“Don’t forget your underwear. And why is it messy again? I organized everything perfectly for you yesterday.”
Inside Shiina’s room, she was changing out of her pajamas into the Suiko uniform.
Sorata stood nearby with a slight headache, picking up the underwear scattered all over the floor.
“Drawing manga.”
She answered blankly while clumsily putting on her clothes.
“What does drawing manga have to do with this?”
Sorata looked at her in confusion.
He felt no embarrassment at the sight of her wearing only panties and a pink bra.
His gaze was clear and steady, simply observing her beautiful body without distraction.
It wasn’t that Sorata lacked interest in women.
It was just that the current Shiina had no concept of gender differences in her awareness.
She didn’t understand romance or liking someone in that sense.
To her, Sorata Kanda was merely the person who took care of her.
A feeder.
A nanny.
Similar to the English girl Rita who had looked after her for years.
If this had been a girlfriend he liked, Sorata would certainly have taken the chance to steal advantages every day.
But facing Shiina as she was now, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do that.
He, Sorata, the Great Devil God who once made countless worlds tremble.
The sharpest demonic claw of Nightmare Space.
He still had his dignity.
He disdained such petty behavior.
“Sorata is so useless. He doesn’t understand.”
Shiina lowered her head and fastened her buttons, her tone calm.
“I think this is more a problem with your lack of expression.”
Sorata shook his head.
“Alright. Hurry and finish dressing. Come downstairs for breakfast.”
By the time Sorata brought the neatly groomed Shiina downstairs, it was already eight o’clock.
Chihiro Sengoku and Misaki had left.
Just then, a light rain began falling from the gloomy sky.
Earlier, Shiina had gotten her shirt wet while washing her face, so Sorata had helped her change her shirt and underwear again, which cost them more time.
“Don’t use your hands. Aren’t there chopsticks? And those are yours. Why are you eating mine?”
The moment they sat down, Shiina reached out with her hand and took the fried fish fillet from Sorata’s plate.
Sakura nation meals were typically served individually: a bowl of rice, a main dish, side dishes, and miso soup.
Just enough for one person.
“Sorata’s tastes better.”
She stated it as fact.
Sorata, who had already begun raising her like a pet, only shook his head.
Fortunately, he had made extra breakfast.
Ever since his bloodline remodeling, his appetite had grown significantly.
“Meow…” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
At his feet, the white cat Hikari bristled, letting out a small threatening cry at Shiina.
“You want some too?”
Sorata fed a piece of fried fish to the intelligent kitten.
Soon, the other kittens gathered around, meowing affectionately.
“Eight twenty. We’re going to be late again. Shiina, take the umbrella.”
At the entrance, Sorata handed her a small transparent umbrella.
He closed the door and turned back, only to see Shiina standing under the eaves, reaching out her hand to catch the dripping rainwater.
Though her face remained expressionless, she seemed to be enjoying herself.
“Stop playing. If your clothes get wet, it’ll be troublesome to change again.”
Sorata opened his umbrella and prepared to step out.
“Wait.”
Suddenly, he stopped and looked toward the distant sky.
A sharp light flickered in his slightly narrowed eyes.
Far beyond the dark clouds, dozens of miles away, a Western dragon nearly fifty meters long hovered in the air.
Jade-colored and somewhat plump, it spread its massive wings, concealed beneath an invisibility spell.
Its ferocious head tilted upward toward the sky.
Boundless magic gathered in its mouth.
Then, a dragon breath that ordinary people could neither see nor perceive shot into the heavens.
Boom.
Energy rippled between heaven and earth.
A silent explosion rang in Sorata’s ears.
The sky cleared instantly.
The dark clouds spanning hundreds of miles dissipated, revealing the blue sky behind them.
As the dragon’s breath scattered the rain layer, Sorata’s heightened perception also sensed several hidden auras beneath the city stirring briefly before fading.
“A magical creature. A dragon. Judging from its level, around the fourth rank of the Transcendent stage. And those auras… they don’t seem native to this world.”
Sorata gave a low chuckle.
“It seems this world is more interesting than I thought.”
“Giant dragon? What is Sorata talking about?”
Beside him, Shiina looked at him strangely.
He had suddenly stopped and gone still.
Sorata glanced at her blank expression and shook his head.
“Nothing. We don’t need the umbrella anymore. Look, the sky’s clear.”
“Really.”
Shiina stared at the clouds dispersing in circular patterns, a faint trace of curiosity appearing in her otherwise emotionless eyes.
Though it was somewhat strange for a dragon to expend such massive magic just to disperse rain clouds, Sorata had no interest in investigating.
Nor did he care to contact those Transcendent beings who had revealed their presence.
Curiosity?
He had walked through countless worlds.
As long as they did not provoke him, he had no intention of digging into anyone’s secrets.
Because of Shiina, they were late again.
By the time Sorata delivered her to the second-year Art Department classroom and returned to his own, the first period was already halfway over.
Without embarrassment or anxiety, he calmly slid open the back door and entered under the teacher’s gaze and the curious looks of his classmates.
“Kanda-kun, you’re late again.”
Just as he sat down and prepared to sleep, Nanami Aoyama turned around in her seat to look at him.
“Sigh. It can’t be helped. I wanted to arrive on time too.”
He sighed, though he looked entirely unconcerned.
Nanami Aoyama, who had perfect attendance, excellent grades, and served on the Student Council Executive Committee, found it hard to tolerate.
“On time to sleep? You should move out of Sakurasou soon. You weren’t like this before. Or have you really been infected by the Sakurasou virus, like everyone says?”
“The Sakurasou virus? If it really exists, I’d like to see it.”
Sorata smiled.
At Suiko, Sakurasou was almost taboo.
Students avoided its residents.
Rumors spread endlessly, growing more exaggerated each time they were retold.
In Sorata’s view, it was mostly jealousy.
Take Mitaka Jin, the so-called overnight emperor.
Aside from being flirtatious, he was already a well-known scriptwriter in his third year, frequently appearing in magazines.
Or Misaki.
Energetic to an alien degree.
A genius animator known throughout the school.
Even before graduation, she had sold multiple hit animation copyrights.
Then there was Akasaka Ryuunosuke, who rarely showed himself.
A genius engineer who had been headhunted by a software company at a high price in his first year.
He spent his days developing commissioned software inside his room and hadn’t appeared publicly for an entire semester.
As for Shiina, who had recently moved into Sakurasou, her background was even more astonishing.
A world-famous genius painter.
Her works had won numerous international awards.
Compared to them, second-year general course student Sorata Kanda seemed completely ordinary.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be long before such pressure forced him either to flee Sakurasou and return to an ordinary environment, or to struggle desperately, only to fall into a cycle of effort, failure, frustration, and effort again.
After all, it was difficult for an ordinary person to catch up to a genius who worked just as hard.
But that was the old Sorata.
For the current Sorata, who had awakened his memories, geniuses meant nothing.
Just like his first meeting with Shiina, his color was chaos.
If he wished to shine, he could shine brilliantly.
Without relying on Transcendent power, with his understanding of the world and his knowledge, he could reach the peak in any field he chose.
It only depended on whether he wanted to.