I Refuse to Become Scumbag in Tokyo

When Mai saw Shishio, who had just arrived at the Sakurasou, she wanted to complain a bit, but after hearing his apology, she closed her mouth and also said, "No, I should be the one who said sorry." She knew it was her fault telling him to get out of her house at that time, and this time, she came to his dwelling unnoticed. It wouldn't be weird if Shishio got angry, but he apologized, which made her lips tremble since she understood the meaning of his apology.

Mai's days in the past week after she parted from Shishio weren't easy. It was simply hell since, except for coming back to the show-biz, she just didn't know how to cure her problem.

In the past week, after Mai parted from Shishio, sometimes, she could be seen by someone, and sometimes she couldn't be seen. It was mixed between two situations, and over time, the time she was unnoticed became longer and longer. This situation frightened her, and she always had an urge to call Shishio from time to time, but when she thought that she had chased him away at that time, she felt that she didn't have a right to ask for his help.

However, in the past week, her condition had worsened.

If it was before, it might only be an hour or so that she went unnoticed, but after a week of their separation, it had been a few hours, and it also came so suddenly without any precaution.

When she went to the family restaurant, supermarket, or went to buy necessities to buy a sanitary napkin when she was on her period, she suddenly went unnoticed, and she couldn't buy either of them since the staff, employee, or cashier couldn't see her.

With how dire her situation was, Mai became even more scared, and she decided to visit Sakurasou, waiting outside until she saw him.

Mai waited outside of Sakurasou, and several people entered and walked out of the Sakurasou. But, unfortunately, no one could see her at that time, which made her even scared until she saw him appear before her.

There was a bit of resentment in her voice, but it was just an act since she was so glad that Shishio could see her.

Mai understood somehow why she hadn't seen him until now, even though she had been sitting at the entrance of Sakurasou since noon. After all, Shishio wasn't at Sakurasou and went out somewhere.

Still, as they apologized to each other, they were suddenly in silence, and there was this awkward atmosphere between them, making it hard for them to talk until...

*Growl!*

"....."

Mai's face reddened rapidly, and she covered her stomach in embarrassment, but then she became annoyed when she heard a chuckle. "What are you laughing for?!" However, she stopped, getting angry when she saw Shishio's smile. 'Dammit, why is this guy so handsome?!' She wanted to complain to someone since whenever she saw him smiling, she felt the world become still, and it was like the smile of the handsome guy on the shoujo manga where a lot of flowers suddenly appeared around him made her face flush instantly.

Shishio also quickly stopped smiling since he knew how dangerous his smile was. He then took out a strawberry daifuku that he bought during his date with Miu on the Tsukiji Market. "Eat this."

"..."

Mai looked at the daifuku in Shishio's hand. She didn't know that there was a massive strawberry inside the daifuku, but even so, she couldn't help but gulp her saliva when she saw a soft and huge daifuku that was wrapped in white powder as if it was the most beautiful snowy mountain. "Thanks." She accepted Shishio's offer since she was hungry and ate the strawberry daifuku with her small mouth.

As she bit down, Mai tasted triple the deliciousness from the soft mochi, sweet red bean paste, and the juicy strawberry. The combination of sourness and sweetness caused her tongue to become numb. It was so delicious and added to her hunger, she chomped down on the strawberry daifuku fast, but an accident happened.

"Cough! Cough!"

Mai coughed hard since the daifuku suddenly got stuck in her throat.

Shishio was speechless and unsure whether he should do this, but he took out his bottle of water from his bag and gave it to Mai.

Mai directly grabbed Shishio's bottle of water and drank the water until she felt better. She let out a satisfied sigh then looked at him gratefully. "Thank you."

"No problem," Shishio said with an awkward expression.

"What's wrong?" Mai wanted to continue to eat, but she felt that Shishio's expression was a bit wrong.

"Nothing."

Mai frowned since she was unsatisfied with Shishio's answer. "Tell me."

Shishio sighed and said, "Well, you might think that I'm childish since you're older than me, but we just have an indirect kiss." He didn't overthink about an indirect kiss, but he knew that the reaction of the youngsters in this country was quite exaggerated toward the indirect kiss, so he thought that Mai would be alright, or not...

Shishio saw Mai blush instantly, but then she coughed, trying to calm herself, and said, "Are you a kid? You don't need to exaggerate just because we just drink from the same bottle?"

Shishio raised his eyebrow and said, "Is that so? Well, now that you've mentioned it. I'm a bit thirsty now. Can you give me back my bottle of water?"

Mai was stunned when she heard Shishio's words.

"Mai-san?"

"...Here." Mai gave Shishio his bottle of water back as she muttered.

Shishio didn't overthink and drank some water while observing Mai's reaction and smiled since this girl's reaction was too cute, right?

Mai's mind was in a mess when she saw Shishio drinking from the bottle of water that she had just drunk, but at the same time, she was also annoyed since this guy didn't even fluster when they had an indirect kiss!

Mai snorted as she chomped on her strawberry daifuku as if she was biting her most hated enemy!

Still, it might be because Mai ate too fast again that the daifuku stuck on her throat again, which made her grab Shishio's bottle of water again as she gulped the water, trying to relieve herself. She wanted to cry at this moment, wondering if the God of Mochi cursed her.

