Komivergence Chapter 4 - Dark History Tour 2
Chapter Summary: Tadano’s Dark History continues.
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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.