AN: Yay! We're here! This is how I imagine it.
In this chapter, Kusuo acknowledges Kuusuke more as the "older brother." Since most of this is written from Kusuo's point of view, there's an interchange usage of the honorific "Ani" and Kuusuke. "Ani" since he's referred to his older brother to other family members. Kusuo uses "Kuusuke" directly from time to time because it's pretty disrespectful for a younger brother to address an older brother by name. As in, this would result in spanking in the good ol' days. Their relationship is fairly love and hate, thus the switch.
I probably should be more consistent with Grandmother and Grandfather honorifics. In this case, I don't think it adds to the story, in showing their relationship.
Chapter 16 - Telling Mom and Dad Part 1
"Ku-chan! We're home!" called Kurumi the moment she walked into the door.
It's been such a nice day so far. Ku-chan got up and looked a lot better. They had a very nice late lunch. Mother-in-law Risa did not say a mean word to her. It stopped raining. Kuniharu's hands were given the 100 percent 'okay' from the doctor. Aoi-san declared irrevocably that Kurumi was a friend.
It did seem like Aoi-san was having trouble with Shun-kun, judging by how quickly Shun-kun walked out the door, past Kurumi who just paid for her groceries. Kurumi would have to mention this later to Ku-chan a little bit later. Kurumi was certain that such a nice, proper young man like Shun-kun would make up with Aoi-san. But it probably wouldn't hurt if Ku-chan nudged Shun-kun in the right direction.
As Kurumi removed her shoes and placed them in the shoe cupboard, she thought momentarily of Kuusuke and how she wished that he was here, sharing this reconciliation with their father's mother.
Ku-kun's silence was still disturbing to her but Kurumi tried not to think too hard about it. She would not want to trouble Ku-kun any more than they already had if it turned out to be nothing, as it always had been. Ku-kun was always so busy with one thing or another and always took care of things. Life had been peaceful, despite the unusualness of their family.
That's right. That must be it. Ku-kun was just busy.
Kuniharu followed in closely behind his wife, carrying a couple of bags of groceries. His mind was on someone else. "Mother, we're back," he called, "Are you still around?"
The couple's questions were not answered, but that was not unusual in the Saiki family.
Kusuo was a psychic. He would have known that his parents were coming home and would sometime make himself scarce, or just hide in his room. Still, Kusuo was a well-taught young man, with full understanding of etiquette and generally followed expected decorum. He had not wordlessly runoff in a long time.
As it turned out, both Kusuo and Risa were still around. The two, grandmother and grandson, were sitting around the dining room table.
Kusuo was sitting with one leg over the other, his arms crossed, looking a little more serious than his default blank expression. He seemed to be dressed rather warm for the occasion, a white hoodie over a long-sleeve t-shirt and long khakis. He sat at the head of the table.
Grandmother Risa had her hand folded on her lap, looking curiously bemused by the current situation. She was still in her traditional tanned-colored houmongi kimono. She sat at a right angle from Kusuo, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.
It seemed like Kusuo remembered how to be a good host. The tea set was set out, with freshly brewed barley tea. Curiously, a box of tissues was set in the middle of the table.
It would had been a normal sight, except that Kusuo was floating.
About a couple of feet off the chair, in fact.
It was a confounding sight. It reminded the Saiki couple of the time that Kusuo's limiter had melted due to whatever reason and he suddenly had a bunch of weird, mostly useless, abilities. One of the most memorable abilities was that he had a 50-centimeter radius invisible shield about him. It seemed cool, until they realized that meant that he couldn't even sit on a chair properly, or really reach anything without the invisible shield knocking it away.
Risa seemed to be more mildly amused by the fact that Kusuo was floating than surprised.
Kuniharu could not help but point at his son. "Um...I guess you've already told her," he said. He looked to Risa. "Um...mother. Your grandson Kusuo is a-"
"She already knows," interrupted Kusuo in a clear, steady, calm voice.
Kuniharu's mouth dropped agape. It's been a very long time since he heard Kusuo's actual voice.
"Ku-chan..." mom said with astonishment in her voice, "You're...talking." How long had it been since she heard his actual voice? And why would he grace Risa with such an unexpected gift?
Kusuo swallowed, momentarily clenched his fist, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He nervously twisted the germanium ring on his pointing finger, momentarily wondering if it was a good idea to wear it to purposefully avoid hearing his parent's thoughts, more specifically, his mother's thoughts.
He recalled how bewildered he had been when he watched his mother cry earlier.
