Kusuo spent hours contemplating what his brother had told him and the only sustenance that went into his stomach that day was coffee jelly, water, and small candies he had squirreled away in the house. Not many people could look at the pink-haired boy and believe that he spent time storing away emergency hard candies in nooks and crannies, but it was true. Luckily his family left him to his own devices until the next morning, it was a nice gesture despite Kusuo being able to hear their worried and elated thoughts throughout the house. His parents were happy that their son was back to normal but luckily Kusuke explained Kusuo´s view on it so at least they tried to see it from his point of view.
The pink-haired boy brought out his spare uniform and with a slightly bitter taste in his mouth tried to see if he looked presentable. Yare yare, back to this again. I got spoiled and now I have to go back to the norm. What a pain. After packing his pencil case and other necessities, Kusuo walked down to the dining room. Kusuke was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and sketches of what looked like another limiter. On his head was his tiara-shaped telepathy canceler making him resemble a unicorn. "Good morning brother dear. I would ask how you slept but based on your raccoon eyes I would assume it went badly." Kusuke tilted his head and smirked, "Now why am I even assuming that you tried?" He took an obnoxiously loud slurp of his coffee and nodded his head towards the chair next to him that had a coffee jelly and a cup of coffee in front of it.
Kurumi turned her head to look into the dining room that was fully visible from the kitchen due to the worktable being an island that separated the two. In her hands were two plates with rice, pickled vegetables, and fried fish. My wonderful baby boys! "Good morning Ku-Chan!" She kissed each of their cheeks and put the breakfast on the table, "I will bring the miso soup in a minute!" I am so glad that they are never too old for me to kiss! Kusuo looked awfully tired though! Should he stay home today? Kurumi moved between the kitchen and the dining table some more times before sitting down with her two sons, her mind flooded with joy at seeing her children enjoying her food. Kusuo thought she at times almost sounded obsessed with feeding and caring for them but he couldn't blame her, her children have always been more developed than normal. When you have kids like that it makes sense to cling to what you can do. I am so happy to see them eat. I want to provide them with food and shelter for the rest of their lives sometimes! It was so horrible when Ku-Chan struggled to eat… oh Hi Ku-Chan!
Kusuo gave her a slight nod as a greeting and continued to eat. He remembers well when his psychic powers hindered him in sleeping or eating properly. The constant voices in his head and occasional rips in his gloves activating his psychometry. Kusuo didn't want to admit it but he was more than just thankful that Kusuke invented the power limiters. He wasn't sure if he would have stayed sane for long without them, not that he could label himself as sane now either. Kusuo´s sanity was flexible.
Kuniharu´s frantic footsteps thundered in the house as the man ran down the stairs and locked eyes onto the back of Kusuo´s head. "Kusuo I need help!" I will not teleport you. Learn to plan ahead. I am not a taxi service. Why do I have such a mean son? Glad I made two! "Big-Ku can you please help daddy out?" he pouted and wobbled his bottom lips as he slowly shrugged his clothes on. "Of course! All I want in return is to use you in my next human experiments!" Kusuke got a shark-like grin towards the end and Kuniharu paled and quickly looked at the front door, damn it! I forgot that my first one is a nut case! My nut case of course but I don't like that look! "Ah I am sorry Big-Ku but Kusuo is right, I should have planned ahead so I will punish myself by running over there." He ran up to Kurumi and kissed her cheek before bolting out of the house so quickly that you would believe he had psychic powers as well.
Kusuo glanced at the clock and stood up, taking his dishes to the kitchen. I should get going as well. "Have fun at school Ku-Chan!" chirped Kurumi and she hugged him as he walked past her towards the front door. Kusuke scribbled some more on his sketches and slowly chewed on his food. He waved his hand at his little brother without even looking at him, Kusuke was in The Zone and nothing could distract him at that moment. The only function other than work he was capable of at the moment was eating at the speed of a snail. Kusuo was willing to bet that his coffee was cold now too.
After walking down a few streets he heard the thoughts of Kaidou. They were filled with fantasy battles and characters vaguely similar to people the teen had seen in real life. Kusuo recognized the spirit dragon as Kaidou´s own mother and honestly felt that the depiction of a spirit dragon dictating the development of warriors wasn't that far off. That woman was a powerhouse and a half being both a mother of three and participating in any parent meeting ever. As Kusuo got close enough he could spot the tall frame of Nendou as well. "Yo! Aibou! There you are!" Nendou slung his arm around his pal and leaned down to look at his pink-haired friend. "You disappeared yesterday! Did you hear about the meteor that almost hit us?" Kaidou glowered at the taller teen, "Of course he heard! There is no way he didn't! The news was everywhere! It was probably the Dark Reunion trying to kill us off!" He then looked at his friend and paused his dramatic way of talking, "You look exhausted. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?"
The pink-haired boy gave no verbal response but nodded his head once to confirm. The conversation turned back to ramen noodles and The Dark Reunion soon after that. Kusuo felt a massive headache creep upon him and he was almost 100% sure that he was hearing more than just the thoughts of people within a 200-meter radius. His friends didn't really question why he was wearing his glasses again or his pink bulb hairpins. The teacher Matsuzaki also didn´t question Kusuo about his hairpins but did rip on Kaidou again for having some extra accessories on his uniform.
