Author's Notes: We're partially halfway through the story! So maybe...in a year this story will be completed? :))

Enjoy this month's chapter!

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Chapter 7: The Case of Counterparts

Aiura considered the scene only for a brief moment, looking calm all things considered. "Kusuo, you didn't tell me your brother's a psychic too."

Weren't you listening? The small 'brother' of mine called Kusuke his 'Other Me' and me, his 'Other Younger Brother.' I can't read his mind, but I can only explain what's going on with the involvement of parallel universe.

Kusuke tilted his head, pulling out a gun in one smooth motion and shooting the other Kusuke in point-blank range. "I wasn't expecting for one to get out."

Come again?

"Oh my God!" screamed Aiura. "Your brother is a murderer! Kusuo, like holy shit, your brother is an actual evil dude!"

I know. But you don't have to panic… Well, not that I blame you for reacting that way. Unlike our new classmate here, it's good you reacted like how any person should.

"It's true that I've always held a rather macabre interest in murders. Undeniably, I performed numerous mental imaging to prepare myself in situations such as this, where I am confronted by overwhelming emotions capable of disrupting my sound judgment. Remaining indifferent in witnessing disturbing content is necessary cruelty every detective must adapt." Akechi lifted the side of his fist to his mouth, carrying a daring smile that let loose a bold chuckle. "And lo and behold, I have utterly wet my pants."

Don't lo and behold pissing yourself. Be sure to hold your bladder next time, because I can't fix you up again.

Akechi's pants dried up immediately after one time-restoring poke (not on the pants) from me. "Ooooh! This brings me back! That feeling - it's simply amazing! Kusuo-kun's touch is as amazing as it was when we were kids! Hey, Kusuo-kun, do you remember? That day when you touched me and our paths became forever intertwined…"

We don't have enough time to cover your back story when there's been an attempted murder on a child from another dimension.

Other Kusuke finally started climbing back on his feet, uninjured. Though a child in every way, the face he wore was a chillingly frightening one. "So, you tried to kill me. Unforgivable."

I didn't want to believe it, but there's no denying of the truth. I still can't read his mind, but somehow, I do know my annoying brother well enough to notice small things about him with by a look. This Other Kusuke here - from the way he talks, the way he carries himself, and that smile from earlier - he's really…

"To die in a place like this… I can't forgive that. That ending would absolutely make my precious little brother sad ;~;."

Considerate.

Kusuke is taken aback. "Ah, so you really aren't a clone."

Wait, maybe we should talk about that.

"My bad xP," said Kusuke.

"Haha, it's okay, it happens owo."

What happened to the attempted murder being unforgivable, and how did it immediately descend into telepathic emoji's?

"Oh, duh, of course you'd stop it before things go south," said Aiura in relief. She was still looking a bit pale from what she thought was a gruesome, violent murder. "Makes total sense since I didn't see a death mark on ya."

Me? I didn't do anything.

"What?"

Though if Kusuke did end up killing him, I… Hmm. I wouldn't know what to do. Jail would be the first option, but he'll probably get out on his own. Realistically, only I can keep deal with him, but it's going to be a pain watching his wretched life waste away behind bars.

I'll leave it to our parents. Dad would be horrified and he might feel personally responsible for Kusuke's sick nature.

"I failed as his father. Please, spare him! If you need to pass judgment on someone, then take my tongue and let it lick your shoes for all eternity!"

As for Mom… I guess she'll kill him?

"KUSUKE… HOW DARE YOU USE THE LIFE I GAVE YOU TO TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S. I'LL PUT YOU WHERE YOU BELONG… IN HELL! HAHAHA!"

Aiura looked at me nervously. "Um… Seriously?"

"Please don't say a word to our lovely mother, Kusuo," pleaded Kusuke quietly. "Please."

"Now, now, let's stop it with this unsettling discussion. In no reality would Other Me be successful. I have taken all precautions to make sure my own younger brother would not become an only child." Other Kusuke displayed the crushed bullet between his fingers. "I'm surrounded by genetically-engineered microorganisms that form a protective barrier according to the neuroactive compounds in my guts. As long as I am aware of a potential threat, the barrier will active automatically."

Only Akechi and Kusuke really got that one the first go. "I see," said Akechi thoughtfully. "Neuroactive compounds are known transmitters in the body to alert danger, though research is still very limited. However, what you described sounds awfully like a psychic ability. An automatic action that responds to a person's thoughts."

"Correct. It is why I call this invention the Psionic Loop On-The-Spot Tanking, or the P. L. O. T., which prevents any bodily harm to come upon me."

You created a literal plot armour.

Kusuke smirked. "Unless that could break Kusuo's nail, there's no reason to be impressed. Even a human being can stop a bullet with their body."

This one prefers his shields meaty.

