"What are you spacing out for? Take it."
Seeing Sakurajima Mai seemingly frozen, Lin said, giving the bread a little shake.
"...Thank you."
Sakurajima Mai snapped back to reality, reached out to take the bread, and thanked him.
A strange glint flashed in her eyes.
"Let's go."
Lin smiled faintly, chose a direction, and walked ahead.
As he walked, he took a pineapple bun out of the bag.
He paid no mind to the fact that he was in a crowded public place and started eating the pineapple bun, which was wrapped in a grease-proof paper bag.
Mmm, the texture is soft and flaky. Not bad.
"..."
Glancing at the bread in her hand, then at Lin's back, Sakurajima Mai's eyes flickered slightly as she picked up her pace to follow him.
Under the influence of Adolescence Syndrome's 'disappearance and interference' power, no one noticed Lin and Sakurajima Mai,
even though they were in the same place.
It was as if they were in different worlds.
The two walked side-by-side.
Perhaps Lin's blissful expression as he ate the bun had awakened her own appetite, as Sakurajima Mai also took out a piece of bread.
She began to eat it in small, delicate bites.
Lin was rather casual and hearty.
Sakurajima Mai, on the other hand, was quiet and elegant.
They walked the whole way without speaking.
About ten minutes later.
Lin led Sakurajima Mai to a park near a residential area.
There was no one in the park at this time.
Lin and Sakurajima Mai found a park bench and sat down.
With a mere thought, he set up a barrier.
Sakurajima Mai had no reaction to this.
It seemed that while she could see evil spirits, she couldn't see the barrier.
"Are you ready?"
Sitting about a meter apart, Lin asked with a smile.
"I..."
Sakurajima Mai's pretty face flushed slightly, and ripples of shyness appeared in her eyes.
"...I'm ready!"
She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and nodded at Lin.
Her hands couldn't help but grip the hem of her skirt.
Her beautiful eyes trembled slightly.
She was clearly far from calm.
Letting a member of the opposite sex, whom she had just met, use her lap as a pillow—before this, she would never have even imagined such a thing.
But...
Looking at Lin, his face bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, Sakurajima Mai's eyes stirred, a nearly imperceptible glint flashing through them.
It didn't seem entirely unacceptable.
After getting her answer, Lin didn't say much more. He simply adjusted his position and lay down, resting his head toward Sakurajima Mai.
His head rested gently on her lap.
Mmm, it felt soft.
The moment Lin rested his head on her lap, Sakurajima Mai couldn't help but sit up straight, her face turning red once again.
Don't be fooled by her seemingly mature appearance.
In reality, she had zero experience with romance, only some theoretical knowledge.
She didn't even have any male friends.
Oh, wait, it wasn't just male friends; it seemed she didn't have any female friends either.
She had never been this intimate with someone of the opposite sex before.
Staring at the head resting on her lap, Sakurajima Mai was at a bit of a loss.
Fortunately, Lin wasn't looking at her.
Instead, he closed his eyes and said:
"Go ahead. What did you want to talk about?"
"..."
Seeing that Lin's eyes were closed, Sakurajima Mai's gaze flickered. She calmed down a little and slowly asked:
"Who are you?"
"I mean, your real identity."
Lin: "I'm just a passing-by psychic."
One's identity is whatever one gives oneself.
This was one of his true identities.
"A psychic?!"
Hearing Lin's self-introduction, Sakurajima Mai's eyes trembled.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Her alluring red lips parted a little.
A trace of shock was impossible to hide.
Based on what she had learned so far, she knew Lin wasn't lying to her, nor did he have any reason to.
To think there really were psychics.
But then again, it made sense.
Ghosts and monsters really existed, so it was reasonable for psychics to exist too.
Although she had yet to encounter a god.
But it was very likely that gods were real as well.
After a moment of shock.
Sakurajima Mai composed herself and asked again:
"Then, do you know about what's been happening to me?"
Lin: "I have my suspicions."
"But aren't you going to tell me your story?"
He opened his eyes to look at her as he spoke.
Then he closed them again.
"My story..."
Sakurajima Mai fell silent.
Looking at Lin's handsome face, she hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning to tell her story.
"It started from..."
Listening to Sakurajima Mai's story, Lin, with his eyes closed, feeling the soft touch of her thigh, was lost in thought.
It was different from what he knew.
The story went back to over a month ago.
Feeling bored, Sakurajima Mai left home, planning to find a place with relatively few people and a nice environment to relax,
like the urban green spaces of Koishikawa Kōrakuen or Shinjuku Gyoen.
On her way to the station,
she quickly noticed a different atmosphere than usual.
It was that the passersby around her no longer seemed to pay her any attention.
It was as if she didn't exist.
At first, she didn't think much of it.
After all, not being stared at and treated differently by strangers was something she had dreamed of ever since retiring from the entertainment industry.
She wanted to be like a normal person.
However, things didn't go as she wished.
Because of her special status as a national idol and superstar, she was treated differently no matter where she went.
This new situation was exactly what she wanted.
But when she accidentally bumped into a girl and the other person didn't react at all, she finally realized something was wrong.
She tried a few experiments after that.
Just as she thought, everyone else couldn't see her.
It wasn't just that they couldn't see her; they couldn't even perceive anything related to her, like the sound of her voice or physical contact.
This left her shocked and uneasy.
Fortunately, she returned to normal the next day and could be seen by others again.
But her happiness was short-lived.
The day after she recovered, she once again entered the 'disappeared' state.
This time, it lasted even longer.
Three hours longer than the first time.
However, what made her uneasy wasn't just that the duration of her disappearance was increasing.
She discovered she could see things she couldn't see before.
Judging by their terrifying appearances,
they were clearly existences like ghosts or monsters.
After seeing those monsters, an inexplicable feeling arose within her.
Don't let them realize I can see them, or I'll die.
Fortunately, as a former actress with excellent professional skills, her acting was up to par. She pretended not to see them and maintained her composure.
Later, she gradually discovered something.
As long as she pretended not to see the monsters, it seemed the monsters couldn't see her either, as if they were mutually invisible.
As long as she didn't see them, she would be fine.
Realizing this, she wasn't so frightened anymore.
She consistently pretended not to see the monsters.
Thus, her safety wasn't a major issue.
Time passed to the present day.
Last night, she had returned to normal again, so today she dressed properly and attended a full day of classes at school.
After school, she went to that bakery to buy some bread to take home.
But just as she arrived at the bakery to buy bread, she once again entered the state of disappearance.
Helpless, she had no choice but to leave.
And finally, she bumped into Lin, and things developed to this point.
After hearing Sakurajima Mai's story, Lin was lost in thought.
A moment later, he opened his eyes. Admiring the two great mountains that were somewhat obstructing his view from above, he said with a smile:
"Have you ever heard of the urban legend called Adolescence Syndrome?"
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 10 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