Teruhashi woke up wondering if yesterday was a dream. It felt like she barely remembered the last part, but she knew her intuition was almost never wrong in cases like these. She knew she should be beyond over the moon, but instead she felt an uncomfortable amount of fear. She did not fear what happened; instead she feared her uncharacteristic apprehension.

Sleeping on it had awoken a nameless insecurity, one that she felt very rarely. She had come so far, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would actually get here. However, was she elated that it was "progress" as opposed to something mutual? Did she really change?

Why am I suddenly feeling this now? Why do I still feel like this could be a "conquest"?

She chose to believe that it wasn't but she couldn't force down the sinking feeling that it was. She didn't know what to do yesterday when they teleported back into her room, and she became overwhelmed and almost broke into tears. Sure, they weren't Angel Tears™; but the result turned out the same. At least, she didn't think that they were. She didn't own him; she wasn't owed his friendship. If anything it would have been better if he had come to her later on when he came to the realization himself, but instead she dug herself into a situation where she had no idea whether or not she had manipulated him.

She never answered the burning question: is it selfish to want a friendship? She still didn't know for sure. Making friends came so easily to her that she hadn't given the question any thought because she assumed that everyone wanted to be friends with her. Now that the paradigm was shifted, the only method she knew to actually obtain friends was manipulation and deceit. Her genuine friendships now just came naturally. Even if they weren't transactional the way most of her relationships were, she still didn't understand how they happened in the first place. Maybe that was the key?

This was unknown territory for her. She was lousy at normal relationships as well.

These are the consequences of my actions.

Even though she had been born with the power of impossible beauty and had expectations placed on her, it would be silly to deny her agency.

The best she could do was to try not to ruin a good thing.

It turns out that the entirety of yesterday happened on a school night, so Saiki found himself getting ready again this morning. He had accidentally slept in, so he didn't have any time to think about yesterday.

"I called Ku-chan, maybe I should go check on him…"

I'm up, Mom. Be down in a minute.

Saiki groaned as he rolled out of bed. He didn't particularly like waking up in a rush. Only a morning coffee could provide panacea for his morning languor.

"Ok! Breakfast is ready."

He got ready in about a minute with his telekinetic legerdemain, headed downstairs, grabbed the food and coffee, and smashed it into his mouth via telekinesis.

Thanks for breakfast. Sorry I couldn't enjoy it.

"It's ok, don't be late for school!" His mother sent him out with a sunny wave.

Saiki hurried out of his door. Unfortunately, his tardiness precluded his ability to plan properly in order to prevent this morning's wild gorilla encounter. He should have teleported.

"Heeey, pal! Remember that bug I found? I figured out a good name for it," Nendou said. His hands were jammed in his pockets and he was duck walking like the delinquent everyone thought he was.

I could not be less interested. Nendou gave no indication that he heard Saiki.

"Well you know how bugs are pretty stupid, right?"

You're in the same mental tier.

"Since bugs are really stupid, they're as dumb as bricks! So I'm gonna call this one Brick!" Nendou exclaimed as if he had the observation bestowed on him by god itself.

That name is just as dumb as you're making bugs out to be. I don't care what you call it as long as you keep that thing away from me.

"Sure, pal. Say, wasn't bowling fun?" Nendou asked with childish glee.

It was okay.

"Well, I was thinking about making it a regular occurrence since we go to ramen all the time."

Saiki turned toward Nendou with an open mouthed stare. Nendou was facing straight ahead, so he didn't notice.

Who… Who are you?

"Y'know I got yelled at by the staff last time we went, so I want to learn how to do it better. Practice makes perfect!" he said as he scratched the back of his head with something resembling an embarrassed smile.

... Oh no…

Nendou talked to himself the rest of the way to school, his words lost to a void darker than the one in his cranium.

Saiki entered the classroom filled with a sense of uneasiness. He did his best not to look at the blue less-of-a-nuisance because he knew Akechi would be watching. Instead of looking at Akechi, he zeroed in on his thoughts. Nothing strange so far. Akechi knew something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. This result was within acceptable tolerances. Not one to be rebuffed, Akechi assaulted Saiki's thoughts.

"So, Kusuo-kun, how did your playdate with Teruhashi-san go? I assume it went well as you likely would be much more distressed if it hadn't. Then again, you are famously good at blank expressions so I cannot say for certain."

Teruhashi noticed his scowl and got a bit nervous. He would have to clean this up later.

