Note: Hey folks I got an exciting surprise for anyone who's a fan of this story. If you wanna know what it is you'll find it at the end of this chapter. For now, enjoy the story!
The Kongou Conundrum - No Punch Perms!
Lotus's brows furrowed, as she stared down at her much shorter friend. Kitaro nervously messed with his hands, his uniform mussed a bit.
"Hey Kitaro, what happened to you?"
"Oh, uh nothing…" The boy looked away, scratching the back of his head.
"~I can't tell her that I had a run-in with Kongou. I'll look so lame! I haven't improved or gotten stronger in any way!~"
A hand gently grabbed Kitaro's shoulder, causing the boy to look up. He flinched, going pale seeing the look on Lotus's face.
Her eyes were curtained by the bangs of her pink hair, a shadow obscuring her face as her pink eyes glinted, taking on the appearance of a beast ready to attack its next meal.
"Neh, Kitaro….tell me what's really going on? Who did this to you?"
"~H-How'd she know? So scary!~"
Saiki was just merely walking down the halls, a quick trip to the bathroom. Unfortunately for him, another was in the halls. Third-year delinquent, Kongou Tsuyoshi. He stomped down the halls, fist clenched at his side.
"Hehehehe!"
"That's Kongou from year 3."
"~I'm gonna bump into that kid and steal his money!~"
"I can read people's minds using telepathy and predict their moves."
Kongu's form of "bumping" into someone was throwing a fist. This well-thought-out plan was easily thwarted by Saiki's skill of teleportation. He easily evaded the "stumbling" punch, blipping in and out of the third-years' pathway. Kongou stumbled forward as his fist met air. He just barely caught himself from taking a tumble to the floor, foot hopping to regain his balance.
"Why'd you move around like that?!" Kongou growled looking over his shoulder. "Hand me your money!" He growled, veins bulging as they trailed up and down the sides of his face.
"Yare yare daze." Saiki attempted to walk away. "Even when I read his mind things end up this way."
Kongou got in front of Saiki, grabbing the front of his shirt. "Are you trying to make me look bad, you little jerk!"
"I already set a plan in motion to deal with this neanderthal."
"Hey!"
"L-Lotus?!"
". . . That wasn't my plan."
Lotus came barreling down the hall, a trembling Kitaro poking his head out from around the corner. She stood strong with a hand on her hip pointing at Kongou. The stance resembled one you'd see a heroine take in manga or anime.
"Get your hands off of him!"
"Ehhhh!" Kongou turned, not letting go of Saiki as he glared at Lotus. "What'd you say?!"
"You heard me, you meathead! Let him go!"
Kongou did let go of Saiki, releasing the grip on his shirt leaving behind a crumpled fist-size wrinkle. He stomped over to Lotus, nearly chest-to-chest with the girl as he glared down at her. They were both fuming, like raging bulls who'd just seen red, glaring at one another. Lotus stood her ground, chest-puffing, as she stood even taller. There was no way she was going to back down.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The altercation had no time to escalate as Coach Matsuzaki arrived on the scene.
"There's my original plan. There is another way of using telepathy. Sending messages."
"Knock it off Kongou!" Coach Matsuzaki stepped forward, getting between Kongou and Lotus. "You'll be graduating soon, aren't you? Or do you wanna repeat year 3?"
"Come on man, that's not fair! This has nothing to do with me graduating!" Kongou seethed, teeth clenched.
"I beg to differ."
"You wanna graduate then change your attitude!" Coach Matsuzaki pointed at Kongou. "You can start by fixing your hair and clothes!"
"Stop, I've been planning on that." Kongou gestured over his shoulder towards Saiki. "That's why I had to shake this loser down. I need to pay for a new haircut."
"Your logic is a little off."
Lotus crossed her arms. "Didn't you get enough from shaking down Kitaro?"
Kongou took off running, speeding down the hall. "I'll get you for this old man!"
"Stop! I'm not done with you yet!" Coach Matsuzaki blanched. "Sorry about that. He's a former student of mine. Despite his flaws, I'd like to see him graduate."
"That's impossible."
Lotus and Saiki had a date planned after school. Amazingly they were not being followed by Nendo or Kaidou. They'd also avoided Teruhashi, those rabid fans of hers might be annoying but they actually made a good cover for escape. So the couple was just minding their business, on their way to a cafe, hand in hand but…..
"Maaaan, I'm so pissed off!"
They had once again run into Kongou.
