Part One
Chapter Two
You're expecting a big, long explanation of everything that happened from the manga and show, right? But why would I want to relive it all when I don't have to? If you're really curious, go look it up for yourself. That would be more fun for you, anyway. For now, let's just say that the last six years is a year I never again want to repeat and leave it at that.
Naturally, I had expectations for telling my friends about my former powers, and it doesn't hurt that I've already told them about it once and hinted at it another time (never mind that both times were erased from Time itself), so despite my nerves, I still feel pretty confident. The worst that will happen is that no one believes me, and why should I care about that?
Honestly, it would be easier if they didn't believe me since that would stave off any awkward or unwanted questions. Unfortunately, it's too much to hope that I'll sound crazy enough to drive them off. At this point, I doubt there's anything I can do to make them leave me alone short of getting rid of them myself, and as I already said, I don't have my powers anymore. So, I guess that means I'm stuck with everyone.
Yare, yare.
Everyone Has Secrets
"Ehhhh!?"
Kusuo didn't need telepathy to read his friends' minds as they shared bewildered glances between themselves. He couldn't blame them. What sort of person admits to having psychic powers in the same breath they admit to getting rid of them for good? As expected, those not previously in-the-know were skeptical while Toritsuka had sequestered himself in a corner, his hair white from shock and mumbling about how unfair it was that Kusuo gave away his powers and didn't he understand how lucky he was?
"Youth is wasted on the young!" Toritsuka lamented, making a vein pop on Kusuo's forehead.
You're younger than me!
Akechi, as expected of him, stood in the background with one finger in the air and boasted about how he'd known all along, having figured it out in kindergarten before eventually tracking Kusuo down near the end of their second year in high school to confront him on it and receive confirmation that Kusuo really was psychic and could do all sorts of amazing things like bend spoons and levitate spoons and call spoons into his hand and set spoons down on the table—
Kusuo's brow twitched. That last one is something anyone can do!
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kaidoh cut his hand through the air, his voice taking on that deeper, more authoritative tone he always used when channeling the Jet-Black Wings. "You expect us to believe you had psychic powers all this time and just happened to get rid of them right before the start of term? I don't know what sort of game you're playing, but you need to step back and take a long, hard look at reality!"
Another vein popped on Kusuo's head. I don't want to hear those things from you!
"Now hold on, you guys, let's think about this." Hairo had one arm crossed over his chest to support his elbow as he pressed his fingers to his chin in thought. "Doesn't this explain some things?"
"Eh?" Yumehara said, leaning forward a bit with her hands clasped behind her back. "What sort of things?"
Akechi launched into his exhaustive list of evidence, but everyone managed to avoid his over-packed speech bubbles to focus on Hairo.
"Like what happened back on sports day during second year." Hairo pointed upward as if his friends could see the memory bubble forming over his head. Kusuo was almost surprised when one didn't actually form, reminding himself that he no longer had telepathy, and this was his new normal. "Remember how Saiki just collapsed after that thing was taken out of his head? And then he took off flying during the relay race without breaking a sweat."
"That's true, isn't it?" Yumehara put a finger to her lips, her eyes wandering to the ceiling. "There were those times too, weren't there? I wondered how it all turned out so badly…"
"How what turned out badly?" Kaidoh said, his brow furrowed as he took a step closer to Yumehara with a stern frown. "Did something happen to you, Yumehara-san?"
Yumehara went red and waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no, no, no! It's nothing like that! Just a misunderstanding between Saiki-kun and I that got resolved; I'm just realizing that there were some weird things about it, is all."
Kaidoh didn't look convinced, but a sudden spark on his face told Kusuo that something else had occurred to him. Kaidoh shot a sharp look over his shoulder, meeting Kusuo's eyes with an icy stare that somehow seemed to look right through him. If Kusuo didn't already know for certain that Kaidoh was a harmless chihuahua, he might have felt intimidated.
Then again, no.
"That snake, right at the start of second term after summer break our second year. Was that you?"
