Character Stories/Shinya Shibasaki/Chapter 8

Shinya Shibasaki: Character Story Translation: MDR
Chapter 8
Staff	Alright, we're live!
	As the shooting begins, there's shouting. Harsh lights. An unfamiliar place. So much commotion about people they didn't know, problems that weren't theirs. I sat obediently beside the male host of "News One", like a borrowed pet. A "Shibasaki Shinya" introductory video plays, and finishes before I know it.
Host	Wow, there was some very interesting stuff in there, wasn't there? Like we saw in his intro video, Shibasaki-san has grades excellent enough that he could skip a grade, but, Our topic today is the ability to concentrate we saw in your "Defying Club Activities" video. There are a lot of possible applications for that, aren't there?
Shinya Shibasaki	--Yes, I think so. It'd because I've been practicing to improve my concentration since I was little.
	--- A sting. Suddenly I felt a headache, as if there was an earthquake in my head.
Host	I see! Right now, I think that when the world looks at Shibasaki-san, they label him, in a word, a "genius", but--
	Sting, sting...
Host	Actually today, to learn how a "genius" like Shibasaki-san was born, I shot an interview with an expert on genetics - his mother!
Shinya Shibasaki	--!
Host	In that interview is something that would shock anyone - an origin story that defies all common sense!
	No, I can't stay here.
Shinya Shibasaki	!!
Host	Eh...? W-What's wrong? Getting up so suddenly...
Shinya Shibasaki	Excuse me, I'm not feeling well.
	I was disoriented by the stage lights. My headache worsened.
Shinya Shibasaki	[collapses]
Host	Shibasaki-san!?
	Unable to stand the situation anymore, when I fell to my knees, I couldn't even hear myself breathe. As I left, a car colored to blend into the darkness of the night stopped in front of me.
Shigure Hakka	Shinya, get in.
Shinya Shibasaki	Shigure-....
	Why was he here, now? I thought I told him that no one could predict when shooting would end. I hadn't told him that we'd stopped. I never asked him to pick me up. Why? I don't understand. My head hurts.
	----- I don't want to be hated.
Shigure Hakka	... Good work at the shooting today.
Shinya Shibasaki	...
Shigure Hakka	... Shinya, have some if you'd like.
	Even though I hadn't said anything, I looked up at the offered headache medicine. Completely dominated by my unbearable fear, I couldn't understand the face Shigure made as he looked at me. His odd eyes open in a dry-feeling stare--
Shinya Shibasaki	Shigure, why do you--- why do you know about my headache?
Shigure Hakka	Shinya...?
Shinya Shibasaki	How much do you know about me, Shigure!? How far have you investigated me!?!
Shigure Hakka	....
Shinya Shibasaki	Answer me...!
Shigure Hakka	Shinya... ... I don't know. I don't know anything, about the things you don't say to me.
Shinya Shibasaki	...!
Shigure Hakka	I came to pick you up because there's something I have to tell you, so I was waiting outside the TV station. As for your headache, I could tell by looking at your face.
	I heard rain begin to fall against the car windows, and in that moment felt myself calm down.
Shinya Shibasaki	O-Oh! Uwa~ sorrry about that! I said some weird stuff just now.
	Laugh. Cover it up. I just wanted to lift the heavy atmosphere inside the car.
Shigure Hakka	Shinya, I--
Shinya Shibasaki	--about your eyes!
	Cut him off. So that he won't infringe on me any more, infringe on him.
Shinya Shibasaki	Your eyes... The colors of the left and right are different, it's beautiful. Ahaha.
Shigure Hakka	[grimaces]
	Shigure immediately turned his eyes from me. My heart let out a sigh. I was as bad at listening to him as I was at talking to him. [car door shuts behind Shinya]
Shinya Shibasaki	--Huh? Are you not coming in?
Shigure Hakka	I was called about family matters, so I need to go to Italy immediately.
Shinya Shibasaki	Eh--
Shigure Hakka	Shinya.... These three years until graduation, I didn't think I was "playing" friends with you.
Shinya Shibasaki	Shigure...
	In that moment, the emotion that poured from my heart even more than the rain pouring from the sky, I didn't know its name. It wasn't written in any book I'd ever read.
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