Chapter 14: Getting the Thing

"This dress is beautiful, and it suits your girlfriend."

"This one is also nice, very temperamental..."

The female clerk was very enthusiastic. Shido didn't say anything, but Mayuri frowned, as if she was not used to such a feeling.

"It's okay, we can choose them ourselves."

Shido smiled and said to the clerk.

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything."

The female clerk nodded. Although she was a little disappointed, she didn't say much. She originally planned to choose more expensive clothes for them in order to earn extra commissions, but since Shido said no, there was nothing she could do.

"Mayuri, look at this one."

Shido picked a lavender dress with delicate patterns on it, which felt very suitable for Mayuri.

"Okay, I'll try..."

Mayuri lowered her head blushing a little, she naturally liked the clothes Shido chose for her.

After a while, Mayuri came out...

"It's really cute!"

Shido exclaimed.

"Really?"

Mayuri smiled happily. As long as Shido liked her in this dress, she was happy.

"Just buy this one!"

Shido smiled. Although the price was not cheap, it was nothing compared to Mayuri's smile.

Just as Shido was about to settle the bill, a familiar voice came from behind...

"Shido Itsuka, why are you here?"

Shido turned around and saw that the person who came was a girl with long pink hair, with a charming face and a hairband with a butterfly on her head. It was Nakano Nino, who was supposed to be in school, yet she was here in this clothing store.

"Why are you here?"

Shido couldn't help but ask.

"I asked you first... Forget it! I'm on leave, how about you?"

Nino asked with a frown.

"I'm also on leave."

Shido said with a smile.

"So that's it...Dating with your girlfriend?"

Nino saw Mayuri who was behind Shido. Although she didn't know her, since she accompanied Shido to buy clothes, she believed it was his girlfriend.

So, who the hell is this Shido? Why do so many girls like him!?

"Yes, how about you?"

Shido asked curiously.

"I'm here to buy clothes. It is said that there are new summer clothes recently..."

Nino responded casually.

Although it was embarrassing to meet someone they knew outside of school after asking for a leave, if both parties were like this, there would be no problem.

"Who is this...?"

Mayuri looked at Nino with a bit of curiosity. Although the Spirits, relying on the diary and the communication in that world, basically knew everything that happened around Shido, Mayuri didn't know their issues, and didn't have the time to ask, so when she saw Nino, she was somewhat concerned.

"My classmate, Nino Nakano."

Shido calmly introduced her to his classmate.

"Hello, I'm Mayuri..."

Mayuri nodded.

"Hello!"

Nino also said hello.

"If there's nothing else, we'll go now."

Shido hinted.

"Then...bye!"

Nino waved her hand, and didn't want to disturb the date between Shido and Mayuri. Although she didn't know what happened between the two, she clearly felt that Shido treated this date very seriously.

Shido has so many girlfriends, and theoretically speaking, he should be a very casual person, but he was not willing to accept Miku and Yotsuba, and did not even want to have contact with other girls, which was too weird.

More importantly, these girlfriends of Shido were all head over heels for him, just like Mayuri earlier. She could sense the feelings of love emitting from her gaze.

"Shido is very popular with girls..."

Mayuri said with a smile.

"Don't talk nonsense, she and I are just ordinary friends."

Shido shook his head and said.

"Ordinary friends? It doesn't look like it!"

Mayuri said thoughtfully.

"Whether it looks like it or not, it actually is."

Shido said firmly.

"All right..."

Mayuri nodded and did not continue to ask.

After buying clothes for a date, the two came to the meeting place, which was an amusement park in the city. This amusement park had many interesting games and activities specially designed for couples, which was very suitable for dating.

"Couple package, thank you!"

Shido said to the clerk at the registration table.

"OK..."

The clerk nodded, then looked up and couldn't help frowning.

It was someone he knew again!

A working girl with brown hair and a single ponytail, Nanami Aoyama! How was it possible that he met girls he knew even outside of school?

"Nanami, are you also on leave?"

Shido couldn't help but ask.

"What does this have to do with you?"

Nanami said a little coldly, and she didn't really remember when she told the other party her name.

Could it be from what Gabriel said? It's very possible, otherwise Shido wouldn't have called her Nanami directly. After all, in this place, only people with a good relationship could call her by name.

But Gabriel may have mentioned her name "Nanami", and Shido didn't know it was a name, so he thought it was a surname. Indeed, Nanami could be used as a surname.

"Sorry..."

Seeing that the other party was a little cold, Shido didn't want to say anything more.

"My name is Nanami Aoyama. Just call me Aoyama."

Nanami said again.

"Ok, I see."

Shido nodded, thinking that the other party was angry because he called the other party's name indiscriminately. In fact, he certainly knew that the other party's name was Nanami, but he was used to calling names like Nanami, and just accidentally blurted out.

"Couple package, right? It's another girl now!"

Nanami said through gritted teeth, and because of gritted teeth, Shido didn't hear what she was saying.

