"Yeah, well - this one you can tune out, 'cause it's not just my shit it's goin over," Shinjiro told him very firmly, shutting his eyes for a moment. Was there even a point trying to get this guy to not watch? Short of beating him unconscious or trying to sit on the little guy until the movie was done - there's nothing he can do that can stop this guy from watching, beside ask. "My friend's little sister's bout to die on screen, and that's pretty fucking sick if they think we're gonna have fun watching that."

Both he and Akihiko tried to go back for her. The adults stopped Aki. Shinjiro chickened out when he saw the giant wall of fire. Both of them would've died if they'd gone in, but - they were little kids. There was nothing they could've done. What happened, happened.

Didn't change that it was shitty. Or how they reacted at the time. When you're little and faced with something hopeless, Shinjiro knew it was almost a relief to blame yourself for it. To swear you'll get stronger to protect people.

What's the point of this? He learned that lesson - not worth dwelling on the past. So Shinjiro's really not watching the screen - he's fixing Toge with a look. (He'd ... parse through the 'salmon' thing in a minute.) "It's not just my past - its theirs. So let's just ignore this stupid crap."