Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
{[Dinsional Chat]
Aletia: This sounds better than last ti
Violet: That's because this has professional effects added to it
Jas: Yeah, but I think I like the live performance better
Tatsuo (Admin): Thanks
Akatsuki: This is that song by the Arican Artist, Chris Brown, right?
Akatsuki: How did you translate it to Japanese so well?
Akatsuki: The flow of the song is still exactly the sa
Tatsuo (Admin): OH, didn't expect you to have Chris Brown in your world
Tatsuo (Admin): Honestly, I don't know
Tatsuo (Admin): It just kinda worked
Alfonzo: I think that has sothing to do with the chat
Alfonzo: For so reason, everything we say is translated perfectly, too
Lici: Fonzie is right
Lici: Like when we listened to music in Sumire's world
Lici: The songs flowed perfectly there, too
Lici: No matter what language we heard them in
Tatsuo (Admin): But no one seed to find an issue with it in my world
Tatsuo: (Admin): My mom aside, Mai-Nee, Kasumi-Neesan, Yakumo-Chan, Chi-Chan, and Tenma-San didn't hear anything wrong with it
Jas: Don't ask
Jas: Everyone who heard it in my world, other than Shizuku was a Devil or a Yōkai
Jas: They all have the Language ability
Jas: So, it all sounded fine to them
Jas: But now that I think about it, Shizuku didn't have anything negative to say, either
Alfonzo: I think you guys are thinking about this too simply
Alfonzo: The chat corrects the way we say things, too
Alfonzo: I an, there have to be so untranslatable words and expressions from our different languages, right
Alfonzo: But we've never had problems with that, either
Tatsuo (Admin): Now that you ntion it...
Lici: Don't think about it too hard
Lici: If it works, do you really need to know how it works?
Lici: I an, do you know how a TV makes the picture appear on the screen?
Alfonzo: Yeah, I do
Tatsuo (Admin): Sure do
Jas: Yeah
Akatsuki: Learned about that from the internet
Lici: ...
Lici: Nerds
Tatsuo (Adnin): But I get what you're saying, Lici
Tatsuo (Admin): It's not hurting
Tatsuo (Admin): So, I don't need to understand the chanisms
Lici: Exactly!
Lici: Anyway, I'll be at my destination soon
Lici: ttyl
Alfonzo: I should get back to work, too
Alfonzo: Besides, Yamato is looking at funny for just staring blankly
Jas: Oh, BTW Tatsuo
Jas: Aislynn got rid of the HPTC as soon as you left
Jas: I'm so jealous
Jas: I could have gotten strong enough to deal with Indra after another year or so
Violet: Indra, the Hindu Got of the Sky?
Violet: Why would you have to deal with him
Jas: Because I killed his favorite human butt buddy a while ago when he and his little human friends tried to invade the Underworld
Jas: It's too bad Azazel took the True Longinus
Jas: If I had it, it would have been a good weapon for you, Sumire
Violet: For ?
Tatsuo (Admin): The True Longinus is the spear that slew Christ
Tatsuo (Admin): But it's a Sacred Gear
Tatsuo (Admin): It would have to be compatible with her soul, right?
Jas: That's true
Jas: But I'm sure we could have figured sothing out
Jas: With Master, Ajuka, and Azazel we could have made it work
Tatsuo (Admin): Gotta go
Tatsuo (Admin): The bell just rang}
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
As the sound of the school bell signaling the end of horoom echoed throughout the school, Tatsuo ca back to his senses just in ti for his first period teacher to step into the room. And just like that, the rest of the school day passed without issue.
During one of the breaks, Yakumo decided to co to Tatsuo's apartnt after school so that she could observe Tatsuo at work in his ho studio. On top of that, she wanted to talk to him about the incident with his thoughts being read from this morning. As previously ntioned, although Yakumo had heard the thoughts of many others, that was the first ti anyone knew about it.
anwhile, Tatsuo intended to tell Yakumo about the supernatural. Because he really wanted her to stay by his side, as evidenced by the thoughts Yakumo heard, he knew he would have to tell her. The only question was...
'I wonder how she'll react when she hears the truth.' Tatsuo thought to himself while putting his books away. 'Well, if she can't handle it, I'll just remove the mory. *Sigh* I'd hate to let her go, though. But I don't wanna put soone normal in the line of the danger that will probably find at so point.'
"You ready to go?" Tatsuo asked with a smile after he was done packing.
In response, Yakumo only nodded her head. Then, the duo both stood up before moving towards the classroom door, bidding Chiho goodbye as they passed her desk.
"See ya tomorrow, Chi-Chan." Tatsuo said with a casual wave and a smile.
"Have a good evening, Chi-Chan." Yakumo added.
Hearing her friends talk to her, Chiho looked up from her bag and turned in Tatsuo's and Yakumo's direction. Then, with a cheerful smile, she waved at them, as well.
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Tatsuo-Kun, Yakumo-Chan." Chiho said cheerfully. "I'm working tonight, so I can't hang out with you guys."
