NOVEL WEB NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED
"I wish I could speak and make friends"
As I was resting in the class by putting my head down on the table, I heard the voice of a girl, which seems to be sitting not too far from me. She is murmuring something but thanks to my senses I can hear it easily. But who is it?
"Oh, it's you"
As I called out to her, her whole body shivered upon hearing my words.
She instantly picked up her school bag and stood up from her seat. She didn't even look at my side. That's a bad thing to do, Komi-san.
As she was going to run away from her, I quickly grabbed her hand. She tried to resist it but, in the end, she can't.
This is bad. She didn't even try her best to resist and just 'submit' her to me, No wait I just sounded like a villain there, aren't I?
If it were anyone else in the place of mine, he seriously just did whatever he wants with her. This is happening in the whole world where girls didn't even try their best and get their bodies or life destroyed.
"..."
"Oh no, don't cry. I am sorry but you have to at least try to shout for help or just swing your bag at me and then just ran away from here. You should have tried that Komi-san"
"..."
She just nodded at my words but still there are some tears are welled up inside her eyes. I thought to give her my handkerchief but then I remembered that I have already given that to Shikimori-san in the morning. So I decided not to give her.
I released my grip on her hand and she pulled out her handkerchief from her bag and used it to wipe her tears.
After that, she just stood there looking at the ground. Oh, she just looks like a lost puppy.
"Komi-san?"
When I called out to her, she instantly raised her head and looked at me.
"Do you have any communication disorder?"
After hearing my question, she, for some seconds, just stared at my face. Then she slightly nodded her head, which means I was right.
"And sorry for eavesdropping but I heard that you want friends. Am I right?"
She nodded at my question.
"Hmmm, how many friends do you want to have?"
If she wants a few friends like 5 or a maximum of 10, then I will make my other heroines, her friends. Hmm, I think that will be for the best.
As I was thinking about how to get her friends, she walked towards the blackboard, picked up the chalk, and wrote something, I didn't have imagined.
'I wanted to have 100 friends
Hmm, what a great ambition she has here. 100, huh, for this to happen she needs to cure her communication disorder. Well, I will do what I have to do. But first...
I also walked towards the board and kept my distance from and wrote:
'I will become your first friend!'
When she saw my statement, her face became slightly red and then she wrote:
'Thank you Kaneki-san'
[SHOUKO KOMI: +20 AFFECTION POINTS]
[HER IMAGE OF YOU HAS BECOME [MY FIRST FRIEND!]]
'Would you like to talk more?'
'Yes, Kaneki-san'
'So, first, we should introduce ourselves. I am Kaneki Ren, nice to meet you
'Yes, My name is Komi Shouko, nice to meet you too'
'Kaneki-san, how did you know that I am bad at communication?'
"Oh, it's because when I first met you today, I greeted you and I saw that you tried to say something but you seem to have not the courage to do so. And then in the class, when our classmates tried to communicate with you, you just stayed silent but it looks like that you want to try to do the same with them, but you couldn't. Am I right?"
As I said this, she didn't write anything on the board for some seconds as she was facing the board and I can't see her face. But I know that she got flustered at my words because...
[SHOUKO KOMI: +5 AFFECTION POINTS]
"Um, Komi-san?"
As I called out to her, she didn't turn to me but she started to write on the blackboard:
'Actually, I want to talk with people.'
'Whenever I tried to open my mouth, the other people got nervous about that. Some kneeled in front of me while some just ran away from me.'
'I thought that people hate me but as the days are passing I am believing in such a thing because who wants to talk with someone, who even can't speak.'
Yeah, that's true. It's just human nature. If one person is talking to someone and the other person is not speaking due to some reasons maybe he/she has the same reasons as Komi-san but the other person didn't even try to find that.
Maybe I will do the same if I don't have this system.
'Back in middle school
I ate my lunches alone.
It's kind of painful.
I am envious of people who can talk and eat with their friends. I hate it so much so I tried to speak to others every day.'
'But my voice wouldn't come out. No matter what I did, it just wouldn't. It's as if I lost the ability to speak'
'I didn't know what to do.
How should I speak?
And after that, then what?
What if they reject me?
How can I speak to them again?
What if they think I'm boring?
How should I smile?
What if they don't want to be my friend?
What if they flat-out ignore me?
What if they think I'm weird?
Will I stay like this for the rest of my life?'
'What should I do?'
Yes, this is what I am thinking, what should I say to her?...
As I was thinking about what to say, again, one of my abilities got activated. The time stopped. And there are some screens that appeared in front of me.
