[That's an anticlimax.]
"Why do you think that, Miss System?"
Eiji was confused; he turned around and headed back toward the playground.
[I thought you'd at least bully the protagonist, host.]
"How could I possibly do something so childish? I'm a good citizen, and I look like a good student."
Miss System was speechless.
She didn't even bother letting her host check his reflection using the system interface.
No matter how you look at it, he doesn't look like a good student! However, in the eyes of women who didn't know him, his good looks made up for it.
At the playground.
Mahiru Shiina—that was the name of the woman who was now sitting alone on the swing.
At the same time, she is also the heroine of a series titled "The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten." She is the neighbor and schoolmate of the protagonist, Amane Fujimiya, who is known as the most beautiful woman and nicknamed "The Angel" by her friends.
Still, speaking of angels.
Mahiru has never considered herself an angel.
At school, she actually just tries to project a perfect image to hide her true self.
She is friendly and polite to all her friends at school, but she always keeps her distance from them and never lets them get truly close to her.
Why?
[From the original work, I recall that Mahiru was born from a political marriage devoid of love. Her parents hated each other and viewed Mahiru's presence as a burden or a "mistake" that bound them together.]
[Currently, Mahiru has just gone through a painful ordeal in which her parents openly declared that they didn't want her. She's been emotionally neglected and left to live alone in an apartment for an indefinite period of time.]
[Something is wrong with her parents' minds. How could they ignore a daughter as wonderful as Mahiru!? Not only is she beautiful, but she also has a kind personality and often ranks first in school. She's so smart, accomplished, and even good at doing her housework!]
[That's fine if you don't love each other, but do you have to take your hatred out on your daughter too? I want to slap both of them.]
The heroines gasped.
It had been a long time since many of them had heard Eiji get angry over a heroine's background.
However, they were also dissatisfied with Mahiru's parents.
How could they do something like that to their daughter?
Many heroines, especially Lala and the other women at Eiji's house, supported their men in bringing Mahiru into their families.
Mahiru was clearly a pitiful heroine.
"...?"
Mahiru herself had a question mark floating above her head.
She looked around and didn't see anyone.
"Did I hear that wrong? No, even if I did hear wrong... How does he know so much about me?"
Mahiru was confused, but more than that, she was still very sad and shook her head.
Perhaps because of her emotions, she began to hallucinate.
She unconsciously hoped there was someone who understood her suffering and would stand by her side.
But something like that is impossible, right?
Mahiru lowered her head again, the light in her eyes growing dimmer. She was like a beautiful doll abandoned on a playground.
She didn't even immediately notice the dark clouds beginning to cover the sky, and the light drizzle falling.
When she finally noticed, she didn't care. She wished she could get sick and maybe even die.
Feelings of loneliness and brutal rejection often make people feel worthless and think about extreme things.
Mahiru wondered if, were she to die, her parents would at least feel sad?
Just then, she saw a pair of black-and-white sneakers come into view.
Someone stood in front of her until the forest raindrops no longer fell on her.
"Who...?" Mahiru's voice was soft and trembling. She looked up, her gaze immediately landing on Eiji's handsome face; she was stunned for a moment before shifting her gaze to the umbrella he was holding and the unfamiliar emblem on the collar of his uniform. "Are you... a student from Kuoh Academy?"
"How did you know!? Are you an esper!?" Eiji overreacted and put on a shocked expression.
Mahiru fell silent, her lips twitching.
She said slowly, "It's a popular school in this city, and I often see students wearing the same uniform as you… Forget that—why are you here?"
"I just happened to be passing by after helping an elderly woman get home."
"Is that... Really?"
Mahiru asked without thinking, because she found it a little hard to believe. She had never even done anything that kind for a stranger.
Eiji smiled, taking care not to let his aura intimidate the woman in front of him in the slightest. He even shifted his umbrella slightly forward, letting his own back get wet in order to protect Mahiru. "I'm lying. I often pass by here on my way home."
"...."
"Wait, did you almost believe what I said?"
Eiji widened his star-like eyes; he looked just like Ai Hoshino when he was taken aback by a joke.
It made people want to laugh.
[What kind of love operation is this?]
Miss System, shut up.
I'm cooking here.
[Hahaha! Your flirting is truly unbeatable, our King.]
Leme, don't say that. You're making me a little embarrassed.
Of course, there wasn't a trace of embarrassment on Eiji's face, and he looked at Mahiru cheerfully.
"No..." Mahiru's indifferent expression wavered; she glared at the white-haired man in front of her with a hint of annoyance. She didn't want to admit that she'd almost believed his lie.
She wasn't easily fooled.
Still, she couldn't help but think Eiji's eyes were beautiful.
Mahiru didn't realize her sadness had lessened a little, but she still wanted to be alone and hide her face between her knees. "Please just ignore me and go away."
"There's no way I'd do that." Eiji refused and casually said, "Leaving a beautiful woman out in the rain right in front of me would make me feel guilty."
It would also make me miss the chance to woo her.
