Kanao Can't Communicate [DISCONTINUED]

•~chapter fifty-seven: summer vacation to-do list!~•

It was finally summer, with only a few days left of school. Kanao sat at her desk, nibbling on the end of her pencil as she brainstormed ideas on what to do during her break.

After all, having friends meant making plans over the summer. She couldn't just disappear off the face of the earth like she had before.

Her list was neatly bulleted with things like "go to the beach" or "go shopping", but also things for herself, like "help around the house" or "lose 1 kilogram".

Admittedly, after staring at that part for a moment, she feverishly scratched that out. Too embarrassing to show off.

After a few more minutes of writing, the sound of her pencil scratching came to a stop. With a proud huff, she held her paper at eye's length to get a good look at it.

Next up, to show everyone else!

✧•✧•✧

The next day, at school, Inosuke was looking like all his burdens had been lifted. He was unusually passive, as he let out a world weary sigh.

"Fuhuhu... now that the exams are over, all we have to do is wait for summer, and then the Great Lord Inosuke can be his amazing self again."

As Tanjiro chuckled sympathetically, Kanao shifted in her seat. She was silently waiting for the right moment to bring up her list of plans, but ever the polite one, she waited for the conversation to pause.

But Tanjiro, obviously, noticed her discomfort way sooner than the conversation's end, and brought it up. "Kanao-san, is something the matter?"

She jumped in her seat and shook her head. Immediately, as the banter resumed, she wished she had brought up her ideas.

Her eyes often flicked over to the group, so much so that Tanjiro became curious as to what she wanted.

When Inosuke even stopped yapping to listen to Kanao, her confidence was slightly boosted. She started pulling out her list, slightly crinkled at the edges, before putting it away again.

She was embarrassed to show everyone, but Kiyoko caught a glimpse of the paper before it could disappear into the bag again.

"Kanao-san, what's that?" she suddenly asked, making Kanao freeze in fear. Slowly, Kanao pointed at the title, which, in her neat handwriting, said List of things I want to do over summer break.

There was an excruciating silence before Inosuke, in a bored voice, asked, "Is that it?"

Despite Tanjiro scolding Inosuke for his attitude, Kanao ended up embarrassed regardless.

But finally, after a lot of blushing and hand-waving, she conceded and handed over the paper.

Tanjiro, Inosuke, Kiyoko, and Zenitsu (who had just appeared out of nowhere), gathered around and read:

• Go to the beach
• Go to a festival
• Go see fireworks (and set off our own)
• Borrow 20 books from the library
• Play with my friends (invite them myself)
• Do homework with everyone
• Participate in radio exercises
• Help around the house
• Ride a bike
• Go outside as much as possible
• Go to the new ice cream shop down the road

Kanao was expecting her friends to say that her ideas were silly, but then she was hit with a barrage of excited comments as they clamored for her attention.

"Oh, since we went to the pool last summer, it's the beach now!" Zenitsu said excitedly.

"I want to see the fireworks too, Kanao-san! That's a good idea." Kiyoko praised.

Kanao was shocked. They were... liking this?

As the comments increased in number, so did the plans' detail. Inosuke had regained some energy and was eagerly scrawling all over the paper.

The happy energy and noise radiated from the desks, and many of Kanao's other friends wanted to join in the fun. Riko, despite being self conscious about her sweat, came over to make plans and have fun.

By the end of the hour, Kanao's once neat paper was covered in handwriting of all different shapes and styles. There was Inosuke's caveman-like scrawl, Kiyoko's attempt at neat writing, and crude drawings made by Tanjiro (although made with good intentions).

Kanao's delicate fingers gripped the paper tightly as she stared at it for what seemed like forever. Then, she looked at her friends with a smile.

All of them were touched by her expression, and were very excited to say:

"Summer has begun~!"