Sword Art Online (20)
Sword Art Online (20)
"This is Tokyo...."
Shino muttered.
She had originally planned to tell her grandparents that she wanted to go somewhere far away to work after graduating middle school.
But this time, that opportunity came early.
So she tried... and was immediately met with a firm refusal.
Well, she had more or less expected that.
However, Shino didn't give up and voiced her opinion.
At the very least, she said she wanted to attend the high school in Tokyo where she lived with her father and mother when she was young, long ago.
Of course, there was a part of her that wanted to go somewhere without the rumors and curious gazes that always followed her, but more than that, she was certain that as long as she lived here, the wounds in her heart would never heal.
Of course, Shino's symptoms were diagnosed as typical PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. She received counseling and took her prescribed medication well.
But strangely, the words of the doctors, who all wore similar smiles, only touched and scratched the surface of Shino's heart and never reached the place where the wound was.
In the clean examination room, when she heard, "I understand, it was hard, right? You must be suffering," Shino would mutter the same thing to herself over and over in her heart.
'Then have you ever shot someone with a gun?'
Now, she reflects that such an attitude of hers dominated the trust and made treatment difficult.
Even so, that was still Shino's honest feeling. Shino probably just wanted someone to clearly define whether what she did was good or evil.
Of course, there was no way a doctor would answer that.
However, no matter how much she suffered from memories and seizures, she had never once tried to choose death herself. She had no regrets about pointing a gun at that man and pulling the trigger.
When he pointed a gun at her mother, there could be no other choice for Shino. Even if she could go back to the moment of the incident, she would have done the same thing.
That was why Shino wanted to become strong. She wanted to be strong enough to say that choosing that action in that situation was natural. Like a female warrior who easily kills enemies on the battlefield.
For that reason, Shino reached out to someone who seemed more helpful than a doctor.
"Long time no see."
Someone approached Shino, who was looking around constantly.
It was the boy she met during the post office incident. Shino bowed her head.
"Hello."
When she lifted her head and saw the boy's face, she gasped involuntarily.
Now that her memories had become vague, only the impression that he was handsome remained, but seeing him again, he was the best she had ever seen in her short life.
"Thanks for coming. We can't talk calmly here, so shall we go to the car first?"
"Ah, yes."
The boy, Seojun, took the lead.
What Shino saw following him was a long limousine.
Only then did Shino realize belatedly that this boy was not an ordinary person. An ordinary boy wouldn't be riding around in a limousine like that.
Vroom.
The limousine carrying the two moved smoothly.
Feeling the comfort without even the slightest vibration, Shino felt her tension ease.
Watching Shino like that, Seojun thought.
'It took quite a while.'
It had already been 2 months since the post office incident.
The fact that she only contacted him now was proof of how much she had suffered.
'Will this work?'
Seojun had brought a potion to treat her.
It is a potion that has the effect of temporarily greatly increasing mental strength. If you drink this, you gain resistance to monsters or traps that interfere with or contaminate the mind.
'It had some effect on PTSD patients in reality, too.'
However, since it is temporary, it returns to normal.
To completely cure PTSD, the patient must make an effort to overcome the trauma as much as possible while their mental strength is increased.
There were actually quite a few cases where it was cured.
'This is a method that can't be used on Shino's mother.'
It only raises mental strength; it has no effect on fixing a broken mind.
Even if Shino's mother drank it, she wouldn't see very good results.
Well, anyway, Seojun, having finished his thoughts, asked her.
"Are you really okay? Living apart from your family?"
"...Ah, yes. It doesn't matter. I was planning to be independent from the start, and my grandfather and grandmother let me go willingly because they said it might be possible to cure my illness. More than that, may I ask how you plan to cure it?"
"Of course."
Seojun explained.
That he is the heir to the Yuseong Group, and that an affiliate of the Yuseong Group developed a drug effective for PTSD.
"Yuseong Group......."
It is a conglomerate that even young Shino knows.
A place that crossed over from the neighboring country of Korea and grew into one of Japan's leading conglomerates in just over ten years.
She also knew that they had numerous subsidiaries within Japan, and that all of them were so amazing that they were in the top 5 in their respective fields.
Perhaps that's why.
Hope arose that maybe, just maybe, she could be cured this time.
"It's not cured immediately just by taking it. The medicine is only an auxiliary means, after all; the important thing is your will to be cured."
"You don't have to worry about that."
Shino's two eyes burned.
She had never given up even once until now. Her will was more than enough, overflowing.
At that sight, Seojun chuckled.
"Well, if that's the case. Then shall we talk about other things?"
Seojun had a conversation with Shino.
First, regarding her living arrangements. Seojun had secured a house where she could stay. It was an empty room in the building where he lived. It wasn't as good as Seojun's penthouse built on the top floor, but it was definitely not lacking in terms of security or other aspects.
Next is school.
Since the transfer procedures were already all finished, it would be over once her luggage, which would arrive by parcel later, was moved in.
He also decided to give her pocket money.
The amount was 50,000 yen per month. It was an absurdly large amount for someone as young as her, but it was a reasonable price since it was processed under the pretext of clinical trial fees for the newly developed PTSD drug.
Well, it wouldn't be insufficient.
In the first place, her parents' home would also be sending her pocket money.
Screech.
As they were talking, the limousine stopped before she knew it.
They had arrived at their destination.
"Gasp!"
Shino, who got off with Seojun, gasped at the massive skyscraper in front of her.
She had never seen such a flashy, high-class building even in her hometown. When Seojun chuckled at her cute appearance, she realized it belatedly, blushed, and bowed her head.
'Ugh, I must have looked like a country bumpkin, right?'
She was so embarrassed that her face felt hot.
Seojun went into the building first. Shino followed him carefully.
They boarded the elevator for residents, and he pressed the floor number where she would be moving in.
"T-this is my house?"
Before long, Shino was astonished when she saw the house she was to move into.
It was significantly larger than her parents' home. In terms of size, it was about 1,800 square feet.
It was far too big for her, still young, to live in alone. Feeling burdened by that, Shino said to Seojun.
"I-is it really just me living here?"
Seojun nodded.
Shino hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"......Isn't this too much of a burden?"
"A burden?"
"You're curing my illness, and letting me live in a house like this, but I have nothing to give you in return......."
Shino became dejected.
Seojun ruffled her hair as if to tell her not to worry.
"I didn't do it expecting anything, so don't worry about it. Just, what should I say...... I'm doing it because I want to."
"......."
Shino stared intently at Seojun.
She couldn't be convinced by just a reason like that. However, Shino soon thought that it's good if it's good.
Because the other person didn't seem to have any malice.
For the past 2 months, she had experienced human malice to the point of disgust in her short life. Based on that experience, what she felt from Seojun was more strongly the emotion of 'goodwill,' like her grandparents or mother.
'...To doubt such a good person.'
She brushed aside her unnecessary doubts. Instead, she made a resolution in her heart.
That she would someday return the excessive goodwill she received as much as she had received it.
