the flashing lights growing distant.

After that, Vanessa ran back into her apartment and continued to lose her shit. But quietly this time. She wouldn't want to disturb the other residents after all. Honestly, she doesn't recall the next day or two after that. Much of it was a blur of crying, bawling, sleeping and throwing (quiet) fits in her so-called apartment. Though, in time, she eventually calmed down enough to assess the situation.

Going through what looks to have been her travel bag, she rummaged through the unfamiliar luggage. Passport, license, residency and all the standard governmental crap was all there in her personal belongings, much to Vanessa's chagrin. Doubly surprising was her being a student at Nerima University, with a full scholarship to boot.

An unnerving feeling jolted through Vanessa.

A history major, given a full ride? Bullshit. The latina thought to herself as she scrolled through her student profile–

"Wait a second. Why does it say my age is nineteen?", squinting at the computer screen in disbelief, her glasses being shadowed by the light from the PC. Vanessa started to hyperventilate once more.

"Fuck, I have do college again. I was almost done-ugggggggh"

Of course, Vanessa raged (quietly) for the next few moments after that, her pillow taking the brunt of her assault.

Her rage stopped when she finally noticed the alerts on her phone. She had ignored it and thrown it across the room when she realized that all of her old contacts didn't exist anymore. Picking it up off the ground and turning it on, she was bombarded by dozens of messages.

"What the hell is 'Diamond'..?" staring at the aforementioned app on her phone. Hesitating for a moment her finger tapped the screen, opening the app. Instantly being hit by a deluge of pics of men across all spectrums of age and appearance. With one thing they all had in common.

"Date requests...? Oh god", the brunette exclaimed in silent horror. Vanessa really hoped she didn't get isekai'd to 'doujin hentai Japan' or she might be fucked in a way she joked about at home but would probably not actually like.

Scrolling, she saw a hotlink to direct her to her personal profile. Dreading what she'd find but too morbidly curious to not look, she clicked the link. Before her was a picture of her way prettier than she'd normally be with a UI that looked straight out of a dating sim.

Talent

Vanessa Batista

"Bombacious yankee from the U S of A!"

Availability - "Ready and willing~ "

Popularity - 4/5
★★★★☆

User Reviews:

LonelyLoverXxanny is so cute and has the most adorable accent. Would rent again 10/10.

ScandalousOfficeWorker69: She's so tiny and cute that I can't help but want to pick her up! Her petiteness is great and her accent adds to the flavoring. Toptier girlfriend! Tally-ho!1!

DogShinShin: Absolutely satisfied! Cute, stylish and she wears glasses! The best girlfriend ever! Americans are great XD!

Her shaking hand dropped the phone onto the floor before she collapsed onto her bed, hands in her face. Breathing heavily and with a shaky voice, the latina merely stated "Oh god. Oh fuck. I'm in hentai."

---

Of course, time passed, and Vanessa had come to terms with her situation in the present. And by come to terms, she meant she violently suppressed her feelings on it, like a well-adjusted adult.

So, good news was that she wasn't in hentai. Yay! She thinks anyway. Jury still out on that one.

Bad news was that she was still a virgin. Darn.

Even worse news is that her "job" required her to interact with random strangers as their glorified girlfriend. Fucking wack. She couldn't even do that for real at home.

Her only saving grace is that this is 'suggestive ecchi/harem' Japan and most of these people are so desperate that they won't notice my discomfort and general disgust as long as she pulls the basic 'animu' girl aesthetic.

It helps that Vanessa was a foreigner. As xenophobic as Nippon is, they are down bad for any girl that are yankees or hasn't been culturally dispositioned to be as meek as possible. Vanessa surmises that it is some sort of societal Stockholm syndrome from World War II.

The Texan contemplated what she should wear as she stepped out of the shower as she dried her hair.

Screw it. I'll just put on my blouse and some flats or some shit. She decided to herself, shrugging at the thought as she patted herself dry and stepping out her bathroom. The steam from the shower carried itself across the apartment as she made her way back to her closet.

Another benefit she found that many of these guys who rented her were so desperate that she only had to put a modicum of effort into clothing and makeup, and she still got pretty good ratings. Though perhaps not as much as she did prior to coming here. The less she thought about who the person she was before she got there, the better. As far as she was concerned, they were two different people.

'Bombacious yankee' my ass. She annoyingly thought as the phrase brought a twinge of cringe to her features. Ignoring the self-induced cringe, she continues herself in a simple, teal blouse and ankle pants and other miscellaneous jewelry.

Stepping over the items thrown haphazardly across the floor, she looked herself in the full body mirror, next to the bathroom door. Looking herself up and down and twisting her figure to make sure her ass was nice and visible for extra points. Satisfied, Vanessa nodded her head and gave herself a hearty 'Eh, good enough'.

Turning around to look at her messy, clothes and books-strewn apartment she merely replied, "Now, here the fuck are my flats?"

---

Even months after arriving in Japan, Vanessa still couldn't get used to the convoluted mess that was the Japanese transportation system. Intellectually she knew that it was actually among the most efficient in the world, but her innate pettiness wrote it off as overly elaborate and stupid and her spite wouldn't allow her to believe otherwise.

Unfortunately, her car didn't actually make the jump with her and unlike the U.S where the car examinations were piss easy, Vanessa knew she wouldn't have the same ease with such a thing in Japan. Especially with everyone driving on the wrong side of the road.

So like most things since isekai'ing to hentai land, Vanessa simply learned how to deal.

Making her exit at Nerima-kasugachō Station, the Texan made her way to the designated meeting spot. She was running about fifteen minutes late, but the brunette figured that's okay. Most guys she had rental dates with would often note how upset they would be to leave her waiting or that if they were even one minute late then the date was ruined but when the opposite was true, everything was peachy. She didn't really get the psychology behind it but it worked to her favor so whatever.

Having arrived at her destination, she figured this would be a good time to remind herself of how this guy looked. Taking out her phone, she looks at the info DM'd to her in the app.

Kazuya Kinoshita. 20. Orange T-shirt and striped pants. Skimming the info on smartphone before scanning the crowd once again, and finally spotted him.

Leaning against the edge of a local store, she saw the boy in question wearing exactly as the app had stated. Hand and pocket and one scrolling through his phone in a lackadaisical fashion. His posture gives off the aura of someone who believes they are relaxed but paradoxically came off more as stiff and clumsy if anything.

Vanessa would be the first to admit that this "job" had made her far more judgmental than she ever had been prior to coming to Japan. Admittedly, she was self-aware enough to know that she always was to some extent, but she never really cared too much back home, mostly due to not needing to.

But since being isekai'd and interacting with her various "clients" she has learned to really pick up things. Mostly, the vibe of whatever guy she was with. If Spiderman had a Spidey Sense, then what Vanessa had could be called a 'Creep Sense'. The latina had come to learn it's less how a guy looks or dresses but how they came across and nine times out of ten, that could tell you what kind of experience you are in for.

Looking at Kazuya, she didn't feel that tingly unnerving feeling she got with some guys. At least not immediately. A good sign. But looking at him, she could tell what kind of date she would have just by looking at him which could be summed up as, 'nervous nerd down on his luck and/or being pressured by friends'. Either or.

Point being, he looked awkward as fuck.

Not something she'd begrudge anyone for, given she is the same in many ways but it did inform her of what she'd have to do to get him to 'open up' so to speak.

Regardless, best to get this over with. Taking a deep breath, the Texan put on her 'game face' and approached the gangly boy with her best 'animu' extrovert expression. Kill the cringe.

Showtime.

Striding over with a false confidence, Vanessa announced herself with a verbose energy and doing the classic "V" sign. "Hi! You're Kazuya-kun, right?"

"Bwuh?!" The boy jolted up in shock, nearing losing his grip on his phone as he played a game of hot potato trying to prevent it from falling.

Preventing herself from giving an ugly cackle, she projected a false giggle instead, "I'm so sorry for being late! One of the trains was running late." she lied as easily as she breathed as the nervous boy finally managed to gain his footing.

"A-ah yeah, it's okay! I just got here actually," Kazuya exclaimed, waving his arm in front of him to dismiss her worries.

"Ah thank goodness! I've only been in Japan for a few months, and I'm still not used to how the transit works." Vanessa explained, pouting a bit. Seeing this, Kazuya gave a nervous chuckle before continuing

"N-nah it's fine, I get turned around every now and then too.. ha-ha", the boy said, awkwardly scratching his head, attempting to comfort the latina.

Lifting her purse over her shoulder, the chicana gave the nervous lad a smile. "Well, rather than standing out here, how about we head to a café? Is that good with you?" said Vaneesa, pointing a manicured finger down the street to the nearest restaurants.

"A-ah, sure." Kazuya agreed, having been jolted out of his stupor.

The fake couple began walking down the crowded street, keeping pace with one another in a comfortable but awkward silence. Vanessa gave a side glance to Kazuya, noticing his standoffish posture. He was walking close to her but kept his hands firmly in his pockets, perhaps an attempt to come off as cool but came across as childishly edgy more than anything. His eyes dozing off to the side in an effort to avoid eye contact. Pretty standard fare, as far as the latina was concerned.

Vanessa decided to throw the gangly boy a bone.

"Ah, would you mind…" Vanessa tapered off as she stopped and held her arm out of Kazuya. The orange-haired youth's mind seemed to gridlock at the gesture before finally realizing a few scant seconds later, his eyes darting down at the outstretched arm as red began to reach his ears.

"O-oh, uhm, sure thing," Kazuya uttered sheepishly as he took his hand out of his pocket and began to elongate and angle his arm as if trying to decide how to loop his arm with hers. After a few scant seconds, he firmly locked his arm with hers, looking as if he made a great accomplishment despite his evident embarrassment.

Vanessa merely raised her eyebrow at the boy, before mentally shrugging. Everyone has to start somewhere, I guess. Putting back on her 'game face' Vanessa beamed towards her date, "Right, now let's get something to eat. Tally-ho!" the chicana exclaimed, pumping her fist up into the air with false enthusiasm.

"R-right, T-tally-ho!" Kazuya copied in his awkward cadence.

Oh boy.

 

Café Kanoir, Vanessa decided, was pretty fucking aesthetic for what was essentially the standard anime trope of the “exposition” café that existed on the same level as Truck-kun, incestuous siblings and pantyshots.

That is to say, Vanessa thought it looked pretty good.

Kazuya holding the door open and the brunette giving a silent "thank you" the Latina and her date walked through the doors of the café with various people, presumably couples and people enjoying their lunch, carrying on with their own conversations. Vanessa nodded toward the carrot-haired boy, "Hmm, how about over there?" she suggested pointing towards an empty table near a window.

"S-sure," Kazuya replied, walking towards the table in question with the couple's elbows still locked in place.

Arriving at the table, the carrot top's eyes suddenly went wide before removing his arm from his fake date's hold somewhat roughly, before rushing to pull out the cushioned chair in question.

"A-after you," Kazuya stuttered with a lackadaisical smile, gesturing his hand to the open seat he pulled out.

"...Thanks," Vanessa replied, giving the boy a measured smile taking her seat.

The boy continued to smile nervously as he took his seat across from her.

The two sat in brief but uncomfortable silence as a waitress came to take their order. "Hello! Welcome to Café Kanoir, I'm Miyu. How can I take your order?" the pony-tailed waitress smiled at the fake couple, with the energy of a person forced to work a nine-to-five.

Returning a smile of her own, Vanessa replied. "Just a vanilla latte please. Thank you,"

"Uh, yeah same but can I have mine with cinnamon?" Kazuya asked as he refused to make eye contact with the waitress.

"Of course, sir. I'll return with your lattes in a jiffy! "She jovially replied as she placed two menus on the table. "Please take your time in ordering and I'll be back soon with your beverages," With that the waitress made her way back towards the counter to place the order and continue her rounds, leaving the couple alone to stew in silence.

Deciding to break the ice, Vanessa took the initiative. "Sooo, tell me about yourself, Kazuya Hobbies? Schooling? All that jazz," The southerner asked as she skimmed through the menu.

Seeming startled at the question, Kazuya replied, "U-uh well, I'm in college. First year" Scratching his cheek as he went through the menu himself whilst sneaking glances towards Vanessa.

"Oh cool, I'm a first year too! Been kind of going through the wringer trying to get used to everything since I got to Japan but I've definitely started to adjust," The American answered, flicking through the laminated menu.

She continued, "So hobbies? What do ya like to do in your free time?" Vanessa asked, intentionally letting a bit more of her accent come through in the question. Vanessa sucked at the 'Southern charm' bit but being in Japan, most could never tell the difference anyway.

"W-well I like to play games and all that"

"Oh really? What kind of games?" Vanessa drawled, leaning forward with her hand placed firmly on her chin.

The boy sputtered at the gesture, "Y-you probably wouldn't know it anyway."

"Try me," The Texan challenged.

"I-I mean, I play Call of Duty so…" Kazuya replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Vanessa's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, you play CoD? I honestly didn't think it was that popular over in Japan."

Kazuya's eyes also widened in response. "O-oh you know it? I didn't think girls really played it but you are American so…" the boy silently trailed off before continuing , "S-so you play Call of Duty, huh? For how long?"

Vanessa smiled in a playful manner. "Since Modern Warfare. The original, not the 2019 remake," the Chicana raising her finger as if denoting the difference between the two.

Kazuya smiled, looking the slightest bit more comfortable to talk about a subject he actually knows, "So favorite Call of Duty game?" He asked.

"As far as multiplayer is concerned, Black Ops 2. For a campaign, that one's tough. Hmm, World at War maybe?" Putting a finger to the tip of her chin, thinking about the question.

