章 40: Job Selection Test (2) - 39

Through our "civil conversation", I learned a lot about her and she learned a lot about me.

It turns out, her background was exactly as I had expected, although, there were some parts that surprised me.

The "Shido" family was actually a family of Norwegian descent living in Russia.

From the snippets of information that I could gather, it seemed like their family had actually been a "spy" family, one used to gather information about another country. Her parents had actually spent a total of 15 years in Russia, gathering intelligence and "getting rid of trash". But, when Yua was born, their home country had deemed it too risky for them, so they had asked the government of Japan for Asylum.

Obviously, Japan accepted, so they had changed their names and moved here, and with the help of my father, who worked in the government, they had successfully integrated their lives into Japanese society.

Shido-san had become a respectable doctor at a local hospital, whilst Yua's mom had become a loving housewife.

Yua had also been given a normal life, going to school, doing extracurriculars, that kind of stuff, but, she had also been trained in spy techniques like observation, how to handle a gun, and martial arts, so that she would be prepared in case they ever needed to go on the run.

This was probably how her "talent" had blossomed to what it was today.

'But it's funny how she can only see through my act, but can't see through my act inside my act, seems like she's too confident in her talent.'

On the other hand, she learned that I was also a person with "slight" mental problems, being overly obsessed with whatever new thing interested me.

At first, as a baby, I had been interested in stories and novels.

Then, came the time when I was interested in critical thinking games like chess and poker.

Finally, the phase I was in now was a deep interest in video games.

There was also the fact that I was not afraid to kill, regarding human life the same as an insect's, because if humans could mindlessly slaughter livestock, shouldn't the same way of thinking be applied to ourselves? But, even with this way of thinking, I still hadn't killed yet, because I wanted to remain "pure" for my sisters.

Finally, after learning about each other, I asked the question that had been sitting on the back burner in my mind for a bit too long.

"So, what do I have to do to be a good "friend"?"

"It's easy really, just play with me! I mean, you're probably the only interesting kid I've ever seen, and probably the only one I'll see in my whole life!"

So, after the dinner finished, Yua and I had been called down to say our goodbyes, but, Yua had made her dad promise that she would be able to come play with me every weekend.

And that was how our "friendship" started.

At first, when she came over, we just talked with each other about school stuff and how boring it was. I was still extremely wary of her at this point, still plotting ways to silence her.

Then, after that topic was squeezed dry, we talked about our mental disorders and how it affected our views of people and the world in general. At this point, I still wasn't that comfortable around her, but I was starting to view her in more of a grayish light.

And, of course, these discussions weren't really deep, as, keep in mind, we were only 8 at the time.

She then became a type of accomplice with me, pushing me to finally start the process of creating my game by creating the base of the whole thing.

Well, by create, I meant that she had literally just blurted out, "It should be about climbing a tower!" the day after she learned that I still hadn't started the process of creating a game yet, and I had thought that that was a really great idea.

Now, I was starting to think of her as an actual friend, having been the only outsider to support me in my unrealistic endeavor when they heard about my dream.

So, we spent a whole year of weekends working together on the creation of the game, all the way up until we were both 15. The Shido family had actually moved to my neighborhood when we were 12, so she had become one of my friends at school too, spending even more time together, to the point where I was walking home with her from school every day. By now, all thoughts of killing her were completely gone from my mind.

Everything was going fine, until that fateful day.

It had been raining for the past two days and there was no signs of it letting up.

Yua had been at my house on the weekend like usual, but because of the pounding rain, she was forced to stay at our house due to her parent's concern of her having to walk back home in that torrential downpour.

We had used the extra time to finally finish our game, the embodiment of our ideals and hopes, and were getting ready to release it, the final culmination of all our blood, sweat, and tears.

Sitting excitedly in my small room, we fired up the computer and stared at the uploading screen without a blink, afraid that we were going to miss that exact moment when our work would be available for all the world to see.

Holding each other's hands, gripping harder after every second that went by, we finally cheered when the upload showed 100%, falling back into the bed, as the game was finally launched.

"Fukui, we actually did it."

"We did, I still can't believe it. I'm pinching myself, believing that meeting you was a dream and that I'll wake back up in my 8-year-old body."

"Hahaha, I'm real alright." She said, while lightly punching me in the shoulder.

Turning to face her, I admired her adolescent body, one that was completely changed from when we had first met.

First was her hair, which had grown into splendid wavy lengths that had gradually turned a pale silvery color over the years. Something that I had always loved seeing in the light of both the sun and the moon.

Then, there were her eyes, sharp but warm, the light blue pupils no longer holding a sense of childishness and naivety, now exuding a sense of maturity that only came with age. An existence that I had started welcoming into my abode every single day, realizing as time passed, that those eyes had seen through my 8-year-old self, but instead of revealing me, had kept up an act, refusing to let me become a murderer by giving their undying trust in me.

And then her body, although not fully grown yet, her slight peaks and slim waist were still enough to make most males lust for her. But I had always seen her as a dear sister, treating her exactly as I treated my blood related ones.

Yet now that I was staring at it, an unfamiliar emotion started to blossom in the deepest recesses of my heart.

'What is this warm feeling?'

Something started to change in my way of thinking, knocking down the many mental barriers I had put up before.

As I finished my observations, I couldn't help but look into her eyes, again, as she also looked into mine.

Somehow, by some unknown hand, we had been pushed, inching closer and closer, until our foreheads were finally touching, as we lay, embracing on my bed.

Each of us taking a deep breath, we closed the last little bit of distance, stealing each other's breath away, whilst at the same time, giving our first kiss to each other.

Although the kiss was short, fleeting like a plum blossom floating in the wind on a mild spring day, it was full of our hopes and desires for an uncertain future.

Reluctantly parting, as the rain had stopped, we both flushed red as we said our goodbyes.

Who would have ever thought that, when the sunrise came the following day, she would be pronounced dead to the world.