After finishing up in the private areas of his apartment, Shido returned to the living room to help Mahiru with the cleaning.
He couldn't help but smile wryly as he watched her moving around, completely focused. She had insisted so strongly on helping that he hadn't been able to refuse, but seeing her so energetic and determined, he figured it was best to just let her be.
"Where should I put this, Itsuka-san?" Mahiru asked, holding up a vase she had found while tidying up.She glanced over at him as he crouched by the floor, sorting through a pile of miscellaneous items that didn't have a place yet.
"Hmm, just put it beside the TV," Shido replied, glancing up briefly before returning to his work.
"Alright," Mahiru said with a nod, carefully walking over and setting the vase down by the television.
However, as Mahiru took a step forward, she failed to notice a bottle of cleaning detergent left on the floor. Her foot landed on it, causing her to slip backward with a small gasp.
Startled, Mahiru instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable fall while trying to protect the vase in her arms.
Mahiru, expecting the harsh impact of the floor, realized a few seconds had passed, and yet she felt no pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was leaning back, close to the ground, but somehow she hadn't hit it.
"Are you okay, Shiina-san?"
Then she heard a deep voice from behind. Turning her head carefully, Mahiru's eyes widened in surprise. Shido was there, supporting her gently. One of his arms was securely wrapped around her waist, preventing her from falling. In his other hand, he held the vase she had almost dropped.
"U-Un, I'm fine. Thank you, Itsuka-san," Mahiru replied, her voice a little shaky. Even though she managed to keep a calm expression, a soft pink blush was clearly blooming on her cheeks, betraying how flustered she actually felt from their closeness.
"I see. Be careful next time, alright?" Shido said gently, offering her a warm smile.
"...Yes." Mahiru whispered, her heart still pounding a little faster than usual.
After making sure she was steady, Shido turned and walked toward the TV, carefully placing the vase in its intended spot as if nothing had happened.
Mahiru on the other hand, turned her back to Shido pretending to tidy up the mess that had nearly caused her to slip.
"...That startled me." Mahiru whispered silently.
But in truth, her hands were trembling slightly as she clutched the fabric of her shirt over her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. Her emotions swirled with a mix of confusion, embarrassment, surprise, and something she had never felt before.
The memory of their bodies pressing together, Shido's firm yet gentle hold around her waist replayed vividly in her mind, causing the blush on her cheeks to deepen.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus on cleaning, though her mind stubbornly refused to settle down.
...
"I didn't expect it would take us until evening to clean up the entire apartment," Shido sighed, glancing out the window at the dark sky.
"It's quite big, so it took us a long time." Mahiru said with a soft chuckle, amused by the bitter smile on his face.
"Right." Shido agreed. Then, after checking the time, he added, "Since it's already too late to cook dinner, why don't we just order something?"
"H-Huh?"
Mahiru blinked, caught off guard. 'Did he mean... we were going to eat together?'
"What would you like?" Shido asked casually, already pulling out his phone to check some food options.
"Well..." Mahiru fidgeted a little, unsure how to answer, her heart fluttering at the unexpected turn of events.
...
"So this is... a take-out pizza?" Mahiru said, gazing curiously at the pizza laid out on the table.She sounded both fascinated and a little hesitant, like someone encountering something new.
"You've never ordered food before?" Although Shido already know it, he still needed to asked her.
Mahiru gave a small nod. "We had... people at home who cooked for us," she said softly.Though she answered, her tone lost some of its usual brightness. There was a subtle stiffness in her voice, and Shido quickly picked up on it.
Sensing that it wasn't something she felt comfortable talking about, Shido decided to steer the conversation away.
"Well, let's eat," Shido said, pulling a slice of pizza from the box.As he lifted it, the mozzarella cheese stretched into a long, gooey string, making Mahiru's eyes widen in fascination.
She gulped unconsciously, watching both the beautiful sight of the cheese pull and the way Shido took a bite, savoring it with visible delight.
Encouraged by his reaction, Mahiru reached out and mimicked him, carefully pulling a slice of pizza.Just like before, a long, stretchy string of cheese followed, and her eyes sparkled even more.
Once the cheese finally broke, Mahiru elegantly brought the pizza to her mouth and took a small bite.
"Hmm?!"
The moment the flavors hit her tongue, her eyes lit up even brighter. Unable to hide her reaction, she continued munching on the pizza with small, adorable bites, resembling a cute little hamster.
Shido watched Mahiru with a soft smile, finding her absolutely adorable as she munched happily on the pizza.
However, as they both continued eating, his eyes caught sight of a small spot of melted cheese clinging to the corner of her lips.
Although he hadn't intended to think anything strange, his mind involuntarily drifted. The tiny speck of cheese, so out of place on Mahiru's usually pure and holy appearance, gave her an unexpected tainted feeling.
Before he could say anything, Mahiru, sensing something on her lips, stuck out her small, pink tongue and lightly licked the corner of her mouth to clean it off.
Shido froze for a moment, feeling his throat tighten as he gulped hard.He quickly shook his head, trying to dispel the sudden, dangerous thoughts that threatened to arise.
"This is your first time eating pizza right?" Shido said, while a playful smile appeared on his face.
"...Yes." Mahiru wasn't sure but she felt Shido's smile was both funny and annoying.
"That means, I've turned you into a bad girl. If your classmates saw you eating pizza so happily with me, they'd probably be shocked to death!" He laughed, clearly teasing her.
Mahiru puffed out her cheeks slightly in protest, giving him a small glare."I-I'm not a bad girl! It's just pizza!" she huffed, but her flustered expression only made Shido laugh even more.
"But well, yeah." Mahiru said with a sweet, almost mischievous smile, "I'm sure they would beat you up for corrupting an innocent girl like me."
"...Yeah, they just might." Shido replied, smiling wryly at her words. He didn't even bother denying it, considering Mahiru's reputation as the "angel" of their school, a pure and untouchable existence in everyone's eyes, her classmates would probably see him as a villain for leading her astray with something as simple as pizza.
But would he actually let them beat him?
Of course not.
If it ever came to that, he thought dryly, he would definitely beat them instead.
Shido chuckled quietly to himself, feeling strangely at ease with Mahiru's playful side showing more openly.
...
It was already late at night, Mahiru had also gone back to her apartment hours ago after they finished eating pizza.
Shido was alone in his world and was looking the interface of World Travel. He had already finished the simple quest in this world and he thought that it was finally time to begin his real adventure.
But as he looked over the familiar, comforting sights of his apartment, a smile tugged at his lips.The past two days had been surprisingly fulfilling. He had met a gorgeous housewife at the cake shop, a girl who always forgot her glasses, and of course, the angel next door. Despite the excitement of traveling to another world, there was a sense of warmth in his heart, something he would definitely miss.
With a final glance at his dark room, Shido pressed the Random World option on the interface.The moment he did, everything around him dissolved into darkness. For a brief second, he felt weightless, as if suspended in some infinite void.
Then, a voice echoed in his mind, the system's voice.
Ding!
[System Update will occur.]
[Host cannot use some features of the System for 12 hours.]
Shido's eyes widened in disbelief as the system's announcement processed in his mind.
"What the f*ck?" Those were the words Shido said before he descend into darkness.