章 243: Grow up

Ritsu came to Shiina's room and was about to wake her up, but then she was attracted to the futon used by Shiina on the bed. The smell of the futon was unique, but she didn't think too much. She looked at Shiina, who was sleeping and shook her body lightly. "Mashiro, wake up. How about we eat lunch first?"

"It felt good, Shishio..." Shiina murmured lightly.

"...." Ritsu was dumbfounded when she heard Shiina's words, then looked at Roberta, who stayed in Shiina's room. Still, she could see that Roberta's expression didn't change much, so she thought that it was her imagination, so she shook Shiina's body again and woke her up. However, she really wondered what had happened to Shiina's dream so Shiina would utter such words before.

"Ritsu?" Shiina opened her eyes lightly, looking at Ritsu.

"Do you want to have lunch?" Ritsu asked since it felt a bit lonely to eat lunch alone.

"Where's Shishio?" Shiina asked softly.

Ritsu's expression turned red when she saw Shishio's huge penis before since it was too big, right? However, her expression turned bad when she thought he was going on a date with his girlfriend. She wondered why he made a girlfriend so suddenly, and at the same time, she was jealous of Saki. "He's on a date with his girlfriend."

Shiina nodded and didn't feel that surprised. "I want to draw a manga." She raised her body lightly and went to her table to draw her manga. She also pulled the futon that Shishio brought from the lodging, sitting on the top of it since it was too hot to use it as a cover.

Looking at Shiina, who drew her manga, Ritsu sighed and didn't say anything since she often saw Shiina drawing a manga. In this state, Shiina wouldn't bother with anything and would only focus on her manga. She then looked at Roberta and asked, "Roberta-san, do you want to eat lunch with me?"

Roberta looked at Ritsu for a moment and nodded. "Yes."

Still, Ritsu felt weird when she saw Shiina was smelling the futon, which made her wonder whether there was something special about that futon.

---

As Ritsu and Roberta left and were about to have lunch, they saw Sorata, who stood at the entrance of the Sakurasou with a strange expression.

Sorata had sent most of his things to the regular dorm by himself. He didn't have much luggage anyway, but he felt quite uncomfortable to just leave like this and wanted to see Shiina for the last time. Still, he didn't meet Shiina and only saw both Roberta and Ritsu, which made him scared since they were quite intimidating.

Ritsu and Roberta only glanced at Sorata and gave him a nod before they went to the dining room, leaving Sorata behind, but Sorata looked at their back and decided to call them. "Um, Senpai!"

"Hmm?" Ritsu turned and looked at Sorata with a confused expression. After all, they had never talked much, or rather, besides the time they had a conversation could be counted with a single hand.

Ritsu wasn't good with a stranger, and Sorata was scared of Ritsu, so neither talked to the other.

"Umm...." Sorata was hesitating to talk since he was a bit embarrassed.

"What's wrong?" Ritsu frowned.

Sorata was a bit intimidated by Ritsu's reaction, but he decided to say what he wanted to say. "Senpai, where's Shiina-san?"

"Mashiro? What do you want to do with her?" Ritsu asked with a frown, wondering why this guy suddenly talked about Shiina. Even though she might not show it, she was quite protective of Shiina, considering Shiina was her first friend. When she heard Sorata ask about Shiina, she looked at Sorata with a frown, wondering what this guy wanted to do.

Sorata felt pressure from Ritsu's stare, and it was like he was stared at by a hawk and might be massacred anytime, but he still gritted his teeth since he still wanted to say goodbye to Shiina told her that he was ready for her help anytime. "I - I want to say goodbye to her."

"...."

Ritsu was in silence and stared at Sorata with a strange expression. When asked about her love experience, she might have one, but her love was an unrequited one, so when she saw Sorata, somehow, she knew what was going on with Sorata.

"Mashiro is drawing a manga," Ritsu said without changing her face. "Do you want me to call her up?"

Roberta didn't say anything and only stared at Sorata.

"I...."

