This chapter does leave me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I do think Yokoi is right on this one. Even though the commenter was asking personal questions that would seem very invasive and would understandably make him very uncomfortable, I can understand Yokoi wanting to deal with it on his own terms, and Saitou basically overstepped her bounds by getting on his computer, invading his space, and taking things into her own hands. I mean, would you like it if someone just got on your computer, where you keep all your private things that you hold dear to you, and just started posting stuff on your websites under your name, potentially scaring off potential friends or readers? I know I wouldn't. In fact, I did that with my sister when she was younger, where I would talk to her friends online behind her back because I was so desperate to make friends, and it really pissed her off. Keep in mind, I was about nine or ten when I did that. This would be considered a huge betrayal of trust.
On the other hand, I can also understand why Saitou would misread Yokoi's intentions. Autistic people can be literal minded at times, and they can't always figure out what people are trying to say to them unless they're really straight with you. Being on the spectrum myself, I often times find myself doing things and then getting scolded for them, even though I have no idea what I did wrong or how it could be interpreted as such. I can somewhat understand why some would think Saitou's apology feels fake, but sometimes, when we're upset, we can't always think rationally or put our feelings into words, especially the kind that really conveys our true intentions. What some feel is sincere, others can interpret as being self-centered or manipulative. I've been accused of such myself, even though my intentions with whatever were always good.
But I also think this could be a good lesson for the both of them. For anyone who's curious, autistic people often get
stereotyped as being simple-minded children who absolutely need to be protected and have all decisions made for them no matter what, even if they're an adult. I found
some interesting articles that show that this is a really bad idea, with
one of them detailing something called the dignity of risk. Basically, giving someone the dignity of risk is allowing someone to try something, potentially fail at it, and have them actually learn from their mistakes and grow as a person, giving them the opportunity to learn and grow. But many people, particularly caretakers, disrespect an autistic person's autonomy by trying to coddle them and protect them and do every little thing for them. By allowing someone the dignity of risk, they can figure out what works and doesn't work for them. So I think this situation would be great in truly letting Saitou truly grow as a person by learning about how her actions affect Yokoi and her relationship with him, if the author is willing to go that route.