Yes. The ring was a good idea. Hearing his parents' thoughts midway would definitely make him lose his resolve halfway. The decision to speak out loud was part of that determination to make sure he stayed focused and not mince words. This was too important.
-No wonder Ani spoke all the time,- realized Kusuo. -So he's never distracted, despite how much more effort it is.-
Kuniharu uttered a quiet 'yip' when the grocery bags suddenly flew out of his hands and toward the kitchen. The door of the pantry and refrigerator doors opened and closed so quickly that it almost seemed like an optical illusion. He looked quickly to the kitchen and saw some of the items in their respective areas.
The casual psychokinesis act caused Kuniharu to blink and frown in puzzlement. Kusuo had always made an effort to appear normal in front of his parents, unless it was expediently necessary. Usually, Kusuo would have walked over, carried the groceries to the kitchen, and unpacked like a dutiful son.
This nonchalant psychic display reminded Kuniharu of when Kusuo was a baby, when Kusuo effortlessly floated, levitated his toys, caused things to go bang in the night, disappear and reappear suddenly. It took a long while of constant gentle encouragement from Kurumi to get Kusuo to at least outwardly act like a normal person.
Two chairs opposite of Risa slid themselves out.
"Mom. Dad. You need to sit down," said Kusuo.
Kuniharu looked to Risa again. "Mother. Do you know what's going on?"
Risa shrugged her shoulders a little bit. She seemed amazingly relaxed, given the seriousness of the situation. "He said he is ready to tell you something. It sounded pretty important."
At seeing Risa's ease, Kuniharu relaxed too. "Oh, I see," he said. He quickly thought through the possibilities of why Kusuo would be so stern and formal. He snickered briefly as a scandalous modern scenario crossed his mind, "Is there a grandchild in my future? Is it with that Teruhashi-girl? Or that gyaru-Aiura?"
When neither Kusuo nor Risa reacted, Kuniharu's eyes widen. He sat down immediately to the chair closest to him, thinking that his joking guess was exactly what was going to be told to him. "Oh! It is that serious."
Kurumi had a different reaction, though. She stood frozen in place.
Ku-chan had never directed her to do anything. He had always asked her. She thought back on the feeling of emptiness that had been plaguing her these past few days, and Kuusuke's confounding silence. She blinked away the moisture in her eyes and told herself again that things are never as bad as she thinks. The worse could not happen, not with her two beloved, most capable sons around. One or the other would always fix things so that life was peaceful.
"Mama," Kusuo address again. This time, he gently set himself down from the air and sat on the chair like a regular person. "Please?"
At hearing her baby boy's repeated request, Kurumi did as asked. She took the chair that was closer to Kusuo and sat down.
Kusuo looked to his newly discovered grandmother, who seemed oddly abstracted and unbothered by the situation before her. He took a breath and smoothed over the simmering rage just underneath the surface at her attitude. She was a stranger and she simply did not know. "Grandmother Risa, tell them about flashover and it's warning sign, burning," Kusuo directed.
Risa looked startled. She had not expected to say anything when he told her that he said that he was 'ready' to tell his parents. What that 'thing' was, she did not ask. She was still trying to get over the fact that the impossible esper was underneath her nose this entire time.
"What? Wait. No." Risa uttered. "Why would you want them to know that?"
"Because of the danger it poses to others," said Kusuo, "when it happens to you. When it may happen to them," He briefly grimaced as if he had just swallowed a bitter pill. "When it should have already happened to me."
Risa gave Kusuo a betrayed look. "We don't typically let ordinary people know about it."
"What else had Miha burn down when she flashed over?" he asked her rhetorically. He already knew, since the memory on the germanium ring was quite clear. The Cambridge office building fire was another proof of exactly how careful he would have to be, down to the very last breath. For the safety of everyone else, he would necessarily have to be alone.
Just thinking about it made him sick to the stomach.
His parents had been living with a ticking time bomb. Two time bombs, in fact.
Perhaps that was why Kuusuke left the house when he could. Kuusuke, who enjoyed toying with people, built his lab and home in the middle of nowhere, far away from his usual entertainments. Kuusuke only coming to visit, but never staying.
Kuusuke must have known that flashover was a possibility.
"What do you think almost happened, if mom hadn't reattached my limiter?" Kusuo asked further. "If I had continued burning?"
