Chapter 4: Kusuke's Visit

What a long day. I'm tired. I almost forgot what I went out for on a weekend in the first place. I intended to find out what made Kaidou undergo a character change, but I ultimately settled for just not knowing. Then when Teruhashi-san and Yumehara-san showed up, I never got the chance to leave and so I ended up spending the entire day with them. Yare, yare. I need a month-long vacation after something like that.

At least I'm home now, where it's calm and peaceful. I can finally let my guard down a bit.

Or so I would like to say.

"Welcome home, Kuu-chan!"

"Oh, Kusuo, you're home?"

"Kusuo's home? Isn't he supposed to say 'tadaima~'?"

Dad shook his head disapprovingly, crossing his arms with an annoyed huff. "You were no better, you know… The first thing you said coming back was 'Wow, this house has gotten smaller and shabbier! What kind of breadwinner would let his family live in this poverty-stricken condition?'"

Kusuke laughed. "Don't take it the wrong way, Papa…"

"There isn't a right way to take it!"

"I was just thinking, seeing how much my family is struggling financially, that it's part of my responsibility to help them as the oldest son of the family. I don't want Papa to bear all the burden."

Dad's face softened. "Kusuke, you…"

"Or rather than 'bearing the burden,' I should say 'lacking any sort of dignity to bear' with how often you shamelessly ask favours from Kusuo instead of begging for some of my eight billion yen, haha."

Dad's face reddened. "Kusuke, you..!" Just Kusuo? Psh, I lose 50% less of my dignity with him! It's a good thing Kusuke doesn't know about the shoe-licking part in my work!

Don't forget about the shoe-licking part of his work.

"Oh, and I can't forget about the shoe-licking part of your work."

I could smell Mom's cooking of curry and grilled fish. I'm still full from the food I had outside, but I can't let her food made out of love go to waste.

…Actually, hold on.

"All right, everyone. It's not much, but let's at least we're eating as a family of four again!" exclaimed Mom excitedly before finally noticing me standing still from afar. The remaining sit, after all, was right beside Kusuke. Her joy was quick to turn to concern, making me feel bad. "Oh, what's wrong, Kuu-chan?"

Sorry, but I ended up eating outside with my classmates. I should have telepathically contacted you to let you know. But can I skip dinner tonight?

Mom tripped over nothing and Dad suddenly fell from his chair. His bowl of rice almost went flying if I hadn't caught it with my telekinesis at the last second. Once more, I have to keep fixing Dad's mistakes.

"Kusuo has friends?" exclaimed Dad.

"KU-CHAN HAS FRIENDS!" exclaimed Mom intensely. Dad was shocked, but I can see Mom losing her mind. "Ku-Ku-Ku-Ku-chan spent time with f-f-f-f-f-f-f…"

I'd use the term 'friends' lightly. Very, very lightly.

Kusuke seemed to finally take notice of our parents' insanity. "Oh, what's going on with you two? Is Kusuo saying something?" He gave the scene one look. "Ah, if I had to guess, it has something to do with Kusuo spending time with his classmates?"

Thank you for using that term. Wait, you only saw Kaidou, didn't you? How did you know about Teruhashi-san and Yumehara-san?

"I only saw Kusuo with that kid with the overbearing mother. But I assumed he was out there with a bunch of his other classmates. Otherwise, it would be weird being alone with another guy in a mall. Oh, was I wrong? That's interesting!" Kusuke smiled at me. "I'm usually never wrong. What did you do differently today, Kusuo?"

Mom screamed. She pounced at me for an embrace, sobbing. "KU-CHAN, MAMA IS SO PROUD. AYUUUUH."

Mom, please.

Dad shook his head, smiling. "Look at you, Kusuo. Finally learning how to interact with normal people. Maybe Kusuke can learn a thing or two from you."

Kusuke pouted. "How mean, Papa. Kusuo is too special for me to match up. I'm your ordinary son, remember?"

"You know what I'm talking about," said Dad, rolling his eyes and taking a bite out of his fish

"Nope."

"You're two years older than Kusuo, but you've never even had a girlfriend!"

