Part One
Chapter Four
Okay, so I'll admit my first instinct was to not tell anyone about my powers ever. Aiura, Akechi, and Toritsuka I would obviously have to update on my current status, but why bring it up to anyone else? Sure, they may be confused at first, but they'd get over it quickly enough.
Of course, my stupid conscience (courtesy of my mother) wouldn't let me keep quiet when I knew I owed my friends an explanation. Hell, I'd ruined Yumehara's love confession twice now (sort of). At the very least, she deserved a real chance to make her case to Kaidoh. And if I play my cards right, she could still get a boyfriend out of it.
My next thought was to leave Teruhashi-san out of it and tell her later (or not at all) since it was obviously her reaction that led to that nightmare scenario in the first place. What had hallucination-me been thinking, jumping all over her like that? Yare, yare!
Anyway, I figured out pretty quick that was a bad idea too. No one would be able to keep the secret from Teruhashi-san, of all people; mostly because they would assume she already knew. And if I tell them specifically not to tell her, that would just make them suspicious. No, my only option is to tell Teruhashi-san before I tell anyone else. That will give me the chance to explain without providing kindling for what would ultimately erupt into a firestorm later. To do that, however, I have to get Teruhashi-san alone. And in a school where everyone knows where Teruhashi-san is at all times, that is far easier said than done.
Trust Issues
"Saiki-kun!" Teruhashi was as shiny as ever, her fingers pressed together girlishly in front of her face as she smiled from her seat that was positioned right beside Kusuo's. "We're in the same class again!"
Why is her desk so close?
"Our seats are next to each other, too!"
Did she move it that close to mine?
"I'm looking forward to the semester!"
There's really no escaping her, is there?
He saw her spin around from the corner of his eye, but Kusuo refused to look at her, refused to take in her shiny appearance and too beautiful face. He wouldn't fall for her pretend charms the same way Prediction-Kusuo had. He may not be able to read her mind anymore, but that didn't mean Teruhashi had changed from this week to last. She was only interested in him because he wasn't interested in her, and that's that.
Then why not be interested? Maybe then she'll go away.
"Yare, yare," Kusuo muttered. He felt a headache coming on and hoped he wasn't about to have another premonition.
Oh, right. No more powers.
"Eh, Saiki-kun?" Teruhashi turned with a soft smile and concerned eyes. "What is it?"
Steeling himself, Kusuo looked Teruhashi right in the face and managed to school his expression and reaction to his usual blank stare and disinterested mien. Teruhashi was undeniably beautiful but seeing her in his prediction had helped him build a buffer against her angelic visage.
"Do you have plans for lunch?" Kusuo asked, forcing his voice to remain even. He didn't realize how nerve-wracking it would be to ask Teruhashi to meet with him alone. Not because he liked her, hell no, but because everyone else liked her. The last thing he wanted was for anyone (Teruhashi included) to get the wrong idea and cause him even more trouble. He was supposed to be ordinary now, and ordinary people don't get involved with extraordinary people like Teruhashi Kokomi.
"Plans?" Teruhashi's shine brightened. Kusuo resisted the urge to roll his eyes—it seemed she already had the wrong idea—and nodded.
"I have something I need to tell you. Can you meet me in the yard behind the shed after the bell? You'll need to come alone; this is important."
Surprisingly, instead of stars falling from her eyes, Teruhashi seemed to freeze and crack like a mirror left too long near an open flame. "A-a-al-lone?"
Thank goodness she didn't yell, though her high-pitched whisper was almost worse.
"Y-you want to meet me in the yard a-alone?"
Kusuo ignored the insinuation and nodded once.
"A-a-all right."
Good, one thing handled. Now he just needed to figure out how to tell her without that happening. Nodding his acceptance, Kusuo turned his attention back to the front of the room as the teacher stepped in to begin.
#
Teruhashi was late, but considering he made a point of her coming alone, he shouldn't be surprised. It couldn't be easy to shake her hoard of admirers for any length of time, never mind long enough to have a private conversation with a boy.
Which would be nothing at all like what she was expecting.