The look that Kusuo gave to Risa was merciless. The feeling she got out of him was extreme cold. It was then that she understood that Kusuo still viewed her as a stranger. He was not about to treat her with absolute acceptance of family just because his parents trusted her. The telepathic message he sent was targeted and clear. "No more lies of omission."
At that, Risa obliged his question. "Miha burned down our parents' house and the surrounding meadow," she said flatly to Kusuo. "Judging by what little I saw you can do, the level of devastation from your flashover will at least cover this residential block. People included." It was Risa's turn to take a breath. "You've convinced me."
From there, Risa repeated, a much-abridged version, of what happens to all espers she knew in the family. She talked, briefly, about the relationship between power and ability. She spoke of herself, how she has mild empathy and short range telepathy. Definitely not as powerful as Kusuo's, but was still a psychic.
Kuniharu and Kurumi did not seem too surprised by that. Their children had been so exceptional that it was not too big of a gap to bridge. It made more sense now, too, since it seemed to explain why their children came out the way they did. To Kuniharu and Kurumi, the facts only reaffirmed that there was not a mix up at the hospital and that their children were truly theirs.
Then Risa spoke of ESP's effects on lifespan, depending on the ability. Of how children, so physically marked like Kusuo, were automatically assumed to never survive childhood.
Kuniharu's expression devolved from his usual happy-go-lucky smile to one of puzzlement.
Kurumi's expression followed her husband's progression. Why was Risa telling them this now?
"Wait, I had an older brother named Kasei?" asked Kuniharu, not sure what he was hearing. "And Kusuo looked like him?"
Risa nodded. She took a sip of the tea. The pain had lessened over time, but the memory of that baby she held in her arms so long ago was still fresh in her memories. She spoke of Miha, an esper with the ability to affect reality, who lived the longest before Kusuo. There were others of course, just not that Risa knew much outside the two she personally knew. It never the sort of thing that that was loudly proclaimed. It was why the family had been so small for ages.
Finally, Risa spoke of burning, of its outward presentation as a fever and pain. And its eventual descent into combustion, destroying the body of psychic.
"So, you're saying that Kusuo should have just burned up a long time ago," clarified Kuniharu, his expression reflect uncomprehending horror. "Am I understanding this correctly?"
Risa nodded. "It has happened to all espers in the family, no matter the level of the manifestation. Life span has always been inversely related to ability and power. While I'm still here, still going strong, likely to live my full life expectancy of 85 years, Kasei and Miha never lived past childhood. It's why Kusuo-kun's current existence is so impossible." She glanced over to Kusuo and gave an encouraging look. "It's why he's such a special person." She looked at Kuniharu. "It's why I think you had done so well."
Kuniharu's face reddened, not sure what to say. "Well...it's not exactly me, you know."
While Risa and Kuniharu about some more details, Kurumi looked to her son with unconcealed watery eyes.
Wordlessly Kurumi got up, dragged her chair over so that the chair was adjacent to Kusuo's chair. She settled herself back into her chair and held onto her nearly-adult son. She squeezed him tight, her head resting on his shoulder, seemingly content to sit there and hold him for a while, as if to forever imprint the feeling of him into her soul. This was her baby boy, the one closest to the heart. She had an inkling that they almost lost Kusuo all those years ago. She never completely freaked out because Kuusuke had told her that he would fix it and everything was going to be alright. Being reminded of that terrible year made her even more appreciative that Kusuo was still here, with her, that she got to experience him grow up to be bigger than her. "Oh. Ku-chan," she muttered.
Kusuo naturally allowed his mother to hold him as such. They were in the privacy of their home and her presence and constant reminder of her fondness for him was comforting in this moment.
He thought about how his mother had always been so careful and loving. She had always accepted his curious behavior, his psychic abilities, without question. She had deliberately not made friends partially because she was scared of accidentally revealing his secret. It did not help that they moved so much. Her thoughts and actions had always been the same. Even now, she had avoided touching him skin to skin, because she did not want to set off his psychometry.
She had always been there, being the firm rock to which the family anchored.
Or had it always been someone else?
That damn 'something' was there again, preventing Kusuo from understanding and remembering.
Kusuo felt like throwing up when he considered what that 'something' had been all the along.
That 'something' had to be Ani.
Who else could had been so despicably underhanded as to deliberately influence the thoughts of everyone around him, including his own all-powerful psychic little brother, without anyone noticing?
Everyone had simply attributed anything strange that happened around Ani to Ani's intellect and eccentricity. There was no other possible explanation to consider.
