Tell us a bit more about the KCA fic and your plans for it!
Well, let's see... Komi-san Can't Adventure is basically my take on the Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu manga/anime if it took place in a fantasy setting. It's isekai minus the reincarnation/summoning bit for the main characters. They're adventurers doing quests and such, as you would expect.
A lot of events happen similarly to how they did in the manga, just with a few twists to keep it interesting. Most things from the manga have been skipped over in favor of writing my own material though. Sort of a 'you can just assume this happened' approach, I guess.
I don't really remember how exactly I came up with the idea originally, but I'm a big fan of the isekai genre (understatement), so this was perhaps an inevitability.
As for my plans for it... I'm not sure how much I should say, because it could spoil a lot. As of this latest chapter though, I've already introduced some characters from Steins;Gate into the mix. Which, that's another series I'm knee deep into. I'm really looking forward to having the characters from the two series interact with one another.
Okabe and Nakanaka have already met as of this latest chapter, and they basically share a brother/sister bond.
Komi and Moeka will get along really well, since they both have difficulties communicating with other people, and they both heavily rely on text-based forms of communication. Komi with her notebook, and Moeka with her rapid-fire texting.
Okabe is everything that Tadano used to be in middle school... The whole chuunibyou routine. Same as with Nakanaka... Okabe will be a big source of secondhand embarrassment for sure, but Tadano will warm up to him quite easily.
There's a lot of other fun interactions to consider, but these are the main ones I've had in mind for quite a while.
Next chapter will be partially set in Faris' catgirl maid cafe, the May Queen+Nyan² and will include a partial adaptation of the first year cultural festival arc of the Komi manga. It's also going to have my take on the Stark Expo, since Tony Stark is also in this fic as of these latest couple of chapters... He was isekai'd, lmao.
I've taken a liking to the concept of Attractor Fields from Steins;Gate, so I'm applying it on both a world line and multiversal scale with other 'Komiverses' that I wrote oneshots for. Also for some I haven't written yet.
That's also where another of my series, Komivergence, comes in. Tadano and Komi from the manga—specifically from the end of chapter 348—start involuntarily traveling to other Komiverses and meeting their various counterparts.
As for Starks;Gate, it is a prequel series to KCA that focuses mainly on Tony Stark and his interactions with the cast of Steins;Gate, plus an OC of mine.
In case you missed them, I also recently posted chapter 46 of Komi-san Can't Adventure, and started a new fic called Starks;Gate.
I will be updating KCA again next. It will be a long while, however, because it will be another really long one. I'll be posting sneak peeks of it in my clubroom in the Komi discord server though. :)
Najimi still didn’t quite know how to feel about these sudden developments. All they knew was that 1) time travel was apparently involved??? And 2) Tadano won’t end up dating Kawai, but rather Komi instead... Oh, and 3) Komi had a problem of some sort that Tadano had to help her with.
Their complicated feelings regarding Komi aside, it was all the same to them who Tadano ended up dating. It’s not like they had a hat in this race... They didn’t secretly have a crush on him or anything. Nope. Definitely not.
All that mattered to Najimi was that this was what Tadano decided—what Tadano wanted.
“No problem, Tadano-kun,” Najimi said, seeming strangely dependable all of a sudden. “Do what you need to do.”
Tadano lowered his head. At last he could let go of some of the stress that had been eating away at him until now.
He took a deep, deep breath, and slowly let it out through his nose. “Thank you...” he said gratefully.
There was still one last thing troubling him about this point in his life, however.
After reflecting on Najimi’s role in this moment—how these events originally played out—Tadano remembered something particularly shameful he had done.
It was his fault that he and Najimi had become estranged from each other after this incident. He had started avoiding Najimi somewhat, as they were an unpleasant reminder of his chuunibyou phase.
He felt more guilty about that than embarrassment from anything else he had done in this period of his life... He really had nothing to say for himself.
Najimi had never brought it up, even after all this time, but all the same... It bothered him.
Tadano wasn’t likely to get another chance for this, so he had to say something now...
“O-oh, and Najimi?”
“Hmm?”
Tadano knew full well that Najimi wouldn’t understand what he was about to say... But it was more to ease his own conscience than anything else to begin with.
Tadano briefly placed his hands on Najimi’s shoulders. “I just wanted to thank you for being here,” he said wholeheartedly.
There were times when Najimi went a bit overboard with their jokes, but he couldn’t fathom how differently his life would have turned out without their support.
“This might not make any sense right now,” Tadano added, “But don’t be afraid to fight a little more for what it is you want...”
Najimi stared. Clueless.
Though confused, Najimi would be lying if they said their heart didn’t begin to throb after hearing him say something like that. Especially with there being such an earnest expression on Tadano’s face when he said it.
“...Will do,” Najimi replied with an awkward smile.
Even Tadano didn’t really know what he meant by that.
It was the kind of vague advice that could be said by anyone, and could be taken however the listener wanted. He was from ‘the future’ though. So if Najimi took it seriously like he had hoped, and it helped them in any way at all... then that was enough.
