Ogata's bathroom.
Shinichi closed his eyes under the shower, letting the warm water wash over his body. The streams of water gathered at the soles of his feet to form a small whirlpool, and were finally sucked into the sinkhole, making an inaudible gurgling sound.
"Hey~ Sensei, Rizu-chan took some clothes for you to wash, can I change into the clothes I usually wear?"
Shinichi turned off the water, and shouted to the middle-aged uncle outside the door: "Okay, thank you."
"It's fine, you are Rizu-chan's Sensei, I haven't thanked you for taking care of Rizu-chan!" The uncle laughed, and a thick and warm voice came through the bathroom door, "I let you meet today. It's really embarrassing to see such a thing, just say what you need, you can eat as many bowls of udon as you want! As a shop owner, if I don't properly apologize to the customer, this business can't continue."
Shinichi felt a little guilty, but he still wanted others to pay for his childish actions.
"Don't worry about it uncle, it's my fault too, if it wasn't for my rivalry with Ogata-san..."
"You know that too? Kid, you have not completed the crime of hitting my angel's forehead!"
Shinichi: "...Huh??"
The uncle smiled as if nothing had happened: "Hahaha! Young man, it's good to be energetic. I've rarely seen Rizu-chan so energetic. It's all thanks to you, Sensei!"
"That's great..."
"Okay, bastard, my little fairy has been unhappy because of you recently, right? Why don't you just finish your bath and come out to die!"
Shinichi: "😐"
It turned out that this killer voice was not an auditory hallucination.
Seeing Shinichi's silence, Ogata's father enters through the door with killing intent that he doesn't hide much. A black shadow pressed against the glass bathroom door, and he knocked on the door panel with his fist, threatening to come over.
"Kid, I'm warning you… you can't touch anything related to Rizu-chan in the bathroom! You can't use the same shampoo with her! If you dare to defile our family property…"
His voice was deep and solemn, full of fatherly love for his daughter and friendly concern for the guests
"I'll put you in a pot of soup and let you take a good bath in it, and you don't have to come out after soaking!"
The uncle sneered a few times, and saw that there was no sound in the bathroom and was about to step back with a proud face, when he found his daughter staring at him coldly behind.
"Father, what are you doing?"
"Ah, it's fine, I was just asking Asada Sensei if there's anything else I need. Compared to this, Rizu-chan, are you still dizzy? Leave everything to Father, rest."
"No, I'm fine now, if you tell me what you said to Asada-san..."
"What will happen?" Uncle gulped.
"I will ignore you and refuse you to come within five meters of me."
"Just don't do this!" Uncle wailed, then rushed into the kitchen as if running away, "Oh, what a shame, I have to go back to the shop to help! Rizu-chan, it's fine with me and your mother supporting you, so you can get off work first! If that man dares to do anything to you, scream loudly, I will rush to save you with a kitchen knife!"
"No, please leave quickly." Ogata's expression grew colder, her sharp eyes stared at her father's departing figure, and finally turned her head to the bathroom's glass door.
With a hesitant expression, she said softly.
"Asada-san, is the water temperature okay?"
Shinichi heard the joke outside the door seem to have ended, and turned on the faucet again. The sound of dripping water sounded in his ears, but it was not impossible to hear Ogata's words clearly.
"Thank you for lending me the bathroom."
"Do you need my help? Anything is fine, let me make it up to you."
Shinichi stopped and asked quietly.
"Why do you want to compensate me?"
Ogata walked forward and pressed her forehead against the glass door. A slightly cold touch came, which made her flustered mind very clear.
She just lowered her head and said quietly.
"I sprinkle udon on you."
"I sprinkled it myself." Shinichi immediately answered.
"The cause is me, and the udon belongs to my family, so I am the one who is most responsible."
"Then what else?"
"I'm too stubborn, obviously I don't need to carry around a bowl of noodles and there are definitely better solutions, but I chose the worst, most boring, childish, and least efficient way of doing things..."
Shinichi was silent for a few moments, but didn't argue.
"En, what else?"
"I..." Ogata waited for a while before continuing, "I was in a daze in studying today, and I failed to live up to your expectations."
"What to expect?"
"You have prepared so many exam papers for me, each one of which can be viewed according to my level of difficulty, and the study process also takes a lot of time to order and organize, but since I…"
The sound became intermittent, Ogata clenched her fists tightly, and her body trembled involuntarily.
"But because I..."
"What's wrong with you?" Shinichi leaned against the door and asked softly when the sound of water had disappeared.
At that time, Ogata began to reveal her inner voice that had been hidden for a long time.
"Because of yesterday's incident, I'm always thinking and worrying. I can't listen to it in class, and I can't learn anything from reading."
"After you left that udon shop, things got really weird for me. I don't need anything, but I feel so empty. I'm not sick, but I can't lift my spirits."
"Obviously I'm not lost, but I can't find a way forward."
"I guess I have to settle this state before I can return to my old self. The test is in front of me, so I can't continue to be in this mess."
"I want to find the answer quickly, but no matter how hard I try to think, I don't know what the right answer is..."
"I wanted to ask Asada-san, but it turns out that you are the same as when you left yesterday, as if you don't want to talk to me anymore. Did I make you angry? If that's the case, then I can only rely on my own efforts…"
"But I'm still an idiot. I don't even know my own thoughts, how can I interpret the thoughts on that topic..."
"What is the use of such persistence..."
"If I don't admit that the result of failure is to hurt others, then what is the purpose of my victory? To hurt father, Fumino, Asada-san, and everyone once?"
"I don't know... I really don't know... Obviously I didn't care about these messy things before, and I definitely didn't care about other people's feelings or my own feelings before."
"Now my head is like pasta. The more I think about it, the more chaotic and painful it gets. I really don't know what to do…"
Ogata's voice became thinner, as if she was about to cry, but there were no tears. She looked depressed, but she felt like she didn't know what to do.
"Asada-san, this is my reason..."
Pressing tightly against her chest with one hand, she closed her eyes in pain, took a deep breath, and said with difficulty.
"If you can, please tell me what the correct answer is."
The bathroom was still quiet, and the sound of dripping water was almost audible.
With a sudden click, the door opened.
Ogata who was still leaning her head against the door, didn't react and leaned forward with all her strength, but bumped into the warm chest that still had a bit of moisture.
A pair of hands supported her shoulders, and at the same time, a gentle and confident voice escaped from her head.
"Of course. I am your educator after all."