Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
The next day, Tatsuo got back to his usual schedule, So, early in the morning, he was awakened by his alarm before he started getting ready for a day of school. Then, once he was dressed, he headed to the kitchen table for breakfast with the rest of his family. After that, he and Kasumi headed to school.
When Tatsuo and Kasumi reached the apartment's lobby, they, as they often did, ran into Emi who was, unsurprisingly, rushing out so that she would not miss the bus that would take her to work.
"I still don't get it." Tatsuo muttered to himself while watching Emi's fuchsia-colored hair wave behind her while she ran towards the bus stop.
"Don't get what, Tatsuo-Kun?" Kasumi asked curiously.
"Well, remember the day I told you all that Maou-San noticed my power?" Tatsuo asked while continuing to watch Emi go. He then continued when Kasumi nodded in reply. "Well, I ran into Yusa-San, too. But unlike Maou-San, she didn't notice anything."
"Is there a possibility that she did notice, but decided not to say anything?" Kasumi asked, prompting Tatsuo to rethink things.
And Tatsuo did just that. Meanwhile, he and Kasumi left the lobby and started heading towards their schools. However, before they split up, Tatsuo ended his contemplation and shook his head.
"No, that's not it." Tatsuo said. "From what I can remember about that day, there were no signs that she even noticed. No dilation of her pupils, no increased heartrate, no minute muscle movements, nothing."
"Hmm... Then, maybe she's just not as attentive to her surroundings as Maou-San is." Kasumi said after nodding in understanding of Tatsuo's opinion. "She seems like the type who does not keep her guard up all the time. You did mention that you scared her when she first moved in, did you not?"
"Yeah." Tatsuo replied. "She even lowered her hand in a sword drawing motion before she saw me. But had she already been on guard, I probably wouldn't have been able to sneak up on her even if I was trying to back then."
"Then, that's probably it." Kasumi said. "Anyway, I have to go this way. So, I'll see you after school. Oh, and I'll let Yakumo-Chan's sister and her friends hear your song if the chance presents itself."
"Okay." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "Just don't forget that you can't let any of them have a copy yet. Mom will be mad if she finds out that you did."
"I know." Kasumi replied with a smile of her own. "Anyway, have a good day at school, Tatsuo-Kun."
"You, too." Tatsuo replied.
With that, the two took the roads that would lead to their respective schools. Meanwhile, Tatsuo, who was now alone, decided to spread his [Perception]. He was wondering if Christie was still in the area. He had not seen her since that time she tried to bring him back to DOATEC. And he was looking forward to the next time he saw her. Revenge would be sweet when he did.
Unfortunately, after spreading his [Perception], he was unable to find Christie. Yet, he did notice that Ayane, in the search for Kasumi, was actually heading right in her older sister's direction.
"Hmm... This could be interesting." Tatsuo muttered to himself. "If Kasumi-Neesan doesn't notice her first, they might end up fighting. But even if they did, there's no way Ayane could beat her. Not after all the training she's been through with Mom. Oh well, I'll ask her about it when I get home."
Not long after that, Tatsuo reached his school. He then changed shoes, ignored the two dozen love letters that were stuffed into his locker, and made his way up to his classroom.
"Seriously, how early did those girls... I hope they were girls... get here this morning?" Tatsuo asked himself as he stepped into the classroom. "I mean, the school shouldn't have been open all that long since Winter Break ended. And there were twenty-five love letters in my locker."
While grumbling to himself, Tatsuo scanned the classroom with his eyes. And just as he expected, Yakumo was sitting at her desk and going over a more advanced audio editing software manual.
"Good morning, Yakumo-Chan." Tatsuo said as he approached his desk.
"Good morning, Tatsuo-Kun." Yakumo replied as she looked up from her book. "How are you today?"
"Not bad." Tatsuo replied while putting his school bag on his desk. "Looks like you found another book about audio editing. You're gonna be at a professional level before long."
In response, Yakumo shook her head slowly.
"No matter how much theoretical knowledge I have, without practical experience, it will only be a point of reference." Yakumo said. "Until I can recognize every difference in sound, all this is just something I read in passing."
Tatsuo was taken aback when he heard such a reply. Though, seeing Yakumo, who was usually quite nonchalant about most things, seem so passionate about something was rather attractive in his eyes. And because he was so caught off guard, he let his thoughts leak from between his lips for a moment.
"Beautiful..." Tatsuo said absent-mindedly.
After Tatsuo's unintentional utterance, both Tatsuo and Yakumo froze. However, it was not for the reason one might think. As teenagers, you would think they were both embarrassed because Tatsuo complimented Yakumo as he did. Yet, that was not it.
Tatsuo, as someone who had little in the way of shame due to his draconic bloodline awakening, felt no shame at voicing his honest opinion about something. As for Yakumo, she had been complimented as beautiful more times than she could count. So, it did not bother her either.
