"—Pfft!"
"D-Did I say sothing wrong?"
Seeing the woman before him turn her head to stifle a laugh, although he didn't understand what happened, Shido felt embarrassed and his cheeks grew hot.
"Ah—No, no, your pronunciation wasn't wrong. It's just that from a Chinese person's perspective... it's very subtle."
"You speak Japanese?!"
Seeing the other party suddenly speak highly fluent Japanese, Shido couldn't help but shout in retort.
"Because it's more interesting this way. That group of guys earlier also assud I couldn't speak Japanese like you did and gave almost the sa greeting. I really wanted to laugh back then, but I held it in because I was afraid of sparking mass anger."
Saying this, the woman winked playfully. In contrast to her mature and sexy first impression, this woman's personality was quite childish.
"Uh..."
Shido couldn't help but sweatdrop. In other words, did she feel safe teasing him because she didn't think he was dangerous?
"Well, whatever..."
Shido let out a sigh. He definitely wasn't going to get worked up over such a small thing. Since the other party had freed herself from the pick-up artists, there was no need for him to stay any longer.
"Then I have to go prepare dinner for my family, so please excuse ."
"Wait, don't leave just yet, okay?"
Suddenly, the woman stopped Shido.
"Hm?"
Shido stopped in confusion, only to see the other party scratch her cheek and say sowhat embarrassedly:
"Actually... I was just transferred here to work at a company not long ago. I originally wanted to take a good walk and get familiar with the city before starting work tomorrow..."
"You got lost?"
"Ahahaha..."
Seeing her embarrassing predicant pointed out by Shido, the woman couldn't help but smile awkwardly.
"Can't you just take a taxi? If you tell the driver the company na, he should be able to take you there."
"Because I just arrived in this country, I haven't prepared enough Japanese Yen. The rest is just the credit card in my wallet."
"Uh, that's certainly a problem."
"Right, right!" The woman nodded vigorously, grabbed Shido's hand, and pleaded earnestly, "Please, handso. I'm not asking you to take to the company, just guide a little bit to a nearby bus station."
As the woman drew near, an incredibly elegant perfu scent lingered at the tip of Shido's nose, making him a bit flustered.
"Oh, alright... It's not far from here anyway."
Being asked by a beauty who lowered her attitude like this, Shido couldn't refuse.
"Handso, are you running errands for your family?"
On the way, the woman looked at the shopping bags in Shido's hands and asked curiously.
"Yeah. Or rather, I do most of the cooking and housework at ho."
Shido nodded and answered with a bitter smile.
"Ooh, a high school boy who does housework, the so-called Yamato Nadeshiko type in Japan?"
"Your way of praising is a bit off."
Hearing the other party praise him with a weird term, Shido didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Is it? Well, don't mind the small details. Anyway, guys who can do housework are very popular in any country."
"Thank you..."
"You bought quite a lot of ingredients, do you have a big family, handso?"
"Mhm, now that you ntion it... maybe eight or nine people..."
Saying this, Shido couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Before he knew it, so many people were living in his house.
"Oh? That's quite a large family." Hearing this, the woman raised her eyebrows in surprise and continued to ask, "Is it the kind where you live together with grandparents and other relatives?"
"No, it's more like..."
Halfway through, Shido suddenly caught himself. It was better not to casually talk about Tohka and the others.
"It's nothing. Speaking of which... um, excuse ?"
He tried to change the subject, but Shido found that he didn't know how to address the woman in front of him.
"Co to think of it, I haven't introduced myself yet. My surna is Ai, my na is Mulian."
Seemingly noticing Shido's distress, the woman smiled faintly and gave her na.
"U-Um—My na is Itsuka Shido." Shido hurriedly replied, coughed awkwardly, and continued, "Um, what about you,Ai-san? Do you also cook at ho?"
"No, I'm a single aristocrat living alone. So I usually just grab takeout for my als." Mulian shrugged and answered candidly. "But it's not like I don't know how to cook. When I used to cook for my ex-boyfriend when we lived together, he said it was so delicious he definitely wanted to marry in the future."
"I see..."
The other party seed to casually drop so concerning words, but Shido chose not to pry and softly chid in.
(...Is this the so-called composure of an adult?)
Looking at the relaxed and carefree Mulian, Shido sighed secretly in his heart.
"Right. Um, Ai-san, can we take a slight detour? I want to go to the bookstore to buy so cookbooks."