There had been times when Kusuo did suspect something more. For example, Ani fixed things so easily, like a completely shattered limiter, within seconds. At the time, Kusuo was impressed that he had entertained the idea that Ani was an esper.
How curious that Kusuo always forgot such a possibility the moment after he thought about it.
Ani had always been capable, too. Extreme educational precociousness was one outward demonstration of Ani's capability. But from what Risa had just said and the pieces of evidence as mom had described of what happened to Kusuo back in fifth grade, Ani must had been so capable that he was able to defeat what others had determined to be fate, namely by being the primary creator of the limiters.
Strangely enough, Ani was never able to defeat Kusuo in a game. How could that be?
Kusuo recalled the fact that Ani had counted every one of their matches. Ani had stated this fact when they had visited him in London to get his limiter fixed back during Kusuo's second year. At the time, Kusuo only felt disgusted, that Ani was so creepily and inappropriately obsessed that Ani counted, down to the single-digit, of thousands of matches they had.
Upon a second viewing of that interaction, Kusuo saw the Ani's underlying know-it-all-chuckle, as if to mock Kusuo for not detecting such an obvious thought pattern in the 10 years that they had lived under one roof.
Kusuo immediately recalled another minute detailed in one of the interactions with Kuusuke, a recent one that should have completely tipped Kusuo off.
It had been the night after Kusuo had successfully suppressed Mount Owari for the second time, without the visible reveal of his psychic power to his normal friends. He had turned-back-time, to avoid the timeline where his friends saw his impossible deeds and thus lead to a mountain of questions that could not answer. Being the nosy high school-age friends that they were, they would want to know every last detail. Even if they were ready to accept him as he was, Kusuo felt that it was unfair to make them carry his secrets.
That night, Kusuo had been ready to use the psychic canceler. He was ready to live without having to be constantly mindful of his ESP and the burden of keeping it on the down-low. He would be able to obtain that 'normal' life, with 'normal' capabilities. He was ready to be honest with his friends and move onto the future.
At that time, Kusuo had mutedly listened Ani narrate exactly what occurred in that timeline, down to the loss of Yumehara's love confession to Kaido.
Ani had not been wearing his telepathy canceler.
At the time, it just seemed natural that such a genius like Ani could have guessed, to incredible detail, of what happened on Mount Owari. Ani had always been able to guess Kusuo's thoughts correctly for as long as Kusuo could remember, so Kusuo simply accepted Ani's matchless intuition as a natural quirk of a mad genius.
Even Akechi, another genius at school, could guess people's thoughts well enough that some of their classmates had called Akechi an esper. Ani was simply smarter and more insane.
But what should had tipped Kusuo off was the question Kusuo had to ask after Ani completed the long-winded narrative of what occurred in a timeline that technically never existed outside of Kusuo's head.
Kusuo had asked Ani, "Why are you here?"
Kusuo was telepathic, with a standard 200-meter range while wearing his first-generation limiter. He should have never needed to ask "Why?" Even if he was tired from suppressing the volcano, that had been hours before. His powers should have recharged by then.
It was not even telepathy against telepathy that created blind spots.
Kuusuke had been able to block him.
And likely had been able to do so, for a long time.
Then, Kusuo recalled that he had asked Ani about the effects of the psychic canceler on mind control afterward. Ani had made it a point to study Kusuo's ESP in trying desperately to win a game so of course, Ani would know the effects of the psychic canceler on mind control.
Thinking back, it was just as likely that Ani had enough practice to test and be certain of the effects and Kusuo unconsciously knew and trusted Ani's opinion as truth.
That had to be one of the reasons Ani created the telepathy canceler.
Ani was a masochist, and nothing was more head-banging-against-the-wall challenging than forcing science to overcome ESP.
And judging by Risa's conviction of how inescapable flashover was, Ani had already proved that science can overcome ESP back when Ani was thirteen-years-old.
But that was not enough. Ani had to make sure the defeat was at the height of ESP's effects, which meant Kusuo without the usage of the limiter. Ani would have only been satisfied with absolutes.
Good Grief. Kusuo would have to mentally review every single interaction he ever had with Ani.
That consummate liar.
Kusuo was still so going to kill Ani in the next life as payback.
"I don't get it," Risa was saying to Kuniharu.
The words of frustration brought Kusuo back into the conversation.
"What did you mean that Kusuo-kun was constantly fevering on and off back in fifth grade?" asked Risa. "That's the sign of burning in an esper. From what you're saying, he should have flashed over back then."
