You're not the only one

Shishio and Hikigaya sat next to each other under the shade of a good size tree, watching many girls, a woman, and one trap, playing together on the river.

It might be normal for Hikigaya didn't join to play on the river, considering he didn't bring his swimsuit. However, the main reason was his personality made him not really want to play with the group.

Yet, it was strange when Shishio didn't join the crowd.

However, with what had happened before, Shishio decided to stay out and rest while watching them as a spectator. His charm was dangerous, and he was afraid to dye this beautiful river a crimson color.

The two sat staring at the group of girls playing on the river until suddenly, someone interrupted them.

Rumi came and sat naturally right next to Shishio.

"What's wrong?" Shishio rubbed Rumi's head naturally.

Hikigaya stretched his neck and looked at Rumi curiously.

"Why are you two here? You don't play on the river?" Rumi didn't answer. Instead, she asked.

"Why?" Shishio looked at Hikigaya.

"I didn't bring my swimsuit." Hikigaya glanced at Shishio and said, "As for this guy, it'll be dangerous for him to swim in the river."

"Huh? Shishio-nii, you can't swim?" Rumi stared at Shishio curiously.

"Haha..." Shishio only laughed while rubbing Rumi's head.

It was impossible for Hikigaya and Shishio to tell the details about what had happened to everyone if he took his clothes off.

"How about you? Why are you here?" Hikigaya stared at Shishio speechlessly before he asked Rumi.

As for why Shishio didn't ask, he clearly knew what had happened to this girl. Even so, he still listened to her.

"Apparently, we have some free time today. When I finished breakfast and went back to the room, nobody was around."

"Then, play here, or do you want to play on the river? It feels cool," Shishio said.

"...No, it's okay here." Rumi wasn't in the mood to play and only wanted to stay with someone. "I also didn't bring my swimsuit."

"Then, stay here."

Shishio thought the real reason why this little girl didn't join the river was that she didn't bring a swimsuit. He glanced at her face and thought that this girl might want to play, which made him sigh.

They were children. Why should they live in such a complicated way?

Children should be selfish and live freely and happily instead of being conscious or careful of everything.

However, it made Shishio realize that sometimes being normal was hard.

"Okay."

Rumi nodded since she only wanted to stay with someone she could depend on now.

The three sat under the shade of the tree.

Hikigaya wasn't good at talking, so he didn't say anything.

On the other hand, Shishio and Rumi talked to each other. After all, there were many things that they didn't know.

Rumi also wanted to know most about Shishio.

However, their conversation stopped when Yui and Yukinoshita approached them.

Yui was in her blue bikini, squatting down, causing her well-developed breasts to squeeze against her pale, white thighs.

"Rumi-chan, do you want to play with us?"

Shishio could see Yui had mastered the art of communication since when one talked to someone, it was better to match their eyes, especially when one talked to children.

The height difference between children and adults was huge.

If the children wanted to see the adults, they had to stretch their heads up.

On the other hand, the adults had to look down when they looked at the children.

It could be seen from their position that their interaction was hardly fair since one had to look up and the other was looking down.

To solve this situation, Yui squatted down, so she could match Rumi's eyes, showing her skillful communication ability.

On the other hand, Yukinoshita stood tall while looking down at Rumi, showing her awkward communication ability.

Still, his eyes happened to meet Yukinoshita, and it caused her to look away with a blush.

'...Cute.'

However, Rumi pulled his t-shirt slightly, which made him confused. He looked at her for a moment and wondered whether she was uneasy when she was approached by a stranger. Still, he must admit that a woman did a better job of taking care of children, considering it was impossible for him to do what Yui did.

His image was one thing, but he was afraid of being misunderstood by many people.

Still hearing Yui's question, Rumi shook her head gently.

"I see..."

Yui sounded disappointed.

"Hey, Shishio-nii..." Rumi suddenly called.

"What's wrong?"

"Shishio-nii, do you have any friends from back in elementary school?" Rumi asked.

"No," Shishio answered without hesitation. "I think most people are like that." The previous Shishio Oga was quite reclusive, but it didn't mean he didn't have a friend. He had one or two friends, but it was because of the acquaintances of his parents. Still, they had nothing to do with him, and he didn't know them.

