"Please come back again!"
Miyakoshi said cheerfully, bowing in her usual energetic way.
"Yeah, I'll visit often," Shido replied with a small smile before walking out of Wagnaria.
Truthfully, his experience there had been both wonderful and... weird. The food was undeniably good, but the waitresses? Shido had to say that they are cute however, they were all too strange.
Still, Shido thought that it was what made this family restaurant special. It had its own charm, and maybe that's why so many people kept coming back despite the weirdness of their staff.
Shido was still waiting for his furniture to arrive at his apartment so he decided to explore the city first. It would be a waste not to play around the city before he went to another world. He had installed security camera's and other security measures around the apartment building so Shido was well aware whether the delivery had arrived.
With that peace of mind, Shido wandered through the city. He visited various shops, browsed through grocery stores, checked out arcades, amusement parks, and even wandered around a few train stations just to see what the area had to offer.
By the time he finished his casual exploration, the sun was already starting to dip toward the horizon. The streets were lively again, filled with students in uniforms walking home, their chatter filling the air.
"Is the delivery getting postponed?" Shido muttered, glancing at his phone for any updates.
Despite spending the whole day sightseeing to kill time, the delivery still hadn't arrived. Now, with the sky growing darker and heavy clouds rolling in, he could tell that it was going to rain.
Shido sighed deeply. He had been looking forward to receiving the furniture, imagining how he would decorate the place to make it feel more lively and like a real home. But now, standing in the cooling evening air with empty hands, all he felt was disappointment.
"Glasses, where are my glasses...?"
"Hmm?"
Shido paused as he caught the voice of a girl nearby, she rummaged through her school bag. Curious, he turned toward the source of the voice.
Standing on the sidewalk was a girl with messy pink hair, busily searching for something inside her bag. What caught his attention even more, though, were her hazel eyes that narrowed into such an intense squint that it almost looked like she was glaring at the world around her.
However, Shido could feel that she was feeling troubled by something. So he could only sigh and walk in her direction. He couldn't just leave her alone after seeing her troubled face.
"Um, is something wrong?" Shido asked with a friendly smile, careful not to startle the girl or worse, make her angry since she looked like she was practically glaring at her own bag.
"Hmmm, who are you?" Seeing that a stranger came to her and talk, the girl look at his direction while squinting even harder.
"I'm Itsuka Shido. You can just call me Shido if you want," he replied warmly, unfazed by her intense expression. "I saw you looked like you needed help, so I thought I'd come over."
Despite how scary her squint looked, Shido had a feeling it wasn't intentional. 'Maybe she just has terrible eyesight...' he guessed, smiling wryly to himself.
"Oh, I see. I'm Mei Ai." Mei nodded and answered Shido before she continued fiddling through her school bag.
Shido could only laugh awkwardly since Mei ignored him after answering. However, it didn't bother Shido that much and activated his scan after thinking for a bit and see her profile and stats.
Name: Mei Ai
Level: 3
Age: 16
Height: 148 cm
Measurements (B/W/H): 74/53/75
Class: None
STR: E
VIT: E
AGI: E
INT: D
CHA: C+
LUK: E+++
Threat Level: None
Affiliation: Fujou High School
Shido nodded internally after seeing her stats and it was a normal stats like Mahiru. Then he focused on Mei once more before talk to her again. "So, what wrong? Did you lost something."
"Yeah," Mei said, glancing at him once more with her terrifyingly sharp squint before pausing to think. "I was searching for my glasses. I had them a while ago... but then I suddenly realized they disappeared."
She sighed heavily, clearly frustrated by the unexpected situation.
"I was still wearing them when I was eating crepes with my friends... but after we split up, that's when I realized they were gone." Mei explained, her shoulders slumping slightly.
"I see," Shido nodded, doing his best to keep a straight face. Honestly, he wanted to laugh a little, during her story, Mei had probably removed her glasses while eating crepes and simply misplaced them.
But when Shido glanced at the top of her head, he couldn't hold back a small smile.
"Well... actually, I already found them," he said, trying not to chuckle.
