The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 25
“Yes, I am. Is something troubling you?”
“Eh, well, I do, but… I’m not used to talking to people in places like this. If possible, would you come to my house? Of course, I will pay you a reasonable fee.”
“So you’re requesting in-home counseling?”
“Yes.”
“‘Haha. Unfortunately, I don’t offer that kind of on-site mental counseling service.”
“Why do you speak in such a strange way, doctor?” Tomomi felt compelled to intervene. She wondered what this man was saying again in the confusion.
“Well, at any rate, please have a seat there. Although we don’t have a delivery service, it’s a great deal to buy directly from the store.” Uroma now said something that sounded like a pizza delivery service. The woman looked a little puzzled, “Huh,” but soon seated herself on the nearby folding chair. As always, this was the one that had shown up there at some point.
“Actually, I’m struggling with a problem involving my son who lives with me.” The woman began to speak immediately. “My name is Kikuchi Nobuko. I’m 58 years old and a housewife. The truth is, I’m troubled about my son Naoharu. He’s been lifting his hand at me more and more these days.”
“Does lifting his hand mean that your son is violent towards you?”
“Yes, well…. Not that frequently, but.” Nobuko huffed, sighing.
“How do other family members deal with Naoharu’s violence against you?”
“I don’t have any other family members. It’s just me and Naoharu.”
“How old is your son?”
“He’ll be 25 this year.”
“I see. What does he do for a living? Does he go out to work and then come home in the evening and use violence upon you?”
“No. Naoharu’s body has been weak since he was a child, so he can’t afford to go out to work. He even went to work once, but couldn’t keep it up in the end. Therefore, it’s always just the two of us at home.”
“His body is weak? Does he have any chronic disease?”
“It’s asthma. Ever since childhood.” Nobuko sighed gloomily once again.
“Asthma, huh? I’m sure you must be going through a rough time with your son having such a disease, Mrs. Kikuchi.” Uroma suddenly sounded uncharacteristically sympathetic. “In fact, I have a daughter of my own. She’s five years old and has asthma. As a parent, I have to handle her constantly.”
All of a sudden, he started setting up a bunch of outright lies…
“H-Hey, doctor! What are you saying out of the blue!” Tomomi pulled Uroma’s ear and asked in a whisper.
“It’s not a lie. Except that it is only in my imagination…”
Uroma whispered unintelligibly and brushed off Tomomi’s tsking. What is he thinking, this man?
However, Nobuko seemed to feel a great deal of sympathy for Uroma’s big lie.
“Well, you have a child with asthma too. I can relate to that. When a child has asthma, things are very difficult.”
All at once, her face flushed and her expression softened. She seemed to have lost her caution.
“Actually, I had consulted various counselors about Naoharu’s condition. But none of them really comprehended what was going on with my son’s asthma.”
“What do you mean they didn’t comprehend?”
“Everybody seemed to be under the impression that Naoharu’s illness was not that serious, and they suggested that he should go outside a little, or go somewhere else. I told them at the beginning that his constitution is not such that he can easily go out of the house like that, but they were being really lax about it.”
“Well, the harshness of asthma is something that only the person and their family can understand. I also face difficulties in this regard. By the way, what kind of medication do you use for him?”
“Let’s see… I think it’s two kinds of medicine, one called Theo and the other called Pemiro.”
“Theophylline and pemirolast potassium. I understand.”
For some reason, the name of the asthma medicine popped out of Uroma’s mouth.
“So, back to domestic violence, when does Naoharu behave violently? For instance, does it happen when he drinks alcohol?”
“No, it has nothing to do with alcohol. He drinks sometimes, but it’s not very strong, so it’s impossible for him to be violent when he drinks.”
“So the violence occurs when he sees you at home?”
“Yes, that’s right. Sometimes when I go to his room, he’s in a foul mood, and that’s when he gets a little…”
“What does he do in his room?”
“Oh, working on the computer. He is a web designer.”
“Web designer? Specifically, how does he work?”
“I am not too sure… I’ve always been very bad with computers.”
“For example, have you received a large number of packages or documents for personal delivery to him?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then, did you hear any voices in the room, as if he was talking to anything?”
“No, not really… Ah, that’s right!”
Nobuko seemed to have remembered something.
“That reminds me, Naoharu often tears apart magazines that he just bought. He said he was scrapping them for his job as a web designer.”
“I see. So he gathers information from magazines for his work. He may be using the binding of the magazine as a reference.”
“Hmm,” Uroma nodded.