The next drill consisted of what Ritsu could only describe as a psychic equivalent of weightlifting. He was able to lift smaller objects, and was even able to lift Teru when he wasn't resisting, although that required a significant amount of effort. But his level of skill was nowhere near Teru's.

"You were actually able to lift an entire fleet of cars by yourself?"

"I had some help from the kids from the Awakening Lab, but I really was doing most of the work. Takeuchi also helped me later. I was also running a high fever at the time so I wasn't in the best of shape."

"You were running a high fever?"

"Yes, I just said that."

"So were you also sick when we were fighting Shimazaki?"

"Yeah. It's kind of a shame. Maybe if I was in better shape I would have been able to kick his ass harder."

Ristu was speechless. Teru was just talking about this as if it were no big deal. Was that some attempt at being humble? Because it was pissing Ritsu off.

Teru walked over to the backpack he left lying on the ground and pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"What's that for?" asked Ritsu.

"Progress tracking." Teru flipped open the notepad and started writing something down. "I was going to do this initially with the barrier training, but I fucked that up."

"I told you, I was just about to tell you to stop."

"Well then I'm sure you'll do better tomorrow when I actually track your progress on that. But for now let's focus on your telekinesis."

Teru's writing eventually came to a stop, and he opened his mouth to speak once more.

"So here's the deal," started Teru. "You can lift objects as big as people, and you can blast away objects even bigger. But you can't lift anything much heavier than a fridge, you can barely move me when I'm resisting, and you can't lift yourself."

"I probably could have just told you that."

"No. It's better I see you attempt. I can at least make an estimate of how much potential you have that way."

"So what do you think?"

"I think in order to beat Suzuki-kun, you need to at least be able to lift the equivalent of a cement truck."

"A what ?"

"I'm not finished yet. Your telekinesis also needs to be able to have some sort of effect on me. You need to be able to hurt me with telekinesis. You also need to be able to lift yourself, as well as learn some techniques that travel outside the basics. And you need to be creative with how you use your basics."

"How long is this going to take?"

"I'm still not finished. You also should try and have something in your arsenal to surprise your opponent. For example; I can attack and defend simultaneously. That's a rare skill that most espers wouldn't expect. You need to have a skill like that to throw your opponent off guard."

"Are you finished now?"

"Yes."

"So how long do you think this is going to take?"

"It'll take as long as it takes, Ritsu-kun."

Ritsu had to wonder why he expected anything other than a vague answer. Teru noticed Ritsu rolling his eyes, and spoke again.

"Ritsu-kun, if there's one thing I've learned since I met your brother, it's that people are full of surprises. I want you to surprise me."

It was a lot to take in, to say the least. Teru's list of requirements was heavier than expected. And Teru seemed to have high expectations. But Ritsu was used to it. They were no higher than the expectations Ritsu put on himself. Not even close.

The rest of the training consisted on various drills designed to improve strength. Teru would throw rubble at Ritsu's barrier to see how well Ritsu could adjust his power levels appropriately on reflex. Teru would gather up large pieces of rubble and rock to make boulders for Ritsu to attempt to break. Everything was going smoothly, which was surprising considering their rocky start. Perhaps it was because there was no need for conflict between the two espers. It was simple. Teru would tell Ritsu what to do and Ritsu would do it. The exercises were productive and Ritsu had no reason to complain. This was what he asked for.

"You've been doing well so far!" said Teru as he bent down to sit next to him. For the first time, Ritsu considered responding with a "thank you," but a mouthful of tofu kept him silent. Both boys were sitting with their legs dangling off a broken ledge, but only Ritsu was eating.

"Although," Teru started again as Ritsu gulped down what was left in his mouth. "If you were hungry you really should have said something."

"I thought you'd know when a reasonable time to eat was."

"Sorry, I forgot to keep track of time."

Ritsu continued eating in silence for a few more minutes until he noticed that Teru hadn't even moved to reach for the backpack of food.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh, no don't worry. I'm not hungry."

"You're not hungry?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"It's been four hours."

"Has it now?"

"Yes! You were the one who said that first!"

"Ah, sorry. I guess I'm a bit forgetful today."

Ritsu stared at Teru in silence, stunned. Ritsu knew Teru was strange, but this was weird even for him. After staring a bit, Ritsu noticed something else that was off. Teru wasn't moving. He was staring straight ahead, eyes perfectly still and unblinking. There was no sound or movement coming from him to give off the impression that he was breathing. In fact, there was no heat coming off of Teru at all. Teru suddenly started moving again when he appeared to notice Ritsu's stares.

"Is something the matter?" asked Teru.

"Ah! It's nothing!" Ritsu tried his best not to look suspicious, but he was sweating from nervousness.