"Wow! You really are from another dimension," came Aiura, having taken to her crystal ball to look into Other Kusuke's life. "And you're not really a kid. You're seventeen years old, but you decided to decrease your overall mass to conserve energy."

Sounds like Other Kusuke is also environment-friendly.

Other Kusuke smiled in embarrassment. Damn, that's weird to see when the smile is real. "Well, I mostly thought a change in my physical appearance will make things less confusing."

Are there no repercussions from the counterparts meeting like this?

"Not that I know of. It's not like I'm travelling through time."

That's what I thought. I had to make sure it wasn't your existence in our world that's causing whatever unusual activity has been going on.

Wait, doesn't Kusuo's brother and his brother's counterpart block his telepathy? I hear Aiura wondering in deep confusion. Then how the heck are they having a conversation?

"Oh, that," said Kusuke. "Other Me is most likely the cause of it. I figured it out a minute ago. Though it has nothing to do with us existing in the same place."

Other Kusuke turned his head away in shame. "I apologize. I suppose I did go too far. However, having only seen the surface of the imperfection of this world, I was forced into drastic action. To make this place a better place, I had to take charge…" His eyes turned wide, firm with determination.

What's going on? I thought Other Kusuke is supposed to be good. Here I was, beginning to plan how to dump the horrible one in Mars in favor of him.

Is this your build-up to how this is all a trap? What does Akechi have to do with this? Just get your evil lackeys going already so I can go home. It isn't often I get to skip school.

"It's not what you think, Kusuo," said Kusuke. "He didn't start an organization to take control of countries from the shadows. It's worse than that. He took it himself to fix pressing global issues with advance technology!"

That's h -

What? Can you…say that again?

Kusuke blinked at how lost I appeared. "You didn't hear me the first time? I said, he totally solved our issues. That's how I knew something strange was going on. The carbon emission worldwide has been reduced by 33%, companies have started using plastic-alternatives to decrease waste, ocean temperatures have returned to normal, and Nintendo announced they're selling their classic Fire Emblem games in the Switch console."

Those are all great news! How is it worse? Do you want humanity to be miserable?

"It's boring. What's the point of helping them when their genes have less worth than a baby panda's? Besides, casual players aren't going to enjoy the old Fire Emblem games without the dating sim - Um, Kusuo, where are we going?" He looked at the hand on his shoulder, sensing great danger.

I'll let you say goodbye to our parents. You've always wanted to spend the rest of your life in Mars, right?

"D:"

Other Kusuke went through his story once more.

"…And that's the end of it. I simply got curious and decided to visit. But after finding out how different Other Me is from me, I was a bit concerned about how you might be different too." Other Kusuke looked pointedly at me. "As your older brother from another dimension, it's my responsibility to keep you in line were you to start aiming for world domination."

"Other Kusuke-san truly caught me by surprise when he introduced himself as Kusuo-kun's brother from another reality. Of course, the first thing I asked is about Kusuo-kun's psychic abilities. However, to provide context in my question, I was compelled to inform him of our history together, starting when Kusuo-kun touched me while I wasn't conscious. I couldn't talk about such sensitive information to anyone, so it was the first time I relieved those long-cherished memories in the form of words. I also didn't have friends in general, so I had no one to talk to at all except the void that feels fast approaching every single day. Other Kusuke-san is the first person to even come to my house and encourage me to talk. Granted, we spent the rest talking over phone and I couldn't be certain if Other Kusuke-san were still in the other line. Needless to say, I was quite surprised! However! I believe I surprised him more when my knees buckled down and I laid twitching and stuttering on the ground from shock."

I didn't want to say this, but pissing your pants would have been a much lighter reaction compared to that.

"Well, are you convinced that our sweet, darling Kusuo-kun isn't evil, Other Kusuke-san?"

Other Kusuke laughed. "He's actually easier to get along with than his counterpart."

Aiura grinned. "Isn't that great, Kusuo? You're bad, but you're not the worst!"

Was trying to trick me into thinking I used my psychic powers in front of people really necessary?

"Come now, little brother. You're the most dangerous being in the universe. If anything, Other Me was being reckless. Had you been what he thought you were, two people in this room wouldn't be here with us today."

It's true I'm dangerous… but would a bad attitude drive me to act like that from that situation? I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around it. I'm aware there's no point dwelling on it. I ought to move on.

"I know it doesn't mean much, but I am sorry for putting you through needless pain." I can feel the empathy radiating from Other Kusuke. He blanches at how conflicted I look. "I-is it that bad?"

Sorry… It will take some time for me to get used to seeing Kusuke's face with sincerity.

Aiura threw her arms in the air, celebrating. "Yoo-hoo! The PK Psychic Duo got another case down! Though it's more like the answer came right for us. Let's go out and celebrate!"

I'm supposed to be sick, remember? It won't look good for three students to be out hanging out at this time.