"Him again?"
Kongou, veins of anger pulsating in his forehead, kicked over a storefront's signage.
"All that four eyes' had to do was hand over his money! And that bimbo chick-"
"Bimbo!" Lotus internally shrieked.
"-getting in my way!"
"So is it my fault?"
Saiki kept a grasp on Lotus's hand, the fuming girl more than prepared to tear into the brute Kongou. Well now he knew one of the few things that triggered Lotus, maybe he should start a list?
Two boys, dressed in black school uniforms–clearly not students of P.K. Academy–were merely just walking by, and unfortunately in the path of Kongou. They were grabbed by the P.K. third year, the bully looming over the duo.
"Perfect. Lend me some money." It wasn't a request but a demand.
"He's doing it again. He's a disgrace to the school."
Saiki started to walk away, pulling Lotus along with him. If he'd let her go, he was sure it'd be the equivalent of releasing a police dog on a criminal. As they continued down the road, they could hear the whispers of those on the street, watching the scene before them.
"What is going on?"
"That uniform is P.K. Academy."
"I must call the school."
"What are those teachers doing there?"
Lotus's annoyance was kicked up a notch hearing all the whispers.
"Coach Matsuzaki is a great teacher! It's not his fault that Kongou won't listen!"
"I don't care if he gets held back but I don't want to see the image of the school hurt."
"Does that mean I get to punch him?" Lotus asked.
"No…..Maybe."
Lotus waited excitedly to see what Saiki was going to do to put an end to the scene Kongou was staring in.
"Hand over the shiitake mushrooms!" Kongou shouted.
Well, that was unexpected.
"Shiitake?" One of the other boys mumbled in confusion.
"No not shiitake! I mean shiitake!"
The poor students who were once scared are now nothing but bewildered as Kongou kept shouting shiitake over and over, demanding that it'd be handed over to him.
"~What's happening? Strange. My head is filled with shiitake!~"
Lotus covered her mouth, snickering. "Saiki, how are you doing this?"
"By sending repeated thoughts, I can disrupt a person's thoughts."
"But why shiitake?"
"It was just the first thing off the top of my head."
"Huh? I'm surprised it wasn't coffee jelly."
One of the boys pointed behind him. "The supermarket is down the road." No longer fearing for their lives, they started to make their way back down the street.
"Wait! Shiitake! Hey, I want shiitake!"
The crowd who had been watching were no longer worried but amused by Kongou's shiitake shouting.
"I see. He just wanted some shiitake."
"I'm relieved that that's the case."
Saiki had been serious about keeping Kongou out of trouble for the sake of the school's image. This, however, made Lotus double irritated, due to Kongou's horrid attitude this resulted in the couple having to postpone their date in order to keep the troublemaker out of trouble.
Trailing after Kongou wasn't that difficult of a task, he was rather unaware of his surroundings. Following him, they found the angry teen once again kicking a storefront sign. The cutesy sign with a puppy telling those who passed by about a hamburger special was dented in. He grumbled walking away from the sign, still confused about the whole Shiitake incident.
Lotus rolled her eyes picking up the sign. With a quick snap, the sign was back to normal, in fact, it looked even better than it previously did.
"You're getting good at that," Saiki said to Lotus.
Lotus smiled with a small blush. "Thank you."
The pink-haired duo kept up with following Kongou. He didn't kick any more signs nor did he bother anyone else. They were both surprised to find him heading toward a barbershop.
"Guess I'll have to use my own money."
"Barbershop? Oh, yeah that's the excuse he used to shake me down. Guess he was serious about fixing that terrible hairstyle of his."
"Just wow, I really am shocked."
Glancing into the shop they saw Kongou sitting down in the barber's chair getting prepped for a haircut.
"What would you like today?" The barber asked.
Looking at Kongou, Lotus and Saiki saw that all the gel in his hair had been washed out. He looked pretty normal with his hair no longer spiked up.
"His hair doesn't look half bad down."
"He's lucky that none of his hair is damaged with the copious amounts of styling he did."
"I'm gonna be graduating soon. I wanna have a respectable haircut. You know something classy like a punch perm," Kongou said.
"Roger that."
"Oh, absolutely not."
"Yeah, there's nothing respectable about a punch perm. You'll look even scarier. He has no chance of graduating. Mind lullaby."
"Mind lullaby?"
A tune started to play in Kongou's head, only about three notes in, and he was conked out.
"That was quick."