He added that to himself.
"I'm not asking for pity." Mahiru muttered, her voice subdued, yet with a distinct note of stubbornness.
Eiji looked at the top of the woman's slightly wet head and reached out one hand. There was a tissue on the palm of his hand, and he also activated one of his skills—god-level head rub.
"!" Mahiru's body tensed; she was like a wild cat, sensitive to human touch. But soon, she felt calm and even began to enjoy the sensation on her head.
Her parents had never even done something like that to her.
But right now, a stranger dared to stroke her head. Instead of feeling angry or wary, Mahiru felt a sense of peace.
The sadness and various negative emotions in her heart also vanished instantly. She even thought the man in front of her was very kind.
"Wait a minute, I'm drying your hair with a tissue. This will reduce your chances of getting a fever."
"Mm…"
Mahiru unconsciously let out a soft moan; she was so embarrassed that her ears turned red.
This is embarrassing.
Why does this stranger's hand in front of me make me feel so comfortable, and help me forget the hurtful things my parents said?
[+4]
[+2]
[+1]
[+2]
..
..
Seeing Mahiru's positive level rise dramatically, Eiji grinned for a moment. He also resisted the urge to comb his hair back and strike a pose like Aizen.
Otherwise, Miss System would surely complain.
She was a chatty woman.
[...]
This guy had once again forgotten that she could read his mind.
Miss System rolled her eyes.
"By the way, this isn't pity. It's just basic human kindness. Besides, if you pass out here from hypothermia, I'll be the one who has to call an ambulance and deal with the police as a witness. So, let's make things easier for each other."
Aren't you overthinking things?
Not just an ambulance, but the police too?
Mahiru was taken aback; she'd just gotten caught in the rain at the playground, and in the worst-case scenario, she'd just have a fever the next day.
Still, his concern made her feel warm.
[+6]
This was the first time they'd met. Even so, her favorable impression of him kept growing.
She also felt indebted to him.
A few moments later, Eiji finally stopped stroking Mahiru's head because her positive level had stopped rising as a result, and Mahiru's blonde hair also looked shiny.
Kkkkk.
[Host, you're really trying to woo Mahiru, aren't you?]
'Of course—you think I'm just messing with her?'
[Yes.]
'That's just your imagination, Miss System.'
[You're laughing weird, too.]
'Miss System, you heard wrong.'
Unaware of the two people arguing nearby, Mahiru stopped hiding her face and looked back at the man in front of her.
Her expression was no longer indifferent, but a mixture of awkwardness and embarrassment.
"I... Mahiru," she said softly after a long silence, stating her name hesitantly. "Mahiru Shiina."
Eiji gave a faint smile; his smile didn't seem sycophantic and appeared so ordinary that Mahiru didn't think he was like the other guys at her school. "I'm Eiji. Eiji Seiya. So, Mahiru, do you want to hold this umbrella, or do you want to walk with me to your place?"
"You're calling me by my first name right off the bat?"
Mahiru hadn't expected the guy she'd just met to be so rude. But she wasn't bothered by it; she just felt her face getting hot.
Especially when she realized just how handsome he was. Before, she'd been too depressed to be charmed.
"Why not? I like your first name—it sounds cute. You can call me Eiji, too."
"C-Cute? That's… then, Eiji-kun."
Faced with Eiji's somewhat domineering attitude, Mahiru complied and didn't refuse to call him by his first name.
She blushed as she did so.
If her friends at school saw this, they'd surely be shocked and think their angel had fallen!
[Just as expected of our King.]
Leme once again praised her host.
"Yes, Mahiru?" Eiji called out to Mahiru naturally.
Mahiru's heart was pounding; she tried to keep her expression calm.
Unfortunately, Eiji knew she was embarrassed and thought—
[Mahiru is so cute—I didn't expect her to get shy just because I called her by her first name.]
[Yare-yare.]
[She'd make a great wife for me.]
"W-What did you say!?" Mahiru exclaimed, her face a mix of surprise and embarrassment.
Eiji looked confused, "Did I say something wrong?"
"Huh? That..."
Immediately, Mahiru realized that she seemed to be able to hear Eiji's inner thoughts. Come to think of it, the voice sounded just like the one she'd heard before.
That meant that even before they met, Eiji already knew a lot about her.
How is that possible!?
[Why do all the beautiful women I've just met often hallucinate or hear things I didn't say?]
[This is weird.]
The heroines: "!"
Mahiru: "?"
[But just like the others, I can't tell Mahiru that she's a heroine I've seen in an anime—one I watched in my previous life.]
[This definitely isn't because I want to pretend I don't know—even though that's pointless—but because things like that just shouldn't be said.]
[If I did, it would just make people feel awkward.]
Not only that, what's the point of his inner voice? Even if he's tired of repeating scenes like this, he still has to do it.
Eiji also didn't want to end up like those novel protagonists who forget their system's core abilities after hundreds of chapters have passed.
