"Stop..." Unlike his understanding little sister, Onii-chan Sogo Doma was nowhere near as easy to reason with. He first waved at Umaru Doma, then turned to Rita and asked, "Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
"You said so much, yet you never directly explained why Mashiro chose manga over art, did you?" Sogo Doma smiled.
"..." Perhaps he had hit on something sensitive, because Rita seemed somewhat distracted. After a long while, she spoke again. "I already told you the reason. Manga was only something Mashiro got interested in on a whim..."
"Oh?" Before she could finish, Sogo Doma said, "Then let me ask you something else."
"What?"
"How long has it been since you last saw Mashiro smile?"
"..." Rita fell silent at those words. How long had it been since she had seen Mashiro smile? No, it would be more accurate to say she had never seen Mashiro smile at all. Did Mashiro even smile? Even when her paintings won awards, or when she was granted an audience with the Queen, she did not seem to have smiled, did she?
"If it has already been so long since you last saw Mashiro smile..." Sogo Doma naturally did not miss any of her reactions. He smiled again. "Then what makes you think art is what Mashiro likes most?"
Rita: "..."
Was she wrong?
Umaru Doma: (￣︶￣)
As expected of Onii-chan. With just a few words, he had stumped someone he could not persuade!
Wait, if Onii-chan was so amazing, why not settle everything completely? Well, since today had already been delayed anyway, they might as well deal with all the loose ends.
"All right, Onii-chan, can we talk inside? How can we keep a guest standing at the door?" Since they were going to settle everything today, they might