It was like any other day; Tadano was lost in the moment—strolling at a normal pace with his head hung low, gathering together thoughts on what to do this day. He hung his head back high when he sensed discordance within the peace, glancing at a disgruntled and distressed man at the other side of the street, with his back sat down against a wall, his legs tucked.

Boundless misery made up the man's life, his neutral face ghost-pale, hands quivering furiously, like an urge to punch the wall behind him. Angst and anger clouded his mind and body to the point that he didn't want to move an inch anymore and just sit there, looking to rot away from this cruel world.

"Why… Why did she have to cheat on me? Am I just worthless? That's true, life has given me nothing good so far. As if it was meant to last, I'm just an eyesore who nobody cares about. Oh, well…"

This voice caught Tadano's attention. Feeling sorry, he crossed the street to him to provide him with some little comfort and sympathy.

"Do you need some help? I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

The man looked up to face him, his eyes and mouth now widening with surprise and dismay; being finally acknowledged relieved him. The man felt a heartwarming relief take over him—and there, he let out the painful sorrows and struggles, his sob uncontrollable.

"There, there. It's going to be okay, sir." Tadano's eye let out an empathic teardrop, smiling as he tenderly stroked the man's back.

"I feel bad for the man, but I'm glad other people came out to help him." Tadano thought.

His surroundings turned busier as he neared his way to Itan. As the bustling grew, he started noticing some peculiarities, something off within the air.

"Huh, everyone seems pretty chatty today. Well, it's going to be the start of the culture festival after all." he shrugged it off.

Although, what seemed bizarre was the fact he heard people talking while on their phones or by themselves; but he didn't seem to care about that either.

While strolling through the busy voices, a couple of familiar ones stood out seizing his attention; he felt the presence of two girls walking close behind him. As the pair neared Tadano, he turned his head back with sudden reflex, startling the two and causing them to yelp.

It was Komi and Manbagi.

"Oh, good morning. Komi-san and Manbagi-san!" Tadano bowed, greeting them.

"Geez, Tadano. Don't suddenly scare us like that." said Manbagi. "Besides, how did you know you were right behind us when we were trying to surprise you? Right, Komi-san?" her face turned a little red in embarrassment.

"I don't know… it's probably just a hunch or something. I could hear your footsteps too, though. Hehe, you gotta try harder than that, I guess." he chuckled.

Their faces lit up, apple-red in embarrassment while seeing that warm, charming smile of his—the feeling enough to make them stand still speechless in shock.

"Huh, what's the matter guys? Let's head to school now!" he called out.

"Damn this guy…" Manbagi thought with a face of shame.

"Uhmm… what was that?" Tadano turned his head back to her.

She appeared clueless being asked that question, as she didn't even reply.

"Huh?"

"What? Ehmm…. Anyway, let's all head to class quickly, I'm pretty sure they're waiting for us now." Tadano responded, breaking the awkwardness.

Stepping foot in the school, he felt a strange feeling cruise through his head. No, it wasn't a headache this time; but he felt as if his mind was being tickled with. Sure, it was lively today due to the fact that a culture festival was being hosted, but to an unusual point that he couldn't help but be inquisitive about it. Tadano shrugged off the sensation as it only stood there for a short time.

"It seems very loud in here today, right guys?" Tadano said to the two.

"Uhmm… nah? It's loud when it starts; everyone's still in preparation for it. Maybe it's just you." Manbagi replied.

Komi's hand reached for the paper and pencil within her bag preparing to write. Tilting her head with a skeptical gaze, she wrote and presented—[Sorry if I'm saying this, but I think that you've been acting a bit strange lately, Tadano-kun.]

"Have you gotten enough sleep this day? Surely the festival got into your mind. Don't sweat it though; you're not the only one working on it." said Manbagi.

The feeling of concern made its way to both Komi and Manbagi's faces, perplexed by the oddities within his disposition.

"What the hell is this, I've been hearing these things some time before? I'm hearing them now…" Tadano was also concerned for himself now.

A bead of sweat ran over from his head, the semblance of unease coated on his face—his mind solely fixated on the odd atmosphere. Loads and loads of voices hit his ears, just like he remembered in the morning. He cleared his head by slapping it a little, which he wouldn't do in the usual. This really said to the pair behind him that something wasn't right; it was unbecoming of him, although they kept silent about the matter.

"Alright, we're… here." Tadano said in a fretful tone; a tone that tried to stay calm no matter what, but it failed to convince Komi and Manbagi.

Sliding the door, he gandered at the dreaded sight of his classmates, who were in complete silence. Fatigued, zombified classmates, who spent an imprudent amount of time in the class gathering a multitude of ideas. Their morale? Completely flushed down like a helpless rat in the drain.

"Ehhh?! W-What happened?!" yelled out Tadano.

His head was crowded once again by the endless voices of his dreaded, drowsy classmates who couldn't even bother speaking. Yes, they weren't speaking, but wait… if they weren't, then where did all this chattering come from?

Tadano pondered and wondered until he came to realize… everything—it all dawned on him. These voices, they were thoughts! Thoughts of other people! Learning this, he became numb.

He stood in place, completely inanimate, that even a statue would express jealousy on how much he wasn't moving. The entire class dazed as they gazed at their now completely paralyzed class president—a bead of sweat trickled on his shoe as his thousand-yard stare glared back at them. And lo, his body dropped down cold, letting a thud out from the floor.

The pair, in now utter concern, panicked.

"Tadano! Are you alright?!" Manbagi yelled.

Komi was more frantic, with her voice quivering as she tried to ask for help in panic.