"Are you sure? Is there something on my face?"

"Uh…" Ritsu genuinely could not figure out how to answer that question. There was nothing on his face. No pores. No wrinkles. Nothing.

"I'm just wondering what we're going to do next!" Ritsu hoped that was a good enough response.

"Ah, are you that excited? Then we'll start the final spar right away!"

Teru slid off the ledge and let himself fall down to the clearing at the bottom of the crater where most of their training had taken place.

"Aren't you coming?" Teru yelled up.

"Oh, right!" Ritsu nervously hopped down to Teru's level and tried his best not to focus on his body that was approaching uncanny valley territory.

"The rules are simple. Whoever can stun their opponent for ten seconds wins. Got it?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Don't be nervous, Ritsu-kun. I don't expect you to win the first time. Just try your best!"

On any normal occasion Ritsu would have been annoyed by a comment like that. Teru twisted his knees into his signature stance and counted to three before darting straight towards Ritsu. Ritsu put up his barrier and blocked Teru's first attack, which appeared to be an energy bomb. Teru hopped back as the explosion went off and Ritsu decided to lower his barrier to make his own attack. Until he heard someone speaking right behind him.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ritsu-kun." The voice was so close Ritsu could feel it breathing down his neck. But before he could turn around and react to it he felt something wrap tightly around his body.

"What-?!" Ritsu felt himself being swept off his feet. His arms were now fully secured to his sides, completely restraining him. Looking down, he saw that the thing tying him up was what appeared to be a rope of yellow psychic energy. Following it down he could see Teru connected to it a few feet below him next to… another Teru?

"Three seconds," said one of the Terus. Ritsu was so dizzy he couldn't really tell which one it was..

"How-"

"It took me three seconds to beat you. And I only needed to lift a finger. But that's not why I'm disappointed in you."

Ritsu struggled against the bind to get a better view of his now duplicated opponent. There certainly were two Terus standing on the ground, both with stern looks on their faces. One of them was holding his finger up where the energy connected to. Ritsu had a good idea of what was going on.

"You cloned yourself?"

The second Teru suddenly vanished into thin air, answering Ritsu's question.

"Ritsu-kun, do you know how long you've been training with that clone?"

Ritsu stopped struggling and froze, stunned. Suddenly everything made perfect sense.

"Since lunch, right?" answered Ritsu.

"Wrong. You've been training with that clone since we started telekinesis training."

"Eh?!" Ritsu couldn't believe his ears. Teru had to be joking.

"So you didn't even notice that anything was wrong until lunch."

"Wait a second! You can't be serious!"

"I was even trying to make it easy for you, you know. I made sure my footsteps were loud so you could hear me walk in the other direction, and then silently sent the clone right next to you. Did you not notice that?"

"Ah!" Ritsu remembered, "I did! But I-"

"But nothing. You did nothing. You said nothing. You know for someone who outright told me that you don't trust me, you sure do trust me a lot."

"But why did you-"

"Ritsu-kun, why didn't you say anything during lunch?"

"I don't know! What was I supposed to even say? 'Hey Teru-san, I noticed you don't have a heartbeat. What's up with that?'"

"Would have been better than nothing."

"Oh, just shut up and let me down! You win, okay?"

"Are you telling me that you want me to free you?"

"Yes!"

"Did you also want to have lunch an hour ago?"

"Huh?"

"Listen up, Ritsu-kun. This is a lesson. I can let you go, but I can't free you. You need to do that yourself."

Teru brought Ritsu back down to the ground and released him.

"Alright," said Teru in a much more upbeat voice. "You failed your first test, but that's ok. Failure is the best teacher. I've learned that from experience."

"You mean when my brother kicked your ass?"

"Anyway," said Teru, ignoring Ritsu's comment. "Do some stretches and we'll run back to the bus stop. Same time tomorrow. Weekends off. Got it?"

"Got it."

It was going to be a long break.

"Ah, welcome back Ritsu!"

Had it been a few months ago, Ritsu would have been happy to see his brother relaxing on the couch. He would have returned his warm smile and offered to play video games with him. But that was back before all this.

It was growing up his throat now. What was it? Ritsu was too tired to even contemplate it.

"Hey, Nii-san."

"You look exhausted. You were out with Suzuki-kun all day though, so I don't blame you."

"Um, yeah. I, uh, learned a lot from him."

"I'm sure you'll get better! You can do anything you put your mind to!"

"Yep. Thanks."

Ritsu hurried up to his room and shut the door quickly behind him and crashed on top of his bed. Everything hurt. And yet, there was something nice about the pain. Maybe it was because physical pain was always easier for Ritsu to handle. He was no stranger to it at this point.