Sorata thought for a moment calmly and thought about his interaction with Shiina. He knew that from the beginning to the end, from the moment they met each other, neither of them had made interaction with each other or rather, they were just strangers who were living in the same dorm.

Sorata had a crush on Shiina, even though he was too embarrassed to show it. Before he might give up when he thought about Shishio's relationship with Shiina, he felt that the world had abandoned him. Still, when he heard that Shishio had a girlfriend, he knew that the world gave him another hope, and he thought that he would be able to close his relationship with Shiina.

However, until now, Sorata couldn't get close to Shiina, nor was he able to talk with her.

The relationship between the two had never changed, or rather, the distance between them became farther.

Sorata knew that there was no way for them to be together since they were coming from a different world. He was just a normal student who moved to Sakurasou because he picked up a cat.

On the other hand, Shiina was the angel that descended from heaven to the earth, guiding everyone in the world of art.

The status between the two of them was too far apart, which made him even more in despair.

Sorata couldn't say any words at that moment and stayed in silence.

"Kanda-kun?" Ritsu looked at Sorata with a strange expression since this guy had been silent for a while. She also felt quite displeased since after this guy called her, this guy started to ignore her. "Kanda-kun!"

"Ah, yes! Yes!" Hearing this sharp and loud voice, Sorata was startled and awakened from his thought.

"If you have nothing to say, then I'll go since I'm hungry," Ritsu said.

"Ah, yes!" Sorata said subconsciously since Ritsu's pressure was too strong, and he was afraid to make her angry.

Ritsu frowned and shook her head. She didn't say much, but at the same time, she was wondering whether her face was so terrifying. 'Is my face so scary?' Somehow it made her depressed. She was, after all, a girl, and of course, rather than being told as scary, she wanted to be described as cute or beautiful. Not that she cared about Sorata's opinion, but she wondered whether Shishio thought of her as the same, but then she shook her head since she knew that Shishio was different.

'Ugh...'

As her mood turned bad, and she didn't care about Sorata anymore. She turned directly and walked away. "Roberta-san, let's eat."

Roberta, who stared at Sorata silently with sharp eyes under her glasses, nodded gently and turned around.

Looking at Ritsu and Roberta, who had walked away, Sorata let out a long sigh before he plopped on the ground since being stared at by both Ritsu and Roberta was too stressful! He had to admit that they were pretty beautiful. They couldn't be compared to Shiina!

"Kanda-kun, are you ready?"

When the door of the Sakurasou was opened, Shiro-san entered. There was some sweat on his forehead, and as usual, his face was covered in his bangs.

"Ah, thank you very much, Shiro-san!" Sorata was glad to know Shiro-san since Shiro-san had helped him move his things to the regular dorm. His money was limited, and there was no way for him to ask the moving service company, and Shiro-san, who heard that he was going to move, decided to help him by moving all of his things using a cart.

The distance between Sakurasou and the regular dorm wasn't that far, and they could reach them by walking, but even so, it would be very troublesome for Sorata to move all of his things by himself, which was why Shiro-san and the cart was a great help for him.

"Then let's go, help me to pull the cart," Shiro-san said with a smile. In truth, Shishio had told him that it was alright to borrow his motorcycle, but he couldn't ride a motorcycle after all, which made him think that he should learn to drive and get a driving license.

Sorata looked at Shiro-san's smile and somehow felt a bit sad. There were many beautiful girls on the Sakurasou, but he needed to spend his time with a pervert, which made him sad for some reason. However, he was thankful, and at the same time, he felt really reluctant to go out from Sakurasou, especially when he thought that Shishio and Shiina would be together from now on, without his existence, no one really knew what would happen between the two of them.

"What's wrong, Kanda-kun?" Shiro-san asked since Sorata didn't move from his spot after Sorata walked out from the Sakurasou.

Sorata looked at Shiro-san for a moment, seemingly hesitant, but in the end, he asked, "Shiro-san, do you think I should move out from the Sakurasou?" Even though he had decided to move out in the end, he became hesitant again when he was about to move to the regular dorm.

