I look up as the bell rings.
It's finally over.
I give a quick glance around the room. Best to get a read while everyone's reactions are still fresh on their faces.
Kaidou-kun, I notice, puts his pen down reluctantly. I wonder if he's not satisfied with one of his answers? The boy's too hard on himself. Kuboyashu-kun and Nendou-kun on the other hand just sport relieved expressions. I suppose they're more concerned with the exams being over.
Chiyo-chan has a satisfied look on her face as she limbers up, not surprising considering how hard she's been working to catch up to Kaidou-kun. She'd have to if she wants to go into the same university as him.
Best of luck, Chiyo.
I quickly go over the rest of the class, before finally turning my attention back to Saiki-kun. I never can tell how he did from his expressions so there never was any hurry to read his.
As invigilator-san finishes collecting all the papers, he gives us the cue to leave.
"How did it go, Saiki-kun?" I try to prompt casually as I collect my stationery. He gives me a side-glance. Before I can say anything, I notice he's now looking behind me.
Oh, right…
"Teruhashi-san!" Pop goes the weasel. "H-How was your exam?"
Before I can even think to reply, someone else is already butting in.
"Teruhashi-san, I think I might've totally messed up today's exam! Would you please compare your answers with mine?"
Pop. "Compare your answers with someone else, dolt." Looking at me he goes, "T-Teruhashi-san! I tried out the materials you suggested! They were a great help! I'm feeling quite confident. Would you like to cross-check our answers?"
I'd almost forgotten. They are always acting up after exams. Not to mention, today was the last one.
"T-Teruhashi-san! I-I'm confident I did well too! Feel free to compare your answers with mine!"
"No, please, with mine!"
"No, compare them with mine!"
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! Is what I want to say. What horrible timing! I glance back at Saiki-kun's seat, half expecting him to be gone by now. That's how it usually plays out.
He is! I barely catch his pink hair disappearing into the hallway.
"Sorry but I really have something to do right now!" I say hastily, grabbing my bag. Normally I'd chastise myself for such a crude answer but I really can't afford to waste any time. Quickly grabbing my own bag, I take off after him.
Not today. Today is one day I most definitely don't want to lose track of him. I'm going to ask him out for Christmas Eve. I'm going to ask Saiki-kun out for Christmas Eve!
The hallways were still pretty empty, thankfully. She couldn't help keeping a mental list of all the people she was running past, self-conscious about running in the halls that she was... but he was right there!
Or not...
She could have sworn she just saw him turn around the corner. But all she saw were students filing out.
"T-Teruhashi-" someone perked up, but the girl was already turning around to take the stairs. "-san…?"
So what if she'd lost sight of him. If she was by the shoe lockers, she should still catch him leaving. With that renewed hope, she made her descent.
"Teruhashi-san?" A girl squeaked as she passed her by. All Kokomi could spare was a curt embarrassed smile. Somewhere in the back of her mind, gears churned to place the girl's face, and find a suitable way to explain herself later. In the back of her mind, anyway.
By the time she descended onto the ground floor, the hallways had started to grow busy. Amidst double takes and cascading 'Offu!'s she tempered her pace just enough that no one would accuse her of running in the halls.
But a minor priority at this point. There!
She caught a glimpse of that pink hair of his as she rounded into the shoe locker area.
"Sa-"
The words caught in her throat.
She spotted him, yes.
But she also spotted a certain someone else.
Lush blonde hair cascading down her neck. That rich caramel tan. Those formidable bosoms pressed against his arms…
H-How? When had she gotten here?
She watched the two nonchalantly step out, seemingly not noticing her at all. Her throat suddenly felt very dry.
"S...S-Saiki.."
She stumbled into her first step, but the jolt was enough to snap her out of her stupor. Giving her fists a quick clench, she gave chase.
"Saiki-kun!" she called, hastily stepping into the courtyard herself.
No reaction. They don't quite seem to hear her.
"S-SAIKI-KUN!"
