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.
