"Don't forget to wear your underwear. Also, why did you mess up everything I tidied up so nicely yesterday?"
In Shiina Mashiro's room, the girl was in the process of removing her pajamas to put on her Suimei High uniform, while Sorata was busily tidying up the scattered underwear from the floor, feeling a bit troubled.
"Drawing manga," Shiina said blankly, clumsily pulling on her clothes.
"What does drawing manga have to do with this?" Sorata looked at her in confusion. His gaze remained clear despite the fact that she was only wearing her panties and a pink bra... he couldn't help but appreciate her beautiful body.
It wasn't that Sorata wasn't interested in women, but Shiina Mashiro had no understanding of gender differences or concepts like love. To her, Kanda Sorata was simply the person who took care of her, her caretaker, much like Rita, her long-time English friend who had cared for her as well.
If it were any other girl Sorata had feelings for, he would've taken advantage of every opportunity. But with Shiina, who had no concept of such things, he couldn't bring himself to act in that way. Even as someone who had once terrorized countless worlds and was a feared demon lord in the Nightmare Space, Sorata retained his dignity and would not indulge in petty acts.
"Sorata is so useless, doesn't understand," Shiina Mashiro remarked calmly, looking down as she buttoned her shirt.
"I think the problem is more with your ability to express yourself," Sorata replied, shaking his head. "Alright, hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is waiting."
By the time Sorata managed to get Shiina Mashiro downstairs, it was already eight o'clock. Sengoku Chihiro and Kamiigusa Misaki had already left. Just then, the gloomy morning sky began to drizzle.
Earlier, while washing her face, Shiina Mashiro had wet her shirt, so Sorata had to change her underwear and shirt once again, wasting even more time.
"Don't use your hands, there are chopsticks. And there's some food right in front of you. Why did you eat mine?" As they arrived at the dining table, Shiina Mashiro reached over and took the fried fish fillet that was in front of Sorata.
"Sorata's is tastier."
With her self-righteous attitude, Sorata, who had truly begun to treat her like a pet, simply shook his head. Fortunately, he had made a large breakfast in the morning since his body required more food due to his recent bloodline transformation.
Mew...
At that moment, a white cat named Hikari, who was sitting at Sorata's feet, hissed at Shiina Mashiro, its fur bristling as it let out a threatening meow.
"You want to eat too?" Sorata smiled and picked up a piece of fried fish, giving it to the intelligent little cat. Soon, the other kittens gathered around, affectionately meowing.
"It's already 8:20. Looks like we're going to be late again today. Shiina, take the umbrella." Sorata retrieved a small transparent umbrella from the entryway and handed it to Shiina Mashiro.
However, when Sorata closed the door and turned around, he saw Shiina Mashiro standing under the eaves, reaching out her hand to catch the dripping water. Although her face remained expressionless, it was clear she was enjoying herself.
"Don't play around. Your clothes will get wet, and it'll be troublesome to change later," Sorata warned. He opened the umbrella and started to walk outside.
"Wait." Sorata suddenly stopped and called out to Shiina Mashiro, his sharp eyes scanning the distant sky. A sudden, startling light flickered in his gaze.
In his vision, a massive Western dragon, nearly fifty meters long with a jade-green and somewhat plump body, was flapping its wings and hovering in the sky, dozens of miles away. The dragon was hidden beneath stealth magic.
The dragon's ferocious head turned upward, and immense magical power surged from its mouth. Then, without warning, it unleashed a powerful, sky-piercing breath, silent and imperceptible to ordinary eyes.
Boom!!
A pulse of energy reverberated through the air, and the sky cleared suddenly as the dark clouds over a vast area were blown away, revealing a patch of clear sky.
As the dragon exhaled its breath to dissipate the rain clouds, Sorata's extraordinary senses detected several other hidden auras beneath the city. They flashed by in quick succession, startling him.
"A magical creature, a dragon, and based on its power, it seems to be at the fourth stage of transcendence. Those auras... they don't seem to belong to this world. Heh... this world might be more interesting than I thought," Sorata muttered with a chuckle.
"Dragon? What is Sorata talking about?" Shiina Mashiro looked up at Sorata with a blank expression as he stood motionless, staring at the sky.
Turning back to her with a shrug, Sorata replied, "It's nothing. I was just saying we don't need the umbrella. See, the sky's cleared up."
"It really has." Shiina Mashiro looked at the strange phenomenon of the dark clouds receding in circular patterns from the center, a hint of surprise appearing on her usually emotionless face.
Despite the oddity of the dragon expending such vast magical power to disperse the rain clouds, Sorata wasn't interested in investigating it further. Nor was he inclined to engage with any of the transcendent beings who had just revealed their presence.
Curiosity? Ridiculous. After traveling through so many worlds, Sorata had encountered creatures of all kinds. For him, as long as they didn't provoke him, he had no interest in exploring their mysteries.
Due to Shiina Mashiro, Sorata and she ended up being late again.
By the time Sorata took her to her second-year art department classroom and returned to his own, the first period was already halfway through.
Without an ounce of embarrassment or hesitation, Sorata casually walked in through the back door, ignoring the teacher's gaze and the admiring looks from his classmates.
"Kanda-kun, you're late again today," Aoyama Nanami, sitting in front of him, turned around to address him.
"Sigh! There's nothing I can do. Actually, I wanted to be on time too," Sorata replied nonchalantly.
Despite his casual demeanor, Aoyama Nanami, who was always punctual, had excellent grades, and was a member of the student council, couldn't help but notice Sorata's laid-back attitude.
"Be on time to sleep? You should move out of the Sakura Dormitory sooner. You weren't like this before. Could it really be as others say, that you've been infected by the 'Sakura Dormitory virus'?"
"Sakura Dormitory virus? If it really exists, I'd like to see it," Sorata smiled, unbothered.
The Sakura Dormitory had become infamous among the students of Suimei High. People avoided those who lived there, and numerous absurd rumors had been spread about the place. But Sorata saw it all as the result of envy and jealousy.
For example, Mitaka Jin, the so-called "lodging emperor," was already a renowned scriptwriter, even appearing in magazines as a third-year student, admired by many.
Kamiigusa Misaki, who was as energetic as an alien, was a genius animation creator known throughout the school. She had sold the rights to several immensely popular animations before even graduating.
Akasaka Ryuunosuke, a reclusive genius engineer, had been hired by a top software development company when he was still a first-year student and spent his days working in his room.
As for Shiina Mashiro, who had just moved into the Sakura Dormitory, her background was even more astonishing. She was a world-renowned painter whose works had won numerous international awards.
Compared to her, Kanda Sorata, a second-year student in the general studies course, seemed quite ordinary.
If things had gone as they had for the old Sorata, it wouldn't have been long before the pressure from those geniuses pushed him to either return to a more normal life outside the Sakura Dormitory or put in endless effort and eventually fall into a cycle of failure and despair.
But that was the old Sorata. The current Sorata, who had awakened his memories, didn't care about genius. He could reach the peak of any field simply by understanding the world and thinking deeply. All that mattered was whether he wanted to.
The question of genius? It didn't even faze him.