Kusuo nodded once. Kaidoh bit his thumb and looked away, minute tremors running through his body. Nervousness fluttered in Kusuo's stomach, and he wondered if that could be a good sign, even though he had no idea how. From that first revelation back in the alternate past, Kaidoh had been Kusuo's greatest worry after Teruhashi. He really had no idea how to predict the way the chuunibyo would act. He had even less clue now that he couldn't read his friend's mind.
Akechi being Akechi couldn't read the atmosphere and instead hovered around Kaidoh, bombarding him with questions about the incident.
"Hey, now that you mention it, wasn't there that other time too?" Kuboyasu fiddled with his glasses, not seeming to notice Kaidoh's distress as Akechi was in the way. "Remember when we built that treehouse together? Saiki didn't really do much, but after we finished it and decided to try it out, it collapsed right after he passed out, yeah?" Kuboyasu met Kusuo's eye. "Does that mean you were holding it up?"
Kusuo nodded once. Kuboyasu threw his head back and laughed. "Man, what a riot! Could you imagine how bad it would be if we'd climbed up inside it before you went down like that? We'd all be deader than roadkill!"
How could anyone be more dead than something that's already dead?
"My ship!" Saiko leaped to his feet and stomped forward to grasp Kusuo's shirt in both fists. "Was it you who destroyed my darling yacht and left us stranded on that island?"
"Ah." Kusuo looked away with a bland expression. "That was Teruhashi-san's fault."
"Eh?" Teruhashi pointed at herself with both hands. "Wh-what did I do?"
Her face was glowing, and her eyes were sparkling so much that Kusuo was pretty sure he could guess what was running through her head: Am I really so distracting that Saiki-kun lost control of his powers around me?
Kusuo rolled his eyes and pointed at his head, not bothering to shake himself loose from Saiko's grip. The rich snob 'tch'ed and let him go anyway, stocking back to his chair with a muttered monetary excuse that made no sense whatsoever.
Tapping the left side of his head twice, Kusuo said, "You pulled out my limiter. Again."
"Again?" Teruhashi put a finger to her lips as she thought. "Ah!" Pointing into the air, she beamed. "During our first school trip to Okinawa! You fell asleep on the beach and…and…" Once again, a brilliant red blush rolled across Teruhashi's skin from feet to scalp, and her pointing finger quickly wilted. "I…you…that bear? You saved me from a bear?"
"Eh?!"
"Teruhashi-san was attacked by a bear ,and Kusuo-kun saved her? Of course he did, because Kusuo-kun is amazing! He saved me too, lots of times, back in elementary school when I was being bullied, though there were a few times I saved myself by wetting my pants…" Akechi yammered on and on, but Kusuo ignored him, instead nodding once at Teruhashi, whose blush burned so hot she started smoking.
"So, does that mean I…wasn't lucid dreaming?"
Kusuo nodded once.
"Kyaaa! Nooo!" Teruhashi put both hands to her face and spun around as if that was enough to hide her from view. "How could I make such a fool of myself; demanding to be in a palace and telling you to get down on your knees and 'offu'! Wait!" She started out of her wailing so suddenly a ?! may as well have appeared over her head. She spun around and pointed at Kusuo with a triumphant smirk. "That means I really did beat you Saiki Kunio! I saw and heard you say 'offu'; it definitely wasn't a dream!"
Maybe, but it wasn't me either. Also, I know you know my name by now.
Shaking his head, Kusuo pointed to Toritsuka who still sat huddled in a corner. Somehow, he seemed to have aged several decades in the last few minutes.
Teruhashi's head tilted in confusion. "What about him?"
"Ah!" Aiura slapped her fist into her palm with an audible 'poof.' "He must have used the idiot as a body double, overlaying his face on the idiot using his power of hallucination."
"Hallucination?"
It really is irritating how they keep speaking in tandem like that.
Except Akechi, who was explaining the power to anyone he could force to listen, and Kaidoh, who was still silently shaking.
"How many powers do…did…you have, Saiki?"
Kusuo eyed Hairo for a long moment, his head tilting in thought, before he finally shrugged. He honestly had no clue. Sometimes it seemed like a new power popped up every day, though most of them were useless. How was the ability to create mosaic tiles around someone even remotely helpful?
