Connected Minds

I slowly started opening my eyes and upon looking at the time, I couldn't help but notice that I slept in more then I wanted too. 

"I need to go and get something to eat..."

As I made my way downstairs, I noticed that it was just as empty as when I had arrived. Both my parents were working abroad and I since I was an only child, the house was completely empty without a single sound reverberating within it.

I locked the door behind me and started walking towards the convenience store as to pick out something quick to eat to fill me up for the night.

After some minutes of walking down through that dimly lit street, I couldn't help but feel at peace at how silent the road was. Ever since I had started hearing that static, voices filled my mind and I couldn't even relax if I wanted too.

I let out a sigh and when I arrived at the convenience store, I was greeted by the cashier and thus made my way towards the hot food section.

As I glanced through the array of food that they had on standby, out of nowhere, I felt shivers run down my spine. I looked around the store, but there was no one around me except for the cashier.

"I'm just being paranoid... That's all" I nodded at my words and once I found what I wanted to have for dinner, the static filled my mind "You're special as well, huh?"

My heart was beating faster and faster. I wanted to run. That wasn't any normal thought, they were specifically being told to me.

I glanced around in desperation to find the source of the voice, but there was no one to be found. Just when I thought that I was indeed paranoid, the ring from the convenience store doors went off.

I sneaked a glance over and saw a beautiful girl enter the store without a care in the world. She still hadn't seen like she had noticed my presence and when I was about to continue on with my own thing, the voice called out to me once more.

"You don't have to go sneaking around, I don't bite"

"W-What's wrong? Why are these her thoughts?!"

"Isn't it obvious that I'm able to read your thoughts and give appropriate responses? You're a bit slow in noticing all of this if I'm being honest"

"W-What...?"

Before I could say another word, I noticed that the girl in question walked over towards me and proceeded to pick up the same bento box that I had grabbed.

"Sorry that I had to scare you like that. I was just surprised to finally be able to connect with someone" The girl proceeded to bow and introduce herself "My name is Fujimura Hatomi"

I stared at the girl in question and I couldn't help but feel like whatever was happening was something that she had planned. But even then, the fact that she said that she 'finally' connected with someone made me think that she had the same condition as me if it could be called one.

"Nice to meet you... My name is Nakauchi Natsuo"

She lifted her hand and glanced over at the bento in her hands "Do you mind if we talk for a bit? I'd like to learn more about your special condition if possible"

"..."

"Of course, I'll tell you about my own so that it would be a fair trade, what do you say?"

I couldn't feel any ill intent with her words and ever since she had told me that we had connected, I could read her thoughts without any problems at all and on top of that, she seemed to genuinely want to know more about me.

"Sure, but do you mind if we do this talk somewhere a bit more private"

"I don't mind. Would your place be all right?"

"Sure"

"Perfect" She beamed me a smile and once I picked up the bento that I was going to have for dinner, the both of us headed on over towards the register, paid for our food and started making our way out and towards my place.

On the way there, I couldn't help but feel like I had seen her before "You go to my school right? You're in the same year if I remember correctly"

"We're actually in the same class"

"I-I see... Sorry that I didn't notice"

"Don't worry about it. I rarely try to interact with others" "And since I-"

Before she could continued on with her sentence, I stopped her and spoke up "Wait. If you said that you can connect with me just now, does that mean that you're powers of whatever the hell this thing is awakened today for you?"

"No, I've had this thing for quite some time now, but I never got a response from anyone"

"I see..."

"Did yours activate today?"

"Yes... It did"

"That must be the reason as to why I was able to connect with you as I made my way to the convenience store... I can only connect with those whose mind is the same as mine"

"That would explain everything perfectly..."

Once we arrived at my place, we made our way inside and upon giving thanks and sitting down in my room, I went to the matter at hand "Do you mind telling me about your condition?"

"Why are you calling it a condition?"

"W-Well... I don't know what else to call it"

"You do have a point..." She closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought for a few seconds "How about we call them Sub-Powers?"

