Chapter 51 Match. Set.
Toritsuka gulped.
Never in Toritsuka's short life did he imagine that a prude like Saiki would lock hands with Yumehara, like two bulls locking horns.
For one, Saiki simply did not touch people unless absolutely necessary, much less go hand to hand in a battle of strength.
Even more so, what was Saiki wearing?
Saiki looked like some sort of overly self-absorbed corporate lackey, for god sakes. With formal black slacks, a starched white collared shirt, a standard gray tie, an appropriate undervest, and an unbuttoned black blazer. Standing behind Saiki, Toritsuka could tell that Saiki wore suspenders.
Granted, the school uniforms that nearly all students had worn since grade school were an attempt to acclimate the students to the eventual drudgery of work that is adulthood. Plus, Saiki naturally wore more formal clothes almost all the time, mostly to avoid attention by appearing like an inconsequential, law and etiquette-abiding citizen, so this fashion style should not have surprised Toritsuka.
But Saiki just seemed so different and yet wholly the same. Saiki was here, yet felt so far away.
Something about Saiki had changed profoundly since their discussion at the communication tower. Whatever it was, Toritsuka immediately decided that he did not like it.
Toritsuka looked over to Aiura.
The gyaru woman's eyes were wide as dishes. She covered her mouth in shock from what she just observed.
Oh. That was right. Aiura had never seen Saiki like this before. In all the time that people had threatened Saiki, be a bully or delinquent, Saiki always played the weakling and let people have what they wanted.
Saiki had only gotten truly physical a couple of times with Toritsuka, out of disgust of Toritsuka's outrageous thoughts, always to restrain and never to fight back.
The Saiki before them was truly exerting himself, against a friend.
But Toritsuka had witness Saiki Kusuo against Saiki Kuusuke.
The stalemate between Yumehara and Saiki did not last long as Yumehara lifted her head back and unceremoniously slammed her forehead against Saiki's nose.
The blow was heavy. The speed at which Yumehara shifted her head was fast enough to cause a sonic boom.
Saiki was knocked backward with a force that sent him flying.
Like a cat, Saiki twisted in the air and slowed himself down enough through levitation as to not knock a hole in the wall of the absolution room.
But Yumehara was not waiting around. She sprung at Saiki, a right fist at the ready.
Saiki teleported at the very last possible instant.
Yumehara, with nothing to connect the punch, struck the concrete wall behind Saiki.
The concrete wall immediately cratered and blew to the outside.
Saiki reappeared next to Toritsuka and Aiura.
"Kusuo!" cried Aiura in relief, now that he was there to protect them.
Aiura was about to hug Saiki in relief when they heard a general commotion from the monks outside.
"What was that?"
"I just heard a loud crashing sound!"
"Reita! You better not be damaging temple property again!"
The sound of the punch that blew a hole in the wall caused a minor uproar in the temple. There was a general rushing of geta against the stone walkway and the heavy pounding of a priest's meditation staff. The absolution rooms, however, were quite a distance away from the main temple compound. It would take a little bit of time for someone of sufficient authority to get to the area where the absolution rooms were located.
Meanwhile, Yumehara turned from the hole in the concrete wall. She held up her blistered and blackened right arm. The right hand dangled loosely at the wrist, half torn and broken. Embers flew out from the area where the wrist had semi-detached, sinew exposed and blood vessels cauterized from the heat.
Saiki's expression was impassive as usual, even as Yumehara turned her overly pale, and blackened ghoulish face toward the pink-haired psychic.
"It would've been a lot more fun if you had let me hit you," the voice rang again.
This time, the voice seemed to have been broadcasted areawide, judging by the multitude of voices from the distance.
"Who said that?"
"Junpei! It isn't Halloween yet. Stop installing speakers in the bushes."
"Is Reita in on this prank too?"
Back in the perilous situation in the absolution room, Saiki, Aiura, and Tortisuka stood close together, opposite Yumehara. Almost imperceptibly, Saiki put a hand on the shoulder of his two fellow psychics simultaneously.
Presently, Yumehara tilted her head an unnatural 90 degrees as she observed the action. "Object scanning?"
Saiki was stoic as he lifted his hands from the shoulders of his fellow psychics. "Who are you?"
"Who?" Yumehara's voice had a hint of agitation, her head had now twisted to the point that her neck vertebrae jutted out like black leather stretched taut over bones. "How dare you ask such a question?"
"It's a simple question," remarked Saiki.
"I'm Saiki Kusuo!" uttered Yumehara, her altered voice rang loudly in everyone's mind.
For the first time since Saiki arrived, his breath hitched. His voice, however, was steady. "You are confused, I am Saiki Kusuo."
By now, Yumehara was clutching her head as if trying to rip it off, her eyes screwed shut. Her dress had turned sooty and the embers emanated from her like a full charcoal fire. "That's because you stole my name! If I had lived, you would've never been!"
At that moment, Toritsuka and Aiura looked at each other, puzzled. What exactly was going on here?
Saiki, however, was as unflappable as ever. "Incorrect. Names are given."
"Oh, you self-righteous brat!" Yumehara shouted.
By now, the tatami floor of the absolution room had become blackened as if charred. The wall and roof smoked and obvious signs of burning continued. Despite the obvious signs of fire, the temperature of the room had dropped.
"Kusuo was supposed to be my name!" Yumehara's head began to spin and shake like it was a sharp weight at the end of a whip. The force seemed strong enough to pop a head right off. That childish voice, however, continued to rage in their minds. "The naming of the firstborn is the right of our father. The naming of the remaining dregs is the privilege of our mother. Kuusuke was Ani's. Kusuo was supposed to be mine! You made her gave you my name!"