With that, Tatsuo and Yakumo left the classroom, made their way through the halls of the school, changed their shoes at the locker, and left the school grounds. From there, it did not take long for the two to arrive at Tatsuo's apartnt building. All the while, even though they chatted, they did not ntion Yakumo's [Telepathy], not wanting anyone unrelated to overhear them.
"I'm ho." Tatsuo said loudly after he and Yakumo stepped out of the elevator into the penthouse.
"Please excuse the intrusion." Yakumo followed shortly afterwards.
Tatsu-Chan! Yakumo-Chan!" Sumire's voice carried from the living room. "Co in! Co in!"
Changing out of their shoes into a pair of slippers, Tatsuo and Yakumo made their way to the living room. There, they found Sumire, Mai, and Tio sitting on the couch. And while Sumire and Tio were smiling at the two middle school students, Mai was glaring at Yakumo.
*Bang!*
"Stop that, Mai-Chan!" Sumire said sharply after hitting Mai in the head with a harisen.
"Sumire-Sama~~~!" Mai whined.
Ignoring Mai, Sumire turned back to Tatsuo and Yakumo.
"So, how was your day at school?" Sumire asked with a bright smile.
"Just another day." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm gonna work on so music with Yakumo-Chan. We've got so stuff to talk about, too."
"Okay, have fun.' Sumire said.
Nodding in response, Tatsuo turned around and started moving towards the studio. anwhile, Yakumo bowed her head politely in greeting before following Tatsuo.
"Wait!" Mai shouted as she reached out a hand. "I'll co, too."
*Bang!*
"No, bad Mai-Chan!" Sumire said sternly. "Stay!"
In response, Mai could only lower her head with indignation. Even so, she had no ideas about disobeying Sumire.
Tio, on the other hand, only watched the two leave. For so reason, she had a feeling that Yakumo would be joining them even more often after tonight.
Not long later, Tatsuo and Yakumo reached the studio. While Yakumo put her bag down and took a seat, Tatsuo turned on the computer after dropping his bag by the door when he entered.
"Alright, while I'm getting everything set up, let's talk, Yakumo-Chan." Tatsuo said as he sat down in the chair in front of the computer. "We both know you managed to hear my thoughts earlier, right?"
Yakumo only nodded in response.
"Just to let you know, that's highly unusual." Tatsuo replied.
"I know." Yakumo replied. "I've never heard of anyone else with such a power, either."
"That's not actually what I'm talking about.' Tetsuo said with a wry smile. "I'm talking about the fact that you were able to hear my thoughts at all."
"Now that you say that." Yakumo replied in a slightly confused tone. "I've never been able to hear your thoughts before. I thought it was because you didn't want to get close to anyone at school. You see, I can only hear the thoughts of people who hold affection for ."
"I see." Tatsuo said, pretending as if he did not already know that. "Well, to be blunt about it, you shouldn't have even been able to hear them at all. You're simply too weak. In fact, most telepaths are the sa way."
For the first ti since he t her, other than when she ate the food from Restaurant Yukihira, Yakumo showed a large change in her facial expression.
"Most telepaths?" Yakumo asked, ignoring the statent about her weakness for what she deed important at the mont. "Does that an I'm not the only one?"
"You're not." Tatsuo replied while shaking his head. "In fact, telepathy isn't the only power in this world. Hell, humans aren't even the only sentient beings in this world."
Hearing that, Yakumo was skeptical. However, she also knew that Tatsuo had no reason to lie to her. Or at least, she thought he had no reason to lie to her. Even so, Tatsuo could see the skepticism in her eyes.
"Look, Yakumo-Chan." Tatsuo said, his wry smile turning into a solemn expression. "I like you a lot. I'm not sure if that like is romantic yet. But I know I want to have you around for a long ti. So, I'm going to tell you the truth. I know it will be hard to believe. But these are things I just found out about recently, too."
Hearing the seriousness in Tatsuo's tone, Yakumo focused all her attention on him.
"And if you're not able to accept what I told you, I can make it so this conversation never happened for you." Tatsuo said. "Because knowing what I'm about to tell you will more than likely make it so that you're unable to see life on Earth the sa way ever again."
Despite the gravity behind Tatsuo's words, Yakumo did not change her expression. Though, Tatsuo was uncertain if that was because she was so focused or because she generally did not change her expression very often.
"First of all, I just found out about this about a month ago." Tatsuo said as he raised his hands for Yakumo to see. "But I'm not completely human myself."
As he spoke, midnight purple-dragon scales began to sprout from Tatsuo's hands. When Yakumo saw this phenonon, her eyes opened wide once again. However, contrary to what Tatsuo was sowhat expecting, there was no fear in Yakumo's eyes. Instead, they were filled with curiosity.
"Are those... scales?" Yakumo asked.
"Yes." Tatsuo replied. "Dragon scales, to be exact."
"Does that an you're a dragon, Tatsuo-Kun?" Yakumo asked, more confirming what she was seeing than asking an actual question.
