I couldn't turn my head, but my eyes were still fair game as I took the opportunity to take a sneaking glance at what Shizu was actually doing. Sure enough, she was growing redder by the second as her eyes were transfixed on her own bountiful chest. Don't get me wrong, they were exquisite, but I wasn't that desperate to get affected by the mere sight of bare breasts... Even if I got a bit of a rise out of what I was seeing.
"D-Don't look!"
And there it was...
Averting my eyes, I mentally waited till the count of ten before I ignored whatever protests she might have and turned to look at her. Thankfully, she was properly clothed again, but the mad blush on her face was doing little in not showing off her new physique.
"Finally calmed down?"
"Y-yes..." Shizu stammered, her eyes avoiding looking at mine as she stared at the ground. "T-that was embarrassing..."
I chuckled. Of course, it was. "Indeed. Still, do you know what even caused it?"
"What?"
"Your transformation," I cleared out, forwarding my question with as much conciseness as possible. "I could only assume you aged, like, what... five years?"
Shizu didn't respond at first, but her blush slowly abated as I watched her visibly start thinking about her predicament. "Possibly?" she hummed. "I don't really like counting my age, but I do feel... stronger somehow..."
"I see..."
I retreated into my thoughts. Reviewing all the details, it all started when I reminded her of the tour she gave me earlier. At that point, she started showing a bit of memory loss before going into that glitch-filled breakdown. She constantly reminded herself that she was Shizu as well...
I wonder.... "Can I ask you a question?"
Shizu perked up at my words, "O-Of course, Stranger."
"Do you remember the tour you gave me now?"
To my surprise, my once tour guide gave a bit of a snarky expression as she chuckled, "Of course, I do. I don't forget that easily."
I raised an eyebrow. "So you remember everything we did?"
"Uh... Yes?" Shizu tilted her head. "We visited a few of the odd places around the city, right?"
"Right..." I hummed, my mind already turning as I asked one more thing of her. "Do you remember my name then?"
At my question, Shizu gave me a sweet smile as she responded, "Moriya? How could I forget?"
Strange... "Didn't you almost forget about those things earlier?"
I placed a hand on my chin as I found myself ruminating on the information just presented to me. The fact that her memory wasn't failing her now was kind of suspect. The literal glitches in reality was an obvious sign that something went wrong. But for some reason, it only improved her. She did admit that she also felt stronger somehow...
"I... I did..." the green-haired woman trailed off, confusion tinging her tone as she continued. "I... I remember screaming... Being ripped apart..."
Woah... That was new. "Ripped apart?"
"Yes," Shizu nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It was like my body was being completely remade. Everything feels different; hearing, sight, touch... I feel like I'm a [Somatic]."
[Somatic], eh... I remember what that meant, at least. "Do you have a [Manifest] then?"
She looked at me as if I had struck a nerve, "Of course, not. If I did, I probably wouldn't even be here by now."
Harsh. I actually felt the disdain in her voice as she spoke out her last sentence. I guess it was all the same no matter what kind of world we'd live in. The grass was always greener on the other side.
"Still, this is..."
I raised an eyebrow as I waited for Shizu to continue speaking. She had trailed off, but she was probably in some kind of thought based on the way she was looking blankly in the distance.
....
.....
Okay? This was worrying now. "Shizu?"
Calling out to her, I gave her another look as I tried to follow where her eyes were going. Looking at it, I could guess that she was looking at the giant moon above us, but I couldn't tell if it was that exactly. Still, she hadn't even blinked in almost a minute now.
"Shizu?!"
Moving forward, I tried snapping her out of whatever it was that had caught her attention. Her eyes were open wide, her pupils dilated to the max as her complexion paled. Wait... was this another anxiety attack?!
Placing a hand on her, I was about to try and give her some reassurance when she suddenly turned to me. Meeting her gaze, her golden irises were practically invisible as the darkness of her eyes almost threatened to swallow me whole.
"You okay?" I intrepidly asked.
"I... I can see..."
Okay? Progress, at least. "See what?"
"Everything..."
I blinked at her words. Well, that obviously wasn't ominous. Sarcasm, by the way. Was she seeing the fabric of the universe right now? Was she suddenly experiencing some kind of psychotic break after what was clearly a traumatic experience?
"Shizu, I need you to explain-"
"You don't understand, Moriya..." Shizu suddenly cut me off, her voice now taking on a more curious and ecstatic tone. "I can see everything!"
To my utter confusion, a wide smile bloomed on the woman's face as she let out the most innocent-sounding chuckle I've ever heard from a grown adult. Backing off, she spun around with her arms stretched out wide as she seemingly invited the air around us the hug her.
"It's amazing! Is this how the [Eld] saw the world?!"
I could only stand dumbfounded as I watched Shizu celebrate her seemingly newfound mystical sight. Still didn't know what she was on about, but I could only guess that it had something to do with what she just saw in the distance.
"Can you just tell me what you're seeing?"
At my words, Shizu paused, her wide gaze turning towards me before she spoke, "Everything, Moriya. E..."
Great... What did she see now? "Shizu?"
"Y-You... You're not from here..."
My eyes widened, "What did you just say?"
"T-the numbers... They're all wrong..."
"Wha-"
"AAARGGGHH!!!!!"
To my horror, Shizu began retreating back into her shell as she quickly tried to cover her own eyes, her mouth running a mile a minute as she screamed in obvious pain.
"M-MY EYES! MAKE IT STOP!"
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