...
“Oh, shit! Right!” Tadano said anxiously as he suddenly remembered that Kawai could be there any second, “We’d better get out of here. Come on, Hitohito!”
The boys started running.
Along the way, Tadano told his younger counterpart Komi’s address—among other various useful things to know for the future... Once again, just in case he poofed midway.
He was banking on the fact that so far, Komi—his Komi—had been traveling along with him to every parallel universe he had been sent to... His sudden appearance at her house should thus (hopefully) be both expected and welcome. Even if it were only his double that made it there in the end.
He was not a stalker. Honest.
There was no guarantee that Komi lived there in this universe, but he still had to try there first.
If she wasn’t there, then they would just have to try the front gate of Itan. Or even better, the nearby park... Or the library.
After a while, the boys finally made it to her house out of breath from running for far longer than either of them were accustomed to, and even more sweaty.
“This reminds me,” Tadano panted. They were hunched over, facing each other, with their hands on their knees. “Komi-san likes jogging. So that’s something you should invite her to do sometimes.”
Tadano (C) nodded while listening. Any foreknowledge of ‘his future girlfriend’ was more than welcome. He would hate to accidentally say or do something to make her not like him... Or even worse, hate him.
He was once told bluntly by a ‘friend’ that he always talked about ‘boring stuff’, so he was already a bit insecure in that regard.
“Oh,” Tadano said as they straightened themselves back up. He had another thought, “It might be a good idea to join the Katai family’s dojo too. Katai Makoto-kun missed half of our first year in high school in my timeline for some reason. Maybe you can find out why and prevent that from happening... A-also, it will be your duty to protect Komi-san, so being a little stronger couldn’t hurt.”
He felt guilty giving his counterpart more and more responsibilities like this—especially when he had never bothered that much with his own physical exercise routine... But he didn’t want to risk his counterpart getting beaten up because his girlfriend was super super super cute, and he was ‘in the way’...
Also, he didn’t want him to get kidnapped like what happened to himself... He made sure to give himself some advice regarding Yamai on the way there.
Tadano (C) stared. He wasn’t expecting so much pressure to be placed on him all at once. But if this was how he was going to unlock his powers, then so be it. What does ‘reading the atmosphere’ even mean, anyways?
On that... Well, Tadano had to tell his counterpart something when he asked on their way there, didn’t he? So he told him his ‘specialty’ was a ‘special ability’...
He felt a bit like a hustler for lying, but if the last two years were any indication, it wasn’t that much of a leap from the truth anyways... He just couldn’t bear to tell his double that he was just some guy with nothing special about him.
He would figure things out on his own eventually, right...?
He wasn’t a conman. Honest.
Tadano’s finger anxiously hovered around the doorbell at the front gate of Komi’s home. There was only a single millimeter of space left until he was actually touching it. Is there anything else I’m forgetting?
He was worried there was some vital detail he was forgetting, but more so he was terrified of the possibility that his girlfriend was in another castle universe... alone...
Tadano breathed, and decided to say just one last thing before committing to ringing the doorbell.
“A-anyways, just remember what I said...” he pleaded, “You do not have to act ‘cool’, or try to impress her in any way... Just be you.”
“...Right...”
With that out of the way, Tadano pomphed and finally smashed the doorbell (gently).
The doorbell was connected to an app on Shuuko’s phone that allowed her to communicate with her guests before deciding whether or not to go out to see them. It also doubled as a security camera.
Half a moment later, as if she were reading a script of this scene and anticipated her turn to recite her lines, Shuuko answered while looking at her phone. “Hello?”
Recognizing her voice, Tadano could hardly contain the smile forming on his lips.
The way her voice raised up at the tail end of that single word... Just from that, Tadano could tell not only that it was her answering—which was already a victory in itself—but also that Shuuko was excited.
Shuuko tried playing it cool, of course, but this was all too interesting and exciting for her. She was at risk of turning 16 rather than her usual eternal age of 17.
It wasn’t every day she gained another daughter, after all. Nor was it every day she found out her daughter had a boyfriend...
And to think, all this time she had been worried about whether her daughter would ever bring home friends at all...
“H-hello,” Tadano answered back, “Is K... Is Shouko-san here, by any chance?”
Shuuko was already headed for the door the moment she realized he—no, they—had arrived.
She opened the door, and then the gate, and before either boy could properly react, she quickly yanked them both inside... (gently).
“Oh! S-sorry for intruding...” Tadano said with an incredulous laugh.
Tadano (C) pinched himself, because surely he must have been dreaming!
The dream of every chuunibyou!
[Validation]
...
Seeing his older self, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope and confidence welling up inside of him. His face was lit up like never before.
It filled him with determination.
Was he going to unlock supernatural abilities now?! Was he going to become an ally of justice?!
His head was soon swimming with so many possibilities that he had all but forgotten about his impending confession, which was meant to be the highlight of this day.