"Treyarch huh? I was more into Sledgehammer's games personally." Kazuya stated.

Venessa was somewhat shocked that Kazuya actually managed a sentence without stuttering. Progress!

Smiling, Vanessa nodded. "Now, see, that's fair–"

---

The two would discuss their favorite Call of Duty games over the next few minutes waiting for their beverages, with Kazuya becoming a lot more animated in the discussion. Even Vanessa found herself unusually engaged.

"I don't know," Vanessa started, looping her hair around her finger. "There's just something missing with the modern CoD's. Not sure how to word it, they just play like…ughh.." Leaning back with a hint of disgust on her face.

"Y-yeah, I kinda get where you're coming from. Vanguard's multiplayer is just full of tryhards and Warzone is j-just well, rage-inducing," The carrot top uttered, as if remembering something embarrassing.

"I don't play Warzone so I'll take your word for it." Vanessa acknowledged, stretching her arms over her head, leaving her chest bare to look at.

Kazuya's babbling came to a halt as he stared, blatantly and without a hint of restraint.

Shit, I didn't actually mean to do that. Vanessa thought, grimacing briefly at her negligence. Got a bit too comfortable.

Vanessa spared a glance at the boy across from her. His eyes were placed firmly on her petite chest. His mouth slowly opened and closed in response as he moistened his lips as if dry. My gaze meets his own and he looks away as if he got caught in the cookie jar, his face as red as a tomato.

The duo fell back into awkward silence.

Oh god. Please, Miyu. Vanessa prayed, hoping for salvation from this cringe. Deliver me from this hell.

As if her prayers were answered, Miyu arrived with her drinks, adorning an apologetic smile and giving a slight bow as she placed the beverages on the table, "I'm so sorry about the wait, we just got backed up with orders since we've had a busy morning."

"No, no you're fine. We appreciate it all the same," Vanessa responded, waving off the worries.

"Y-yeah, it's no issue, Miyu-san. Thank you," said Kazuya, seeming similarly relieved as he squirmed in his seat.

Miyu breathed a sigh of relief before continuing, "Thank you. So, are you both ready to order?"

"I'll have katsu sando, with no mayo or egg please," Vanessa said, giving her order to the waitress.

Miyu nodded, jotting down the order on her notepad before turning to Kazuya, "And your order, sir?"

"Oh, u-uh, can I have the raisin buttercream koppepan?" The boy replied, as he continually readjusted and scooted his seat further under the table as if trying to hide something, bowing his head.

Ignoring the college boy's fidgeting, the waitress nodded and wrote down his order. She beamed that classic "nine-to-five" smile to use before continuing, "Got it! It'll be out shortly. Please enjoy your beverages."

Miyu gave a curt bow before heading back towards the kitchen, leaving the two to their lonesome.

Radiating silence, Vanessa wanted to once more break the ice but not sure after her earlier bungle. However, to her surprise, it was Kazuya who broke the silence.

"So, um…"

"Yeah?" Vanessa inquired, glad she wasn't the one having to break the silence.

"You said you transferred here, right? S-so how is it over there? America, I mean." Kazuya asked as he folded his arms over the table.

Vanessa blinked, before adjusting her glasses. Tapping her chin with her finger, pondering the question.

"Hmm, good question. How to describe America…" the petite woman tapered off, taking a sip of her latte before continuing. "I guess the best way to describe America is like a muffin."

"A, uh, muffin?" Kazuya asked with confusion etched into his face.

"Yeah, a muffin," Vanessa nodded, placing her beverage back down. "So imagine a muffin, and it has all the good stuff. Ya know, the frosting, the sprinkles. Has a really great flavor to it and all that jazz, that you want more of it but–"

"But?" Kazuya questioned.

"Well, you're eating it and it's great. Nice and fluffy. But then you get to the bottom of the muffin, and it's burnt. You enjoyed eating the muffin so much you didn't notice it. You bite into that burnt part and immediately spit it out, and now you're kinda pissed because it takes away from you enjoying the good parts of the muffin." Vanessa finished her haphazard analogy, as she added a hint of sugar to her latte.

"Sooo…America is a burnt muffin?" Kazuya perplexingly inquired.

The spectacled girl nodded. "Yeah, sure. It's kinda wack. But it is what it is, ya know?"

"I..see." Kazuya did, in fact, not see. But choose to move on to another subject. "So, where in America are you from exactly?"

"Texas," the Latina replied, putting extra emphasis on the 'as'. "Land of yeehaws, the Alamo and the Statue of Liberty carrying an AR-15," she joked, remembering a time she visited a shooting range with the exact statue in question.

Grabbing the hem of his shirt, Kazuya continued, "So, why is it that—"

"Here you go!" Miyu announced herself, interrupting the duo, carrying a platter of food. "One katsu sando with no egg or mayo annnd~ one raisin buttercream koppepan. Enjoy!"

"Thank you/T-thanks," Vanessa and Kazuya uttered simultaneously, causing the latter to blush

Giggling, the waitress commented. "My, what a cute couple you two are. You're practically in sync!"

The American's eyebrow twitched a bit, before replying with a forced giggle of her own, "Ah thank you! We've been practicing, I guess you could say."

The college youth merely turned his gaze away at the statement, this time not necessarily out of embarrassment but an emotion Vanessa couldn't discern.

"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds at it. Again, enjoy your meal," With that, Miyu bowed her head and returned to her rounds.

Turning her focus back to Kazuya, who still firmly had his gaze towards the window. "So what was it you were going to say?" the Texan asked.

"Hm? Oh, uh, it was nothing. Let's just eat," He replied, his voice taking an indiscernible tone.

"Ah, okay then, sure," Raising a questioning brow in response but otherwise agreeing with the sentiment.

As Vanessa went on to bite into her meal, she failed to notice the disgruntled grimace Kazuya directed towards her.

---

The fake couple ate the rest of their meal in silence. Both either unable or unwilling to continue to previous conversation after the sudden dour tone that had grown. The main reason for this being Kazuya, who had all but ate only half of his sandwich. His head down, seemingly deep in thought.

Once more, breaking the silence Vanessa exclaimed. "Wow, that was great. I should come here again when I get the chance,"
"Hm, o-oh yeah, it's pretty good," Kazuya half-heartedly replied. Vanessa looked towards her.

10:35 huh? Well. Vanessa dreaded. I suppose I can get the most awkward part of the way.

Scanning the café, Vanessa made sure no one else was directly looking at the table they were seated at before continuing, "So, um, I usually ask a bit towards the end of the date but…" Trailing off, Vanessa outstretched her hand.

Kazuya merely stared at the appendage in confusion before realization sparked in his eyes and adopted a neutral expression. "Oh. Right..."

Reaching into his back pocket, Kazuya took out his worn wallet. Drifting his finger over the bills that lined it, he took out 40,000 yen and placed it into Vanessa's hand.

It was Vanessa's turn to be the awkward one, as she hurriedly brought the money to her chest as if embarrassed to have anyone see her being paid.

Giving a sheepish yet appreciative "Thank you" to the boy as she pocketed the money. The orange haired boy twisted the bottom hem of his shirt as he looked towards his fake date and then off to the side.

"Doesn't it…" The boy muttered.

"Hmm?" Vanessa hummed, not hearing him.

"I said, doesn't it make you feel empty?" He continued in a clearer voice, refusing to meet his date's eyes.

"I'm...sorry, I'm not sure what you mean?" The brunette asked, trying to discern his intent.

Clenching his jaw before giving an insecure smile, he carried on, "Being with lame virgins you don't even like...going on dates...taking money from them. Don't you find that depressing?" The boy declared, the awkward cadence still there but with a hint of resentment filtering through.

"..."

Where the hell did this come from? Vanessa thought as she blinked at the carrot-topped youth across from her. Her mouth twitched downwards as red flags began to alarm in the back of Vanessa's head but decided to keep the facade up regardless.

"Nope! I really love what I do," The Latina asserted, putting extra emphasis on the 'p', lying as easily as she breathed. "I like meeting new people like y'all!" Vanessa gave a fake, toothy smile hoping that it would placate her irritated date.

Not saying anything in response, Kazuya darted his eyes away from the beaming girl.

Not wanting to stop the momentum, Vanessa clapped her hands together and rose from her seat, "The aquarium is our next stop right? Come on, I'll go ahead and pay and we can head out. Tally-ho!" The spectacled girl cheered as she pumped her fist into the air.

"...Yeah. Tally-ho." came the milquetoast reply as he rose from his seat.

Vanessa's smile faltered momentarily as she went to pay for their meal. Well, whatever. I did already get paid, I guess. The Texan thought to herself, ignoring the bad vibes as she walked to the counter. One last stop anyway and we can call it a day.

Though, the young woman made sure to grasp the pepper spray at the bottom of her purse, making sure it was present.

Just in case.

---

The train ride to Shinagawa was short but it felt like an eternity to Vanessa. Kazuya's mood had deteriorated considerably, and she had no clue as to why. He practically ignored her for most of the train ride, while sneaking glances at her when he thought she wouldn't notice.

Was it the fact she asked for pay earlier than normal? She pondered. Perhaps but she still didn't see how that would make him get like this. Or is it that fact that he started to believe that this was real? The Texan has had clients who got caught up in the illusion before, so it was likely.

At the end of the day, this was a business transaction. Vanessa didn't wish any ill will to her clients, could even vibe with them on occasion. But anything more than that just simply wasn't on the table. Falling for the illusion was entirely on them, not the Latina.

Not that it will matter much longer. The girl thought to herself as she rose from her seat, the train finally signaling its stop.

The foreigner made her way to the carriage door with Kazuya silently following behind her. Even from the station the Shinagawa Aqua Park was visible to the fake couple. Putting back on her game face, Vanessa turned back to her 'date' with a liveliness in her voice.

"Alrighty! Almost there, letsa' go. Tally-ho!" the Texan declared, pointing towards the aquarium in the distance.

"Uh, right." the boy replied, scratching his head with a gauche expression.

Damn, not even copying the 'Tally-ho!" anymore huh? Vanessa internally grimaced. However, keeping a smile on her face, the brunette made her way to the main street, directly on path to the aquarium.

Kazuya belligerently followed behind her, red covering his cheeks as he watched his date walk in front her.

The main street intersected at the path towards the aquarium. The street was bustling with activity. Various vendors selling an assortment of items for anything that caught the average bystanders eye.

Vanessa glanced down at her watch. 11:07. The young woman noted. We have time.

"Hey, Kazuya!" she exclaimed back towards the boy, causing the boy to jump in surprise after their relative silence.

"U-um, yeah?" came the stuttered response.

"Let's have a look around here as we head towards the aquarium right quick. Get a souvenir or two maybe. I'll pay." Vanessa tacked on at the end, not wanting to take any more of the boy's money than she already had.

"Y-yeah, I guess that's fine..." said the boy in his dour tone.

Vanessa gave him a polished smile as she grabbed hold of his hand as she led him deeper down the street towards the vendors. The pair found themselves eyeing multiple vendors, mostly with Vanessa commenting on items while Kazuya remained mostly silent, passive to the girl's efforts to get him to open up.

"Well aren't you two a cute couple?" a voice commented from just ahead of them. A waifish, blond- haired woman with stylish attire greeted them. Her manicured fingers displayed outward to show off her wares. "How about you two take a look at what I have, I'm sure you can find something to your tastes." the woman gestured, giving a genuine but practiced smile to the duo.

Numerous jewelry, nick-nacks and accessories dotted the vendor's blanket. A pair of cyrillic bracelets caught the Latina girl's eyes, bending her knees to examine them more closely.

"Oooh, how about these?" Vanessa drawled picking up the bracelets to study them. "What do you think, Kazuya?" asked the southerner, looking back towards her date. Kazuya's attention was strictly downwards toward Vanessa before his eyes darted upwards to meet her eyes immediately upon the question registering in his head. Shame flickered in his gaze before he turned away, his awkward cadence returning to him.

"Uh, yeah sure, those look fine." the orange-haired youth responded.

Vanessa merely nodded her head and returned her eyes to the vendor with a smile. "We'll get these then, please."

"Great choice! Just one bag for you and your hubby, right?" asked the short-haired vendor innocuously.

Kazuya seemed to twitch at the statement before replying, "Huh? No, we're not–"

"Oh no no, he's my boyfriend!" Vanessa said with a beatific smile, cutting off Kazuya and interlocking her arm with his. "We're–"

"No, I'm not." Kazuya declared.

What? Vanessa thought.

"What?" Vanessa unconsciously reiterated her thoughts out loud.

"I'm just some stranger, right?" the carrot top uttered lowly, jerking himself away from his date's arm before continuing, "Might as well be…" the twinge of resentment from earlier filling his voice once more as his eyes darted away.

"..."

Is this guy fucking serious right now? Vanessa thought to herself, biting the inside of her cheek with irritation and embarrassment at him doing this in public.

"Oh. Umm, I'll just bag these separately then..." uttered the female vendor, flustered at the situation. Her eyes flickering between the fake couple before turning her attention downwards.

The duo simply stood in uneasy silence as the vendor finished bagging their items. The three of them uttered not a single word, with the only sound of rustling plastic.

"Um, here you go ma'am, sir." the vendor quietly said, handing separate bags to Vanessa and Kazuya.

"...Thank you," the Latina spoke in a low voice, a measured smile on her face.

"...Yeah, thanks." came his curt reply.

"Let's head to the aquarium, Kazuya," Vanessa declared a bit too quickly, as she walked off. A quiet Kazuya followed after her.

---

Shinagawa Aquarium, Vanessa decided, was also pretty fucking aesthetic. Shame this time she couldn't enjoy it as much under all the seething rage she felt towards her "date".