"Don't worry about grandchildren. There's no way I'll let Mama's genes go to waste after all." Kusuke took some of the sliced apples. "I just need to figure out how to sort out this cloning process…"

I thought Dad would derail the conversation with this piece of information. Surprisingly, he didn't. By the way, I'm still standing here with Mom soaking my shirt. Can any of you at least get her to calm down before we move on?

"You don't have friends either, even though you don't have psychic powers stopping you from having a normal social life. Kusuke, incredibly smart, rich, and talented that you are, you can't live alone!"

"Oh, I know that," agreed Kusuke. "I do have friends. Although like Kusuo, I'd use the term very, very lightly."

You might not have been 100% right today, but your telepathy-like powers still surprises me.

The news made Dad look excited anyway. He really shouldn't get his hopes up too quick. None of his children are normal… What with how abnormal their father is.

"So you did clean up your act! Who is it? Is it a rival who've sworn to win more Nobel Prizes than you? A younger student who wants to overtake their teacher by winning more Nobel Prizes?"

I know this is a fanfic based on a shounen nanga, but is that how clichéd your expectations are? And is winning more Nobel Prizes the only appropriate plot you know?

Kusuke laughed. "Papa, you're funny. There's no way anyone can win more Nobel Prizes than me."

"Oh, of course. It's just an example." Personally, I think it makes for a good manga plot.

Don't give the author ideas.

"My friends are barely on my level. In fact, they're barely above the level of the ordinary monkeys, haha. It's pretty impressive, really."

I don't think you're using the term 'friends' at all here.

Dad finally took notice of my problem. "Mama, how long are you going to cry there?"

"KUU-CHAN AND KUU-KUN HAVE FRIENDS. AYUUUH. IT JUST…IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY." After one final Ayuuuh~, Mom finally calmed down, sniffing. "Papa, we're not bad parents."

Dad got teary-eyed all of a sudden. "Mama…"

One of the chairs scrapped as it was moved, but it wasn't Dad. It was Kusuke who stood up. He looked at me meaningfully. "Hey, Kusuo, since you're not eating dinner, why don't we go out and take a walk together?"

Dad looked confused, but did not ask more. "Kusuo just got back. Let him rest, Kusuke."

No, I'll go. I've been left to stand here the entire scene that my legs have hurt. I could use a walk.

Mom looked at the two of us, worried for a good reason. "You two aren't going to fight, are you?"

Kusuke chuckled. "Of course we won't. You two might not recognize it, but there's a form of friendship between us."

Juts so you know, I'm going to take this as an insult with how you apparently view your friends.

"Don't stay out too late, you two!" called Dad.

"We hear you!" replied Kusuke, grabbing his coat. As soon as we got out and the door shut behind us, I took my brother by the shoulder and teleported us.

Kusuke reeled from the sudden brightness. I teleported us to the deserted island where my classmates and I were shipwrecked for six days of weekly updates.

"Here I thought you'd take us to your room."

You wanted us to go for a walk. I took us to the other side of the world.

"Hmm, judging by the sun and the wildlife in this island, we're not technically on the other side of the world. I say we're in a deserted island located on the far southeastern of—"

All right, all right. I'm tired, so can you make this quick? What do you want? Are you looking for a fight?

And don't ask me how I was able to interrupt him when I can't telepathically communicate with Kusuke. Ask him instead.

Something unexpected happened. Kusuke became serious. "Let's get straight to the point then. Kusuo, have you used your brainwashing power recently?"

I frowned. The last time I used it was to tell my school that Teruhashi-san wasn't sick. Is a part in my control device broken again?

It was Kusuke's turn to frown. He cupped his chin, in deep thought. "No…I need to know for sure." He pulled his telepathic canceler, much to my shock. "Can you repeat what you just said, Kusuo?"

He's taking off his telepathic canceler for this? Why?

I don't think Kusuo changed the world… At least not intentionally. Well, I'm not really sure of that either…

Of course I haven't. The last time something of grand scale happened was when I slipped through time because of the defective part in my control device.