...
Oh, right! That...! But wait- As his thoughts gravitated back to what was supposed to be the matter at hand, a cold chill shot down his spine. This moment was the least opportune time for a hero’s origin story!
“Wait! We can’t be doing this right now!” he demanded. “Why are we doing this right now?!” he asked anxiously.
Couldn’t this wait?! He needed to confess! He hadn’t even finished preparing yet...!
Worse yet, he hadn’t even started!
He was inwardly begging the cosmos to have this happen at literally any other time instead.
No...
He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as the realization hit. Why else would he appear before me, right here and now?
He was trying his best to prevent a panic attack, but the level of stress and anxiety he was currently experiencing was a first for him. He gritted his teeth to brace himself—something that our protagonist was doing as well.
The atmosphere quickly grew tense as the two stared at each other in silence.
Tadano was uncertain whether his doppelganger could put the pieces together on his own, but his sudden changes in expression and body language easily gave him the answer.
Tadano (C) was no idiot... A bit naive, perhaps. But he was not stupid.
“...This is a mistake, isn’t it...?” he asked his future self.
Tadano remained silent.
‘A mistake.’
What an understatement that was.
His chest grew tight as he empathized with his younger self. He didn’t know how to break it to him. Kawai’s biting words still rang out to him clear as day. And besides... The answer was already painfully obvious enough without him saying anything, wasn’t it? Did he really have to say it?
Tadano (C) stared at the ground. That silence was all the confirmation he needed.
“...Can you tell me why?” he asked, though his words were barely audible. He was desperately holding back his tears. They both were, in fact. Neither of them wanted to appear ‘weak’ in front of the other.
Tadano knew exactly what his middle school counterpart was going through, but he didn’t want to repeat what Kawai had told him... That he was ‘lame’. That she wouldn’t date him in a million years...
Those harsh words may have put him on the path to who he was now, but it still stung like a knife to his heart. It had completely shattered his self-image for years. If nothing else, he wanted to spare him of that humiliation.
Tadano placed his hand on his counterpart’s shoulder. There was so much that he wanted to tell him. He wanted to assure him—promise him—that things would get better. That his high school life (at the very least) was going to be filled with so much warmth and happiness that he wouldn’t know what to do with it all... But he didn’t know how much time they had together like this. Even just thinking about it was a waste of valuable time for all he knew, but he couldn’t help but do so anyways.
Tadano shook his head. No, I really should tell him. But there’s something else I absolutely must tell him about first... He had already drastically altered the course of the future with his arrival, and their meeting. He could only assume as much. He had to mitigate any damage from that first before he could allow himself to worry about anything else.
“It’s not that I can’t tell you,” he said, “But there’s another, more important reason that I am here for.”
Of course. Tadano (C) nodded slowly. What he said made sense.
He was disappointed, but as much as he was hurting and wanted at least an explanation, he knew there had to be something else going on that actually warranted the use of time travel.
Maybe them meeting like this was all just a condition the scientists or whatever granted him in return for accepting the risks involved with traveling to the past... He had no idea what genre he was even in at this point.
Tadano inhaled deeply through his nose. He was about to drop another bomb on his younger self. It was a good thing—it was something that should make him happy—but it’s not like he could predict how the little guy would react to what he was about to say...
While it could be argued they were essentially the same person, the younger of the two was currently heartbroken after learning his crush didn’t like him—and it’s not like he had ever met Komi before, so when he hears he has a girlfriend in the future, that could only do so much to relieve the heartache he’s experiencing now...
But Tadano still had to try. For him, as well as for her... Especially for her. She must feel so alone right now.
The middle schooler couldn’t help but to brace himself for whatever he was about to be hit with next. All of his newfound confidence from before had quickly evaporated into nothingness after the last revelation, so needless to say he was quite pessimistic about this next one.
“The good news is...” Tadano emphasized, “We do have a girlfriend—Komi Shouko. She’s the reason I’m here. I want to take you to meet her right now... I’m going find her either way, but it’s extremely important to me that you come with me. Like ‘right now’ right now.”
He blurted it all out. If nothing else, that should have at least made things easier for him in high school... Right?
Oh, right. High school. “Oh, a-and before I forget. You’ll also need to attend Itan Private High School. That’s where she and I originally met. A-all of our friends too.”
Tadano’s face was burning up. He really didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of... himself... But he had to get all of that squared away—just in case he poofed midway, never to return.
Hearing all that, Tadano (C) realized something was wrong. He couldn’t pin it down, but it was fairly obvious by our protagonist’s sudden infodump. Why is he talking about high school all of a sudden? That’s more than a whole year from now... Does he not have much time? Was this even planned?
He wasn’t sure how to react. First of all, who was Komi Shouko? That was his main question. Given how urgent it seemed that he meet her now, he could only be... confused. And more to the point: curious.
After all, he didn’t like Kawai for just any reason. Sure, she was beautiful, kind, incredibly smart—you name it, she probably excelled at it to a frightening degree...
