"Dialogue"

'Thinking/telepathy'

Chapter 1: It shouldn't have taken this long

'My name is Saiki Kusuo and I'm a psychic.' A boy with pink hair, dressed in a green high school uniform, wearing a pear of green lensed glasses and two strange antennae-like devices in his hair. 'Being a psychic provides me with all sorts of abilities. I can read people's thoughts, turn invisible, teleport and basically anything else you can imagine. If I wanted to use them to take over the world or simply become a Millionaire I probably could with relative ease but I'd much rather live my life as a normal high school kid.' This strange looking fellow was sitting in a small family run cafe.

Just then an elderly and frankly unattractive waitress marched up to the pink haired high schooler and deposited a small glass dish containing a gelatinous blob topped with a dollop of whipped cream the troll looking women then marched off and a small smile formed on the psychic students face. 'Rather than wealth or power, I prefer to enjoy the simpler aspects of life like my delicious Coffee Jelly and the relative peace and quiet of this small out of the way cafe.' Saiki scooped up a spoonful of jelly and carefully examined his desert 'Of all the deserts you can find across the world Coffee Jelly is probably the most underrated treat of all and lucky for me it's easy enough to acquire. You simply purchase it from a grocery store or a sweets shop, add milk or cream and enjoy. Peace and Quiet on the other hand is much more difficult a luxury to acquire especially for someone who can read other people's thoughts.'

'Ugh, I can't believe the amount of homework they gave us this week.' Thoughts from outside the store began to poor into Saiki's head.

'Tomorrow! Tomorrow, for sure! I'll tell him how I feel!'

'Ugh… How am I gonna make rent this month? I'll have to ask my boss if I can put in some overtime hours these next couple of days then I might be able to pull something together.'

'No matter where I go it seems like I can't avoid it. I hear the thoughts of everyone around me, there are very few places on earth I can go with no one in range of my telepathy so to keep from living out my life as a hermit I've learned to tune these voices out for the most part. Recently a new threat to my pursuit of peace and quiet has come in the form of a few of my more eccentric classmates who consider themselves to be my "Friends". From a stupidly strong Oger with a ridiculous looking cleft chin to a pervy spirit mediums. These strange people have poisoned not only my idealist calm, normal school life but what should be my quiet and peaceful personal life as well. Things have gotten so bad I decided to avoid my favorite cafe due out of fear for running into one of "them". So in my pursuit of peace and quiet I sacrificed a higher quality of coffee jelly. Was it worth it?' The psychic boy asked himself as he finished his jelly examination and popped the spoonful into his mouth. 'Of course it is, even basic store bought coffee jelly is tasty enough for me. Wait a minute.' A sour expression formed on Saiki's face as he swallowed his spoonful. 'This IS basic store bought coffee jelly. I'd know its taste and texture anywhere. Like I said earlier this wouldn't normally be an issue but this store is selling what I could purchase for myself at any grocery store and a few of my favorite convenient stores for double it's normal price. I hope this place has insurance.' Saiki growled in his head as his as his hand combusted into flames for a moment.

Before Saiki could act on his perfectly justified anger, he noticed something with his telepathy that stunned to the point where his flames were extinguished. 'No way! Why here of all places!' Just then the cafe door swung open and a beautiful girl with long flowing blue and a golden aura of perfection entered the small sweets shop. 'Teruhashi Kokomi, the perfect pretty girl. Of all the weirdos I go out of my way to avoid on a regular basis she is probably the one I fear most of all.'

"What a cute little cafe, I couldn't help wanting to come in and stop for a snack." The beautiful Teruhashi said with a smile powerful enough to end wars but what she was really thinking was. 'Oh, man! Those guys from school were especially relentless today; they chased me to the other side of town, not that I blame them. I am the perfect pretty girl afterall. I'm sure they'd climb to Everest very peak with their bare hands alone if they thought I'd be there. That doesn't make this any less annoying though.' She growled in her head. 'I'll just charm some taxi driver into getting a free ride home but first I need some sugar. Even a dump like this will do as long as they have something sweet.'