"That's why I've kept saying that Kuusuke should be here to hear all this," said Kuniharu. "Because he's already fixed that."
Risa seemed confused. "What are you talking about? How did he overcome flashover?"
Kurumi held onto Kusuo tighter. "Ku-kun built Ku-chan's hairpins. That must be why Ku-chan is still here."
"That's right," agreed Kuniharu. "Kuusuke likely foresaw this. His great at predicting things like this."
Risa looked to Kusuo. "Oh. Those hairpins. Do you mean those 'limiter' devices that look like lobotomy picks? You're saying that your older brother made them?"
"Of course Ku-kun made them," said Kurumi, still holding onto Kusuo, leaning gratefully into him. "Ku-kun treasures Ku-chan. Ku-kun would never allow something like flashover to happen to Ku-chan."
Kuniharu already took out his cellphone, swiping through the call application for Kuusuke's number. "I'm going to call him now. He's probably not going to pick up. but I got to at least leave a message."
"Dad, You can't tell him," Kusuo interrupted flatly.
Kuniharu stopped before tapping the call button. It was still quite jarring to hear his younger son's actual voice. He looked to Kusuo with confusion. "Why?"
Kusuo breathed, trying to formulate the words.
"Kusuo, this isn't something that you keep to yourself," reasoned Kurniharu with furrowed brows. "Besides, it's Kuusuke. You know that he probably has an idea about all this already."
"Because..."Kusuo began and stopped. He felt his heart begin to pound uncontrollably and he took several short breaths, trying to slow it down and prevent it from jumping out of his chest. He thought he was prepared.
"Because of what, Ku-chan?" asked Kurumi. She squeezed his arms encouragingly.
"You can tell us, Kusuo," said Kuniharu. "We're your family. And relax. Whatever it is, you know how Kuusuke is. There's no hiding things from him. This is more a courtesy than anything."
Kusuo opened his mouth, but he shut it immediately.
Talk about evidence of Kuusuke's ability in front of everyone, without anyone, not even his family, suspecting it to be more than just Kuusuke being incredibly smart, driven and capable. And Kuusuke never spoke of it directly his entire life.
What the hell was Kusuo thinking for even entertaining the idea about telling his secret to his normal school friends?
"Ku-chan? Are you okay?" asked Kurumi. Being physically close to him, she could feel his entire body shake from how fast his heart was racing. She tightened her grip on him, again, as if trying to give him courage. "Whatever it is, you know we'll get through it, together. All four of us. Ku-kun, You, me, and Papa" she assured him.
Kusuo shook his head. His sight was getting blurry as he stared at the teacup in front of him. "No. Not four of us."
Kuniharu frowned deeply, trying to understand what his son was trying to tell them. He was not sure how to react to the situation either, since Kusuo never had a problem with responding with some sort of sarcastic remark to people's faces. This avoidance was uncharacteristic. He tried another angle.
"Kusuo. I know you have something important to tell us. Does this discussion with grandmother Risa had something to do with it?"
Kusuo nodded numbly. He could think of what he had to say and how he absolutely did not want to say it.
He looked down at his lap now, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, he tried one last time to look for Kuusuke with clairvoyance.
Nothing.
Kuniharu frowned at the sight that Kusuo was looking down. What was he ashamed of? "Well, whatever it is we'll get through it together. Mama and Papa will always support you," said Kuni encouragingly. "Kuusuke might whine about it, but you know he would always come through for you."
Kusuo shook his head and he dismissed his clairvoyance. "He's not going to come through. Not this time."
"Have faith, Ku-chan," Kurumi said reassuringly. She felt her boy's extreme tension and it was worrying. "Remember all your competitions? No matter how many tries, Ku-kun had never given up."
Mom's words were like knives to the heart.
"But I have," Kusuo whispered.
"Have what?" asked mom gently.
"Given up," said Kusuo, finally recognizing this moment for what it truly meant.
"What are you talking about, Kusuo?" asked Kuniharu, starting to get slightly vexed. He thought back to the brother's conflicts and silent treatments they gave to each other. "What did Kuusuke do this time that caused you to write him off?"
Kusuo took a deep breath. He felt as tense as the day of the fire. His heart trying to jump out of his chest. His stomach seemed to have dropped out. He felt cold and hot at the same time. Nerves all taut to the point that he felt like shattering. Bodily sympathetic system going haywire. The finality of the words that must be said cut more painfully than any he had ever endured.
"He died."