In other words, she was perfect...
But she always seemed to be pushing herself far too hard. It was as if she were desperately trying to reach some unattainable ideal... And it wasn't just that. Despite the people she was always surrounded by, she always seemed... alone. Isolated...
It brought out his protective instincts.
He wanted to help her in any way he could. In his conceit, he thought that in dating her he could somehow become her hero.
“...Please?” Tadano begged.
What little breath he was holding, Tadano (C) slowly let out through his nose. He could tell how much this meant to his older self, but... “I can’t just leave like this.”
He had already given up on the idea of ever dating Kawai... As much as it pained him, he realized he was probably aiming just a bit too high to begin with. She was far too amazing of a person for the likes of him. He should have known from the start that he couldn’t possibly be a match for her.
...But Operation L was already in motion. It could not be stopped. Nor could it be put on hold.
He didn’t want to waste Kawai’s time any more than he already had. What if she ended up waiting for hours here in case he showed up?
No. He couldn’t risk it. Even as low as the odds of that were.
“DOKYAAAAN!!” an all too familiar voice rang out.
The two boys collectively jumped out of their skin at the sudden interruption, and quickly turned to face the source of it. They had been so preoccupied with each other that it had never even occurred to them that someone else could show up.
“Two Tadano-kuns?!” Najimi declared in shock.
Back at the Komi household.
“Shouko? Is everything alright? I heard something fall,” Komi’s mother called out. She entered the room a matter of seconds later, without knocking.
In typical Shuuko fashion, she was wearing a comfortable t-shirt and jeans. Her hair was just the same as always, however—at least as far as Komi was aware. It was the exact same hairstyle as hers, except her mother’s hair stopped at the nape of her neck rather than continuing down her shoulders and back.
As one might expect, Shuuko was quite shocked to find not just one daughter waiting for her within her daughter’s room, but two.
She stared and processed the reality of this over the course of several seconds before finally letting out an overjoyed squeal. She was unclear on the specifics like why, or how this was even possible... but she suddenly had two daughters! How was that not cause for celebration?!
One rushed moment later, the two girls had been brought to their feet and ushered into the living room by their mother.
By this point, Shousuke had become painfully aware that ‘something’ was happening, but he stubbornly remained in his room for the duration.
...Just kidding.
His mother lovingly dragged him over to the living room as well so that he too could witness his sister (x2).
...
The two of them were trembling side by side on a couch.
From the moment he entered the room, the pair of Shoukos stared at him closely, intently following his movements with their gaze until he finally sat down in a chair some comfortable distance away. His hair was slightly longer than Komi remembered, but it was every bit the same tousled mess. And as usual, he was wearing a black t-shirt and pants.
“Now I just need to call your father,” Shuuko said with a satisfied smile. Surely this qualified as a family emergency.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
With those parting words, she left the room—and took with her any chance of a conversation getting started.
...
Komi pulled out her notebook, and began writing notes.
Chapter summary: This chapter, things start to take a different turn... Tadano and Komi are dropped into a universe in which the two had yet to even meet. The title is your hint.
This is actually going to be chapter 4 eventually, but I'm skipping over the Komi Theft Auto Komiverse for the time being so that I can plan it out more... I also just have a stronger desire to write this one...
Click here to read the full chapter on AO3.
Click here to see all of my works.
A deeply unsettling chill ran down Tadano’s spine as he looked around and noticed exactly where it was he had just ‘dropped in’... He could run a marathon on the amount of adrenaline that started pumping through his system when the realization fully hit him.
Had it not been for the extreme mental fatigue caused by his current set of circumstances, perhaps he would have been okay with seeing this place again—he had a girlfriend now, after all—but there was no way of knowing that for sure. What he did know was that in this moment, he would almost rather die than return to ‘this place’...
It was his old middle school... Or, more precisely—its athletics field...!
It was exactly how he remembered it. In essence, it was nothing more than your standard, wide-open dirt field. A runner’s track had been laid out in chalk dust just recently, and so the lines were still looking neat, crisp and fresh...
Tadano started to feel a bit weak in the knees, so he squatted down low, with his feet perfectly flat to the ground.
He subconsciously clenched his teeth in shame over his weakness, and fought the slowly-rising urge to vomit his guts out as the events from ‘that day’ began to loop in his mind... The memories had long since crystallized in sickening detail, and they had become an inescapable part of his legacy... His ‘dark history’!
He could practically see the echoes of his younger self naively painting away with the school’s ‘field chalker’ (or ‘line marker’). It was a small piece of equipment on wheels that released chalk at a set thickness, and at an even rate. On that infamous day, he had used it to write the word ‘LOVE’—in English, no less—in the center of the runner’s track in big, bold letters... It was more than large enough to easily be seen from their classroom.
That was naturally a crucial step in his preparations for ‘Operation L’.
Later that same day, perhaps even a news helicopter might have seen it and reported on it for a fluffy, feelgood piece. Who knows?