"Hmm. There aren't any other psychics like you, are there?" Besides that spirit medium.

There's another one. She's much stronger than Toritsuka, but she's a clairvoyant. Her name is Aiura Makoto and her predictions have a pinpoint accuracy. She's stronger than me in that regard.

And if you want to meet her, I'd have to know why.

Kusuke wasn't even surprised that I knew he wanted to meet her. Of course, it's because I read his mind.

"This may sound crazy, but I think the world had changed without either of us noticing, Kusuo. Well, I did sort of notice it but it's just a hunch. Well, I also conducted experiments to prove that the world had somehow changed and I was right."

So is it a hunch or a fact?

"I've never been as unsure in anything in life as I was with beating you. This is Serious News."

A new Serious Arc, huh? Certainly, Aiura might be able to help us glean if something were wrong. But what kind of 'change' do you mean exactly?

This must really be serious, because it was the first time I've seen Kusuke with an intense confusion on his face. "I don't know… Frankly, it's pissing me off. Whoever's causing it makes me want to destroy them."

Why are you so sure it's a person?

"It can only be another human being. After all, you're here."

Are you saying we might be facing a psychic as powerful as me?

Kusuke nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this psychic might be more powerful than you, Kusuo. You better be careful."

Interesting. I'll tell Aiura to meet us after school then. I'll owe her a favour for this, but it's for a worthy cause.

"No, we're meeting her now." Kusuke brought out his phone.

I might be psychic, but even I can't pinpoint people's locations. And I don't know where she lives.

There was a beeping from his phone. "There, done. I've searched for her location through the satellites."

That sounds incredibly unlawful and an invasion of privacy…but what's done is done. Show it to me, so I can get us there.

Kusuke stared at his screen. "Hmm, I don't know. It would be illegal to have you step into this kind of establishment."

Oh, don't worry about that. It's not what you think it is…I think.

Kusuke showed me the establishment's front full of pictures of young women and school-aged girls. One of the signs read "xx yen for a private time with one of our beauties (heart)"

...Probably.

Why are we going from the entrance?

Kusuke chuckled. "You're asking as if that's not the normal thing."

Our being here is anything but normal. You hacked into the satellites to locate an employee here and after seeing a photo of the place, I teleported us from a deserted island. I then went invisible since I'd prefer if I don't want to be seen in a place like this.

"People aren't your servants who answer to your beck-and-call, Kusuo. Your friend's working here, right? We wait for our turn then."

I doubt Aiura would mind if I came in unannounced into her room, but Kusuke doesn't need to know that.

Well, since this girl is a powerful clairvoyant according to Kusuo, she's the one who most likely made contact with him in the first place. Maybe she thinks he's her soulmate that's why wouldn't mind if Kusuo came in unannounced into her room… Nah, there's no way her character is that easy to figure out from a single glance.

Damn it.

The owner, voluptuous and with a soft-spoken, enigmatic face, regarded us warmly. She would have looked so motherly if she didn't wear revealing clothes that would make Kaidou immediately excuse himself to the bathroom. "I see a new, handsome face. Welcome, young man!"

"Good evening, ma'm. I'm interested in having – " He glanced at the portraits of posing women on the board, their names inside giant hearts. "—Miko-chan read my fortune."

"Oh, you must have heard of our Miko-chan~ You sure you don't want to try someone…more mature?" She crossed her arms, emphasizing…those.

"Hmm, maybe next time, ma'm! I'm kind of too nervous to have a one-on-one with someone so experienced."

The owner giggled. "No need to be so formal…"

"In that case, I'm Saiki Kusuke," said Kusuke, flashing a charming smile.

"Kusuke-kun, how cute! I'll let Miko-chan know. She promised her current customer will be the last for tonight, but she'll get angry at me if I don't let her see a troubled boy like you. I'm curious what kind of reading Miko-chan will get. Oh, but don't worry!" She leaned over the counter to wink at us, giving us a better view of her womanly assets from their special window. "We do practice customer confidentiality. We won't tell anyone about the big thing you'll show us."

She meant his future, right? Still, this was disgusting to hear.