After a while of silence, Nanami couldn't help but ask:

"Today is our school's anniversary, so we have a holiday. I'm here to work. What about you? Are you committing truancy?"

"I asked for leave, so no."

Shido said with a smile.

"It's not good to ask for leave just because you want to date! A student's duty is to study!"

Nanami reminded him.

"Don't worry, my grades are not bad..."

Shido said casually.

"Forget it, I don't want to deal with your affairs anymore. Just don't bother others."

Nanami said with a sigh.

"Ok, I see..."

Shido nodded, took the admission ticket, grabbed Mayuri's hand, and walked into the playground.

It took a while to realize that what Nanami said just now was that she didn't want to deal with his affairs anymore. When did she ever have interactions with him? It seemed like something he didn't know about happened!

…

Entering the amusement park, it could be said that Shido was very familiar with the environment. The Bump Bump Car on the left, the Ferris wheel on the right, and the theme restaurant in the middle…

Therefore, Shido took Mayuri to play around without even having to read the play guide. Mayuri quickly understood that Shido and the Spirits had come here many times.

But she didn't ask Shido why he was so smooth and how many times he had been to the amusement park with those girls. On the contrary, she enjoyed the time she spent with Shido.

"That dolphin looks so cute…"

Mayuri stopped her steps as her gaze was fixed on a dolphin plush.

They saw one of those popular carnival games, and Mayuri started eying one of the prizes, a stuffed animal. Shido realized that he had a chance to prove how manly he was and give her a present at the same time. It's a win-win!

"You like it? Let's win it!"

Shido led Mayuri toward the game. It was a shooting game that required the participant to knock down a particular sign with one shot from the toy gun. For ordinary folks, it would be challenging. But for Shido, it was a piece of cake.

"Hello, we would like to win the dolphin plush. What targets do we need to knock down?"

Shido asked the staff politely.

"Just the blue fish sign will suffice." The young male staff looked up at Shido, then shifted his gaze at Mayuri, his eyes widened in surprise. "By the way, 1000 yen for one try."

"Alright, one please." Shido didn't mind the price, simply smiled at Mayuri and picked up the toy gun.

Mayuri took a step back to make room for him, the corner of her mouth rose up.

Shido closed his left eye as he raised his right arm, before shooting at the blue fish sign with great accuracy, hitting it right in the middle!

However, it was not knocked over.

"What? It should come down, shouldn't it?" Shido shook his head, examining his toy gun.

"Sorry sir, that target is tough, so it takes more than one shot." The male staff gave a business smile.

"One more, I will get it this time." Shido presented another 1000 yen bill while Mayuri looked at him expectantly.

Shido aimed and shot the target accurately once again, however, it still didn't knock over!

"Come on!" Shido put down the toy gun, then looked at the male staff. "Something's fishy, and it's not the fish."

"Sir, you need patience to win a maiden's heart." The male staff smiled, then winked at Mayuri.

Shido took out another 1000 yen with a slight annoyance, but this time, Mayuri stepped forward and stopped him.

"It's okay, I don't really have to get that dolphin plush."

Mayuri smiled and put her hand on Shido's.

At this time, Shido was hesitant whether to stop or not, but the male staff cut in:

"How about I give a free try to this beautiful lady?"

He smiled as he winked at Mayuri again.

"...Fine, if you say so."

Shido didn't like how he looked at Mayuri, but he accepted his offer.

Mayuri picked up the toy gun and shot at the target. It missed by a little, clearly not sufficient to knock over the blue fish. However, it went down quickly!

"Congrats, my beautiful lady. You won the dolphin plush!"

The male clerk went and picked up the dolphin plush with a smirk. He pushed a button after Mayuri fired her shot, and it resulted in the sign going down.

Shido was flabbergasted by the turn of events, but as long as Mayuri could get the present, it should be no problem.

He stepped forward and was ready to take the dolphin plush for Mayuri, but the male clerk waved his hand with a shoo.

"Back off, I'm talking to the lady here."

He didn't even look at Shido, his eyes only fixated on Mayuri.

Shido frowned as he stared at this guy, who was bold enough to mess up his perfect date with Mayuri, and was about to say something, only to be stopped by Mayuri's cold response.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like talking to you." Mayuri quickly grabbed the dolphin plush and turned around, taking Shido's hand in hers as they took off, leaving the male clerk standing there in embarrassment.

When the two walked far enough from there, Mayuri smiled and put the dolphin plush in Shido's hand.

"Shido, that doll looks so cute! Can you give it to me?"

Mayuri looked at Shido with expectant eyes.

"I…Sure, it's for you!"

Shido didn't quite understand, but he soon realized that Mayuri wanted him to be the hero who won a gift for his girlfriend, so he played his part as well.

"Hehe~ It's so fluffy!" Mayuri giggled as she hugged the plush. "Thank you, Shido! I will treasure it forever!"

Seeing Mayuri's angelic smile, Shido felt his heart becoming warmer and warmer, as if all the bad mood from earlier disappeared.

PS: Inspired by the Fluffy Unicorn scene from Despicable Me.