A) Oh, look at the time. I have something to do, see you later Komi-san.
B) Komi-san, you know, this is something you have to do on your own. But I will be there for you if you need anything, as I am your friend.
C) You have me, Komi-san, and I have you. So there's no need for you to get more friends, is there?
Oh thanks, A.S., but what with these options? The first one is the one for me if I want to run away from here. The third one is 100% flirting, I mean who will say these cheeky lines (I know I always speak these lines...). Only the second one is meaningful, so I will choose option B.
As I was going to tap the screen to select the option. Another new screen appeared below.
[CHOOSE CAREFULLY. IF YOU CHOOSE WRONG, YOU HAVE TO FACE CONSEQUENCES.]
WHY??
[AS YOU KNOW, IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ONE OF YOUR HEROINE YOU HAVE TO DO ANYTHING EVEN IF THAT IS NOT IN YOUR POWER]
Okay, now there will be these warnings also. Great, just great.
"Komi-san, you know this is something you have to do on your own..... But I will be there for you if you need anything, as I am your friend."
It looks like when she heard the first sentence she showed a sad expression but as she heard me till last she, in last, smiled... Oh what a beautiful smile, you got there.
'Thank you
'And sorry for taking your time and also you have to listen to my things. Sorry
After writing this on the board, she bowed her head and started to look down.
"Good grief"
I said this and started walking towards her, she slowly raised her head.
When I reached there, I stood in front of her, raised my hand, put it on her head, and started patting her head. She, at first, looked surprised but as time pass her face become all red. Ah, she got embarrassed, hmmm.
[SHOUKO KOMI: +15 AFFECTION POINTS]
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED NEW ABILITY [MAGICAL HANDS]]
Oh, look at this. I have unlocked a new ability, huh? Let's see what we have here.
A.S. Open the system.
=================================================
CHARM: 67
[HEROINES]
[ABILITIES]
* YOU CAN TAP ON THE [BOX] TO SEE MORE DETAILS
=================================================
=================================================
[ABILITIES]
[DARK AURA]: WHEN YOU GET ANGRY ABOUT SOMETHING, YOU EXHIBIT A DARK AURA.
[KILLER SMILE]: YOU HAVE AN CHARMING SMILE, WHICH CAN HELP YOU GET AN EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF AFFECTION POINTS FROM HEROINES.
[CHANGE THE REALITY]: CHANGE REALITY IN THE HEROINE'S FAVOR WHENEVER IT'S TRULY NEEDED TO MAKE ONE OF YOUR HEROINES HAPPY. IT CANNOT BE WILLINGLY ACTIVATED. ONLY TRIGGERS WHEN YOUR HEROINE'S SAKE DEMANDS IT. OR WHEN IT'S TRULY NEEDED.
[MAGICAL HANDS]: YOUR HANDS HAVE SOME MAGICAL POWER THAT COULD BE CALMING FOR YOUR HEROINES. LIKE PATTING THE HEAD, HOLDING HANDS, AND ELSE. (IT HAS NO USE FOR SAME-SEX)
=================================================
Okay, but you don't have to add the last line to the description of [MAGICAL HANDS]. I told you before I am not H.O.M.O.S.E.X.U.A.L.
...
After that, we chatted for some more time like how's the weather today to what we eat at dinner. But I don't mind as I have to do that at some point in the future so why not today? Then we say goodbye to each other.
Now, I am standing in front of my apartment, as someone stopped me from going inside.
"Kaneki-kun"
"Oh, good evening Yukinoshita-san"
"Hmm"
"So, is there anything you need from me?"
"Why are you coming this late?"
Should I tell her that I am with Komi-san or not...? Yukinoshita-san is also one of my heroines, so I don't know. Will she be jealous or just react like it's none of her business? But as far as I think she will react like the latter.
Let's not tell her.
"Oh! Are you worried about me, Yukinoshita-san?"
"Huh, how can you come to that conclusion?"
"Well, you know you asked me like that kind of face..."
"No way. But just tell me. Older sister asked me to ask you if you got late"
"Oh, Haruno-san asked. Well just tell her that I got late because of something personal"
"Oh okay. But... Well, never mind"
"Well, how was your day Yukinoshita-san?"
"Fine, Yours?"
"Bad. Well later"
"Yeah, later"
And just like that, this concludes my day today. From this time till tomorrow morning, I don't have to do anything as I don't have to interact with them and vice-versa.