What the actual fuck was his problem? The Texan seethed as she walked under the admittedly beautiful water walkway, as various forms of sea life danced in the water around her. I try my damndest to get this asshole to feel better and he spits in my face and make me look like a fucking idiot?

The spectacled girl took a peek behind to the fucker in question. He still had a mostly neutral expression on his face, but the clumsy, awkward energy he emanated seemingly naturally was still there as his gaze was directed towards the displays.

At first, she didn't mind the awkwardness, but now she found herself growing increasingly annoyed by it.

Well, whatever. I just got to look at the fucking fish with him for another thirty minutes. An hour tops. The girl thought, mentally shrugging to herself. Vanessa endeavored to put back on her "game face", her aggravated grimace transforming into a plastic smile.

The Latina sometimes wondered how shockingly easy it was for her to shift gears like that but at the moment paid no heed to it, her only thought was to get her job over and done with.

"Hey, hey, Kazuya!" exclaimed the young woman, pointing to a display adjacent to them. "Look at that one over there!"

Kazuya perked up at his name being called, looking towards Vanessa and the direction she was pointing at. "Hmm? Oh yeah, those things."

"Mmhm! Neon Tetras, I think they are called," responded the girl as she looked through the brochure listing the different species.

"You, um, seem a bit excited, have you ever been to an aquarium before now?" questioned the boy, as he saw his date dart to the tank paralleled to them.

"Only once, when I was a little girl." Vanessa spoke truthfully, placing her hand on the tank as she watched what appeared to be a sea bass swim by her.

"I see…"

"Oh. I know that one!" she said pointing at a multicolored fish that bumped into the glass. "That's an Asagi koi fish. They are one of the oldest types of koi there is."

Kazuya frowns, his jaw clenching and unclenching staring at his date.

"...enough."

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I didn't hea—"

"That's enough!"

The walkway fell silent, the other occupants pausing to look at the commotion. Vanessa clenched down on her teeth, too embarrassed to see how many eyes were on her as Kazuya continued.

"Seriously, why the hell are you doing this? What do you get out of it?!" Howled the youth, gripping the bottom of his shirt as vented his frustrations.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?" The girl hissed out, briefly glancing around her and seeing the other inhabitants, beginning to murmur to themselves.

Kazuya, seemingly too caught up to notice Vanessa's comment or the commotion he was causing around him, persisted. "What, because you're a pro? What's the point, huh?! We're only going to be together for one day!"

"Why are you—!" The Chicana started, only to be cut off.

"You're just gonna break up with them anyway..." Kazuya said, his voice physically heaving from the effort, tears filling his eyes as he glared spitefully at the girl before him. "So what's it matter how you feel about the other person?!"

"Shut the fuck up!" shrieked the American, glaring contemptuously at Kazuya. Her own frustrations at both Kazuya and the situation she found herself in since arriving in Japan bubbled to the surface.

The visceral outcry seems to stun both Kazuya and the onlookers, many of them with their phones out pausing at the vitriolic tone the petite girl emanates. Her face was full of contempt as she stared at her "date".

"Who the fuck do you think you are, you gormless cocksucker!" the Texan seethed, fists clenched.

"Y-you..!" the young man stammered out.

"I. Am. A. Rental. Girlfriend," Vanessa stated, slowly as if talking to an especially slow child. "What part of business transaction did you not fucking understand? Them's the breaks! That's all this ever was!"

Kazuya sniffled, before whipping away his tears with his sleeve. "Y-yeah, that's what I thought..! Everything you said was a lie. I bet you lied when you said you liked Call of Duty—"

"---What the fuck does Call of Duty have to do with anything?" Vanessa asked incredulously, cutting him off.

"E-everything...!" Kazuya exclaimed, almost pleadingly

"Oooh I see how it is. You think because we had one good conversation, that suddenly we're soulmates or some shit? That I owe you something? Get the fuck out of here, you stuttering fuck. I don't owe you shit." The glasses-wearing girl caustically uttered to the loser before her.

"…So this is your true self huh? You're just like her…" Kazuya grounded out, his eyes uneven and he clenched and unclenched his fists. "So it really was just a lie–"

"God, you're slow. Yes, most of it was an act. It's my job. You knew this going into it, Kazutard." The girl rolled her eyes at the boy with agitation.

A few in the onlooking crowd had a giggle at that causing Kazuya to blush in embarrassment and his nostrils flared. "You....you lead me on!"

Vanessa jerked back as if she got hit by something particularly unpleasant. "I can assure you I did not. I have fucking standards."

"You showed me your chest in the restaurant!" the boy yelled, jabbing his finger in her direction.

A flash of understanding struck Vanessa immediately before replying. "Oh my god, you numbnutted prick, I was stretching. Jesus christ!"

He continued. "A-and when you bent over at that vendor in front of me!"

"Stop being so goddamn horny over minor shit, you fuck. And again, standards." Vanessa growled.

"Standards? Yeah right, " The carrot-top uttered vindictively, his fingers twisting the bottom of his shirt. "Yeah you call yourself a rental girlfriend. But really? Y-you're nothing more than a prostitute. B-but I guess it's expected from some American. Unless you lied about that too," Vanessa loudly clicked her tongue at that comment, closed her eyes and breathed through her nose before laying a baleful glare at the chud before her.

"I go to university, you dipshit. Full ride too. More so than your dumbass could ever accomplish," the latina seethed venomously, reacting with cold rage at the implication of his statement. She took out the 40,000 yen he paid her earlier and threw it back in his face, momentarily shocking the boy into a trance, staring down at the bills that fell to the floor.

"Second, a prostitute is the only one that would be willing to get close enough to a bitch like you in the first place," she said matter-of-factly, adjusting her glasses.

Looping her purse over her shoulder, she continued. "But I doubt you could ever satisfy anyone, much less a prostitute. How about this? Go home and guzzle your own come, kay? But again, I highly doubt your micropenis could produce that much sperm."

The petite woman began walking away, past Kazuya and the crowd of shocked onlookers making way for her to pass through, all while taking photos and videos.

Kazuya, who had broken out of his stupor as his phone began to ring, ignoring it to shout at the girl who was walking further away from him. "I'll... I'll leave a one-star on your profile...!"

"Take that one star and shove it up your ass!" the Texan responded, without even bothering to look back but raising her middle-finger in direct response to that sentiment.

Walking past the entrance to the aquarium, Vanessa gave a sigh of relief, and a smile graced her features.

Damn, that felt good. Vanessa thought as she walked back towards the station.

---

By the time Vanessa got back to her apartment, it was already well past noon. Unlocking and pushing open her door with all the air of someone who was fucking done with thier day.

Walking into her apartment and closing it with a kick, the Texan merely stared at the ceiling of her home.

"Uggggggggggggh" rumbled through the girl's mouth as the petite woman flopped down into her computer chair and thought back to what transpired, biting the inside of her cheek.

Did I go too hard on him? Vanessa pondered wordlessly.

After a moment of thought, the Latina decided. "Nah."

Frankly, Vanessa didn't regret what she said one bit. She more regrets she had to say it in the first place

"Eh, whatever," The Chicana muttered to herself, turning on her computer to check her emails. "I'll just check my emails and go the fuck to–wait wha,"

Zeroing in on the screen in question, "E-essay due tomorrow and a t-test reminder for morning class...?" Dread filling the young woman's face. Rising from her seat and heading to her bed, she (quietly) began to unleash her rage upon her pillow.

"Gahhhh, motherfucker!"

“Hahh…hahh…ahh..” Heaving after her vicious assault upon her pillow, Vanessa laid spread out on her bed. She picked up her phone and in front of her and began scrolling through her Diamond profile. Face twisting in disgust, she threw her phone onto another part of the bed and stared towards her cracked ceiling. Pondering out loud to herself.

“Maybe I should become a Vtuber?”

 

Okay, I lied. This isn't the last chapter nor is it the Mami confrontation but that's coming soon. Sorry, this took a while. I graduated from Uni recently and I've been busy with real life shit. Sorry about that

---

The trip to Nerima U was a pain in the fucking ass in Vanessa’s incredibly biased opinion.

This didn’t help the fact she had spent the rest of the day yesterday writing a rushed six-page paper on the Nara period and the many cultural influences that shaped it. Having to write in both hiragana and katakana simultaneously because Japan’s writing system when it comes to academic writing specifically is more irritatingly tedious than watching a game journalist play a platformer.

Just because she can now spontaneously write and talk in Japanese doesn’t mean it ain’t bullshit!

And this was all on top of having to study for a test for her second class by that buck-toothed shitheel, Professor Mooroka and his stupid, boomer comments about how “woman and men back in his day” spiel he gave the class almost daily.

The Texan got enough incel comments from her “dates” as is.

With all this in mind, the Latina found herself not giving a singular fuck as she walked towards the gated university in question wearing nothing more than grey sweats and a raggedy, hot pink sweater. Her hair was a bedridden mess and her glasses covering her baggy eyes, were slightly askew on her face as a medical mask adorned her features.

Vanessa wasn’t wearing a mask because she was ill. She simply thought no one would try to talk to her if they assumed she was sick by wearing it and faked a cough here and there.

Classic COVID strats.

Nerima University emerged over the cascade of buildings as she approached. The southerner eyed the drab, beige buildings that made up the bulk of the school with slight distaste. Vanessa frankly thought the university, for a lack of a better word, looked wack. Nothing about the university actually screamed university to her and if it wasn’t for the sigils of “Nerima University” plastered across the campus and the array of students filing into the building, she would have thought she was making her way to some standard Japanese workplace.

Vanessa supposed that wasn’t far from the truth, in a sense. Still, she would have rather not been unintentionally reminded of Japan’s toxic work culture whenever saw the university in question.

Shrugging off her intrusive thoughts, the petite girl hoisted her backpack over shoulder, head down, as she neared the gate, turning in at the courtyard leading towards the campus’ main gate. Walking forward she vaguely heard a trio of boys making ruckus amongst themselves.

“...--did you stroke it yesterday after that?”

“...three times”

“... virgins gonna virgin...”

“...that’s our Kazutard!”

“...hut up, don’t call me that!”

She heard their murmuring as she walked behind and then past them. Sounding like they were—

Wait.

Kazutard?

Vanessa looked behind her out of curiosity, curious as to where a random group of boys would have recognized what she–

“Huh?/Oh, for the love of…” Kazuya and Vanessa stated simultaneously, the former ‘couple’ staring at the other in shock.

Spoiler: Fuck

The carrot-top was the first to speak, “Aahhh! Y-you’re–!”

“Nope, I’m out.” Tonelessly, the Latina turned on her heel and strides towards the campus main doors.

“W-wait!” Kazuya exclaimed, chasing after the diminutive girl.

“Nah.” was the short girl's instinctual reply.

Vanessa wasn’t planning on getting caught up in this loser’s pity party.

“But–!”

The girl placed a hand over her mask, imitating an obviously fake coughing fit in an effort to dissuade the boy. “hack..ahem, sorry I have a really bad cough...cough. Can’t talk.” the girl feigned as she continued to power walk to the main gates.

The scruffy-chinned guy inquired verbally, his eyes widening, “Bro, is that who I think it is..?”

“No freaking way…” the spectacled young man intoned wondrously.

“It’s the American Fuck Girl!!” the two shouted in perfect synchronization, pointing at the American in question, causing other students to look at the commotion in question

The diminutive southerner paused her stride. Looking back towards the two boys in question, she roughly brushed past the jittery Kazuya and walked up towards the gormless chuds.

“The fuck you call me?” the American questioned contemptuously, glaring at the duo in question. This seemingly only causes more excitement for them.

“Bro, she said it, she said it! She said fuck to us, man!” the scruffy-chinned fucker shouted to his weedy friend.

“Awesome…” was the weedy fuckboi’s response.

The Texan narrowed her eyes at the two, as if trying to discern if they were just this stupid or masochistic.

The scruffy-chined man noticed the girl’s unamused glare. Realization flashed in his eyes before adopting an apologetic expression. “Ah, uh, sorry that was pretty rude of us. The name’s Kibe and this,” Kibe jabbing a finger towards the spectacled blonde, “is Shun.”

“Y-yo. I mean, hi. S-sorry about that.” Shun apologized, bowing his head at an awkward angle.

“Mhm, right. Cool apology and all but that doesn’t really explain why you called me that, hm?” Vanessa asked, directing her question towards Kibe.

The mangy boy blanked in apparent confusion. “Wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?” pressed the girl, getting impatient.

“T-that’s what I wanted to talk to you about!” exclaimed Kazuya as he came up behind the American, his backpack now hanging loosely off his shoulder.

Vanessa spared the carrot-top a glance, resulting in Kazuya's eyes to dart to the ground in response. The American rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the two boys in front of her. “Well?”

“A-h, here you go.“ The nervous blond quickly tapped away on his phone before holding up his phone screen to the girl. The Texan squinted at the screen before her eyes widened in shock. A YouTube video was displayed on the blonde’s screen with both Vanessa and Kazuya in the thumbnail from their time in the aquarium.

“AMERICAN GIRL CURSES OUT HER DATE IN PUBLIC!!! O_O XD”
2,345,789 views

“...Ah right, shit, people were recording weren’t they?” the brunette said as she rubbed her forehead.

“Yeah, and that’s just one video. There are tons of other uploads that have the same thing with similar views,” Kibe responded as he rubbed the top of his receding hairline.

“N-not to mention other sites like Bilibili, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok….” The blonde listed off with his fingers.

“W-we–” Kazuya started.

“You went viral. Both you and Kazu. Which is why we reacted the way we did.” Kibe said, cutting off his friend, putting his hands back in his pockets. He continued, “Again, sorry about that.”