...It was only the moment right after that she seemed to realize how loud she had actually been. Fives strides short of the pair, she froze to a halt, a silence washing around her.
The pair had paused. Aiura was the first to look over her shoulder, her motion a little stiff and a wobbly smile on her face as she turned around. Kokomi was not in the right mind to notice. Kusuo turned around in a lazy motion.
He held her gaze calmly. It was almost as if he was inviting her to say something. Before the intent to speak could even begin forming in her mind though, his gaze moved over to something behind her for the second time today.
…After spending years with gazes following her wherever she went, Teruhashi Kokomi almost had a sixth sense when it came to her awareness of people looking at her.
And right now, it was flaring up to the nines.
She didn't even need to turn around to know.
Eyes. All on her. Pooled around the shoe lockers, on heads poking through the entrance. On craned necks over crowded window sills. Looking on from the ground floor. Looking down from the second floor. From the third and the fourth floors.
All their gazes locked onto her. Even without conscious guidance, her body tensed and relaxed all at once, settling into an elegant posture. Only her expression had yet to catch up.
Alas, Teruhashi Kokomi did not know what expression to make.
"Is- Is that Teruhashi-san in the courtyard?!" Pop.
"What?" Pop. "No way!"
"Is she leaving already?!" Pop.
"Nani?! I haven't got my season's goodbye yet!" Pop.
In the midst of the clamor and *"Offu!"*s and hushed whispers, Teruhashi Kokomi stood, not knowing what expression to make.
The boy's face betrayed nothing. It was empty as ever. It was almost comforting. She gave a tentative glance in Aiura's direction, quite not knowing what to make of her at this moment.
Her eyes came back to meet Kusuo's.
She took a deep breath, then closed the distance between them in firm, elegant, strides. She reached for her bag.
"I..." Her fists almost clenched.
"I-... meant to..." Her mouth opened a few times. "I…"
"Hey, isn't that Mikoto-senpai? I wonder who's that guy she's with?"
"Do you think it's her boyfriend?"
"Pfft! Are you serious? That dull looking guy? Who'd wanna go out with some bore like that? She's probably stringing him along for cash."
...The words did not come. For all her usual eloquence, when she needed it the most, the words did not come...
At length, her fists unclenched. The firmness in her posture ebbed away.
"I... I finished volume three. Thanks for lending it to me..." She wasn't quite looking away, but she wasn't meeting Saiki's gaze either, as she handed it over. A polite smile was all she could muster.
The boy accepted it without a word. And without a word, he was again on his way.
Aiura's apologetic smile lingered for a moment longer, before she continued after him.
"Nevermind that! Looks like Teruhashi-san just went to return them something!"
"Offu! She's such an angel! She even tends to eyesores like him!"
"Oh, does that mean she'll stick around?"
"Of course, she will! You first-years might not know this but Teruhashi-san always stays back to wish everyone for Christmas and New Years. That's just how she-"
"Was that alright?"
Aiura Mikoto slumped onto the public bench, a can in her right hand. She swayed it gently, as if feeling for the amount left. If Kusuo was surprised that she didn't try to scoot closer, he didn't show it.
He gave her a brief side glance, before returning his gaze forward. Aiura took a long sip.
'Who knows?'
She grimaced.
"...Give me that," she didn't quite ask as she yanked the book from his hands. He'd been glancing at it on the way. Giving him one last look, she began flitting through the pages, squinting.
Grayscale panels flowed from one page to another, organized neatly at an eight millimeter margin from the edge. High school outfits. Teenagers. Adults sprinkled here and there. A recurring girl with a really weird fashion sense. The art didn't really stand out to her that much. The anatomy and tones were a little flat. The backgrounds were a bit wanting. Too many speech bubbles.
"The Perfectly Ordinary Life of Psychic Kozue..." she verbalized the title she'd read on the cover. "Teruhashi-san reads stuff like this?" She said, sounding surprised.
"Doesn't look particularly interesting-"
She paused.
