The exam ended, which was a good thing, but many couldn't help but sigh since they didn't have much preparation time. When Koharu Shirayama announced there would be an exam, they were only given a few days of time to prepare for their exam.
However, this was normal, especially when this school was also partly a prep school.
Naturally, this exam had nothing to do with the art department since they had been busy with the preparation for the cultural festival.
While the general department also had to participate in the cultural festival, the meaning of the cultural festival for the art department was different.
If an exam was the life and death of the general department, then the cultural festival was the death and life of the art department.
In this limited time, the students of the art department had to shine bright like fireworks.
However, he had to sigh at the cultural festival because the significance of this event was rather small in his heart. Unlike the rest, they thought this event was everything in their lives. Even if he didn't participate, he didn't really care. However, his girlfriends participated, so he decided to participate.
Tomorrow, the shooting for the movie will continue, and their destination will be Meiji Jingu Gaien.
However, this was tomorrow's matter, and today he was going to visit Shiina, who should be in the room art room. He walked there alone and passed a few people, who glanced at him and even crashed into the wall because they kept staring at him. This was an everyday occurrence, and he had gotten used to it.
Still, when he arrived at the art room, he saw Shiina was there, sitting and concentrating on her painting. Nearby, he saw a few girls who observed her from a distance, hesitating before they sighed and left. However, they happened to see him. He gave a gentle smile, which caused them to blush and shyly leave, but they skipped along the way and stared at him from time to time.
Shishio ignored them, walked toward Shiina, and closed her eyes from behind.
"Guess who?"
"Python?"
"............."
He pinched her cheek and said, "You won't get a Baumkuchen tonight."
"No! Shishio is stingy! But yours is really big!"
"The last one is unnecessary, right?" He sighed and dragged a nearby chair before he sat on her side.
Shiina also continued to draw when he sat by her side. Even if he disturbed her before, she didn't say much. Instead, she felt warm, especially when he stayed by her side like this.
Neither of them talked, but it was okay.
He stared at her before he looked around. Unlike him, who was always surrounded by someone, he could see that Shiina was alone in this place.
Why?
Was it also like this in England?
Earlier, he could see that those girls wanted to talk with Shiina, but they hesitated before they walked away. As for why they didn't dare to approach her, he didn't care, but mostly, he could understand the reason.
Inferiority.
This was probably the feeling that was felt by those girls and everyone in the same class as Shiina.
Shiina was like the sun.
It was a good existence when one was far away since it brought one warmth and also spirit. They felt that if she could do so, they would also be able to do the same, but when they were so close, they would be burnt. They realized how hopeless it was to compete with her. They learned how insignificant they were compared to her. They realized how stupid their bravery and dream were.
However, they were youngsters, so it was impossible for them to be reconciled, and they tried their best to chase after her, but several setbacks made them realize that it was impossible for them to chase after her with hard work alone.
In the beginning, there might be many people who approached her, but in the end, all of them left and realized that standing by her side made them feel miserable.
Somehow this should be what Sorata felt in the original story.
Shiina was shining. She was beautiful, and her existence attracted everyone, but when they got close, they realized how painful it was to stay by her side.
Yet when someone was in love or obsessed, they would be blinded by everything.
Sorata was like that. Even if it was painful, he was obsessed with Shiina and didn't want to stay away from her.
Usually, when something like this happens, leaving is one option, and staying was also another option.
However, when Sorata stayed, he used the most despicable method to make Shiina stay with her.
Negging.
This was one of the most despicable methods used to make girls fall and unable to walk away. It was a method to make girls lose their confidence, making them more vulnerable and easy to get.
Sorata and Mitaka used this method with Shiina and Misaki. Whether they did it subconsciously or deliberately, Shishio had to say that they were birds of a feather flocking together, so naturally, their fate was the same.
However, he had to say Rita was different.
No, Rita might have felt the same as everyone else, but she was a girl, and she was more gentle, so even if she was crushed by Shiina, she still stayed with her and probably hoped that she could always be by her side.