“Shit. That’s going to be annoying to deal with,” The Latina said, clicking her tongue

“A-annoying? I-is that all you have to say?!” Kazuya nearly shrieked, attracting the attention of a few close passerby's. “Both our lives, m-my college life, is ruined before it even begins. What are we going to do now?!” The orange-haired boy bemoaned.

“We? The fuck you mean ‘we’?” The Chicana girl questioned, giving an irritated side glance to Kazuya causing him to jerk his head in confusion.

“H-huh? But—!”

“Look bro, I get it. I’ll admit that I might have gone a bit far,” The young woman acknowledged begrudgingly. “But, you were the one who started that by taking your shit out on me. All you had to do was nut up until the end of the date and we’d both have been fine.”

“Yeah, she kind of has a point there, Kazu. You really did kind of lose it there. I know Mami dumping you really fucked with you but that was a bit much. It was really embarrassing to watch as your friend.” Kibe commented, wincing at the memory of the video as Shun gave his own nod in agreement.

“..Y-yeah, I know but I just… ” Kazuya trailed off in frustration. His head dipped, licking dry lips as he gazed away from the trio.

Vanessa sighed, before looking towards Kazuya. “This,” the Texan began, as she pointed to the blonde’s phone to empathize. “is unfortunate. But it can be rectified with two, very easy solutions.”

The disheartened boy immediately perked up. “T-there is? What are they?”
“Number one,” the spectacled girl said, holding up her finger. “Lay low.”

“L-lay low?”

The American nodded before continuing, “Law low. Don’t make any waves. It’s a viral meme but a meme is still a meme, it’ll die down. People will eventually forget or at the very least, conflate it to the point where me and you are the least important parts of it.”

Kazuya dropped his head, deep in thought before muttering. “I suppose I can see the logic in that.”

“And the second?” Kibe asked.

Vanessa pushed her frames back on her face with her index finger before slowly backing away and raising her arms in an exaggerated manner.

“Embrace the Meme.” the girl uttered, as if she was displaying a magnificent truth. The three boys looked at the tiny woman, silently befuddled.

“That…that’s it?” Kazuya slowly questioned.

“Yee,” the brunette immediately replied before continuing. “I mean, no one can laugh at ya if you're a part of the joke and know it. Let the meme flow, acknowledge and embrace it and the internet will respect you for it. That’s like internet 101.”

“...I’m not sure if that one would really work for me.” Kazuya grumbled, his brow furrowing.

Vanessa shrugged. “Then go with option one. Either way, I’ll deal with it in my own way.”

“And what ‘way’ is that?” Kibe inquired, probing the diminutive Texan for an answer.

“Oh, you know. Us Americans are pretty good at turning a bad situation into a good situation. At least we all gaslight ourselves into thinking that anyway.” Vanessa responded, taking off her fogging glasses due to her mask.

Kibe blinked, before giving an amused chuckle. “You know, you’re surprisingly derisive of your home country.”

“It’s my country therefore I can talk shit about it all I want. Besides, I’m derisive of everything. Like that receding hairline of yours.” Vanessa joked, pointing at the boy’s hairline in question.

“Oi, it’s not receding, it’s just on vacation is all.”

“Right, right. I assume your fashion sense also went on vacation then.”

“Hooh, says the girl wearing sweats to campus.”

“There’s a difference between fashion and just not giving a fuck.”

“Shame I can’t tell the difference with you.” Kibe grinned.

“Cute.” Vanessa smirked underneath her mask.

“Very,” Kibe declared with a smug finality. Both Kazuya and Shun stared back and forth between the two. Kazuya opened his mouth before closing it.

“D-did they just…” the carrot-top started, before being cut off.

“Vibe.” Shun finished.

Vanessa gave the scruff-chined boy a look that screamed ‘not bad’ before turning around and heading back towards the history department. “Welp, I should head to class or whatever. See ya, scrubs.” the Latina gave a lackadaisical wave of her hand towards the trio before stopping to stare back towards Kazuya.

“Oh yeah, Kazuya?” Vanessa called out, her voice slightly muffled due to her mask.

The boy in question jolted and turned towards the girl, “Oh, um, yeah?”

Brushing her hair behind her ear, she continued. “Small piece of advice for you going forward. When talking to women or anyone for that matter, try looking them in their eyes. None of that turning away shit. You’d be surprised how far that goes for whoever you're with and who knows, might help boost your confidence alittle,” Turning her gaze away from Kazuya to Kibe, she nodded towards him. “Like your friend Kibe. Maybe take after him a tad bit more. Or don’t. I don’t really care either way. Peace.”

And with that the girl continued her walk to class, slowly leaving the trio behind as they stared at the caustic girl’s back. Kazuya looked down, thinking of the girl's words as he clenched and unclenched his fists. He didn’t notice as Kibe made his way to him and looped his arm aggressively around his friend's neck, breaking him out of his daze.

“Eh, Kibe?” starring towards his childhood friend questioningly.

“Man, that’s one hell of a girl ain’t she?” Kibe said, looking towards the American in the distance.

“That’s uh, one way to put it. S-she’s pretty–”

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she? Feisty women are pretty hot.” Kibe declared, eyes closed as if speaking a universal truth. Shun merely nodded his head in agreement, giving a wide grin with his buck teeth visible.

“W-what?! Was that why you were flirting with her–”

“They vibed,” Shun corrected, cutting him off.

“Yeah, we vibed,” Kibe concurred.

“What does that even mean in this context?!” Kazuya wheezed out.

“Ah poor, Kazuya. She was right. You truly do need my guidance. Come on, your Aniki will teach you everything he knows about women,” The scruffy man stated, banging his chest in pride. “Come on, Kazutard. Let’s head to class and I’ll teach you along the way.”

“You say that as if you also aren't a virgin! Also don't call me that!”

“Lesson one. Being a virgin has nothing to do with talking to women,” Kibe stated, pointing a finger towards Kazuya. Before tightening his arm around Kazuya’s neck and bringing their face close to his own. “Lesson two. Embrace the memes, Kazutard.”

The blonde nodded gravely, “Embrace the memes. The memes, Jack.”

Kazuya merely gave a long, suffering sigh as he and his friends ambled towards their morning class.

---

No one noticed a blond girl had observed the entire exchange from a distance, just beyond the tree line. The blonde girl would then get out her phone and begin typing away nimbly at the screen before pausing and clicking her tongue.

“Hm.” the blonde girl muttered darkly.

“Hey, Mami. Are you coming?” another girl shouted back towards her.

Like the flip of a coin, the girl’s dark expression immediately changes to sunny, “Ah, I’m coming!” giving a brief pause to stare towards where Kazuya and co. had ventured off to and then back towards where Vanessa had entered the building. She lightly jogged towards her female acquaintance before giving an apologetic grin. “Ah, I was wondering…”

“Yes, Mami?” the other girl asked innocuously.

Mami Nanami merely beamed at the girl with a beatific smile, “I was wondering if we could make a slight detour.”

 

I had to channel my long forgotten "Mean Girls talking shit about other girls in the High School bathroom" for this one.

---

The stares are starting to get a bit annoying. Vanessa noted wordlessly as she wandered the halls as she made her way to class.

It reminded the Texan of when she first arrived in Japan months prior. Her debut in the university then was met with numerous looks and many questions. It was mostly harmless with questions like, ‘Where are you from?’ or ‘Why did you come to Japan?’ or ‘Is it true that Americans eat hamburgers every day?’.

All fairly basic stuff frankly speaking. Of course, Vanessa got all the fairly standard innocent and not-so innocent xenophobic questions that were asked but Vanessa shrugged those off for the most part, aside from some passive aggressive remarks here and there. Eventually people just got used to seeing the exotic, mixed American girl in class over time and the stares eventually died down pretty soon after.

Of course, this changed now that the Texan had gone ‘viral’ and it had become public knowledge that she was a rental girlfriend. Now everyone and their grandmother knew she was working the streets without actually getting in the sheets. In an absolutely, totally morally upstanding nation like Japan, such actions were frowned upon. At least when it’s blatantly in the open and by a foreigner no less.

It wasn’t Vanessa’s fault that Japanese society was so repressed that they were in a downward spiral as far as birth rates go, that services like ‘rental girlfriends’ were such a popular alternative to actually going out and legitimately dating. Shinzo Abe should be thanking Vanessa for her service to his country.

The Latina was brought out of her momentary pondering as she noticed the whispering from those around her as she turned the corner, making her way further into the history department.

“Oh hey, that’s her….”

“Oh shit, the American girl. She looks different from how she looked in the video.”

“She’s cute but she was cuter in the video…”

“Ugh, what is she wearing?”

“She probably doesn't need to worry about dressing up. Easy lay and all that–”

“I want Vanessa-sama to swear at me like that…”

The American resisted the urge to roll her eyes at comments. Amateurs. Vanessa thought. They talk all this shit, but I bet the moment I get in their face, they’d shut up. Shrugging, she readjusted her backpack on her shoulder before walking up towards her class.

Class 1-B. Feudal Japan and Historical Political Structures. One out of her two classes she had today. Vanessa admitted she found the class itself pretty interesting. Learning in detail about the various historical impacts and significance of said impacts outside of the influence of anime was rather engaging to the brunette. Not to mention a breath of fresh air considering the United States propensity to be somewhat American-centric in their study of history at times. It’s just the whole ‘writing essays and tests’ part she disliked.

Grabbing the handle of the door, the Chicana gave a deep breath before opening the door to the lecture hall. The talking within the lecture hall stopped immediately at the sight of the American girl, though the masked woman didn’t even bother to look at anyone as she made a beeline for an open seat in the front row. The girl pulled out the seat slowly, causing the chair to squeak that echoed in the oppressive silence of the room. Vanessa merely flinched momentarily in embarrassment before looping her backpack off her shoulder and onto the table before her as she took her seat.

Vanessa could feel the stares on her back as she unzipped her bag, as talking started once more but this time directed towards her.

“Oh hey it's the girl I saw on Twitter…”

“Hey, you think she’s still a virgin?”

“Hell no, look at her.

“Hey, what are her rates?”

“I don’t know, Kenji, I dare you to go ask—”

“...no way!”

“Huh, oh hey M–”

Damn, I should have brought my headphones. Vanessa pondered regretfully. The southerner tried to tune out the talking by focusing on studying her notes, which was only marginally successful.

The Texan looked towards the clock placed over the whiteboard. 9:08 am. 20 more minutes. Vanessa figured she could hold out for that long. She went back to scrutinizing her notes and dismissing the disparaging comments directed towards her. So much so she never noticed a group of boys make their way towards her. Shadows had overtaken the text on her notes before the Texan looked up to observe three young men before her.

Vanessa took in the three before her. The one to the right was spindly and even more lanky than Shun as a cartoonishly exact bowl cut atop his head, as he grinned lecherously. The one adjacent to him was, for a lack of a better term, fat. Obese arguably as his belly jutted out almost distractingly. His face adorned a pair of circular spectacles that wouldn’t be out of place on Harry Potter, with his large head stretching the frames. The last one within the middle of the pack, was admittedly the most handsome but most unsettling to Vanessa. Slightly tanned skin, with groomed but obviously dyed blonde hair. A confident smile adorned his face did little to soothe Vanessa. To the Texan the fake blonde looked greasy both literally and metaphorically.

In short, all three of these douchebags looked like they had walked straight out of a hentai. This set of alarm bells in the Latina’s head. She already wasn’t completely sure that this wasn’t ‘hentai anime’ Japan that she isekai’d to and the introduction of these three has put serious doubt on her ‘suggestive ecchi anime’ Japan theory. Vanessa wasn’t ready to start her mind-break, gyaru corruption hentai arc any time soon.

“Hey,” said the tanned douchebag, placing a head on the table beside her notes.

“Um, hey,” the brunette said back to him, moving her notes aside. “Can I help you?” Vanessa asked cordially.

The tanned douchebag looks towards his fellow cretins behind him before chucking amongst themselves. The tanned one looks back towards the top rows before turning his attention back to Vanessa, “Yeah, I guess you can put it like that. I need help. Me and my buddies here.” He finished as he jerked his head towards his fellow cohorts.

“Uh huh…” Vanessa droned, beckoning the tanned douchebag to go on with a gesture.

“I’ll cut to the chase then. I heard you were pretty experienced. So I wanted to ask how much you are.”

Ah, there we go. Vanessa thought to herself, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. Corruption arc be damned. Like hell the Latina was going to let these literal wastes of DNA talk to her any kind of way.

Vanessa puts on a disarming smile before responding. “Ah. You mean to ‘rent’ me, is that it?”

“And all the services that come with that,” the lanky asshole added. The fat bastard to the side of him nodding his head in agreement.

Man, this hentai dialogue shit these guys are spewing is a lot more cringe in real life. Vanessa internally cringed at all the hentai she consumed and thought as hot. The Chicana promised herself to maintain better hentai standards in the future.

“Oh, and what kind of services are you referring to?” Vanessa asked mockingly, placing her head under the palm of her hand. The douchebag trio seems to not catch the Texan’s sarcasm, as they grinned amongst themselves with the same enthusiasm of virgin’s thinking they are about to get lucky.

Turning back to the girl in front of him, the tanned douchebag gave Vanessa a greasy, lecherous smirk. “Well, we're hoping for a little hands & mouth service if you catch my drift.”

Vanessa opened her mouth with a silent ‘ah’ before shaking her head with the energy of a waitress telling a disgruntled customer they were out of ketchup. “Sorry bro. I only suck circumcised cocks. As God intended.”

The douchebag trio’s grins collectively fell as they digested the spectacled girl's words.

