When a person has extreme social anxiety, they struggle to communicate with others.
Bear in mind, they only struggle in forming connections.
It doesn't mean that they don't want to.
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Tanjiro Kamado is a new student at Kimetsu Gakuen...
Kanao was standing in her room, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was making sure that her uniform looked good before she headed off to school for the day.
Today was unlike any other school day. Unlike other days, Kanao was feeling excited for school, solely because they were going to discuss what their class was going to do for the culture festival.
Kanao picked up her book bag and slipped on her shoes. Her renewed confidence began to fill her as she grabbed on to the doorknob...
...but her happiness and confidence drained away as she was met with torrents of rain and a large gust of wind in her face.
As she struggled to shut the door, she heard someone come up behind her. Once she shut the door and grabbed a towel, she turned around to come face to face with her sister, Kanae.
Kanao was surprised to see Kanae. Wasn't her elder sister supposed to be at the school already, preparing for work?
Kanao slid her notebook out of her bag and wrote, 'What are you doing here, Kanae-neesan? Shouldn't you be at the school already for work?'
Kanae shook her head, smiling. "I've told the parents and other students to stay home for the time being. The weather forecast says that there may be a typhoon on its way. Oh, and also, Shinobu stayed home as well."
Kanao nodded as she continued to dry off her clothes. She was happy that there was no school...but she then looked down at her feet, now feeling conflicted about how to feel about school since she was already excited for the culture festival preparations.
Kanae sweatdropped. 'Girls her age are really complicated these days, aren't they?'
Kanao headed into the living room with Kanae close behind her. She sat by the window happily, since she found the bad weather very exciting.
She suddenly had an idea on what to do to pass the time. She put her lips close to the window and let out a warm breath, causing a small patch on the window to get foggy.
Kanao drew a cat on the patch of fog. She smiled...until there was a loud clap of thunder and a bright flash of lightning.
Kanae, who was still in the room, had winced and covered her ears. She looked up at the lightbulbs, which had gone out.
Kanae sighed, realizing she would have a long morning ahead of her. The weather, however, was the least of her worries.
"The power's gone out...are you okay, Kanao?" Kanae asked, now turning herself in the direction of the window. Kanao was still crouching by the window, but she had been frightened by the thunder and she was shivering in fear.
"Aww...come here, Kanao." Kanae said, now sitting down on the couch and patting the spot next to her. Kanao sat on the sofa and shivered under a soft, butterfly-patterned blanket.
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"The thunder was really scary, wasn't it?" Kanae murmured, as she stroked Kanao's shivering head. Kanae got up from the couch and went outside the living room, saying, "I'd better go outside and check on the circuit breaker with Shinobu. I'll be right back, okay Kanao?"
Kanao held up her hand to try and stop her elder sister from leaving, but Kanae had already left the room.
Kanao shivered as she stayed hidden under her blanket. She was suddenly startled by another sudden noise, but it was only her cell phone ringing right beside her.
She picked it up to see who was calling. The caller I.D. said that Tanjiro was calling her.
Kanao answered the call and she hesitantly put her phone up to her ear. "H-hello?"
"Hello, Kanao~san, are you home?" asked Tanjiro's voice. Kanao could sense his worry through the phone.
"Y-yes..." Kanao muttered.
"Oh, good, I thought you had already gone to school." Tanjiro said in relief, his worry now dissipating. Kanao smiled softly at these words. Something about knowing that Tanjiro cared for her made her happy.
"There's supposed to be a power outage in your neighborhood, is everything alright in your house?"
Kanao said, "Yes, th-the electricity is gone...but I'm okay."
Just then, as if it were on cue, there was another sudden clap of thunder, and she fell off the sofa with a loud thud.
Tanjiro heard a whimper and the same loud thud on his end of the line as Kanao fell off her couch in fear. He took his phone away from his ear and he stared at it in shock, worry beginning to resurface within his mind.
"A-are you okay, Kanao~san?" Tanjiro panicked, concern in his voice once again.
"I-I'm fine," was Kanao's shaky reply. Tanjiro looked at his phone again, sweatdropping.
I don't really think she's feeling alright... Tanjiro thought worriedly, his brows furrowed with concern. But then, he suddenly heard Kanao's small, timid voice come through the phone, and he put it up to his ear again.
"I-I'm a-actually r-really s-scared," she said, unable to lie to Tanjiro. "C-can we t-talk on the p-phone for a l-little bit l-longer?" Kanao asked shakily.
Tanjiro smiled on his end of the line, happy that he could bring comfort to Kanao. "Of course we can talk some more, Kanao~san, if that makes you feel better."
Kanae and Shinobu had been spying on Kanao ever since she had started talking on the phone. Kanae was happy beyond belief that Kanao was finally talking to someone outside of their sisterly circle. Shinobu was a little upset that Kanao was speaking to a boy, and she did nothing to hide that.
However, she started lightening up and smiling at Kanao's happiness. As long as Kanao was happy, Shinobu wouldn't worry.
"It's getting really cold outside, isn't it, Kanao~san?" Tanjiro's voice asked. "You should be careful so you don't catch a cold."
"Yes. I-I'll be c-careful." Kanao assured.
"The weather forecast said that the storm will probably be over by this afternoon, so we'll probably have school. Are you feeling okay enough to go?" Tanjiro asked. Kanao nodded on her end, despite Tanjiro not being able to see.
"Yes, I-I'm ready, T-tanjiro~kun."
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A/N: And that's all for chapter number 21! I hope you all enjoyed, although I didn't write this chapter alone!
A huge thank you to my dear friend @Raziels_Sword for helping me add some more content to this chapter!
There's not much for me to say...except thanks again for reading! Like always, don't forget to comment, vote and maybe follow me if you want!
Bye bye! (Boom boom bakudan!)
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