Guest - The longer Lotus is around Saiki the more powers she develops and she gains certain ones quicker depending on the ones that he uses more around Lotus, that's why she gained telepathy almost instantly. Keep reading and you'll see how it goes.
Galaxywolfwing - I have a special chapter all planned out for that, keep reading and see what's to come. Also, I don't have a schedule I just write when I feel like it or get inspired.
This is Lotus
This is Saiki
This is Saiki and Lotus
~This is the Normal Thoughts of Other People~
A Genius Magician? - The Surprise of Television!
Today seemed like any other day. It was after school and Lotus trailed behind Saiki as the two made their way home.
"Who's ready for another tres bien trick by me! Master illusionist Uryoku Chouno."
Lotus paused turning her head, "Oh a street magician."
"Hey kids, the pink heads, join the fun," Uryoku called out to Saiki and Lotus. "I'll do a trick to put a smile on your face." He said mainly to Saiki.
"No thanks already seen it."
Lotus focused on where Saiki was looking and almost gasped when the magician's hat became see-through, and she could spot a dove sitting on the guys head.
"That's right x-ray vision. That's one of the skills Saiki just recently taught me about. What a perfect time to practice."
"What about you young lady, I'm sure my amazing abilities will boggle and bewitch your mind," Uryoku laughed
"You know I used to love magic tricks as a kid, but after spending so much time around Saiki, they've lost their wow factor," Lotus thought
"No thanks I think we're good," Lotus said
"Haha! I see I've got two skeptics. But once you see my show you'll become a believer." Uryoku smiled
Seeing the magicians large smile Saiki gave in.
"Fine, I'll watch. Only so you'll leave me alone."
Lotus and Saiki stepped up joining Uryoku's crowd.
"Alright!" Uryoku held up a box, "In my hands, I hold an ordinary cardboard box."
"Nope. There's nothing ordinary about it."
The box went transparent like the hat had, and Lotus saw the object was stuffed with doves.
"Holy crap how many doves can that man shove in one box?"
Uryoku opened the box, "As you can see its empty inside."
"At that angle, they can't tell there's a partition."
"But watch," Uryoku tapped the box with a cane, "Just a couple taps and its party time." He opened the box and all the doves flew out, "Aren't they amazing folks."
The crowd clapped watching the doves fly off into the sky. Saiki and Lotus were the only two who weren't clapping. Saiki looked disinterested while Lotus looked up watching the doves fly off with a quizzical expression on her face.
"How does he plan to get those birds back?"
Seeing them not react Uryoku pointed at the two pink haired teens, "Hey their kid's tres bien am I right?"
"It's not tres bien."
"Is he Japanese or French I can't tell? Also…."
Saiki and Lotus look back at Uryoku's hat to see the dove he had hidden in it on the verge of passing out.
"I'm worried about that dove."
Uryoku rolled out two large boxes. "And now ladies and gentlemen please turn your attention here to the main event of the show. My super illusion teleporting from one box to another, will be my lovely assistant Michael."
Uryoku snapped his fingers and a man who looked more like a hobo walked out from nowhere.
"Lovely is a stretch."
Micheal climbed into one of the large boxes.
"The beautiful Micheal is entering the box and drum roll," Uryoku started rolling his tongue imitating a drum roll.
"This is so sad."
Lotus looked at the table behind the boxes and could spot Micheal crawl underneath it heading to the other box.
"What expression am I supposed to be making now?"
"Wonder...I think? Though I guess to a guy like you, who can lift a building with his mind this must seem rather boring."
"La La-la!" Uryoku shouted throwing confetti.
"His overconfidence makes me cringe."
"Saiki the dove." Lotus gesture to Uryoku's hat.
The dove that was under Uryoku's hat was no longer moving.
"Does that hat have air holes?"
Uryoku walked over to the other box. "Alright let's open the box."
"Uh-oh, lovely Micheal isn't done teleporting yet."