Each time Saiki displayed a new skill she was surprised. Putting Kongou to sleep and then mimicking his voice to get the barber to change his hairstyle was impressive. Saiki had requested in Kongou's sted a much more respectable hairstyle.
"Hmmmm, I wonder how angry he's gonna be when he wakes up?" Lotus questioned watching the barber put on the last touches.
"We're about to see."
"Sir? Sir, I'm done." The barber gently aroused Kongou giving the student a shake on his shoulder.
Kongou stirred from his slumber, waking from his short nap. "Oh yeah? That was quick, cool. Let me have a look."
Gazing into the mirror Kongou saw not a punch perm but all his hair had been trimmed down into a militaristic buzz cut. "Aaaaaaaah!" Kongou hopped up from his chair running up to the mirror hands slamming down on the counter. "Why did you shave my head?!
"You said you wanted a buzzcut."
"I said punch perm!"
"~This kind of looks like that celebrity ABZO….Of course, I don't!~"
Kongou turned over his shoulder, fist raised.
"I'll rip your head off!"
"ABZO."
"What? ABZO?" The barber said, confused.
"ABZO?" Kongou said.
The barber sensing this was the path to take readily agreed, nodding his head. "Right! That's right, you look like ABZO!"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
That night Saiki had been a bit peeved, his and Lotus's date was delayed thanks to the antics of Kongou. The fact that they had to start later than they had planned wasn't the issue, the problem was due to the delay known as Kongou they arrived at the cafe after they had sold out of the fudge cake the duo had been looking forward to.
Lotus was sure Saiki wanted to blast Kongou into the stratosphere because of it. The whole issue was resolved by Lotus baking a set of fudge brownies, and Violet was kind enough to provide some vanilla ice cream.
So lucky for Kongou the following day Saiki did not use his psychic powers to send him into outer space. He and Lotus however decided to follow Kongou to see where this new haircut would lead him.
"I see you shaved your head. Well, don't think that's enough to get you to graduate. Your uniform still violates school policies, fix it by tomorrow!" Coach Matsuzaki said.
Kongou was just as angry as ever, snarling as he watched the retreating back of the Coach. "Just you wait. I'll get you back," He growled.
"He shouldn't be allowed to graduate. He's still the same delinquent inside."
Lotus wasn't sure how, but Kongou turned around as if sensing the pink-haired couple.
"You're that four-eyes and busty bimbo from yesterday!"
Lotus's brow twitched and her face turned red. Frankly, it was possibly the angriest Saiki had ever seen the girl before.
"Oh. He's dead." Lotus took a step forward, rolling up the sleeve of her uniform jacket, fingers curling into a cracking fist.
Lotus was held back by Saiki, placing a hand on her shoulder. If it wasn't for his psychic strength he was sure he wouldn't be able to hold her back. He was sure if he let her go she'd demolish Kongou, leaving nothing behind by a stain on the ground.
"You're so clueless and lack self-preservation."
Saiki pulled Lotus back and slapped the palm of his free hand on Kongou's forehead.
"Immediate telepathy! By touching him I can send images telepathically."
Kongou was frozen as Saiki sent dozens of images into his mind.
"Whenever you cause problems and complaints come to the school, Mr. Matsuzaki always goes to apologize. He always stays after school so none of the other teachers have to instead. Then yesterday after receiving no complaint calls for the first time ever and seeing you with a buzzcut now his heart is filled with hope. I hope that knowledge helps you."
Saiki walked away pulling Lotus with him.
"Uhh…" Lotus was at a loss for words. "What is going on here?"
Violet tilted her head, hand on her chin, Ethan right by her side doing the same.
"He showed up after school, he's been sitting here for a while," Ethan explained.
"We told him you were out and wouldn't be back for a while but he insisted on waiting around," Violet added.
"Who is he anyway?" Ethan asked. He slid over to Lotus whispering to her. "Lotus who is this punk? Are you okay? Do you need help? Tell your big bro and he'll save you."
"It's nothing like that. That's Kongou, he's an upperclassman of mine," Lotus said.
"Is he some kind of delinquent?" Violet asked.
"Sort of. But the real question here is," Lotus turned to Kongou–the male sitting on the step that led to her home's doorway–, "what are you doing here Kongou?"
"I….I need help."
The trio blinked all tilting their head like one unit. "Huh?"
"Okay!"
Kongou jumped as a large stack of books was set before him. Lotus leaned against the stack of books staring at the buff teen who sat at her dining room table.
