A/N: This is the longest chapter so far. However, it is time to wrap this section up and put a bow on it.
Chapter 13 - The Dance
Kokomi had Chiyo over, and they were trying to figure out how to get ready for the dance. Hair, clothes, makeup, the whole enchilada… No matter what Ms. Shima said, it's always a big deal.
Kokomi's phone rang, and she put it in speaker so she could keep curling her hair. "Hello," she said noncommittally.
"Teruhashi?" a sort-of familiar, medium-deep voice was on the other end.
"Yeah?"
"This is Sawakita. I'm the president, well, used to be the president of the Teruhashi Fan Club."
"Uh huh." She said flatly. She spared asking him how he got her number.
"Listen, since they kicked me out, I've been thinking a lot, and it isn't really fair the way we treated you. I'm sorry for my actions and for what they're doing in my place now."
Kokomi had to think about it for a moment. But, still trying to being perfect, she said, "Oh, it's ok! Thank you for telling me," even before she felt it. She hovered her finger over the "end call" button.
"Anyway, we're trying to make it right - we're trying to spread understanding of the real you. We helped organize the gathering for you yesterday morning..."
"Hey thanks." She had appreciated the gesture, but she was wary of having two fan clubs. Surely the other one started just as innocently. "Oh, are you going to the dance tonight?" she asked.
"Of course! It's gonna be great."
"Maybe we'll see you there!" she said, finger still over the button.
"Oh, I wanted to tell you one more thing." Sawakita continued. Kokomi rolled her eyes and resumed working on her hair. "Before I was kicked out of the club, Kaido and I were working on something - I was spying on Hironaka, the new president guy? I followed him once, and he was working with another organization, and they're even worse than the fan club...
"Anyway, your friend Kaido, he's getting more … brooding … dark … selfish… Like them."
Kokomi could see Chiyo's lips quivering. "And?"
"Well, we were supposed to have our Dark Reunion meeting this morning, and he bailed. We've been spying on his movements lately, and I think he's on his way to a fan club meeting right now. One of the meetings of high rank. And you only get that high by helping the fan club defeat their enemies."
"How did you get that high?" She put down her curling iron and brush.
"I started the club. Remember? Like eight years ago? I can't believe it became the monster it is today. But I had the biggest crush on you in like the third grade. Back then you got high rank by giving you lunch." He sounded excited by the memory. "But your pal Kaido, it's possible he's giving them information about you and your friends, especially Saiki."
"What information could he possibly give that's worth ..." she trailed off.
"Just be careful, ok? See you tonight." Then he hung up.
Kokomi sighed. "Chiyo, when we - use your power to enhance our power, does it - I don't know - drain you or anything?"
"It did at first, but I think I have it under control now. Why?"
"Shall we check out our pal, Kaido?"
Chiyo had mixed feelings. Five days since our first kiss. That day was soooo good, but we haven't really even spoken since then, and he keeps blowing me off... She had waited for him yesterday while Kokomi and Saiki stayed at the school with Aiura, but this time he never showed. She was getting angry with him, and the thought of spying on him made her feel … vindicated.
"Let's do it," Chiyo said, with a twisted smile. Chiyo by now was used to the limits of Kokomi's power. They sat at the table, Chiyo's hand on top of Kokomi's arm. Kokomi crossed her eyes. She decided to stop calling him by his first name until … well, she couldn't see any path to fixing this.
Kaido was walking to an old, run down building in an old part of town. He laughed as he walked right past the alley where the secret base he helped build was. He went up to a rusty metal door and banged several times in a weird pattern. The echo seemed to shake the building. The door opened and somebody said something, and Kaido said something back.
"You forgot to turn off that filter thing." Chiyo thought.
"Right." Kokomi said.
Kaido and the other guy went inside. The inside was just as dilapidated as the outside - the carpet was ripped up, there were holes in the walls, evidence of rats, and some of the ceiling was just gone. In the hallway, they ran into the president guy. What did Sawakita call him? Hironaka? He pulled Kaido aside. Apparently he noticed Kaido admiring the decor, and said, "Soon we'll have a nicer meeting place. For now, complete discretion is necessary.
"You've been very helpful. You're now level two." He handed Kaido a new card. This one had a microchip and a gold border. "This will get you into certain places. Come on, let's get started."