"Really?! Where?!" Mei immediately perked up, leaning toward him with surprising speed.
Because her vision was blurred without her glasses, her sense of distance was completely off, and in the next second, her face ended up just a few centimeters away from Shido's, close enough that he could feel her breath.
"Mei-san?" Shido called out to her.
However, Mei seemed completely oblivious, her hazel eyes sparkling with excitement, well, as much as they could while she was practically glaring and she eagerly waited for Shido's answer.
"Where's my glasses, Itsuka-kun?" Mei asked again excitedly while her face was getting closer.
Shido sighed internally, feeling both amused and a little exasperated. 'This girl needs to have her glasses all the time, it's dangerous if she do this with other people.'
"It's here."
Gently, Shido reached up, slid the glasses resting on top of Mei's head down to her eyes, and adjusted them properly.
The moment her vision cleared, Mei blinked in surprise, her eyes widening slightly as everything came back into focus.
Now that her vision was clear again, Mei finally realized just how close her face was to Shido's. She could see him smiling at her gently and helplessly, then the full weight of the situation crashed down on her.
So close...!
Her face immediately flushed a deep pink, not just from the embarrassing distance, but also because now, with her glasses properly on, she could see Shido clearly.
'He's... he's so handsome."
"I-I'm sorry!" Mei squeaked, her voice high-pitched from panic.
In her panic, Mei stumbled backward, her feet tangling awkwardly beneath her.
"Ahh...!" she yelped, instinctively squeezing her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable crash to the ground.
But a few seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Slowly, she cracked her eyes open, only to find herself caught securely in Shido's arms. His hands were gently supporting her waist, keeping her from falling.
Their faces were close, again and Mei could feel the heat creeping up her neck and cheeks.
"T-Thank you..." she mumbled, her voice barely a whisper, turning her head away quickly to hide her growing blush.
Even so, she couldn't help but steal a few glances at him from the corner of her eye, each look only making her heart race faster.
"You're welcome." Shido replied, smiling softly when he noticed Mei's bashful reaction. Now that she was wearing her glasses, her intense glare had softened, and her eyes were more relaxed. 'She's cute.'
Shido couldn't help but notice how pretty her eyes were, especially with their amber-colored pupils.
"Your eyes are beautiful, Mei-san."
Mei turned even more bashful and she stammered a bit, clearly flustered by his unexpected compliment. "E-Eh? Th-thank you?"
She fidgeted nervously, her legs shifting in place as if she didn't quite know what to do with herself. The praise seemed to have caught her completely off guard and made her heart flustered.
"You're a student of Fujou High School?" Shido asked, noticing the uniform Mei was wearing. His curiosity got the better of him.
"Yes," Mei replied, still trying to calm her flustered heart from the earlier embarrassment.
"I see," Shido nodded. "I'll actually be transferring to your school in a few days, so we might run into each other there. When that happens, please take care of me, Mei-san."
"M-Me too!" Mei responded, her voice suddenly brighter as her smile grew bigger. The idea of seeing Shido at school made her feel more excited than she expected.
"Well then, I should be going now. Goodbye," Shido said, giving Mei one last smile before he started to walk away.
"G-Goodbye, Itsuka-kun!" Mei called after him, her blush finally fading. She stood there for a moment, watching him, her expression a mix of thoughts.
Shido glanced back over his shoulder and added, "Well, try not to lose your glasses again. And you should get home soon, the clouds are getting darker." With that, he gave her one last friendly wave before turning to leave.
"Y-Yeah, I'll try." Mei nodded seriously and pumped her fist as if to motivate herself.
But despite her attempt to look determined, her gaze lingered on Shido's back for a little longer than she intended. After a brief moment, she sighed and turned away, deciding it was time to head home. She couldn't wait to tell Komura about the handsome guy she met today.
As she walked down the street, Mei glanced up, noticing the darkening sky and the thickening clouds.
"...It's going to rain."
Her pace quickened as she realized she hadn't prepared for the weather, and now she was really going to need to hurry home before the downpour hit.