The Human Brain's Limit

A blinding light made me start waking up and upon opening my eyes completely, I couldn't help but look away from the bright light of the sun.

Upon getting accustomed to just waking up, I glanced around the room for a bit and noticed that I was laying down on one of the infirmary bed's from the school.

"I really did pass out..."

I let out a sigh and as I proceeded to sit up, a throbbing pain surfaced in my head, luckily, it was only for a brief second, but even then, my brain had taken a huge toll from looking into everyone's thoughts from the school.

When I was about to grab my phone and check the time, I couldn't help but notice that my hand wasn't moving. Something was stopping me from doing so.

Upon looking down at my hand, I couldn't help but notice that it was none other then Hatomi. Her hand was directly above my own and she seemed to have fallen asleep herself as she laid there. 

"She was either worried about me or she simply didn't want to head back to class..." "But either way, I'm thankful that she helped me"

I lightly shook her with my free hand and after a few times of doing so, she started moving on her own and as she stared me down, she let out a sigh and stared back at me with the same deadpan expression.

"That really did take a toll on you... How do you feel right now?"

"I feel fine. How long was I out?"

"You were out for two hours"

"I see..."

"We should be grateful that you weren't out for the entire day"

"Yeah..." I glanced over at her and asked the question on my mind "By the way, did you carry me back or what did you do?"

"I quickly called a teacher over and had him bring you here. I told him that I would take care of you"

"I see... Quick thinking"

"Of course, I needed to be prepared for anything"

Just knowing that she was able to come up with such things just like that was more then enough to make me feel at ease "Should we head back to class or do we just skip out the rest of what's left of this period?"

"I was thinking of skipping"

"Good idea"

The both of us chuckled and we continued relaxing in the infirmary for the while that we were there. As we did so, she glanced over at me and spoke up "I was actually thinking of a method to lower the strain on you"

"Huh?"

"A way so that you can hear all the voices in a set area without having to pass out"

"You do? What is it?"

"I'll tell you once we're out on our date"

"..." Hearing her and seeing her act without any sort of emotions at the word 'date' made me feel self-conscious about what I was doing.

Just when I was about to speak up, the door to the infirmary opened up and from what I could hear, the footsteps were relatively loud. 

"Natsuo?!"

Upon looking at the figure, I couldn't help but notice that it was none other then Chitose looking somewhat afraid and nervous at the same time.

When she noticed that I was awake, she heaved a sigh of relief and then spoke in a somewhat worrisome tone "You had me worried, Natsuo"

"S-Sorry about that, I don't know what happened"

"You don't?"

"No, I just blacked out"

"I see..." As she was about so speak up once more, she glanced over at Hatomi and simply stared at her hand. As she did so, a voice resounded in my mind "What's she doing here? A-And why is she holding his hand?"

I didn't know what was wrong, but the emotions flowing out of those words were more confusing then anything. I couldn't even identify them if I wanted to.

"T-Thank you for taking care of Natsuo, Fujimura-san"

"There's no need for thanks, I just wanted to help him out" 

"B-But I don't understand why you're holding his hand..."

Hatomi lifted our hands that we're holding each other and looked over at Chitose "I was keeping track of his heartbeat" "It would have been bad if his heartbeat had changed completely"

"I guess you're right..." She glanced over at me and spoke up "Will the both of you be back or once third period starts"

"We'll probably be back in class once second period ends"

"Ok, I'll let our teacher know"

"Thanks"

"N-No worries" She beamed me a smile, bowed and then proceeded to make her way out of the infirmary.

Once she had left, I let out a sigh and glanced over at Hatomi and I could tell from her expression that she had something to say "What is it?"

"That girl really does love you"

"..." I knew that was the case, but I wanted to ignore it completely. Even when I had heard her this morning, I knew that she was being jealous, but I didn't want to point it out.

"Why don't you ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"I don't want to... Besides, there's someone else that's in love with her"

"There is?"

"Yeah... When I had connected with all the students mind and the teachers, just before I passed out, a voice spoke up, one that I recognized all too well"

"What did it say?'