...As the thoughts of that day continued their assault, Tadano covered and gripped his face with one hand out of reflex while his fight or flight response kicked into overdrive. It was a wonder he had not yet had a heart attack. He felt, more than anything, that he should not be there.
Could anyone blame him...? Setting aside the current matter of involuntary universe hopping... A part of him had died that day. And truth be told, he would have loved nothing more than to keep it dead... That old cringey, forced persona of his.
He marinated in his feelings of embarrassment and anxiety for just a few minutes.
...
Okay, that’s enough...
Tadano took in a long, drawn out breath in an effort to relax. He held it in for at least half a minute before finally lowering his arms, resting his elbows on his knees, and letting it all out slowly.
At least the sun on his skin felt nice... With his eyes closed, he lifted his face towards the sun and let out the last of his breath.
The initial shock was finally wearing off, and the gears in his head were gradually beginning to turn once more. He took several more slow, deep breaths to calm himself further so that he could think about this latest development more rationally...
He had quickly learned not to entertain such optimistic notions as him and Komi finally being back in their original universe. (Last time he did that he was met with a gun to his head, after all.)
...That was a traumatizing experience he would like to not repeat if at all possible.
This time was already shaping up differently, of course... And not merely for a lack of guns in his face.
This time, he was completely alone...
As he thought things over more carefully, Tadano finally understood the significance of his arrival at this place and time. It was not a knowing based on any tangible evidence, mind you, but rather a knowing that welled up from deep within his soul... Why else would I have dropped in here?
It was that kind of feeling.
He let out a deep sigh... His body lightly shivered despite the mild heat he was currently basking in. For the life of him, he could not fully calm his nerves.
Being alone in this moment was pure suffering.
This entire ordeal would have been so much easier if only Komi were there with him... but regrettably she was nowhere in sight. He had to keep telling himself that she had to be fine—that she was probably just in a similar situation right now...
Heck. For all he knew, she was probably just ‘home’ and trying to give some kind of explanation to ‘her parents’. Not to mention her middle school counterpart... He could scarcely envision how that might be going for her, but nonetheless it brought a sad smile to his face as he briefly tried to picture it...
Regardless of whatever she was doing in this moment, he just wished with all his heart that she could be standing there with him instead—or squatting, in this case. Failing that, he wished that she was at least safe.
Being separated, on top of being in another universe, was no trivial matter. He could not help but worry... What if they never saw each other again?
He shook his head. I can’t go thinking like that... In any case, let’s just get this over with already so I can go look for her. Where is ‘me’...?
Meanwhile, a short distance away—hidden inside a set of bushes—a middle school boy was carefully observing our protagonist.
He had been watching... waiting... for a little while now.
This was just what the boy needed... Of course it had to be now of all times, didn’t it...? A delinquent was squatting right where he needed to ‘get to work’.
He was fully prepared to enact Operation L—and in fact, you could say the operation had already begun! He had put a letter in his crush’s shoe locker earlier in the day asking her to meet him behind the school building after school... So the clock was ticking!
He had planned this out over a month in advance, even going as far as scoping the place out with his best friend Najimi.
...Tadano (C) was getting restless. Come on, man...
He was hoping that the delinquent would simply leave on his own, without any need of direct intervention.
The more he read the situation, however, the more he got this weird sense of familiarity with the delinquent. Do I maybe know this guy...? He couldn’t really tell, as the delinquent was facing the other way.
The delinquent seemed... ‘stressed’, to put it one way. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but that was the impression he got from the delinquent’s body language.
Before he even realized it, his legs had already started moving on their own. Normally he would avoid getting involved with someone else’s business, but for some reason he could not explain, he was drawn to this delinquent as if they were connected by fate.
As he closed the distance between them, he briefly felt a strange resonance course through his body. It was like a vague pulsing of energy that stretched beyond the physical plane. For him this was a first, and it was a very freaky experience to have out of the blue... But this was our protagonists’ third time that day. This feeling... So I’m really not an ordinary person...
His heart fluttered.
Our protagonist suddenly swept back his hair, and it stayed in place thanks to a thin layer of sweat.
Not knowing what to expect, the middle schooler anxiously stopped on a dime. There was only about 2 meters of distance separating them now.
Their hearts were both racing faster than either of them thought possible. Each for their own reasons.
Every fiber of Tadano’s being was screaming in horror at what he was about to do. If only it were as simple as shaking some sense into his doppelganger, and telling him that this was wrong... That he was just a normal guy trying in vain to impress the wrong girl...
He would have loved nothing more than to keep it dead... This old cringey, forced persona of his... But somehow he knew that this was the only way...
There was no guarantee that his counterpart would listen to him—even under these absurd circumstances—if he behaved like an ‘ordinary person’...
Besides... To begin with, in what way was this situation ordinary? Ordinary people do not travel across the multiverse, do they...? His embarrassing past aside, he could hardly ignore the uniqueness of his and Komi’s situation any longer.
