A Genius In The World Of Conan

Chapter 9: Akikawa-kun, Are You Having Trouble Sleeping?

Nakajima Takuto arrived at the door of Kousuke Akikawa hospital room, carrying a tray with breakfast.

He looked at his watch.

It had already been nearly 50 minutes since he left earlier.

This time was obviously longer than it would take to simply pick up breakfast.

If everything went as expected, Kousuke Akikawa, who had been eagerly awaiting his return to continue their conversation, would likely have grown very anxious during this time.

He would be wondering if he had been deceived.

After lightly knocking on the door, Nakajima Takuto pushed it open and entered.

As soon as he entered, he saw Kousuke Akikawa, who had been leaning against the headboard with his head down, radiating an intense sense of dejection, suddenly look up.

The moment he saw Nakajima, Akikawa's previously dim eyes brightened, and an expression of immense joy appeared on his face.

This sight had a strong impact on Nakajima Takuto.

It almost felt like returning home after working late into the night and finding the small dog, who had been cooped up all day, eagerly waiting to go out for a walk.

Kousuke Akikawa looked just like that dog, hoping for Nakajima to take him out to play.

Thinking about what he had done to Akikawa and was about to do, Nakajima Takuto once again felt a surge of complexity in his heart.

"You're... you're here," Kousuke Akikawa said.

"Sorry for the wait. I was called over by the head nurse to take care of another patient. I just finished and came back," Nakajima Takuto replied.

Somehow, Nakajima felt there was a tinge of sincerity in his apology, even though he had intentionally delayed his return from the beginning.

"I forgot to tell you my name earlier, Akikawa-kun. My name is Nakajima."

"Nice to meet you, Nakajima-san."

Nakajima could have easily made up a different surname to tell Akikawa, but he used his real one instead.

He wasn’t sure why he did that.

Perhaps it was to alleviate some of his internal guilt, or maybe he just didn’t want to keep deceiving the young man, who seemed so innocent.

"Akikawa-kun, since you're still recovering, I brought food that's easy on your stomach."

Nakajima Takuto opened the small table next to the bed and placed the tray in front of Akikawa.

The tray contained simple food: a bowl of steaming rice porridge, a bowl of soft-cooked vegetables, a block of silky tofu that looked like pudding, and a small dish of fruit.

"Thank you," Kousuke Akikawa said softly, then shakily picked up the spoon with his left hand, carefully scooped a bit of porridge, blew on it a few times, and then took a sip.

"It... tastes good," he said.

Nakajima Takuto noticed the forced and stiff smile on Akikawa's face.

‘He really isn't good at lying…’ Nakajima Takuto thought to himself, then asked:

"Is it not to your taste?"

"No!" Kousuke Akikawa suddenly raised his voice, but quickly realized he had overreacted and lowered his volume.

"Sorry... no, it's really good... it's just... a bit too hot."

"Then wait a bit before drinking it. You can have some vegetables or tofu first."

"Okay..." Kousuke Akikawa nodded and, with a small spoon for the tofu, reached for the tofu.

Nakajima Takuto watched as Akikawa ate with the spoon, feeling an inexplicable discomfort.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly felt off.

He recalled how Akikawa had reacted after he had seen through his thoughts, and once again pondered:

‘It's just rice porridge, why is he eating it so reluctantly?’

‘Even if he's picky, it shouldn't be to the point of disliking porridge, right?’

‘Moreover, after I pointed out that it wasn’t to his liking, he reacted so strongly…’

‘It seems he’s afraid that I’ll think he doesn’t like the breakfast I brought... A child who was mistreated when young really becomes this humble and sensitive…’

Through these brief interactions, Nakajima Takuto gained new insights into Kousuke Akikawa.

‘Maybe it's because he hasn't interacted much with others, but his lying skills are really poor.’

‘And it seems like he's really afraid I'll get upset.’

After making these two observations, Nakajima Takuto felt it was time to get to the point. He then teased Kousuke Akikawa, who was struggling to swallow a piece of broccoli:

"Speaking of which, looking at you, Akikawa-kun, you really remind me of a little kid."

"Even though you're about the same age as my sister, you two seem like you're ten years apart."

"Eh?"

Kousuke Akikawa raised his head, looking at Nakajima Takuto with curiosity.

"Nakajima-san, you have a sister? Is she in school now?"

"Yeah, she's in her second year of college. She's either out working or hanging out with her friends all the time."

"That's nice..." Kousuke Akikawa immediately showed an envious expression.

"There's nothing good about it. She and her friends often stay out until midnight, never thinking about how dangerous it is!"

"One time, she and her classmates were singing karaoke in Shinjuku until midnight. When they came out, some thugs started bothering them. If I hadn't been nearby, I don't know what would have happened."

"Nakajima-san, aren't you scared of thugs?"

"Heh, thugs? I'm a po—uh, I mean, I’m a second-degree kendo practitioner. How could I be scared of thugs?"

(Nakajima almost slipped and almost said "police," since "keishi" for police and "kendo" share the same first syllable, "ke.")

He quickly corrected himself, and Kousuke Akikawa didn’t seem to suspect anything.

After chatting with Kousuke Akikawa for a while and reinforcing the impression that he had a sister around the same age as Akikawa, Nakajima Takuto smiled and said:

"Don't just listen, eat more too. Otherwise, it'll get cold."

"Akikawa-kun, you're very weak right now. If you don’t get enough nutrition, you won't recover."

"Okay..." Kousuke Akikawa responded, then hesitantly picked up his spoon again and struggled to put a small piece of vegetable into his mouth.

After finishing one bite, he was about to put down the spoon. However, when he noticed Nakajima Takuto still watching him, he reluctantly continued, adding a lot more food into his mouth.

Nakajima Takuto couldn't help but feel that Akikawa’s eating movements were very awkward.

But at least Akikawa seemed unwilling to resist his instructions, so Nakajima Takuto didn’t mind.

After seeing Akikawa finish an entire bowl of vegetables and half a bowl of porridge with difficulty, Nakajima Takuto nodded in satisfaction.

He felt it was almost time, so he subtly brought up:

"By the way, my sister has been having trouble sleeping recently."

"And she said that it seems like young people her age are all struggling with insomnia. I wonder if Akikawa-kun has this problem too?"

As soon as Nakajima Takuto said this, he focused on Akikawa's reaction.

Last night, the hospital had detected the presence of the sedative triazolam in Kousuke Akikawa system.

Now, Nakajima wanted to confirm whether Akikawa really had insomnia.

If not, it would mean that the sedatives Akikawa had taken were prepared in advance for suicide.

Then Kousuke Akikawa almost immediately and without hesitation blurted out:

"No, I don’t."

Nakajima Takuto thought to himself, Just as I expected, and then confirmed once more.

"So, in your daily life, Akikawa-kun can easily fall asleep, right?"

"Yeah, I don’t have any insomnia."

Kousuke Akikawa looked at Nakajima Takuto with a confused expression in his gem-like blue eyes.