episode_0106

“Jeff, stick your foot out.”

I stuck my leg out at Amy’s words.

She grabbed the area where the cast was wrapped with both hands and pulled, splitting the cast apart.

The refreshing sight of the cracking, cool breeze filled me with a sense of refreshment.

“Wow!”

Cheers came from next to me.

Rain, who was opening his mouth in joy, picked up the piece of cast that had fallen from my foot and put it in his pocket.

Shine, who was watching from the side, also picked up a small piece of cast and put it in his pocket.

“Why are you taking that?”

“Just.”

“Because I want it!”

I was rather embarrassed by the confident attitude of the two people who answered my question.

What’s the point of picking up useless trash?

I couldn’t understand the behavior of the two people.

“There’s no problem with moving, right?”

“Yes.”

There was no problem with leg function as it had only been a few days since the cast was put on the leg.

I frowned at the slightly sore feeling in my joints and moved my legs carefully.

The calves, now exposed white, were hit by the cool breeze.

“Do you want to wake up?”

Amy held out her hand to me and said.

I nodded to her words, grabbed her hand, and got down from the chair.

The sensation of my feet touching the floor felt unfamiliar.

“Hmm.”

“Are you sick?”

“Yes.”

I nodded to Amy’s question and tapped the floor with my leg.

I felt no pain and my leg movements were smooth.

“Everything is better.”

There’s been so much going on.

It was a short time, but it wasn’t short.

I looked at Shine with a strange gaze.

I no longer felt embarrassed about peeing in front of her.

The expression “I got used to it” would be the correct expression.

I had become accustomed to going to the bathroom with Shine’s help.

She pursued me relentlessly.

Amy would only bring me a Coke when it seemed like she was going to leave, and I would drink until I was full.

I gave in to the irresistible temptation of cola and ended up having to go to the bathroom with Shine.

If you hold on without being able to walk, you’ll end up lying on the floor.

At this age, peeing on the floor was more embarrassing than peeing in front of Shine.

“Now I can go to the bathroom by myself.”

Shine muttered with regret.

I put my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest proudly at her words.

I didn’t need any help anymore.

It means that I can now go to the bathroom by myself.

I was confident.

It meant that I could pee coolly and satisfyingly.

“Huh.”

Shine let out a strange laugh as she looked at me like that.

She obviously doesn’t know.

What it feels like to have to show yourself in an embarrassing way to other people, for some unavoidable reason.

Next it was my turn.

The idea was to find something that would make Shine feel embarrassed and artificially create that situation.

I don’t know if there’s anything she should be ashamed of, though.

“Now I can get training!”

“Yeah!”

I nodded in response to Rain’s words.

I was finally able to receive the training I had been waiting for.

The training that Shine was doing was combat training to prepare for interpersonal situations.

Shine can do it too, so there’s nothing I can’t do.

I’ve rarely fought people directly, but I think my skills will be more than enough.

“Do I really have to do this?”

“Yes!”

Amy stroked my head with a worried expression.

It seemed like she still didn’t want me to train.

But I couldn’t give up.

At Amy’s side, at Shine’s side, at Lane’s side, and at Victor’s side too.

If I can be of help to everyone, I will do it willingly.

If it’s hard, I’ll take a break, but anyway.

There was no way I could break my resolve.

“Okay, Jeff. Since we’re done with morning training, let’s go to afternoon training.”

“Yes!”

Since the morning training was over, I had some free time until the afternoon.

I approached Shine and started asking her more about her training.

“Shine!”

“Yeah.”

“What exactly does interpersonal combat training do?”

“This is training to prepare for all situations that may occur when you cannot use your abilities.”

“All situations?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to explain in words.”

Shine smiled as if she was sorry that she couldn’t answer any further.

I nodded and thought.

I’ve seen Shine training a few times.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the content of the training from that appearance.

I was stamping my feet in anticipation.

“I want to do it quickly too.”

“Jeff will do well.”

Shine’s smile made me excited.

As I continued to talk to her, I suddenly felt the urge to urinate, and my legs flinched.

Shine, who was smiling at me, said with shining eyes.

“Bathroom?”

“Okay. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Can I help you?”

Shine that happens so naturally.

I, too, tried to respond naturally to her actions.

But not anymore.

I shook my head and answered, trying to reach out to her.

“I can do it by myself now.”

“Can you do it alone?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Shine’s word choice baffles me.