With this as his justification, he ‘released the seal’, so to speak... If he wanted to strike this accursed moment from his dark history, then he had to do... ‘that’...!
Tadano slowly got to his feet, and unzipped the black leather jacket he had received from his doppelgangster (heh) before slowly turning to face ‘himself’. My shirt doesn’t have a dragon on it, but this much has to be enough, right...?!
“Yo, Hitohito...” Tadano said with a grin steeped in false confidence.
“Y... Yo...” Tadano (C) replied reluctantly... But as one might expect, his reluctance soon turned to excitement.
*It’s fine even if you haven’t read the first 4 parts. But it adds flavor.
Summary: Tadano and Komi continue trying to make sense of what is going on after having been transported to another world. And this is only just the beginning.
Click here to read on AO3.
Click here to see all of my works.
After they had exchanged their greetings, there was an indescribable resonance that took place between the two Tadano and Komi pairs as they made closer contact with each other. It was something they felt on both a physical and spiritual level. They already had a strong hunch that they were doppelgangers of each other, and this feeling of familiarity welling up inside them only helped to confirm it.
Is this really a dream...? Tadano was no longer so certain.
“...I guess you dropped in?” Tadano (M) asked after a moment’s hesitation. His mouth did not move, but somehow his words rang out clear as day.
“...’Dropped in’?” Tadano asked calmly. Though he seemed relaxed―or rather, ‘normal’―on the surface, his nerves were going haywire; his back even felt like it was about to spasm from how badly his nerves were affected... He could not allow himself to lose his composure, however, for Komi’s sake. He was this nervous... He could only imagine how bad it must be for her in this moment.
“...I... guess so?” he responded again after giving his counterpart’s question more thought. He was bewildered beyond words, as one might expect of someone in his situation. He could hardly describe what had just happened to him and his girlfriend, but 'dropping in' was as good a way of putting it as any, he decided. “...If that’s what that was...”
Tadano (M) slowly nodded his head. “We’ve had a couple of people mysteriously drop out before, but this is the first time I’ve heard of someone dropping in.”
The two Komi’s were busy quietly examining each other at various angles... It was something to preoccupy themselves with. It at least helped take some of the edge off.
“Honestly speaking...” Tadano (M) said to Tadano in a low voice as they watched the two girls, “Not to alarm you or anything, but you’re most likely stuck here...”
Tadano stared at him. That would not be the worst case scenario, but... Komi-san will be devastated if we can’t go back... We have so many friends waiting for us back home.
Tadano (M) immediately felt bad for saying something so insensitive. He could have at least been more delicate about it, he realized. I should have known better than to say something like that... There must be something I can- “Oh! Hey, d-don’t give up hope...” he said as he flailed his arms back and forth in front of him. “We can ask the principal about it! He seems to be the oldest among us. Maybe he will know something... He’s a bit... peculiar though...”
The principal...? The principal of Tadano’s high school immediately came to mind. That guy?
“N-no offense, but...” Tadano said anxiously, “The rest of your... people... T-they won’t think we’re... suspicious... will they?”
Tadano (M) stifled a laugh. “Don’t worry. Shouko and I are good friends with more or less everyone here, so I don’t think you have to worry about anything like that... Shouko?”
‘Shouko’? Just how much closer are these two?
Both Komi’s looked at him.
Both Tadano’s chuckled.
“I think this may get a little confusing,” Tadano (M) continued.
“A little,” Tadano chuckled nervously. This is fascinating... but I just want to get us home...
“Shouko, do you mind bringing these two home with you to wait while I go speak with the principal?” Tadano (M) asked.
Komi (M) furiously shook her head no. She didn’t mind at all!
“Wait...” Tadano objected calmly... Or at least as calmly as someone in his predicament was able to... “Are you sure he will believe you if I don’t go with you as well?”
Tadano (M) stared at him for a moment... He didn’t want to move more minecarts than necessary, as it was a bit tedious to swap them around in chests. He also didn’t want to put their counterparts through any added stress. Would he even be able to handle the trip? Their minecarts moved quite fast... But still, “That’s a fair point.”
He took out his blocky little phone... It was a recent addition to their world that Najimi called a ‘mod’. (He refused to ask Najimi for help unless it was necessary.) “A picture should do the trick.” He suddenly got excited. “I want one of all four of us anyway... I-if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Tadano said with a smile. They had only known each other for a matter of minutes, but he was reveling in the deep bond they were already beginning to forge between them. A part of him―a small part, mind you―almost wanted to stay in this strange new world.
“Great!” Tadano (M) said excitedly. The feeling was mutual.
He put down a block of dirt, then placed his phone on top of it facing the other three. After that, he placed a line of some kind of glittering red dust on the ground for a few blocks of distance, leading back to them.
Tadano and Komi were confused by his actions at first, but it was more or less clear what he was doing after a bit of deduction.
