A world only known by the God of Lost Love

"I'm just taking care of Shiina-san to the best of my ability. There is no such thing as love or anything like that."

"Do you take care of... within your ability?"

I wake her up every morning, prepare lunch for her, provide her with comic materials at night, and help her clean the room from time to time...

"It would be better to say that even a true lover might not be able to reach your level..."

Mitaka Jin said:

"Is Suzuki-kun planning to use this method to shorten the distance between you and Shiina?"

"What about distance? Shiina-san and I are close enough, right? I'm with her all the time except during class time—"

"Of course I'm not talking about this distance."

Mitaka Jin interrupted Suzuki Ren's words of pretending to be stupid.

"About Shiina's extraordinary nature, Suzuki-kun must have fully realized it in this month, right?"

"...That's natural."

Ren Suzuki nodded slowly.

“Whether it’s the talent in painting or the incompatibility between understanding and self-care ability, I have experienced it very concretely.”

"So... wanting to be the 'lover' of such a person would probably be the most troublesome thing in the world. Not only must you respect the talent that others cannot understand, but you must also fulfill your duties as a lover. Support her to continue to move towards heights beyond her reach...If you don’t have the corresponding level of dedication and endurance, you are absolutely not qualified to stand next to such a person."

"..."

Mitaka Jin's words made Suzuki Ren completely put down the work he was doing.

He first wiped the water stains on his hands with his apron, then turned back and looked at Mitaka Jin's expression——

"You look very depressed. What happened? Mitaka-senpai?"

"It's nothing, it's just that my script was rejected by the editorial department, and then I was criticized and said, 'How can a scriptwriter of your level be qualified to be Misaki's partner?'"

Mitaka Jin smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"So, every time I see you and Shiina together, I will be very envious... For mortals, if they want to be with a genius, they must really have the consciousness to dedicate everything. "

"…………"

Just by relying on the other person's few words and the bitterness on his face that could not be erased no matter what, Ren Suzuki had already understood Mitaka Jin's mood at this moment.

The reluctance of being easily dismissed by others, the anxiety of not being able to catch up with the person you admire, and the bitterness of recognizing reality but being unable to change it.

Thinking about it, this miserable man should be very envious of the harmonious and gentle way of getting along with himself and Mashiro Shiina...

Unfortunately, his real thoughts may be slightly different from what Mitaka Jin imagined.

"It's not so much about enlightenment, but...from the beginning, I never expected to get anything from the other person, or to develop any kind of close relationship with the other person. So no matter what happened after that, it didn't matter to me. It just comes naturally.”

Ren Suzuki stated this in a calm tone:

"After all, for this kind of genius, others who can't keep up with her will be just passers-by at best... No, in other words, each of us has a similar relationship to each other."

Even if you don't have yourself, there will definitely be someone else who will take on the responsibility of taking care of Shiina Mashiro.

Even if she didn't have herself, Shiina Mashiro would definitely use other methods to find comic material.

He was just a person who appeared by her side by chance when the other party needed her. When she no longer had any need for him, it was natural for the two of them to say goodbye to each other.

"So, all I can do is to leave a good impression on her as much as possible while she still needs me."

Under Mitaka Jinna's almost stunned gaze, Suzuki Ren put the cut ingredients into a crisper, and then began to clean up the scene.

I don't know whether it's because the light in the kitchen is not bright enough, or because of the variety of tomatoes Suzuki Ren chose, but at this moment, the dark red color left on the chopping board is so rich and difficult to wash off.

Chapter 24: The weight of a return gift

"By the way, I saw Shiina-san and Suzuki-san eating sandwiches outside at noon today!"

During the afternoon break, the girl at the desk in front of Mashiro Shiina suddenly turned around and asked Mashiro Shiina curiously:

"It seems that except for the day you first entered school, you two brought your own lunch every day... Did your family make it for you? Or did you hire a nanny?"

"? Neither... neither."

Shiina Mashiro shook her head, and then replied in a calm voice:

"Those were all prepared for me by Lian herself."

"………………Eh?"

After hearing Shiina Mashiro's calm reply, the girl who spoke first showed a dumbfounded expression.

"Really?! It's been a month, right? Suzuki-san has always made it by himself?!"

"kindness."

"Wow...this is amazing!"

The attitude of the girl, who was originally just planning to grab some couple candy, instantly became admiring.

"I have tried making lunch boxes for myself before, but I couldn't make it last for less than a week..."

Shiina Mashiro blinked immediately after hearing this, then leaned forward and asked:

"Cooking...is it really difficult?"

"It's more troublesome than difficult!"

