The short, chubby boy with his hair in round… pigtails? Buns? seemed to be busy inspecting the walls of the room. When he noticed my presence, though, he looked up with a small smile.
…Hello!
Hi! Um, what’s your name?
It took a couple of seconds for the boy to reply, as if he was translating my words in his head.
…Kapono.
Kapono… Is that Hawaiian?
…Yup.
…He’s not much of a talker, is he? Maybe I just need to break the ice…
W-well, um, my name’s Timaeus but you can just call me Tim, it’s nice to meet you! I’m the– I’m a student at Hope’s Peak Academy, the, uh, the Ultimate Librarian! I don’t know if that matters, but–
He nodded and pointed to himself.
…Paleontologist!
…Oh! You’re a student too? I suppose I should’ve been able to guess your talent… from the dinosaur on your shirt, I mean, hah.
…Um… I study plants.
I started to express my confusion, but he held up a finger, telling me to wait…?
…Not dinosaurs.
I just… like this shirt.
…Oh! M-my mistake then. That’s really cool though! You’ll, um, have to tell me more about it sometime.
…
Kapono nodded silently and returned to his observation of the wall. I almost asked him what he was doing, but talking seemed to be a strain for him for whatever reason, and I didn’t want to disturb him further. It wasn’t like he was bothering anyone.
Still, I wondered… did he see something the rest of us didn’t?