'On the outside Teruhashi really is perfect. Her looks, her personality, everything would give you the impression that she's some kind of angel. On the inside however, she's a little less perfect.' Saiki thought as he sampled another spoonful of his overpriced jelly. 'I'm surprised she hasn't seen me yet, there really isn't anywhere to hide in this cafe so it's only a matter of time.'

"Saiki!" She exclaimed.

'There we go.' Saiki made a deadpan expression as his classmate took a seat at his table.

"Wow, what a coincidence running into you here." She said with another glowing smile all while thinking. 'You truly are the luckiest boy in the world. First you got to bask in my divine presence all day at school, I even greeted you personally this morning. Now you run into me outside of class. To top it all off, of all the boys on earth you're the one who's managed to capture my attention. God must truly favor you, not as much as he adores me but still a pretty significant amount.'

'No, I wouldn't consider running into you lucky.' Saiki thought as he blankly stared back at his classmate. 'She's right about one thing, if there is A god then he must have fallen for Teruhashi just like every other male on this planet. Every male, aside from me that is. It's true that Teruhashi currently harbors affection for me but unfortunately for her I don't return these feelings. Now it might not be for the reasons you're thinking. Everyone hinds a part of themselves so I don't blame Teruhashi for hiding her true nature, if anything its admirable that she genuinely strives to be perfect in almost every way and it's not like she uses her perfect persona to hurt anyone so I don't see any problem with it. If i weren't a psychic, if I were just a normal boy then I'd never know about Teruhashi's secret true nature so that's not the reason for my lack of interest. The truth of the matter is that Teruhashi naturally draws the attention of boys and girls alike and there's nothing I hate more in this world than attention.'

"So what are you having? Coffee jelly as usual? Is it any good?" Teruhashi began to bombard her "friend" with questions but received only silent nods in response. 'The silent treatment again? I hope you know that playing hard to get only works for so long Saiki, eventually the girl might get the wrong idea and lose interest.'

'Good.'

'If I didn't know any better I'd think that you didn't want me here Saiki…'

'That's right.'

'But that can't be possible. My presence is a gift so valuable that there can never be a set price. I forget how shy Saiki can be but that indifferent facade is exactly what drives me crazy for him. I'll never be able to get him out of my head, not until I get my "oh wow" from him.' Teruhashi thought as she let out a lovestruck sigh.

'Dang it!' Saiki cursed in his head though his outward expression refused to change. 'There's another thing that stifles my interest in this "perfect girl". Teruhashi wants me to go "oh wow" at her presence just like every other guy she's ever met has and this desire has cultivated itself into an obsession. Though I suppose she's not solely to blame, I could've gone "Oh wow" months ago and killed her obsession but I didn't cause I'm too stubborn. Because of its affect on others I view Teruhashi's Perfect Pretty Girl Persona as a rival to my own psychic abilities and to me going "oh wow" would be like admitting her power is stronger and that's something I'm simply unwilling to do. But Teruhashi doesn't know that, she doesn't know I have psychic powers so it's not her fault.'

'I wonder what his "Oh wow" face will look like. Will he blush? Just thinking about it is making me impatient, I've waited long enough haven't I? Maybe I should confess to him, that would surely get an "Oh wow" from him.' Teruhashi then began to inexplicably (unless you're a psychic) violently shake her head. ' No, No, No! That is an absolute last ditch effort! I'm the confessee, not the confessor. I will not stoop that low for anyone, not even Saiki!'

'This is really getting out of hand. I almost feel bad, like I've been enabling a drug obsession. I almost wish she'd just confess at this point so I can reject her and get this over with.' Then something powerful dawned on Kusuo, powerful enough that his physical expression changed. 'Rejection? Why didn't I think of this sooner. In the past it would've been presumptuous to reject her feelings, it would be a clear give away that I can read her mind but now things are different. After the school trip, all the times she's visited my house. The crap with her brother, that stuff that happened at the shrine on New Years and at the festival with my brother. Not to mention she only hangs out with my group of weird "friends" when I'm around. Plus I've been invited to and attended a handful of "dates". It wouldn't be unreasonable for even a normal person to suspect she has feelings for me and a rejection, even if it could come across as premature wouldn't be entirely unwarranted at this point. Even if she denies having romantic feelings for me I'll still be getting my disinterest across to her.'

