Chapter 246: Do you believe me?
Looking at her desperate expression, Shishio showed a confused expression and nodded. "I can see you."
Hearing Shishio's words, Mai let out a sigh of relief, ignoring Shishio's confused expression since she also felt that it was normal for him to show such a reaction when someone suddenly asked them such a weird question.
Even now, Mai also felt weird since what had happened to her before was something impossible to happen, but it happened. Fortunately, she could be seen again, so everything should be alright, right?
"Sorry to disrupt you," Mai said, bowing her head lightly before she left. After all, she was very independent, and she also didn't want to be seen as a weird girl, who asked an odd question, but when she was about to go, her wrist was grasped.
"Wait a moment!"
Mai was startled when her wrist was grasped, and she could see the difference between a male and a female. She could feel how strong she was, which made her slightly nervous and blush. Luckily, Shishio quickly let go of her, which made her sigh in relief, and looked at him with an impatient expression. "What's wrong?"
If it was other people, then Mai might kick the nuts of that person directly, but the person who grasped her wrist was Shishio, someone that she had observed for a long time, so after Shishio let go of her wrist, she looked at him, wondering what he wanted to say.
"Sorry for stopping you." Shishio raised his hands and said, "My girlfriends are almost here, so why don't you ask them too?"
When Shishio saw Mai, he knew what had happened to her, but he couldn't tell her directly since it would be too weird to tell her that she had gotten Adolescence Syndrome, which made her unable to be seen by everyone. If he was in Mai's place, he would also think that such a paranormal matter was ridiculous. After all, it was human nature to ignore the bad things around them.
Shishio also knew that Mai's personality didn't like trouble, which was why, even though Mai was isolated by everyone, she didn't try to fight back since she didn't want to cause a conflict. It was also because of that matter that this Adolescence Syndrome struck her down.
After he met Futaba, Shishio also researched Adolescence Syndrome. Even though he found out about it, it wasn't something common, or rather, it was an urban legend that no one had ever thought to exist.
In truth, Shishio also had similar power to Mai, considering he had a "Ninjutsu Mastery." As long as he wanted to, he could walk without anyone noticing him, erasing his presence, but in his case, he could control this power, but Mai couldn't.
Mai looked at Shishio for a moment and asked, "...You believe me?"
"I don't know," Shishio said.
"Then why are you helping me?" Mai asked with a confused expression, looking at him, wondering why Shishio decided to help her. After all, she had asked such an inexplicable question, and she was sure that anyone who was being asked that question would be troubled and thought of her as a weirdo, right?
"Because you're a beautiful girl," Shishio said jokingly.
"......."
"Don't joke around!" Mai said while staring at Shishio.
"What a troublesome girl..." Shishio let out a sigh and then pointed his finger at the sea. "Can you see the sea first?"
Mai ignored Shishio, who mocked him, then looked at the sea, wondering what this guy wanted to say.
"If you suddenly see someone drowning in the sea, what will you do?" Shishio asked.
"Huh?" Mai was confused by Shishio's question, but then she thought for help, then said, "I can't swim, so I'll probably call the life preserver." She didn't understand Shishio's question, but if such a thing happened, she would call the life preserver since she couldn't swim and she didn't want to drown either. She looked at him, but he looked at him with an "as-expected" expression, which made her slightly annoyed. "What about you? What would you do if you saw someone drown on the sea?"
"I'll go jump into the sea immediately and save that person," Shishio said calmly while eating his yokan.
"But you can swim, right? My case is different from yours," Mai said and felt that it was too unfair to compare both of them, especially when she saw his fit body.
"Even if I can't swim, I'll still help that person. Do you know why?" Shishio asked.
"...." Mai looked at Shishio and didn't understand his reason. "But I'm not wrong!"
Shishio looked at Mai for a moment and looked at the sea. "Well, that's true. Your answer is correct, but you should know that only the people who have drowned themselves can share the terror of the sea or the pain of suffocating underwater."
"..........." Mai looked at Shishio in a daze since she understood what he wanted to say.
"Well, I don't know if there's value in doing that, but in your case, I think there's a value since this way, I can get to know the famous Sakurajima Mai," Shishio said jokingly.
No one knew the feeling of being unnoticed beside Mai, so even if someone decided to help her, they would only help her with a half-asset feeling. They never put themselves in Mai's place, the terror of being unnoticed, the pain being ignored, the agony of the thought that her condition would last forever. She was the only person who understood those feelings in this world, but someone told her that he also wanted to share this feeling, which made her eyes red, and her lips trembled.
Mai looked away and wiped away her tears.
Shishio didn't say anything and took out a handkerchief from his pocket, giving it to her. "Here."
Mai looked at Shishio for a moment, and after a moment of hesitation, she took it from him.
Shishio also pretended that he didn't see anything.
"Thank you," Mai suddenly said after she had calmed herself.
"No problem," Shishio said.
"I'll wash it," Mai said.
"You don't need to," Shishio said.
"Why? Don't you want to know me?" Mai asked with an amused expression.
"I don't want to be misunderstood by my girlfriend," Shishio said and took his handkerchief from Mai's hand directly.
"Which girlfriend? I know that you have a lot," Mai said while looking at Shishio.
Shishio looked at Mai with a weird expression and asked, "Do you know me?"
"I don't think there's anyone in Suimei who doesn't know you," Mai said, but at the same time, she curled her lips and knew that this guy tried to change the topic of conversation, but she didn't say anything since they weren't particularly close.
