Shoko Komi's Ultimate Challenge

by Ulquiorra9000

Communication 2: good morning!

Right on time the next morning, Shoko Komi sprang out of bed, stretched, and took a deep breath. She was already feeling familiar anxiety just thinking about her first great challenge, but it had to be done. She still vividly remembered that Olympic athlete on TV and her incredible courage. And how else to impress Hitohito and Najimi than a little of this?

Shok was already in her school uniform when she stepped downstairs, where her mother was serving breakfast and her father was about to head off to work (he had an early commute and ate breakfast earlier). Okay, here goes nothing! She can do this!

Shoko joined her mother and brother in the well-lit kitchen and quietly but clearly stated, "Good morning, mom."

"And a good morning to you, Shoko!" Suko cried happily. "Did you sleep well last night? I know I sure did! Here, have a seat." She drew out a chair for Shoko, opposite Shosuke.

One down, nine to go! Shoko sat down for breakfast and before she touched a thing, she managed, "Good morning, Shosuke."

Her brother glanced up from his own breakfast, made a short nod to say "good morning" back, and resumed eating in silence.

"You're in a good mood this morning, Shoko," Shuko commented warmly.

Shoko jumped and nodded shakily before starting her own breakfast. Then something occurred to her: she was already used to talking to her family! No way should this count toward today's challenge! Shoko reset her mental counter to 0 and steeled herself for the adventure ahead.

The walk to school was the same as ever, with strangers giving her snide looks as she nervously trekked to Itan high school's front grounds. Shoko, for the life of her, couldn't figure out why so many strangers gave her all these glares of disapproval, but the idea of asking anyone about it terrified her. Better to stay quiet and avoid trouble.

High school was a different story. Kind of.

"So, we meet again, dear rival," Makeru Yadano said sarcastically as she slapped a hand on a closed shoe locker, leering at Shoko. "I think we're gonna play soccer outside for gym today. I'll make sure we're on opposite teams, and I'll lead my team to victory over yours!"

"Who cares?" some random guy called out. Makeru ignored him.

Shoko was already trembling from head to toe. Why on Earth did Makeru keep challenging her to stuff like this? It was so weird! But then again, this was a scary but convenient opportunity to tell Makeru what Shoko had always wanted to tell her. Shoko swallowed and opened her mouth.

"G... G... G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G... Good..."

Makeru cupped a hand to her ear. "Eh? What's that? Can't hear ya!"

Shoko's heart was hammering in her chest, but she didn't dare back down when there was so much at stake. She kept at it. "Goo-Goo-Goo... Good mor... mor... m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m..."

Makeru blinked. "Wait... good morning?"

Shoko nodded eagerly. There, she said it! One down, nine to go.

Makeru shrugged. "Oh, whatever. You should be more concerned about this afternoon, when we meet on the soccer field! See ya then, dear rival!" She whirled around and stalked off, ignoring the people laughing and pointing at her.

Shoko breathed a sigh of relief, amazed that she had said "good morning" to a scarily intense girl like Makeru. Then she froze. It was Makeru who had said good morning, not Shoko! Shoko had failed!

Shoko clapped her hands over her face, trembling once again. She looked so stupid now! Makeru had been all cool and confident, and Shoko needed her help just cranking out a simple "good morning!" How would she reach ten at this rate?

Well...

Shoko still felt ridiculous as she stepped into her homeroom class, where Najimi was pleading to anyone who would listen to lend them 1,200 yen for a Saboway sandwich. Didn't Najimi get an allowance at home?

Shoko delicately took a seat next to Hitohito, set down her school bag, smoothed her uniform jacket, and swept her bangs to the side. "Good morning, Hitohito."

She gasped and held a trembling hand over her mouth, her spine tingling with joy. She did it! Now it was one down, nine to go. So happy...!

Hitohito made a little grin. "Good morning, Komi. Hey, did you get that algebra homework all done? I got it done until question #26... how do you solve that?"

Shoko scribbled a message on her usual communication notepad and proudly held it up: So happy...!

Hitohito's face fell. "You're happy I can't do quadratic equations?"

