Mirza Aaqib Beg
In ‘Skip and Loafer’ or ‘Skip to Loafer’ episode 12 titled ‘Shining,’ Ririka and Shousuke’s mother have a bitter reunion after which the latter leaves early from the school festival. Shima appears to have noticed what has happened and later tells Ririka that he deserves happiness and can no longer carry the weight of a mistake that he made so many years ago. Meanwhile, Mitsumi is thrilled to have successfully participated in the school’s festival and have contributed to such a big event.
Ririka Reassures Shima
When Shousuke’s mother and Ririka come across each other, the former talks calmly and inquires about the latter’s well-being. Unfortunately, Ririka is not at all thrilled to meet Mrs. Shima and acts quite unfriendly toward her. When Mrs. Shima expresses her surprise that Ririka and Shousuke are still friends, Saijou tells her bitterly that she knows that she does not want his son to be anywhere near her son to this day. Mr. Shima tries to clarify but Ririka has no patience for her explanations.
Meanwhile, Shousuke is busy cheering up Keiri by reading for him. Interestingly, his middle school friends who know about his acting career also pay him a visit. It turns out that they are really excited to see him act after a long time. But they have no idea that Shima has kept his acting career a secret from his high school friends. That’s when Ririka arrives there as well and everyone is naturally shocked to learn that Shousuke knows such a popular model.
Later, the play does not go as well as Shima would have liked. After his performance, he sees Ririka walking away. He later confronts her and tells her that he wants to be happy and no longer wants to carry the curse of the past as he has suffered enough. Later, Ririka cries in the car and admits that everything that happened was not really Shima’s fault and she just envies the fact that he now has a normal high school life while she doesn’t.
Do Mitsumi and Shima Have Feelings for Each Other?
After the end of the school festival, Mitsumi comes across her classmates who are going to grab a bite at a nearby restaurant. When they see her, they naturally invite her to go with him. Although Mitsumi is also quite tired, she tells her friends that she has other plans. It turns out that the Student’s Council is going to have a meeting to discuss the cleanup plan. Therefore, she can’t really go with her friends.
Since everyone is tired and hungry, they immediately leave for the restaurant. Shima silently listened to the exchange and stops for a moment. He calls Mitsumi and asks her if she needs any help with the clean-up. Naturally, Mitsumi does not wish to worry him about the cumbersome task, so she tells him that she can handle it on her own. Shima then tells her that he will come anyway if his class cleanup is done sooner tomorrow.
Mitsumi appears to be fine with the idea and tells him to contact her when he is free. As she starts to walk away, Shima continues to look at her and calls her out again. When she turns back, he tells her it’s nothing and the two of them say their goodbyes. Moments earlier, Shima has had a very affectionate look on his face when he was seeing Mitsumi walk away. Now, Mitsumi was looking at him and was puzzled about how she got to meet someone so nice and kind like him.
Mitsumi and Shima are yet to say anything concrete about what they feel for each other. However, it is quite obvious at this point that they do hold a special place for one another in their hearts- even though they are a bit confused about how to approach their current situation. In future episodes, the show will likely shed more light on their changing relationship and it would be interesting to see how all of this converges with Shima’s chaotic past that he is yet to heal from.
Read More: Skip and Loafer Episode 11 Recap and Ending, Explained