"You don't know?" Kuboyasu scratched at his head, looking from one friend to the next until he landed on Mera who was taking all of this with a startling level of acceptance that bordered on apathy. Wait, was she drooling?
She's not even paying attention!
Kusuo wasn't sure if that was better or worse than Nendou, who was staring with a blank look on his face while picking his nose.
Does he even understand what's going on?
"I knew a lot of my powers—telepathy, super strength, petrification, x-ray vision, teleportation, etc.—but most of the time, I didn't realize I had a power until I needed it."
"Ah." Hairo crossed his arms and nodded knowingly. "Like Superman."
Actually, now that he mentions it…Kusuo sweat-dropped.
"How could you?" Kaidoh spoke so softly, Kusuo almost didn't hear it—no one else seemed to. But then, Kusuo had been focusing on his chuunibyo friend almost as intently as he'd been focusing on Teruhashi, trying to ascertain their thoughts based on their reactions. It wasn't working as well with Kaidoh as it was with Teruhashi.
"Eh?" Hairo lowered his arms and glanced over. "You say something, Kaidoh?"
Kaidoh clenched his fists with a 'tch' and dragged his head up to glare at Kusuo. He had tears in his eyes. "How could you keep this a secret? I thought we were friends! Friends don't keep secrets from each other, Saiki!" A shocked shadow passed over his face. "Is that it then? We were never really friends? You just played me like a sucker from the beginning, probably laughing at me behind my back because I was so useless and pathetic! You—!"
"Kaidoh-kun!" Yumehara said, loud enough to jerk Kaidoh from his impassioned speech. He looked over at her, still leaning forward in a near fighting stance. Yumehara smiled brightly, her hands clasped behind her back as nervous lines creased the edges of her eyes and smile. "I love you, Kaidoh-kun."
Kaidoh burst into an ember glow as he stared at Yumehara, speechless. "Offu!"
Well, almost speechless. Kusuo forced down the small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. I guess I don't need to set things right for Yumehara-san after all.
"I'm sorry I kept it a secret." Yumehara looked down, fiddling with the ends of her short hair as a soft blush tinged her cheeks. "But I had to. If I told you two years ago or six months ago or even a week ago, it would have troubled you, right? We wouldn't have been able to become such good friends."
Despite his near petrified state, Kaidoh managed a jerky nod. A sad shadow fell across Yumehara's face, dimming her smile just a bit. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was shaking slightly. Kusuo didn't need telepathy to know she was a single thread away from breaking into tears over Kaidoh's perceived rejection.
"Everyone has secrets they can't tell sometimes, right Kokomi?"
"Eh? Me?" Teruhashi pointed at herself before pushing her hand through her hair with a shy smile. "Um, yeah, I guess that's tr—" Teruhashi froze, all the color draining from her face, and Kusuo drew a sharp breath as a wave of icy cold crashed over him.
She knows.
"I don't get what everyone's all worked up about, buddy is still buddy, right? The only thing that's changed is us."
Not exactly right, but the sentiment is appreciated. Now Kusuo just needed everyone else to accept Nendou's profession and Yumehara's confession for what they were and leave. Everyone except Teruhashi, that is; she needed to stay right where she was.
"Right!" Mera said, snapping from whatever food induced daydream she'd been indulging. "Saiki-san must have used a lot of his powers to help us, didn't he? It could only be because of him that we survived the shipwreck."
"I don't know about any of that," Aiura put in. "But he definitely saved Chiyo-pipi's life when she fell off the school roof."
"What!" Kaidoh looked at Aiura in horror before racing over to grasp Yumehara by her upper arms, almost shaking her. "Why didn't you say you fell off the roof?! When did that happen? Are you okay?"
"Obviously she's fine," Aiura muttered, rolling her eyes, but only Kusuo seemed to hear.
"Oh! Ah…um…" Yumehara managed to snap out of her love daze just long enough to set a crooked finger beneath her lower lip. "I thought that was a dream…"
She looked over at him, and Kusuo stiffened, certain her fickle affection was about to transfer back to him. Instead, she shocked him when she took Kaidoh's hand in a tight grip and pulled back just far enough to bow.