Why do you care?

"This is mere banter between friends, no?"

Do yourself a favor and stop assuming things you know nothing about.

"Au contraire, Kusuo-kun, your current demeanor is only assuring the veracity of my hypothesis…"

Stop using a thesaurus, writer, it's lazy and bad form.

Akechi kept talking to Saiki despite his cutaway.

"... surely this now means you will be more amenable to playing with me? I plan to meet you at your place of residence on Friday from which we will teleport to…"

We're going to have to take a rain check on that.

"Avoiding me again? I thought better of you Kusuo-kun…"

This time is different. I have something to tell you 3.

"Is it about Teruhashi-san? I assumed it was because today I saw you straining not to look at her, likely due to our conversation from the other day in addition to the fact that your brow furrowed in a manner consistent with your expression of heavy consideration as you looked at Aiura, Toritsuka, and I."

You didn't need to explain that because I was going to tell you anyway.

"Ah, but you see my gimmick is verbosely explaining everything so I apologize as I could not help myself."

Meet me at the local park on Friday when you would have come to my house and tell the others to come too. I have business to settle.

"Please, give Teruhashi-san my warmest greetings!"

He figured it out.

Saiki massaged his forehead to ground himself from the ordeal of interacting with Akechi Touma. At least he could have more obvious expressions now that Akechi knew. Now to clean up the mess.

Don't worry about my expression just now. Akechi was bludgeoning me with his thoughts again.

"O-Oh, that's a relief…"

I plan on telling them about your knowledge of my powers this Friday.

"Them?"

Toritsuka, Aiura, and Akechi. It was annoying having to walk on eggshells around them, especially because Akechi constantly pesters me.

"About what?"

He wants to meet up with me but thinks you keep getting in the way of it.

"So what if I am?"

I have more important things to think about right now.

Her annoying thoughts were drowned out with how to best broach the news to the other 3. He had decided last night to go ahead and tell them because trying to hide it was troublesome and unnecessary. If he wanted to move forward he would need as few distractions as possible. They had proven themselves somewhat reliable and could assist him in case any unexpected complications arose. Trouble tended to follow Teruhashi around, after all. Just like always, however, his attention was pulled away again by some thoughts that piqued his interest. He felt a sense of familiarity with these thoughts, but he was sure he had not heard them before.

"I do say, unhand me, foul cretin! I wish to cavort in the light of day as opposed to under a smelly "school" uniform. Rendering exquisite care to myself at your domicile does not absolve you of treating me like this!"

Saiki used clairvoyance to look around the room for movement, but stopped short when he looked at Nendou. He had seen this once before. He knew it was Nendou because no one else in class was stupid enough to bring an animal to school, not to mention "foul cretin" fit Nendou perfectly. Saiki only knew of 2 pets, so unless Nendou had gotten a third without his knowledge, that could only mean one thing. Saiki started to sweat and breathe heavily, but was able to compose himself because as long as he kept an eye on Nendou and the thoughts he could keep himself safe. Teruhashi noticed his distress and regarded him with concern, blatantly turning her head away from the front of class. Her annoying thoughts vanished immediately.

"Are you alright?" she said softly.

I'm fine. I need to focus right now.

Who are you?

"Why, I am Ser Aldencourt IV, formerly Knight of the Deep Forest and now knight errant. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking? I did not realize more of my own kind were displaced here."

I am not one of your kind, I am Saiki Kusuo, a human, and I can communicate directly into your mind.

"Well, I'll be! It is positively delightful that I have someone to talk to. I've been terribly lonely here as I cannot communicate effectively with the other arthropods. They seem to speak a different language than myself, so elocution has been quite an issue."

It's news to me that insects have a language barrier as well. Since when can I communicate with them? How did that beetle even get here? I have far too many questions. I vaguely heard it when it was on Nendou but I blocked it out because I thought it was some other odd human. Can you blame me?

Do yourself a favor, though, do not leave that school uniform until he takes you out. It would likely cause a huge disruption and your situation would likely be a lot worse because of it.

Hopefully that would keep the beetle at bay until Saiki could escape. Saiki thought about teleporting it home, but that meant he would have to touch it. Not going to happen.

"Very well, I shall endure this mistreatment. However, I would like to come back to this "school" to talk to you, as this roughhousing is more than worth the opportunity to engage in witty banter!'