"So just forget about them. You won't talk with them ever again after you graduate."

Rumi was in a daze since she didn't expect such words to come out of Shishio's mouth.

"Huh? Really?" Yui was dumbfounded.

"I think so." Hikigaya suddenly said, "I am like that, after all."

"Me too. I haven't met any either," Yukinoshita said.

"...."

Yui was speechless but quickly coughed to fix the situation. "Don't worry, Rumi-chan. These three are just weird. That's all."

"What's wrong with that?" Hikigaya retorted. "In English, I am special. Being special is awesome."

"Yeah, you're special, alright." Yukinoshita was speechless.

Still, Shishio looked at Yuigahama and asked, "Yui-senpai. How many of your elementary school friends do you still talk to?"

"Hmm..." Yui thought for a moment. "One or two... I guess?"

"And how many students did your grade have?"

"Three classes of thirty."

"This means the possibility of staying friends five years after graduation is around three to six percent. This is Yui-senpai, who is known to be cute and sociable, you know?"

"Cu-Cute?!" Yui smiled and laughed happily.

"Yuigahama-san." Yukinoshita sighed. "He isn't really praising you, you know?"

"But I am surprised that you don't have friends you still communicate with in elementary school," Hikigaya said while looking at Shishio.

Most of them were also surprised since they knew well how popular Shishio was.

However, this guy didn't even have a single friend he still contacted in elementary school, which surprised them.

"Hmm... it's hard to call them friends since we only know each other based on my parents' connection. Instead of friends, they should be called a necessary acquaintance."

"...I don't understand the world of rich people..." Hikigaya was speechless.

Shishio laughed and didn't bother to explain since his world and their world were quite different. They might get disillusioned if he explained to them clearly the difference. Still, he could see Yukinoshita's expression was slightly cloudy for some reason, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay, enough about me."

It was impossible for one to befriend everyone.

Even the heroine in another story could only have 100 friends.

As for becoming friends with everyone with the rest of the people in the world, it was impossible since one didn't have enough time to do that.

"But my mom doesn't want to hear something like that. She always asks me how I am doing with my friends. She gave me this camera and told me to take a lot of pictures during summer camp."

Rumi held her camera and lowered her head deeper.

"Besides, getting left out makes me feel like I am inferior. I kinda don't like it. It's pathetic. But... There's nothing I can do about it anymore."

"Why?"

"I was abandoned. We can't get along anymore. Even if we do, there's no telling when this will happen again. So maybe I am better off this way..."

Shishio could see this girl had already given up.

A loner is forced to stay a loner.

If you do your best at something and stand out, that will only get used as fodder for criticism.

There is even a saying in this country that a nail that sticks out will be hammered down.

This situation has become the norm in this country.

Still, as long as it doesn't happen to them, they will close their eyes and pretend nothing happens.

Everyone is like that, and they also copy it.

Rumi's mother was also like that since she didn't want to see her daughter as different from others.

However, the person who has encountered this problem is hurt and helpless since there is nothing that can be done.

Even if Rumi reported to the adult, her parents would say whether she had done something wrong. As for her teacher, they didn't want to make the situation bigger, so they would just tell her to bear with it.

In other words, nothing had changed.

Shishio glanced at Yukinoshita and Hikigaya and knew that they were also the victims of something similar to Rumi. Inwardly, he sighed and thought that whether they were a child or an adult, many of them were rotten to the core.

Still, every word that came out of his mouth could do nothing against Rumi's situation. He also wasn't stupid enough and did something strange like what he did to his enemies. In the end, it was like what Hayama had said before. They were just little children, and he even felt it was too much for him, trying to harm them.

If Rumi knew the truth, she would also think the same.

Shishio felt that this situation was really hard.

If Rumi had one or two friends that could stay with her during her toughest time, it would be fine.

Unfortunately, Rumi didn't have such an existence. Instead, most people didn't have such an existence.

Shishio gently caressed her hair without saying anything.

Rumi was in silence and leaned on his side.

Shishio took a deep breath and knew it was necessary to start the plan he kept at night. He knew it wouldn't help Rumi, but it would erase her problem since when this was over, she wouldn't be the only one who was alone.