Get Out There, Tadano! (A Komi Can't Communicate Swap Au Fanfiction)

Chapter 5: Help or Bother

Tadano felt slightly determined to say it, like a puppy wanting to impress their owner by doing a trick. He took a deep breath

and...

.

..

...

As if he was petrified in stone, he was too nervous to say anything. Probably because of the pressure he feels.

"T-Tadano!?"

Tadano suddenly broke from his petrification and bowed down to apologize to Komi. "I-it's fine! It must be a challenge for you. So I don't blame you," the girl responded.

"Oh! How about this? I've learned a bit ago that laughter helps with communication. I wrote a couple jokes for you to use with others!" she says as she lends Tadano a paper with a list of jokes on it.

Tadano grabs the paper to read what it says. It's a bunch of dad jokes. Such as...

"How do snails fight? They slug it out"

"I'm afraid of the calendar. Its days are numbered"

"Singing in the shower until you get soap in your mouth. Then it's a soap opera"

Tadano looked up to Komi after skimming through some of them. "So what do you think?" Komi asked.

Tadano looked displeased. He didn't find the dad jokes funny.

"A-ah. I can tell you don't think it's a good idea. You can give it back if you want-," Komi said as she was gonna grab the paper back from Tadano, but he shook his head and resisted from giving it to her.

He put the list in his bag and grabbed his notebook and pen to write.

"I'll keep it just in case. Maybe I'll take a liking to it later"

Komi seemed unsure that he'd actually use her advice, but doesn't want to bug him about it.

"Well if you want to, then alright. Sorry if my help isn't that... helpful," Komi said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm not too experienced with helping others with these problems. I just hope I could at least help a bit down the line for you."

Tadano was gonna write a response, but was interrupted by the school bell ringing. "Ah! Well class is starting soon. We could talk more about it later, if you want," said the beautiful girl.

Even though Tadano wanted to tell her something, Tadano nodded and followed her to class.

As they made their way to class to class, both of them noticed the stares they were getting. Specifically, to Komi. But to Tadano, it kinda felt like he was being stared at and judged. It made him self-conscious about himself.

*time skip*

2nd period has ended and it's time for their reccess. Tadano looked at Komi, who was right next to him. She was putting away her things and getting ready for next period.

Tadano was thinking of how bad he felt that Komi was going out of her way just to help him.

She's really trying her best and struggling a bit. And it made Tadano feel bad. He doesn't want to rely on her too much. Or else he'd just be a bother to her. Maybe he was one already.

He then looked foward to the front of the classroom. There were three girls chatting with each other. They seem chill and pleasant to talk to. Even if one of them has weird metal-attire on them.

He'd feel bad if he had Komi be the only one helping him with his problem. So he wants to try to interact with others, himself. He hopes that this morning had taught him something.