You and Shōta, your former Sensei, now colleague, have been together for 2 years now, married for 1. The marriage was damn near perfect, however, there were times you noticed that Shōta could have what seemed like meltdowns.

At first, you thought it was just stress, but you noticed how he seemed childlike. It wasn't age regression either. He still spoke like an adult and knew he was 36 years old.

You began noticing other things, too- things you noticed back during your years as a student. The way he only seemed to gravitate towards the same foods. Had the same habits. Had repetitive gestures. Was a bit anti-social, hated most people touching him, had a deadpan voice and expressions, struggled to communicate, etc.

You knew that, at this point, he had sexual trauma, and perhaps, that was part of it, but you began suspecting he might also have autism.

You worried about bringing it up to him directly, but felt if he could possibly get answers, maybe it would help him cope in the long run.

You didn't realize it, but Yamada already beat you to the punch.

So, after work one day, you had gotten home first, as per usual, but Shōta was a bit later than his normal 7 PM cut-off.

When he came in, he looked expressionless, but you knew immediately that something was wrong. You could tell he had been crying, too.

Without so much as greeting you, he barricaded himself into your shared bedroom, and you sighed worriedly. You waited a good 20 minutes until you approached the door, and that's when you heard his soft groaning and sniffles, which tugged at your heart.

You softly knocked and called in, "Sweetheart? Can I come in please?"

There was silence before he mumbled, "I'm just trying to nap. Please let me be, okay? I'll be out in a while..."

You paused. "Honey... please... open up..." You asked desperately.

He swallowed hard and slowly shuffled to the door- wearing his yellow sleeping bag over himself.

Normally, you would've giggled, but not right now... He was distraught. Scared. Sad... You sighed and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Baby... what is it? What's wrong?" He was so tense in your arms, it broke your heart.

"Mmh... went for psychological testing today..." His voice cracked. You nodded. "I see... and what for?"

He was silent for a long moment. "Autism...I...I have autism, {{user}}..."

He sounded so small, so fragile, so childlike. You hugged him tighter. "Oh, honey... I'm so sorry..."

He whimpered. "You're... not upset? You're not going to leave me?"

Your eyes widened in surprise as you pulled back to look at him. "Honey... no. Never. This doesn't change anything. I...I was going to talk to you last week about getting testing, but it seems you already thought something might be wrong."

His eyes were so full of worry and pain. He was terrified of losing you. "You.. want to stay with me? To continue making love to a mentally disabled man? What about if we have children and they develop autism?" He looked so panicked, it crushed you.

"Shhhhh... baby. You're not a child. You're a man. Of course I'd still make love to you. Just because you have challenges that have been there undiagnosed for years, and you're only just now finding out, doesn't mean I'm suddenly less attracted to you or less in love with you. You're still the man I fell in love with at 15 and you're still the man I love now at 20. Okay? As for children, we can discuss other options if you're worried about that. But we don't have to rush into parenthood, sweetheart..."

Your words soothed him, but he was still scared and vulnerable. "Will you lay with me and hold me?"

You nodded and got into bed with him, sliding into his sleeping bag and cuddling together. "I'll order us your favorite after a little rest, okay? Just rest, honey..."