They went into an auditorium. The ceiling had previously collapsed, and the room was open to the sky. It reminded Kaido of the Colosseum in Rome. He looked around and saw only about 100 people this time. Wasn't this supposed to be a 3s-and-up meeting? Kaido thought.
Hironaka made it to the stand. "Kaido, arise. Kaido is our newest rank two. Those of this rank are required to meet specific obligations of secrecy. Anything discussed in a meeting like this must not be discussed to anybody below your rank or outside the club. Anybody who leaves the club at this rank is subject to retaliation. Kaido, raise your hand and acknowledge acceptance of these terms."
Kaido raised his hand.
"You may be seated. Several high-rank topics to discuss today." Some pictures of Kokomi and Kusuo were put up on display.
"One: Thanks to the intel from Kaido about a momentary fight between Teruhashi and the Enemy, we were able to stage something to keep them apart."
"Two: Because of Teruhashi's embarrassing behavior the other day, we have decided to part ways with her, again thanks to Kaido's suggestion, and consider her one of our Enemies." More pictures. "However, this is currently level 2 knowledge, as she might still have use later."
Kokomi and Chiyo gasped.
"Three: we have reason to suppose that our enemies have discovered some of our secrets. Before we can proceed, Kaido, we need to read you in on a few of them. Remember your promise to honor them."
Hironaka stalled for a moment. "I infiltrated the Teruhashi Fan Club in the name of another organization I belong to. I saw its potential for being able to draw out those hungry for power. It took years of planning and manipulation across many chapters, but Kaido, you were right the other day: the time is ripe to recognize that power, and we no longer need Teruhashi. We have polled all the other chapters, and we have thousands of active members who feel the same way.
"That organization has five gifted individuals. They have many unique abilities, powers, you might say, some right out of comic books or movies. They have super strength, flight, invisibility, and many others. Some might call them magicians or superheroes, but we call them psychics.
"One of their goals is to seek out individuals with a thirst for power, like us. Their other goal is to hunt down other psychics, destroy them, and steal their power. Then combining our numbers and their psychic power, they can secretly manipulate economies and even governments."
Kaido looked around. He might have been the youngest person there. He had forgotten that the TFC existed outside the realm of schools and teenagers.
"Yesterday was a trial run." He stalled for impact. "Select members of level four and higher aided with the staged bank robberies and infiltrated certain government services like emergency dispatch. We have hundreds of them working in all industries and all government offices. Their psychics caused the explosions and other things.
"It is time. Today we will join forces with them. It is time to speak their name freely among ourselves, and we will make our merger public at our upcoming unveiling. Previously, the name was only known to the council. We will slowly spread the name through the lower ranks.
"Kaido, you were right - we don't need Teruhashi, and we don't need to be a Fan Club.
"Welcome to Dark Reunion!" he shouted, arms raised up.
Kaido gasped, opening his eyes wide and clutching his armrests, but seemed to recover quickly. Kokomi and Chiyo were speechless.
A sudden power seemed to fill the room, as five figures emerged behind him on stage, as if from the shadows, forming a V shape. The crowd erupted in applause, then started chanting. It made Kaido shudder, but he hesitantly joined the others. The leader wore a midnight blue trenchcoat with a matching broad-rim hat and face mask covering her eyes. She wore an evil grin. The others had the same outfits but the color was maroon. Each of their sleeves were adorned with between one and five gold stripes.
"A demonstration, if you please."
They vanished in synchronization, then reappeared in various places floating above them in the air. They shot up spiraling in the air like rockets, leaving colored trails behind them. Instead of coming back down, an old abandoned ten-story office building appeared in their place, burst into flames, and plummeted toward them. As it got closer, it started glowing brighter and brighter, and appeared to be melting. Then about a half second before impact, it vanished, but not before leaving its impact on the audience. The building hit the ground close enough to shake the earth and send a rubble cloud over their building.
Kaido's was not the only scream. He could feel the heat for a full two minutes after it vanished. The psychics reappeared on stage to thunderous applause.
"This is the real reason that Saiki is the Great Enemy." Hironaka continued. "There is at least one psychic still at Teruhashi's school, and we are very confident that it is Saiki. They are likely going to stand against, and without them, we would have been ready at least a few years earlier." Pictures of Saiki, at the volcano?! On more than one occasion? "We managed to catch him in the past; however, our recent attempts to expose him have failed." Pictures of Saiki being beaten up and the bookshelf incident.