Lotus covered her mouth holding in her giggles. "Saiki I think listening to your comments are way more fun than any magic show."
Saiki glanced at Lotus before going back to Uryoku.
"Three, two, one!" Uryoku opened the box, "It's party time! Tres bien!"
Micheal came out…..but from under the table. Everyone in the audience was silent staring at the two.
"Now I really don't know what expression to make."
Everyone but Saiki and Lotus walked away leaving behind a rather depressed and broken Uryoku.
"How about that expression?" Lotus motioned to Uryoku's face.
"Yeah, that one seems appropriate."
"Why should I pay you for ruining the illusion?" Uryoku spoke to Micheal.
"I moved at the normal speed it was you who went too fast." Micheal held his hand out. "Now you hand over that 500 yen."
"No one tipped me for this performance, so I couldn't tip you even if I wanted too." Uryoku finally noticed that Lotus and Saiki were still there. "Hey, why are you two hanging around?" Saiki and Lotus pointed at their heads. "What? Oh, you wanna give me a tip." Uryoku gave a little chuckle, "I could never take money from kids," He removed his hat, "The look of joy on your faces-" That's when he noticed the passed out half-dead dove in his hat.
"Piiko!"
"Hey, Saiki did we ever have looks of joy on our faces during the show?" Lotus asked
"Beats me," Saiki answered
Uryoku had removed Piiko from his hat and luckily the bird was able to be revived. With a few minutes of fresh air, the dove was back to normal.
Uryoku held Piiko in his hands stroking the bird. "I completely forgot she was up there."
"How can you forget there's a dove on your head?"
"Yeah, you should of at least felt that she stopped moving."
"So you two weren't trying to tip me but you were trying to remind me. Wait does that mean….?"
Saiki tensed up.
"….you're a magician. That's how you knew she was up there," Uryoku looked at Lotus, "And you must be his lovely female assistant, a pretty face like yours must really draw the crowds in."
"I should have kept walking."
"Wait am I the assistant because I'm a girl or because of my face?"
"If your instincts are that good you must have hated my show," Uryoku sadly said looking down.
"Hates a rather strong word."
"Maybe I'm not cut out for the magician game after all. Unit a few months ago I was just your average office drone and I made a small mistake." Uryoku dropped his head further his shoulders sagging showing his sorrow.
"Oh boy…."
"I wasn't prepared for an origin story today."
"Corporate fat cats laid me off then my wife skipped town," Uryoku told the two.
"Is it too late to walk away?"
"I think it is."
"With no job, I couldn't pay the mortgage anymore. One little mistake and my career, wife, and home disappeared. And then it dawned on me...I should become an illusionist," Uryoku said
"Wait what?"
"How the heck do you come to that conclusion?"
"Yeah, because so many things vanished from my life than making things disappear must be my talent!" Uryoku declared
"Your only talent is self-delusion."
"Even though I've been offered another office job I turned it down to start my new life doing street magic!" Uryoku said
"Again what?"
"I guess his other talent is not thinking things through."
"If I can save up one million yen then I can buy the sawing a body in half trick. Then my wife will sure to come back!" Uryoku said
"Don't be so sure."
"But then I wonder if I chose the wrong path," Uryoku once again dropped his head showing his dejection over his current situation.
"Yes, yes you did."
"Now quit street magic and get a real job."
Uryoku looked at the two teens, "Sorry didn't mean to get so gloomy."
"What will it take for him to give up?"
"Let's get back to your origin of becoming an illusionist and how you knew I had a dove on my head," Uryoku said
"That's it!"
Saiki handed Lotus his school bag.
"Who gonna have your assistant pull something out of your bag?" Uryoku asked
Saiki focused on the bag his eyes wide.
"That's a new face for Saiki."
"I'll just do a trick so far above his ability he'll realize how far gone he is and give up."
