Shuu (修, Shuu) is Urano Motosu's close childhood friend. They spent most of their lives together until Urano's untimely death.
History
Shuu lived in the house next door to Urano's, and they attended the same daycare. Their mothers also knew each other well, so it was natural for them to become friends. Shuu called Urano's mother "Mom" and visited their house so often that it felt like he lived there[1].
One day, both families went on a trip. When they check into their hotel, both mothers were tired and wanted to take a nap. However, Shuu wanted an adventure, so his mother gaves him a map and marked the path to the planetarium with a red pen, telling him to explore and find it. Urano went with him, only to become an obstacle in his way because she was only interested in bookstores. He then came up with the idea to leave her at the library while he went alone to the planetarium. On his way back from the planetarium, he noticed that the library where Urano was had the lights off and its interior was pitch black, so he thought that she returned to the hotel. However, she wasn't there, which caused Shuu and her mother to panic and thoroughly search the nearby bookstore for her. After having no success, they call city hall to check if she was in the library, and even call the police, but are still unable to find her. They are worried that she has been kidnapped, but convince the police to request the library be opened so they can check for her there. Urano is found sitting on the windowsill in the darkened library, still unworriedly reading books. 10 years later, Shuu goes to explore the same planetarium again leaving Urano in the same library. This time, he makes sure to return to the library before closing time to avoid his past mistake. They reminisce, and Shuu thinks about how since then, Urano has spoken up if the library has started to close around her, rather than reading on, uncaring. This makes him think she has grown up some, but he then notices she is continuing to read instead of cleaning up, and quickly changes his mind. Reflecting on how little she has grown, he hopes she one day gets stuck in a world without books and suffers.[2]
Trivia
- Due to Urano's childish behaviour over books, bookstores and libraries, he thinks of Urano as a super monster bookworm.
- When Urano said she wanted to live her next life surrounded by books, Shuu responded in exasperation that he hoped she would be reincarnated in a world with no books at all. Of course, that was eventually what happened when Urano was reborn as Myne[1].
- In the Japanese version of the light novel, Urano calls him "Shuu-chan".
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 1 Volume 1. Prologue
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 1 Volume 1. Unchanging Daily Life.