Probably.
After all, without telepathy, Kusuo couldn't know exactly what it was Teruhashi expected.
"Pst, pst."
Kusuo jumped at the noise and spun around, his eyes darting about the yard. Was that a bug? It sounded like a bug.
Don't be a bug!
"Pst, pst." The bushes rattled at the edge of the yard, just in front of the fence, and Kusuo went stiff and white as he imagined what a bug large enough to hiss and rattle the bushes must be like.
Where's Amp when I need him!
Long, thin fingers—each tipped with a perfectly manicured nail—parted the branches of the bush, and Teruhashi's indigo eyes peered out at him. Kusuo nearly fell over from relief but managed to prop himself against the shed just in time. His heart was thundering in his chest from the terror she'd dropped on him; he pressed his free hand to his breast.
Do hearts explode when they beat too fast or do they just stop working?
"Saiki-kun?" Teruhashi climbed out of the bush and leaned around him, trying to see his face. "Are you okay?"
Kusuo waved her off. The last thing he needed right now was Teruhashi getting in his face.
"So, um, what did you want to tell me?"
She sounded so nervous and expectant that Kusuo couldn't help but look back. She looked amazing, of course, but especially so considering she'd just been crawling around in the bushes. Not a hair was out of place and no dirt or grass stains marred either her clothes or her face. She could have just stepped off a catwalk. Pushing aside those thoughts (though he did make a mental note to ask Kusuke about making him some Teruhashi-dimming glasses), Kusuo nodded before looking around to make certain they were alone.
His spot-check only seemed to make Teruhashi more nervous than before as she fiddled with her hair and skirt, refusing to meet his eyes. She was even blushing. "So…what is it?"
She glanced at him with her big indigo eyes, and Kusuo bit the inside of his lip. It should honestly be a sin to be that beautiful.
Focus.
"Do you remember when you came to my house for New Years with Kaidoh and the others?"
Teruhashi blinked, her blush fading. His question was clearly not in-line with anything she'd been imagining.
"I, um, yes? I mean, of course. Your mother offered to give me cooking lessons."
No, you asked her for them, but whatever.
"Right. And do you remember what she said?"
Teruhashi looked around, confusion warring with her lingering nerves as she tried to figure out where he was going with this. "She said you had trust issues because a girl once broke your heart."
Yare, yare. She's really embraced that unnecessary addition.
Hope sparked back across her face, triggering a blush, and Teruhashi looked up at him with softly parted lips. Once again, even without his powers, he could practically read her mind: Is he about to confess?
Kusuo shook his head to both her response and unasked question. "That's what you remember, not what she said."
"I…what?" Teruhashi put a finger to her lips and looked to the side, thinking back on that day six years ago. "So, if not that, what did she say?"
"She said I had trouble making friends because of my psychic powers."
Silence stretched between them, only broken by a warm spring breeze blowing through and rustling the bushes and trees around them. Teruhashi's head tilted as she stared, her mind obviously working, though the cogs were now invisible to him. After nearly a full minute, the memory replacement broke, and she tapped a fist into her palm with a 'poof.'
"That's right! She did say that, didn't she? Huh." Teruhashi put a hand to her cheek, surprised. "I don't know how I forgot something like that."
"You forgot because I made you forget," Kusuo said, willing her to understand. "Using my psychic powers."
Silence. Teruhashi blinked. She looked away, looked back, tilted her head.
"Huh?"
So much for not reliving it all through explanation.
Well, maybe a summary.
Kusuo summarized.
"Seventeen years ago, two ordinary parents gave birth to a not-so-ordinary baby: me. At fourteen days, I started talking telepathically, at one month I was walking by levitating in the air, and at one-year-old, I ran my first errand by teleporting to the store to buy rice wine."
Teruhashi's face grew progressively more 'meh' as Kusuo spoke, her suspension of disbelief plummeting. "Uh-huh."
"I know what you're thinking, but I'm telling the truth. This isn't like Kaidoh and his chuunibyo act."