"You're gonna have your assistant pull out...a dove! Well I'll have you know I can do a bowling ball," Uryoku said
"Lotus open the bag."
Lotus unzipped the bag and reached in pulling out-
"Hehehe!"
Uryoku's lovely assistant Micheal! The magician was silent for a few seconds before his jaw dropped a look of pure shock on his face.
Uryoku fell to his knees, "That impossible."
"Aren't you supposed to say tres bien? At least this will make him give up."
"Thank you now I can see….if your talent was hair then it'd be a flowing mane while mine is just an eyelash," Uryoku lamented
"What's with that metaphor?"
Suddenly Uryoku dropped to ground bowing in front of Lotus and Saiki.
"Make me your apprentice!"
". . . Should have seen this coming."
Saiki sat before his television watching the shows. He enjoyed watching TV since he couldn't read the actors minds so nothing was spoiled or ruined. Right now he was anticipating the premiere of a new mystery show. Using his psychic powers he changed the channel.
"Tonight you will witness a miracle!"
"What?"
"A stupendous amazing illusion performed by the former homeless man bird master, Uryoku Chouno!"
"Now that's tres bien!" Uryoku smiled his face featured on the television screen.
Saiki's face blanked not being to fully process what he was seeing, TV really did surprise him.
An Announcer appeared next to Uryoku, "After losing it all he became a street magician with tricks that only others could dream of."
"This isn't just a surprise it's unbelievable. How is a man who almost killed a dove good enough to be on TV?"
Uryoku stood next to a large box that was surrounded by chains. "What I'm attempting tonight is the most dangerous escape you'll ever see."
The screen showed a figure being placed in a box, then the box being chained up with a sword shoved in the side. Then the box set on fire and to top it off it was rolled over by a steamroller.
"No way he's this good. Love it or not they'd never put someone on TV who would get hurt."
A new person stepped onto the screen holding two sets of shackles.
"Now ladies and gentlemen, Uryoku's lovely guest assistant, Miss Mystery, will shackle both his hands and feet!" The announcer said
A young woman with long dark magenta hair walked over to Uryoku. Her outfit was bold consisting of a purple vest over a white button-up collared shirt with a purplish bow tie around her neck. She had on a ruffled magenta skirt and her exposed legs were covered by skin color tights. Her shoes were glittered kitten heels and to finish off her getup she had on white floppy bunny ears paired with a poofy whitetail. Her face was obscured by a magenta mask that covered her eyes and a partial part of her cheeks.
Unconsciously Saiki leaned in closer to the television screen studying the new female on screen, "She looks familiar."
The guest assistant shackled Uryoku's hands and feet, then the magician hopped his way over to the box, but he ended up tripping landing on his face.
"Oh no he fell!" The Announcer gasped
"It's just a trip he should be fine."
Uryoku was fine, but he did now have a nosebleed. He stood up straight getting into the box.
"Now that's he's safely inside the box Mister Micheal, Uryoku formerly homeless assistant will lock him in!"
Micheal, who was now well dressed and far less scruffy looking, walked up and closed the door. As it closed Uryoku looked scared and yelled.
"Wait I'm not ready!"
Saiki's face blanched again. "His screaming isn't a good sign."
As Micheal chained up the box Uryoku could be heard from the inside of the box banging wildly.
"Neither is that banging."
A large digital clock was displayed and 5:00 displayed on it.
"Now, Uryoku needs to escape in just 5 minutes, or he'll be destroyed along with the box!"
"I'm skeptical he can do this."
Time ticked by and banging from the box only persisted getting more desperate and frantic.
"He's got three minutes left!"
"Should I help? I don't even think I can. I'm not close enough to jump in and save him without being seen."
"Help!" Uryoku shouted
"Just two minutes left!"
