[Koumei nodded in affirmation. Strange as it was, he as certain that both instances were somehow connected to the other oddities that were happening around the city.]

That's right. Although, I don't think you missed out on much by not meeting the boy I was as a child. Many here may have found such an encounter...unnerving.

Suffice to say, children weren't allowed to stay children for long in the era I grew up in.