Let's look at this. This panel is from Chapter 49. We see Kazuya waiting for Chizuru to have a conversation with her in front of their apartment doors.
In Chapter 233, the famous “3-month ghosting” happens, and most readers directly blame Chizuru. But if you look at the bigger picture, the situation is not as it is portrayed.
From Chapter 49 to Chapter 233, a lot happens. Before, he had no problem acting like an adult and speaking to her normally at her door. So why doesn’t he do it now, more than 200 chapters later?
Let’s look at the context:
Chizuru kisses Kazuya at Hawaiians.
Ruka gets furious, pushes her, and insults her when they return from the trip.
Kazuya sends Chizuru a message and then knocks on her door. Chizuru feels terrible about everything. She wants to meet him, but Ruka is technically Kazuya’s “real” girlfriend, since he never ended that relationship.
Chizuru feels like she hurt Ruka and doesn’t want to keep doing that. She's on the floor, near the door and says, “I can’t take this anymore.” Because of this, she avoids him at that moment. She decides to step aside so she won’t interfere with them.
So what happens with Kazuya?
At that point in the story, the trust between them was much greater—they had already been through a lot together.
However, the climax of the Hawaiians trip ends with two traumatic events for Kazuya, both orchestrated by Mami.
This leaves Kazuya with trauma, fear, passivity, and a deep hesitation to move forward or take action.
Now he is completely paralyzed by fear. That is the key factor. There are no chance encounters because he actively avoids her. He’s terrified and hides.
In fact, the manga is very explicit with visual and narrative contrast. On one hand, we see Kazuya locked in his room, lying in bed, surrounded by trash and takeout containers / Food delivered to his door.
On the other hand, we see Chizuru outside, going to the supermarket and buying ingredients to cook. Here we see the moment where she’s thinking about Kazuya while looking at a carrot. She doesn’t block him, she isn’t running away, she isn’t hiding, and she isn’t avoiding the outside world.
If we go back to Hawaiians, Kazuya talks about how it’s time to end the rental relationship. Then the kiss happens. And from Chizuru’s side, there’s a parallel idea: “I can’t fall in love with a client,” which can also be read as “he would need to stop being a client for me to fall in love.”
Kazuya turns back to the rental, but Chizuru doesn’t accept the request. But the rental had to end, That was the aspect with which everyone attacked Chizuru in Hawaiians, something that made her feel terrible and guilty.
Mini tells Kazuya that he needs to go out and talk. Kazuya refuses and hides.
Mini then talks to Chizuru, who explains the situation.
When Mini returns to Kazuya, he breaks down crying and says, “Thank God… I thought she hated me.” That says everything. He was paralyzed by fear.
The paradox is that many people try to “defend Kazuya” by blaming Chizuru entirely, but in doing so, they fail to empathize with Kazuya or understand what he went through. The manga doesn’t present a clear villain here, but rather two characters dealing with insecurities, fear, and misunderstandings.
Later, Chizuru accepts the rental date—the last one they have. They meet, she apologizes, explains everything, gives him chocolate, and promises that she will try to understand her feelings for him.
Finally, we get a very satisfying chapter that contrasts all of this: Chapter 244. Chizuru is rehearsing for her play and talks with a coworker who hasn’t been sleeping well. Throughout that day, she chats with Kazuya with great chemistry, and by the end of the day, we see that she has no trouble falling asleep—this time, with a smile.