"Not exactly." Tatsuo replied. "I'm only half dragon. The rest of is human."
"I see." Yakumo said in her usual tone.
'*Sigh* reading her is always so hard.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Her expression never changes, and her emotions don't fluctuate much. I don't know what she thinks about this from what she's showing ."
"Can I... touch them?" Yakumo asked, a hint of wonder seeping into her tone.
'Never mind.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I guess the allure of mythical beasts is hard to ignore no matter who they are. I'm just glad she doesn't look scared.'
"Go ahead." Tatsuo said as he stretched his hand out.
With that, Yakumo slowly reached her hand forward, careful to not cut herself on the sharp looking claws sticking out from Tatsuo's fingers. She then gently ran her right index finger across the scales on the back of Tatsuo's left hand, tracing their surfaces and rubbing her finger along the spaces between the scales.
'They're quite hard.' Yakumo thought to herself while the sensations were transferred to her fingertips. 'But they're a really pretty shade of purple. Just like Tatsuo-Kun's hair.'
As she got more comfortable with the feeling of Tatsuo's scales, Yakumo eventually held Tatsuo's larger hand with both of hers. When she did that, noticing that Yakumo had forgotten about his claws, Tatsuo willed them to be retracted. In fact, the only reason he had them extended in the first place was to let Yakumo get a true sense of his heritage.
"You said you were half dragon, right?" Yakumo asked while continuing to hold Tatsuo's hand. "Then, that ans one of your parents was a full dragon, right?"
"Yeah, my mom is." Tatsuo replied. "Though, I don't know what her dragon form looks like. If she were to transform, it would probably cause mass panic."
Yakumo nodded in understanding.
"I see. That makes sense." Yakumo said. "But you said that my power was not the only type of power in the world. What other kinds are there?"
"Well, there are people who can control their internal energies or life force." Tatsuo replied. "I an, the ones who kidnapped trained people to do that. Kinda like what you see in those Chinese movies. Ther are also..."
Like that, Tatsuo explained so of the powers he was aware of on this version of Earth, both from personal experience and from what he had heard from his mother, Mai, and Kasumi. He then explained that he had t a couple of demons from another world that lived in a shabby apartnt and a half angel who chase after the demons to kill them. Though, he did not reveal their identities as Sadao, Ashiya, and Emi.
anwhile, Yakumo listened with rapt attention, finding all the fantastical things interesting. Though, she would have never believed any of this if Tatsuo had not shown her his dragon scales. Rather, she would not have believed most of it. Because she knew that psychic powers were real but everything else sounded like stuff straight out of a movie or video ga.
"Anyway... I think that's enough for now." Tatsuo said. "But there is one last thing I wanna say."
Tatsuo then looked Yakumo deeply in her eyes, which made her blush slightly as she just realized that she was still holding Tatsuo's hand, which was no longer covered in dragon scales, as he had retracted them while he told her about the supernatural side of the world. Add to that with the fact that he premised the whole conversation by saying that she was soone he wanted to keep by his side. And for the first ti, she realized that her feelings for Tatsuo extended far past wanting to just help him. Though, she could not pinpoint when that happened.
"If you'd like to keep living on this side of the world, then it's paramount that you learn how to control your powers." Tatsuo said seriously. "Right now, your telepathy is just a passive ability. Sothing you can't turn on or off. Luckily, that's not such a big deal. Only other telepaths would be able to sense the psionic energy you're constantly leaking. Well, Mom and I could sense it, too. But we're a little special. Anyway, being able to control it would an that you don't have to hear the thoughts of all the perverted boys at school all day, every day, too."
The look on Yakumo's face made it clear that the last point Tatsuo just made was quite appealing. However, as sensible as Yakumo was, she did not jump into a decision right away.
"Can you give so ti to think about all of this, Tatsuo-Kun?" Yakumo asked. "This is a lot to process."
"I understand." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "But you shouldn't tell anyone else about this. Who knows what will happen if it gets to the wrong people."
"I understand.' Yakumo replied.
"Well then." Tatsuo said, the solemn atmosphere swept away in an instant with his smile. "Let's get to work. Here, take a look at these. Which one should I record next?"
While asking that question, Tatsuo picked up a notebook that was lying on the desk and handed it to Yakumo.
That notebook held all the songs that Tetsuo had modified and created piano versions of their lodies. He also made any necessary changes to the lyrics so that they would not sound strange coming from a fifteen year old boy.
Accepting the notebook, Yakumo began skimming through the pages. She would then ask any questions she had about the songs and even ask Tatsuo to play the lodies for her. She eventually chose the song, "Put on a Smile" by Silk Sonic.
Luckily, watching Tatsuo work on the music was enough to divert her attention from the supernatural for a while. Yet, after they decided to stop for the night and Tatsuo walked Yakumo ho, when Yakumo was alone in her room, she found it hard to not think about the heavy conversation she had with Tatsuo earlier that evening. At least the topic did not stop her from doing her howork, though.
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