Shido suddenly had an idea. He had been pondering what to cook tonight, maybe Chinese food would be a good choice.
To this, Ai Mulian nodded readily.
"Sure. I'm not in a hurry anyway."
—————————————
"Steaming, stir-frying, braising... Chinese cuisine has so many cooking thods."
In the bookstore, Shido briefly flipped through related cookbooks, thought for a mont, and picked out a few basic beginner's guides.
"Sorry, Ai-san, for keeping you waiting... hm?"
Not seeing the other party at the entrance, Shido looked around in confusion and found Ai Mulian standing in front of a bookshelf, staring intently at the book in her hands.
(Is that... Weekly Shonen BLAST?)
Shido was sowhat surprised. He didn't expect the other party to enjoy reading this kind of hot-blooded shonen manga magazine.
"Oh, sorry about that. I got a little too absorbed, can you wait a bit longer? I'm at the good part."
Seemingly noticing Shido, Mulian held the manga and said sowhat sheepishly.
"It's fine, go ahead."
Shido shook his head, indicating he didn't mind. Receiving Shido's answer, Mulian dove back into the manga.
(But... to boldly read manga for free in a bookstore like this, I kinda feel...)
Overlaying the figure of the woman before him with the brown-haired girl at ho, Shido couldn't help but sigh with a bitter smile.
After a while, Mulian slowly raised her head and exhaled a breath of deep satisfaction.
"Phew... That was interesting. A lot of the works are really fascinating."
"I didn't expect you to like manga,Ai-san."
"Mhm, my ex-boyfriend used to love reading these kinds of books. After he recomnded them to for a while, I grew to like them too. He used to always clamor about definitely taking to Akihabara for a pilgrimage."
Mulian explained with a smile. However, hearing her words, Shido couldn't help but feel a bit confused.
(Not just living together, but even growing to like the sa things. It seems her relationship with her ex-boyfriend used to be very good. So why did they break up?)
However, his confusion remained just that. Shido wasn't foolish enough to pry into other people's personal matters.
"Alright~ Now then."
Suddenly, Mulian unzipped her handbag, and under Shido's puzzled gaze, took out a pair of small scissors.
Next, Mulian opened the manga magazine in her hand and flipped to a certain page. The content inside happened to be a manga Shido had seen.
The serialized Silver Bullet by Nia.
Shido watched as Ai Mulian picked up the scissors, placed the page between the sharp blades, and then—
Snip!
(Eh?)
For a mont, Shido couldn't process what had happened.
Snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip snip—
Like a rapid-firing machine gun, the sound of scissors closing rang in his ears one after another, making him feel uncomfortable, to the point of his scalp tingling.
By the ti Shido realized what was going on, the pages in the manga magazine belonging to Nia's manga had already been cut into scattered pieces of paper.
"Wh-What are you doing?!"
Shido asked in a panic.
"Hm, what am I doing?" Hearing Shido's question, Mulian answered as if it were perfectly normal, "Cutting a manga."
"What are you saying..." Shido couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, and said, "Seriously, destroying rchandise like this, the staff will scold us to death."
"Ah, so that's what you were worried about." Mulian nodded in sudden realization and answered, "Don't worry, when I ca in, I already observed the layout of this bookstore. This spot is a blind spot for the caras and the staff's line of sight, they can't see what I'm doing right now."
"That's not the problem..."
"It's fine, don't worry."
Looking at the slightly frantic Shido, Mulian seed very relaxed, shrugging and answering.
"Since I dared to do this, naturally I will take responsibility."
Saying this, Mulian moved her fingers, picking up the pieces of paper inside the magazine and putting them back in place like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. This made Shido marvel at her dexterity.
Originally, Shido thought Mulian planned to use tape or sothing to piece the manga back together and sneak it past, but unexpectedly, Mulian just kept it in that state and closed the manga.
Imdiately after, Mulian took another identical manga from the bookshelf, carefully opened the packaging, put the damaged manga into the plastic sleeve, and sealed it.
After finishing this step, Mulian nodded in satisfaction, holding the cut-up magazine, and walked towards the checkout counter.
(No way, is she planning to just pay for it like this?)
Shido thought uneasily. Even if it was put in a plastic sleeve, the cut-up manga would definitely be different from the original. This little trick couldn't possibly fool the staff working part-ti at the bookstore.
However, unfortunately, just as Shido guessed, Mulian handed the manga to the cashier.