"The psychic who manipulated Saiki into breaking things off with Teruhashi has reason to believe he was discovered. He was able to telepathically determine that another telepath arrived on the scene, but, unfortunately, he was so focused on creating the illusion that he could not determine more." He paused.
Kokomi and Chiyo recognized the old man in the back of the V shape as the guy from the Saiki-hypnosis scene.
"Kaido, what do you know about Saiki being psychic?" he asked, not doubting in the least Kaido would answer honestly.
"In the years we've been friends, I never saw any indication of his power. But, a few weeks ago, Saiki confided in us that he had powers but chose to abandon them, in favor of, uh, more relaxed life?" Kaido chuckled. The audience followed suit.
Get rid of his powers? Moron.
Why would you seek quiet over power?
There must be others, then.
"No matter. Saiki or others, we will find out soon enough. We have another surprise in store to smoke them out."
Suddenly one of the five psychics started to shift uncomfortably. This one had long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and he was glancing around. Kokomi tried to read his thoughts but found a little jolt of pain when she did so. She did her best to remember his face for later.
He made a signal to Hironaka, who said, "Really. Are you sure?" He nodded gravely. Hironaka sighed, and said. "Everybody, the meeting is compromised. Countermeasures."
Kaido looked unsure of what that meant, but was soon swept up into a large circle, everybody reaching out around the shoulders of the person next to them. Once they were all formed together, they all closed their eyes and moved their heads in a pulsing motion, and...
Kokomi and Chiyo were thrust against the back of their chairs. Kokomi toppled over.
"What happened?" Chiyo asked, a little baffled, while Kokomi got back up.
Kokomi tried to sum it up. "I think one of the psychics found us out! Once he caught me, he put up some kind of defense, that not only prevented me from getting in, but also kind of attacked me somehow. Then they teamed up to kick us out!"
They took a minute to gather their breath. "They have psychics! Five!" Chiyo panicked.
"Maybe they're still there! Hang on. Maybe with a little more power, we can overpower them."
They tried to see the place again, but it was empty, and not a soul was within a kilometer. Chiyo said, "They got out of there in a hurry. They sure know how to make an exit." They tried to use clairvoyance to find them with no success. "They're gone."
Kokomi and Chiyo sat in stunned silence for a moment.
Kokomi started getting frantic. "That means my fan club is responsible for yesterday's attacks!"
Chiyo added, gravely, "And not only is Dark Reunion real, but Kaido is a member!"
"We have to tell Saiki! But he'll still be stone until tonight! He was supposed to talk to Kaido yesterday… but the stone thing..."
After a few minutes of starting at the table, Chiyo decided to try to lighten the mood. "Then I guess we have time to get ready for the dance!" she said with fake conviction.
Kokomi was only half convinced. She offered up a nervous giggle, and they went out to go shopping. She tried to channel Aiura's "well, what can you do about it right now" attitude, and it took about an hour, but she finally got into full dance prep mode.
Kokomi and Chiyo got to the dance early. They had forgotten the cardinal rule of dances: nobody shows up early. The school courtyard was empty, the halls were empty, and there were a handful of stragglers in the gym, where the dance was held. The only one she recognized was the Sawakita guy.
Despite their lack of time to prepare for the dance, they had put a lot of effort (perhaps in spite of their budget) into the decor. There were purple and white streamers twisted together in the hallways leading to the gym, which had more streamers lined with clusters of dark blue balloons tied together.
There were several long tables in the back for refreshments, and many round tables scattered through the gym, leaving room for dancing in the center and in the corners. All tables were covered with lavender paper, adorned with candles and gold-colored frilly-shaped centerpieces.
Oh man, Sawakita's coming over here, Kokomi thought. She sighed only loud enough for Chiyo to hear.
Sawakita came over and said hello. They made small talk for a bit, and he asked if she could save a dance for him. She said she would before she thought about it too much, and he walked away.
"Is Saiki going to be okay with that?" Chiyo asked.
"Well..."