"Thank you, Saiki-kun, for saving my life." She straightened up with another bright smile, though her grip on Kaidoh never loosened. "I'm glad to be alive so I could tell Kaidoh-kun my feelings."
"O-offu!" Still, despite his returned blush and awkward stare in the opposite direction, Kaidoh never once let go of Yumehara's hand. Kusuo smiled, his tense muscles relaxing, and returned Yumehara's bow.
"No need for thanks. I'm glad I made it in time, Yumehara-san."
"Oh, please, call me Chiyo! After all, we're friends, right, Kusuo-kun?"
Kusuo smiled and nodded. "Of course, Chiyo-san."
"O-oi!" Kaidoh brought his face so close to Yumehara's their noses almost brushed. The girl went red as a tomato, but Kaidoh didn't seem to notice as he jabbed a finger toward his face. "What about me? Why am I still Kaidoh when he's Kusuo? Y-you're d-d-dating m-m-m-m…"
The poor boy ran out of steam as he realized what he was saying, his whole body trembling with realization. But he still didn't let go of Yumehara's hand.
"Way to go, chibi!" Nendou dropped his arm around Kaidoh's shoulders and gave him a noogie. "Getting yourself such a cute girlfriend!"
"Sh-shut up!"
"Well, I must say I never expected Shun to get a girlfriend before me." Kuboyasu smirked and put a fist to his chin. "I guess you win this round, kid."
"What are you even talking about? We were never competing!"
Giggling, Mera offered Yumehara her congratulations while Saiko scoffed about peasants being fit for peasants. Toritsuka must have come out of his self-induced coma long enough to hear Kaidoh and Yumehara's happy news because he'd now sunk into an even deeper depression, a black miasma nearly visible around him as he muttered about the unfairness of Chihuahuas winning over princesses with their pathetic cuteness.
"Oh, hey! We should get ramen to celebrate! Chibi's buying!"
"Oi, Nendou! Why do I have to pay?"
"Eh?" Nendou's face took on an ominous shadow. "You're the one with the girlfriend. Isn't it obvious you should pay?"
"O-of course I'll pay for her, but why should I pay for you lot too?"
"Oh, Shun!" Yumehara said, her free hand on her cheek as she practically bubbled with happiness.
"Sh-Sh-Shu-!" Kaidoh turned completely white and passed out, stiff as a board. Still, he never let go of Yumehara's hand. Which only meant she got dragged to the floor with him.
"Uwah! Shun? Shun, are you okay?"
Kuboyasu chuckled and stepped forward to lift Kaidoh easily into his arms. Yumehara reeled back, one arm raised as she looked at him in shock. "A p-princess carry—!"
"I'll take him to the infirmary," Kuboyasu said, his eyes gleaming mischievously at Yumehara. "You should probably come along. Shun will be upset if he wakes up and you're not there."
Yumehara blushed but nodded mutely and followed along behind as Hairo opened the door for Kuboyasu.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Kuboyasu paused at the door and looked back at Kusuo over his shoulder. "Don't think I didn't notice that super-strength bit. You owe me a fight, man."
A wry smile tugged at Kusuo's lips, and he huffed with a shake of his head. What part of 'my powers are gone' does this idiot not understand?
Kuboyasu disappeared down the hall with Kaidoh still in his arms and Yumehara trailing nervously behind.
"I guess I should go too," Hairo said, rubbing the back of his head. "I have judo practice after school, and Matsuzaki-sensei will be upset if I'm late." He offered Kusuo a grin and held out his hand. "I always knew there was something special about you, Saiki. I'm just sorry I couldn't get you to bring it out sooner. You would have been a truly worthy rival."
Kusuo's eyebrow twitched, but he accepted Hairo's handshake anyway. I'm not crippled or dead, you moron.
Mera excused herself next saying she needed to get to work, but she offered him an almost demonic grin when saying he should come visit soon for some coffee jelly. The cut of her eyes to Teruhashi's stone-still figure wasn't lost on Kusuo, but he ignored it as best he could even as she laughed like an upper-class lady, her "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" trailing down the hall until she burst into a riotous fit of coughing.