She never showed this behavior when she was with everyone, but when she was left alone with me, she would blurt out some strange words.

It was probably because of the comic books that Rain brought that she was negatively influenced.

Comic books easily capture the imagination of young children.

It was entirely Rain’s fault that Shine, who should have only seen good things and learned only good things, ended up like this.

“I’ll be back.”

I felt like I had to give Lane a hard time.

I waved at Shine and headed to the bathroom.

But Shine followed me closely behind, all the way to the bathroom door.

“Hey… Shine?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Yeah. I know.”

I carefully opened the door and went into the bathroom.

Luckily, Shine didn’t follow me.

I sighed in relief and was able to sit on the toilet and do my business comfortably.

After finishing my cleaning, I tried to open the bathroom door, but I opened my mouth in confusion because the door wouldn’t open easily.

“Hey… Shine?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I’ll get out of the way.”

The heavy feeling felt at the door slowly disappears.

I moved my hand that was on the doorknob and opened the door.

“What were you doing in front of the door?”

Shine stood proudly in front of the door.

It didn’t look like he was simply waiting for me.

“I was listening to the sound.”

“Sound?”

“Yeah. Jeff’s voice.”

How should I explain it?

I thought I didn’t feel embarrassed anymore, but I felt even more embarrassed by Shine’s confident attitude.

“My… sound?”

“Yeah. Slurp-”

I hastily covered up the sound coming out of Shine’s small mouth.

“That…stop it. You don’t have to say it.”

At my bewildered words, Shine smiled slightly and nodded.

At that moment, I could feel a soft sensation digging between my fingers.

I was startled by the ticklish yet slightly hot sensation, and when I pulled my hand away, a bright red tongue slithered out from between Shine’s small lips, glistening.

“Shine. Do you know that you’ve been acting weird lately?”

“Me?”

“Yeah…”

“I didn’t become weird. I learned.”

“You must have learned something strange.”

“No. It’s not weird.”

“That’s weird. I’ll tell Amy.”

“That won’t do, Jeff.”

“See. If it’s not weird, then it’s okay to tell Amy. You’re saying no, which means you know it’s weird.”

Shine was silent for a moment at my words.

Her head begins to tilt slightly.

Then Shine’s voice was heard as if resonating.

“Jeff. It’s not weird at all. We all do that in our families.”

A blue light burst out before my eyes.

The hair that had been calmly settled begins to slowly raise its head.

I felt confused.

Is that true? Do all families do that?

Having never had a family, I couldn’t tell if what Shine said was true or false.

“Really?”

No, I have a family.

My older sister is named Shine.

But she and I were dragged into the lab from a very young age.

It was only natural that they did not learn the natural things that a family should do.

So, how would Shine, who was in the same situation as me, know what it is natural for a family to do?

“Yeah. Really. Jeff. I’m right.”

The confusion grew further.

The buzzing voice begins to grow louder.

The blue light bursting out in front of my eyes gradually loses its power.

“Shine. I can’t believe it. I don’t know, how do you know?”

“I learned it. From the comic book that Rain brought.”

Comic books.

The moment I heard that word, lights burst out before my eyes again.

Shine flinched and stepped back as the blue current scattered into the air.

“I can’t believe it. That’s a comic book.”

“Jeff. The characters in that comic book were family.”

“Shine. It’s just a comic book.”

“No, Jeff, think about it. It’s normal for family to hug each other, right?”

“That’s…”

“Lucy, who appears in [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure] that you watch, also hugs her family.”

“But…”

“You can even kiss each other on the cheek with your family.”

I nodded absentmindedly.

After listening to you, it seemed like that too.

Images of families appearing in various media came to mind.

What Shine said was very natural behavior for a family to have.

“That’s right. It’s natural to go to the bathroom together.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah, Jeff. Trust me. We’re family. ”

The current that was spreading through the air begins to slowly decrease.

I think she’s right.

I nodded with difficulty.

“Yeah… I think so.”

“That’s right. You don’t have to tell Amy.”

“Yeah. I won’t say anything. It’s natural.”

“Whew…”

Shine let out a deep sigh at my answer.

I noticed the sweat on her forehead and took a handkerchief out of my pocket.

The pretty white handkerchief was Lucy’s handkerchief that she had received from the theme park together with everyone else.

I held out my hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Let’s go Shine.”

“Yeah.”

Now it was time to go for training.