Episode 13

## Dream and Girlfriend

**"Dream and Girlfriend"** (夢と彼女, *Yume to Kanojo*?) is the first episode of the second season of the *Kanojo, Okarishimasu* anime adaptation.

## Synopsis

As Mizuhara looks set to quit the rental girlfriend business, Kazuya goes to watch a play, one that could be pivotal to their relationship.

## Plot

Since Chizuru quite being a rental girlfriend and will no longer act as such for Kazuya he feels he needs to tell his grandma that they broke up, but can't gather courage to do so. Since Chizuru wishes to become an actor, Kazuya decides to go to the theater and watch her play. Seeing the pamphlet for her play, he gets excited since he will be able to see her singing and dancing. He tries to remain unseen, however, while taking a seat, Sumi who is also there, notices Kazuya.

When the play starts, for a moment, Kazuya though that Chizuru is the lead actor and playing the princess. He then sees Umi who plays the shogun. The shogun calls his trusted kunoichi Nene and Chizuru comes out. As she is nothing like her usual self, Kazuya feels embarrassed to watch and can't focus on the story. As she continues with her play and starts making jokes, the audience starts laughing. Kazuya is impressed by her acting and even he starts to laugh. He wonders if its because the script is good, but actually believes that she manages to catch the audience's eye with her movements, timing, expressions, and everything. He notices that even when the other actors are talking, the audience have their eyes on Chizuru. The play ended within 30 minutes of Nene's death and Kazuya believes that everyone realized who the MVP was. Kazuya remains on his seat after the play, recalling the cheers. Sumi was about to greet him, but decides not to.

Backstage, Chizuru is congratulated on her performance. As she had improved a lot for a year, they wonder if she was training in secret. Recalling her job as rental girlfriend, she states she was putting on an act on a daily basis. Chizuru overhears a talk between the main actress Shiori and Togakushi-sensei, the famous director that was going to scout for an actress. She hears two other girls commenting that SHiori knew the director since she was in grade school and the deal was seemingly done even before the play. Knowing how hard she worked, Chizuru is disappointed and decides to skip the wrap up party.

While heading home, she bumps into Kazuya and sees he had the pamphlet from the play. She knows she can't stop him from watching her, but he shouldn't have been there as its unfair to her other clients. Kazuya tells her she was amazing and the audience loved her. Kazuya assumes she caught the director eye and will be stopping being a rental girlfriend. However, Chizuru reveals she didn't get the job and was beaten by Shiori, who is more talented. She feels she will never accomplish her dream as she doesn't have talent. Kazuya knows that she is upset and tries to come to terms with it. He disagrees with what Chizuru said and tells her he will keep renting her week after week after week. He doesn't believe she don't have talent as she plays the perfect girlfriend and was the best actor on the stage. He can't help her, but will keep renting her so that she keeps having her dream and doesn't want she to give up. As they gain th attention of people, Chizuru tells him that she doesn't need him help and he should look at the reaity, and then runs away.

Getting home, Chizuru receives a call from Umi, since Shiori wanted to talk with her. Shiori thanks her for warming up the crowd, which made her performance much easier. After hanging up, Chizuru starts crying. Her phone vibrates, letting her know she received multiple rental girlfriend date requests from Kazuya. She smiles, calling him an idiot for making that many bookings.

## Characters

* Kazuya Kinoshita
* Chizuru Ichinose
* Sumi Sakurasawa
* Umi