"Uh..." After meeting up with Mashiro, Eriri Sawamura seemed hesitant.
"Hm?" Sogo Doma tilted his head.
Eriri: "..."
She hesitated for a while longer, then finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke in a quiet voice:
"Sogo, is Shiina-senpai a little... unusual?" That was apparently the word she'd settled on after mulling it over for ages.
Looking at Mashiro's adorably dazed expression, this was completely different from what she'd expected! How was she supposed to ask her for advice while she looked so airheaded? It made Eriri feel as though she were asking a little kid for help...
"Mashiro just lacks a bit of common sense..."
Eriri: !!!∑ノ
Doma had just said it out loud! And not in a quiet voice, either—he'd spoken at a perfectly normal volume. Shiina-senpai must have...
While Eriri's thoughts ran wild, Mashiro turned around too.
"S-sorry..." Eriri said in surprise. "I didn't expect Do... Sogo to say that so bluntly."
"Why are you apologizing?" Mashiro asked, puzzled. "I'm learning, and everyone is helping me..."
Eriri: "Eh!?"
Right. Why was she apologizing?
"Eriri, don't underestimate Mashiro..." Sogo said.
"Eh?" Eriri was startled again. "How could I underestimate her? It's just..."
"I mean her mindset..." Before she could finish, Sogo chuckled and continued, "That's probably the biggest difference between you and Mashiro..."
"Eh?" Eriri froze, then asked instinctively.
"For Mashiro, if she knows something, she knows it; if she doesn't, she doesn't. If she doesn't know, she can just learn. There's nothing embarrassing about that..." Sogo wagged his index finger.
Eriri: "..."
Just learn what you don't know? That made sense, but...
"Sogo, isn't that how everyone is?" Mashiro asked, confused.
"N-no, it isn't! Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?" But there was so much malice in the world. Learning what you didn't