"Then again if he fails he dies and I can't have that. It would ruin my night. If he fails it would cut into my mystery show. Is there a way to teleport him without getting on TV? Yes, the one place no one can find me." Saiki vanished from his room and reappeared inside the box. "That's right inside the box. Now stop banging I'm here to get you out-"
To say Saiki was once again surprised would have been pretty accurate for this moment. Instead of finding a frantic Uryoku knocking on the box like his life depended on it, he found a boombox that was playing the recorded sounds of the banging.
Outside Uryoku hid behind a tree happy that his trick was going perfectly. "~Not only was I able to escape, but I was able to make it seem like I was in there about to die.~"
Saiki's face remained blank but annoyance rolled off him. "Wow, he really has improved."
"Times up! Now Mister Micheal will use his swords!"
Micheal had no trouble sliding the sword into the first slot.
"I gotta think fast," Saiki remained still as a sword was slid inside the box right in front of his face, "I can't just teleport that power needs to be recharged for three minutes," Saiki moved his head slightly forward as another sword came in.
"17 swords to go!"
"Oh, crap."
Each sword was lid into the slot.
"How can anyone survive this!"
"No one except me." Saiki was inside the box twisted in a complicated awkward position avoiding each sword. "I dislocated almost every joint in my body. Though I'm not gonna lie it hurts."
For the next part of the trick, the box was raised off the ground.
"Now a construction crane is hoisting the box 30 meters in the air!"
Once the box was at the right height it was unhooked allowing it to plummet the 30 meters.
"The only way to avoid certain death is to…." Saiki waited and as the box was about to hit the ground he jumped. "-jump! Perfect timing."
"That box has seen catastrophic damage, but we still have more in store for it. Were lighting it on fire!"
The box was set ablaze the powerful flames engulfing it.
"I didn't even get a chance to catch my breath." Using his powers Saiki was able to create a shield of ice around his body to block the flames, "At least with all the hot weather lately I've been able to hone my powers over temperature. Good thing it's me in this box and not Lotus."
Saiki paused in his thoughts wondering why in the world he had thought of Lotus. He doesn't get any time to dwell on this as the announcer's voice boomed again.
"Now we're running it over!"
"There's more."
"It's a steamroller!" The Announcer shouted
The box was easily crushed beneath the large machine.
"Chouno's box is as flat as a pancake. How could he survive that?!"
There was a loud ring of fanfare than three spotlights beamed down on the center of the stage next to the announcer and Chouno appears in the lights unharmed.
"Hold on! Who's that I see?! It's the miraculous illusionist Chouno! He's alive!"
The live crowd cheered as Chouno smiled on the stage. Off to the side, a hand pooped out of the ground, followed by an upper body.
"How annoying. He wasn't the only great escape." Saiki was covered in dirt the lower half of his body in a hole. "I got lucky. The soil was extra soft. I know I said that I like TV because it can surprise you but this is too much."
"Oh thank god you're okay!"
The mysterious female assistant, Miss Mystery, fell to her knees before Saiki a look of absolute relief on her face.
"What is she doing here?"
"I heard your voice and didn't realize you were in the box until it was lifted up in the air. I'm just so happy that you weren't harmed," Miss Mystery said
"How did she-wait?"
"Oh sorry I guess it's a little hard to tell it's me," Miss Mystery reaches up and pulls off her hair revealing it to be a wig. Pink locks flowed onto her shoulders as Miss Mystery removed her mask too.
"Seriously? What in the world are you doing here?" Saiki was getting real sick of these surprises, they weren't good for his health.
"Well its kind of a complicated story," Lotus said
A Few Weeks Ago
"Welcome home little Lotus!" Violet smiled as her little sister enter the home.
"Hello," Lotus slipped her shoes off at the front door, "Where's Ethan?"
"He should be-"
Violet was cut off by the sound of loud footsteps from upstairs.
"Violet! Lotus!"
Ethan appeared at the top of the staircase his happy sunny attitude so bright, Lotus was sure that his energy could be used to power the house.