Kokomi came to the dance to have a good time, end of story. She truthfully hadn't thought about being here as a couple with Saiki, because, well, they weren't a couple. Not yet anyway. "Okay, so here's the plan," she thought to herself and to Chiyo, "I will save a dance or two for Kusuo, but I won't mind dancing with others, too. I think he'll understand." She slapped the table as if convincing herself. "How about you?"
"Kaido and I haven't even spoken in almost a week. He doesn't return my calls or messages, and ignores me at school. So I think I'm free, too. But aren't you still supposed to not be together with Saiki?"
"I'm not sure I can fake anymore, and they know that somebody was spying on them telepathically. Besides, they already suspect we know, so it doesn't buy us anything to pretend anymore. Right?"
Chiyo curled her lip and tilted her head from side to side. "But are you ready to actually be together?"
Kokomi responded with a compressed smile and nodded her head quickly. Then Chiyo grabbed Kokomi's hands and they both squealed.
Some school official welcomed them to the dance right at 7:00, and the music started, but it wasn't for about twenty more minutes that most of the students showed up. They trickled in in groups, in couples, or occasionally one at a time.
Kokomi and Chiyo chose to wear outfits that weren't too casual but wasn't too nice, either, since the dance was technically an informal. Kokomi was wearing a teal, sleeveless, high-collared dress that went to just above her knees, and Chiyo was wearing a red dress that hung off her shoulders. Kokomi did an intricate half-up hairstyle where the upper half was twisted with three segments, and the lower half was curled into waves. Chiyo's hair had small braids running along the sides and formed into a small ponytail, while the rest of her hair flowed under it.
Some couples were dressed up in very formal outfits that matched as though they had been planning on it for some time. Others just wore average weekend wear. Kokomi was waiting for people they knew before getting up to dance.
After some time, Nendo and Kuboyasu came. They came over to sit by them. They were making progress - they didn't Wow or flinch. Nendo was wearing his school uniform, and Kuboyasu was wearing black slacks and a black t-shirt. A few minutes later, Aiura and Toritsuka came in, not intentionally together. Aiura was wearing an even more low-cut outfit than usual. She had to keep reminding Toritsuka to keep his "eyes up here".
It was time for the first slow dance. They divided into pairs, Aiura and Toritsuka, and Kuboyasu and Chiyo. Kokomi figured she wasn't going to just sit and not dance, so she and Nendo started dancing. Nendo was a surprisingly graceful dancer ("My mom taught me"), and it was a good time, but that was that.
After the dance with Nendo, Kokomi saw Hairo and Mera over at the refreshment table. Hairo was pouring herself a cup of red punch.
"Hey, Mera," Hairo called.
Mera didn't acknowledge him. She was packing down the brownies.
He put on a brave face. Then he put his hand on her arm as though to stop her from eating. She kept her body posture where it was, but looked up in shock. "Listen, I think a lot of people would like to get to know you, but, um you're always eating, … and then leave once the food is gone." Hairo did a quick exhale, and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Mera gasped. "Huh?"
Kokomi interrupted, but she wasn't sure she was close enough to Mera to have a conversation like this. "How's your dad, Mera?" This was actually a gamble - Kokomi didn't know if her dad would have been "reset" with Kusuo's last entire-earth rewind. She placed the timing of her dad coming back with last year's cherry blossom festival, which could have been before or after April 10th. Kusuo would know…
"Huh?" she said again. "He's fine. Why?"
"Well, um, because you told us once that you ate all the food you could find because you couldn't afford food, and you were poor because your dad was gone. But if your dad is back, does that mean you're not as poor, and so don't need to eat as much?" Kokomi started biting her nails. Of course, if her dad were "reset", then she would have a memory of her dad for a while, and then she would have made it worse by mentioning it.
Mera looked shocked again. Nobody had ever talked to her like this. She would have stormed away, except Kokomi looked so genuine the way she said it. Instead, she started processing what Kokomi said. Well, yes, we have regular meals now, but I've been doing this for so long…
A slow song came on again. "May I have this dance?" Hairo asked her, extending his hand with a slight bow. He nodded his head appreciatively in Kokomi's direction.
Mera surprised them and herself, when she found herself taking his hand and heading to the dance floor.
Kokomi looked at her options for dancing. Before she could choose somebody, somebody came over and asked her to dance. Why not? she thought to herself. "Sure. What's your name?"
"Sato Hiroshi."