Raising a brow at the boy next to her, she placed her drink down, gently prying out the piece of paper wedged into the book's spine. She glanced at it for just a moment, before handing it over.
"For you." Her tone was amused.
It had a soft pastel pattern that went with its flowery scent. Hesitating only for a moment, Saiki accepted it, eyes narrowing.
"Dear Saiki-kun,"
…He had a suspicion where this was going. Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, he read on.
Dear Saiki-kun,
I apologize for sneaking this memo into your belongings like this, but I wanted to make sure I conveyed myself to you, if I didn't manage to do it in person.
I loved it. That's really the gist of it. This volume. The last volume. And, of course, the very first one you'd lent me. I loved them! Thank you so much for lending them to me!
I'd wanted to thank you properly since I returned the first volume, but I could never find you at a time when you weren't studying. Sorry if I was a little late going about it.
I got the most important bits out of the way, so feel free to ignore the rest of this note, but I'll try to give my thoughts on the series if you'd like to hear them.
Kusuo paused for a second, a part of him actually tempted to comply and ignore the rest of the letter. But, of course, he didn't. In hindsight, he should have.
The beginning caught me a little off-guard. I'd just gone along with the premise of Kozue-chan's self-professed psychic abilities. It was in the title after all. 'The Perfectly Ordinary Life Of Psychic Kozue' I was a bit curious about the shy kid she was trying to help fit in class, but I didn't really think too much of it.
To think that the boy was the real psychic and Kozue-chan had just very weird luck around him! I really loved how the author slowly dropped the hints over the course of the volume, just so the readers could piece it together on their own! That was so clever!
I'd initially figured Kakeru-kun as one of those less memorable side-characters that would show up for one arc, and then never show up again. Was I surprised when the story latched on to him like it did! He started out with such an ungrateful seeming personality, even though Kozue-chan was trying so hard to help him out. And yet, little by little, you caught glimpses of the kind boy he was before he got jaded because of his powers. Not to mention, it was always so funny to see Kakeru-kun being so smooth when it came to his abilities, even though he appears so clumsy normally. Lol.
My favorite arc was when Kozue-chan and Kakeru-kun were both trying to use their powers to help Chikao-kun get together with Kayo-chan, and they kept interfering with each other's plans. That was so funny! Then there was that whole thing with delinquent-san trying to recruit Kozue-chan into her gang. Kobayashiki-san was such a cool character. I wish we saw more of her.
My favorite character across the three volumes would have to be Kakeru-kun. He had such an interesting development and backstory. Not to mention, I'm in such anticipation of the next volume when his secret is finally out. I hope we see more of Kozue-chan's backstory too. I think that'd be really interesting!
I'm really psyched!
Aiura watched the boy's eye scan the text, his initially furrowed brows gradually easing into a softer expression, before furrowing yet again.
P.S: If I manage to ask you about it in person, please ignore the remainder.
I happened to get my hands on some coupons for a new Cafe opening near Komorebi station. They seem to have some really interesting line up of Coffee Jelly coming and I thought you would be interested!
I'm personally really curious about their Pumpkin Spice Coffee Jelly! It sounds really delicious! There are a couple others I'm also interested in, but I think you'd particularly like the Black Forest one!
If you're interested, please let me know!
Saiki sighed, and Aiura thought she heard something else spill alongside it. He clamped up the very next moment.
'Good grief,' she heard him convey more audibly.
'Could you watch over my stuff for a minute?' He said getting up.
She was about to shrug, but stopped herself. "Hmm…" She made an exaggeratedly thoughtful look.
"Maybe if you treat me to lunch..." She stopped when she saw the annoyed look on his face. "Fine, fine… Just buy me another drink when you're back," she flashed him a grin.
"Where you goin'?" She could guess, but thought she'd ask anyway.
He waved the memo, sighing. 'Giving this back.'
She watched him amble over to the nearby public restroom, presumably to teleport inconspicuously. Such a busybody.
Taking another sip, she glanced back at the manga entrusted to her.
"...Hmm."
