Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

During occasional high points, everything seems interesting, even if there's nothing interesting at all. You can "discover" something fun from the surface of those boring things.

Most people's normal state, which Sano calls the "plain period," is when they are interested in interesting things and feel distressed and angry when they encounter unpleasant things.

Similarly, occasional low periods can also be called periods of weakness or stress.

Let alone unpleasant things, even interesting things might just seem noisy and boring to me. I'd either not want to move or be unusually irritable.

It's just like being in a relationship.

However, unlike romantic relationships, one can have many romantic relationships in life... Of course, one can also have many romantic relationships, but at least romantic relationships can be said to have a pattern and follow an order, while the former has no pattern at all.

They come and go as they please.

Even stranger than the girls' relatives... so he can also be called "uncle"?

Sano's problem is that his "performance" is more intense than that of ordinary people.

For example, if someone gets provoked, they might yell and shout, or even gossip about family history.

Sano might actually take action... and considering the current situation, it's hard to say whether he will kill someone or even go on a killing spree.

After all, putting aside the last days of his previous life, this was the first time Sano had entered such a low period since his hands were stained with blood, and he had little experience with it.

This is why Sano calls it the stress period.

There is also the reason for the name "weak period".

In specific terms, people become very pessimistic, even inclined towards nihilism... perhaps it's a bit like a post-coital period?

If you were in a relationship at this stage, you'd probably think, "Ah, dating is so boring, let's break up." But for Sano, it's more likely to be, "Ah, living is so boring, let's just die."

And this is just one manifestation of it.

Other possibilities include—

This place is so boring, let's go somewhere else.

Staying in this organization is really boring, I'll switch to another one.

Etc., etc.

Not only will these conclusions be reached, but there is also a whole process of thinking and argumentation beforehand... These ideas are actually unnecessary and will most likely be forgotten after the low period ends. However, Sano simply cannot control his brain, so he can only let it run wild and wander aimlessly.

...Anyway, no matter what the reason is, the low period will eventually end on its own, so there's not much point in trying to control it.

Sano comforted himself a little, which made him feel a bit more at ease.

Otherwise, if he really doesn't care about anything, who knows what he might do... Although it seems that Sano won't do anything unless he is provoked, the reason for his weakness is not so simple.

If you feel that life is meaningless and nothing is interesting, you will want to find "meaning".

It's like Ai Haibara, that fake little girl. She clearly felt like she couldn't go on living, but she still stubbornly insisted on living. That's why people say humans are contradictory creatures.

Sano's summary of this point is simply—courting death.

Because people are capable of anything to survive, they can be incredibly crazy.

Perhaps we could take inspiration from extreme sports enthusiasts?

The constant back-and-forth between the thoughts of "wanting to die" and "finding a way to avoid dying" makes a person sink deeper and deeper, as if they were in a quagmire, filled with a sense of powerlessness.

...In short, Sano is indeed acting somewhat "abnormally" right now.

Sano naturally noticed the "abnormalities" of the fake child duo, and he probably understood why they were behaving this way.

Although Sano did not actually believe that he was mentally ill.

However, considering that most people's perception of "neurosis" or more accurately, "mental illness," refers to behavioral standards that differ greatly from those of ordinary people, these standards are often used to judge a target's behavior.

Therefore, Sano may still truly belong to that category.

I had a relapse.

……

When Sano arrived at his doorstep, he saw a little girl sitting in front of the door, lost in thought.

"...Ah, good evening, Uncle."

The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw Sano, and she immediately got up and began to bow.

"Ah."

After nodding, Sano patted his pockets and realized that he had already eaten all the lollipops he had while he was bored in Izu. He could only say, "I'm out of candy. I'll get you some next time."

The little girl blinked, a hint of hesitation on her face, but in the end she didn't say anything, just nodded and hummed in agreement.

When he arrived at his own front door, Sano took out his keys to open the door, but instead of going inside immediately, he turned to look at the little girl who had been staring at him expectantly.

Where's your mom?

"He said he had to work overtime, and he might not be back until dawn."

The little girl answered in this way.

"Oh."

Sano nodded, then asked, "Are you afraid to sleep alone?"

The little girl blinked again but didn't respond, probably because her pride was getting the better of her.

"You can come to my house and stay. You can sleep whenever you want, or wait until dawn to go back..."

Before Sano could finish speaking, the little girl jumped up: "Really!?"

Sano: "...But I have one request: don't make any noise once you're in. If you don't sleep, I still need to sleep."

"Got it!"

The little girl turned around excitedly, picked up the key, turned off the light and closed the door, and followed Sano into his house.

Sano pulled a thin blanket from a large bag in the corner and threw it to the little girl... For a child of this size, that was enough.

It can completely cover the other person from head to toe, so there is no need to take out another bed to put underneath.

As for a "bed," the Sano family didn't actually have one.

Normally, people just lay out a blanket or quilt on the edge of the bed and use it as a bed, then cover it with an extra blanket. It's probably the same as the term "tatami" in Japan.

In short, the little girl lay down next to Sano.

"Go to sleep."

Sano didn't take off his clothes; he simply covered his stomach with the blanket and closed his eyes.

The room quickly fell silent.

After a while, Sano opened his eyes again: "I said, can you stop staring at me like that?"

The little girl kept blinking.

"...You can speak now."

Having received the order to lift the silencing order from Sano, the little girl finally spoke and asked a question.

"Uncle, do you live alone?"

"Ah."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"You're not a child, what are you afraid of?"

"Then how about I become your family?"

"……casual."

"Then we're family."

Sano didn't say anything more and closed his eyes.

But the next second, a small hand climbed up Sano's head and gently stroked it.

It's like patting... a dog's head.

Sano opened his eyes again, looked at the little girl next to him who was resting her chin on her hand, and asked a question.

"...What are you doing now?"

Chapter 353, 352, Gin: Have you fallen for a mortal?

"Mom said that if you're unhappy, patting your head will make you happy."

The little girl said this.

Sano paused for a moment, but did not refute the unhappy statement: "But this method only works for children, and I just said I am not a child."

"But Mom also said that anyone can be a child in front of family members."

"...Did your mother ever tell you not to touch other people when they're sleeping?"

The little girl chuckled and finally lay back down.

Goodnight.

"Good night."

……

When Sano opened his eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky.

The little girl next to him was definitely nowhere to be seen either. She might have gone home to sleep, or she might have already run off to kindergarten. But Sano had folded the blankets neatly and seemed to have taken the trash with her.

After stretching, Sano let out a deep breath, turned to look at the window, and squinted his eyes... The weather was nice, the sun was shining, and instead of making people feel hot, it had a warm feeling. He really wanted to take a nap.

When Sano got up and washed up, he discovered that the little girl had left a note.

...Last night, the little girl left a note at her own home, to prevent her mother from assuming she was gone if she didn't see her when she got home from get off work.

However, the words on that note were truly offensive.

The typos are one thing, but the worst part is that the characters are twisted and crooked, like maggots crawling... It's almost as bad as what Sano had in junior high school.

Perhaps in the future, someone will be able to inherit my wild calligraphy style.

It might even be further developed and spread to the world.