Shiro-san looked at Sorata for a while and didn't answer his question immediately. "How about we talk while we walk?"

Sorata looked at Shiro-san for a moment and nodded.

Shiro-san and Sorata walked together, and some people who saw them quickly moved away, considering Shiro-san's popularity around the neighborhood was quite loud since Shiro-san had never hidden the fact that he was a pervert.

As they walked past the elementary school building, Shiro-san asked, "You don't want to move?"

"I...." Sorata wasn't sure how to answer this question. Before, he had always wanted to move out from the Sakurasou no matter what, especially when he hated himself more and more if he stayed in the Sakurasou, and he also felt depressed whenever he thought how small he was compared to all the people in the Sakurasou, which made him think the Sakurasou was a hell.

Even Mitaka, to whom Sorata was close, also decided to move from Sakurasou. If Mitaka couldn't stay on the Sakurasou, how could he bear to stay in the Sakurasou?

However, when Sorata thought of Shiina, he didn't want to move out, especially when he thought it was dangerous to stay with Shishio, especially in the morning when he saw Shishio and Shiina came back from early in the morning. The thought of the two of them dating and having sex together made him crazy!

But at the same time, Sorata also felt something strange in his heart, and he tried to ignore this feeling since he felt that it would be strange to accept this feeling.

Looking at Sorata, Shiro-san could see how Sorata's appearance had changed when they met for the first time. Unlike the cheerful Sorata in the past, he could see that there was a gloomy and depressing aura around Sorata, and it wasn't his first time to see someone like Sorata, or rather, he had seen a lot of them. After all, he had stayed in the Sakurasou for the past few years, and many people moved in and out.

Sorata wasn't the only one who felt depressed to stay in the Sakurasou, and many people felt the same way as him, so Sorata definitely wasn't someone special.

"Kanda-kun, I know that it is a bit cruel, but I think that you should move," Shiro-san said calmly.

"Huh?" Sorata, who was still preoccupied with his thoughts, was startled when he heard Shiro-san's words.

"It wasn't my first time seeing a student like you who came to Sakurasou and decided to move out like you. You have also decided to move out, and since you have made a decision, you should follow it through," Shiro-san said.

"Huh? Why?" Sorata wasn't sure why, but he felt betrayed by Shiro-san since Shiro-san told him to move out. He thought that Shiro-san would ask him to stay, then he would stay. However, he didn't expect Shiro-san would tell him to move out, which made him annoyed. He might not realize it, but he might seek an excuse to stay in the Sakurasou since he didn't really want to move out, however...

"Kanda-kun, have you seen your face right now?" Shiro-san said with a sigh.

"My face?" Sorata was confused.

Shiro-san pointed at the window of the shop next to them and said, "You should see your reflection on that window."

"Huh?" Sorata followed Shiro-san's words and saw his reflection on the window. His reflection was clearly shown on the window, and he was in shock. 'Am I this ugly?' Unlike in cheerful appearance before, he was so ugly this time, and he couldn't believe it.

Looking at Sorata's shock, Shiro-san sighed and said, "If you're a masochist, then you might feel happy, but you're not." He patted Sorata's shoulder and said, "If you stay there any longer...." He could see the huge difference when he met Sorata for the first time and Sorata now, and he knew that if Sorata stayed there any longer, he wasn't sure what might happen to this boy.

Sorata was silent and continued to walk.

This time neither of them said anything, and they walked in silence, but even so, this silence was so uncomfortable, but then Sorata asked, "Shiro-san."

"Hmm?" Shiro-san looked at Sorata curiously.

Sorata wanted to say something, but in the end, he sighed and said, "Thank you for helping me."

Shiro-san showed a gentle smile and nodded. "No problem."

Looking at Shiro-san's smile at this moment, Sorata wasn't sure why, but he felt that Shiro-san was very handsome, and he couldn't control his emotion and started to cry.

Shiro-san looked at Sorata, who cried at this moment and only patted his shoulder gently, thinking that this young man might have grown up.