“I also don’t do micropenises. It’s just not enough there to grip, ya know?” Vanessa expounded, pinching her fingers together to mimic the ‘size’ of the churls in front of her.

The fat bastard sputtered and the bowl-cut asshole lecherous eyes shifted to the ground. The blonde douchebag's cheeks burned, his boasted confidence deflating instantly at the caustic insults. “Y-you can’t say that to me, to us. Do you know who I am—”

“Pretty sure I just did say it to you, explicitly even. Also I don’t care who you are. So I’d appreciate it if you and the two farm animals with you get the hell out of my face. Thanks,” Vanessa droned in a neutral tone, as if bored with the conversation.

“You—!”

“Is there a problem here?” came a familiar voice from behind Vanessa. Turning around to see a short, young woman around Vanessa's height. Perky blonde-hair styled into a bob with a pinkish gradient along the ends and stylishly dressed with a light blouse and short shorts emphasized her thighs. Blue eyes and a slender figure on top of that.

All in all, she looked more stereotypically American than Vanessa ever had. She could pass for one wholesale if it wasn’t for the slight slant of her eyes denoting her evidently half-Asian heritage.

Smh, double standards. Vanessa thought disparagingly, though silently appreciating the girl's figure. She is cute though. Would scissor 10 out of 10.

“O-oh, um, what’s up Mami-san…” the blonde douchebag remarked wearily. Vanessa immediately perked up at the mention of the blonde girl’s name. Recalling Kibe mentioned her offhand earlier.

Chill. Vanessa thought, trying not to jump to conclusions despite her instincts. Might not be the same Mami.

“Hey../Hi..” the other two answered awkwardly.

The girl, Mami, gave the trio a beaming smile before continuing. “Kenji-kun. Ichiki-san. Kamiya-san. I hope you three aren’t bothering Vanessa-san here.”

“Nah we were just curious is all. Right, guys?” The tanned man, who Vanessa assumed was Kenji, stared back towards the duo with them only nodding their head in silent agreement.

“Oh, I hope you aren’t bothering Vanessa about that video. I’m sure she has her reasons,” Mami commented before turning a sympathetic gaze towards Vanessa. “After all, we girls have it rough out there.”

“Right, Vanessa-san?” The stylish girl finished, directing her statement towards Vanessa. The Texan nodded, “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

Damn, where have I heard that voice before? Vanessa pondered, mulling over the voice in her memory but coming up with a blank.

Mami smiled and turned her attention back towards the trio. He squared her gaze to Kenji's gesture flashing in her eyes that Vanessa couldn’t discern before nodding her head discreetly towards her fellow blond. Kenji’s eyes wavered by catching the apparent meaning. Vanessa caught the gesture as she squinted suspiciously at the silent discussion before adopting a neutral expression.

“Let’s head out, guys. Sorry for the disrespect, Vanessa-san.” Kenji apologized.

“...It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” The southerner replied tonelessly. The fake blonde gave a half-assed bow before he and his posse returned to the upper rows. Vanessa and Mami watched them leave in silence. Vanessa made sure to send a side glance towards Mami and noticed a wholly detached smile, plastered on her face unlike the sunny expression she adopted earlier. Vanessa looked away before she could catch her looking. Mami turned her gaze back to her, instantly taking on a benign demeanor.

Ok, red flag. Vanessa pondered, noting how weird that exchange felt to her. But wanting to be courteous because the blonde did help her out.

“Thanks for that,” the brunette began. “Probably would have escalated if you didn’t show up.”

Mami giggled “It’s no problem at all! Ah, do you mind?” the blonde gestured towards the seat next to her to sit.

“Oh, yeah sure. Go right ahead.” Vanessa said, causing the blonde to nimbly sit herself. Placing her purse and bag to the side of her.

“So, I didn’t properly introduce myself. I’m Mami Nanami,” Mami introduced herself, holding up a dainty hand for Vanessa to shake. Vanessa hesitated for a moment before meeting the appendage with her own. “Vanessa Batista.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you prefer going by Vanessa-san or Batista-san?” the blonde curiously asked, seemingly in an attempt to not defend the southerner.

Honorifics, right. Vanessa voiced wordlessly. Not that Vanessa did much to follow that unless she had to. She merely shrugged at Mami, “Eh, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you are more comfortable with.”

The blonde beamed, “Vanessa-san it is then!” the blonde placed her manicured hand upon her face as she leaned on to the table. “So, Vanessa-san, where in America are you from?” Mami asked rather innocuously. Vanessa merely nodded her head, expecting that type of question.

“Well, I’m from Texas. But I was originally born in Louisiana and lived there for the first few years of my life,” answered the brunette, placing a stand of hair behind her ear.

“Oooh and what made you move to Texas in the first place?” Mami further questioned, placing a delicate finger on her lip.

It was either that or die. Vanessa thought flatly. Not as if she would tell Mami that after just meeting her. “Oh you know how it is. Family saw new opportunities in Texas.”

Mami hummed in response. “So, is Japan a new opportunity for your family too?”

“Ah, uh, no. It’s just me here,” Vanessa said with slight unease as she turned away from Mami, looking towards her notes distractingly. Mami blinked in momentary shock, bitterness flashed across her face before once more adopting an inviting smile.

“Oh, your family actually let you come all the way to Japan by yourself? I must say, your Japanese is very good for a foreigner,” Mami probed, something flashing in her eyes. “So, why did you come to Japan then?”

Good question. Been trying to answer that for several months now. Vanessa pondered to herself before answering. “Ah, you know. New opportunities and all that.”

Mami narrowed her eyes, a smile still plastered on her, “I see…” Vanessa starred up from her notes to give Mami a questioning gaze, “So, where in the history department are you from? I don’t really recall seeing you in class so I figure you are from somewhere else. You in Modern Japan or…?” The Texan inquired, figuring it was her turn to ask the blonde a question.

The question seemed to slightly catch the stylish woman off guard as she waved her delicate hands in protest, looking apprehensive, ”Ah, no, no, I’m from another department all together. I’m from finance and business.” The blonde answered.

Vanessa gave an audible ‘ah’ as she nodded her head before continuing. “But…why are you here? The business department is like, two buildings over.”

Mami gave an embarrassed half-grin. “Ah, well. In truth, I wanted to talk to you about this.” Mai held up her phone, showing off an instagram clip of her confrontation with Kazuya in the aquarium.

“Oh.” was Vanessa's only response.

Mami waved her hands again in deflection, “I swear I only wanted to talk to you because, well…Kazuya was my ex-boyfriend.” the blonde sheepishly averted her gaze. Vanessa raised her eyes in momentary shock before mentally commenting. So it was the same one.

“Ahhh, yeah right. Well if you saw the video then you also know that we weren’t really together or anything so if you still have feelings for him or whatever, go ham.” The Latina commented, hoping she wasn’t unwittingly stepping into an anime harem love triangle.

A look of disgust flashed across her eyes, brushing a strand of hair aside. “Trust me, I don’t,” the blonde empathized before giving the brunette a pitying smile, “Honestly, I wanted to talk to you cause I sympathize with you.”

Vanessa leveled a gaze at the girl aside from her “Oh, do you?” the brunette wondering what Mami meant. Mami nodded, “I get why you blew up at him. It must have been really tough for you. That guy, Kazuya-kun, he can be pretty scary, right? Sometimes I felt like I was in danger if I even stood up with a skirt.”

“Uh huh…” Vanessa halfheartedly replied.

Mami gave an exaggerated sigh, as she played with her hair. “Really, he was so annoying,” she continued. giving a short giggle, “Honestly he was like a little kid.”

Vanessa said nothing, merely staring at the girl across from her. Mami took this as a sign to continue. Pushing her seat closer to the American to face her directly, she whispered “So, hey, we girls should stick together, you know? As fellow ‘survivors’ of Kazuya.” she said jokingly as blue eyes stared down brown.

“So, what do you think, Vanessa-san? Can we be friends?” Mami proposed with a glowing expression on her face, holding up a pinky finger as if making a schoolyard promise.

Vanessa scrutinized Mami’s face and then her hand. After a moment of silence, Vanessa gave her answer. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Huh?” was the blonde girl's inquisitive response.

“Nah,” Vanessa reiterated, shrugging her shoulders. Mami lost her smile, befuddlement danced across her eyes before regaining control of her expression.

“O-oh, can I ask why then?” Mami asked, dropping her hand, a neutral smile spread across her face.

That’s why right there. You’re fake as fuck. Vanessa decided after watching how she acted and her mannerisms. All fake. Not a hint of sincerity at all that the southerner detected from her, as if it was all an act. Not to mention the suspicious gesture she made to the trio earlier. The Texan has met people like Mami before and she was having none of it.

“Look, Mami. I have no beef with you or even Kazuya for that matter. Yeah, I went off on him but that was both of us being stupid. Mostly him but still,” the Chicana shrugged before continuing. “So, I see no solidarity between us because of it. And no offense, I’m really not vibing with you.” Vanessa stated with finality. This was the American’s nice way of saying ‘I want nothing to do with you. Please fuck off’

Mami lost her smile, giving the brunette a half-lidded stare that might have normally unnerved Vanessa if she was actually younger than her appearance suggested. Mami, placing her manicured hands into her laps she smiled as she looked towards the whiteboard, “Ah, I see. So that’s how it is, Batista-san,” Mami reverted to using her maiden name, seemingly taking the lack of solidarity to heart, “I suppose that’s expected from some foreign girl I barely know. Still, I’d thought you be a bit more grateful after I helped you earlier—”

“What did you just say?” Vanessa said slowly, sending a suspicious glare towards Mami. Mami seemed to open her mouth before realization flickered in her eyes and closed her mouth. Her face becomes a neutral mask.

“What. Did. You. Just. Say?” Vanessa pressed harder.

Mami clicked her teeth in her mouth, before adopting a fake sheepish expression, “A-ah, Batista-san, I’m not sure what you mean–” Vanessa ignored her, turning her attention back towards the upper rows. She scanned the room before spotting the trio who had harassed her earlier. She narrowed her gaze towards them, eventually catching the attention of Kenji, the blonde douchebag who was laughing with his posse. The pair's eyes met as she leveled a glare at the boy. Kenji flinched and turned away to his friends. Whispering to the two, they looked towards where Vanessa and Mami sat. Sparring a glance towards the seated woman before ambling towards the door.

Vanessa turned her attention back towards Mami. An unknowable expression spread across the Latina’s face, “You sent them down here, didn’t you?” the masked girl questioned conspiratorially.

Mami’s face didn’t respond to the question but answered the question regardless, “I’m not sure what your talking abou–”

Vanessa cuts her off. “Don’t bullshit me. That look you gave them earlier was already suspicious enough.”

Mami gave a lackadaisical swipe of her hair, refusing to look towards Vanessa. The Texan continued her interrogation, “Don’t think I didn’t catch all your other little gestures too. Trust me I’m very observant, I’ve seen them all before.”

Mami shrugged her shoulders. “So?” came the dismissive reply.

Vanessa clicked her tongue disdainfully towards the fake girl, “So. I want to know what caused you to try and fuck with me. For starters, what did you offer those losers to send them to me?”

“I offered you, Batista-san,” Mami replied immediately with a beaming smile, completely at odds with what she just insinuated.

“Excuse me?” Vanessa's head jerked in response.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Batista-san! I just told them that you were looking for work, is all. Should I not have done that?” Mami said in a cutesy voice, placing a finger on her lip as if pondering the weather. The blonde’s eyes held a malicious gleam as Vanessa gritted her teeth, scowling at the blue-eyed shrew.

Okay, bitch. Vanessa mused. We can play that game too. A cold rage began to build, her mask hiding her scornful smile.

“Ooooh was that what you offered them?” Vanessa asked with a doubtful tone, “I was positive you offered them a handsie in the restroom if you made them come down here to harass me so you can go ‘Girl Power’ with me after ‘saving’ me. Sorry, but I already told them I don’t suck unclean cocks. But hey you go for it, girl. Don’t let me hold you back.” Vanessa mocked with the same fake enthusiasm as Mami.

Mami’s face went blank. So fast that it actually surprised the Texan, in how easily she could shift through facial expressions. The cutesy, stylish girl she presented herself as was gone, replaced by a cold, emotionless woman harboring a spiteful gaze.

Talk about a literal ‘mask off’. Vanessa noted silently to herself as she caught the frigid girl’s ire.

Mami then leaned in towards Vanessa, hand clasped over her mouth as if about to speak a secret she doesn’t want the world to hear. “You know,” Mami began, looking Vanessa straight in the eyes, “You’re pretty uppity for a whore who sells herself to losers for money.”

Vanessa mimicked the blonde’s gesture, pulling down her mask and clasping her mouth in the same manner as Mami, “You know, you’re pretty uppity for a cunt who toys with men cause of her obvious daddy issues.” the Latina whispered to the bitch in front of her. Resulting in Mami flinching at the implication. Like blood in the water, Vanessa presses her attack.

“Actually why are you even here, talking to me? You’re on the clock, sweetie,” The Texan continued, pointing towards the clock over the whiteboard. “Instead of being here, shouldn’t you be under your professor’s desk, working for your Easy A? Chop chop.” Vanessa ridiculed, giving a mocking clapping gesture. Mami gave a withering glare as she squeezed her phone as if trying to break it. The blonde quickly stood up causing the chair to squeak in response, garnering the attention of the other class inhabitants.

“Oh, you're gonna do something?” Vanessa drolled, clearly amused, “Go ahead, do it.”

Mami spared a glance around her to the classroom, all eyes on the two diminutive girls. She clicked her tongue as she quickly gathered her belongings. Backing away from Vanessa she merely gave the American one last stare before looping her purse around her shoulder.

