After breakfast, once everything was tidied up, Shichen waited for Mio Takamiya to change into something suitable for going out, then headed out with her.
Homura Haruko had already gone home. She had enough sense not to butt in at a time like this—who interrupts someone else's date?
"Shichen…"
The moment they stepped outside, Mio suddenly tugged on Shichen's sleeve.
"What's wrong?" Shichen stopped and turned back to her.
"Am I… weird today?" Mio let go and asked softly.
Her cheeks were a little red—clearly shy. It was their first date.
Mio knew what a "date" was. In the past two days, while learning language and writing, she'd run into the word and even looked it up in detail.
Originally, it meant two people arranging a meeting—setting a time and place in advance, then meeting up.
But that was the literal meaning. Nowadays, it usually meant a man and a woman meeting up with an ambiguous relationship—or more bluntly, a couple going out to spend romantic time together.
Mio knew she and Shichen weren't a couple… were they? Family? Close friends? She couldn't quite sort it out.
But Shichen had invited her on a date, so… did he mean it in that sense?
She felt like Shichen liked her—the kind of liking a man has for a woman. Because she liked him too.
"Weird? Not at all." Shichen shook his head as he looked at her.
Today, Mio wore a plain long dress that covered her lovely figure, but her presence was so extraordinary it couldn't hide anything—she was still impossibly eye-catching.
And then there was that flawless face.
Her silver-white hair was tied into a simple braid that fell down her back. Her youthful, already breathtaking beauty carried a fragile, tender charm—one glance would be enough to make most people fall.
"R-really?" Mio still lacked confidence.
"Heh. You should trust your own beauty. In this world, no one compares to you." Shichen lifted a hand and ruffled her hair to reassure her.
"That's not that exaggerated…" Mio's lips curved upward despite herself.
"Even when I say it, you don't believe me?"
"If it's you, Shichen… I believe it."
"Then that's all that matters. Let's go—today we're going to have fun all day."
Shichen lowered his hand, held it out in front of her, palm open.
"Mm!" Mio smiled with her lips pressed together and took his hand.
Hand in hand, Shichen led her toward the shopping district.
"Shichen… didn't we forget to greet them?" Mio suddenly thought of it as they passed another neighbor's house and glanced at the nameplate.
The plaque showed the family name. Mio already recognized all the characters, but even if she didn't, she would've recognized those two—Takamiya.
The same surname as hers.
She didn't know why Shichen had given her that surname. "Shichen" would've been fine too, wouldn't it?
Shichen also glanced over. Through the window, he caught sight of two people inside who were fooling around—one short-haired blue-haired young man and one blue-haired girl with a side ponytail. They looked like siblings.
He looked away and shook his head.
"Let's not pull them into this. Let them live an ordinary life."
"Are you talking in riddles again?" Mio tilted her head, gazing at Shichen's profile.
She felt he was even better-looking than she was. Just being able to look at him like this made her happy.
Maybe… she had appeared in this world to meet Shichen.
"Yep. I'm the riddle guy." Shichen nodded.
"I heard riddle people are bad. People hate them."
"Do you hate me, Mio?" Shichen looked at her.
"I would never hate you, Shichen. Never." Mio answered seriously.
"Then there's no problem." Shichen laughed.
Their home wasn't far from the shopping district. After a ten-minute stroll, they arrived.
They chatted lazily along the way—about the neighborhood, what to do later, what they wanted to try. Ten minutes passed in a blink.
No one bothered them—not because there were no pedestrians, but because Shichen used a skill to conceal their presence.
With Mio's aura and looks, someone would have come harassing them sooner or later. That ugly side of men wasn't exactly rare.
The difference between a "gentleman" and a "thug" was often just self-control.
Good upbringing and social awareness made people restrain themselves—but some people lived in their own world.
Shichen didn't fear trouble; he just didn't want trouble ruining the mood.
Today, he only wanted to go on a date with Mio—to have their own little world.
