Nakajima Takuto carried a tray with breakfast and walked to the door of Akikawa Kyousuke's room.
He raised his wrist and checked the time.
It had been almost 50 minutes since he had left a moment ago.
Obviously, this time exceeded the point of simply collecting breakfast.
At the very least, Akikawa Kyousuke, who had been waiting for his return to continue chatting, must have felt extremely uncomfortable during this period.
Perhaps he wondered if he had been tricked.
After knocking lightly, Nakajima Takuto opened the door and entered.
He then saw the boy leaning against the headboard, head lowered.
Akikawa Kyousuke, exuding a strong aura of despair, suddenly raised his head.
Upon seeing him, Akikawa Kyousuke's once dark eyes lit up, and a very happy expression appeared on his face.
This scene had a strong impact on Takuto Nakajima.
It felt like coming home after working overtime late at night, only to find the puppy waiting to be taken out.
When Akikawa Kyousuke saw him now, it was as if the puppy was waiting to be played with.
Thinking of what he had done to Akikawa Kyousuke and what he was about to do,
Nakajima Takuto felt conflicted once again.
"You… you're here."
"I'm sorry for making you wait so long. The head nurse just called. I finished attending to another patient before coming."
Nakajima Takuto always felt there was some sincerity in his apology. It was clear he had planned to return late from the start.
"I forgot to tell you my name, Akikawa-kun. My surname is Nakajima."
"Hello, Mr. Nakajima."
Nakajima Takuto could have invented any surname and told Akikawa Kyousuke, but he gave him his real surname.
He didn't even understand why he did this.
Maybe he wanted to ease his own guilt, or perhaps he didn't want to keep deceiving the naive young man in front of him.
"Akikawa-kun, your injury hasn't healed yet, so I've prepared food that's gentler on your gastrointestinal tract."
Nakajima Takuto opened the small table next to the bed and moved it in front of Akikawa Kyousuke.
Then he placed the tray down.
The tray was filled with relatively simple foods.
A plate of steaming rice porridge, a plate of soft stewed vegetables, a piece of silky tofu as soft and delicate as pudding, and a small plate of fruit.
"Thank you."
Akikawa Kyousuke whispered his thanks, then took the spoon with his trembling left hand, gently scooped some rice porridge, blew on it twice, and then ate it.
"It's... delicious."
Nakajima Takuto saw Akikawa Kyousuke give him a very forced and stiff smile.
"You're really not good at lying…"
Nakajima Takuto murmured in his heart before asking,
"Is it not to your liking?"
"No!"
Akikawa Kyousuke suddenly raised his voice, but then seemed to realize that his reaction was too strong, so he quickly lowered his voice.
"Sorry… no, it's delicious… but, it's a little spicy…"
"Then wait a moment before drinking and eat some vegetables or tofu first."
"Okay…"
Akikawa Kyousuke agreed, taking the specially designed small spoon for eating silk tofu and extending his hand toward the tofu.
Nakajima Takuto felt indescribably uncomfortable watching Akikawa Kyousuke eat with a spoon.
But he just couldn't understand what was wrong.
He recalled Akikawa Kyousuke's reaction after revealing his feelings
a moment ago and thought again,
"It's just rice porridge, but he still eats it reluctantly."
"Even if you're picky with food, you wouldn't hate rice porridge."
"And after pointing out that it wasn't to my taste, he reacted so strongly…"
"It seems he's afraid I'll misunderstand that he doesn't like the breakfast I brought him... A child who was abused as a child can be so humble and sensitive…"
After a brief interaction, Nakajima Takuto also made a new judgment about Akikawa Kyousuke.
"Maybe it's because I haven't had much contact with strangers. My lying skills are really poor."
"Also, he seems afraid that I'll have unpleasant emotions."
After making these two judgments, Nakajima Takuto felt that he could get to the point.
So he joked with Akikawa Kyousuke, who was struggling to swallow a piece of broccoli:
"Speaking of which, looking at Akikawa-kun, I always feel like a kid."
"Obviously, my sister is about the same age, but it feels like there's a ten-year age gap between us."
"Eh?"
Akikawa Kyousuke raised his head and looked at Nakajima Takuto with curiosity.
"It turns out Mr. Nakajima has a younger sister. Is she in school now?"
"Yes, it's summer vacation in her second year. She's basically working here or there, or having fun with her friends."
"Cool…"
Akikawa Kyousuke immediately showed an envious look.
"It's nothing great. She often plays with her friends until midnight and doesn't come home. She doesn't think about how dangerous it is!"
"Before, she and her classmates sang karaoke until midnight in Shinjuku, but after they left, they were harassed by some gangsters. In the end, if I hadn't been around, I don't know what would've happened."
"Mr. Nakajima, don't you fear gangsters?"
"Eh, gangsters? I'm a high-ranking police officer... Heh, I'm a second-level kendo practitioner, how could I fear gangsters?"
(The first sound of "Metropolitan Police Department" and "Kendo" in Japanese is similar in pronunciation, both being "ke") Nakajima Takuto, who almost slipped, quickly changed his words, and Akikawa Kyousuke showed no doubts.
After chatting for a while with Akikawa Kyousuke and deepening the impression that Akikawa Kyousuke had a sister of about the same age as him,
Nakajima Takuto smiled at Akikawa Kyousuke and said:
"Don't just listen, there's too much. Eat some, or it'll get cold."
"Akikawa-kun, your body is very weak now. If you don't take in more nutrients, you won't be able to recover."
"Okay…"
Akikawa Kyousuke took the spoon again and carefully brought some vegetables to his mouth.
After finishing one bite, he was ready to put the spoon down.
However, after realizing that Nakajima Takuto was still watching him, he had no choice but to hold the spoon again and take a large bite.
The more Nakajima Takuto watched, the more uncomfortable he felt with Akikawa Kyousuke's eating movements.
Fortunately, Akikawa Kyousuke didn't seem to dare resist his instructions, so Nakajima Takuto didn't mind.
After watching Akikawa Kyousuke finish a whole plate of vegetables and half a plate of rice porridge with difficulty, Nakajima Takuto nodded in satisfaction.
He felt that the moment had almost arrived, so he casually said:
"Speaking of which, my sister has been suffering from insomnia recently."
"And from what she said, young people her age seem to have insomnia problems. I wonder if Akikawa-kun has this issue."
After Nakajima Takuto finished speaking, he immediately observed Akikawa Kyousuke's reaction.
Last night, the hospital detected triazolam, the main component of sleeping pills, in Akikawa Kyousuke's body.
What he wanted to determine now was whether Akikawa Kyousuke truly had insomnia.
If not, it would mean that the sleeping pills Akikawa Kyousuke took were prepared in advance with the intent to commit suicide.
Then he heard Akikawa Kyousuke say without hesitation:
"No."
As expected, Takuto Nakajima immediately confirmed again.
"In other words, Akikawa-kun can normally fall asleep easily, right?"
"Yes, I don't have insomnia."
Akikawa Kyousuke looked at Nakajima Takuto, his jewel-like blue eyes filled with confusion.
(Finish of chapter)