"Don't be so nervous..." Sogo Doma had known for a long time that violence might not solve problems, but it often solved the people who raised them. Still, he wasn't some violent maniac. If Rita hadn't been so stubborn, he wouldn't have bothered with her at all.
"Didn't I say? I'm not a good person..."
Rita trembled. "..."
Earlier, she'd thought he was joking, but after feeling the murderous aura rolling off him, this guy really wasn't a good person...
"If I hadn't heard you talking about wasting one's talent..." As Rita stood on the verge of tears, Sogo Doma continued, "Mashiro's talent is talent, but what about mine..."
"No!" Rita had probably used up all the courage she'd accumulated in her life just to say that.
"Hm? No what?"
"C-contribution..."
"What?"
"M-Mashiro's talent is... is a contribution to humanity..." Her courage hadn't run out yet. Rita was still holding on.
"Couldn't my talent make a contribution to humanity too?"
Rita: "..."
Could he not have even a little self-awareness?
"Then, Rita..." Before she could say anything, Sogo Doma asked, "What exactly is your talent?"
"What?" Rita was taken aback. "M-my talent?"
"That's right. What do you think your talent is?"
"..." Rita fell silent again. After a long while, she raised her head and said, "Unlike a genius like Mashiro, I don't have any talent..."
"Is that what you think, or what someone else told you?"
"..." Sogo Doma's words made Rita hesitate for a while again before she said, "Enough. That's simply the truth. You know, I've loved drawing since I was very little. I loved recording everything with my brush. Back then, every time I finished a painting, I wanted to share it with other people..."
"And then?"
"..." Perhaps Sogo Doma's careless attitude had irritated her.