"I might have misheard it." Mahiru didn't know if what Eiji said in his inner voice was true, but she felt it made sense. She also realized she couldn't tell Eiji that she could hear his inner voice. She said hesitantly, "My place isn't far from here…"
"Take my umbrella." Eiji pushed the umbrella in his hand toward her, his back getting wetter and wetter.
Mahiru panicked and felt guilty. "No! I... Geez, just take me home. Don't get yourself soaked in the rain because of me, Eiji-kun."
Eiji understood why people called Mahiru an angel.
That's because she really is an angel!
What man wouldn't want to marry her?
A few seconds later.
Their footsteps echoed softly on the wet sidewalk. All the way to Mahiru's apartment complex, an awkward silence hung between them. Eiji walked on the outer side, using his body as a shield against the splashes from passing cars, while his hand remained firmly held over Mahiru.
Mahiru occasionally stole a glance at Eiji's uniform and felt even more guilty. She bit her lip and shyly pulled the sleeve of his shirt toward her.
*!!!*
Their shoulders bumped.
"Mahiru?"
"We have to stay close so neither of us gets wet."
Mahiru came up with a reasonable excuse.
Eiji chuckled to himself—she really was his future wife!
"That makes sense."
[Host, please calm down. You're so excited that your smile looks more like a smirk.]
'Miss System, you should be more worried that I'll catch a fever from getting caught in the rain.'
[Will the rain give you a fever? Even if you jumped into the ocean right now, you'd be fine, host.]
'How cruel!'
Leme: Can't these two stop joking around for just one day? Go to the marriage office and get married there!
The awkwardness returned as they walked under a single umbrella. At that moment, Mahiru wondered why Eiji had thought she was his future wife before?
Does that mean he likes her!?
Thinking about that, she felt her face flush again.
She lowered her head so she wouldn't see the smirk on Eiji's face.
When they finally arrived under the canopy of the lobby of the luxury apartment building where Mahiru lived, the warmth of the indoor lights immediately welcomed them. Mahiru stepped forward, then turned to face Eiji, who was now standing at the boundary between the dry area and the drizzle.
"Thank you for walking me home." Mahiru said, bowing her head slightly in a polite gesture.
Eiji closed his umbrella and gently pushed it toward Mahiru.
Mahiru was confused, of course.
"Keep this and remember to always carry it in your school bag so you don't get caught in the rain."
"Huh? I don't need it. I actually—"
She wanted to say she also had an umbrella in her apartment. Today, she'd just forgotten to bring it.
And if she took Eiji's umbrella, how would Eiji get home?
It's still raining outside!
"It's okay." Eiji gave a faint smile, then turned his back on Mahiru, preparing to brave the heavy rain. "Don't worry. Besides..."
He turned his head slightly, looking directly into Mahiru's caramel-colored eyes with an expression that was hard to read. "...the rain will stop right after this."
Mahiru was taken aback. Before she could respond to those strange words, Eiji had already stepped out into the open, with no shelter whatsoever.
The moment Eiji's feet touched the asphalt, a miracle occurred.
The dark clouds in the sky suddenly moved faster and instantly shifted toward the neighboring city.
This left many people in Kuoh and the neighboring city stunned, "Nani!?"
Let me explain: Eiji had just used one of his Stands, Made in Heaven. He sped up time across the entire sky to stop the rain where he was, and also threw off the weather forecasts in every country.
Mahiru couldn't see the humanoid figure floating behind Eiji; she could only see his broad back and his silver hair, which glistened in the light of the nearly setting sun.
It was so… cool.
She stared at the scene in a daze before thinking—
'The rain has really stopped.'
Mahiru, the smartest student in her school, immediately started thinking of an explanation. Rain as heavy as it had been wouldn't let up this quickly. And what made her heart race the most was that terrifying timing—the rain stopped the very second after Eiji said it.
'Is this just a coincidence? Impossible... But magic isn't real, is it?'
Even though she'd heard Eiji's inner voice, and it could be called magic or a supernatural occurrence.
Mahiru's heart was pounding; her mind was no longer filled with loneliness or her family's problems. Her mind was now completely consumed by curiosity about Eiji.
Still, would they meet again?
Suddenly, she felt sad at the thought that she might never see Eiji again. She shifted her gaze to his umbrella and was startled because, at that moment, she saw a piece of paper stuck to the umbrella handle.
She picked up the flyer and read it.
"Pfft!"
She couldn't help but laugh because the words on it looked like they were written by Eiji.
The man had written down his contact information and said, "Don't forget to contact me; I'd be happy to exchange contact info with a beautiful woman."
"Allright, I'll contact you later… Besides, I still owe you a favor, Eiji-kun."
Mahiru didn't refuse; she even smiled amusedly before turning around and walking toward the elevator.
Her apartment was on the floor above, and she didn't realize that her neighbor was Amane Fujimiya, a student from the same school as her.
But in this life, they probably wouldn't have much to do with each other. After all, it wasn't him who held the umbrella over her at the playground—it was Eiji.