No, what made the two freeze was the fact that Yakumo was, for the first time since she met him, able to hear Tatsuo's thoughts. As for Tatsuo, he was surprised that his Yakumo's ability to read the minds of those who held affection for her had slipped past his natural mental defenses. On top of that, the thought that Yakumo managed to hear was surprising as well.
'Her hard work and dedication to what she puts her mind to is something that should be treasured. She's the kind of person I want by my side.'
Those were the thoughts Yakumo managed to hear.
Though, the connection was broken shortly afterwards. So, Yakumo was unable to hear anything after that.
'What the hell just happened?' Tatsuo thought to himself, 'Luckily, she shouldn't be able to hear anything else. Stil, why did my thoughts leak this time?'
Meanwhile, Yakumo only stared at Tatsuo. She did not know how to react to Tatsuo's thoughts. However, the fact that Tatsuo thought that he would want to have her by his side made her happier than she thought it would. Unfortunately, as someone who had no experience with romance, she did not know why that was.
"*Cough* You heard that, didn't you?" Tatsuo asked, deciding that this would be a good chance to talk to Yakumo about her powers and possibly trying to develop them.
Though, she was surprised that Tatsuo knew she was able to hear his thoughts, as Tatsuo was the first to ever realize it, she nodded her head while continuing to stare into Tatsuo's eyes.
"Well, let's put that to the side for now." Tatsuo said. "I think we should talk about that when we have more privacy."
As he said that, Tatsuo shifted his eyes around the classroom. When Yakumo followed his gaze, she noticed that a few people were focused on them. Though, that was not anything new, as the most handsome and beautiful boy and girl in the class, that was a common occurrence.
"Okay." Yakumo replied with a nod.
"Anyway, I've got something to show you." Tatsuo said with a smile. "Or rather, something for you to hear. Do you have a pair of headphones?"
"I do." Yakumo replied, reaching into her school bag to grab her headphones. "I take it that means that the final edits are complete, then?"
"Yeah, that's right." Tatsuo replied as he pulled his smartphone out of his pocket. "Mom got it back from the company last night. She said I can't give you a copy yet, but it's okay to let you hear it."
At that moment, Yakumo pulled a wrapped up pair of corded earbuds out of her school bag. She then calmly unwrapped the twist tie from around the cord and handed the plug to Tatsuo so that he could plug it into his phone.
Though Yakumo's expression did not change much, the anticipation shining in her eyes was enough to make Tatsuo smile as he took the cord from her. He then plugged the headphones into the phone, navigated to the music app on his phone, selected his song, and pressed play.
As soon as the music started playing, Yakumo lowered her head slightly. Then, she raised her hands to cover her ears, blocking out any external sounds as she focused all her attention on the music.
'Looks like she's taking this chance to learn, too.' Tatsuo thought to himself while observing Yakumo's actions. 'She's trying to listen for the differences between what she heard when I recorded the song and after the audio was optimized.'
And Tatsuo was right. Currently, Yakumo was trying to see what standard she would have to reach if she wanted to help Tatsuo when editing his audio in the future.
About a minute after Yakumo started listening to the phone, the only other person Tatsuo spoke to regularly entered the classroom.
"Hello, everyone~!" Chiho said enthusiastically as she waved to her classmates. "Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you all had a good Winter Break and a good start to the new year."
As the class's mood maker, or maybe mascot was more accurate, Chiho received greetings from the rest of the classmates who were already in the class. Then, when she saw Tatsuo and Yakumo sitting at their seats, the smile she wore widened before she jogged over to her desk and put her bag down. After that, she jogged over to the corner of the class where Tatsuo and Yakumo sat.
"Hi, Tatsuo-Kun! Hi, Yakumo-Chan!" Chiho said happily as she approached. "How was your--- Hmm? Hey, what is Yakumo-Chan doing?"
"She's listening to a song." Tatsuo replied casually.
"Really?" Chiho asked while tilting her head as she looked at Yakumo again. "It must be a really good song. She's so focused on it."
"Looks like it." Tatsuo answered, still in that nonchalant tone.
A moment later, Chiho noticed that Yakumo's headphones were connected to Tatsuo's phone instead of her own. She then shifted her gaze to Tatsuo and puffed out her cheeks.
"She's listening to the song on your phone, Tatsuo-Kun." Chiho said pointedly. "So, why are you acting like you don't know if the song is good or not. You're obviously the one who played it for her."
"Because it would make me look like a narcissistic jerk if I bragged about how good my own song was." Tatsuo replied casually while shrugging his shoulders.
"Huh?" Chiho exclaimed in confusion. "Your song? What do you--- Wait, does that mean you---"
As she spoke, Chiho got more and more visibly excited. However, before she could get loud enough for everyone to hear, Tatsuo interrupted her.
"Yeah, I did." Tatsuo said while raising a finger to his lips. "Just got the finished version of it last night. But please don't be so loud. I don't wanna let the cat out of the bag just yet. It will mess up Mom's marketing strategy if it starts to spread too early."