He was a decent dancer, and he made her laugh a few times. But at the end of the dance, that was that, and he thanked her and he went off to seek out other prospects.
Then there were a few fast numbers, and they stayed in a group and danced. Chiyo danced timidly as though she were afraid of being watched. Kuboyasu was probably the best solo dancer of the group, and Toritsuka looked like … well, he just looked sad.
It was time for the next slow dance. Kokomi checked the time, it was about 7:45. Fifteen minutes until Kusuo was not stone anymore, and probably fifteen more until he arrived? She could be patient. She sat this one out, but was surprised to find that Nendo was getting quite a line of people to dance with him. Mera got him this time, apparently taking Hairo's words to heart. Kuboyasu started dancing with Aiura.
So did Hairo like Mera, or was he just trying to get her out of her shell? Kokomi wondered. She looked the other way and saw Chiyo sitting by herself a few tables away. Occasionally, she glanced sadly across the gym. Kokomi looked in that direction and saw Kaido dancing with somebody from the fan club.
Hairo approached Chiyo, and said, "Hey, let's dance. You shouldn't just sit here the whole time." Chiyo looked up and smiled, but the slow song ended right then.
The next slow dance was right around 8:00, and Chiyo waited with hesitation as Hairo came back. He smiled down at her and offered his hand. She smiled back and took it. Kokomi saw more than heard the thoughts in her mind as she noticed the gentle but fiery passion in his eyes, and they started dancing.
Within fifteen seconds, Kaido tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't dance with my girlfriend." Chiyo glared at him.
I'm not falling for your 'let's have a testosterone contest' ruse, Hairo thought to himself. He replied cheerfully, "Sorry, Kaido, I didn't know. I just didn't want her to be alone. Please, go ahead." He let go of Chiyo and took a step back.
Way to go, Hairo. Kokomi thought to herself.
That was obviously not what Kaido intended. He scowled at Hairo and walked away, and Hairo and Chiyo resumed dancing. Chiyo rested her head on his shoulder.
Chiyo looked up at Hairo while they danced, and he looked back. The way he wanted to make sure I wasn't alone, the way he expertly handled Kaido. The passion he lives with every single moment… She started to blush. Am I really that fickle, that I can change who I like in just a few minutes and a kind gesture?
Maybe I am. But what's wrong with that? We are only in high school… But would he ever actually like me, or is he just being a good class rep?
At 8:00 on the dot, Kusuo transformed back to normal. He fell over to the floor, and unwound the toilet paper from his legs. He was late for the dance, but he checked his messages first.
Group message with the Sci-Kicks
Nendo: We should tell Saiki about the combined powers thing.
Chiyo: And what we've discovered about Dark Reunion in the last day.
Kuboyasu: Let's decorate the statue first.
Kokomi: Ooh! I wanna help
Nendo: Be there in a sec
Kokomi: He's gonna be sooo mad.
Thanks, Kokomi. Kusuo threw off the leighs, and wiped the confetti off his arms and shook it out of his hair.
Kuboyasu: I guess you already discovered I can turn people to stone. So Teruhashi isn't the only one with two powers.
Kusuo: What's with the flowers and the leaves? I'm only glad there weren't any birds.
Nendo: LOL
Kokomi: ROFL
Kuboyasu: There were birds, but we only had so much birdseed.
Thanks, Kuboyasu
Kokomi: Hurry up and get to the dance! Your mom and I left some suitable outfits for you to choose from.
He saw the outfits, chose the gray collared shirt, the kind that doesn't take a tie, and the dark gray suit and pants. Before changing, he did a pit check, decided that a day as a statue didn't make a day without odor problems, and took a quick shower. Then he teleported to the customary bathroom, and walked into the gym.
"It's time to announce the king and queen of the dance! I know there wasn't much time to put this together, but we did have time for this!"
Wow, are they ever going to let go how much cooler the dance would have been if I didn't skip that week of school? Kusuo asked nobody in particular.
"Probably not." Kokomi knew he wasn't talking to her, but she answered anyway. She winked at him from across the gym. He started walking over to sit by them. "Oh, I have to tell you something -" she got all serious all of the sudden "- something big -"
"Let's talk after the dance," he said, and she agreed hesitantly.
