Self-Destruct

"... Natsuo"

"..."

"Wake up..."

"Mmm..." I slowly started opening my eyes but before I knew it, a sudden flash of light made me jump out of my futon.

"What was that about?!"

"I've been trying to wake you up, but you never reacted. I thought that this was the only way to make you react"

"..." I wiped my eyes a bit and let out a sigh "Thanks... But next time, please don't flash your flashlight on my eyes"

"I understand"

I let out a yawn and as I was about to stand up, I noticed that she was holding my towel alongside my uniform "Here"

"U-Umm..."

"I've already taken a shower so you can take your time while I make breakfast"

"O-Ok..."

With those words, she handed me the things in her hands and started making her way out of the room without saying another word to me. That alone was more then enough to make me wonder if something had happened or if she simply acted like this with people that she liked being around with.

"I really don't understand her at times..."

I let out a sigh, proceeded to get up with my things in hand and thus started making my way out of the room and towards the bathroom.

Once I was inside, I locked the door, took off my clothes and just when I was going to start filling up the tub, I noticed that it was already filled up.

I checked the temperature and noticed that it was fresh warm water "Did she fill it up for me?"

"I hope that the water isn't too warm"

Hearing her voice, I let out a sigh and shook my head "No, it's perfect. Thanks for doing this for me"

"Don't worry about it. Breakfast will be done in around 7 minutes"

"I'll get out as soon as I finish"

"Ok, I'll be waiting"

With those final words, she cancelled the connection and I was left there simply washing my body. As the warm water fell on my body, I couldn't help but let out a sigh "She's being too nice to me... I wonder if she was really expecting to being around someone else"

I shook my head and simply focused on washing my body. Once I had done so, I proceeded to dip into the bath and simply relax myself for a bit before the big day.

As I did so, I stared at the ceiling for a bit and a single thought crossed my mind "I wonder just how far my ability can reach..."

Since I had only tried it out in the area around the school and the center of the city where the mall was, the distance I could hear, varied exponentially, but I never did find out a set amount that I could hear in.

"I'll try it out when I'm on my way back"

Once I finished bathing, I got out from the tub, dried myself off, threw on my uniform and started making my way downstairs where sure enough, Hatomi had gone through the trouble of making the breakfast all by herself.

"You could have told me to help you out, I wouldn't have minded"

"I wanted to do this"

"I see..." 

"Take a seat"

"Thanks"

With those words, I proceeded to sit down and before I knew it, she brought out some plates with food on them and slowly settled them down in front of me.

"Enjoy"

"T-Thanks" "Is it just me or is she asking a bit nicer then usual...?"

I stared at her for a bit and immediately shook my head "I can't be focusing on that!"

"Is something wrong, Natsuo?"

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about something that I wanted to try out before we go to school, we can even do it while we're making our way to it"

"What do you want to try out?"

"I want to see just how far my ability can reach"

"Distance wise or the people around you?"

"Distance wise"

"I see... But you'd better make sure that you don't overexert yourself. We don't want you passing out like you did back when we were in the school roof"

"I know, besides, since It's already been some time since I've had it, I should be able to endure a bit more"

"Let's hope that that's the case"

She gave thanks for her food and I followed suit. We quickly ate our food and then we started making our way out of her house and started making our way towards the school, as we did so, I couldn't help but notice that they're weren't as many students around as there would be when I would head out.

"Where do you want to test out your ability?"

"I wanted to test it out near the bank since that part is the busiest part"

"I see... It should prove to be helpful if need be"

"Yeah, that way, I can focus on anyone who's too far away from me"

As we continued walking towards the school, we reached the bank and as we stood there, I glanced around the area and sure enough, it was filled with people coming and going.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready"

I took in a deep breath and activated it, as I did so, I started hearing voices slowly but surely, but even then, I was only opening it up to those who were near me.

"Let's see... How far can I reach?"

I extended the distance by ten miles and before I knew it, voices started filling my mind. I was managing to process them without problems, but even then, it wasn't something that I could continue doing constantly for time on end.

"I can go a bit further... I know I can"

I opened up the channel for ten more miles and before I knew it, I felt something welling up within me and coming up my throat.

Before I could even cancel the ability, a clog of blood came out of my mouth which fell to the ground with a splat.

"W-What...?"

"Your nose!"

I passed my finger near my nose and sure enough, I was bleeding "My brain... Couldn't handle it"

As I tried to take a step forward, I stumbled and was about to fall to the ground, but before I could, Hatomi caught me and supported me "I told you not to push yourself!"

"..." I glanced over at her and couldn't help but notice that she was genuinely angry with me for what I had done.

"You knew what happened to you the other day, you can't be pushing your body anymore until you can master it..."

"Sorry..."

She stared into my eyes, sighed and proceeded to pull out some tissues from her bag "Look up a bit"

I did as she told me and she gently proceeded to wipe away at the blood from my nose and the residue of blood that was on my lip from me expelling the clog of blood.

"Can you still go to school? If you don't feel alright, I can tell the school that you didn't feel well"

"I'm fine... Now that I cancelled it, my brain is catching a break"

"Are you sure? I don't want you getting hurt any longer"

I stared at her for a bit and simply slapped her back lightly "Don't worry about me. I'm fine, but I would appreciate you letting me walk with you like this just in case"

She let out a sigh and smiled at me "You really are too kind for your own good"

"Yeah, but if I weren't like that, I would simply be like everyone else and that's no fun at all"

She beamed me one last smile and the both of us continued making our way back to school all the while she let me grab onto her.

As we were reaching the gates a sudden voice called out to us "Natsuo?!"

"Hmm?"

I looked over and it was none other then Chitose "D-Did something happen to you?!"

"I'm fine, I just tripped and fell, that's all"

"Is your leg in pain or something?"

"No, I'm fine"

"That's a relief" She glanced over at Hatomi and bowed "Thank you for helping Natsuo, Fujimura-san"

"I don't mind it. He did stay at my place so he was lucky that I was with him when it happened"

"..."

"..." "Why did you say that?!"

"Did I say something wrong? I jus thought that by telling the truth, she would understand"

"I get that, but why did you have to tell her that I stayed at your place?!"

"No real reason" 

Upon looking at Hatomi's expression, I could tell that she was just being herself. She had the same deadpan expression she would have most of the time.

"H-H-He stayed at your place?"

"Yes, he did"

"I see..."

Chitose glanced over at me and bowed just before she started running to class, seeing this, I couldn't even be bothered by hearing her thoughts since I could more or less guess what was going through her mind.

"Did I say something wrong?"

I glanced over at Hatomi and simply shook my head "No, you didn't" I was being completely honest, she hadn't said anything for anyone to get mad at her. She had simply spoken the pure truth, but even then, that was enough to make Chitose feel a bit bad.

"Let's go before we're any late"

"Yes"

With those words, the both of us made our way inside the school all the while she supported me a bit in case I would be on the verge of falling down again.