Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 48: The Encouragement

Monika: Man I had so much fun in Kyoto but I am SO glad to be home now!

Alex: Same!

Natsuki: The worst part of vacations? Coming home and unpacking

Alex: That's a mood

Yuri: I've already taken care of my luggage

Komi: Me too

Sayori: I think I'll unpack tomorrow! I just wanna lay in my nice comfy bed that's mine!

Alex: That is also a mood lol

Alex: Hey wanna see the photos that I took?

Sayori: Oh yes please! I took some great ones as well! We should all share!

Suddenly the group chat was getting flooded with links to photo albums. Within minutes, everyone was opening the links and liking the messages and responding with enthusiastic words of approval. It was too quick for Komi to keep up with.

She had finally just gotten a new smartphone so she was able to see all the pictures as well, but she wasn't going through them nearly as fast as everyone else. Plus, all of her pictures were still on her old flip phone, so she wasn't able to share her pictures because she hadn't transferred them over yet.

Then she was caught off guard by a separate text from Alex outside of the group chat:

Alex: Hey Komi how are you doing?

Komi: I'm well. And you, Alex?

Alex: Just chillin at home. I noticed you've been kinda quiet in the chat about Kyoto? Did everything go well?

Komi: It did.

Komi: It's hard to keep up with all of the messages sometimes

Alex: That's fair

Alex: Got a second to call?

Komi: I do

Komi responded to this very nervously. Why did Alex want to call her so suddenly? Was something wrong? It wasn't long after she had sent that message that her phone began to ring in her hands. She shrieked in surprise and looked around before answering the call.

"Um...uh...hello?" She answered slowly.

"Hey, Komi! Good to hear ya. You're not busy, are you?" Alex asked in a pleasant tone.

"No...not really."

"Cool. How was your trip to Kyoto? I wanted to hear about it." He asked.

"Oh...it was good. I had a great time." She replied.

It was hard for her not to be self-conscious about her slower pace. The fact that Alex was being silent while she was getting her words out; she couldn't tell whether he was being patient of just wasn't interested.

"That's good! Where'd you go?"

"Uh...a lot of places. I have pictures on my...old phone." Komi started looking for her phone.

"Oh yeah you'll have to share those! Was it fun at least?"

"Mhmm...yes." She nodded and smiled a little.

"Good! I'm glad to hear that." Alex said with a happy tone.

"Thank you. I-I hope that you had fun a-as well." She replied.

"Oh I did, don't worry. It was pretty chill. You know I'm pretty much lost everywhere here, so Tokyo wasn't any different. Heheh, I just went with the flow of my partners." He summarized with a chuckle.

"Me too...can I ask a question?" Komi requested.

"Hm? Oh yeah, of course."

"...are you scared?"

"Scared...? Why?" Alex asked slowly.

"Um...s-sorry...you came here not knowing anybody...like me. But you...make it look easy...t-to make friends." Komi shared her viewpoint.

"Oh...haha. I mean, you know, you adjust to the new climate. I guess because I'm clearly not from here, people get curious and that starts conversations." He commented.

"But...you know how...how to..." Komi trailed off.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to force yourself at all. Take it at your own pace and it'll come to you in time. Whatever you're comfortable with...well, you do kinda have to push out of your comfort zone, but not all at once, you know? That's just not realistic." He said.

"I-I...don't like feeling like this. On this trip, it was the first time that people wanted me as their partner. It felt really nice." She shared.

"I'm surprised that that surprises you, Komi," Alex commented with a chuckle. "You're a nice person, you know? Generally you get along with everyone. You're easygoing; we just gotta get you out of your own head." He said with another chuckle.

"I-I...um...thank you..." Komi said with a heavy blush.

"Don't know what to say to that huh?" He observed with a laugh.

"Ah...n-no." She admitted shyly, feeling even more embarrassed now.

"Haha, it's alright. I don't know how to take compliments either. I'm actually extremely bad at it." He admitted in turn. From her perspective, Alex did such a good job at laughing at himself and not taking himself too seriously.

"Um...one time in middle school, I-I was supposed to go on a school trip to Kyoto. But I couldn't bring myself to look at my partners...so I didn't go. My fear got the best of me...I don't want to miss out on things anymore." Komi admitted, her voice breaking just a little bit.

"Yeah...I get that...we're often our own worst enemies when it comes to things that would actually make us be better people. Heh, I'm definitely guilty of that. Trust me, Komi, I struggle with talking to people too. Maybe not as much or in the same way but I understand where you're coming from." He said empathetically.

"You don't look like you struggle...at all. I see you talk to the other girls every day...you once told me that you admired me. Well...I admire you, Alex. I wish it was that easy for me." Komi lamented honestly, blushing again.

"Ah," Alex looked down and smiled to himself for a moment. "You're gonna get there, Komi, don't worry. It'll come to you in time. Just be patient with yourself. And don't just worry about making new friends. Cultivate or, uh, build up the ones you already got. That'll help a lot too.

"And if you need any advice, you can always ask." He offered too.

"Thank you...that's already good advice." She noted.

"I guess so, huh?" Alex said with a laugh.

"Mhmm." Komi chuckled slightly, smiling to herself at hearing that she made him laugh...