Walking side by side on the sidewalk, Charlie occasionally glanced over at Mahiru.
Given the significant difference in their heights, his stride was naturally much wider. Aware of this, Charlie intentionally slowed down his pace, aligning each step so that their rhythm was in unison.
Mahiru, who had been focused on staring straight ahead all this time, secretly noticed the change. The corner of her eye caught how the man beside her sensitively balanced her shorter walking rhythm without needing to be asked.
Beneath her flat expression, Mahiru felt slightly impressed by this small, inconspicuous, yet deeply caring attention.
"..."
Seeing the silence that was beginning to feel awkward, Charlie decided to break it with a light joke.
"Hey, Shiina-san. Aren't you worried that the people at your school earlier will misunderstand our relationship? They might think we're dating. Don't you highly protect that perfect 'Angel' image of yours?"
Hearing that question, Mahiru's reaction shifted instantly. Her facial expression looked somewhat displeased, and she glared at him with a slightly sharp gaze.
"Please do not call me by that name. I do not like that nickname."
Mahiru did not hide her discomfort toward the moniker at all.
Charlie merely shrugged his shoulders casually. "Well, what can you do? At the school gate earlier, everyone called you that. I was just copying what they said."
"I feel that I am completely unworthy of being called an 'Angel'. It's excessive." Mahiru said curtly while turning her face back to the front. "Anyway, never call me that."
Seeing the girl's mood sour, Charlie could only sigh in resignation and chose to comply. "Alright, alright. I understand. No more Angel terms from my mouth."
Seeing him give in so quickly, Mahiru nodded slowly with a satisfied expression. The tension in her shoulders loosened slightly before she resumed the conversation, answering Charlie's initial question.
"Regarding the rumors at school... if anyone asks tomorrow, I will use the excuse that you are my cousin who came from afar to visit. That way, they won't be suspicious anymore."
Charlie turned his head and smiled faintly, praising the girl's tactical thinking. "A pretty good and safe excuse. At least a distant cousin won't trigger any strange gossip."
After that small agreement, the conversation flowed more casually.
They continued to walk together for fifteen minutes along the shopping district route, until finally the silhouette of the nearest shopping mall building that was their destination began to be clearly visible before their eyes.
Entering the shopping mall which was bustling with the hustle and bustle of afternoon visitors that day, Mahiru stepped toward the escalator. However, before stepping any further, she turned slightly toward Charlie.
"Before we begin, how much money did you bring with you right now?"
She intended to adjust their shopping budget.
"..."
Charlie fell silent for a moment. He felt his empty pocket, then scratched the back of his head which did not itch before finally admitting honestly.
"Actually... I don't have a single penny."
Mahiru's footsteps instantly halted in the middle of the mall corridor. She turned around completely and stared at Charlie with a gaze of disbelief, as if she had just seen an alien land in front of her.
An adult man with a neat appearance, but carrying no money at all in his wallet?
Seeing the frozen reaction from the girl, Charlie immediately stepped forward closer. He bent his body slightly and whispered right near Mahiru's ear so that their conversation would not be overheard by other visitors.
"Listen, Shiina-san. As I said yesterday, I come from another world. So, the currency I brought from there cannot be used in this world at all. Unfortunately, I also forgot to sell a few of my gold bars to exchange for local currency before meeting you."
The puff of Charlie's warm breath brushing against the sensitive skin around her ear instantly made Mahiru's usually nonchalant face turn faintly red.
She reflexively took one step backward to maintain her distance.
If this had happened a few days ago, Mahiru would certainly have been immediately convinced that the man in front of her was an acute chuunibyou or someone who had a severe mental disorder. However, after witnessing Charlie's terrifying supernatural abilities with her own eyes last night, she couldn't help but believe the crazy-sounding nonsense.
Mahiru cleared her throat softly, trying to regain her composure which had briefly faltered.
"I see... Alright. You can use my money first. I still have quite a lot of savings to buy you basic necessities."
Hearing the offer, Charlie accepted the generosity with a awkward smile.
In his heart, he suddenly felt like a sugar baby whose life was being supported by a high school girl.
Of course, Mahiru had absolutely no idea what was raging inside Charlie's mind right now.