"Then let's order take-out! I'll treat you, Kusuo, but everyone else has to pay for their own meals."

"I suppose I should take this off," said Akechi, reaching for the version of telepathy canceler Other Kusuke created on his ear. The moment he took it off, I'm blasted with seven overlapping thoughts at once. "I don't mind you listening to my thoughts," he told me with a smile. "In fact, that makes it all the more easier!"

Would you consider putting that back on? Your thoughts are running so fast they're multiplying like after-images, but in sound format.

Other Kusuke came up to my brother. "Shall we go outside and compare notes?"

"All right. I'm interested in hearing about a Kusuo that's more troublesome than what I have."

Hey.

This time, I called Mom to let her know I'm not eating dinner at home. I told her I was going to be with Kusuke, leaving away any part about being with my classmates. It's the same result. She bawled about how we were becoming closer and looked forward to the day when we'll even start lending each other our clothes. I decided not to tell her that Kusuke hadn't stuck around to eat. Of course, I didn't tell her about the part where her son from another reality was also around.

I haven't seen Other Kusuke either since the two left to chat. I'm not worried he'd do something wrong, but I would have liked to say thanks on behalf of humanity.

With my abilities, I could have easily done everything he did. But while I am all-powerful, if humanity isn't aware of their own faults, they would never change. As cruel as it sounds, this is a necessary step for them to grow up. I sound like a hypocrite given with what I said to Kusuke, but I don't enjoy this. I would have stepped in if it would lead to doomsday (like, say, a volcano eruption destroying the country.) But without revealing my psychic powers to the world, I couldn't have created a long-lasting impact that would also stay in the consciousness of the people. I'm not immortal. The issues the world is facing has to be confronted from within the system for the difference to really count.

When I got home, the lights are on. I didn't hear Mom's and Dad's voices, so I knew it was Kusuke who I was stuck with tonight. Not the good one, sadly.

Shouldn't you be back to our grandparents? I'm sure our tsundere grandpa misses you.

"Yeah, I'll be heading back tomorrow. Other Me wanted me to give you this." He got over to hand a keychain-sized doll with mismatched buttons for eyes and half-shredded knotted ropes for hair. Its blue dress looked suspiciously slashed with blood. "It's blood. He told me it's haunted by a vengeful spirit."

…

Do tell why he wants me to have such an exquisite present.

Kusuke idly swung the haunted doll by its ring around by his finger. "I have a vague understanding of the mechanics, but it's supposed to get rid of your telepathy."

You can tell him thanks… but no thanks. Not only is that way too creepy, I already have something more compact and less haunted to turn off my telepathy.

"Ah, the one you brought to London when your limiter broke. But that's while you have it on. This is going to get rid of your telepathy. Permanently. He told me it will take half a year though, maybe even less. Thoughts far from you will gradually lower down until they're no more."

I stare at Kusuke.

Just my telepathy? How about my other powers?

"About your other powers?" asked Kusuke, evaluating my expression. "He didn't mention them. I did ask though."

What did he say? Could he have a solution for them? How is Other Kusuo doing?

"Sorry, but it's a secret. Well, I'll tell you if you remove the right side of your limiter though, haha!"

Fine. I'll ask him myself. I'm sure he won't be hard to find.

"Where are you going? What about removing your telepathy permanently?"

There's no point just getting rid of my telepathy.

"If you don't want this, can I have it? I promise I won't make it non-functional in case you change your mind."

I won't. But don't come crying to me when you get attacked by the supernatural. I can't interact with ghosts unless I use astral projection and my powers are limited to telepathy in that form. The one medium I have the misfortune of knowing is absolutely useless when it comes to them.

"I'm surprised. I thought you would be jumping at the opportunity to getting rid even one of them. I guess you do like your powers."

That's not it. I don't need to explain myself to you, so stop bothering me. I'm off to take a bath in an onsen in the mountains.

I head to my room to gather my stuffs. I learned my lesson from the last adventure I had to the onsen. This time, I have with me my onsen bag. No more raw, naked, straight-from-the-bath teleporting. I will claim my peace and quiet tonight while I can. Tomorrow is back to normal again.

Hold on. Kaidou had claimed what happened to be his psychic powers when it was, in fact, Other Kusuke who caused that through Akechi. So, he's like his real, old self again. Except this time, all my classmates seem to really believe him. Guess I do still have things to deal with.

Yare, yare.I've been dealing with Kaidou's eight-grader syndrome for years, so it is back to 'normal' again in a way. Hm?

My window slides open, two arms climbing in followed by a head with purple hair.

"Saiki-san, you have to help me!" shouted Toritsuka. "Something crazy happened - oh, thanks, I wasn't expecting you to give me a… wait, WAIT, SAIKI-SAN - "

I push Toritsuka out of my window.