"Exciting news! I was having a video conference on the computer and I just got a custom order for a new promo entertainment show that's going to air in a few weeks," Ethan announced
"How wonderful Ethan!" Violet smiled, "Does this mean we get to dress up Lotus?"
"That's your main question?"
Ethan crossed his arms pouting, "The costumes are only for men."
"Why are you pouting?"
Suddenly Ethan's attitude did a 180 and his pout went back to a full-blown smile.
"Wait now he's happy?"
As Ethan talked his thoughts started to flow into Lotus's mind, and she started to gape internally at the conversation Ethan had over his video call with his customer.
"The costumes were only for men that is until I had a video meeting with the star of the new show! We were discussing ideas on how to really makes his outfit eye-catching for his very first television premiere. He also wanted the same for his assistant," Ethan said
"Assistant?" Violet questioned
"Yup it's for a magician named-"
"Uryoku Chouno." Lotus finished Ethan's sentence.
"That's right little Lotus! You already know, you're so adorable!" Ethan said
"I don't know how that equates to me being adorable."
"So Violet, I told Uryoku if he really wanted to catch everyone's eye then he'd need to have a lovely eye-catching piece present with him at all times," Ethan said
"I can't believe he did that," Lotus thought knowing exactly what Ethan was going to say to Violet.
Ethan reached into his pocket pulling out a wallet-sized photo of Lotus,"I showed him a picture of our little Lotus and suggested that she be one of his assistants too. Uryoku was a little shocked though when I showed him the picture. Get this he already knows our little Lotus. He really likes my idea of having her featured with him on his television debut."
"That's just-wait a minute!"
"Why are you walking around with a photo of me in your pocket?" Lotus asked Ethan.
"Why I always keep a photo of my delightful little Lotus close to me, so I can show others how cute she is." Ethan reached into his other pocket pulling out a second much larger photo, "I also keep one of Violet in my other pocket. So I can show people, my gorgeous fiance."
"Ethan, you carry around pictures of my little sister?" Violet asked
"Yes," Ethan said
"Well I do too," Violet smiled pulling out several photos all featuring Lotus.
"How cute! Violet looks so magnificent holding all those cute pictures of our little Lotus!" Ethan gushed
"You two are ridiculous and why do you have so many pictures of me in your pocket?"
"With the new outfit, I'm making we'll be able to add more cute photos of Lotus! So let's get started!" Ethan declared
"Right!" Violet cheered alongside her fiance.
Lotus mentally sighed. "Something tells me this is going to be a daunting task."
Present
"And that's what happened," Lotus finished her story.
"Your family is….I feel like scary isn't a strong enough word."
Lotus sighed, "Yeah I know what you mean. But I was able to convince Ethan to make me a mask and wig. I knew that if people knew it was me my face would become more recognizable and I'd draw more attention to myself. This way with my identity hidden I can still hang out with Saiki." Lotus smiled
Just like when they had first met Saiki was shook by Lotus's genuine words. If it wasn't for the fact that his power hadn't recharged he probably would have teleported again out of sheer surprise. It was apparent that Lotus had this strange effect on him.
Lotus helped Saiki out of the hole, and he dusted himself off.
"Well, folks that sure was a first-rate escape!" The Announcer said
"Tres bien! Right!" Chouno cheered
"Time to go home, so I can watch my show."
"Oh, that new mystery show? I've been wanting to see that too. Things have been getting a bit boring since I can hear everyone's thoughts television is one of the few outlets I can enjoy without having it ruined," Lotus said
On the stage, a man appeared next to Chouno. It was the main actor for the new mystery show, and he was holding up a promotional poster for the new show.
"Hey stick around for what's next, the world premiere of the mystery show, Lover Fantasy. My character will try to uncover the mystery of his girlfriends' death."
"~Viewers are gonna love this, that the twist is that I'm the killer.~"
Both Saiki and Lotus blanched hearing the actors thoughts.
"Never mind."
"This blows."