Toritsuka and Aiura instinctively covered their ears as they tried to dampen the volume of the telepathic voice. Their hearts had been pounding so loud that they could not differentiate between the voice and the fright and flight-induced adrenaline.
"Good grief," scoffed Saiki, completely unfazed. "Stop stating such ridiculous assertions."
Suddenly, Yumehara's usual rapid movements stopped. Her jaw dropped unusually long, almost dislocating. "Ani infected you, too, didn't he?"
For the first time since his arrival Saiki seemed to be impacted by Yumehara's words, demonstrated by the most minute raise of an eyebrow.
"You are just as narcissistic, irrational, and sociopathic as Ani!" Yumehara crouched as if preparing for a track race. "You don't deserve that healthy vessel! Give me back what should've been mine!"
Within a blink of an eye, Yumehara had launched herself toward Saiki only to spin a full 180 degrees at the last second, and kicked Saiki squarely in the stomach.
Yumehara seemed to have guessed Saiki's movement correctly.
Saiki had teleported at the very last possible moment to land behind Yumehara, only to have his psychic power be used against him.
The kick knocked Saiki back, his shoes dug deep into the blackened tatami mat, making a pair of friction trails. He kept his standing posture but doubled over slightly.
With unimaginable speed, Saiki pulled out a handkerchief from a pocket and wiped his mouth.
From where Toritsuka stood, he could only watch in horrified wonder.
There was a bright red stain on the white handkerchief.
"Don't play it so cool," groused Yumehara. "Or I'll rupture your spleen next."
"And damage the vessel that you want?" posed Saiki rhetorically as he put the handkerchief back into the same pocket. "Who is the irrational one here?"
At the same time, there was a peal of a bell in the distance.
The sound seemed to strike a chord in the spirit within Yumehara.
All of a sudden, the cool temperature within the room reversed. It became impossibly hot. The smoking roof, tatami mat, and shoji screen door suddenly burst into blinding yellow flames, entrapping them.
"Time's up. This vessel is useless now," stated Yumehara, her entire blackened body seemed to slow as if all her bodily joints were permanently stuck like rusted gears. "I suggest that you avoid using temporal abilities on your little pets. Don't want them to suffer the same fate as our dearly departed Ani, do we?"
For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Saiki's expression turned mildly curious, despite the flames now roaring in everyone's ears, encroaching upon the unconscious bodies of Akechi and Makino. Aiura and Toritsuka held onto each other, trapped by the flames.
Expressionless, Saiki uttered, "Explain."
Yumehara had stopped moving as a brilliant golden gossamer-like form rose from her like a phantom. The overlap of voices had stopped and settled into a comfortably childish voice. "Power against power is a dangerous thing. How did you think Ani was able to drill permanent holes in your head when your vessel is nearly invincible to harm? Why do you think I can affect you so easily now?"
Saiki said nothing in response. He was, however, so focused that he was not even aware of the flames invading his personal space.
Meanwhile, Aiura and Toritsuka scooched even closer together, now feeling the painful heat.
Yumehara had stopped moving completely as if turning to stone. That childish voice, however, continued to speak unaffected. "Why did you think Ani stayed far away from you, threw himself into the study of science, while you lollygagged with the time loop?"
There was a dramatic pause, one that lasted far too long as Aiura and Torituska started to yip from the fire.
Saiki, however, was not paying attention to his friends.
"Why do you think he was never around when you played with Restoration?" Yumehara's expression ended in a ghostly grin. "Do you want to accidentally burn up your pets, too?"
The phantom form had now dispersed into a fog that seemed indistinguishable from the smoke and flames.
Yumehara pitched forward, the spirit had finally left her.
Saiki moved to catch her. He looked up to the smoky roof. For the first time since his arrival, urgency seemed to play across his face. "Wait."
The phantom dissipated, leaving them in a room that was fully on fire.
For Aiura and Toritsuka, things seemed to happen faster now.
Ice grew around them, shielding them from the flames.
The temperature dropped to a more tolerable range.
Without warning, Aiura and Toritsuka felt themselves levitate and they saw Akechi and Makino lift up too.
The movement through the air was quick and the PK Academy Psychickers were all shot out of the absolution room through the hole in the wall. Once out of the danger of the fire, they all floated down gently .
Now on the cool grass, Aiura and Toritsuka could not help but watch the absolution room that they were in earlier now completely engulfed in flames. The roar of the fire was deafening and the flames swirled in an unnatural pattern.
By now, some monks had arrived. They gawked at the fire, not sure what to do.
"The building is on fire!" cried a monk.
"What are you kids doing here?" demanded another, more adept monk.
"Oh my Amita Buddha! Reita! What have you done!"
"Nevermind that!" said Saiki. Despite never raising his voice, everyone heard him clearly as he pointed to a particuar monk who seemed dumstruck by the scene. "You. Dial the emergency number. Request a firetruck and four ambulances."
The speed and speed of Saiki's command struck Aiura and Toritsuka.
Why hadn't Saiki used his powers to fix this?
By now, more than a dozen monks had arrived. Several already went over to Akechi, Yumehara and Makino. Having been taught in basic emergency response as part of their monk training, they were careful to only and not jar the injured teens.
As the fire blazed, Saiki looked at the sky. He had heard the last parting words of the mad spirit that posessed Yumehara.
"Take care of that vessel. I will come back for it."
