Part Two
Chapter Nineteen
There is often a moment in a person's life when they realize they took a very, very wrong turn somewhere but can't think of where that wrong turn was. I'm at that point right now. Not about my powers, that wrong turn was pretty obvious, but about these people who call me their friend.
Why? Because somewhere along the line, I started thinking of them as friends, which is a serious pain. Almost as much of a pain as being born an all-powerful psychic. And what does it say about me that all my friends are so completely abnormal? It's like I was doomed from birth to never live an ordinary life, psychic powers or not.
Yare, yare.
I shouldn't complain though. After all, look at what complaining about my powers got me? The last thing I need is for my friendships to become even more troublesome than they already are.
…
I just jinxed myself, didn't I?
…
Yare, yare.
No Boundaries
"Man, you guys!" Nendou stared around at the group with sparkling eyes and pumping fists. "That was the craziest thing to happen since Buddy told us he used to have psychic powers!"
Shun scoffed. "Crazier than some guy showing up at a kid's birthday parting saying he was a member of Dark Reunion?"
"Well, yeah, obviously." Nendou looked at Shun as if he had the lowest I.Q. on the roof. "He didn't blow stuff up with his finger."
A fair point.
"Hey, you guys," Hairo said before Shun could get worked up at Nendou—Not that that's unusual. "I'm going to have to get home and make some calls if I'm going to cut tennis camp this summer to train with you guys. It's only a week, but this is more important."
Kusuo's eyebrows shot up. Hairo saying something is more important than tennis? The world must be ending.
"Same here." Kuboyasu jerked a thumb at his face. "I got some things to get in order before we head back. Plus, someone's got to tell Mera what's going on."
Oh right, some of the girls have powers too. And speaking of which…
"You should tell Yumehara-san, Shun," Kusuo said, it was the least he could do after ruining her confession twice. Shun looked startled.
"Why me?"
"Well, it makes sense, right?" Kuboyasu rested his elbow on Shun's head and grinned. "You have cram school together, after all. You'll see her way before any of us will."
"Oh, crap! Cram school!" Shun darted out from beneath Kuboyasu's arm and ran as fast as he could—which really wasn't saying much—toward the roof's door. "I'll-see-you-guys-Monday-k-bye!"
"I gotta run too; Mom's takin' me to see the old-man perform that cutting a person in half trick."
Kusuo turned white. You have got to be kidding me.
Nendou waved over his head as he strode for the door, one hand in his pocket. "See you Monday, Buddy!"
"Hey, wait up a sec, Nendou!" Hairo jogged over, the fiery gleam of competition alight in his eyes. "I'll race you out."
The pair took off—Hairo running at a frantic pace while Nendou somehow managed to keep up at a leisurely jog. Kuboyasu snorted as the door slammed closed in their wake. "What would you bet they beat Shun out the front doors?"
Kusuo shot him a dry look. Do I look like a sucker?
Kuboyasu smirked and draped his elbows backward over the railing. "So, Teruhashi got tickets to Universal Studios Japan, huh?"
Kusuo scowled. Don't you have somewhere to be?
Kuboyasu chuckled and held up his hands. "Not sayin' a word, pal. Not a word." The humor on his face melted away as he lowered his hands, suddenly serious with an uncertain frown creasing his forehead. "But if anything happens, you'll let us know, right? You won't try to handle it yourself."
Well, that's not ominous at all. Still, Kusuo nodded and Kuboyasu waved.
"Good. Well. Enjoy your trip, Kusuo. I'll see you here bright and early on Monday."
Kusuo nodded again as Kuboyasu made his way off the roof to see Mera. What a weird day. And yet, he'd had weirder. Shaking his head, Kusuo started for the door, glancing down at his watch. Ten to five. He'd have to run if he was going to get home in time to meet Teruhashi and Yuuta for their train to Osaka.
Yare, yare. Kusuo thought as he jogged down the stairs. This wouldn't happen with teleportation.
#
Kusuo stepped into his front door and toed off his school shoes with a bland, "I'm home."
"Welcome home, Ku-chan! Kokomi-chan and Yuu-chan have been waiting for you!"
"Yeah, yeah."
A door opened upstairs—probably my bedroom; that girl has no boundaries—and Teruhashi's voice floated down the stairs.
"Saiki-kun?"
Kusuo rubbed the bridge of his nose as he set his school bag in its cubby by the door and stepped out of the lowered entryway. "Yes."
"Yay!" Yuuta thundered down the stairs in his bare socks, stars in his eyes, and Kusuo had to rush across the hall to catch him when he tripped and almost tumbled down the stairs. Kusuo frowned.
"What have I told you about running down the stairs?"
