“You gotta be kidding me” Rio felt her eyes twitching while scanning through the pages of the contract the two mysterious men presented her. She tightened her grip on the ladle she was holding and just wanted to rip the poor thing apart. Rio couldn’t help but to compare the contents of the document they signed a few weeks ago to the one Daiki gave her just now. Rio is used to reading massive pile of medical books and reviewing a 30-page contract is a piece of cake. However, it was as if she was reading her own nightmare when she saw legitimate lawyer signature on Daiki and Ryosuke’s contract while theirs only has their land lady’s signature on it. “This can’t be!”

“With all due respect miss, you’ve been reading that for more than an hour now” Ryosuke moaned after feeling both his feet aching from all the packing, travelling and arguing the whole day. However, his comment was gone futile. The two girls just continued to compare their contracts, with the desire to get into the bottom of this mess. 

At last, Rio slumped both her hands holding the contracts on her lap and stared into space as she sighed in defeat. She then turned to Amu who was sitting next to her before slowly shaking her head as if saying “we’re-doomed”. 

“There’s gotta be a mistake! I mean… we already paid the deposit and everything” Amu felt her world turn upside down. She bit her lower lip and just wondered where in the world can they live now? They used up all their savings in the deposit of this house and now, some random men are about to claim it as theirs. 

Daiki noticed the two girls contemplating and took the initiative to propose an idea even just for the night. He cant deny the fact that he is also exhausted from all the day’s events and all he can think about at the moment is sleep, “There’s no use thinking about it now”, he started then pulled his luggage near the centre of the living room, “You can’t really contact your land lady at this late hour so why don’t we just have some rest and deal with it tomorrow?”, he continued and earned a nod from Ryosuke. 

With utmost uncertainty, both Rio and Amu gestured the two guys to settle inside their living room. 

“We have one problem though” Ryosuke looked at the two adjacent bedrooms and saw that both of them are already pre-populated with the girls’ belongings. “What are the sleeping arrangements?” 

 “I guess I can sleep in Amu’s room for now but don’t try anything funny or suspicious!” Rio glared at the two boys and pointed her weapon (her precious ladle) at Ryosuke. Daiki and Yamada flinched at her sudden actions and just watched their figure slowly enter the room on the left. “There’s still a chance that this apartment is ours so don’t get too comfortable!” 

—

“Geez… she’s one crazy lady” 

—-

The morning came and the two girls found themselves talking the whole night, coming up with a plan on how to solve their dilemma. For some good reason, sleep eluded them. The thought of being homeless is just far too much to comprehend. Both of them decided to go early in the morning to pay their land lady a visit to get some explanation about all these misfortunes. They tiptoed their way out of the apartment, hoping they wouldn’t wake the boys up. 

The sullen skies outside depicted their emotions as the two girls hailed for a taxi to go to their land lady’s office - the same place they signed their contract. Amu and Rio travelled for about thirty-five minutes when they finally reached the address of the realtor’s office. As soon as they stepped outside the car, they felt their eyes widening after seeing an empty office space right in the middle of an old building. 

The same sign was there but if you look through the transparent windows, the place was empty! There were a few scraps of wood lying around inside and various junk mails stuffed inside the letter box. It was obvious that it has been vacated for a number of days now. With heart pounding, Amu pulled Rio’s sleeve to catch her attention. The older girl was left frozen in her place when she saw a massive sign saying: “OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE”.

“What the hell? Is this the same place we got our contract?” Rio questioned and tried to deny what her eyes are seeing right now. It’s only been two weeks since they signed the contract and now, the letting agent’s office disappeared like it didn’t exist in the first place. 

Seeing how agitated Rio is becoming, Amu took the initiative to dial the number given to them by their land lady. She waited for a few seconds but to no avail - the number was unavailable. “Now, we’re really doomed” she whispered to herself before feeling her body involuntarily slumping down on the nearest pavement. 

“Do you think if we ask nicely, people will let us sleep at their place? I mean, we can ask one neighbour every night. I’m sure we’ll live” Rio joined Amu sit on the pavement and tried to lighten up the mood. By this time, she’s thinking of the worst case scenario. She feels responsible for Amu’s wellbeing. Ever since they met a few years ago, Rio had always been very protective of the younger girl. 

Hearing Rio finally back to her usual self, Amu chuckled. She rested her head on Rio’s left shoulder before sighing for the nth time, “Worse comes to worst, we can always take a bath in the river… We can get through this, Rio-chan” 

——

After learning they have a ‘fake contract’, the two girls didn’t have much choice but to go back to their ‘fake’ apartment where all their possessions are located. Amu and Rio dragged both their feet towards the entrance door before taking a deep breath. The younger one twisted the door open and saw two manly figures moving furnitures across the living room. 

“I guess it didn’t go well, huh?” Daiki saw the two girls’ half-dead expressions and led them towards the living room sofa. “I asked my lawyer to research about that letting agent you dealt with and he confirmed that it was a scam”