But there was one major difference between us – more than I did, Shimamoto consciously wrapped herself in a protective shell. Unlike me, she made an effort to study the subjects she hated, and she got good marks. When the school dinner contained food she loathed, she still ate it. In other words, she constructed a much taller defensive wall around herself than I ever built. What remained behind that wall, though, was much the same as what lay behind mine.