"Uh-huh." Teruhashi crossed her arms in a shockingly un-Teruhashi way. "Prove it then." She thought for a moment, then dug a spoon out of her lunch box and held it out. "Bend this."
And it starts.
"I can't. I got rid of my powers over spring break."
"Uh-huh."
"Okay, how about this, then? Back in the middle of second year, your brother came to my house to tell me to stay away from you—"
"He what!"
"—and you had some weird instinct that told you he was at my house, right?"
"I, um, yeah. How did you know?"
"Because I was the one who told you about it using telepathy."
Teruhashi blinked. "You mean you spoke inside my mind?"
"I always spoke directly to your minds; using my voice is a pain."
Teruhashi put her fingers to her lips and looked to the side in thought. "Now that I think of it, I don't ever remember seeing your lips move, and you would always speak clearly even with food in your mouth." She shook her head. "No, no; I'm obviously just remembering wrong. There's no way you have psychic powers."
"Used to have." Time for the big guns. "Do you remember that bear you met on the school trip to Okinawa?"
Teruhashi took half a step back, her eyes wide. "How do you know about that? It was a dream!"
"It wasn't a dream. There really was a bear, and I really did get rid of it."
"I—you—wha—how?!"
Kusuo shrugged. "I teleported to where you were and used my super-strength to send it flying. It was sheer luck you thought you were dreaming; otherwise, I would have had to tell you about my powers back then."
"But…but it was a lucid dream! Everything I wanted to happen, did!"
"Everything you wanted to happen, I made happen. You wanted a palace, so I teleported us to a palace. You wanted me to say 'offu' and I wanted you to fall asleep—"
"Ah-hah!" Teruhashi pointed, sparkling triumphantly with one eye closed. "That means I win, Saiki Kunio!"
That's not my name, damn it.
"If that wasn't a dream, then you really said 'offu'—"
"Not a chance. I made Toritsuka look like me and let him say it."
Teruhashi frowned. "Who?"
Kusuo's heart did not skip a beat that she had to sincerely stop and think about who Toritsuka was; he was just concerned that everything wouldn't turn out differently from his premonition/hallucination.
"Oh." Her face went deadpan. "That guy." Then the current topic reasserted itself, and Teruhashi shook her head. "How do I know that's true? Maybe you're just making that up to disguise the fact that you really did 'offu' and you're just too embarrassed to say so."
"Does that mean you believe I had psychic powers?"
Teruhashi sputtered. "I…that is…of course not!"
"Then it doesn't matter if I'm lying or telling the truth. If it was a dream, it never happened either way."
"You—!"
Kusuo tilted his head, smirking slightly has he drove her toward checkmate. "But assuming it was a dream, how did I know about the bear or the palace or the debatable…incident?"
Teruhashi stared and he could almost hear her question: How did he know?
"All that food we found while stranded on that island?"
She started, looking at him with wide eyes. "Yeah?"
"I teleported home at night, bought it from the convenience store, and laid it out on the beach like it washed ashore. Do you honestly think it could have showed up otherwise? There was bread and toilet paper in at least two of those deliveries; if they really came out of the ocean, they would have been soaked."
"You…make a good point…"
"That time we met on the street during the first summer of second year? I knew you were there the whole time, and you weren't hallucinating either. Nendou startled me, and I teleported away by accident."
"So that's it!" Teruhashi put a hand to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness; I've been thinking I was crazy all year! Wait." A dangerous glint sparked in her indigo eyes as she sent Kusuo a glare equivalent to Mom's Oni-face. "You were ignoring me."
"I had psychic powers I wanted to keep a secret, which meant doing everything I could to avoid attention." Kusuo's tone dipped toward sarcastic. "And I don't know if you've noticed, Teruhashi-san, but you tend to attract a lot of attention."
"Oh, well, that's true." She sighed tragically and pressed a hand to her cheek. "I suppose we all have burdens to bear."
Yare, yare.
"All right, then." Teruhashi sent Kusuo a probing glance. "Let's pretend for a minute that I believe you—and I'm not saying I do—why get rid of such amazing powers?"