“...This isn’t over,” Mami said as she began to walk towards the exit. Vanessa, already turning her attention back to her notes, commented, “Pretty sure I just ended it. Good luck out there, queen, you go get that fatherly, paternal affection. Woo, you go girl!” The Latina gave a derisive cheer, pumping her fist in support.

Mami paused, her hand placed on the door as she gave one last frigid side glance towards Vanessa, “...Really now.” the blonde mumbled, before harshly gripping the door handle and leaving the room.

Silence permeated the room briefly before hesitant discussion seemed to return to the class. Vanessa made an exaggerated stretch in her chair, breathing a heavy, satisfied sigh. Man, I feel alot better now. Vanessa ruminated, a content smile on her face.

The door Mami left from would open again as the Professor would enter right as the bell rang officially beginning class, causing many of the students to quiet down and take their seats.

Professor Ono adjusted his glasses as he began class with “Alright, I hope you all studied the material regarding the Kamakura as today we will be…”

Vanessa zoned out the professor in panic. Ah shit, I was studying Nara shit this whole time, not the Kamakura! Vanessa thought nervously. Dammit. I was too busy focusing on Mooroka’s fucking essay I must of got jumbled up.

Vanessa’s good mood evaporated as she quickly began to jot down everything the professor was espousing.

“…As stated prior, during the Kamakura period, the Aoi Matsuri festivals diminished in popularity due to…” Professor Ono droned on, his mention of ‘Aoi’ catching the brunette's attention entirely, realization tickled in the back of her head as her eyes widened.

That bitch sounds like Aoi Yuuki.

---

Mami paced back and forth in the history department’s girls’ restroom. She was already late to class but the blonde found herself too angry to care. Biting her manicured nail, she thought back to what that slut told her.

“That stupid whore…” Mami breathed venomously. No one had ever talked to Mami like that. None one. Not even her father.

She didn’t like it.

“That rental slut…” The angered girl's pacing knocked over a trash can. Mami eyed the can balefully, imagining the trash can as Vanessa’s face before stomping on it repeatedly. “You trash…! I hate you!I hate you! I hate you!I hate you! I hate you!I hate you! I hate you!I hate you! I hate you!---” Each stomp is more aggressive than the last as she imagined herself demolishing the American slut’s face, over exerting herself in the process.

“...M-mami-chan?” Mami turned around to see one of her acquaintances, Miyuki, staring at her. Mouth opened in a silent gasp, as she had watched Mami pummel the trash can. Mami's eyes widened before quickly adjusting her dress and hair to look presentable.

What am I doing? Mami thought, taking calming breaths. I’ve never been this angry before. Mami has always been able to get by with her looks and honeyed words to the right person at the right time. She spent her whole life manufacturing the perfect image to present to the outside world. Mami wasn’t going to let some whore ruin that nor bring her down to her level. She was better than that.

An angry sneer now replaced with a beaming, apologetic smile as she turned towards Miyuki. “Ah, sorry Miyuki-san. I didn’t mean for you to see that. Ah, this is so embarrassing, I never wanted anyone to see me like this.” Mami clasping her cheeks, flustered.

“A-ah, it’s okay, Mami-chan. Everyone has those moments, right?” the mousey girl answered, trying to comfort the clearly agitated blonde.

“Ahhh~, thank you Miyuki san!” Mami moved in to hug the blonde, wrapping her arms around her. “You’re so nice…”

“N-no problem, that’s what friends are for right?” Miyuki replied, hesitantly hugging her back. Mami craned her head towards the girl’s ear, her chin resting upon her shoulder.

“Say, Miyuki-san…” the blonde trailed off.

“...Yes, Mami-san?”

“You won’t tell anyone what you saw…right?” Mami questioned. Her voice carried a dangerous lilt, as her dulled eyes face forward. Miyuki grimaced at the question, her eyes darting to the side to see Mami’s expression but unable to under the veil of blonde locks.

The girl swallowed, “No, Mami, I wouldn’t do something like that. I-I swear.”

Mami’s frigid tone evaporated as she removed herself from the hug and gave the unnerved girl a perfectly manufactured smile, “Ah, thank you, Miyuki san. I knew I could count on you!” the stylish girl beamed.

Miyuki gave a nervous chuckle before responding, “Ah, no problem. B-but, um, we should probably head to class. We’re late already as is.”

“Sure, sure~. Ah, but Miyuki-san...” Mami trailing off, as the mousey girl turned back around with her hand on the door handle.

“Yes, Mami-chan?”

What was I thinking earlier? There was no need for me to get so angry. Mami mused as she gave the girl a rueful grin. After all…

“I was hoping I could ask for a tinnnny favor.”

There was no need for Mami to get her hands dirty when she had others to do that for her.

 

Vanessa waited somewhat impatiently as she glanced between the clock and the door as she sat at her desk in Professor Morooka’s lecture hall.

She knew as soon as the man walked through the door, there was gonna be some shit. That was apparent when at the last minute the professor decided to inform the class via email to make the sudden essay the class was meant to turn in digitally, a physical turn-in. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered coming.

She could guess as to why. She wasn’t alone in her deductions as the rest of the class was able to get a good idea as to why the infamously archaic man would decide to do such a thing as they anxiously glanced between Vanessa and the door. There were a few gazes of resentment directed at the Texan. Mostly likely due to being the reason they had to come in and physically turn in the essay and even worse, deal with Morooka’s crap. Which honestly to her, was completely fair. She’d be peeved too.

However, most stares directed at her were surprisingly full of pity and what she assumed was second-hand cringe for what was to come.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the classroom door slammed open revealing Professor Morooka in all his buck-toothed glory. A raggedy, blue suit with a crooked, patterned yellow tie ruffled as he sauntered into the classroom with his patented scowl.

“Awright, shut your traps!” Professor Morooka screeched, running a hand through his greasy travesty of a haircut. Whatever classroom clamor that was audible quickly quieted down as the professor made his way to the desk, slamming a black suitcase atop the table causing many in the class to jump in their seats.

“Now, I hope you miscreants saw my email about bringing in your essays today,” Morooka said, placing his hands into his pockets. A few students in the classroom began to sweat. “Normally, I’d have you just turn them in online and yeah, it was last minute but that’s no excuse!”

The instructor slammed his open palm onto the desk, echoing into the quiet classroom. Vanessa couldn’t help but think the professor was being unnecessarily extra with the dramatics. Morooka scanned the classroom until his eyes landed on Vanessa. Vanessa narrowed her eyes in response and stealthily grasped her phone in her pocket.

The expression on Morooka’s face changed into sneer, jamming his finger at the desk. “Don’t think just 'cause you're in university doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want! There’s no going out and drinking with your buddies or your girlfriends, when you have obligations to my class.”

Morooka continued his impromptu sermon. “You lust-driven baboons only have sex on the mind, doubly so for you guys! As long as I’m around, you students will be as virtuous and pure as a Tibetan monk. Or rather that would be the case….”

The gangly man circled around his desk and made his way to where Vanessa was sitting. Loudly placing his palms on the table in front of her. Vanessa kept her face passive as the middle-aged man stared directly into the American’s eyes.

“....But it appears we have somethin’ of an outlier present.” Morooka finished. The rest of the class zeroed in on both her and the professor in question.

I should have just skipped today. Essay be damned. She sullenly thought to herself, keeping her face from cringing.

“The problem with some women these days is that they think they can do whatever the hell they want to do! That they can toy with men with no repercussions.That’s not to say that all women are like that but…” Many of the students in class, predominately the girls, faces clinched at the ‘but’.

“...Girls like Ms. Batista here makes all the rest look bad,” Morooka ran his tongue along his buck teeth. “And you know why? It’s ‘cause women today just aren’t the same. It’s all thanks to social media. What, with your Instagrams and your OnlyFans, it’s no wonder girls these days have turned into flozzies! Why, back in my day…”

It was at this point that Vanessa, in her several months stay in Japan, and all of the nonsensical things she’s seen and experienced, this was the moment that cemented the fact that she was in a cartoon. Because there was no way this would happen in reality. The Latina refused to acknowledge that someone could be so cartoonishly and blatantly misogynistic in reality and actually get away with it for this long.

But stupid anime Japan or no, like hell she was gonna let some shit like this slide.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Vanessa interrupted the rant, tilting her head to the side. The class collectively widened their eyes at someone actually interrupting the professor's sermon.

“Huh?” came the moronic reply from Morooka.

“Huh?” Vanessa mockingly repeated, rolling her eyes. The students near her blanched, looking between foreigners and professors.

“You mockin’ me now after interrupting me, who the hell—”

“You came into the classroom, starting your crap that has nothing to do with what we are here to do. Which is to learn,” Vanessa stressed, clasping her hands together on the desk. “But instead, you go on some self-indulgent rant about me of all things.”

“Your job is to instruct, educate and inform on the historical and societal significance of Modern Japan. Not only have you failed to do so but you also harassed a student in the process,” She continued in an impassive tone.

“So, I’m going to give you one chance to get out of my face, go back to the board and actually do your job. Or else…” Vanessa removed the phone from under her table and showed it off to the professor. Morooka stilled as stared at the phone with mounting dread. “...I’m going to go to the department head, human resources or whoever I need to report that Professor Morooka harassed and discriminated against a student, blatantly and in the presence of witnesses.” She finished, flourishing her hand to the rest of the class.

“H-how dare–you just can’t record me without my permission, that’s illegal!” Morooka stuttered out, grasping his tie in a fit of nervousness.

“So is the harassment,” The foreign girl retorted with the same cadence of a tired office worker.

The agonizing silence stretched on for a few seconds, with many students caught between unease and being enthralled by someone actually talking back to Morooka.

Morooka clicked his tongue. “Fine. But you’re on my shit list. Effective immediately.”

“Same, fam,” Vanessa derided as the male spinster made his way back to his desk. “Also, if I find out that being on your ‘shit list’ compromises my grade in any way, I will immediately bring my evidence to the proper authorities immediately. Thanksies.”

A vein formed on Morooka’s forehead as he grasped the marker as if he was trying to break it. Before scoffing and turning his back to the class.

“Awright, you sad sacks, get out your notebooks, we are reviewing your essay’s prompt by going over the Taisho era…” The class seemed to snap out of their collective daze as they followed instruction. The ruffling of paper filled the once encompassing silence as the instruction had finally begun.

Vanessa leaned back in her seat as she gave a silent groan. God, I hate everything about today.

Across the room, a spectacled girl ignored the lesson in question briefly. Her gaze fell upon Vanessa, deep in thought before returning her attention forward to the board.

---

The lesson went by fast and in silence so much so that Morooka just decided to let the class leave a couple of minutes before the bell. Using our essays as an attendance, the class left the essays in a somewhat disordlerly stack on his disk before leaving out.

Vanessa was among the first to leave her essay on the table, making eye contact with the professor. Morooka merely frowned at the American in derision. In return, Vanessa gave the man a peace sign, emphasizing her middle finger before power walking out of the class.

Vanessa walked through the relatively empty hallway. Vanessa had to make a few stops before heading home, but first things first, she had to take a piss.

She entered the mostly sterile restroom in silence, making a beeline for the nearest stall. A glint in the corner of the restroom caught her eye as a hand rested on the stall door. A small, metallic trash can beaten and bent with aggressive force, its contents sprawled beneath the sinks.

Silently staring at the can before shrugging it off, “Must be a rough period this month.” the girl mused before entering the stall.

She had already sat down and started to tinkle before she heard the bathroom door open, the light tapping of shoes swiftly hitting the floor and the turning of the faucet as a long-winded groan echoed out.

Finishing up, Vanessa exited the stall. A girl around the same height as her, wearing a loose-fitting black blouse and jeans. She had her hair styled up in a braided twin-tails, similar to how Vanessa would sometimes style hers if she actually gave a damn.

The girl, startled, looked back towards the stall opening. Her brown eyes widened behind her bifocals somewhat as she saw the American.

She merely raised her eyebrows in response as she walked towards the faucet to wash her hands. Damn she even wears the same type of glasses as me. She noted as she ran her hands under the heating water.

The facial structure wasn’t the same and aside from the girl’s chestnut brown hair and skin color being lighter than the Texan’s, one could almost easily confuse the two for sisters at first glance. It was actually somewhat disconcerting from Vanessa’s point of view. She was cuter, Asian version of her. Sonuvabitch.

“Sorry, but is there a reason you're staring at me?”

“Hm, oh, my bad. Just kinda realized we kinda of a look-alike,” Vanessa said and then immediately regretted saying. Shit, why did I say that to someone I don’t even know?

Said girl merely eyed Vanessa up and down, taking in her lackadaisical attire. “You think so?” came the somewhat sarcastic reply.

Vanessa shrugged. “Eh, like in a weird bizzaro-verse kinda way I guess.”

“Riiighht…” the spectacled girl drawled as she opened her bag.

The silence stretched on for a solid twenty seconds before the lookalike spoke once more, “So did you mean what you said back in class?”

“Hm?” Vanessa hummed, drying her hands. She paused and frowned as the question sunk in. “Oh, you’re in my class?”

“I sit a few seats up adjacent to you. I’m Chizuru, by the way.” Chizuru replied, placing what the Latino assumed was chapstick back into her bag.

“Vanessa,” the American responded back with her own name. “But you already knew that didn’t you?”

To her credit, Chizuru gave a somewhat apologetic wince. “Yeah, well kinda hard not to at this point, especially after class.”

“It is what it is. Just gotta ride it out is all.” She expressed. Her fellow spectacled girl paused and then nodded in apparent solidarity.

“But did you actually mean what you said back there, what you said to Professor Morooka? Threatening him with that audio of him?” Chizuru asked once more.

