[He's certainly gotten better at respecting... some boundaries, but only when they're explicitly told to him, rather than reading the room. Reading the room is basically still impossible.

So just as Hinata moves onto his next thought, Komaeda follows suit. A laugh gusts from him, dismissive and indolent, and in the space between them he raises a hand and bats away the thought as if it were a joke.]

No, no, not like the movie. More like the origin story, actually! I was even more hideous as a mermaid than I am now... Scales, big teeth, a need to feed on humans... At first I didn't believe it would happen to me, but when all my skin fell off, well...

[He trails off, and as he does, the cogs turn in his head once more. Up comes that hand, thumbing his chin in thought.]

Actually, now I'm curious what you might turn into.