"I love Chitose... But she won't look my way" "The voice was from none other then Tetsuya..."

"The guy you hang out with, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I see... So when the times comes, you'll reject her?"

"That's the plan"

"I see..."

When I glanced over at her, I couldn't help but notice that her expression had changed slightly, she was smiling a bit "If only I could read minds as well..."

"Natsuo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I connect myself again with you?"

"You aren't connected?"

"No, I'd rather ask you permission before doing so"

"Thank you for respecting my privacy" I let out a sigh and nodded "Go ahead"

"Thank you"

Once she had successfully connected with me, it was finally time for the both of us to start making our way back towards our classroom. 

We arrived without any problems and as the period passed by, it was time for us to have lunch. Just when I was about to prepare to eat with Chitose and Tetsuya, a sudden spoke up to me.

"Care to join me for some lunch, Natsuo?"

"You sure?"

"Like I said, I don't have anyone to eat with. I'm alone most of the time"

Hearing her say those words, I tried recalling all the moments when I would look over at her side of the classroom and sure enough, all those times she was alone.

"Sure, where do you usually eat?"

"I'll show you"

I stood up from my seat and glanced over at Chitose and Tetsuya who were just getting their things ready "Sorry, I promised Hatomi that I would eat with her"

"You mean Fujimura-san? When did you get so close to her, huh?" Tetsuya started messing with me all the while I could tell that Chitose was somewhat saddened.

"Yeah, some things happened and I helped her out, that's all"

"I see, we'll see you later then"

"Yeah, take care of her, Tetsuya"

"Yeah, don't worry about it"

With those words they both left the classroom and as they did so, two voices resounded through my mind "I get to finally be alone with Chitose!" "I know that he hasn't noticed my feelings for him... But it hurts..."

I let out a sigh and made my over towards Hatomi and once she was ready, the both of us started making our way outside the school and towards a more secluded spot in the school.

Once we gave thanks, we proceeded to eat and as we did so, she called out to me "I want to talk to you about this date that we're having and my plan about how to ease the burden on you

"Sure, go ahead"

She cleared her throat and proceeded with her idea "Since I can connect to your mind, my plan is to transport some of those thoughts to me so that you don't have to endure all of the thoughts flooding your mind"

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Who knows, but it's worth a shot in my eyes"

"I guess you have a point there..."

"For our date, I'm just planning on going to the nearby stores in the mall if you don't mind"

"Not really"

"Perfect"

She beamed me a smile and took a quick bite from her lunch "If my idea works, that means that we can process the information twice as fast" "Another thing that I want you to try is concentrating ins a single person's thoughts as well as searching for a specific thought, but we'll do that once we confirm that the other plan works"

"Got it"

With those words, we continued eating our lunch and when the bell rang, we made our way back to class all the while talking to one another for a bit more.

The rest of class passed by without any incidents at all and as I said my goodbye to Chitose and Tetsuya, both Hatomi and myself started making our way towards the mall.

After walking for a bit, we arrived at the mall and everywhere I looked, there were people entering and exiting the stores.

"Ready?"

"Yeah..."

I took in a deep breath, exhaled and just when I was going to activate it, she grabbed my hand out of nowhere. 

"I'll be here for you, Natsuo"

"Y-Yeah... Thanks" I couldn't help but look away from her when she said those words "I need to do my best"

I concentrated for a bit and once I activated the Sub-power, sure enough, the people's deep thoughts started flooding my mind.

"Can you hear them?"

"Yeah... The plan works"

"What a relief..." Even though it was easier to handle, it was still too much for my brain to handle. I immediately canceled the mind reading and sighed "I can only use it if it's an emergency"

"Yeah... You would pass out instantly if you continued it anymore"

The both of us sighed and when I thought that she was going to let me go, she tightened her grip and started leading me towards the stores "Let's enjoy our date for now, Natsuo"

"Y-Yeah..."

I let out a sigh and in that moment, I couldn't help but be stunned by her beauty. I couldn't believe that someone like her was still with me, but a part of me still kept wondering why she was alone all the time.