"Sorry, Cyborg Cider-man #2! But Peach-T Girl and me were waiting foreeeever! What took you so long? Did you have a fight with Baron Cola?"
Kusuo's hand dropped to his stomach, remembering Urameshi's first gut-restructuring blow—even if Natsuko had healed him—and suppressed a flinch. "More like Baron Cola's evil uncle."
Yuuta's brow furrowed. "But, but, Cyborg Cider-man #2, Baron Cola is evil."
Dropping his hand, Kusuo started upstairs with Yuuta held firmly in his arms. "Exactly."
"Saiki-kun?" Teruhashi's head poked out of a door—I knew she was in my room—and she had that soft frown on her face that told him he was in a world of trouble if he didn't say exactly the right thing. "You're late."
"You're supposed to come with us to the temple for training on Monday," Kusuo said, side-stepping the issue as easily as he slipped by Teruhashi and into his room. He didn't need to pack—his navy-blue bag was already sitting beside Teruhashi's pink and Yuuta's Cyborg Cider-man #2 bags—but he did need to change. "We're leaving from the school roof at 7:00am and won't be back until the weekend before school starts."
"I know you're side-stepping me, Saiki-kun, but I'll let it slide this once."
Thank Kami for small favors. Maybe He doesn't hate me after all. Kusuo set Yuuta on the bed and moved to his closet, already unbuttoning his uniform shirt even though Teruhashi was still in the room. She'd get flustered in a second and leave; she always did.
"You're going training, Cyborg Cider-man #2?" Yuuta asked, the stars back in his eyes as he bounced to his knees on the bed. "Are you training to fight Baron Cola?"
"That's right." Kusuo gave a rare, but unseen, smile as he shucked off his shirt and draped it over a hanger. "And all his evil minions too. By the end of summer, me and the rest of the Sentai will be ready to take down his whole organization."
"Oh wow! Wow, wow, wow!"
Kusuo started on his pants.
"You're going to fight too, right Peach-T Girl?"
"Absolutely!" Teruhashi clapped her hands behind him, and Kusuo fumbled his button. "Those evil-doers won't know what hit them!"
Why the hell is she still here? She always runs off the second I start on my shirt buttons!
Kusuo turned around, confused. Teruhashi was definitely in the room, though she had her back to Kusuo and was focused wholly on Yuuta. As if sensing his eyes on her, Teruhashi waved over her shoulder without glancing back.
"You better hurry, or we'll miss our train."
Kusuo hesitated for half a second longer before he finally shrugged and turned back around. What did he care if she had a secret perverted streak? A lifetime of psychic super-strength had left Kusuo with nothing of which to feel ashamed. Still, he couldn't deny the sudden tension in the air as he dropped his pants and reached for a change of clothes just a little too fast to be completely unbothered.
What is it with this girl that makes me feel like a kid sneaking cookies before dinner?
Shaking the sensation away, Kusuo turned and finished pulling a short-sleeved black polo over his head.
Actually, he plucked at the fabric with two fingers, isn't this the shirt I wore the last time we went to an amusement park together?
Kusuo couldn't stop a small smirk from quirking his lips when he remembered just how livid Teruhashi had been when Yuuta shoved her into the arms of L-Ginger. He would treasure that aghast look on her face for the rest of his life.
"All set?" Teruhashi turned, one hand on her hip while the other clutched her pink, hard-shell roller-bag by the handle. Kusuo nodded.
"Yay! This is so exciting, Peach-T Girl! We're going to Universal Studios Japan, Cyborg Cider-man #2!" Yuuta jumped off the bed and ran circles around the room before Kusuo finally got dizzy enough that he plucked the boy off the ground by the back of his shirt.
"Yuuta." Kusuo frowned. "You need to calm down. If you act up on the train, you'll bother the other passengers, and we'll get kicked off. If we get kicked off, there won't be any Universal Studios in Japan or anywhere else, understand?"
Yuuta nodded frantically and offered a sloppy salute. "Yes, sir, Cyborg Cider-man #2, sir!"
"Good." Kusuo set Yuuta back on his feet then helped him into his Cyborg Cider-man #2 backpack before grabbing his own duffle bag and the handle of Teruhashi's because he already knew she'd guilt him into carrying it down the stairs, so he might as well spare himself the pain.
"Our train leaves at exactly 17:50, so that still gives us," Teruhashi checked the watch-face settled on her inner wrist, "thirty-five minutes to get to the station."
Kusuo frowned up at her as he navigated the stairs with both hands full of bags. "I thought we pulled out of the station at 17:30."
Teruhashi shrugged innocently, one hand holding Yuuta's as she followed Kusuo down the stairs. "I knew you'd be late, so I accounted for it."