A knock on the door violently pulled Ritsu out of his thoughts as he flinched at the sound of it.

"C-come in!" He sputtered out. And in came a concerned-looking Mob with wide eyes and a gentle air.

"Ritsu, are you okay?"

"Ah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, Nii-san." Ritsu gave the best smile he could muster, hoping his brother would believe him. But Mob's expression did not change.

"You've just been acting strange…" Mob's quiet voice trailed off, as though he were thinking of what to say next. But when he finally spoke, the words that came out of his mouth were the worst possible words Ritsu could have ever expected.

"Am I bothering you?"

Ritsu clenched the sheets of his bed as his chest turned bright red. Ritsu could feel it. That feeling. It grew out past Ritsu's throat and wrapped itself firmly around his tounge. It begged for attention and dug its roots deep below his stomach and through his intestines. Ritsu's body was running out of room to hold something this violent.

"No! Not at all!" said Ritsu with the most forced smile imaginable. "You've done nothing wrong! I'm just tired from hanging out with Te-uh, Suzuki, is all! I'm fine though!"

Mob stood silent for a bit, but then smiled.

"Okay Ritsu. I trust you. But just remember you can always trust me too! If you ever need to talk I'm here."

And with that, he left, closing the door behind him. And Ritsu was left shaken, gagged by his own emotions manifesting his every orifice. Everything hurt, inside and out. His body was sore. His body was full of thorns. Ritsu did not breathe when Mob left. He did not move.

Ritsu skipped dinner that night.

Teru walked up the steps to his apartment. It had been a long day and he was actually getting pretty hungry. But as he turned the corner at the top of the steps he saw an unexpected, yet familiar face walking down the hall. She was a tall, middle-aged woman with dark hair. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Teru, and he was greeted with a wave and a warm smile.

Her name was Midori, and she was the landlady. She was also Teru's aunt. Teru was immediately filled with dread.

"There you are, Teru-chan!"

"Ah, hello Aunt Midori. What are you doing here? Did someone skip out on paying rent?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that! I was just trying to check up on you, but you were out. I see you're wearing a tracksuit! Were you exercising?"

"Uh, yeah. Something like that. Ah-!" Midori grabbed onto Teru's arm and started squeezing it.

"Wow! Your muscles have grown so big, Teru-chan!"

"H-hey!" Teru pulled her hands off of him.

"Oh, sorry! I should have asked first. But really, don't you think you're making it a bit unfair for the rest of your classmates? They must be so jealous of you for having magic powers and huge muscles!"

"They aren't magic powers, Aunt Midori. We've been over this."

"Eh, I don't know. Being able to lift things with your mind seems pretty magical to me. So how have you been?"

What a loaded question.

"Uh, alright I guess."

"What about your girlfriend?"

Teru was clenching his fists so hard he could feel the pain of his nails digging into his palm.

"She's been busy lately so I haven't seen her much. But we're still dating!"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

"I'm glad to hear it! You should bring her over soon so I can see her!"

Teru reached his hand up to his chest to unzip his tracksuit. His shirt was damp. His forehead was going red. The air around him felt like it was on fire. He had to change the subject.

"So why were you checking up on me?"

"Oh yeah, that! Well your parents have been worried about you. You haven't been answering phone lately. I tell them that you're fine, but they'd really like to see you!"

Teru put on the calmest most casual smile he could muster.

"Oh, I'll give them a call soon!"

"You know, you are on break. Why don't you go and visit them?"

"Well, I actually have plans with a friend so I can't exactly leave."

"Oh? What kind of plans?"

"Oh, you know. Personal plans."

"Well if you have time, you should really consider it!"

"Yeah, I will. Don't worry."

Midori's smile quickly faded and she began looking at Teru with concerned eyes.

"Teruki…" she said, "It's been three months."

Teru's heart began to race as his head went light.

"E-eh?"

"You haven't answered their calls in three months. They're worried about you, Teruki. I'm worried about you."

"Ah w-well," stuttered Teru as he clasped his hands together, trying to avoid eye contact. "I've just been forgetful lately! That's all!"

"She was crying you know."

Teru went pale. His chest was on fire.

"Your mother," started Midori, "She would give you the stars if she could. She loves you so much. But these are very important years of your life, and she's missing them. Please, Teruki. I hate seeing my little sister like this."

Teru's forehead went numb. Everything under his tracksuit was burning.

"I…" Teru had to say something. Anything. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm sorry too. If you ever need anyone to talk to, you know where to find me!"

Midori waved goodbye and walked down the stairs. And for a minute, Teru forgot how to breathe. He forgot how to move.

Teru lost his appetite.