“Oh, hell yeah. In fact, I was planning on turning that evidence in, regardless of what he said.” Vanessa revealed, turning to face her counterpart.

Chizuru paused. “Wait, you aren’t going to use it as blackmail?”

“Why would I? I just said that so he would get off my case at the moment. Nah, after how he acted and how he persistently acts? Completely unprofessional for an educator, he frankly doesn't deserve his job and even if he doesn’t lose it for some godly reason, he’s gonna be put in line before he ever tries that again. I’m lighting his ass on fire after that. He just gave me the excuse to do it,” Vanessa concluded, crossing her arms.

“Then why even stay in the classroom after? You could have just left to go do it immediately.” Chizuru questioned, raising a brow.

Vanessa's mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Eh, I just wanted to see the fucker squirm.”

“You do realize he is currently the only Modern Japan professor on the campus at the moment?” Chizuru further probed.

“Sounds like not my problem. They’ll find some way to manage, I’m sure. Besides, the only people who take Modern Japan are if it’s required by the history department or if they are from another major looking to get a quick history credit.” Vanessa proclaimed.

“I’m one of those people looking for a quick credit,” her Asian counterpart deadpanned.

Vanessa threw up her hands in a lazy fashion. “That’s rough, sis, but Professor Ono is a pretty good alternative if you don’t mind a few surprise quizzes here and there.”

Vanessa adjusted her mask back onto her face and walked past Chizuru, her eyes following her.

“Well, see ya.”

“Wait!”

Vanessa turned around to see Chizuru standing in the restroom’s archway, a frazzled look plastered on her face.

“Yeah?” the brunette asked, hand gripping the bathroom door. The other girl looked somewhat nervous to say the least, almost as if that very nervousness was agitating her.

“I wanted to talk about what it’s like for us being, you know, being rental girlfriends …” the chestnut-haired girl whispered slowly.

“Actually, I don’t, speak up a bit please.”

Finding her nerve, she continued. “I wanted to talk about us being rental girlfriends.”

“...Oh,” Vanessa muttered after a few seconds of silence, taking her hand off the door. “So, you’re one too huh? I mean, I’m not sure it’s really a great idea to be telling that to someone you don't really know. Especially after what happened to me.”

“It’s because of what happened to you that I want to talk about it,” Chizuru answered resolutely.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes in suspicion before replying. “...And what exactly did you want to talk about?”

“It’s just that…” she trailed off, placing her hands on the sink. “When you went off on that guy in the video, it just felt so…so…”

“So?” She probed.

“Cathartic.” Chizuru mouthed enthusiastically. “God, the way you tore into that guy, like don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t have been that harsh on him and there was no way I would have done that in public. But that’s the thing, you did, and you didn’t even care! And gosh the way he talked like you owed him something.”

Vanessa merely blinked as the girl continued her impromptu rant. “You have no idea how many clients that thought the same thing. Like what part of ‘this is fake’ didn't you not read in the fine print? Ugh. And didn’t even get me started on some the guy’s hygiene–”

“Especially the ones who don't even bother to brush their teeth.” Vanessa interjected.

“Right?! Like we take the time to look as cute as possible. I paint my nails, do my hair, wear my best and cutest clothes and they don’t even have the decency to brush their teeth or even put on deodorant!” Chizuru exclaimed heatedly, massaging her temples. “Just…just…Axe body spray!”

Vanessa’s face crinkled in disgust. “Fucking hell, that’s rough but not as rough as the few times I had some guys go on a date with me and not even bother to shower.”

“No. Way.” Chizuru’s eyes boggled.

“Yeah!”

“Ugh, it’s just that…” Chizuru groaned. “This job can just be so stressful sometimes so, when I saw you go off on that guy, I guess I just felt that I could relate.”

Vanessa hummed silently at the girl, encouraging her to continue.

Chizuru tiredly continued. “Honestly, sometimes I feel like quitting…”

“Then why don’t you? I mean, that’s what I plan to do. Especially after this mess I got in,” Vanessa crossed her arms. “Frankly, I think you're better off.”

Her colleague frowned. “But I need the money. It pays better than most jobs as is.”

“I don’t exactly know your circumstances so this may be a bit personal but,” The Latino asked. “But what do you need the money for, exactly?”

Chizuru straightened, placing a hand over her chest. “I want to be an actress.”

Excuse me. Vanessa thought to herself in a mounting disbelief.

“Not just any actress,” she beamed. “But a leading actress, one that can—”

“Hol’ up, wait a second.” The American interrupted. “You plan to be an actress? While working as a rental girlfriend?”

“Well, I was planning on quitting once I actually got established…” the Asian girl's voice trailing off.

“Regardless, you plan to work in a profession where public image is literally everything,” Vanessa shook her head in disbelief. “I’ma be real with you, it’s not going to work out. Not in the way you think it will.”

The look in Chizuru’s eyes sharpened. “And who the hell are you to tell me my dream isn’t going to work out?”

“Chi–”

“You have no idea how much I worked for this?” Chizuru interjected irritably. “What I had to deal with to get to this point?”

“That’s exactly my point!” Vanessa exclaimed, pointing towards herself. “Look what happened to me! People found out I was a rental girlfriend, and I instantly became a meme and social pariah overnight.”

Granted she already was one because she was a foreigner in a nation for its known xenophobia but semantics.

“I…”

“Let’s say you actually do become a leading actress like you wanted. There will be people that will dig that shit up and will never let it go. And the deeper you are the worst it will get for you in the long run,” she sighed, her shoulders slouching with exhaustion. “Look, I ain’t saying you can’t be an actress. But if you are going to do that, get out of Diamond while you can is all I’m saying, and I think you already knew that.”

Chizuru flinched, her anger subsiding. “But…I really do need the money.”

“Then do what every hopeful actor or actress looking for a career does,” Vanessa commented sardonically, rolling her shoulders. “And work at a Starbucks.”

“Ah…” Chizuru scowled. “Well, that’s easy for you to say but what about you, hm? Why are you even a rental girlfriend anyway, hm?”

Vanessa opened her mouth and closed it, narrowing her brow at the question. “I... uh...I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” she uttered the question back to the American.

She shrugged. “The money I guess.”

Chizuru's brow twitched. “Here you were just getting on me about my reasoning, and you only do it for the money? That’s it?”

“I said I don’t know, okay?! I don’t even know why the fuck I’m here in the first place, I never asked for any of this shit!” Vanessa exploded. Chizuru recoiled at the display of aggression. Vanessa deflated at this. Why am I taking my baggage out on some girl I don’t even know?

“I-I just haven’t had a good head space for the past couple of months, so I uh,” Vanessa stammered tiredly. “I did it because I could I guess…”

“Oh…” came the quiet reply from Chizuru. The two girls stayed in awkward silence, refusing to meet each other in the eye.

Chizuru took a deep breath. “Listen, I–”

Interrupting her, the deafening ring signifying the end of classes sounded, filling the silence. Vanessa took this as a sign to leave while she could.

“So, uh, yeah, you don’t have to take my advice if you don’t want to," Vanessa said, looping her bag over her shoulder. “It’s your life and your choice. But consider it maybe?”

“Wait, I–!”

“I’ma go get some asshole reported and fired hopefully,” the Latino stated, opening the door. “Laters and good luck, I guess”

With that, Vanessa hurriedly strided away down the hall and eventually turned the corner out of sight. Chizuru merely stood in the restroom’s door contemplating the conversation she had with her infamous colleague.

“Ah….” the chestnut-haired girl muttered.

“I forgot to get her number.”

---

Vanessa found herself exhausted. She spent at least an hour filing a complaint to human resources and while they said they were going to take it up with the department head, Vanessa made sure to remind herself to call back in when she got home to make sure it stuck. She doesn’t want that asshole getting off without at least getting some kind of reprimand if not fired preferably.

But that was a problem for future Vanessa. Right now, she was simply down with this day. Fucking, stupid anime Japan and it’s damn anime logic.

God, I could eat like, 20 crêpes right about now. Vanessa mused. Maybe some other day she could go to—

“I finally found you!” exclaimed a boisterous voice from behind her. She turned to see a modestly petite girl wearing a blouse with Geass branded over it, with a dark bubble skirt. Her admittedly striking red eyes that she would have swords with if Vanessa wasn’t in anime Japan. Her hair was shoulder length with two, distinguishing blue streaks in her otherwise pitch-black hair. However, what caught her attention the most was the admittedly cute protruding fang and powerful ahoge the girl had.

Holy shit, that is the most adorable shit ever. I love anime Japan. Vanessa noted in her head, the anime fang healing her fatigue from the day.

“It took me forever to find you. I had to track you on all my friends here at uni Instas and Twitter’s to see where you had gone but I finally managed to track ya down!” The girl announced, proud of her apparent accomplishment.

Ignoring the very worrying statement the girl just made, Vanessa asked a simple question. “And who are you exactly?”

The girl cutely jolted at the question, embarrassed that she forgot to introduce herself. She saluted and gave a beaming smile. “Well, I’m a first-year student! The name’s Mini Yaemori!” Mini said exuberantly. “Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

“Uhm…nice to meet you, I guess?”

“Oh, hehe,” Mini giggled conspiratorially. “You may also know me as the famous Koronemaru~★” Mini gave what Vanessa could only describe as a pose a girl makes when trying to imitate a kitten purring.

The two stood there in a muted silence. The American looked back towards the university gates, looking down as she scratched her head in confusion and then back to Mini before commenting.

“Who?”

 

A moment of silence stretched on between the two women. Staring at each other on the mostly, empty street. Mini finally broke the brief silence

“What’d ya mean ‘who?!’” Mini pouted indignantly. Vanessa flicked her ear casually.

“Literally who? Never heard of you,” she unintentionally rhymed, her lackadaisical response causing the streamer to pout.

“Awwwwww man, I was hoping you’d be convinced with my name alone…” Mini noted lowly.

“So, uh, can I help you? Otherwise, if you don’t have nothing to say I’ma head on home.” Vanessa said, pointing behind her.

“Wait, wait, wait no, don’t go –”

“Then spit it out already please. I got shit to do. Namely sleeping this bitch of a day off,” She said, cutting her off. The cosplayer shook her head and gave a perky salute.

“R-right! The name’s Mini Yaemori, a first year! Pleased to meet you, senpai and…” she paused, an insecure grimace crossed her face before finding her resolve and bowing her head. “...And please join my stream!”

Vanessa blinked and starred. The latina turned and looked to the empty street behind her checking for any possible onlookers with their phones out and then back to Mini.

“What.”

“I want you to join my stream!” Mini exuberantly replied.

Her mouth twisted. “...But why though?"

“Can you imagine how popular my stream would be if I got the American Fuck Girl on call, it would be—” Vanessa turned and began to walk away. “W-wait, wait senpai please come back!”

She continued walking, “Nah.”

“Come on, senpai, it’ll be fun I swear, you’ll love my chat they are great!” Mini cried out latching on to the other girl’s waist. “They’d love you and–”

“---Are prolly full of simps wanting to suckle on your toes or some shit. Also get off of me.” came the deadpan interruption.

Mini stared upwards, giving a seemingly offended glare.”I’ll have you know that there is hardly a simp in sight in my chat! My mods do good work and you hardly even see a ‘awoogah’ emote being spammed anymore.”

“Mhm, sure, well, sorry but I don’t really want to be used so you can get views.” Vanessa said, as she managed to detangle the cosplayer from her. “Not really down for any more internet exposure, ya feel me?”

Mini adopted a contemplative look before nodding. “That’s fair, I suppose. I can get how it can be a bit much sometimes especially after…”

“After I was exposed as being a sex worker minus the sex,” the brunette finished for her. The girl across from her flinched a bit.

“Y-yeah that, I admit I didn’t actually think this through much but,” Mini admitted. “I just kinda figured on my stream you’d be able to speak your side of the story is all.”

“What ‘side’ is there?” She raised her brow questioning the odd statement. “It was pretty obvious from the video I saw. It’s pretty straightforward.”

It was a pretty obvious conclusion from Vanessa's perspective. While she would freely admit she herself went too far in the heat of the moment, she ultimately felt her outburst was rather justified. Especially given that it was Kazuya that started it in the first place.

“A-ah huh, is that so…?” the girl across from her gave a nervous giggle. Vanessa narrowed her eyes.

“...It was pretty straightforward, right?” She questioned after a moment, a pit in her stomach forming. She knew since it was now public there would of course be people on either side of the debate as far as she and Kazuya were concerned because that’s just how internet discourse went, especially with people with too much time on their hands.

However, given that both she and Kazuya were in part at fault, she would have at least assumed it was somewhat even, hottakes aside.

“Wellllllll….”

“Oh god...”

“It’s just that, a lot of the videos that were uploaded mostly just have you yelling at that Kazuya guy with no reason seemingly and so…” Mini trailed off.

“Are you fucking kidding me? He started it!” Vanessa shouted, more heated than she’d like to admit, the pit in her stomach sprouting into butterflies. She’s been on the internet to know what likely happened. Someone had either uploaded the recording right as she began ranting to Kazuya or intentionally edited it out the beginning and that was the version that likely got popularized and spread around the most.

“Yeah but ya know how the internet is, senpai. They just see someone kind of shitting on their date and they just kinda take it at face value sometimes, especially without any context” Mini said, confirming her fears. “And uh, I guess your occupation doesn’t help either?”

“Context? Jesus, they should be able to intuit why I went off on him based on what I said!” the latina exclaimed. “The lack of basic context clues disgust me!”

Frustrated, she stayed silent for a moment before replying, “So how bad is it? In terms of ratio I mean. Fifty-fifty? Sixty-forty?”

