Episode 25

## Home Cooking and Girlfriend

**"Home Cooking and Girlfriend"** (手料理と彼女, *Teryōri to Kanojo*?) is the first episode of the third season of the *Kanojo, Okarishimasu* anime adaptation.

## Synopsis

Kazuya and Chizuru have decided to make a movie together so that Granny Sayuri can see it. That's all well and good, but now they have to sit down and work out all the details.

## Plot

Kazuya meets up with Teppei Shimizu, a music producer from Campfire. Teppei wonders if Kazuya thinks that crowdfunding is a child's play, and explains that his project doesn't have images and his text doesn't feel professional. The pitch and the rewards are also very important and while 70% of the projects reach their goal, its due to a lot of work and planning, while those who put little effort always fail to reach the goal. They will support the project as much as they can, but can't allow it to launch in its current state.

Later, Kazuya tells Chizuru that he couldn't launch the project as it won't likely succeed in its current state. Kazuya is also worried that Chizuru intends to use her real name "Ichinose" and people at the college can recognize her, however Chizuru doesn't really care about that, and Kazuya shouldn't get too worked up about it, because Chizuru is expecting a lot from her "Producer". Hearing that, Kazuya gets super excited. She also spoke to her agency and they are fine with it. Kazuya notes that he will need some pictures for the project and Chizuru states she will speak with her manager. In that moment, a third from the balcony next to Kazuya, shows up and states that she has been hearing them talk on the balcony quite often and wonders if they can't just talk in their rooms, and if they are that lovey-dovey, they should just start dating. Chizuru and Kazuya blush, while Kazuya is surprised to learn that someone is living in apartment 202 as he last heard it was unoccupied. The girl then wonders if they are already dating, but Kazuya denies it. She then goes inside, stating that she doesn't want any trouble and had said what she wanted to say. Kazuya then feels awkward and tries to joke about it, but Chizuru goes back inside and stating they should avoid having balcony meetings for a while. Kazuya is shocked and disappointed as they had just started working with Chizuru on a project together and the neighbor ruined that.

The next day, Kazuya is still pissed off. He recalls seeing a moving truck few weeks ago and is glad at least that the neighbor girl doesn't know about Chizuru being his rental girlfriend. In that moment, Kazuya sees the neighbor girl and attempts to hide, but she sees him and is surprised that he also goes to the same college, Nerima U, and wonders what year he is. Kazuya reveals he is a second year and the girl then introduces herself as Mini Yaemori, a first year student. Kazuya is surprised how friendly she is, as he believed she would be quite mad, but Mini explains that she saw in a wetube video that you need to put your foot down when you deal with annoying neighbor. However, that attitude isn't good when she is dealing with an upperclassman and apologizes. Mini's friend wonders if he knows him and just as Mini starts to explain that he is her neighbor, Kazuya imagines a situation where she tells everyone that he is talking with a beautiful girl on the balcony and that becomes a problem. He interrupts Mini, wanting to talk with her privately.

Yoshiaki and Shun meet in class. Shun wonders where is Kazuya and Yoshiaki guessing he is skipping. Shun feels something is up as Kazuya have been going straight home lately. Yoshiaki agrees, recalling that Kazuya is always looking at his computer, even during lunch breaks. Mami overhears their talk.

Kazuya asks Mini to keep his balcony meetings a secret. As Mini wonders why, he explains that its not nice to get involved in people's relationships when you don't know anything about them. Mini then guesses that Kazuya has a thing for Chizuru and Kazuya can't deny it. However, she agrees that she would be hurt if someone joked about her special relationships. Mini states that she has someone special too and shows Kazuya a picture of a diva, Niikaze Mei from Billion Live. She was recently into another diva, but had changed her mind, and promises that she won't get in his way.

Back at home, Kazuya struggles to think of what to write for the project. He saw in the other projects, people talk about their dreams and what led them to crowdfunding, but he can't write about Chizuru's grandmother without Chizuru's permission, and can't call Chizuru on the balcony to talk. He then receives a message, which is from Chizuru, asking him if she can come over. Kazuya starts to panic, wondering why and for how long she will stay. He starts cleaning and notes that while she had visited before, it was all accidental and not on her own free will. He barely replies confirming it and proceeds to clean up. Moments later the doorbell rings and Kazuya opens nervously and apologizes that his place is a mess. Once inside, Chizuru explains that she wanted to talk earlier, but was busy. She is here to talk about the movie and his neighbor is correct that talking on the balcony is a nuisance.

The two then start working on the project and Kazuya suggest they lower the goal to 1.82 million yen. Chizuru wonders if that would be enough and Kazuya explains that he did some research and for a movie about 60 to 90 minutes, they need to film for about a week. He then proceeds to explain each item they would need, payments for the staff and adding 50k yen for unforseen issues, it all comes around 1.82 million yen. After explaining it all, Kazuya barely can keep his focus as he keeps getting distracted and how attractive Chizuru is. Chizuru then sends him some pictures of her for the project. Chizuru also states that she doesn't need payment, but Kazuya is against it as he made the offer to fund the movie and she star in it. Chizuru then sees a section about Rewards and wonders what it is. Kazuya explains its the rewards the backers will receive based on the tier of their support, and they should make the rewards desirable. Kazuya also states that he wants to talk about Chizuru and her grandmother in the project description and Chizuru agrees. Kazuya is surprised as he felt that Chizuru wouldn't want to make this some sort of a sob story, but Chizuru states she can't just say to not everything, and only care for her dream to come true. Kazuya's stomach then rumbles. Chizuru realizes he haven't eaten and decides to cook him something, but sees that his fridge is almost empty and there is nothing she can cook for him. Kazuya initially got excited that she will cook for him, but then regretted being lazy and not having anything in the fridge. Chizuru goes to her apartment and takes some ingredients and prepares omelet rice. She tells him to not get the wrong idea as she just doesn't want to feel responsible if he got sick for not eating right while working on her movie. Kazuya then starts eating, feeling its the best omelet rice he ever had. Seeing him eating and saying nothing, Chizuru tells him to at least tell her how it is, and Kazuya states its great. As its getting late, Chizuru decides to leave. Kazuya thanks her for helping him out decide on some things and states he plans on using his savings too. Hearing that, Chizuru is against him using his savings as is already doing a lot. Kazuya states its not for her dream, but for his and he can spends his money to chase his dream, however he either way has only 100k yen. Chizuru agrees and tells him to contact her if he needs to discuss anything. Kazuya starts to feel that his relationship with Chizuru is changing for the better. Chizuru opens the door to leave, but she and Kazuya are surprised to see Ruka standing outside.

## Characters

* Chizuru Ichinose
* Kazuya Kinoshita
* Teppei Shimizu
* Mini Yaemori
* Yoshiaki Kibe
* Shun Kuribayashi
* Mami Nanami
* Ruka Sarashina