"What's all this?" Kongou questioned.
"Books. You think you can't learn without them," Lotus said.
"I-" Kongou was cut off as Lotus leaned in close, eyes narrowed.
"You're lucky I'm helping you at all." Lotus crossed her arms, her glare seething. "I don't take kindly to being called a bimbo. You're lucky I allowed you to live let alone help you."
The boy shrunk back, clearly scared. Who knew she was so intimidating?
"We're starting with Math. Now open up and start reading."
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Kongou promptly grabbed a book and opened it.
Seeing as he was following her instructions Lotus sighed, relaxing a bit.
"I can't believe he came to me and asked for help studying. Geez, this is what I get for having a soft heart, plus being a part of the school's tutoring program."
"Go over those problems I have highlighted. Once you're done I'll check them over. The ones you get wrong we'll go over together then I'll give you some new problems to solve."
Lotus made her way over to the stove and started to prepare some tea.
"Hmmm...some matcha tea should be good. It'll help him focus and the small boost of caffeine will add a little pep boost."
As Lotus got the tea and pot down she heard grunts and grumbling coming from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Kongou with the math book pulled extremely close to his face.
"What in the?"
She walked up behind Kongou, looking over his shoulder. She looked at Kongou's face and saw his eyes squint so hard she was afraid that he might pop a blood vessel.
"Wait….don't tell me?"
"Hello, Lotus!" Violet almost danced into the room, Ethan right behind her with his arms around his fiance's waist.
"Oh, hey Violet. Ethan."
"Hey, um, why is he looking like that," Violet questioned, pointing at Kongou.
"Did that book insult him or something?" Ethan asked.
"No. I think he needs glasses," Lotus said.
"Ah, yes that makes sense," Violet said, nodding.
"You know I'm surprised you two are so calm with another male in the house who isn't related to us, or Kusuo."
"Yeah, he's not a threat," Violet said offhandedly.
"Totally agree," Ethan said.
"Not….a threat?" Lotus said.
"Yeah, just look at him. Totally not a threat," Violet said.
"Uh….Okay?" Violet said.
"Anywho." Lotus clapped her hands. "He needs glasses."
"Gotcha!" Violet pulled out her phone. "I know a guy."
"You know what I think this kid could use?" Ethan said
"What?" Lotus asked.
"A proper role model!" Ethan stated.
"Huh? Are you….volunteering?" Lotus questioned, quite confused.
It's not that Ethan would be a bad mentor nor that he couldn't handle a guy like Kongou, but she just didn't see the two gelling together all that well.
"Oh heavens no!" Ethan laughed, flapping a hand. "Besides, I'm waaaay too busy. My time is spent working and in the presence of my favorite ladies."
"Hehe…" Lotus chuckled sweat dropping.
"Besides I think someone his own age might better suit him. Someone he could observe at school too. Maybe someone who could potentially become a friend," Ethan suggested.
Lotus placed a finger over her lips in thought. "A potential friend, huh?"
The students of P.K. Academy have seen some insane things, but this really takes the cake. Every student gawked in absolute astonishment as they viewed the transformative sight before them.
Kongou sat calmly at his desk, hands folded. His buzz cut on full display, his new round glasses glinting off the classrooms' fluorescent lights. His uniform, which no one had ever seen without tears or rips, was perfectly mended, adhering to the school's policies.
"Is that Kongou?"
"I don't believe it."
"What happened to him?"
Coach Matsuzaki entered the classroom, looking just as bewildered as his students. "Kongou? Is that-"
"Yes sir. I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. I'll be sure to remember it all when I graduate this year."
Coach Matsuzaki sweatdropped. "I'm afraid you're going to have to repeat the third year after all. You've missed too many days. But if you work hard now next year-"
"GRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The boy yelled so loud that it shattered one of the classroom's windows.
"Kongou!"
From her class Lotus sighed, crossing her arms. "Well, he's not getting out of studying that's for sure."
Kitaro was stone-still, frozen like a statue. The poor boy was paper white, not sure what was going on.
"Okay Kitaro, starting today you're gonna be tutoring Kongou."
"~what?… What?...What?...WHAT?!~"
"Who's the nerd?"
*WHAP*
"Ow!"
Lotus lowered her hand, Kongou sure has a hard head. "If you didn't know, this is Kitaro. A boy who has been a victim of your bullying for quite some time now. You're gonna pay him back." Lotus crossed her arms, smirking. "He's gonna tutor you."