Before he could get to her group's table, the queen was announced. "No surprises here! For the Dance Queen - Teruhashi!" There was a tumultuous applause as she walked up and accepted her crown. "For King - it was a close race between a lot of candidates!" In other words, you had nobody stand out. "But the winner is: Sawakita!" There was a polite applause. "And now for the King and Queen's dance!" The official put a hand on each of their backs and turned them toward each other.
Oh, they get to dance now?! Kusuo complained.
"Patience, you'll get your turn, if you're nice."
Kokomi suspected this might happen, and was not particularly looking forward to it. She was still holding the whole TFC thing against Sawakita just a little bit. Naturally, them turning into Dark Reunion wasn't his fault.
They started to dance. She inadvertently held him at a slightly larger distance than she had everybody else that night. Everybody watched them for a while, and then they started to form up into other pairs. It looked like Kusuo had decided to use the opportunity to let Aiura have the dance she wanted.
Sawakita was actually a pretty decent dancer. He went through several advanced moves with her, and she smiled hesitantly.
"You look nice," he said, twenty seconds or so into the dance. She thanked him. Huh. Just a normal 'you look nice.' She wondered whether that meant he was trying to be 'normal' around her, or if he didn't really think she was that pretty. After a few seconds of pause, he said, "So, everybody's betting on which of the people you've danced with so far you're going to be in a couple with."
She gasped. "What? They're all just friends."
"Yeah, I know that. Most people are betting on that Sato guy, though. Oh, by the way, I hope you don't mind, I asked people to not come ogling after you, unless they already knew you. I thought you should know."
She pouted for a moment. What?! "That's kind of the other extreme, don't you think? I mean, how do normal people meet each other?"
"If I only knew the answer to that…" Sawakita said.
Kokomi returned to her thoughts. Well, with what's coming up, it doesn't really matter that he called off the wolves, and I'll doubt that the bet on who I'll end up with will last. At least she knew why nobody was asking her to dance. "I can dance with friends, right?" She sighed. She decided he meant well and not to hold him in contempt. "Anyway, how are you enjoying the dance?" she asked. They continued to dance and to make small talk. Blah blah blah, Sawakita, king of small talk.
Near the end of the song, Sawakita asked, "Hey, I've been trying to figure out the real you, like everybody's been talking about. Would you like to go out sometime?"
She tried to remember if he was among the myriad of people who had asked her out before and she came up with a lame excuse to avoid going out. This time, however, it was true when she said, "I'm kind of seeing someone."
He let out a rapid breath, pursed his lips and looked away. "Is it Saiki? He can't possibly have done as much for you as I have."
She stopped moving, and held his shoulders at arms length. She stared directly into his eyes, and smiled with her lips slightly pursed. He gasped, and was instantly disarmed. "Okay, there are several things wrong with what you just said. One - anybody truly interested in my affection would never say that - I'm not a show horse for sale to the highest bidder. Two - who I like is my business. Three - I hope you're not counting the creation of the Fan Club in that list. Four - Saiki has done more for me than you can possibly imagine, and most of it was before he was ever interested in me."
He bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry." She could tell with her telepathy that he was sincere.
"It's ok. I appreciate you trying." Then she gave him a hug. He smiled. That was more than he was hoping for.
Kusuo's dance with Aiura was the epitome of anticlimactic. She kept trying to impress him with some crazy moves and flattery, until Kusuo said at the end of their dance, "Did it ever occur to you that you might actually find your soulmate by not expecting to find him? Or at least not trying to force it?" She gasped, and stared disbelievingly at him for a few seconds. He smiled and they rejoined their group.
As Kokomi came back over, Nendo sneezed into his hand, but half of the spray ended up in Kusuo's hair, and the rest was wiped on Kusuo's shirt.
"Dude, I thought we decided we weren't going to do that anymore," Kubuyaso slugged him.
"How was the dance?" Kusuo goaded her. She had sat down at the opposite end of their group.
"Fine. He asked me out, and I turned him down." She also told him what he had said about Kusuo.
"IDK, I really haven't done all that much for you, to be fair."
"Did you just say 'IDK'?" Kokomi smiled. "How was your dance with your girlfriend?"
Kusuo scoffed. He had so many questions about the last 24 hours, he didn't know where to begin. So he just relaxed and tried to enjoy the dance.
