The Dark History of Asada Shinichi

　　"I say..."

　　Her whole body suddenly trembled, her fingers squeezed the pages of the book, and her shoulders shrank slightly.

　　Rui couldn't help but laugh softly.

　　Is he scared... How cute.

　　She must have heard laughter before she turned around.

　　There was no expression, even the two black eyes were like a deep pool without a bottom, and there was no expression.

　　"…"

　　The two stared at each other in silence.

　　He didn't ask anything, and continued reading his book.

　　Just like when they met below earlier, he treated everyone as pebbles on the side of the road, since they were pebbles, he didn't need to care about what other people did.

　　It could be seen at a glance that this cousin was the type of person who would never pay attention to others.

　　Rui closed the door, walked towards him silently, glanced at the books that filled the entire bookshelf, and asked.

　　"Do you like reading books?"

　　 Shinichi didn't answer.

Rui was not surprised, and said again.

　　"If you can only read, you won't be able to make friends. Same as me."

　　His fingers turning the page seemed to stop, but the amplitude was so small that it made people wonder if it was an illusion.

　　However, Rui didn't miss it.

　　"Do you like being alone?"

　　(Being alone isn't such a bad thing, right?)

　　(It doesn't matter if you can't make friends. As long as you like the feeling of being alone, friends will be a hindrance. It's better not to have them, right?)

　　(If you think so too, then I...)

　　"Hate."

Shinichi finally spoke, even though it wasn't the answer Rui wanted.

　　"Eh..."

　　Rui didn't care about his reaction, but continued reading the book in front of her.

　　"…It turns out you can talk."

　　Wanting to dispel the awkward atmosphere, Rui looked at the bookshelf.

　　Books have always been a place for her to express her dissatisfaction, reaching out her hand and touching books.

　　"Can I read these books?"

　　"Can."

Shinichi answered again.

　　Who knows why, but that annoying feeling is gone now.

　　There was obviously nothing to be happy about, but Rui realized that because of this sentence, her mood improved.

　　"Um."

　　After nodding lightly, she took a book from the bookshelf, looked around, then sat on the bed, swinging her little legs and starting to read.

Shinichi just glanced at her for a moment, then stopped paying attention.

　　The two quiet children each held a book, reading and turning the pages, letting time pass.

　　△

　　For Shinichi, reading and studying are the most important ways to understand the world and oneself.

　　This is true now and in the past.

　　When he was 10 years old, he suddenly fell ill with a high fever, and when he woke up, he discovered that he had extra memories from spending 15 years in experiments.

　　When he was young, he was so shocked that he didn't know who he was for a while, where he lived, and who was he who got those memories?

　　Due to the conflict between two memories and two different thoughts, he was bedridden for several months. His poor mental condition caused his to vomit, dizziness, coma, confusion, and constant seizures.

　　His body had reached an extreme level of weakness, but no disease was found. This disorder can only be determined by the damage to his autonomic nervous system. It is even said that he will die like this at any time.

Under the anxiety of his parents crying all day, the 10-year-old didn't want to continue like this, or his survival instinct supported him. Suddenly one day he regained consciousness and said to them, "I want to read a book."

　　His parents immediately brought him books from the reading room to the hospital, and helped him turn them page by page.

　　Books are like medicine, healing confused thoughts; parental love is life, enabling him to survive the agony of schizophrenia.

　　After reading several books, his condition gradually improved. He gained the strength to turn the book, and his thinking began to stabilize. He no longer stared at the ceiling stupidly all day.

　　Finally, he was discharged from the hospital.

　　Even though his condition was still too weak, he refused to see a psychiatrist, so he had no reason to be hospitalized.

　　Moreover, "he" also doesn't like hospital beds that look like laboratory tables and the unpleasant smell of disinfectant.

　　Under Shinichi's urging, even though he became completely different from the past, not only could he not let go of his books, but his personality became dark, aloof, and withdrawn. Asada's partner still gives him the greatest degree of freedom.

　　Therefore, it is as if he has autism, not only did he drop out of elementary school, but also doesn't leave the house except for bathing, spends all his time reading and studying, and speaks no more than five sentences a day.

　　Despite worrying his parents, Shinichi was always like a doll who could only read books, and he had spent half a year of his life autistic.

　　Until that day.

　　An unknown little girl suddenly approached him and asked him a strange question.

　　"Do you like being alone?"

　　Of course not.

　　Whether it was his current 10 year old life or his 15 year old life in the past, Shinichi never liked the feeling of loneliness.

　　He also wants to be able to talk to other people.

　　But, what others can do, he cannot do.