"Ouch-! This fucking hurts. Hey, kid, just what do you think you are doing?"
Serena questioned as she held her reddening forehead. She looked uncomfortable at the thought of confronting a kid younger than her, but she was still not allowing this to go unchecked.
Shelly suddenly looked uncomfortable, and she looked at her hand, not believing that she had done something like this. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and Rin knew he had to do something.
He could not allow something like this to become a shadow on Shelly's heart to be used in the future.
"Shelly, can you come here? Why did you throw the bottle at Serena's face?"
A dark shadow passed over Shelly's face when Rin said Serena's name, but it quickly melted into worry and uncertainty.
"I-I don't know. I-I was not going to, but then I suddenly saw her getting closer to you, and I-I did not like it. Before I knew it, I had thrown the bottle. Are you angry at me?"
Shelly looked distressed, and Rin had every intention of scolding her. But it all drained out the window at her scared expression.
He quickly patted her head to show Shelly that he was not angry at her. After all, she was at a stage where all kids feared losing their friend to someone else. Shelly was likely feeling the same fear at the moment.
Rin needed to be careful and teach her that this was not the right thing to do.
"Shelly, it is not right to hurt others like this in public. Not only does it cause harm to others, but it can cause your reputation to go down as well. Do you understand?"
Those purple eyes went wide, and Shelly nodded to show that she understood.
"I understand. I will not hurt others in the open like this again."
Weren't those words…wrong? But the message seemed to have been conveyed to her. But Rin did not realize that his message was heard differently by Shelly.
He had told her to 'not hurt others,' but what she understood was 'you should not hurt others where people can see.'
"Ugh, my head hurts."
Serena suddenly complained, and Rin's attention turned toward her. He did not notice the darkening look in Shelly's eyes as he extended his handkerchief toward the older female.
"Here, blow into this and use this as a compress on your wound-"
"No, this is my fault, so please use mine."
Shelly extended her own cloth and pushed Rin's away. She looked troubled as she offered this peace offering.
But Serena looked unwilling to take this offer.
"I don't need anything from you. I can tell when I am not needed somewhere, so I will head out now. Oh-! And kid…since you offered me advice, let me offer some back to you-you would be better off getting rid of that girl by your side. Something is not right about her."
Serena spoke before she left.
Rin immediately turned to grab Shelly and make her look at him.
"Don't mind her words, Shelly. You are perfect as you are, and I will always accept you. Never feel burdened by others' expectations, and do what you want to."
Shelly nodded, her eyes shining with newfound resolve. Her smile was much larger this time, and she looked rejuvenated.
"I will do that. But you also have to promise to stay with me and only look at me. I don't like it when you look at others. It makes me feel weird. Does that make me weird?"
Rin should have noticed the signs that something dark and different was bubbling under Shelly's nature right then and there.
But once again, he mistook her feelings as childhood jealousy and dismissed them.
"Alright, I will stay by your side. Now go back and finish your practice for today. I will wait for you here."
Rin promised, and Shelly went back to the training mat to finish what she started.
Soon, that became their daily routine, and Rin started to adjust to the changes. But along with all this, he also noticed something…different about his surroundings.
Or rather, about the people around him. The most noticeable example of this change was in the school.
Usually, people flocked around him because they wanted to use his money. These kids were too young for such exploits, so he knew that it was their parents who put them up to it.
But for the past week, those who stuck around him were slowly decreasing in number. He kept looking for a reason, but nothing had changed.
The only thing that had was the fact that Shelly stuck close to him these days.
"Rin, is something wrong?"
Shelly asked as she looked at him. Her eyes looked worried, so Rin decided to reassure her quickly.
"Nothing is wrong…but don't you think something is weird? No one is approaching us even during playtime. Usually, people want to play with us."
Rin asked, and Shelly looked around with a detached expression on her face. But when she looked at Rin, her expression became one filled with concern.
"Do you think it's me? Maybe these people do not like me and are avoiding you as well. I-I can leave you alone-"
"No, there is no need for that. I am sure there is another reason behind this. I can go ask them."
Shelly did not stop Rin from approaching a kid. But as soon as he did, the kid looked uncomfortable and looked behind him.
"I-I don't want to be near you o-or that girl. Please leave me alone. I promise I will not show up near you ever again."
The kid promised, and Rin felt too shocked to follow him. He tried to wrap his head around what was happening, but it all felt too sudden.
"Rin, did you find out why they do not want to play with us?"
Shelly asked in a worried voice, and Rin decided he could not tell her the reason.
'If these kids do not want to play with us because of Shelly, then I do not want her to know. It's better if I keep these words to myself.'
Outwardly, Rin smiled and flashed Shelly a soft smile before he spoke to her in reassurance.