"Thank you so much!" chimed Kusuke as if he were oblivious to the signs. He was not.

Wow, Kusuo, I didn't know your friend was a prostitute.

She's not. That, I'm sure of, at least.

It was ten minutes later when Aiura popped into the waiting room, searching for me in the empty sit beside Kusuke. She already knew I was here, invisible. I contacted her when she got the call from the owner.

Aiura shifted her attention to my brother. It didn't look like it was the first time she'd seen him, though this was definitely their first meeting.

"I see you're the real deal, Miko-chan. You're not even surprised to see me. It's like you already know Kusuo has a brother."

"Where's Kusuo?"

Right here.

I turned off my invisibility. There was no one but us anyway.

Aiura seemed to already understand that something was amiss for me to drop by all of a sudden, and with a brother she might already be aware of in tow. I am not known to make pleasure visits.

"Let's get inside," said Aiura.

"Sorry for the wait. The last customer was stubborn and had the wrong idea of the kind of establishment we're running."

So did this guy.

"That's understandable. People can be troublesome," said Kusuke. "Sorry for making you work overtime. I'll be sure to leave a big tip."

Aiura grinned at me. "Your brother's really considerate unlike you."

You wouldn't call him considerate if you knew what he really thought of you.

This bimbo's good with moving in skimpy clothes.

Don't call her that, and what she wears is none of your business.

Kusuke chuckled. "That's funny coming from you, since you see everybody naked."

"What kind of telepathic discussion are you two having?" demanded Aiura.

"Kusuke thinks you look lovely in that dress."

I do not.

"He does?" exclaimed Aiura, blushing. It was short-lived. "Wait a minute, no he doesn't! As if Kusuo can be enticed by a human that isn't made out of coffee jelly!"

What are you suggesting would happen between me and that cross of an abomination?

"Haha. Your friend knows you well, Kusuo."

Aiura sighed, running a hand through her bleached blond hair. "All righty peeps, let's get serious now. Is the fate of the world hanging on the balance or something?"

"Hmm. Probably not. Right now, it's probably just for my peace of mind."

He thinks the world has changed somehow.

Aiura scrunched up her eyebrows. "Ha?"

"Can you look into our future? You don't have to tell us what you see. Just check if everything is normal."

"All right…" Aiura wrapped her hands around her crystal ball and stared at contents only she could witness. "Hmm. Everything looks normal. Kusuo missed out on a second lifetime supply of coffee jelly and you're drafting a countermeasure in case Kusuo goes on a rampage. Are you Batman?"

Wait, what? Tell me more about the coffee jelly.

"Just the normal then? Hmm." Kusuke pondered again. "Well, if the clairvoyant Kusuo highly thinks of says so, I have no choice but to believe it. We'll take our leave."

Aiura yawned, waving us off. "Okay. But don't bother paying. I feel bad taking money when I barely did anything."

"Aren't you glad, Kusuo? Since you volunteered to pay."

Fine, I'll pay. But only if Aiura does something for me.

Aiura blushed beet red. "K-Kusuo, don't say that right in front of your brother! Not that I'm saying no…"

I'm talking about reading someone else's future. If you're too exhausted though, we can do this another day.

"No way, it will be a quickie. Whose future do you want read?"

Everyone in my class.

"What?"

But I want you to start with Kaidou Shun.

Author's Notes: Thanks to all the anon/guests who reviewed! I received so many things I am unworthy of XD Thank you! They mean a lot to me!

This chapter may not be that polished because of the time gap of the time I wrote the first and second half (I immediately started the first few pages after the last chapter.) Stuffs happened and all. This isn't really my best work, but I wanted to write anyway and do a Saiki fanfic! If there are more delays to come, I will put an update in my tumblr writing blog, themostlogicalthing dot com.

Some notes:

- I don't know if this was actually the first time Kusuke and Aiura met with the canon point I had in mind. But you know, I'll take some liberties.

- There are errors I never bothered to fix in chapter 1. I will perhaps fix them one day xD

- I CANNOT speak gyaru gah

- I should probably get a beta reader haha