This time it was Saiki's turn to unexplainably shake his head. 'No way! Guys don't reject Teruhashi, if word got out about it at school people would definitely suspect that something weird was going on with me and that's something I could definitely go without. But wait! This cafe is far enough away from PK academy that even Teruhashi's most "passionate fans" didn't follow her here so we should be secluded enough that I shouldn't worry about anyone from school finding out. I don't need to worry about Teruhashi letting it slip either, Perfect Pretty Girls don't get rejected after all. Even if word gets out at school I have a fail safe plan, Aiura Mikoto. Thanks to her disregarding my desire to be left alone during class enough of our classmates have seen her and I interacting in a more than friendly matter plus she was willing to pretend to be my girlfriend once before, I'm sure I can get her to do so again if need be. I'll fall back on the "I have feelings for someone else" no one rejects Teruhashi for no reason but if I already like someone else then most of my classmates would probably understand. This may just work…'

'I wonder what Saiki must be thinking. I've never seen such a wide array of facial expressions from him all at once, three in total so far. My beauty must really be eating away on him, he must be trying his hardest to keep his cool. Oh my stoic Saiki, while your self control is admirable it can be unhealthy to hold your "Oh wow's" in for so long, especially in the presence of such a beautiful girl. Let it out Saiki, you did your best I promise I won't think any less of you if you break down now.' Teruhashi thought as an expecting gaze began to intensify on Saiki.

'Alright, it's time to put this to an end. Not just for me, for Teruhashi as well. The greatest crime I've ever committed using my psychic powers would probably be leading Teruhashi on for so long, I hope you can forgive me. I won't waste anymore time, I'm going to get serious!' Saiki thought as he gathered his composure. "Ahem!" Saiki opened his mouth to clear his throat and immediately captured Teruhashi's attention. "Teruhashi…"

'He spoke! I saw his mouth move!' Her thoughts screamed out. 'He said my name! Wait, this doesn't feel like an "Oh wow!" Could it be, A confession!'

'Sorry Teruhashi, but that's not the case. I have to remember to be tactful and put this gently, like I said I don't hate Teruhashi I'm just not interested in her romantic attention, or any attention for that matter. But if I can avoid it then I don't want to hurt her feelings.' Saiki continued. "This is difficult for me to say and I don't want to come across as presumptuous."

'Oh I know it's difficult, it's probably the hardest thing you've ever done Saiki. We are on completely different social levels. I'm considering this an "oh wow" moment just so you know, a confession is essentially the same thing. Will I accept though? I'm not sure I have worked extremely hard for this and it might be nice to see the normally distant and somewhat cold Kusuo Saiki showering me with love and praise for a change but he's definitely not marriage material. Maybe I'll go along for a few months before letting him go, I may just ruin all other women for you Saiki but I deserve this after so long, you understand.' She thought as a self satisfied smile formed on her face.

'Ok, time to wrap it up before she completely gets the wrong idea.' Saiki stood up before respectfully bowing in front of his beautiful classmate. "I'm sorry. I'm not interested in a romantic relationship with you. I hope you understand, let's be friends." 'I don't actually care about staying friends but it's expected at this point.'

"Huh?..." Teruhashi muttered as her face went blank. 'What did he?...'

Saiki waved his hand in front of Teruhashi's frozen expression but received no reaction. 'Huh? That's not quite what I expected. Even her thoughts are frozen right now. Well better take advantage of this moment of silence and take my leave.' Saiki put a handful of money down on the table before marching his way to the cafe's exit. 'I went ahead and paid for hers as well, not much of an apology but oh well. You'll thank me for this later Teruhashi.' With that Saiki walked out onto an empty side street before disappearing from sight entirely.

Meanwhile, back in the Cafe, Teruhashi was finally coming back to reality. "WHAAAAATTT!" She shrieked.

(End)

Here's a little Saiki K story I whipped up real quickly. If you guys want more You'll have to let me know in the review section. I don't know if this'll turn into a Teruhashi X Saiki fic. I tried my best to stay true to the anime portrayal of the characters so we'll see. Till next time, bye! :)