It seems that Hime has already earned her university degree overseas.
I have never heard about it directly from him, so I don't know the details, but I did understand that there was no need for him to go back to school in Japan.
It seems like she's attending high school because she wanted to be with Kiyoshi... and maybe if she wanted to, she could even attend elementary school.
Well then... but that thought was fleeting.
Hime muttered something like this.
"...It was a strange feeling."
Hime is holding my hand with one hand and holding her chest with the other.
His crimson eyes were closed, as if he was pondering something.
It's as if I'm looking inside myself.
"To be honest, I didn't understand half of what Xin Yang was saying."
And then I realised my mistake.
I remembered that this child was indeed a "special" person.
"You don't know... then how did you manage to talk?"
I was surprised. The conversation seemed lively.
However, Hime didn't seem to understand what Shinyo was saying very well.
"It was a very strange feeling, not a verbal one, but a sense of understanding."
Xin Yang is still not good at speaking.
At six years old, he doesn't have a large vocabulary to begin with. That's why it's inevitable that he speaks intuitively, and it can be said that it's appropriate for his age.
I knew that was just how kids were, so it never bothered me.
However, when I thought about it carefully...it's true that the sensory words of young children can sometimes be difficult to understand.
"I've never spoken to a kid my age before, so I was surprised... Oh, I don't mean that in a bad way, of course. I'm not trying to make fun of you, Shinyo-san. It's just, um..."
I know. I also understand that Hime genuinely thinks of Shinyo as a friend. I don't see it as a bad thing. I'm not that twisted.
"It's okay. I know you're not that kind of girl."
I told him that because I wanted him to feel at ease.
She then sighed in relief... and continued speaking quietly.
"It's all thanks to you, Yohei."
"...Thanks to me?"
"Yes. I was able to become friends with Shinyo thanks to Youhei. I think I was able to open up to him because I knew that Youhei would help me no matter what."
But what if that didn't happen?
If Shinyo-chan and Hime had met in a place where I wasn't around...maybe they would never have become such good friends.
"I've grown to love Shinyo-san. But I'm still a little worried... I wonder if she'll be able to make friends with kids her own age in a place where Youhei-kun isn't around."
Hearing that story made me change my mind.
(This is what it means when they say mental age and physical age are different.)
Because we are of the same generation, I feel similar to Shinyo.
However, Hime's mental age is not that of an eight-year-old, which is why she is unable to understand how to communicate with others.
There is a disconnect between the mind and the body.
If you were to ask me which one I should go with, I would say that... the heart is probably the healthiest mentally.
(So... are Hime's parents sending her to high school?)
I was a little curious.
The reason why she goes to high school.
I think one of the main reasons is that I want to be next to Kiyoshi.
However, I couldn't help but think that not sending him to elementary school like other children was a consideration.
Hime is a special girl after all.
I realized this once again.