So the previous chapters didn't really freak me out but chapter 3 certainly had me running away screaming.
Why?
Thinking back, Shio-chan feels pretty... off, to me. I reread it and I realised...
Shio-chan doesn't go to school doesn't she?
The tv doesn't have cable/ no channels at all.
Shio-chan doesn't go out, Sato-chan doesn't take her out. She just obediently waits for Sato-chan's return.
No friends. No news. No contact with the outside world.
And she doesn't seem to mind, or at least, doesn't voice out any complaints.
I also wondered, by the look on Shio-chan's face when she faced that room, if perhaps, she knows more than she lets on. If she knows of the grim contexts of that room. After finding out, or confirming, that it was locked, she rather easily let it go.
I feel like she explored the house/apartment they live in for the first time, or hadn't thoroughly before. As a child, I'd expect her to be terribly bored, curious, with a bigger sense of wanting to explore. She gave up rather fast, in most of her activities; pat-patting the room, cooking, watching tv, bringing in the laundry. No sense of frustration either, that nothing really went her way, she accepted things rather easily, and moved on. She didn't ask Sato-chan any questions either, no complaints at all, or did she know better than to ask? Shio-chan's expressions are numbered; stoic, or smiling for Sato-chan. Extraordinarily, as a child, she is selfless and understanding. You'd think that a kid would ask more questions, curious about the world and its wonders, but she doesn't. She accepts things the way Sato puts them. Everything Sato says is right
When they interact, the mood is light, fluffly. When you take into account the actual dialogues, it seems stiff, fake, compensating to match the atmosphere. If I knew better, it seems to me that Shio's practically walking on eggshells.
Is she that easygoing, sweet and unconditionally loving Sato, or is she trying to survive?
EDIT: Or does she know what makes Sato-chan tick, and is actually manipulating her?
That was my other thought, if, in fact, Shio-chan knows exactly, or more or less what's going on and is actually relying on Sato-chan.
And when she got dizzy and basically passed out, I wonder if she's malnourished, if the problem is physical, or psychological. A memory came back to her, although it was blurred, blocked out. The memory itself was interrupted actually, by Sato-chan, conveniently.
It might just be me, but it also seems like, when Sato-chan asked her that question, that there was a ever so slight pause on Shio-chan's part, and when she processed it she immediately answered, with that large, impenetrable smile. Or perhaps, knew what to answer.
Sato seemed.. unfazed, by the response, which came as a surprise to me. I thought she would have swooned.
Although her lack of expression might have just been her examining Shio-chan's face, and coming to the conclusion that she wasn't lying
I wonder if Sato was in doubt of Shio, or did she just want to confirm.
Nonetheless it's frightening. I hope Shio's more intuitive and knowledgeable than she seems. She'll need it.
EDIT: As an innocent child, the whole setting would be difficult for her to live in, only having Sato to depend on. I wouldn't be too surprised if it turns out that she has a better grasp of everything than we/Sato thought, and that they're equally dependent of each other. Sato seems to need Shio to fufill what she thinks is her ideal of happiness. I wonder if Shio's getting anything out of it as well. The isolation Sato's submitting her to... really makes you wonder about Shio's past life, whether Sato saved her, or took her from it.