“Don’t mind me,” Tadano (M) said, a bit embarrassed, “This would be more convenient if I had a timer with me...” Good thing I make it a point to carry around some redstone.
After he was done placing the redstone down, Tadano (M) quickly crafted a wooden pressure plate out of two planks of birchwood and placed it down beside his wife and their counterparts, right where he would stand for their picture.
Once everything was set up, he got ready to step on the pressure plate. “Say cheese.”
Some time later.
Tadano and the two Komi’s rushed into Tadano and Komi (M)’s gorgeous, and rather large (if blocky) house. In the process, they were spotted by several of their neighbors (friends!).
As a result, in addition to the fact that they had just run several hundred blocks of distance, their hearts were racing faster than ever at the prospect of being asked all number of invasive questions. They were seen. It was inevitable!
Tadano and Komi immediately sat down on a black couch that was made out of blocks of wool. They seriously needed to rest.
Komi (M) was fine for the most part. At least as far as stamina was concerned... That said, she was busy panicking by the double-wide front door, anticipating that several of her friends would come knocking to see what was going on. She began to wonder if perhaps she should have rejected her husband’s idea to bring their counterparts home with her.
...She also realized that she should have used their secret tunnel entrance. It was something they had initially installed due to Yamai’s... exuberance...
Yamai had calmed down in recent years, thanks in no small part to Nakanaka’s influence, but it never hurt to have that extra exit for times such as this. Komi almost wanted to use it now.
...She was going to use it now.
She took several slow, deep, calming breaths before turning to her guests.
“S... Sorry...” Komi (M) said to the pair from another world. This was the hardest time she had communicating in quite some time. That single word would barely come out. There were so many things she wanted to say to them―to ask them―but the circumstances being what they were, there was simply no time...
She started rehearsing what she wanted to say to them in her head a few times. It was something she didn’t have to do for a few years now, but this situation was so far out of her depth of experience, that she had to fall back on it again.
Komi looked down at the blocky, simplistic birchwood floor. She had a feeling that her counterpart had the same communication disorder as her, and this awkward silence more or less confirmed it for her. “T... Tadano-kun...” she whispered into his ear. If it was Tadano, surely he could say or do something.
Tadano nodded once.
Should I call her Shouko or Komi-san??? He had a minor crisis on his hands for a second, but quickly decided to just call her Komi-san. “There’s no need to worry, Komi-san,” he said with his usual warm smile, “None of this is your fault.”
“Dad? Mom? You’re home already?” called a voice from upstairs. A girl.
All three of them jumped. Shizuka was home, Komi (M) realized.
“’Dad’???” Tadano repeated to himself. He just kept being bombarded with new information, one thing after another. He’s... 'I'm' a father?
Komi blushed heavily at the fact that their counterparts had a child together. That means they did... ‘that’... She grew all the more flustered as the realization fully hit, and tightly balled her fists on her lap.
How much older were they than them? She really wanted to know! This girl sounded to be about six!
Komi was freaked out, as one might expect, but it still made her extremely happy once she realized she and Tadano had been together―at least in this world―for several years as a couple already. And they seemed to be quite happy together.
Suddenly, everything went white for the two of them.
They were ‘dropping out’ again. There was no mistaking the sensations of being rapidly pulled apart and put back together in another world. It had not even been an hour since they arrived in this world, but they were already leaving.
Tadano and Komi fell flat on their backsides as they rematerialized in another world. They were outdoors now, in the middle of the street.
Twice now. With odds like these, Tadano suddenly wished he had bought a lottery ticket. This place at least seemed somewhat normal.
Tadano breathed a sigh of relief, and closed his eyes for just a moment. Maybe we’re finally back home...
“Who sent you?” Tadano (N) asked in a demanding tone. In a matter of seconds, he had a pistol trained on his doppelganger at point blank range.
Click here to read on AO3.
First Next
Chapter 43 of Komi-san Can’t Adventure is also finished!
*It’s fine even if you haven’t read the first 4 parts. But it adds flavor.
Takes place directly after chapter 348 - 'University Tour'.
Tadano and Komi tour a familiar set of parallel universes one after another.
Dedicated to Crossed#7562 in the Komi-san discord server.
Click here to read on AO3.
Click here to see all of my works.
The rain continued, ever relentless in its assault. It just had to be now, of all times.
They had just finished taking a look at a university in Shibuya, and they were just about to head back home when the ‘inclement weather’ began.
‘Inclement weather’... What a joke... It’s got to be a full-on typhoon at this point. Tadano could not help but laugh bitterly in his heart as he and Komi weighed their options under the shelter of the subway station.
Komi idly played with a few strands of her now-soaked hair as the anxiety began to set in. Countless worries filled her head. This was all her fault... She somehow convinced herself of this, as if she somehow had any control over the weather. Surely Tadano would blame her.
She trembled at the thought.
“Don’t worry, Komi-san...” Tadano said in a calm and collected voice to ease her concerns. He smiled at her warmly despite his drop in temperature. “We’ll think of something.”