To be honest, they only talked for a while, so he didn't know about Rita, but for Shiina, Rita was probably a dearest friend since Rita was the only one that stayed.
He stared at Shiina for a while and caressed her head gently.
Shiina purred and rubbed her head against his palm.
If he wasn't here, he wondered what would happen to this girl.
Will she stay and continue her toxic relationship with Sorata?
Probably.
When they were together, he might have her believe that no one else could accept her except him, manipulating her, so she wouldn't get away from him.
Was Sorata wrong?
It was hard to say since love was a selfish feeling.
Sorata only wanted Shiina to stay with him and didn't want to be left behind. If he had better confidence, it would be great since she wasn't the type of girl who would leave someone that she loved, but his inferiority got him better, so he tried to make her lower than himself, shouting, getting angry, and making their relationship toxic.
What was even worse, Shiina's emotional intelligence was low.
No, even a normal person was also often affected by such a method.
He looked at her for a while and thought that this girl's life was really miserable in the original. In England, she was a genius, but she was alone. However, when she came to Tokyo, her talent disappeared, and she was still alone, yet the only one who was by her side was a guy who always got angry and felt inferior toward herself.
However, he also wasn't much better since he was a scumbag. She was the one who saved him, yet he kept getting other girls in front of her presence. It was wrong, but he didn't stop. He didn't have an excuse for this, and by now, he knew that Rita should have realized that he was a scumbag who dated several girls at the same time.
Maybe, it was because he was going to go back to Sakurasou tonight that he was thinking about this problem.
He knew that he had to face Rita even if it was annoying.
Still, no matter what, he wouldn't let Shiina go.
This feeling might be similar to Sorata, and he also felt that he wasn't that much better than Sorata, but even so, he believed he could make Shiina happier than Sorata.
"What's wrong?"
Shiina asked when she was hugged by him. While she loved it, she couldn't help but feel curious.
"We're going to Sakurasou soon."
"Un."
"You're going to meet Rita."
"I am not going back to England! I want to stay with Shishio," Shiina said without hesitation.
He smiled and gently fixed her bangs.
She blushed and felt shy before she hugged him tightly. She knew she had always done this every day, yet she had never tired of it. If possible, she wanted to hug him all the time. It was even more important than her painting.
Probably, if he asked her to stop drawing, she would do it, yet he had never asked her to do it. Instead, he would support her and feel happy when she grew and succeeded. It was like a masterpiece that an artist could only create once in their life.
She felt that he was the only one in her life.
"Okay, finish your drawing first. I will buy ice cream."
"I want chocolate."
"Good."
He knew that he might have treated Shiina better than others, yet what could he do?
Still, he had to say once again that he was really blessed.
When he returned with ice cream, she had finished, and she ate it from his hand, licking it with her small, pink tongue as she gazed into him.
Their eyes met each other, and neither said much, only hurriedly returned to Sakurasou.
However, when they arrived in Sakurasou, they were quickly welcomed by Rita, who had been waiting for them.
"Welcome back, Oga-kun, Mashiro," Rita said with a smile.
"Rita." Shiina hugged Rita subconsciously.
Rita showed a helpless smile, but she still gently caressed Shiina's hair. "Geez, you're still like this even if you have become someone "lover." She glanced in his direction when she said that word and even said it in a loud voice, so he would notice her dissatisfaction.
Shishio didn't show much change in his expression and wanted to go back to his room, but Rita didn't let him go.
"By the way, I have placed all your book collections on the table in your room." Rita smiled and said, "Don't thank me."
".........." Shishio.
"But I never expected that you would like an older woman, huh?"
"........." Shishio.
"Shishio loves me," Shiina said.
".........." Rita was speechless as she stared at Shiina. She sighed, then her expression became fierce at Shishio. "Oga-kun, how about we have a date on the weekend tomorrow?" Her voice was full of confidence, and she believed he would agree right away, especially when he should have noticed her expression.
However...
"Sorry, I refuse."
".........." Rita.