They all got up and danced the fast songs. It turned out that Kusuo danced about as well as Toritsuka, and they actually had a dance-off between them, and Kusuo was declared worst dancer. He held his arms up in triumph.
When it was finally time for a slow song, Kokomi literally dragged him running into an empty space near the corner, and they started dancing.
"So does this mean we can stop pretending?" She shushed him, and just looked into his eyes. She was pretty sure he couldn't handle any complicated dancing, so she put her hands on his shoulders. When he looked unsure of what to do next, she put his hands on her waist, returned her hands to his shoulders, and assumed a comfortable distance.
She looked at the other dancers now. Aiura was dancing with Sawakita, Toritsuka with Mera (who had managed to stay away from the snack bar all this time), Hairo with Chiyo again. I'll have to ask her about this, Kokomi thought. Kuboyasu was dancing with somebody from the class she didn't know. Kaido was dancing with a different person from his new friend group.
She looked back into Kusuo's eyes. "Listen - you were right." She drew him a little closer. "I let you have your week of getting to know each other better. Yes, we fought for a lot of it, but I think we are better for it. She smiled softly. Can we be a couple now?" She asked.
His face lit up. "Yes. Yes, yes yess!" He had a brief thought of kissing her, but he didn't want to do that in front of all these people; he wanted that to be a private moment.
"That's probably a good call," she thought back. Instead, they inclined their heads until their foreheads met, and closed their eyes, while swaying in the darkness. She wove her fingers into his hair with one of her hands.
Everybody else was ignoring them, up until they started sharing this connection, and slowly, they all stopped dancing and started watching them instead. They watched in amazement as, while they were dancing, Kokomi's glow seemed to extend over to Kusuo, until they were both shining. Over the course of the dance, the glow gradually intensified until those closest to them started to cover their eyes and back away. Then, there was an explosion of light and a whoosh that washed over the gym.
As the song ended, they pulled apart and smiled at each other, grabbed each other's hands and started to go back to their seats.
Kusuo, who always kept threats coming through his telepathy filter, started picking up some angry thoughts.
That's too close, Saiki.
We can't let that happen.
Let's get him!
Can't they let us have ten seconds? He looked across the room, and saw a handful of students walking towards them, eyes filled with determination and hands in fists at their sides. Kokomi saw his sudden reaction and looked too. "We need to get out of here!" Kusuo told Kokomi. He didn't think they could teleport in here without being seen. Fortunately, they were close to the gym exit and it wasn't blocked off.
The hallway wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. Kusuo did a quick clairvoyance check, and found that there were no empty spots between them and the school gate, not even the bathroom and the roof, apparently new make-out spots. It looked like the word was out about them, and a small posse was forming around the school gate.
Kusuo had a sudden memory of when he was protecting Kokomi from the newspaper staff, and smiled. He spotted Nendo in the hallway, as he headed for the back door of the school, and shared a quick thought with him, touching his shoulder. "We're going to have to bust out of here, Kokomi."
They burst through the back doors of the school; it was dark outside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his motorcycle was there waiting for him, with two helmets. Nendo had come through with the teleportation; he hadn't known if Nendo had gotten his message. He gave one helmet to Kokomi, put the other on, and said, "Hang on!" For some reason, I keep forgetting about this thing.
"You can drive a motorcycle?!" she thought while screaming in her mind as they started toward the school gates. There were quite a few people blocking the gate, and more people were coming. Kaido was leading them. Saiki's and Kokomi's supporters had started to gather as well, funnelling them toward the gates. Sawakita and Kuboyasu were leading them. Kuboyasu looked ready for a fight.
Interestingly, also thanks to Nendo, there was also a large puddle in front of the gates. Kusuo came to a stop about fifteen meters away.
"Kaido, it's time to choose a side!" Kusuo yelled as he turned his handlebar, revving the engine.
"What do you want from me, Saiki?" Kaido sneered back, unyielding.
He started toward him on the motorcycle as he responded, "You're supposed to: Be. Kusuo's. Best-friend!" Hang on, Kokomi! He pulled the bike into a skid right in front of Kaido and his cronies, through the water puddle, and splashed the entire crowd. "BKB!" Kaido held his ground, but the others went running, and Kusuo went through the opening, and they rode off into the night.
"BKB? That didn't quite line up, you know. Maybe BKBF," she thought. "Sorry about Kaido, I know you and he were good friends."