If that girl were to find out that she was being equated with a sugar mommy, she would undoubtedly be extremely upset and would probably leave Charlie on the spot right away.
Without speaking much more, Mahiru led the way and brought Charlie toward a fairly popular clothing store, namely GU.
If Uniqlo is famous for its casual and minimalist basic clothing line, then GU is its "little sibling" that offers much cheaper prices and focuses more on current youth fashion trends. Visitors can easily find t-shirts, shirts, denim pants, to trendy outerwear for only ranging between ¥500 to ¥3,000.
Mahiru herself was the type of woman who was very thrifty.
Even though her parents always sent her a monthly allowance in an amount that was more than enough, she always set aside most of that money for savings and was used to shopping for items with affordable yet functional prices.
As soon as they entered the men's clothing area, the atmosphere between the two suddenly shifted. Mahiru immediately took over full control.
With an observant eye, she began to walk along the clothes hangers, picking up plain t-shirts, flannel shirts, and chino pants one by one, then holding them up against Charlie's body to measure his size manually.
"This one is too loose... Now, this black shirt seems to suit you. Try holding this first."
Mahiru handed a piece of clothing into Charlie's hand, then went back to being busy sorting through pants on the next shelf.
Seeing how prompt and diligent Mahiru was in choosing clothes for him—from thinking about suitable color combinations to checking price tags to stay thrifty—Charlie could only stand in resignation.
This scene truly looked exactly like a mother who was busy buying her son new clothes.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
After finishing sorting through several sets of clothes, the two of us headed to the cashier desk.
However, the comfortable atmosphere that had briefly been built was suddenly disturbed when the payment process took place.
The store cashier, who was a young woman, gave a very noticeably look of disdain toward Charlie.
Her eyes alternated between staring at the pile of men's clothes on the counter, then toward Mahiru who was pulling out her wallet to pay for the entire shopping total.
Charlie, who possessed sharp sensitivity, of course could immediately guess the cashier's thoughts. That woman must think he was a gigolo or a useless parasitic man who was squeezing money out of a high school girl.
Not only Charlie, Mahiru too turned out to be sensitive enough to notice the judging gaze from the cashier.
That instantly caused both of her cheeks to flush out of slight embarrassment, so she hurried to finish the payment and immediately pulled Charlie out of the store without uttering a single word.
Once they were back in the wide mall corridor, Mahiru exhaled a long breath to ease her awkwardness. She glanced around before pointing to a corner.
"There is a drink stall over there. Let's go buy boba tea." Mahiru shifted the mood.
After ordering two glasses of boba tea, the two of them walked toward a row of long benches provided in the center area of the shopping mall.
They sat side by side, sipping their respective drinks in a silence that had briefly felt awkward.
However, Charlie did not let that awkwardness last long. He put down his boba glass for a moment then turned toward Mahiru.
"Thank you for the clothes, Shiina-san. And I must admit, your fashion sense turns out to be very good. Your choice of clothes earlier really fits me perfectly."
Mahiru sipped her boba tea slowly before responding in her usual flat tone.
"It's nothing special. I only chose basic color combinations that presumably wouldn't look strange when you wear them."
The atmosphere slowly began to thaw. Mahiru stared at the straw in her glass, appearing to weigh something before finally launching the question that had been nagging her curiosity since yesterday.
"By the way... what kind of world did you actually live in before coming here, Charlie-kun?"
Hearing that question, Charlie smiled faintly. He leaned against the back of the bench.
"Before I explain, have you ever read an isekai-themed light novel?"
Mahiru shook her head slowly. "Although I myself have never read a book like that, I know a bit about the concept of isekai. There are a few classmates who happen to be otaku and they often talk about that topic inside the classroom. So, I have a rough picture of it."
"In that case, it will be easier to explain." Charlie said while nodding. "My world comes from a place similar to a general isekai fantasy, where people fight using swords and master magic. But the difference is, in my world there is no Demon King who intends to rule the world or destroy mankind."
Pausing his sentence for a moment, he stared straight ahead.
"Instead, over there, the gods descend directly from heaven to reside in the lower world together with humans."
Hearing that narration, Mahiru was instantly stunned. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she spontaneously turned completely toward Charlie.
"Gods... truly exist in your world?" She asked with a trembling tone of voice, ensuring that she had not misheard.
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