Shoko gasped again and scratched out her message. How could she blurt that out? So silly. Instead, she tried to compose herself and dug up her own homework, and showed Hitohito how she got her answer.

Hitohito leaned closer to check out Shoko's neat handwriting. "Oh! Yeah, I get it now. Thanks for helping."

Shoko stiffened with alarm when she realized how close Hitohito was, leaning over like that to check out her notebook. She actually caught a whiff of his plain shampoo, and she felt her face go red. Oh, no! Shoko scooted a few inches away automatically, her face still radiating heat.

Hitohito seemed to realize it too, because he quickly leaned back in his own seat, pretending to clear his throat. He fell silent.

There was still time, so Shoko passed Hitohito a note saying Be right back, got up, and timidly made her way across the classroom, determined to greet someone else properly. How about...

"G... Good... Good... um..." Shoko towered over Rumiko Manbagi, hands clasped at her navel, once again trembling from head to toe.

Rumiko, seated comfortably at her desk, blinked those huge, gorgeous eyes of hers and waved. "Good morning! What's new, girl?"

Shoko swallowed and scrunched up her face in concentration. "Good mor... mor... morn... good morning!" She suddenly bowed, realizing the whole time how unnecessary that was. Or was it to avoid eye contact during his challenge?

Rumiko giggled. "You don't have to bow, Komi! Stand tall, with pride. Like me!"

Shoko snapped back upright and nodded, then retreated before the conversation could fall apart. Okay, two down, eight to go. She can do this!

Then the bell rang, and Shoko squeaked with alarm before she scrambled for her seat as the teacher started roll. This was not going to be easy!

*o*o*o*o*

Normally, you'd say "good morning" about an hour or two after getting up at the latest, right? Well, Shoko didn't have the luxury of time, and she knew it, so she had to stretch the definition a little. At lunch, she approached the charming, homely Nokoko Inaka, her heart thudding in her chest. And for some reason, Nokoko looked just as terrified.

"Oh! Howdy, Miss Komi," Nokoko said nervously. She actually wiped her brow. "Mighty fine day we're havin', huh? Ahahahahaha!" She was really sweating now.

Shoko already had the impression that Nokoko was rather shy and timid, so that made them birds of a feather, right? This should be easy! Shoko took a breath. "G... G-G-G-Good... morn... mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo..."

Nokoko looked concerned. "You all right, Miss Komi?"

Shoko found herself bowing. "Good morning, Nokoko!" Why the heck did she bow again?

"Good mornin' t'you too, Miss Komi!" Nokoko said brightly. "But shucks, you don't gotta bow for me. I'm just plain old Nokoko, haha!"

Three down!

Later, before the soccer game could begin in gym, Shoko breathlessly flitted from one classmate to another, choking out a "good morning" to one after the other, somehow. She managed to bid Nananaka a good morning, much to the eyepatch girl's bewilderment, then squeaked out a good morning to Ren Yamai, who promptly glomped Komi and wished her a good morning, a good afternoon, a good night, and a happy life forever and ever. That was shocking! But it still counted.

After Shoko's team won (Makeru was outraged), Shoko didn't have time to keep pursuing her challenge until the school day was over, and she chased down Nene Onemine near the shoe lockers and tapped the other girl's shoulder. This challenge... was exhausting...!

"Hey there, Komi," Nene said warmly, turning around with a quick smile. "How are you?"

"G... guh..." Shoko was panting for breath, but after a few false starts, managed a lovely "Good morning, Nene."

Nene stifled a polite laugh with her hand. "Good morning? You're pretty unconventional at times, you know that? But that's what I like about you, Komi." She clapped a hand to Shoko's shoulder, and Shoko jumped. Then Nene leaned closer and fixed her eyes on Shoko's own. "I can tell that something's on your mind. What is it? You can tell me. We're friends."

That much was true, and Shoko did admire what a responsible big-sister type Nene was. And Shoko would know, being a big sister herself! Shoko took a moment to gather her thoughts (her brain felt like it was worn down to a nub), then got out her communication paper and explained her challenge in detail.

