Part Five

Chapter Forty-Seven

Well, this is it: the beginning of the end.

That was a bit overdramatic, wasn't it?

Yare, yare.

I blame Chiyo.

Still, I wasn't wrong; we're at the start of the big battle, the grand finale, the coup de grâce. Either we win this, or we all die, but either way, this is definitely the end.

Or at least the start of it.

Yare, yare. Was it really such a crime to want to be ordinary?

Also, for convenience's sake, this last Act will be presented cinema-style—which means multiple POVs, not just mine—the way it will eventually be cut into episodes by Koenma-sama, just like he did with Yusuke's story. Hopefully, he'll come up with a better title than "The Ghost Files" for mine; though, it will probably end up titled something annoyingly ironic like "The Ordinary Life of Saiki Kusuo."

…I just jinxed myself, didn't I?

Yare, yare.

Beginning of the End

The bustle of Tokyo jostled pedestrians as they meandered the sidewalks and crosswalks, most not paying enough attention to the world around them as they hurried to and fro. Every now and then, cars honked at each other, usually accompanied by the screech of tires and brakes and occasionally punctuated with a sharp word or less than polite salute.

High overhead, unnoticed by the city-goers of any ilk, buzzed a near-silent air force of spherical drones. Each one sported an enormous, eye-like camera lens designed to record everything within a 180-degree radius in 4K digital capture that was instantly uploaded via satellite link to a NASA-esk mission control room built, ironically, in the middle of a remote Shinto temple that stood hundreds of kilometers away from what could reasonably be termed "civilization."

At the center of the mass of equipment was Saiki Kusuke, dressed in his usual lab coat with his modified telepathy blocker sitting snuggly on his head. "Modified" because there was no point in blocking his brother's telepathy anymore (though, apparently, there was an annoying blind girl on the premises who also had telepathy, which is why Kusuke kept that particular function in-tact even though it was no longer the headband's primary purpose). There was, however, a need to harness a different type of telepathy—the technological kind.

Kusuo would argue that projecting his mental voice into an electronic earpiece worn by those in the field didn't count as telepathy, but as thoughts were still involved in at least half the process, Kusuo would just have to deal with the reality that he was no longer the family psychic.

"How's it looking, Saiki-san?" The voice filtered through a speaker, and the curved monitor hanging over Kusuke's head indicated it came from Hairo Kineshi; the kanji nameplate was accompanied by the picture of a brightly smiling boy with spiky auburn hair, amber eyes, and a bandage across the bridge of his nose.

All clear so far, Kusuke projected the thought to all devices, even though he could easily isolate only one or two, if necessary. He could also think in multiple dimensions, allowing him to have several conversations or project multiple plans at the same time. It's the reason he decided to run Mission Control using pseudo-telepathy rather than his regular voice.

"Yare, yare." Kusuo's name and picture appeared on the screen, even though it was unnecessary. Of everyone involved, there was no way Kusuke would confuse his baby brother for anyone else. "If you're going to think about how amazingly clever you are, you might want to do it quietly. Projecting self-congratulation across the earpiece is distracting."

Oops. Kusuke segmented his mind to ensure his personal thoughts remained exactly that.

The drone videos went live, transferring the camera visuals to Kusuke's computer in real-time to within one-millionth of a micro-second. Each one offered various angles of the different teams; each person paired up with at least one other:

##

Saiki Kusuo and Saiki Kokomi strode through the streets, uncaring of the attention they drew. Not only because of Kokomi's looks but also because of their clothes. Kusuo had on a pair of white cargo pants tucked into a pair of black combat boots with teal laces, a sleeveless white turtleneck, and a long, black leather jacket. Kokomi was even more eye-catching in her white leather long coat over a bright pink, high-necked, mid-thigh-length romper, and matching pink boots that laced up to her knees. Both wore mirrored sunglasses, though Kusuo's were blue and Kokomi's red.

"As far as honeymoons go, walking arm and arm through Minato Ward isn't the worst one ever."

Kusuo side-eyed his wife through the blue lenses of his glasses. She smiled cheerily ahead, pretending she didn't notice how irritated he was.

"Funny," Kusuo drawled, "I thought honeymoons involved fewer people."

"And clothes!"

Kusuo tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.

##

Kaidoh Shun was extremely uncomfortable. Partly because his clothes were far brighter than his typical black with a pair of sky-blue cargo pants, a white leather belt and sneakers, and an unzipped orange hoodie over his white t-shirt. Mostly, though, it was because of the bubbly honey-haired, golden-eyed girl clinging to his arm as they walked.

"Isn't it beautiful out?" Yumehara Chiyo hugged Shun's arm tighter, pressing his bicep against her modest bosom that didn't look quite so modest when pushed up into the frilly v-neck of her long-sleeved, peplum-style pink shirt. Her bright green shorts peeked out below the shirt's hem, matching her green-lensed sunglasses, and her red, thigh-high, flat-heeled boots made her legs look a million miles long.

Shun's eyes dropped to Chiyo's cleavage through the blue lenses of his sunglasses before he jerked his whole head away with a steamy blush. "Y-yeah…"

##

"All right!" Hairo Kineshi shadow-boxed in the alley he'd been assigned as his origin point. His arms were bare, as always, but this time, his clothes were designed that way on purpose with a sleeveless blue tank top under a long, sleeveless white gakuran jacket with matching white pants tucked into a pair of almost indigo combat boots. White bandages wrapped both arms from his knuckles to almost his elbows, and he was dripping sweat.

