A Small Step For Komi

Today is the second day of school. Hito woke up in his bed with a lazy expression, then he went down to bed and saw that his sister's bed was empty.

It only means one thing, she woke up earlier than him today, he stretched his arms above lazily and after that, he went directly to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

After doing the deed, he was now wide awake, that trick always worked. 

Hito went downstairs, he saw that his sister was already cooking breakfast in the kitchen while Lumine was drinking a cup of coffee in the living room.

She noticed him and greeted him. "Good morning Hito-san.."

"Good morning Lumine?" Hito blinked and realized something odd about her, he could definitely read something different about her atmosphere.

"Onii-chan! Stop standing there!" Hitomi's voice made him snap back to reality.

"O-oh my bad."  He didn't mean to stand in the way.

Hitomi huffed and walked toward the dining table and put the dishes there.

Hito then sat down at the table, while staring at his sister. He couldn't put his finger around it, but something happened.

Not to his sister or Lumine but to himself, Hitomi noticed his staring and quickly said.

"What are you looking at onii-chan? Is something on my face?" Hitomi replied a bit concerned and started touching her face for something that isn't there.

Ah.

Something clicked inside Hito's mind, he could feel his sister's emotion, which made him feel at loss.

'What the hell is happening?' Hito asked himself in surprise.

Hitomi realized that there was nothing stuck on her face, then she glared at him angrily. "You purposely misled me didn't you?!"

Suddenly he could 'feel' her anger, which made him feel speechless, his mind was constantly thinking of what the hell is happening to him!

Hitomi stopped talking as she noticed the complicated look on her brother's face.

"Onii-chan?" This time she's really concerned about her brother.

Hito couldn't take it anymore and stood up from his seat. "Sorry, I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be back later."

After he left the dining room, both girls looked at each other.

"You noticed that right, Lumine-chan? Something is bothering onii-chan." Hitomi said with a frown.

Lumine nodded and replied. "Yes, something is bothering Hito-san, but I wonder what it is.."

—

Hito washed his face on the sink and then stared at himself in the mirror, there wasn't anything different from his face.

Aside from his black eyes, had now gained a little bit of gold, however, Hito didn't notice the difference because it wasn't obvious.

"What was that? How did I feel my sister's emotions?" If this happened back when he was still in middle school, he would have thought that he finally gained superpowers and he was the chosen one.

But, it was different now he has plenty of things to think about, like how did it suddenly manifest? Or does this ability have side effects?

Those are just two out of many questions that were on his mind right now.

"Okay…okay…calm down Tadano Hitohito, you got this…you can handle this better." He took a deep breath and started calming down.

After that, he went back to the dining room, where his parents were now present, and as they saw him they greeted him good morning.

He did the same, however, he felt his parents' emotions as he looked at their form.

He could feel his father's exhaustion and his mother's dislike of the blend of coffee that she is currently drinking.

However, he decided not to mind it, if this ability would be permanent, he would do his best to adapt.

It would probably take a few days for him to feel normal again, his new ability wasn't anything strange, when he thought about it, his new ability to feel emotions around him was just an upgraded version of his special skill 'reading the atmosphere' but more direct this time.

As he could feel each individual his eyes laid upon, their feelings.

'I wonder if I could turn this off..' He wouldn't know until he tries.

He sat at the dining room table once more, and as he did he felt his sister's gaze on him. 

"What?" He asked.

"Are you okay?" Hitomi asked.

"I'm fine." He waved her off.

"Really? Because you were acting strange a while ago." Hitomi stared at his face suspiciously.

"I was? Well, I don't know about that, I just forgot about something in the bathroom." Hito could literally feel her suspicion of him.

"Fine, if you say so." Hitomi let out a sigh and decided not to pursue the matter, to his relief.

Then his eyes wandered around Lumine and this time, he could feel her emotions clearly, it was a mess.

He couldn't describe how her emotions are, it was jumbled, mixed, and confusing.

