WARNING: This thread will have some spoilers and insight to Rin's route that I can't individually tag out with spoilers without blurring context.
Getting down to business, I'll start by saying that Rin's route wasn't my favorite out of the girls, but it's the one that grabbed me the most (no pun intended... okay maybe a little).
About two years ago I used to date this girl who has a lot in common with Rin but the two of them are nothing alike. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just gonna refer to my ex as Kay. It's safe to describe them both as a little aloof, flaky, and difficult to understand sometimes. Kay has an easier time of speaking her mind and isn't quite as random. They both have a different way of looking at the world around us. Kay tried desperately to find a way to show me her world, do make me understand the way she sees things. Unlike Rin though, Kay stopped painting. Where Rin has her own outlet to try to reach people with her art, Kay didn't.
I'm not going to give a full summary of our relationship, but I'll just skip ahead and say that it did not end well. I can say though, that it ended on her terms when she cheated on me and left for someone else. I dunno if you've ever had this experience or not, but it fucks a person up inside. It's one of those things I would never wish on anyone no matter the circumstances. I went through the motions of being forcefully removed from a relationship in normal ways I suppose. There was some booze, sleepless nights, tears on the pillow, etc. After while it stopped hurting as these kinds of wounds tend to do.
Back to the point! Up until a few days ago when I finished Rin's route, I had held the firm belief that if it wasn't for the other guy, me and Kay could have made it work somehow. Rin taught me otherwise. Specifically, Hisao's eventual outburst at Rin was all too familiar to a conversation I know I've had with Kay. Maybe it was that point which drove her away, closing her heart from me and reaching out to someone else. I'll never know for sure. I look back and realize all those times I was trying to understand Kay, I was actually trying to mold and change her into someone else. I pushed her to do things that I thought were for her benefit, but I never bothered checking how she truly felt about it.
Rin showed me that what I had with Kay was never going to last. What happened to us wasn't the best way to end the relationship, but it was the better alternative to something much worse that would have happened. Rin helped me close a chapter in my life that I had previously looked back on with bitter contempt. It's only thanks to this visual novel I can now look back and know deep in my heart without lying to myself that what happened is for the best. After all, these things happen. All I can do now is remember the good times me and Kay had and keep moving forward.
Thanks, Rin