"Ah... It's so hot..."
Letting out a slightly coquettish pant, Mulian fanned herself with her hand while unbuttoning the upper buttons of her collar, revealing her pinkish white, crystal clear skin.
"—!"
From Shido's perspective, he could clearly see the cashier's widened eyes.
"I'm sorry, the heating here is too strong, I can't stand the heat. I lost my composure a bit, I hope you don't mind."
"N-N-No problem."
Involuntarily swallowing, the cashier answered with a slight stutter.
"Phew... The temperature difference compared to outside is really big. Wearing so much was a mistake."
Mulian turned her gaze out the window, muttering to herself with a complaining tone.
At the sa ti, a transparent bead of sweat seeped from Mulian's forehead, slid slowly down her cheek, leaving a faint water trail on her neck. It passed her delicate and sexy collarbone, traced a plump arc, and flowed into the snow-white cleavage.
His hands operating the machine out of habit, the cashier stared intently at the scene before him.
"Um, I didn't bring cash. Is a credit card okay?"
"Of course, no problem! We welco your next visit anyti!"
"Hehe~"
Taking the plastic bag from the cashier, Mulian smiled faintly, and under Shido's dumbfounded gaze, walked out of the bookstore openly.
...
"How about that? Destroying it before buying is considered damaging rchandise, but after buying it, how I handle my own book is my freedom."
After adjusting her clothes, Mulian spoke with a proud tone.
"You really have a lot of nerve."
After paying for the cookbooks he bought, Shido looked at Mulian, sighing with lingering fear.
"I felt nervous just watching from the sidelines."
"Thank you."
"I wasn't complinting you."
Sighing in ntal exhaustion, Shido looked at the woman before him and asked in a low voice.
"Why did you do that to Nia's manga?"
Shido's voice carried a hint of anger.
Since Mulian had already bought the manga she cut up, Shido didn't intend to continue interrogating her about it or complaining to the bookstore. But that didn't an he agreed with her actions.
Indeed, Nia's manga had been on hiatus for several years. There were definitely readers who considered her disappearance as dragging out updates and felt dissatisfied or even angry. Shido could understand that.
However, Shido had seen with his own eyes just how much passion and enthusiasm Nia poured into her manga. He sincerely admired her work attitude as a manga artist.
Seeing the fruits of Nia's labor being so brutally trampled and denied, it was impossible for Shido not to be furious.
"Nia?" Mulian tilted her head in confusion, then said in realization, "Oh, you an Souji-sensei, right? Since you know Sensei's real na, I assu you know her personally."
"Phew... I guess you could say that."
Shido took a deep breath, and after calming down, advised her earnestly.
"Ai-san. Perhaps you are very dissatisfied with N... Souji-sensei going on hiatus for five years. But she herself had many unspeakable difficulties. Please don't hate her because of this, or even take your anger out on her work."
"Um... did you misunderstand sothing?" Hearing Shido's words, Mulian looked speechless, "In my opinion, the most interesting and brilliantly drawn piece in this magazine is undoubtedly Souji-sensei's Silver Bullet."
"Eh?"
Shido was instantly bewildered and asked in great confusion,
"Then why did you cut her manga into pieces?"
"Ugh... This is a bit difficult to explain. Simply put—"
Pondering for a mont, Mulian gently moved her lips and answered in a tone that made it sound perfectly natural and justified.
"It is precisely because I like it that I want to know everything about it, that I want to see it torn to pieces, isn't that right?"
In an instant, a chill surged from the soles of Shido's feet.
It was only then that Shido felt a sense of incongruity.
Unlike the people he had t before, the woman before him wasn't as ignorant of the world as Tohka, nor as arrogant as Miku when she despised humans as dolls, nor as coldly alien as Westcott looking at people like another species. Packaged in actions that seed to adhere perfectly to social common sense, one couldn't help but treat this as rely a slightly unique personality quirk.
But what it contained was perhaps a paranoia almost equivalent to a deadly poison.
(Could it be—No, no! I must be overthinking things.)
"Ah, the station is here. Thank you, you were a big help."
"Mhm... you're welco."
Boarding the bus that had just arrived, Mulian watched the boy gradually receding into the distance, a slight smile curving her lips.
"Then, let's et again next ti. Itsuka Shido."
(TL note: this is an important OC character of the original author that bring a big plot twist and change later on all the arc from now and especially the final arc)
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