[MashUp] Ch 28: Puberty Syndrome

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The two of them stepped into a family-style restaurant.

A waitress in uniform came over with a practiced smile, but her eyes only landed on Takuma.

"Table for one, sir?"

Her gaze slid right through Mai Sakurajima as if she didn't exist.

Mai's fingers curled tight, clutching at the hem of his jacket without thinking.

"Two," Takuma said evenly, pulling out a chair and gesturing for her to sit.

The waitress blinked in slight confusion, but kept her professional smile as she handed over the menu.

Three minutes later, Takuma closed it with a snap. "Two hamburger steak sets, two plates of cream pasta. One Coke, one chocolate milk tea."

The waitress hesitated mid-pen. She glanced at Takuma, then at the empty seat across from him, her eyes flickering with curiosity.

This silver-haired guy… what an appetite.

She didn't comment, just smiled and took the menu back.

Only once she'd left did Mai lift her head. Her beautiful eyes were filled with both reliance and fear.

"Aren't you… worried they'll think you're a weirdo?"

"Weirdo?" Takuma leaned his chin against his hand, completely relaxed as he watched her. "Being able to see Miss Ghost already makes me a weirdo, doesn't it?"

His tone shifted. "Come to think of it, I've heard of something like your situation before. A rather interesting urban legend."

He dropped the phrase slowly. "Puberty Syndrome. Also known as Adolescence Syndrome."

The words made Mai's pupils shrink instantly.

Takuma ignored her shock and went on, analytical and calm. "They say it happens when your emotions are unstable, or when you care too much about how others see you… That's what causes you to become unobservable. A supernatural phenomenon that only happens in adolescence."

"In your case, that's exactly what's happening. It isn't physical invisibility. It's more like the entire world is subconsciously ignoring you."

"And the root cause probably came from some thought you had at a certain point. Something like… not wanting anyone's attention anymore."

Mai froze. Every word out of his mouth was dead on.

Takuma tapped his finger lightly on the table, a steady rhythm. "What's funny is, I seem to be immune to this… 'ignoring.'"

"But what if one day… even I started forgetting you?"

"..."

He went silent. He didn't need to say anything else.

The silence alone was enough to make Mai's heart clench.

She didn't dare imagine what it would be like if the last person who could see her also stopped.

…

Dinner passed in silence.

When they stepped out of the restaurant, the night air had grown colder.

Suddenly, Takuma sped up a little, pulling a few paces ahead of her. Then he stopped and turned around.

The way he looked at her was different now. Not teasing—strange. Distant.

And in his eyes, Mai's outline wavered. Her form looked like it could dissolve into the air at any second.

Her stomach dropped. A wave of terror gripped her throat.

"Looks like I was right," Takuma's voice carried over the gap, sounding almost unsteady. He frowned slightly, as though straining to focus. "The farther away you are, the more you fade from my sight."

The words shattered her defenses completely.

Fade? Already?

So quickly, even he was starting to lose her?

"W-what do you mean?" Her voice was raw with panic.

"Exactly what it sounds like." His tone was serious now. "Your Puberty Syndrome treats me like an anchor. Only when we're within a certain distance can I 'observe' you… and only then do you stay real."

"If that distance is broken…"

He didn't finish, but his look said everything.

Mai went pale as paper. She all but lunged forward and clutched his hand with desperate strength.

At an angle where she couldn't see, his lips curved faintly.

He laced his fingers with hers, his grip firm and deliberate. Through the soft leather of her gloves, his warmth made her shiver. Instead of pulling away, she held on tighter.

"So here's the problem," he said softly. "It's dark. I need to go home."

"And you, Bunny Girl… what are you going to do?"

He locked eyes with her, letting the silence stretch before tossing out the absurd choice. "Come home with me?"

He paused. "Or… should I stay at your place tonight?"

"Because really, that's the only way to make sure you don't just get… deleted from the world while I'm gone, right?"

"…"

Mai's mind went blank.

Come home with him? Or let him stay over?

Coming from a guy she'd barely known for two hours, both options were insane.

Heat surged to her cheeks, this time mixing shame with anger. "You… what do you take me for? Some woman you can just drag home whenever you feel like it?!"

Takuma's expression didn't change at all.

He didn't argue. He simply released her hand and took a single step back.

That one step was enough.

The distance opened up, and her reflection in his eyes wavered again, thinning out, vanishing.

He didn't need to say a word. His gaze told her everything.

"!!!!"

Her anger was doused in ice water. This time she felt it more clearly than ever—the world stripping her away.

In his eyes, she could literally see herself dissolving.

And faster than before.

"Looks like you misunderstood, Bunny Girl," Takuma's voice drifted lazily, yet it struck like a death sentence. "Right now, you're the one begging me."

"After all… I'm not the one disappearing."

That line snapped the last thread of resistance.

Her eyes burned red. "…Please."

"…Come to my place."

The words trembled out of her lips, half-choked with sobs.

Then, with the last of her strength, she added, "But! You're sleeping on the couch!"

Takuma almost laughed out loud.

Oh man! Why did that feel so damn familiar?

"The couch, huh? Sure."

---

Mai's place was in a high-rise apartment building, just ten minutes from the Mafuyu residence.

In the elevator, the stainless steel walls reflected their linked silhouettes.

Mai kept her head down the whole time, their fingers tightly intertwined. Again and again, she checked from the corner of her eye that he was still there—as if one blink might make him vanish.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

With trembling hands, she entered the passcode.

Click.

The door swung open.

Inside was a spacious, spotless entryway. Minimalist, modern décor, everything arranged with precision.

It didn't feel like a home. More like a showroom with no trace of life.

The moment Takuma stepped inside, the system's familiar chime rang in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Temporary Quest: "Special Lodging" — Phase One Complete!]

[Updated Objective: Stay in the same residence as Mai Sakurajima until morning.]

His eyes slid to the plush sofa in the living room, then to the closed door farther off—her bedroom, without a doubt.

Turning back, he studied Mai, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You know," he said slowly, "the rule you just set has a little problem."

Mai blinked and looked up at him in confusion.

That wicked, infuriating smile crept back onto his face.

"I'll sleep on the couch, sure. But your Puberty Syndrome didn't agree to that."

He pointed at her bedroom, then at the sofa. "Two separate spaces. About ten meters apart."

"Are you really certain that, come midnight, with a wall between us…"

He leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper against her ear.

"You won't just… quietly turn into thin air before I even notice?"

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