Nene's eyes widened. "Oh, I see! That's so cool. You're reminding me of Netsuno, now that I think about it. Well, good for you, Komi! I'm proud, and I wish you the best with these challenges."

Shoko thanked her and scampered to her shoe locker, noting that saying good morning to Nene brought the total to nine. Uh-oh! She wouldn't get another chance to bid good morning to anyone whom she knew after this point, and she was definitely not counting family, even if she was desperate. Shoko's mind raced all the way home, trying to find a way out of this, but she had nothing. She trudged into the front door stuck at 90%, then made her way upstairs and took out her cell phone to put it away for the day. She didn't need it right now -

Wait! Shoko stared at her flip phone for a few seconds, then selected her favorite contact and placed the call. On the fourth ring, Hitohito Tadano picked up. "Hi, Komi," he said warmly.

Shoko took a few seconds to steady her nerves. "H... hello, Tadano. Can I... I mean... um... could you put... your sister on the phone?" She clapped a hand over her mouth, heart racing in her chest. She felt like a Tour de France bicyclist pushing themselves for one last burst of energy for the finish line.

"Huh? Oh, sure. One sec." After a few seconds, a familiar girl's voice piped up on the phone.

"Heeeeeeey, Komi! Wow, it's been a while since we talked, huh? How have you been? Doing good? I bet! You're so popular, after all."

Shoko made a little smile. Hitomi Tadano was such a cutie sometimes. And it was much easier to talk to her over the phone than in person, too, which meant today's challenge would be completed at last! "I... um... um..." Shoko hesitated.

"What is it? Hit me," Hitomi urged her.

Shoko braced herself. "G-G-G-Good morning!"

There was another second of silence.

Hitomi burst out laughing. "What the heck? It's kinda late for that, Komi! You're so funny sometimes. Well, good morning to you too, so there!"

Shoko's timid smile widened, and she put a hand to her heart. "It was... ahem... it... um... it was wonderful... to hear from you again, Hitomi. Be nice to your brother, okay?"

"We'll see about that! Big bro totally gets on my nerves sometimes, y'know? He can be a real drag. But sure, if you insist, I'll give him half of my dessert tonight or something. See ya later!"

Shoko heard some rustling noises as Hitomi passed the phone back to Hitohito. "It was really sweet of you to talk to her," Hitohito commented brightly. "Hitomi really look up to you, Komi, and she wishes she could see you more often."

"Hey! Don't tell her I said all that! Ugh!" Hitomi's voice said in the background.

"So, uh, there we go," Hitohito said awkwardly. "Anything else on your mind, Komi? I'm free to chat if you like."

"Well... I..." Shoko gripped her phone a little tighter. "I... Tadano, I did it. Today, I challenged myself to... um... to say good morning to ten people, and Hitomi was the last one."

"A challenge? Sounds like fun," Hitohito said. "Congrats on making it to ten! Hey, was I number one?"

"Y... yes." Shoko felt her face go pink.

"Lucky me! Haha!" Hitohito sounded even more awkward, but Shoko didn't mind one bit.

"So... I'll think of a new challenge tomorrow," Shoko explained. "Nene knows about this, too. You see... well... I want to get stronger, Tadano, and push myself. If I get stronger, I can make 100 friends for sure, and that would make me really happy. W-w-wish me luck!" She winced. What if she went too far, saying that?

"That's awesome, Komi! You're amazing! I wish you the best of luck," Hitohito said eagerly. "Wow... that's inspiring. You're full of surprises."

"Th-thank you," Shoko said quietly. "I... I'll see you tomorrow. G-good night!" She ended the call and stared at her phone for a moment, still trying to process all this. Then she flopped onto her bed and rolled back and forth, nuzzling her face into her favorite pillow. Whew, she was exhausted from today! But it was absolutely worth it. Today's challenge... complete!

That evening at the dinner table, Shuko kept trying to guess why her daughter was in such a good mood, but Shoko kept that a happy little secret for now. Soon, she would start all over with a new challenge, and she would grow once again.

She got to sleep very quickly that night.