Teruhashi was surrounded by an even more arrogant energy and Kusuo only needed to listen to a second of her thought process to know that she believed God had stopped the meteor to please her. She was back to being muscles and bones but Kusuo found out that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. His displeasure at his X-ray had faded a little over the trip to school that morning. Teruhashi was still the same person as before and her gifted looks didn't change Kusuo´s view on her one bit. Sure, she was beautiful, but so were butterflies and flowers. He would never look at her hungrily like some of the other guys did unless she turned into a giant coffee jelly. His friends were still the same people and so was he even if he couldn't see their faces as he could yesterday. The corny saying "What matters is what is on the inside" is surprisingly helpful in Kusuos's situation.
Class started after the homeroom teacher Iguchi made the class settle down. The meteor was the topic of the day and probably will be for the next week or so. Saiko arrived proudly as a peacock 6 minutes into class. He had a pretty valid excuse for being late that time, apparently his limo had gotten complications that set him back a few minutes. Iguchi accepted the excuse and class went on as normal. At least on the surface. The thoughts of almost everyone in the room was on the meteor that almost destroyed Japan yesterday. Only Iguchi and Hairo were completely focused.
Kusuo´s headache worsened over the day and he had to force down a frown by lunch. During that time, he had heard Toritsuka, Aiura, and Akechi all thanking him mentally for saving them, as well as ideas and theories on who could have destroyed the meteor since it hadn't gone public yet. Surprisingly it was Saiko who had the answer. He had heard Kaidou voice his theory out loud at lunch and stated in a better-than-you voice. "It was the currently independent inventor Saiki Kusuke. He had some secret ace up his sleeve that he refuses to reveal what it is. The government apparently contacted him about the meteor." I really want to know but apparently, you can't bribe that guy into telling. Saiko ran a hand through his hair, "Saiko Corporation will be collaborating with him so of course, I knew before you plebes." He looked pointedly at Kuboyasu who had opened his mouth to ask how he knew about the savior. Kusuo felt his headache worsen at the thought of Kusuke being seen as a savior.
Yumehara tilted her head. "Saiki? Are you related to him in some way Saiki?" Everybody on the table turned to look at Kusuo. Their minds spoke of how skeptical they were other than Teruhashi who had a slight twitch of her left eye at the reminder of the blond man. Kusuo was about to deny everything when Toritsuka walked past and dragged over an empty chair to sit backward on, "He sure is! That inventor man is both a genius and a nutcase. Saiki doesn't look that much like him at a glance but now that I know they are related it is easy to tell." Kusuo telepathically directed his thoughts to Toritsuka, you are a dead man walking ghost boy. Toritsuka gulped and glanced at a glaring Kusuo a few seats down. The damage has been done, there was no turning back because Kusuo could tell that Toritsuka had somehow convinced them that Yumeharas idea must have been true.
Kusuo let out a sigh and nodded. "Kusuke is my older brother." Saiko stared hungrily at the pink-haired boy, "No, I do not know how he did it." Honestly, he himself had no idea how he got his powers to resurface fast enough to destroy the meteor, so he wasn't completely lying. Only half-lying.
Nenou slapped his hand on Kusuos's back, "That's so cool aibou! Introduce us to him sometime! I am sure we can be pals too!" Kusuo, Toritsuka, and Teruhashi got a nightmare-ish image of how it would end if Kusuke and Nendou became pals. Toritsuka promised himself to pray to Buddha some more for that to never happen. Pray in my stead as well will you? Double the prayers! Okay, Master! Kusuo didn't mind being called Master that time.
The school day ended and Kusuo had been peppered with questions and thoughts about his older brother and if he was sure he didn't know how the meteor had been destroyed. "Yo aibou! Let's go get some ramen!" Kusuo for once appreciated the usual ramen outing and it helped that Nendou had found a restaurant with the best ramen and barely any customers. Apparently, it was a small branch of a bigger restaurant chain, so it managed just fine despite looking a little dingy and worn down. Kusuo still had a raging headache but Kaido had supplied him with his own emergency painkillers that he usually used after cram school. "I often get headaches after forcing so much information into my head." No way I am going to ask my mom if I can quit cram school though. She is a greater force than the Dark Reunion.
Kusuo and painkillers were good friends. He had been borderline addicted to it as a child before he got his limiters and he still used them more than the usual person although no longer excessively. The pink-haired boy was still tempted to ask for a triple dose though as his head throbbed. However, then Kaidou might ask questions and Kusuo did not want that kind of attention on himself, period.
As they parted ways on their way home, he pondered over how his first day back to the usual was. It hadn't been horrible save for a gruesome headache and some confrontation about his evil older brother. Kusuo could live with this even when he had a taste of normality, he might not like it, but this was his life, a disastrous one but still his. Kusuke might want him to get to a new chapter in his book of life but Kusuo was still just turning a page. He had lived with this curse- no, abilities, for over 17 years and suffered losses from it. It won´t be easy to focus on the wins he gained from it. However, he will try, for as much as he hates to admit it, even only in his own mind, Kusuke had a point. He can´t loathe such a prominent part of himself.