Mini grimaced. “Ehhhhhhh, closer to like seventy-thirty in the circles I’ve seen. I mean, those you have in your favor who may have seen the original video or those who haven’t but kinda realize that you may have actually had a reason for being so hostile. Though most people agree that you prolly went too far—”

“Evidently not far enough, then” Vanessa darkly commented under her breath.
“--But most people kind of just take it as a meme that it is.”

This is an acceptable and wanted outcome in Vanessa’s eyes. “Good.”

“Butttttt, there is a vocal portion that has been uh, pretty …”

“Talking shit?”

Mini nodded. “Yuppers.”

Her eyes closed in frustration. After a moment, she opened them and muttered to herself, “It doesn’t matter, just sheep on the internet. Shit doesn’t matter, ignore it, it’ll just make it worse…”

“...Are you okay, senpai?” Mini asked cautiously.

“...Hm? Yeah, I’m good. So yeah, thanks for the offer but I’m good on the whole stream thing.”

“That’s fair, I suppose…”

“Then, nice meeting you but I’ma head on ho–”

“BUT! I can totes treat ya to something to eat!” Mini expressed enthusiastically, patting her chest. “Cuz it looks like you need something on your belly, senpai. You look like you just ran through a marathon.”

Vanessa grunted. “Meh, I’ll be fine. I just missed breakfast, and everyone knows that breakfast is the weakest link on your daily nutrition.”

Mini hummed smugly. “Vanessa-senpai, you're the type to eat some burnt bread with butter cause you have no idea how to cook, aren’t you?”

She snapped her head towards the fanged shrew. ”How dare you? I’ll have you know that I can cook my fucking ass off, I will literally punt you into the trash can, midget. I just didn’t have the time.”

“We’re the same height!” Mini breaking her smug facade before attempting to save face. “I-I mean sure thing senpai, if that’s so then there should be no issue with it then. Come on, I’m treating!”

Vanessa studied the face of the streamer, trying her best to scan for signs of deception and was having a hard time finding any.

Is she really serious? She thought to herself. She found admittedly sketchy that just some random girl claiming to be some famous cosplay streamer would suddenly approach her to not only be on her stream, but when denied, offer her something to eat? To Vanessa, either she was just really nice and dumb or more likely in her now cynical worldview, up to something. On top of that, Vanessa was also suspicious of the amount of encounters she is having today.

The video was one thing but the fact she has come across multiple people in such short succession has left her with the sneaking suspicion that whatever anime version of Japan she was in, she had become a part of it’s plot to some capacity. The thought left that part of her that she suppressed the first day she arrived to echo dreadfully in her chest.

Her thoughts went back to Mami and her plastic act and then looked towards Mini. The girl’s genuine, almost puppy-like pep differed from Mami’s fake and mechanical smile.

Should I? She doubted herself. With all the evidence presented, the smart move was to just go home. Ignore this girl, ignore everyone and just live her life. That was what was safe. It was a smart move to make, especially after today. But…

Mini frowned at the girl’s silence.“Um, senpai are you okay? Home to senpai! Are you in therrrrrree??”

But, going back to that solitary, lonely apartment. With no one there to greet her or even ask her how her day was, no matter how annoying she used to think it was. Expecting to sit in a room, just waiting for the day to pass in a slow blur just to do the same the next day. The same tedium of her existence for the past several months since arriving here.

It was at that moment that Vanessa realized that she hadn’t really been living her life for a long time now. So, it was at that moment, she decided to take a chance.

She traced a hand along her stomach before slowly replying, “.... I guess I could go for a crepe or two?”

Mini gave a joyous smile as she quickly looped an arm around Vanessa and led her forward. “Yes! I promise you won’t regret this senpai. I know a great crepe place. Oh! And they also have this salted ice cream thing that tastes great.”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh since, we’re friends now—”

“Wait what–?”

“Can I call you by a nickname? Please, please, please pleasssssse.”

Vanessa cringed. “Ehhhhhhhh, I don’t know about that one, chief–”

“How about Van-Van?”

“You may not.”

Mini smacked her forehead, eyes wide. “Oh! Do you know you have the same name as Vanessa from FNAF?”

“Oh god, that’s here too? Don’t you dare—”

“Can I call you Vanny-senpai?”

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “You’re doing this deliberately. You are deliberately trying to cause me pain.”

“Whaaaaat? Noooo, I would never sen~pai,” the girl gave a teasing grin.

“That’s it, you're getting yeeted,” Vanessa said as she began to drag the girl to the nearest trash can.

“W-wait, wait, I’m sowwy,” Mini began to flail in the under the other girl’s surprising grip. “Senpaaaaiii!”

Despite herself, Vanessa couldn’t help the genuine smile that spread across her face at the time.

Neither noticed the other young woman, watching the pair from a distance.

---

The crepe place that Mini dragged Vanessa to was, in fact, some food stands right outside the main buildings of Nerima University. Vanessa knew of it but often avoided it as it was often usually too busy with other uni students clamoring around there and the area, preferring the location closer to her apartment.

Mini with Vanessa in tow walked towards the stall vendor, waiting in line. Mini looked somewhat dour as she then weakly glared towards Vanessa.

“I can’t believe you actually tried to throw me into the trash….”

“As you deserved, you dumpster gremlin,” the latina deadpanned. “Be thankful that I didn’t dump you headfirst.”

Mini scoffed. “More like couldn’t. I could tell how much your twig arms were struggling to even get me over into the can.”

Vanessa’s rebuttal was instant. “Yeah, you’re right. You were pretty heavy. Are you putting on some weight for some cosplay or something?”

“I’m not fat!” Mini hollered.

“Whoa, I didn’t say all that now,” Vanessa smiled trollishly. “I was just asking. Besides, having a little junk in the trunk is a-okay, I am a whole hearted believer in body positivity. You keep chugging down those Doritos and Mountain Dew on stream. Who knows might even get you some new followers.”

“M-maybe I should have the crepe after all…”

“Huh? But we’re already in line, might as well commit and treat yourself. Again, body positivity is important, kouhai.”

Mini’s eyes twitched before grinning. She could play her game. Showing off her signature fang, she replied. “You’re right, senpai. I am gaining some weight for a new cosplay. I plan to cosplay Vanny from FNAF.”

The Texan cringed and made a choking sound with her throat from hearing her answer, “W-what?”

“Mhm~plan to gain loooots weight,” she nodded cheekily. “‘Cause I hear vore is super popular nowadays and I hear Vanny is some top-tier vore bait so just imagine the crowd I’d be bringing in on stream!”

Vanessa choking turned into a coughing fit, drawing the attention of passersby. “Y-you –you..-”

“Hehe~ just kidding, senpai.” Mini gave a toothy grin with the classic peace sign to accompany it.

Vanessa jabbed a finger into Mini’s face. “Satan woman. I hope you get drowned in all the inflation smut that will be made of you.”

“Ooh, that's actually a good idea. I can review all my inflation smut on stream!” Mini hollored, drawing the attention of those in line in front of them. A pair of boys in front of them side eyed the two young women, their faces wrinkling at their conversation before deciding to leave the line to go elsewhere.

Vanessa and Mini watched the pair leave before turning back to Mini. “See? I told you if you talked cringe that it would help us shorten the line. Good thinking with the FNAF vore stuff though.”

“Y-yup,” Mini sheepishly said, looking away. “Totally a part of the plan.”
Vanessa merely adjusted her glasses as she and Mini stepped forward to the street vendor. “Mhm”

Mini turned to the middle aged street vendor. “Yaa-hoo~Watari-jiisan. I brought a friend!”

The street vendor, Watari, merely sighed at the girl’s exuberance. “I told you before Yaemori-san. I’m only 38 years old, hardly an old man.”

“Ehhhhhh,” Mini gave a questioning look and turned her gaze towards her compatriot. “Do you think thirty-eight is too old right, senpai?”

Vanessa gave the question some thought. Given that she was a 25 year-old woman within her 19 year old self, she didn’t have to give it much thought for long, “Eh, I mean, I think it all comes down to how you view it. I mean, a 50 year old could have more pep in their step than a 15 year old. So I guess it comes down to perspective.”

Watari gave an appreciative smile while Mini nodded her head.

“Wow, senpai,” Mini started lightheartedly. “That was a real boomer copium answer. Are you actually older than you look?”

The vendor and spectacled girl gave the cosplayer a glare before Watari sighed in resignation. “So, your orders?”

“The regular with me, I’ll take the spiced apple crepe, jiji,” Watari nodded before turning to Vanessa. “And you, young lady?”

“Umm,” Vanessa looked towards the menu on display before coming to a decision. “I‘ll take the fresh fruit crepe, with extra whipped cream, please.”

“Coming right up.” the man said as he turned around to work his figurative magic.

While waiting, Vanessa decided to make some conversation with her. “So aside from cosplay and feet, what do you actually do on most of your streams? Do you even play anything or are you just one of those talking boob streamers without the boobs?”

Ignoring the jab, Mini answered. “I play all kinds of things. Fortnite, Apex, Valorant. Anything really. Usually while I’m cosplaying.”

“Oh wow, a real life Gamer Girl. What a novelty.”

“Right? I was gonna start selling my Gamer Girl bathwater but someone already had a market on that.” Mini noted sarcastically.

Vanessa smirked while Mini continued. “Been playing through Kingdoms of Amalur and Yakuza Kiwami. Kinda confused at first though.”

“Did you not play Yakuza 0?”

“No?”

“Well, that’s why.”

“Hey, I can follow along well enough! Besides, I only need to know that Kiryu lives rent free in my head and will be my future husband.”

“Finally, you exhibit good taste.” the brunette replied, nodding her head in solidarity.

“Yeah but aside from that, I was thinking of biting the bullet and just going full Vtuber,” Vanessa quickly turned towards her fellow shortie. “It’s just a matter of sitting up on a model rig from Etsy.”

“Okay, yeah about that—”

“Here you go, young ladies. Your orders,” Watari interrupted, having finished their orders.

“Oh, thanks/Thankies, jii-san,” the women say simultaneously. Watari gave them a smile and thumbs up. “No problem, be sure to come back next time. To Watari’s Crepe Place!”

“Like I said, Jiji. You really need to workshop that name,” Mini said as she handed him the money.

Watari shook his head. “Foolishness! It’s not about the name, it's about the quality of the product!”

“That’s technically true…” Vanessa trailed off.

“Jiji, are you following what senpai said after being old is all about perspective and trying to be all peppy?”

“O-of course not, I’m always like this.”

“Come on, Mini, don’t call the man out like that.”

“No, I like it. Keep on keeping on, Watari-jiji-san. See ya!” Mini began walking away with a pep in her step. Vanessa gave a quiet ‘peace’ to Watari before following after the cosplayer. Watari's shoulders deflated as he shook his head and turned to take the order of his next customer.

Mini takes a massive bite of her crepe before turning to Vanessa, chewing. “Sow I was thinkang, Van-Van…”

“Don’t call me that. Also don’t eat with your mouth full, you gonna send yer nasty mouth shit all over my crepe,” Vanessa commented while moving her crepe away from the little weirdo.

The ahoge girl swallowed before continuing. “Like I was about to say, since I mentioned Yakuza earlier. It gave me a great idea!”

“Are we going to beat up gangsters dressed as babies?”

“Ew, what? No,” Mini frowned before gaining an impish grin. “We’re doing Karaoke!”

Vanessa gave the girl a lidded side glance, “No.”

“Awwww, come on, please, please please—”

“No, I don’t think we will.”

“It’ll be fun!”

“It'll be cringe.”

“But–but, I want to sing the Kiryu songs!” she pouted towards the brunette who stood still at the reasoning. Vanessa had to admit, it was a good reason but she wouldn’t falter.

“We have Kiryu songs at home.” Vanessa shook her head, adopting the tone of a mother explaining to their child why they couldn’t get McDonald’s.

“It’s not the same and you know it! I want to sing it out in an actual karaoke place! Pleasssssssse~, I’ll even let you sing the Majima ones.”

“No, fuck you, I want the Kiryu songs–no wait, shit.”

“See, even you want to do it!”

Vanessa decided she had to put her foot down. “We’re not doing it, and that’s final.”

---

Son of a bitch, she’s dangerous. Vanessa thought to herself as she stood outside of Karaokemura. The designated spot that Mini had decided for the duo.

Mini was giddy with excitement. “Okay, senpai, let’s get to it. I want to sing Baka Mitai. You can sing Cinderella after.”

Vanessa squinted at the brat aside from her. “Fuck you, Baka Mitai is mine. I will allow you to have Today is a Diamond though.”

“But I haven’t even gotten to Yakuza 6 yet!” The streamer complained. Vanessa merely shrugged. “Sucks to suck.”

Vanessa opened the glass door entrance to the karaoke parlor as a disgruntled Mini followed behind her. At the counter stood a girl Vanessa surmised was around 17 or 18 years old, with what Vanessa would describe as a baby face but it was evident that the girl was beginning to blossom into young adulthood regardless. A distinctive yet bright yellow bow stood out amidst her deep brown, almost black hair.

The worker greeted the pair with a smile. “Hello! Welcome to Karaokemura, how can I help–Ah.”

The counter girl stared at the pair. Vanessa whispered to Mini, “Hey, I think one of your fans recognize you, midget woman.”

“Nope,” Mini said as she tilted her head. “She’s staring at you, dwarf woman.”

“Aha–ahh, y-you are–!”

“Oh. Is it that time again huh?” Vanessa asked no one in particular, having gotten used to this particular scenario.

Maybe I should have just gone home?

“F-fuck girl-senpai–!” exclaimed the bow-headed girl as Mini immediately broke down laughing.

....Yeah, prolly should have just gone home today.

Spoiler: Mini and Vanessa in a nutshell