Saiko left next, tossing his perfectly shaped bangs as he insulted Kusuo for being a peasant in the same breath he invited (?) Kusuo back to his house for another boring visit.
Fat chance of that. Well, not unless Saiko provided another room made of sweets.
Only Aiura, Akechi, Toritsuka, and Nendou remained with Toritsuka still moping in the corner and Nendou turning his pleas for ramen onto Kusuo.
"Well, I guess that just leaves you and me, right buddy? I found this great place by the station where…" Nendou kept talking, but Kusuo tuned him out. He only had eyes and ears for one person right now, and that person was in no way, shape, or form Nendou Riki.
"Oi, Aiura."
"Yeah, yeah," Aiura said, her tone distinctly melancholy. She stalked over to Toritsuka and yanked him out of the corner by his ear.
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Toritsuka leapt to his feet, clutching Aiura's hand that was pinching his ear. "What the hell!"
"We're leaving, idiot," she said crossly before turning a bright (painfully fake) smile on Nendou. "Ne, Nendou-san, Toritsuka said he'll treat you to ramen just for today, so come with us, okay?"
"Eh? Really? You're paying? I guess I can go then. You coming, buddy? The purple haired idiot is paying."
"I don't want to be called an idiot by you!"
"No," Kusuo said, his eyes still pinned on Teruhashi just in case she tried to make a break for it. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Well, all right then; it's your loss."
I hope to God that's not true.
Kusuo didn't know why he thought that; he wasn't even sure what he meant by it. All he knew was that Nendou's announcement had sent a shock of icy pain through his heart. Maybe he was coming down with something? Without his pyrokinesis to kill any bacteria or viruses, he could easily get sick now. In fact, he may get sick even worse than normal people because his immune system never had a chance to build itself a proper defense.
Problems for another day.
Aiura cast Kusuo one last melancholy look as she snagged Akechi's upraised arm, dragging the monologue-ing blond behind her with a dull "yes, yes" as she slid the door open with one foot. Nendou was last to leave, shutting it behind him with a crack.
Silence followed the closing door; a deep, suffocating silence. Nothing rustled or shifted from their clothing to their breathing; even the steady tick-tick-tick of the analogue clock over the chalkboard seemed conspicuously silent. Kusuo caught himself wishing for the background chatter of five thousand mental voices, though he knew that if he could, he would block them all out and focus on just one. The only one that mattered. Because for the first time since that smoldering August day, Kusuo had no idea what Teruhashi was thinking.
Seconds stretched into minutes and minutes into hours as the silence between them grew ever deeper and wider. Should he say something? What could he say? That he was sorry?
I already did that.
But would it really hurt anything to do it again?
Clearing his throat, Kusuo pushed down his pride and took the plunge. "Teruhashi—"
"I need to go too. Brother will be worried if I'm late getting home."
Kusuo blinked, startled by the soft, dry sound of Teruhashi's voice. She sounded so raw, almost broken. The pain in his heart struck again, this time lingering like the twist of a knife. He took a step closer, and her sharp flinch hit him like his own psychic powered punch to the gut.
"Teruhashi-san, let me explain—"
"No need; I understand perfectly." She brushed passed him, her blue hair streaming in her haste to reach the door, and Kusuo felt a sharp swoop in his stomach that left him feeling empty and panicked. If he let her walk out that door right now, he knew—knew it as surely as if he'd used his powers—that he would never get the chance to explain. He would be lucky if she ever talked to him again, ever looked at him. Would she even stand to stay in the same class? In the same school?
Kusuo's hand shot out on its own, snagging her wrist and pulling her toward him as he said, "Teruhashi-san, wait."
Teruhashi swung around, using the momentum of his pull for a sharper turn. Her arm came up, and he saw it swing. If he had his powers, he could have stopped her a hundred and twenty-seven different ways. But he didn't have his powers anymore, and for the first time, Saiki Kusuo felt the flat of a palm connect with his face in a resounding crack.