"I didn't exactly rehearse, you know. We were good friends, weren't we?" Kusuo thought, as if he finally admitted to himself that it was true. Good friends. Maybe even his best friend.
"And when did you get a motorcycle?"
He explained that August two years ago with her, where he wanted to be by himself the whole month, but got cornered into going to Tennis Camp, drug trial testing, motorcycle licensing (with the significance of "BKB"), and the amusement park with her. Then, of course, he told her about how he had driven through a puddle to soak the newspaper people who had been tailing her.
"It's still kind of early. What should we do now?" Kusuo asked. It was just after 9:00.
"We probably can't go back to the school. Maybe we should just go for a drive." Kokomi held on softly, and rested her head against Kusuo's back.
Apparently, she's taken a liking to the motorcycle.
"Shut up and drive," she said.
Kokomi had never been on a motorcycle before, and she was enjoying the feeling of the wind, despite whatever the ride was doing to her hair. She didn't think Kusuo had a whole lot of experience driving, but she trusted him anyway.
"Fine. But can you clairvoyance back to the dance, and see if there's any trouble?" Kusuo asked her.
Kokomi looked back to the dance. It looks like Sawakita's group and started confronting Kaido's group.
"Borrow my telepathy if you need to," Kusuo said. She was getting better, but they were getting farther and farther away, and it was hard to keep focused. With Kusuo's help, enhancing her telepathy, she was able to hear what they were saying. It seemed as if Kaido's group was starting to threaten Sawakita's group.
Kaido got a message. Kokomi was able to see it.
Unknown: Stand down. Let us send them a message.
Kaido lifted his hands in resignation, and he and his cronies edged to the sides. Suddenly storm clouds seemed to arise out of nowhere, and hailstones started falling, getting increasingly larger.
Both groups made for the safety of the building. The dance was still going on, and they tried to get back in the swing of things, but spirits were dim on both sides.
There was no dancing between the two groups.
Kokomi suspected foul play from Dark Reunion with the hailstorm. However, the danger seemed to have passed, so Kokomi returned her attention to where she was, adding it to the list of things she would have to tell him. She told him that everything was fine for now, but they would have to talk about it. Kusuo nodded, and started to drive out of the city. Then, all of a sudden there was a flash, and their scenery changed. They were driving on a small road in a forested area, and it wasn't dark anymore. "Where did you take us? Is it safe?"
"Eastern China, I think? Don't worry, it's quiet out."
"Wait, you took us to someplace you've never been ON THE BACK OF A MOVING MOTORCYCLE?!"
"Yes." Geez, I scouted it out first.
After some time, he pulled off the road, and he found what he was looking for. "Do you trust me?" She nodded, and they started to walk, hand in hand. The sun was going down. Ohhhh, it looks like he just wanted a sunset, and needed to go a time zone or so to the west. About ten minutes later, they found a clearing with a scenic mountain lake, and, reminiscent of their last date, they sat down on the shore, on a blanket which he apparently had in his motorcycle compartment. They looked across the lake; she rested her head on his shoulder.
"So what happened back at the dance? With the glowing?" Kusuo asked.
"Not a clue. Maybe a weird mixture of your psychic aura with my natural aura?"
They watched the sun start to set over the lake.
"This is pretty," Kokomi said.
"Yeah." He stood up, and helped her up. He turned to look at her, and despite everything he had promised himself before, said, "Kokomi? You're pretty."
She blushed. It wasn't an "Oh, wow" like everybody else did, but it was tender and sweet. It was even better this way.
He started thinking about kissing her. She had told him it was time to be a couple. He didn't really know how, never having been in a relationship before. He suspected based on her previous thoughts that she hadn't either -
She smiled, and interrupted his thoughts with a finger to his lips. Funny that it works for thoughts, too, he thought. She leaned in, and closed her eyes. Crap! I'm not ready!
"For once, don't think. Just do."
He tried. Their noses collided. What was the worst that could happen? I guess if I'm bad at it, we'll figure it out. They both turned their heads the other way and their noses collided again. She grabbed his head. Hey, maybe she's the one who will be bad - and she turned his head then her lips met his.
The world melted away. After what seemed like an hour, they pulled away, their foreheads meeting again, and they both said, "Ohhh wow."
End of Act II