"Still, it is still my first time to know you, so let me introduce myself then." Shishio looked at Mai and introduced himself. "My name is Oga Shishio. I'm in my first year at the Suimei."
"Mai Sakurajima. Second-year at the Suimei. I'm your senior," Mai said.
"I know." Shishio nodded and said, "I don't think there's anyone in Suimei who doesn't know you."
Mai raised her eyebrow and asked, "Is that a payback?"
"You can think of them that way." Shishio took out a yokan (red bean paste jelly) and asked, "Want some? It's good."
Mai took the yokan from Shishio's hand and said, "I'll forgive you for your cheekiness." She opened the package and ate it directly, tasting the sweetness of the red bean paste jelly on her mouth, and somehow it calmed her down.
Shishio looked at Mai, looking at the yokan in her hand with her little and cute tongue before he looked away. If he had to say, Mai wasn't that much different from Yukinoshita, but Yukinohita had a petite chest and long legs. On the other hand, Mai's body was perfect. She had a large chest and smooth, long legs. He knew he was such a scumbag for thinking so, but he was a man, so it couldn't be helped.
God had created such a beautiful girl, and as a believer, Shishio believed that there was nothing wrong with appreciating her.
"So Sakurajima-senpai."
"I don't like it when someone calls me Sakurajima," Mai said.
"Then Mai-senpai," Shishio said.
"I don't remember being your Senpai," Mai said.
"It seems that I need to slap your butts to fix your attitude," Shishio murmured.
"What?!" Mai looked at Shishio with shock, and there was a tint of redness on her face.
Shishio pretended nothing happened and asked, "So can you tell me what happened, Mai-san?"
Mai looked at Shishio for a moment before she begrudgingly ignored his remarks. She then shook her head and said, "I don't know." She didn't know what had happened. After all, it was so sudden, and when she realized it, it felt like everything was so confusing, and then she collided into Shishio, and everything was just gone, just like that, which was why she was confused.
"Just tell me slowly, tell me what you have experienced before," Shishio said slowly.
Mai looked at Shishio, who looked at him without doubt, making her heart warm, so she told him what had happened to her before. She then told him her experience in the aquarium that many people had collided with her. Still, she thought that they were just too preoccupied with the fishes in the aquarium, so she didn't think too much until she entered the restaurant to eat, but the staff ignored her and she had become unnoticed by all the people around.
After she told her story, Mai snorted and said in a self-deprecating way, "No one is going to believe in such a crazy story, right? Do you believe in such an insane story of mine?" She didn't look at Shishio and looked down, staring at her shoes while holding her yokan.
"As I've said before, only people who have drowned know the terror of the sea and the pain of suffocating."
Mai was stunned and looked at Shishio.
"I don't know what has happened to you, but I believe you," Shishio said.
"Why?" Mai looked at Shishio and asked, "Why do you believe me?"
"Because you showed such an expression before." Shishio looked in the direction of the toilet where both Saki and Nana went and saw both of them walking toward him. "My girlfriends are almost here. You can ask them whether they can see you or not." He waved his hand at both Saki and Nana, and then he felt weird when both of them quickly dashed toward him.
Mai was stunned when she heard Shishio's answer. 'My expression...' She touched her face, but then she became stunned again when she heard that his girlfriends would come. She looked at him, who showed a gentle expression toward his girlfriends, and couldn't help but feel quite jealous before she looked at both Nana and Saki, and she had to admit that both of them were very beautiful and both of them had their charms.
"Shishio, why you're with Sakurajima-senpai?" Nana, who had rushed toward Shishio, was dumbfounded when she saw him standing with Mai.
Saki didn't say much but was also confused when she looked at both Shishio and Mai.
Nana and Saki knew about Mai. After all, Mai was a famous figure in the second year, but both of them had never thought they would communicate with Mai that much, considering Mai's status as a public figure, but such a girl would talk with their boyfriend and stand next to each other. Even though they hated to admit it, they had to acknowledge that Mai was very suitable to stand beside Shishio, but then, they also weren't going to let Shishio be stolen, so they directly hugged his arms at the same time.
Mai looked at both Nana and Saki, looking at her cautiously, and could only sigh. "Then I'll go back first, Oga-kun." She knew that both Nana and Saki could see her, so her problem should be cleared, right?
Still, Mai was wondering what kind of magic Shishio used so he could date two girls simultaneously since she thought that he was dating each of them secretly. However, it seemed that they knew each other and even dated each other openly, which confused her and became curious about him.
However, she knew that their relationship wasn't that close, and she couldn't ask him anything, and since it was their choice, she was going to respect it, especially when Shishio had helped her after all.
"Yes." Shishio nodded and didn't say much or stopped Mai since he had both Nana and Saki right now. On the other hand, Mai was the only girl he met for the first time. The weight between them was different. If he suddenly told Saki and Nana that he would ask Mai to go home together, they would look at him in doubt, which was why he needed to explain the situation first. He might not tell about Mai's trouble, but he could create an excuse such as Mai was followed by a stalker or something.
"Why are you with her?" Saki asked curiously.
"She asks for help?" Shishio said simply.
"Help?" 2x
Nana was confused, but Saki thought for a moment before she called Mai quickly. "Hey, wait a moment!"
Hearing Saki's voice, Mai was confused and turned back. "Did you call me?"
"Yes." Saki nodded and asked, "Sakurajima-san, do you want to go back with us?"
"........"
"Huh?"