Why did he want to date her?
Simple. He liked this soft, newly born young woman, and he wanted to take her out and show her things.
The shopping district was even busier—loud, crowded, brimming with life. The massive explosion three days ago seemed to have left no trace at all.
It was far enough away that most people couldn't do anything even if they cared.
And they would never imagine that the people involved could be walking right beside them.
"Shichen…"
Seeing so many people for the first time made Mio a little nervous. She instinctively edged closer, gripping his hand tighter.
"It's okay. I'm here." Shichen squeezed her slender fingers—warm and smooth.
"Mm." Mio relaxed immediately.
"Anything you want to try?" Shichen asked as he guided her into the heart of the district.
"I don't know what's fun…" Mio scanned the surroundings, her eyes bright with curiosity.
"Then… anything you want to eat?"
"We just had breakfast. I'm not hungry…"
"Fair." Shichen thought for a second. "Then let's go to the arcade."
Up ahead was a huge arcade; the noise spilled out from far away.
"Arcade?"
"You'll see."
The moment they stepped inside, it was like their ears went numb—everything blurred into a loud, constant buzzing.
All of it was game noise.
Shichen bought tokens, brought Mio over to the cabinets, and played with her.
Mio was completely into it—and her learning speed was absurd. In no time at all, she was a monster at the games, and Shichen wasn't even a match for her.
"…Okay. Let's play a co-op clear game." Shichen coughed.
"Sure."
Mio was willing to play anything because Shichen recommended it.
There were plenty of co-op games. Shichen picked a classic he remembered—he'd planned to show off and carry Mio.
Instead, they didn't even clear the first stage before he became dead weight.
It was hard to reconcile the image: a delicate, aristocratic-looking young woman absolutely massacring everything on-screen.
The contrast was hilarious, but no one paid them any attention.
Even after they cleared the game, Shichen had done almost nothing. Mio carried him the whole way.
The game kind of… lost its point.
"Shichen, that game was so fun!"
"Yeah… great." Shichen forced a smile.
"Anything else that's fun?"
"Want to try racing?"
"Okay!"
They switched to a different cabinet.
Shichen actually had confidence in racing games—he considered himself an elite driver.
But after racing Mio, he learned what "there's always someone better" really meant.
Once Mio adapted to the controls, she didn't need teaching at all. She just got it immediately—then mastered it.
First round: Shichen lost.
After that, with her learning speed… you can guess the rest. In the final round, Shichen barely won.
Mio obviously let him have it.
He wasn't happy at all.
Maybe he should stop playing games in the future.
"Shichen?" Seeing Shichen look dead inside, Mio called him carefully.
Uh-oh. She'd gotten too into it and accidentally obsessed over it. Was Chen embarrassed?
"Hm? What is it?" Shichen adjusted his expression and smiled.
"A-are you… okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Anything else you want to play? Today we play until you're satisfied!" Shichen declared with an unbreakable grin, swaggering like a big spender.
Mio blinked, saw right through him, and chose not to say it.
"I want to play that."
She pointed to a pink, cute, "girly" corner with rows of rectangular machines—transparent in the top half.
Claw machines.
"You want to win plushies? Let's go. I'll show you what I've got." Shichen took her hand and led her over.
Mio followed, smiling softly.
That corner was mostly girls, plus a few couples—and the vibe wasn't exactly harmonious.
Whether it was groups of girls or couples, everyone looked like they had a blood feud with the claw machines.
Seems like no one was winning much.
"Mio, is there a plush you like?" Shichen asked.
Their arrival didn't draw attention.
"I'll look…"
Mio scanned around. Everything looked cute, but if she had to pick a favorite…
"Shichen, you choose for me."
"Me? Are you sure?"
"Mm. I want the one you pick."
"If that's the case…"
Shichen nodded, swept his eyes over the machines, locked onto a target, and led Mio to a specific claw machine.