Probably recalling the time when she was trying to prepare a lunch, the girl showed a grinning expression:

"Think about recipes, then buy groceries, process ingredients, get up early to cook, wash dishes and pots, and then come home after eating and clean lunch boxes again... Oops! No, no! Unless I am a full-time housewife, otherwise I will really Can't do it!"

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"In short, if there are no leftovers that need to be cleaned at home, I will never bring lunch boxes again... It's just too tiring and troublesome!"

"…………"

On the other side, after listening to the girl's description of the entire bento process, Shiina Mashiro's eyes became slightly dull.

She knew that Ren Suzuki would get up a little earlier every day to prepare bento, but she didn't know that besides that, there were such tedious steps...

With a warm feeling in her heart, Shiina Mashiro once again realized how much care she had received from Suzuki Ren.

"This just proves how much Suzuki-san values ​​you!"

Having said this, the girl immediately nodded heavily.

"Those boys have been talking all day long about why a genius like Shiina-san is with Suzuki-san from the general department... They should really be allowed to prepare lunch boxes for a month before they say such sarcastic remarks!"

Thinking of the lemony expressions on those boys' faces when they said these words, the girl couldn't help but snorted.

"Sure enough, only those who are as good as Suzuki-san are qualified to be Shiina-san's lover!"

"........."

After hearing the last sentence, Shiina Mashiro's brows subconsciously frowned slightly.

Just now she said... qualifications...

So in other words, if Lian didn't achieve this level, wouldn't she be "qualified" to be with him?

Isn't that the case?

Even leaving aside the issue of lunch boxes, Suzuki Ren's care for her was considered meticulous.

The patience that is almost enough to tolerate all her shortcomings, and the care that she has taken without complaint in the past month... It is not so much whether he is qualified to be with her, but rather... whether she is qualified to accept him like this. Care without expecting anything in return.

She recalled what she had asked a month ago, "Is there anything I wish she could do for him?"

But Ren Suzuki said he didn't need anything.

It was as if he had unilaterally determined the future relationship between the two of them, and he had no intention of accepting his own reward.

……

I always feel it's a little strange.

Even she, who is extremely lacking in common sense and social experience, understands that she must repay the kindness she receives.

But Suzuki Ren completely violated this point... and his attitude was almost decisive.This is really unnatural...

"……what."

In this way, when the two of them talked about this topic, they seemed to be talking about the senior sister who was slightly "close" to them.

At the same time, it was precisely because of talking about this past that he was able to clearly observe the "dark red" in Suzuki Ren's heart that separated all his colors from each other.

Could it be that Ren Suzuki's abnormal attitude of refusing to repay is because of this...

……

Shiina Mashiro, who is not very clear about feelings, is not sure yet.

But no matter what, after learning that preparing bento was a very time-consuming and laborious task, Shiina Mashiro did have an unshakable idea -

"As expected, we still have to do something for Lian."

In order to complete the work for the Newcomer Award as soon as possible, she has been focusing almost entirely on creation this month.

Now that she has nothing to do for the time being, it seems that it is time to think about how to repay Ren Suzuki.

By the way, what can she do for Lian?

Think about what she can do:

1. draw, 2. draw, 3. draw.

……

Eh?It seems...that's all? !

After taking stock of what he could do, Shiina Mashiro couldn't help but be stunned.

She really doesn't know anything except painting!

"In this way...there is no way to repay Lian at all."

As an outsider who knows nothing about art, Ren Suzuki has almost zero knowledge of painting, and naturally has no preferences or inclinations.

If you say you want to draw a painting for the other person, he will probably just accept it in confusion...and he won't feel happy at all.

That does not work.

Mashiro Shiina hopes that Ren Suzuki can also experience the warmth and touch she felt when she was taken care of.

So when will Ren Suzuki show a similar state...

...Ah, yes.

It was when we were talking about this [Isri Goto] and [Ending the Band]!

She still clearly remembers that when she told the story about Isri Goto, the dark red in Ren Suzuki's heart instantly faded a lot...

If you want to make Lian happy, you really have to start in this direction.

"Lian said that he was one of the earliest fans of this band...which means that Lian must like this band very much."

That means... I just need to find a way to let Lian see the band he likes, and he will definitely be very happy...

But, how can I do this?

Shiina Mashiro couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

However, I don’t know if God heard her voice. While Mashiro Shiina was still thinking about her "repayment plan", her phone suddenly vibrated slightly.

And when she took out her phone, she saw the prompt above——

[The band offcical has followed you]

"………………what."

Chapter 25: Coincidence

"Oh...I see, I understand what happened!"

In the corridor of the Art Department, Misaki Uekusa was holding her chin, nodding with a clear face and saying:

"To put it simply, you want to repay Suzuki-kun for taking care of him over the past month, so you want to do it through his favorite band, right?"