As I entered my apartment, I walked toward the couch and laid down on it, putting all my weight on it. Is the first day of school always this hectic? Or is this because of the system? This means... from tomorrow every day will be a hectic one...? Great...
As I started to undress, I heard a ringing voice which is not from my smartphone but from the phone, Mr. Sakayanagi provided me on the day of the entrance ceremony.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hello Kaneki Ren-kun. This is Mr. Sakayanagi speaking."
"Good Evening, sir"
"Good evening. So, how was your first day of school?"
"As you said, it was my first day in school of my whole life so I don't know how can I express this but I think it was okay."
"Alright"
"..."
"Well, I want to ask you for a favor."
"Hmm... What is it?"
"You see, my daughter Arisu wanted to meet you..."
"I see"
"Yes"
"But is this the only reason why you called me..?"
"Hmm, well yes"
"I see"
"..."
"..."
"So, where and when?"
"She will be waiting at the school cafeteria, when classes will end, on Saturday."
"Sir today is Monday. So why are you telling me today? You can tell me any other day also"
"Well, my daughter wants me to tell you as soon as possible as I can. So..."
"Oh okay. I will meet up with her on Saturday"
"Thank you Kaneki Ren-kun"
"Hmm"
~Beep~ Beep~
If it's not for your help, in getting me enrolled in your school, I will gratefully reject your favor. But well, it's just me meeting with her, it's not like she is some maniac or something.
A.S. Open the system.
=================================================
CHARM: 67
[HEROINES]
[ABILITIES]
* YOU CAN TAP ON THE [BOX] TO SEE MORE DETAILS
=================================================
Hmm, I think whenever I will interact with heroines, it will increase their affection as well as my charm also.
Well, let's see the [HEROINES] tab...
..
1,2,3,...,10. In just two days, 'entrance ceremony' and 'today', I have already unlocked 10 heroines. If it goes on every day, I will have about 500+ heroines. No, no, it's too much...
I think I should avoid the conversation with any other girls from now on... But if they tried to approach me, I can't ignore them, can I?
Well, let's just make something good to eat. What do we have here...
.
..
...
Tuesday...
The second day of my school life....
Yesterday was such an episode of my life, I don't want to experience it again but I have this system that will make it impossible for me not to experience it again and again.
When I was changing shoes into indoor shoes, I thought that maybe Komi-san will be changing here, but she is not... It seems that I am late... But thankfully I am not.
When I entered the classroom, the whole classroom went silent. Why? This is what I thought. But as unlucky as I am, these past few days. I knew I fucked up. Because the blackboard on which I and Komi-san chatted yesterday for about an hour, is filled with our conversation. Shit.
When I turned my face to see Komi-san, she... she is trying to hide her face in her notebook. This is your fault, girl.
Yesterday, when we finished our chat, I told her that I will clear the blackboard but she insisted that she will do it. So I accepted and then I excused myself from there. But why...? I don't think any reason for her to do this... As she also has been cau..gh..t...
No, why? Why is there only my name on the blackboard? Where is hers? No way, there has to be written somewhere as far as I can tell I am sure we introduced each other by writing our name on the blackboard. So where is it? But the introduction part is not there.
"Kaneki, move aside. Go to your seat."
"Yes"
As I am walking straight to my seat, I take a glance at Yukinoshita-san and Horikita-san. The former looks like she is trying her best to hold her laughter while the latter is just grinning at me while reading a book as usual. Then at the back of my seat, there sits Shikimori-san, who is looking somewhat worried and angry..? Why angry though? Well, now I just have to wait for the teacher to scold me.
.
..
...
Lunch break.
What the heck just happened? I mean the teachers just ignored the existence of words written on the board. Is it on purpose or something else? Everyone was surprised by their reaction and no one called out me or did anything else.
According to the internet, the school is a place which helps the students to be disciplined, right? And what I and Komi-san done is wrong, right? But even though, teachers did nothing. When the lunch break begins, I straightly walked toward the blackboard and erased the content written on it. Well, not the contents the teachers wrote though.
Now, I am sitting at the table which consisted of a total of only 2 people, I am trying to eat the lunch I bought from the school cafeteria. I said 'trying' because the girl sitting beside me just kept apologizing for what she did. Well, I already accepted her apology. But when I asked her what happened, she told me everything, of course by writing in her notebook.
Yesterday, when I left by excusing myself from her. She tried her best to find the blackboard duster but she didn't find it. Because Chhabashira-sensei, who was teaching us, yesterday, before school ended, took the duster from the class for getting the stamp on it that it belongs to Class 1-1. Komi-san tries to get the duster from her but she has a communication disorder so she couldn't muster up the courage to do so.