Yare, yare. Scowling, Kusuo left Teruhashi's bag at the base of the stairs and stepped into the kitchen to grab the bentos his mother undoubtedly made.
"Now, Ku-chan, there's no need to make such a face. It was very nice of Kokomi-chan to invite you along. She could have taken Yuu-chan all by herself, you know, and then you'd be here all alone all weekend."
Kusuo stiffened, his hands held out for the bento boxes his mother held. Somehow, it hadn't even occurred to him that, if he'd said no, Teruhashi would have gone without him.
If he'd actually been late, would she and Yuuta have left him behind?
No, she wouldn't. Not with Dark Reunion running loose. Right?
"Ku-chan?"
Kusuo shook his head and grasped the bentos, nodding politely to his mother. "Thanks, Mom. I'll send you a text when we reach Osaka."
"Honey!" The front door slammed open as his father waltzed in singing. "I'm home, my dearest love!"
Kusuo stifled a groan, his hands tightening around the stacked bentos hard enough he heard the plastic creak. He'd really hoped to be gone before Dad showed up; who knew what kind of teasing the old man would pull out?
"Hello, Papa!" Mom hurried to the kitchen door, wiping her hands on her apron as she smiled that dopy, happy smile reserved wholly for her husband. "Welcome home!"
"Oh, Mama!" Dad slid into view, his socked feet nearly carrying him passed the kitchen's open doorway and into the stairs as he held his arms wide with a bouquet of red roses in one hand and his coat and briefcase in the other. "Come to me, my darling!"
Mom leaped into his arms, the roses somehow clasped to her chest even though Kusuo would swear he didn't see Dad offer them or Mom accept them. But then, his parents' lovey-dovey actions and attitudes always did manage to defy the laws of physics.
"How was work, Honey? Did you have a good day?"
"A very good day; I only had to lick four pairs of shoes!"
"Oh, that's wonderful! Did you enjoy the bento I made this morning? Packed with love, just for you!"
"I did enjoy it, mama! Your cooking always hits that hollow spot in my stomach that fills me all the way up to my heart!"
"Oh, papa!"
I think I'm going to be sick.
"Eh? What was that?" Dad looked up from nuzzling Mom's cheek and blinked at Kusuo, Teruhashi, and Yuuta in surprise. "Oh, I didn't know you three were still here."
Teruhashi, being the perfect, pretty girl that she was, bowed to him even though he hadn't bothered to put Mom down and offer a bow of his own. Teruhashi didn't seem to mind.
"Welcome home, Uncle."
"Oh, hey, thanks, Kokomi-chan." He nodded to Teruhashi. "It's nice to know that Kusuo has such polite friends even though he's such a beast himself."
Kusuo's eyebrow twitched. You picking a fight, old man?
Dad, of course, didn't hear him as he smiled at Teruhashi.
"On your way to the train?" He glanced at the clock. "It's a bit late, right? You three should probably go or you'll be stuck waiting for the 19:15 train instead."
"We were just on our way out." Teruhashi motioned toward Kusuo and the plastic bento boxes he held. "Obaa-san made us some dinner, and Saiki-kun only just got home."
"Oh, I see." Dad frowned at Kusuo, the kitchen lights glinting white off his glasses. "Really, Kusuo, you should be more careful of other people's time. Being courteous is an important aspect of any adult's life, and if you continue the way you are, always holding people up for no good reason except to fulfill your own selfish needs, you'll fail as an adult."
"Like I want to hear that lecture from you." Kusuo scowled and packed the bento away in his duffle bag. "Especially since that's exactly what you're doing right now."
Dad squawked indignantly, but Kusuo ignored him for Teruhashi. "You have everything?"
"Yes." A small, teasing smile tugged at her lips as she hiked Yuuta further up her hip. "We're just waiting on you."
Kusuo rolled his eyes and hauled his bag over his shoulder so he could grab Teruhashi's by the handle. Yuuta had his Cyborg Cider-man #2 backpack on, so that was at least one thing Kusuo wouldn't have to carry. Although, considering how much he was clinging to Teruhashi, it seemed Yuuta himself wouldn't be a problem either.
"We'll be back Sunday night," Kusuo reminded his parents as he nodded Teruhashi out of the kitchen and down the hall to the entryway. Dad stepped back to let them pass, Mom still held blissfully in his arms.
"Have a safe trip!" Mom called.
"And be sure to let us know if something happens! Don't try to handle things yourself if you don't have to."
Kusuo frowned at his father. That was the second time that afternoon someone implied something bad would happen.
A bad omen?
"Come on, Mama," Dad said seductively as Kusuo opened the door for Teruhashi. "Let's see if we can't give Kusuke and Kusuo a Kuriko-imouto-chan after all."
Ugh. Stepping outside, Kusuo slammed the door behind him.
