Prologue: ~Ryosuke Yamamoto~

Translator: Soafp

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~ Psychiatrist Takamiya’s point of view~

He was a mysterious boy.

Ryosuke Yamamoto, 17 years old.

I have never met him before, but he seems to be the victim of a false accusation that has been making the rounds — when I asked him about the cause of his illness, I learned the devastating truth.

He has a very attractive aura about him.

He radiated such a mysterious radiance that I, a man over forty years of age, could not help but think so.

According to Mai Nakazato, who was accompanying him, he was very popular before he got involved in the incident, and he was always surrounded by many people, both men and women.

This is probably why they were so disappointed when Ryosuke was accused of assault.

It is a selfish story, but that is how human psychology works. The more innocent and popular a person usually is, the more severe the repercussions are when he or she is involved in a crime.

And for Ryosuke, the fangs that were suddenly pointed at him by those around him that he was close to must have been deep and cruel to his heart.

The more I hear about it, the more painful it is to hear about his life after that. He must have been in a very difficult situation, which is hard to understand just by listening ……, because he developed schizophrenia at such a young age.

However, the symptoms were milder than I expected.

If this is the case, with proper treatment, he will surely get better to the point where he can lead a daily life.

It is never good to distinguish him from other patients, but I hope that he will get well as quickly as he has suffered.

I was sure he was going to get better, but the change happened after his mothers left the hospital.

“What was that dream you just had?”

“For starters, I’d like to beat my sister.”

“What did you want to be when you were a child?”

“Right …… maybe a pirate, a reaper, or a ninja I guess.”

“……… Umu.”

It was outrageous.

It seems I was taking …… it too lightly.

What he just said …… is not a joke by any means.

Just that he didn’t understand the intent of my question.

Normal people would answer the first question with their occupation or what they would realistically like to be. The second question should have a similar answer if you are …… sane.

High school students who say the person they want to beat or the profession they want in a comic book are not thinking straight when the doctor calls them into a private room and asks them a question.

It is insane because he is serious about his answer.

The next day, while racking my brains, I decided to ask him the same question in front of his mother.

“What are your dreams right now?”

“Yes, I want to get well soon and reassure everyone.”

“What was the career you wanted to be when you were a child?”

“Yes,…… I wanted to work for my father’s company,…… which is no longer possible.”

“………U-umu.”

I-I can’t believe it. …… He seems to be a different person than he was yesterday.

Of course there are patients who are in better condition by the day, but he makes solid eye contact and understands the intent of my question.

He was a perfectly normal high school student.

The next day, I interviewed him alone.

“What do you most want to eat right now?”

“I guess Leviathan. …… It looks delicious, like eels.”

We were back to where we were two days ago.

I’ve never seen a patient this unstable …… too extreme. What in the world has changed in his mind ……The only thing that is different from yesterday, which was decent, is that ……

……No way!?

I decided to ask the same question the next day in the presence of his mother.

“…… I want to eat my mother’s home-cooked food.”

“Oh you, Ryosuke!”

“……I see.”

The next day, we talked again, this time alone with me.

The result was not so good,…… but the next day, I asked his mother to be present, and a straight answer came back to me.

I immediately reported this to his guardian.

“That’s…… When I’m not around, Ryosuke…… ugh……”

His mother cried when she heard how he was normally.

He seemed to be normal in front of her and was surprised by my report.

I see…… as I thought he is still normal in front of his mother…………. I am now clearly convinced. The first time I saw him, I was surprised to learn that he is normal in front of his mother and his childhood friends.

However, without them, he changes.

He does not show any abnormalities when he is with his mother in the hospital room, but when he is in a nervous state, such as in a closed room alone with me or during a medical interview, his thinking becomes a mess.

So far, his hallucinations and delusions have calmed down.

However, the results of the medical interview showed that he had been troubled before he was admitted to this psychiatric hospital.

He said that his sister had broken her own finger, but when I asked his mother about it, she replied, [Kaede didn’t break any bones.]

His sister’s broken finger was a fantasy of Ryosuke’s.

In short, in his mind, his sister was so abnormal that she could easily break her own bones.

This belief had grown and amplified, leading him to harbor such delusions.

Above all, there was a strong possibility that he had suffered from schizophrenia triggered by his sister’s apology.

As far as I could tell, the sudden change in personality after the apology was due to delusions and hallucinations.

I further confirmed that it was only after that conversation that his actions and thoughts stopped being consistent.

—-I can’t let them see him like this.

If he and his sister were to be brought together, it is extremely likely that the hallucinations and delusions, which have now calmed down, would reappear.

“But …… he can only speak normally in tense situations when someone he trusts is by his….. side.”

There is no doubt about that anymore.

He feels safe and free from stress when he has someone who trusted him and protected him.

Not only his mother,…… but Mai and her parents, who visit him every day without fail. And Usui-kun, who comes whenever he has a little time.

When these five people are around, he is perfectly normal.

“I wonder what ……he would be without them.”

I get chills and creep out of my skin.

It was definitely those people who kept him alive.

He is really serious and kind.

He probably thought that if he died, the people who believed in him would be saddened, so he didn’t go through with it.

But what if his mother had turned against him as well? What if his childhood friend had bullied Ryosuke at school, just like his classmates? What if there was no one around him to protect him?

─ ─ I am still horrified when I think of that.

And if there is someone as important to him as an earnest and gentle person like him, he will not be able to use “self-injury” and will be trapped mentally.

Therefore, in exchange for self-injury, psychosis can easily develop.

Because he is gentle at heart, he cannot take it out on those around him, and because he is serious, he accumulates stress to avoid worrying those around him ……, and then, as in this case, he explodes and causes the worst case scenario.

“I’m grateful to Nakagishi.”

But it was fortunate that he detected the problem early.

I have a personal friendship with Kotaro Nakagishi, who brought him here, and if he had not noticed something was wrong, he would have been in a much worse state.

He had been down on his luck and had been driven to the point of psychosis, but luck was finally on his side at the last moment.

He was really lucky to have met Nakagishi, a newspaper reporter and a good judge of people.

“I …… will quit school and stay by Ryosuke’s side.”

“Mai, you can’t do that. No matter how much he’s your fiance, you still have to finish school properly, right?”

“B-But”

“Besides, if Mai quits school because of him, that’s exactly what Ryosuke will be worried about, right?”

“………………Yes”

“I’m glad you understand.”

So saying, Ryosuke’s mother comforts Mai with a gentle hug. But I can read from her expression that she too wants to quit her job and stay by his side,…… feelings are smoldering.

It is because they are such gentle people that they were able to continue to believe in Ryosuke until the very end.

─ He has family and friends who always come to visit him every day and offer their sincere support.

Thanks to his mother, Mai and his friend who spend a lot of time by his side, his symptoms have gradually eased, and recently he is able to speak properly even when he is alone with me.

—Today marks one month since he was admitted to the hospital.

I’m sure he will get better, if nothing happens,

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