"Guess there's no point in asking if you're ready to go." Looking over the top of her mirrored, green-lensed sunglasses, Yamato Nadeshiko grinned toothily around the lollypop in her mouth. Like Hairo's jacket, her purple skater dress was sleeveless, but that's where the similarities ended. The dress had a modest v-neck and came down to just an inch or two above her knees in a dramatic flair to show off white boots that laced up to her mid-calf and matched her cropped, white denim vest.

"I love a man who's eager."

Blushing a bit, Hairo thumbed his nose and looked away. "I can't say I'm not ready to be done with all this, but you can't finish until you get started."

He shot her a sideways grin that was undiminished by the mirrored, blue-lensed sunglasses he wore, and offered her a thumbs-up. "We'll get that kid back, no sweat!"

Yamato's almost feral grin softened as she leaned against the wall, her arms and ankles crossed. "You really are something else…"

##

"Oh, wow! This is delicious!" Mera Chisato chomped her way through the pork kabobs she carried in both hands. She was very careful to avoid dripping grease on her bright yellow sundress and red head-scarf, but not because of the outfit itself. Even grease drippings were precious power sources for one who could metabolize food into literal energy.

The wide white belt she wore made her waist seem impossibly small, especially when compared to her ample bosom, and she had no problems striding down the sidewalk in her white leather booties. She made an interesting juxtaposition with her tall companion in his ripped blue jeans, teal wife-beater, and white motorcycle boots and arm bandages. He'd even slicked his hair back in a typical yankee style.

"Glad you like 'em." Kuboyasu Aren paused at another street vendor to drop five hundred yen for a box of taiyaki. He grabbed one and held it up to Mera's lips. "Eat."

Chisato took a such a large bite, she almost caught the tip of Aren's finger.

"Easy!"

"Sorry." Mera grinned at him through her discoloring, red-lensed sunglasses. "It's all just so good!"

"Be sure to eat all of it," Aren said. "You'll need as much energy as you can get."

Mera pulled a bite of pork from her last skewer and held it to Aren's lips.

"You, too."

He kept his eyes on her through his blue-lensed sunglasses as he ate the offered pork from her fingers, deliberately swiping her thumb with his tongue.

##

Teruhashi Makoto strutted down the street dressed in a skin-tight, sleeveless white turtleneck tucked into white cargo pants. His red leather coat was cropped short, just beneath his ribs, and matched perfectly with his red, mid-calf combat boots and mirrored, red-lensed sunglasses. He smiled at Kuwabara Natsuko, who held daintily to his red-clad left arm with the hand not holding her walking stick. She looked out of place next to him, dressed as she was in a bright yellow yukata, red obi, and black-lensed sunglasses.

"A lovely day for a walk, is it not, Natsuko-san?"

"It is, Makoto-dono." Natsuko nodded, the motion so smooth and formal that it was almost a bow. "I appreciate your willingness to endure my company."

Makoto laughed, patting her tiny hand with his white-gloved left. "Not at all, Natsuko-dono! It is truly my pleasure."

##

Dressed in his school uniform, despite it being summer break, Akechi Touma was—surprise, surprise—talking in stream-of-conscious as he strode down the crowded sidewalk. "This truly is a remarkably complex plan it its simplicity. I'm almost surprised Kusuo-kun agreed to it considering how meticulous he always is. I suppose that means he either trusts us implicitly or his care for Yuuta-kun's well-being has thoroughly surpassed his innate desire to appear entirely ordinary."

Saiko Mitani tossed his bangs with a dramatic 'hmph.' "Only peasants care what peasants think."

His bottle-green, three-piece suit should have looked ridiculous, especially with a cobalt-blue dress shirt, red tie, and white gloves and boots, but his over-the-top self-confidence tied the whole outfit together with aplomb.

"That is a surprisingly astute statement for one who projects self-centered obliviousness. Is your confidence due to your belief that money is the solution to all problems or because you have an unspoken core of philosophical rules that allows you to view the world both as a pixilated whole as well as individual tiles?"

Saiko lowered his red-lensed sunglasses and looked Akechi in the eye over the rims. "Screw rules, I have money."

##

Toritsuka Reita drooped, arms hanging, as he trudged forward in his typical temple wear and clacking geta. "Why did I have to pair up with you, of all people?"

"That's, like, my line, you creep." Pressing one hand to her forehead, Aiura Mikoto sighed. She had leaned hard into her gyaru-style with an outfit made up almost entirely of rhinestones, lace, and ripped denim. "And, like, here I am with my mind made up. Why did Kusuo and Koko-shi have to leave so early?"

##

Nendou Riki cross-legged sat on the roof of a skyscraper with his dramatic black cape puddled around him as he picked his nose with this pinkie. All around him was a hoard of Saiko's bodyguards dressed in complement to Nendou's Baron Cola costume.

"I spy with my little eye…" Nendou said, "Something blue!"

Everyone groaned. There were only so many times they could guess "sky" before their brains melted from the stupidity.

#

All right. Kusuke clicked through his computer, separating the video windows into grids on four of his six side monitors to ensure he had a bird's eye view of everything. Looks like we're good to go. Remember: we only get ONE TAKE. And we're live in 3…2…1…

Kaliea: A pretty short chapter, but it's meant more as a prologue to the final arc so y'all are situated with the characters. Also, I needed to establish their "hero colors" through their clothes because that will be important later. I'm planning to write this arc in a multi-POV omniscient style, so please let me know if things get confusing, and I'll make changes as I go. Unfortunately, you're likely in for another long wait because work is insane, but I wanted to get this chapter up since I was able to get it finished today. I hope y'all have a great weekend!