"Because they weren't amazing; they were horrible."
Teruhashi blinked. "You just told me you could teleport miles away in the blink of an eye, fight a bear without breaking a sweat, and send telepathic messages across down; how is any of that horrible?"
"Because I couldn't just send messages, I heard everything within a 200 m radius. Every thought from the mundane to the ridiculous to the dangerous paraded through my head 24/7 for seventeen years with no way to filter or block any of it until I found a germanium ring left behind by a sleazy salesman."
"Eh?"
"Super strength was all right, I suppose, but only when I actually needed it. Most of the time, I had to avoid situations where any sort of strength was involved because it was so difficult to control. Do you know why I sat there for hours in that forest pretending you were lucid dreaming instead of knocking you out and taking you back to the hotel?" Kusuo cringed. That still sounds way creepier than I mean it.
"No?"
"Because if I tried, I'd have killed you. Hell, forget knocking you out, just trying to get you off my arm could have thrown you halfway across the world."
Teruhashi paled. "And the teleporting?"
"Under control for the most part, and admittedly pretty useful. But if something startled me—and believe me, that was nearly impossible to do—I could end up halfway around the world without meaning to. And depending on where I ended up, I could find myself in serious danger since I couldn't teleport again until three minutes had passed. And don't get me started on the x-ray vision."
"X-ray vision?!" Teruhashi crossed her arms over her chest and turned sideways in a show of vulnerability that made Kusuo cringe. Probably not the best segue into that topic.
"It's not like that. Sure, I could see through clothes, but not very often. Most of the time, if I looked at someone for longer than five seconds, all I saw was muscle, organs, and bones. Do you have any idea how gross living things are on the inside? And that's what I saw almost all the time."
"Muscles and organs?" Teruhashi's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Even me?"
Kusuo nodded once.
"Ugh. No wonder you never went 'offu.' I don't think anyone could. Although..." Teruhashi swept the back of her hand through her hair with a teasing mock of her usual passive arrogance. "If anyone could be beautiful on the inside..." She trailed off with a giggle and a wink.
Kusuo's lips twitched. "Because you're the perfect woman?"
Teruhashi froze, her hand halfway through her hair, and stared at Kusuo in horror. "D-don't tell me…"
Kusuo tapped the side of his head. "Telepathy."
"Kyaaa! Nooo!" Teruhashi put both hands to her face and spun around as if that was enough to hide her from view. "I can't believe you've been hearing all of my thoughts! How humiliating! How—!"
She went stiff, and Kusuo followed suit. Here it comes.
Spinning around, Teruhashi stared at him in disbelief. "You've been hearing all of my thoughts?"
Kusuo nodded once, and Teruhashi seemed to fold in on herself, wilting.
"All of them?"
He hesitated a moment or two, but Kusuo still nodded once.
"So…so you know…?"
More hesitation. Another nod.
"O-offu…"
This was already turning out very differently from his prediction/hallucination, which was both good and bad. Good, because obviously. Bad, because he now had no idea what to expect.
"I needed you to lose interest in me, Teruhashi-san."
Her voice was small; almost depressed. "Because I draw attention."
Kusuo nodded once, stiffly. "It wasn't personal."
Teruhashi scoffed. "Maybe, but it certainly feels personal." She paused. "It feels…I feel…violated."
Kusuo flinched, and Teruhashi quickly raised a hand.
"Don't get me wrong; I'm not blaming you. Well, not really. You were born this way, so you obviously can't help it, but I also can't help the way I feel. I'm sure I'll come to terms with it eventually, but for right now, can we just move on and not talk about it anymore?"
Kusuo nodded once. Teruhashi breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."
More silence stretched between them. Teruhashi's arms were banded around her waist, obviously still feeling vulnerable, as she looked at everything but Kusuo, save the short, shy glances she shot his way every few minutes. Finally, just when Kusuo couldn't take the silence anymore, Teruhashi spoke.
"So, you mentioned telepathy, super-strength, x-ray vision, and teleportation. What else could you do?"
Fighting down a relieved sigh of his own, Kusuo answered.
