"…"
Taking in both of their expressions, Lin became thoughtful.
It seemed he had made an unexpected discovery.
He had already recognized the girl standing to the right of the bakery.
Without changing his expression, he looked at Yurikawa Hana.
"I guess I was seeing things. For a second, I thought I saw a girl in a Private United High School uniform standing there."
"She had deathly pale skin, and her messy black hair was draped over…"
As he spoke, Lin deliberately lowered his voice.
As if he were telling a ghost story.
"Stop!!!"
Hearing Lin's description, Yurikawa Hana's expression changed slightly. A sudden chill ran down her spine, and goosebumps erupted all over her skin.
She rubbed her arms with both hands.
Trying to rub the goosebumps away.
Yotsuya Miko retracted her gaze and exchanged a brief look with Lin.
Then she looked at Yurikawa Hana.
"Hana, let's get going."
"Oh, okay."
Yurikawa Hana was startled for a moment.
"Bye-bye."
Lin said his goodbyes to them.
Then he placed a gentle kiss on Yotsuya Miko's forehead.
Yurikawa Hana's eyes flickered at the sight.
After Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana entered the station, Lin retracted his gaze and walked toward his unexpected discovery.
To the right of the bakery.
A girl with long, straight black hair wearing the Private United High School uniform pulled her gaze away from the inside of the bakery, lowered her head slightly, and turned to leave.
"Huh?!"
A figure suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Although she noticed someone was in front of her, it was already too late.
The next moment, the two of them collided.
"…"
She couldn't help but take a step back.
Her willow-like brows furrowed slightly, but she didn't look up to see who she had bumped into.
She started to walk around him, preparing to leave as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, excuse me…"
Just then, a pleasant voice spoke up.
"You bumped into me, and you're just going to leave without so much as an apology?"
"Huh??!!"
The girl who was about to leave froze when she heard that.
A trace of astonishment appeared in her eyes.
She stopped and followed the voice with her gaze.
Lin sized up the girl with long, straight black hair before him, his eyes shifting slightly.
Her smooth, black hair cascaded down to her waist. Her bangs on the left side were held in place by two small hairpins, with another pin further back.
Even further back, she wore a small, pink, bunny-head-shaped hair accessory.
She had a small, delicate, oval face, deep and bright black eyes flecked with hints of blue, and eyebrows like slender willow leaves.
Her features were exquisite, her skin fair.
Although she was only about 165 centimeters tall, her limbs were long and her body proportions were outstanding, giving her the appearance of being over 170 centimeters.
She wore a well-fitting white JK school uniform, and her slender legs, tightly wrapped in black stockings, appeared perfectly straight and shapely.
Curvy and well-proportioned, she had the body of a model.
Like Kasumigaoka Utaha, she exuded a mature and alluring aura.
Lin was very familiar with her face.
Sakurajima Mai.
Yes, the Bunny Girl Senpai.
A former national idol who was once a sensation all over Japan.
At the peak of her popularity, over seventy percent of the people in Japan knew who she was.
Even if they didn't know her face, they had heard her name.
Two and a half years ago, when Lin had just crossed over and was gathering information about this world, he had already taken notice of this national idol.
Just like his many other 'wives'.
She had also come to Tokyo from her original world's Kanagawa high school.
From the current situation, it was clear that Sakurajima Mai was already experiencing 'Adolescence Syndrome'.
The timeline seemed to have moved up.
As far as Lin knew.
Her Adolescence Syndrome was supposed to manifest closer to her third year of high school.
Roughly during the second or third semester of her second year.
The story officially began when she was in her third year.
Right now, it was the first semester of her second year.
Just then, as Sakurajima Mai slowly looked up at Lin, she froze for a moment upon seeing his face clearly.
"You can see me!?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she asked the question.
Her expression was rather calm, making it difficult to read her emotions.
The moment Lin and Sakurajima Mai began to converse, an invisible force of disappearance and interference enveloped him.
Lin was startled.
Not by the appearance of the power.
But by its intensity.
According to the feedback from his senses, it could even have a certain effect on beings at B-rank, or even A-rank.
And this was just the power affecting him.
Clearly, the power surrounding Sakurajima Mai was even stronger.
Bzz, bzz, bzz. His phone vibrated.
Lin pulled out his phone while saying to Sakurajima Mai:
"Hold on, let me check a message."
Sakurajima Mai: "…"
A ripple passed through her eyes. She stood to the side, sizing Lin up.
A strange feeling welled up inside her.
She was impressed by his appearance and aura.
Her eyes shifted when she noticed the red clip on the tie of Lin's uniform.
Lin was already looking at his phone. It was a LINE message from Yotsuya Miko.
Yotsuya Miko: "Lin, just now, I could only faintly see an almost completely transparent, rough human silhouette."
"Is it an evil spirit?"
"Or something else?"
Seeing Miko's message, Lin grew thoughtful.
He typed a reply to her:
"I'll tell you later. I'm trying to figure things out right now."
Yotsuya Miko: "Okay."
Lin put his phone away and looked at Sakurajima Mai, who was watching him.
"Alright, let's continue."
"You just bumped into me, but you were about to pretend you couldn't see anything and commit a hit-and-run. So, tell me, how should we resolve this?"
"…"
Sakurajima Mai was slightly taken aback.
A peculiar look flashed in her eyes.
Because she was in a state of 'disappearance' where people couldn't notice her, she hadn't paid any mind to bumping into someone.
She had bumped into people before.
But they never felt a thing.
She never expected that the junior she bumped into today would actually be able to perceive her while she was in this state of disappearance.
"I'm sorry."
Sakurajima Mai offered an apology.
Lin raised an eyebrow slightly. "It's a little late for apologies now. If saying sorry was enough, why would we need the police?"
"Besides, you don't seem very sincere with your apology right now."
"Sincere…"
Sakurajima Mai was stunned again by his words.
She couldn't help but frown slightly. "What are you trying to do, junior?"
The Private United High School uniform included tie clips.
Red for first-years.
Silver for second-years.
And gold for third-years.
She had identified him as a junior by his red tie clip.
The two stood facing each other.
"The sincerity of your apology, of course."
Lin glanced at the silver clip on the blue ribbon tie at Sakurajima Mai's collar, the corner of his mouth curling up in a teasing smirk.
"To apologize, you have to expose your belly. Isn't that common knowledge?"
"What!?"
At his words, Sakurajima Mai's expression was finally no longer calm. A soft cry of astonishment escaped her lips, and her eyes widened slightly.
Expose your belly to apologize.
And that's common knowledge?
Common knowledge from where?
When she saw the faint smirk on Lin's lips, she realized she was being teased.
This made her feel a little strange.
This junior was being awfully forward, teasing a senior he'd just met and barely exchanged a few words with.
Should she say he was extroverted?
Or that he had no manners?
Suppressing the odd feeling in her heart, Sakurajima Mai fell silent for a moment.
Her eyes shifted, her gaze flickering.
Then, she looked at Lin and asked calmly, with a pointed tone:
"Junior, I'd like to know… besides me, are there other things you can see?"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, Lin's eyes narrowed.
________________________________________
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