That wasn’t her main concern, but hearing those words alone was enough for her to come to her senses. She nodded, blushing again from what he had said just a few hours earlier.
‘I want to be the best match for you that I can be.’
‘I want to be as close to you, for as long as I can be.’
Komi’s heart fluttered as she replayed those words of her boyfriend in her mind over and over again, oblivious to her surroundings.
Before they could come up with any solid plans, there was a tremor that shook them to their cores.
It was not an earthquake...
Rather, it was a kind of turbulence that overwhelmed their entire being. Their bodies, their minds, even their very souls. It was a pulsing sensation reminiscent of falling... but it was also as if they were being painlessly torn apart and quickly put back together again by some unseen force.
Unknown to Tadano and Komi, there was an interdimensional alignment taking place in this very moment, and the place they had chosen to rest just so happened to be its nexus.
In one moment, they were in their own world taking shelter from the rain. In the next, they were in some... other place all together.
Komi quickly grabbed Tadano’s hand and upper arm, sticking closely to him for fear of being separated. They had already been ripped away from their reality. If she were to also lose him, then she would simply go insane from the stress.
Tadano blushed, and internally screamed at the top of his lungs. He had no idea what was going on, but for Komi’s sake he had to put on the strongest front that he could.
After returning to his senses, Tadano took a moment to analyze their situation. This is like something out of an isekai manga... Even thinking that killed him a little on the inside. He dared not say it aloud for fear of some kind of god coming along to confirm his fears. Komi-san can’t adventure! It’s far too dangerous...! He shook his head. No, I must be dreaming... Yeah... L-let’s just go with it for now...
They were still in a subway station... of sorts... But everything was very... different, to say the least...
To start with, everything was square. Or perhaps it would be more accurately described as blocky.
“U-uh... F-for now let’s just try to figure out what’s going on,” Tadano anxiously suggested, only to receive a flurry of frantic nods from Komi in response. Dream or not, they did not fancy the idea of staying there... Or dying...
The tunnel system they were in seemed to be made primarily of some kind of perfectly smooth grey stone.
The area was thankfully brightly lit. All sides of the tunnel were evenly dotted with perfectly cubed blocks of some kind of golden, glowing stone. These golden blocks were flush with the walls, ceiling and floor as if almost everything were the same exact shape and size.
There were exceptions, however... For instance, a number of railway tracks had been laid down in this tunnel, though they were not nearly spread out enough to be used by full-sized trains. Nor were any trains in sight.
Minecarts, however...
“Minecarts?” Tadano wondered aloud as he happened to notice one at the end of a track. Right beside it was a double-wide wooden chest.
Rather than the minecarts or chest, Komi was preoccupied with ‘something else’.
Startled by Komi’s sudden noises of shock, Tadano quickly swung around to see what was the matter. It could have been any number of things. If it was something dangerous, he had to protect her...!
Just a few dozen ‘blocks’ away was a pair of hauntingly familiar―if ~blocky~―figures.
The strange beings were halfway slouched almost as if they were ducking for cover, and they were slowly but surely making their approach.
Just as Komi was, Tadano was anxious about this pair of block people who suddenly appeared... Somehow, however, he was not as afraid of them as he expected he should be. Even as they drew closer and closer, he could not call what he was experiencing in this moment fear. At least not fear of them.
“T-they... kind of resemble us somewhat... d-don’t they... Komi-san?” he asked as he tried to ignore the sensation in his upper arm caused by Komi’s continued embrace. He gulped and returned his gaze to the other pair.
They stopped...
Just a mere 5 blocks of distance was all that separated them now.
Despite having just come in from the rain themselves, this blocky pair was already completely dry.
Until this point they were crouched, though it looked more like a bow, all things considered. A few seconds after stopping in their tracks, they had straightened themselves up and only stared at Tadano and Komi.
The block woman mirrored Komi quite closely with how she took refuge behind the block man.
Nervously, the block man did the only thing that came naturally to him in occasions like this. He bowed, then straightened himself back up again... He did this 5 times.
With great hesitance, Tadano did the same in turn, correctly deducing that this was some kind of greeting ritual for these strange-looking people.
The block woman backed up a block, then moved a few blocks to her right while keeping an eye on Komi and Tadano. She then bowed a few times herself.
Komi quickly did the same so as to not be left out.
“Can you... understand me?” Tadano(M) asked, hoping they could somehow communicate. What strange-looking people...
Tadano took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh of relief. “Y-yes... N-nice to meet you...”
Next
To more reliably keep up with my stuff, or even just to chat, you can join the Komi-san discord server and join my club. Once in the server, just go to one of the bot channels and send “;clubjoin donsupremacy”. It may take a little while, but once I have noticed you joined, I’ll ping you from the thread to grant you entry.
I post sneak peeks of my stuff there, and I plan to do the occasional fic giveaway deal, like what this chapter is.
Chapter 43 of Komi-san Can’t Adventure is also finished!
