Kanao Can't Communicate

•~chapter two: friends~•

"Kanao~san...I don't know if I'm right, but is it that you're not good at talking to people?"

Kanao stopped dead at the edges of the doorway.

Tanjiro was still internally panicking.

What am I even saying?! he thought frantically. She's supposedly the class princess, of course she would be good at talking!

She turned around to face him, and Tanjiro was caught off guard by her calm eyes and quiet expression.

"How-" she began. She began stumbling over her words, and she kept saying the sound "How" over and over again.

Tanjiro put his hands down. "I guess you really aren't good at talking to people, are you?"

Kanao managed a small nod.

It should have been obvious, Tanjiro thought to himself, but then he shook his head. Stop thinking those things! It's rude!

The two stood in silence for a little while. Then Tanjiro, being the braver one, began to speak.

"Um...was there something you wanted to tell me earlier?" he mumbled, looking away.

Kanao began trembling again.

There must be some way that we can talk to each other, Tanjiro thought.

He then noticed that something had caught Kanao's eye. She ran over to the chalkboard, and began to write.

'How did you figure it out...? That I'm bad at holding a conversation?"

"Well...I have a keen sense of smell, and I caught a small whiff of anxiety from you..." Tanjiro said.

"Are you saying that nobody had ever noticed before?" he asked.

She wrote the word 'yes' on the board. Tanjiro sweatdropped.

People are too busy admiring her to notice this, I guess.... he thought. How sad...

"Oh...I see." Tanjiro said, frantically casting his mind around to find another thing to talk about.

He couldn't decide, and was getting embarrassed around her every single second that passed.

"Well...I'll see you later then..." Tanjiro muttered, now deciding to run away, as his face was coated in blush.

Tanjiro suddenly felt a slight tug on the back of his suit. He turned around, now blushing madly.

For Kanao had stoped him by tugging on the back of his suit, and she had scribbled 'wait!' on the board.

Kanao walked back to the board, and Tanjiro watched as she wrote something again.

'I wasn't able to eat lunch today.'

"Oh...so are you hungry then?" Tanjiro asked uncertainly. Kanao jolted around.

She went back to the chalkboard and wrote something again.

Tanjiro's eyes widened.

'I really do want to talk.'

Tanjiro gasped.

Kanao ignored the small outburst from Tanjiro and continued to write.

'Being in front of people makes me nervous. My face freezes up and I get really scared.'

'But I still wish I could talk to people.'

She began to tremble as she wrote, 'I'm sure they hate me...since I'm so difficult to talk to...'