"~How does that pay me back!?~" Kitaro internally shrieked.
"Kitaro here is a model student, so you're going to be learning from him. In turn, you're gonna help him with whatever he needs," Lotus said.
"What? Lotus!" Kitaro grabbed the girl's arm. "Can I talk to you for a moment? Over here?" He whispered. He pulled her off to the side, away from Kongou's ears. "Whaaaat are you doing?" Kitaro hissed
"I'm getting Kongou some important life lessons. If we want his attitude to change this has got to go beyond the classroom. I'm also getting you some help. You take care of your home because your mother works a lot right?"
"Well yeah but-"
"Then you're going to be using Kongou to help you with your more laborious tasks. I also hope that this will rub off of him and give him a much better attitude adjustment. You're also part of the school's tutoring program so you can also help him review and go over things when I can't."
Kitaro sweatdropped. "I dislike all of this, and what makes it worse is that everything you're saying is making perfect sense."
"Also you are kind of a target for other bullies, I thought maybe hanging around someone like Kongou would keep others off your back," Lotus said
"~*SIGH* She's right. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.~"
"Kitaro, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you, I just thought it'd be a way to help the both of you. Besides who knows, you two might end up being friends," Lotus said.
"~Never!~"
"I'll do it. Besides, I've gotta face my fears of Kongou anyway. Can't let guys like him push me around and dictate how I live my life. I'll be the bigger man and help."
"Yeah, that's the spirit Kitaro!" Lotus cheered.
The duo walked back over to Kongou.
"Okay Kongou, here's the deal, when I can't help you Kitaro here is gonna tutor you. In exchange, you'll help him out with whatever he needs, within reason," Lotus explained.
Kongou looked at Kitaro then looked at Lotus about to voice his opinion, but the sharp glare that she flashed shut him up. "Y-Yes ma'am!"
Lotus smiled, clapping her hands together. "Great! Let's work hard you three and make sure next year Kongou graduates."
Alright folks, guess what? I've started working on a second Saiki K. fic...and I've got a sneak peek of one of the chapters right here for you all to check out!
The girl set down one of her pots and dug into her pocket pulling out a polaroid photo.
"Look at this! This was my garden yesterday."
Saiki took a peek at the photo and it was a stark contrast to what was before him. By the fencing and surrounding housing, Saiki could tell that it was indeed the same garden but it was very different. This garden wasn't just alive it was flourishing. Bushes bloomed with varying arrays of flowers. Succulents, vines, and other plants decorated the entire span of the garden. Wall to wall of beautiful foliage. It was a gardener's paradise.
"You see here! This–" The girl pointed at the dead garden behind her. "–was this!" She shook the photo. "Just yesterday!"
"How did they die so fast? How can you be such a good gardener one day then horrible the next?"
The girl seethed. "It's not my fault. It's yours."
"Mine?"
"You wanna know how my plants grow so lush and fertile?"
"Not really."
The girl gave Saiki a pointed look. "While I do take excellent care of my babies. They're able to grow so big because I supply them with psychic energy."
Saiki had just experienced something that he rarely felt. Surprise. He just stared at the ombre-haired girl, mind overworking on what to reply with. She had admitted to having powers so easily and without being prompted. Why?
"Why am I telling you this? You may be wondering. Duh, it's because you have psychic powers too."
Talk about a shock to the heart. If Saiki was any other person, who lacked control over their emotions, he surely would have collapsed from shock. So this girl knew his secret? How bothersome.
"You can't tell anyone-"
"I don't give a flying begonia about your powers!" She shouted
Wait…..What? Surprise. This girl was full of surprises.
"You…" The young girl's rage had come back full force, she shook with an anger vein throbbing on her forehead. "You've got way too much power! What kind of freakish boy are you?" She shouted, jabbing a finger at Saiki.
"Freakish?"
"You emit way too much power! Whenever you walk by, my plants can't handle it. They suck up your endless amount of psychic energy. It's the equivalent of over-watering them. They wither and die, becoming husks of their former selves in a matter of seconds. They'd been fine the past couple of days and I had been able to recover but then you appeared again!"
"Hmmm, that does check out. I hadn't been walking my usual route home due to Kaidou and Nendou."
"Do you have any idea how many of my babies have died?"
Truly this girl has thrown Saiki for a loop.
There you go, folks! A sneak peek of my new fic! As of right now, it's currently untitled but I hope to get it up and posted soon!