Mai wasn't sure whether there was a God of Mochi or not in this world, but she lowered her head since she was too embarrassed to face Shishio since they had shared an indirect kiss again.

"Don't eat too fast, Mai-san." Shishio rubbed Mai's back so she would feel better.

Mai felt a bit depressed since even though she was older than him, she felt like a little girl in front of Shishio, which made her feel unacceptable and slightly depressed. Also, she realized that she didn't hate this feeling, that she could depend on someone, and the feeling when someone pampered her.

However...

"Thanks," Mai said.

"No problem."

"Then I'll go back." Mai left since she felt that she shouldn't trouble Shishio again. Also, she knew that his girlfriends were quite wary of her, and she didn't want to cause him trouble, so she decided to go back. This was her problem, so she felt that she should solve this by herself.

However, how could Shishio let Mai go back like this?

Shishio caught Mai's wrist directly and asked, "Are you going back like this?"

"Let go of my hand," Mai said as her voice trembled.

"Do you want to disappear? Next time, I might not be able to see you, you know?"

Shishio was worried since even though he might have an "Enhanced Memory," he wouldn't forget anything, but Mai's condition was too weird.

Being unnoticed by someone as her existence was slowly forgotten by everyone in this world.

Even Shishio was also frightened by Mai's condition!

Even though his existence was a cheat, especially when he owned a system, Shishio wasn't confident that he might not forget or not be able to see Mai next time since the existence of the Adolescence Syndrome itself was like a bug in this world.

The Adolescence Syndrome wasn't something that could be understood with logic, and it was also the reason why it was better to solve this problem as soon as possible.

Hearing Shishio's words, Mai's mouth trembled and her eyes red that she might cry any moment since she was scared with the thought that Shishio might not be able to see her like everyone else before she would disappear from everyone's eyes. However, she held herself, trying to show a strong posture as she said with a trembling voice. "You don't need to worry. My problem will be solved soon since I have decided to return from my hiatus."

Yes, Mai had decided to return as an actress again since, like what Shishio had said before, she didn't hate acting instead. On the contrary, she loved it, but her mother told her to take a bikini photo without telling her during her active time, causing a painful memory for her. Of course, she didn't want to take such a photo, but her mother had signed the contract, so in the end, she could do that bikini photo even if she didn't want to.

At that time, Mai knew that her mother thought of her as a money bag, and she decided to take revenge by taking a hiatus.

However, Mai didn't expect to meet this situation where she became unnoticed by everyone around her.

"So just let go of my hand, and I'll take care of myself!" Mai wasn't sure why she got angry at this moment, but she might be angry because she just couldn't be honest with herself. She just wanted Shishio's help and stayed with him, but when she thought about his girlfriends, she just felt annoyed, and she also felt that she shouldn't trouble him any longer.

'Just why?' Mai felt that it would be great if she met him earlier, but there was no "if" in this world so, in the end, she just wanted to walk away since if she didn't walk away now, she might, even more, depended on him, but as she tried to break away, she was hugged suddenly which made her head blank as her body started to feel warm, giving comfort.

Sitting at the entrance of the Sakurasou until night, it would be weird if she didn't feel cold since her clothes didn't give her enough warmth.

However, Mai became hot as she was embarrassed, but she didn't hate this feeling.

"Stay." Shishio hugged Mai and said, "I'll help you solve your problem, and don't stay alone. Sleep here at Sakurasou."

Mai didn't break away from Shishio's hug and asked in a dumbfounded manner, "...You want me to sleep with you?"

"....." Shishio's lips twitched as he said, "There's a girl in Sakurasou. I'll ask her to let you sleep with her."

Mai didn't answer Shishio's question for a while until she nodded. "Okay."

"Good." Shishio felt relieved that Mai accepted his offer.

Still...

"How long are you going to hug me?" Mai asked suddenly.

Shishio felt that it was so comfortable to hug Mai, so he asked, "Can we stay for a while?"

"Scumbag," Mai said without mercy.

"...." Shishio couldn't say anything to refute.

"...But I'll let you hug me for a while, so be grateful," Mai said in a mutter. It was tough to be alone when she was in this situation, and she just wanted someone to stay with her, pampering her slightly, so she decided to ignore this guy's insolence.

"Thanks." Shishio showed a happy smile, which made Mai sigh, wondering whether she was too soft toward him since she let him take advantage of her.

They stayed like this for a while until Mai told Shishio that it was enough, making him show a depressed sigh.

Looking at Shishio's expression, somehow, all the unhappiness and uncomfortable feelings on her heart disappeared. Mai looked at Shishio with a smile as she followed him to Sakurasou.

However, as they entered Sakurasou, Shiina happened to be there.

"Shishio!"

Shiina didn't hesitate and hugged him before she tried to kiss him since she just missed him so much.

However, Shishio quickly stopped Shiina and said, "Wait! Wait! There's someone beside us!"

Shiina stopped, then showed a confused expression. "Someone?" She titled her head at the entrance of Sakurasou, and she saw no one. "Is there someone else?" She felt confused as she asked this question.

"..."

Shishio opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, he closed it before he looked at Mai, who tried to control her emotion. Still, he didn't expect that her situation had become so serious.