"T-That's a bit too childish, don't you think?"

"Do you have anything better?"

At those words, I gently shook my head and bowed "I'm sorry"

She let out a sigh and decided to continue with my question "Now then... What Sub-power do you have, Fujimura-san?"

"Just call me Hatomi" 

"Sorry... H-Hatomi, what do you have?"

"I have the power to connect with the minds of others who have a Sub-power as well, but the only one I've managed to connect is with you"

"Then how did you know that you had it?"

"Because whenever I tried to connect with someone who didn't have it, my voice would flood their mind and they would look around just like you were doing back at the convenience store, but they can't communicate back to me"

"And I can talk with you..."

"You could call it telepathy in a way"

"I see..."

"What's yours, Natsuo?"

"I seem to have the ability to connect to people's subconscious and see they're real thoughts. Something that was possible before, but with the introduction of the AMO device is now impossible"

"I see... Can you use it whenever you want?"

"No... It activates on it's own and to be honest... It's a pain. I can't even think properly when it happens, I can only hear the thoughts of the people around me"

"That must hurt... You're lucky that you're brain didn't overexert itself to the point of you falling unconscious"

"I didn't know that could've happened..."

"It's only logical. The brain is capable of processing a lot of things, but something of that scale would prove to be difficult for even it to handle"

"I see..."

Just when I thought that our conversation was going to end at that, she took one more bite form her bento and looked over towards me "How about we go out tomorrow after school to the mall?"

"... Huh?"

"Since we're both the same, I thought it would be a good idea for the both of us to learn more about each other, what do you say?"

"I don't mind... But wouldn't you be troubled?"

"No, I don't mind"

"..." "This girl is a bit too carefree..."

"You do know that I can hear you, right?"

"Can you just get out of my head for one minute?!"

"Sorry, not possible"

I let out a sigh and nodded "Sure, after school then"

"Ok... I have something else to ask of you"

"What is it?"

"Can I spend the night here?"

"..."

"I wasn't expecting to stay out this long... If you don't want to, do you mind just taking me back home?"

I stared at her for a bit and I could tell that she was indeed beautiful. Everything about her was attractive and I could see that she was a bit nervous about the possibility of heading home at this time.

I scratched the back of my head and sighed "You can stay here if you want"

"Thank you very much, Natsuo"

She bowed at me once more and once we had finished eating, I told her where the bathroom was, handed her a towel and some spare clothes from my mom's wardrobe and she headed off without a word.

I let out a sigh and decided to prepare a futon so that I could sleep in it. Once I did so, I let out a sigh and laid down on it "I wasn't expecting any of this to happen..." "I am a bit nervous that a girl's staying over... But I don't think anything will happen"

"If anything does happen, I'll have you take responsibility"

"Would you stop looking through my thoughts please?!"

"I'll disconnect then and thank you once more for letting me stay the night"

"Yeah, don't worry about it"

The sound of static once more flooded my mind for a bit and thus I let out a sigh. After some time passed, she came out with her wet hair all the way down to her back.

"Where will I sleep?"

"Sleep on my bed"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure of it" "I can't let a girl sleep in such a tough place just because"

She beamed me a smile and giggled "I didn't know you were such a gentleman. You're girlfriend must be pretty happy"

"I don't have one"

She stopped giggling and bowed "I'm sorry about that... But I'm sure that whatever girl does become you're girlfriend will be pretty lucky"

"I hope you're right about that"

I grabbed my towel and some clean clothes and proceeded to make my way towards the bathroom. I took a quick shower and when I stepped out, I couldn't help but notice that Hatomi was in a deep sleep.

"I guess she was tired..." "Good night"

I entered the futon, closed my eyes and waited to drift off to sleep... As I did so, I couldn't help but wonder at what extent our Sub-powers could transcend the human mind, but at the same time, I started thinking about the consequences of them...

"I hope that nothing bad happens to either of us..."