No wonder, she felt odd to him, her emotions were a mess.

He decided to stop feeling her emotions, it was pointless as he couldn't read her properly at all.

At that moment, Hito realized the limits of his new ability, he could only feel one emotion at a time.

That was good to know, to know where his new ability limits.

—

Hito arrived at Itan Private High School entrance, unlike yesterday it wasn't as eventful if you only exclude the fact that he gained an upgraded version of his reading the atmosphere ability.

As he stepped inside the gate, a security guard stopped him and asked him for his school I.D, which was already given to all of the students of this school a week ago, he gave the guard his student I.D and after checking it, the guard gave it back and let him pass.

Turning around he saw the guard doing the same thing to the students behind him, which certainly is a relief that he wasn't the only one who got his I.D checked.

Hito immediately went to his classroom, as he got inside, everyone at least took a glance in his direction, after seeing him almost everyone stopped looking except for 3.

They were Saki, Komi, and Shouko.

While both Komi and Saki hesitated, Shouko didn't as she immediately approached and greeted him with a smile.

"Oh, hayo Tano-un!" Shouko said.

Although it's unclear, he understood her words, it wasn't hard to put them together.

Before he arrived at school, he actually put a notepad and a pen in his pocket, knowing that he'll need them for later.

And it did come in handy, Hito then took the notepad and a pen in his pocket and started writing.

( Good morning to you too Nishimiya-san. )

As soon as she read his greeting, he felt happiness oozing out of Shouko's body, he could literally feel her happiness.

To think a simple greeting from him could make her this happy, he was actually touched by this, if he didn't have this new ability of his, he probably wouldn't know this.

After that, both of them chatted for a bit before going to their respective tables, as Shizuka-sensei was now in the classroom.

Hito stared at Komi for a bit and felt her sadness. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that it was his fault that she was sad.

He was her only friend, as arrogant as it sounds, it was true. Komi confirmed it herself.

That's why Komi is sad that she wasn't able to greet him good morning. Hito decided.

"Komi-san, good morning."

Komi's imaginary cat ears perked up, stared at him, and tried to greet back. "G-g-go-goo!"

She failed!

Hito couldn't help but smile wryly and thought. 'She's truly bad at this.'

He whispered. "Komi-san, just use your notebook to communicate, you don't have to force yourself to talk."

He felt Komi's disappointment for a moment, but it was quickly replaced with positive emotion.

Determination.

Komi started writing in her notebook and showed it to him after.

( Good morning to you too Tadano-san, I may have failed to speak vocally, but I'll do my best so that I could properly talk with my voice in the future! )

Hito nodded and replied. "That's great, keep that spirit Komi-san."

Komi nodded and let out a determined huff.

The class started after that, and both of them had no choice but to focus in class.

Shizuka opened a book and said, "Let's continue the topic that we discussed yesterday…"

—

Lunch break had just started, and right now is the perfect time to start.

"Komi-san, yesterday I remember that you wanted to have 100 friends right?" 

That got Komi's attention, as her eyes lit up, and nodded at his sentence.

"Right now is the perfect time for you to make friends!" 

Hito immediately felt her nervousness, however, her face showed the ever the same stoic Komi-san.

She's pretty good at hiding her emotions, however, despite her nervousness, she nodded with a determined look.

"Alright then, let's start getting you friends, and I know who exactly to start with." Hito smiled at her.

However Komi tilted her head in confusion, then she saw him staring at his other seatmate.

Shouko Nishimiya.

"She's going to be your first target." 

Komi-san suddenly didn't feel determined at all.

—

Since he had a friend other than Osana Hajime, it's obvious that it's going to be Shouko, as she's literally the easiest person to be friends with.

She's a perfect target for a beginner like Komi.

So what do you think about his ability? Or why did it suddenly appear?

Well, you'll know that in the future, because Tadano Hitohito isn't just some guy.