Please don't. Why did the most pleasant interaction I've ever had with an animal have to come from a beetle?

Do whatever you want. Just don't get too close to me. I didn't know I could communicate with insects at all, so I've never really liked them.

"I am terribly sorry you've had such a negative experience with my brethren in the past, so please allow Ser Aldencourt IV to correct those subpar interactions!"

Why does it have to be so annoyingly nice? Now I'm going to have another nuisance trying to talk to me.

We can correct the experiences later. I need to focus on my work right now.

"Very well! I will continue to ponder upon my predicament until this gorilla reaches a point in which I may disembark."

"Oh, Kusuo-kun, your facial expressions have now changed to ones of abject disgust! Have you…" Akechi barged in.

That's my cue to fast forward the plot.

Saiki did not answer any more attempts to contact him. The only one he had even the slightest inclination to answer had honored his request to focus early on.

*Ding Dong* , the lunch bell reported.

As Saiki headed toward lunch, the nuisances of the non-psychic variety quite literally strong-armed him into sitting next to them. Nendou set upon him as soon as the bell rang and dragged him to the table with the rest of the group. Nendou, of course, ignored Saiki's visceral reactions to the insect under his shirt and threw him into the seat next to him.

"Did you finish what you were focusing on?"

Saiki perked up and saw Teruhashi to his left a few seats down making idle chatter with Yumehara.

"I did for the initial problem, but that one was now replaced by this unwanted social quagmire ."

"Never change, Saiki-kun."

I told you, I don't enjoy avoiding social interactions. Why are you so stubborn?

"T-S-U-N…"

Her psychological assault was drowned out by the racket in front of him perpetrated by none other than Kineshi Hairo.

Figures that he'd have actual dialogue at some point. Let's get this over with.

"This one time at tennis practice I ran around the track so hard that I threw up, but my goal is to get at least 3 next time because that means I tried 3 times as hard! Wait, doesn't that mean twice as hard because it's only 2 extra? That does it! It'll be 4 times so I've tried 3 times as hard!" Hairo exclaimed with visible fire in his eyes and his bicep overenthusiastically flexed.

That's disgusting.

"Gahaha, it's pretty lame to throw up on a run. I mean, I've never thrown up on a run and I'm pretty good at it so you must suck pretty bad," Nendou goaded. His face bore a neutral expression by Nendou standards, so once again it was unknown whether or not he knew what catastrophe he had unleashed. Hairo's face was inches away from Nendou's faster than even Saiki could react to.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME? WAS THAT A CHALLENGE, NENDOU-KUN?!" Hairo quietly whispered. However, some spittle came to reside on Nendou's face from something completely unrelated to Hairo's general lack of enthusiasm.

"Wait a second! Nendou-kun is my better half, so that means I'll have to train so hard I never throw up on runs anymore! This is the perfect opportunity for Nendou-kun and I to push each other!"

Please don't. Remind me to go back in time and fix whoever made Hairo like this.

No can do, buddy. Technically it's your fault because you injected anime tropes into this world.

Don't you dare blame me for this. You're probably going to have to tag this story with angst if you keep this up. Also don't ever call me that again.

"YOU WILL MEET ME AT THE TRACK DURING LUNCH TOMORROW SO THAT WE CAN HAVE OUR DUEL OF THE FATES!" Hairo apathetically remarked.

"Deal! Just don't be mad when I slap you up real good!" Nendou guffawed.

Despite the fact that anyone else would have been absolutely insulted, Hairo instead felt absolutely elated that the opportunity to challenge Nendou fell on his lap so casually. He rode the high at least a little bit more than he should have.

"Jeez, Hairo, you're hardcore!" Kuboyasu added, unable to conceal an eyebrow twitch. Whether it was concern for Hairo's safety or sanity was not readily apparent to Saiki. Kaidou was just as flummoxed as Kuboyasu, but wisely refrained from saying anything. Yumehara and Teruhashi gaped at them, but quickly turned their heads back and whistled in sync to avoid causing a scene.

The rest of the cafeteria went silent, but inexplicably erupted into cheers.

"Wow, I haven't seen Hairo so fired up in a long time! He makes me really want to go all out!" Student A said.

"Yeah! Maybe we should hit the track after school in solidarity!" Student B said.

Shouldn't you be more concerned for Hairo's safety?

Hairo held an impromptu pep rally for the rest of the lunch period which allowed Saiki to slip through the remainder of the school day unnoticed.