*Clap!*
As soon as she heard Tatsuo's words, Chiho clapped her hands over her mouth. Then, she looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to her. And because she clapped her mouth so loudly, there were a few curious glances looking in her direction.
"Eek!" Chiho squeaked, still audible despite her hand covering her mouth.
Then, she leaned in close to Tatsuo.
"Do you think I could listen to the song after Yakumo-Chan?" Chio asked in a whisper. "What's the name of the song? What kind of song is it? Is it a love song? A dance song?"
In her excitement, Chiho peppered Tatsuo with questions. In response, Tatsuo could only smile at her enthusiasm. Before Tatsuo could reply, however, Yakumo raised her head, signifying that the song had ended.
"Oh, good morning, Chi-Chan." Yakumo said in her characteristically soft tone. "Happy New Year."
"You, too, Yakumo-Chan." Chiho said with a smile. She then turned back to Tatsuo with pleading, puppy dog eyes. "So, can I?"
'*Sigh* Why are so many girls so good at that?' Tatsuo asked himself, referring to the puppy dog eye technique. 'I couldn't say no to that even if I wanted to, which I don't.'
"Go get your headphones if you have some." Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "If you don't, I can let you use mine if you don't mind using someone else's earbuds."
"She can use mine, if she doesn't mind." Yakumo said. "The bell is going to ring soon. If you two have to get yours, there may not be enough time to hear the whole song."
Tatsuo shrugged his shoulders in response. Meanwhile, Chiho nodded her head, not really bothered about using Yakumo's earbuds. Though, it might have been different if they were Tatsuo's. There was something about putting something in her ears that had been in a boy's ears that made her feel embarrassed.
Yakumo then handed the earbuds to Chiho, who quickly put them in her ears. Then, Tatsuo started the song again. And while Chiho listened to the song, Yakumo and Tatsuo discussed the differences between the version with Tatsuo's simple edits and the one with the professional edits.
A few minutes later, Chiho took the earbuds out of her ears while looking at Tatsuo with awe and admiration. However, before she could express her admiration and opinion about the song...
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
... the bell signaling the beginning of class rang. So, Chiho, with a pout on her face, had to return to her seat while Tatsuo and Yakumo turned to look at the front of the class where their homeroom teacher had just entered the classroom.
'Oh, I forgot to tell the [chat] about the song.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I wonder if Alfonzo and Elicia will recognize the song. James didn't when I sang it at his house. I don't know if Breezy exists in the others' worlds, either. Well, everyone except Aletia's that is. And if they do, I wonder what they'll say.'
With that thought, Tatsuo, while pretending to pay attention to the teacher, entered the [Dimensional Chat] in his mind.
{[Dimensional Chat]
Tatsuo (Admin): Yo! Anyone here?
Alfonzo: Yeah, just doing busy work while installing these damn training grounds in this big fucking village.
Alfonzo: Why the hell are the Hidden Villages even dalled villages?
Alfonzo: They're big as a mother fucker
Alfonzo: God damn
Lici: I'm here, too
Lici: Just riding with Lucy and Brandish to take a quest
James: Hey, don't text and drive
Lici: I'm not driving
Lici: 👅😛👅
Violet: Did something happen, Tatsuo-Kun?
Violet: Do you need me to come to your world?
Aletia: 😮
Aletia: I'll come, too
Tatsuo (Admin): it's not a big deal
Tatsuo (Admin): There's no reason to come here
Tatsuo (Admin): I just wanted to see who was available
Akatsuki: Seriously, those two overreact all the time
James: You'd be the same if Shiroe was in danger, though
Akatsuki: Shut up!
Lici: Anyway, what's up, Tatsuo?
Alfonzo: Must be good news
Alfonzo: I mean, he already ruled out bad news, right?
Tatsuo (Admin): I was just gonna send a file
Tatsuo (Admin): I wanted your opinions on it
James: Then send it
James: But I bet I know what it is already
-Tatsuo (Admin) sent file, Yo!.mp3}
After Tatsuo sent the song file, the [Chat] fell silent for a few minutes. However, it was not long enough for the whole song to play before two people started chatting again.
{[Dimensional Chat]
Alfonzo: It's a Chris Brown cover
Alfonzo: But the beat is different
Lici: Who's the singer?
Lici: he's really good
Lici: Is that someone from your world, Tatsuo?
James: That's Tatsuo
James: He sang this song at my house
James: But there were no drums in the version I heard
James: He only had a piano back then
Lici: Wow! Really?
Lici: You sing even better than Fonzie
Alfonzo: Well, I'm not a singer
Alfonzo: I just like to sing
Alfonzo: Oh, what is this?
Alfonzo: This verse wasn't in the original
Lici: Rap?
Lici: That's definitely Tatsuo
Lici: I like it
Alfonzo: Yeah, it's pretty good
Akatsuki: Could you guys be quiet
Akatsuki: I'm trying to listen, but all the alerts are distracting me
Tatsuo (Admin): Sorry
Lici: Sorry
Alfonzo: Sorry
James: Sorry}