Well, it's not her entire fault. I think. But even though she could have done the same thing with her, I mean telling the sensei by writing that she wants a blackboard duster, but she didn't...
When I was done thinking about everything she told me, I turned to her side. I saw that she wrote 'I am sorry' for more than 100 words. Good grief.
So I raised my left hand and gently patted her head, she first looked surprised and stopped her hand as she kept writing about how sorry she felt. But I didn't get punished for that so it's okay, right?
"Komi-san, you told me that you want to eat lunch with your friends. So just stop apologizing about that, I didn't get punished so it's alright"
She slightly nodded at my words and kept her head down trying to hide her embarrassed look.
[SHOUKO KOMI: +8 AFFECTION POINTS]
[HER IMAGE OF YOU HAS CHANGED FROM [FIRST FRIEND!] TO [FIRST FRIEND?]]
Oh, what does that '?' means here? Does that mean she is not sure about me being her first friend or anything else?
...
Then after eating our lunches, we came back to class. But we didn't enter the class together because I already have 3 heroines aside from Komi-san. From the perspective of the novel and mine, the girls get easily jealous and do unnatural things... So, I will try to never do anything which will make them jealous or become obsessive with me which will be problematic for me. I mean if I make them fall for me, it's okay but if they became wanderers, then no thank you.
[BUT THIS IS YOUR DESTINY]
Huh, A.S. I didn't ask about you on this.
[...]
And also you don't have to tell me every time about what to do, I know what I have to do. And about this 'destiny' thing I already got my answers last week. Thanks to you.
...
As the school bell rang, it only means that now all the periods have been completed and now I just have to head back home.
When I exited the school, I had a hunch that maybe I have to deal with any heroine but thank god, nothing happened.
When I was on my halfway through my apartment from school, I noticed the park in which some people talking with each other or children are playing... Should I stay here for a bit, I mean I am just shut in NEET these past days or one could say 'months'.
I started walking around the park, until I see a familiar face, looking all sad and disappointed. She is holding her smartphone in her left hand while her skirt is been tightly gripped by her right hand.
"Nii-san, what should I do? So that you could at least look at me like you did in the past?"
Oh, I know I shouldn't have listened to her mumbling because it's wrong but I can't control myself when I found out that she is none other than the girl who was grinning at me, this morning. Suzune Horikita.
"What should I do...?"
"..."
"..."
"Oh, fancy meeting you here, Horikita-san."
"Wha--"
She let out a surprised squeal when I called out to her while standing in front of her, it looks like she was looking down the whole time, she didn't even notice me.
She, after a few seconds, looked calm, I took a seat beside her by keeping some distance between us.
"You surprised me Kaneki-kun..."
"Well, my bad. But may I know what are you doing here?"
"Just to get some fresh air. You?"
"Oh same here"
After that we just sat there silently, not saying anything, mainly because we don't have anything else to talk about...
"Kaneki-kun"
"Yes?"
"What do you think about today's incident? Why teachers behaved like nothing happened? They must have taken some action on that, right? "
Oh, she noticed that too. I mean I noticed all of my classmates didn't give a shit about what is happening in the class. And to answer her question, I think I know the most suitable reason for it. But still, I think I need to find out more about it...
"Hmm... You are right, Horikita-san. I was also thinking about that the whole day but didn't have any ideas of what was that all about..."
"Oh, you were. I thought you were just looking at the girls in the class."
"Hoh, and how could you say that? Don't tell me... "
As I said, I saw her getting embarrassed after realizing what she had just said. She glared at me for some seconds, while having a slightly flushed face.
"S-s-shut up"
"Ok ok. So, Horikita-san, how long do you plan to stay here?"
"Why?"
"Well, I can't leave you here as a classmate."
"Oh, how admirable, but you don't need to do that."
"Oh okay. Then see you tomorrow."
"Hmm"
Then I left from there and headed to my apartment.
On my way to the apartment from the park, I saw a store where some things has a discount on them. So let's get the all things I want...
..
After I bought all the things I required from the store, I walked toward the park to take a rest there because I got tired there. Huh, it's just like the senpais said, that if there will be a discount on anything there will be several people to take advantage of it. Today also was my first day to shopping. That's why I think I should take a rest here. As I was walking around to find the seat, I heard two people talking and to my surprise, I know one of them...
"Suzune, why did you call me here?"