"Ku-chan, dinner is ready!" His mother's singsong tune filtered into his head, breaking him out of his reverie—it must be time for dinner. Good timing; he needed a break from the perpetual malaise he seemed to be afflicted with nowadays. Her voice floated in soft and soothing, so what should have been the jarring buzz of a kitchen timer instead presented as a songbird's morning chirp. His vision refocused to the outline of the desk in front of him before he blinked and filled in the lines. He had been trying to read, but none of the words ever really stuck in his head. In no particular rush, he stood up from his desk, pushed the chair back in, and dragged himself downstairs.
His father was at the kitchen table reading a manuscript, too engrossed to notice his presence. His mother, however, greeted him cheerfully despite carrying a covered donabe from the stove toward the table but stopped short when she noticed his gloomier-than-usual expression. She shifted uncertainly before heading to the table to place down the pot.
"Is something wrong?" she asked kindly.
Saiki shrugged and headed toward the table. Even if he did know, he had no means of expressing it.
His father roused as he sat down at the table. "Kusuo?" he said, looking up from his stack of papers.
Saiki's piercing gaze darted between his parents as they fixed their troubled expressions on him. Immediately, he heard their echoed thoughts picking up that he had something to say but had no means of expressing it. Great, saved him the trouble.
"What's on your mind?" his mother asked.
Graduation's coming soon, he mumbled, his mouth stretching into an uncomfortable frown bordering on a grimace.
The two of them looked at each other and back at him. "What's wrong with that?" his father asked. In his mind, his father struggled to figure out whether to play it straight or be as much of an embarrassment as usual.
I don't know.
"Are you afraid to move on?" his mother asked.
He grunted and shrugged again. How did they know what he was thinking?
"It's perfectly normal to be worried about the future," his mother said soothingly.
His eyes widened in surprise. Were they saying that he was like everyone else? That his thoughts had become predictable?
"See, Kusuo? You're not as different from us peasants as you think you are," his father said with a smug grin.
Don't compare me to a spoiled rich kid, he grumbled. He'd have wiped the stupid grin off of his father's stupid face if he wasn't using his mother as a shield…
Why was he reacting like this? These defensive outbursts seemed only to bring up more questions. Shouldn't he be happy about feeling normal? Why were his thoughts and actions separate?
"One day you're going to have to accept that you're just as normal as us, then maybe you'll be humble enough to admit that I taught you how to use the internet…"
The only valuable words in that entire statement was "accept" and "normal". Those troublesome words—or some insinuation of them—had bounced around his head for some time now. Reflecting on Teruhashi-san's park-walking analogy, he imagined it was something that had a time element to it. Despite the strength of his powers waning, he felt no closer to understanding what acceptance was. Accepting the fact that he was a psychic was rational; he couldn't will away his telepathy, after all. Where was the line between pretending and accepting? Or was there truth in both?
"Hey! Your father is talking to you! Are you listening—gack!" his father yelped, his mocking cut short by Saiki's hand closing over his mouth. The embarrassment tried ineffectually to peel the hand away while being lifted up like the wish fulfilling protagonist in a stupid high school drama being bullied.
Saiki felt his skin crawl as an ominous, chilling wind trilled its ghastly fingertips over his shoulders.
"Saiki Kusuo." he heard next to him, the tone steeped in a terrifying malefic energy. Shadows stippled with blood red stars crept up the walls, threatening to swallow the room whole. Maybe Kaidou's delusions weren't far off if he could sense this.
All of this had happened, but he had already let go of his father the instant he felt the wind on his shoulder—nearly instantaneous thoughts had benefits and drawbacks. The ominous wind and shadows receded as soon as his father was on the ground rearranging his jawline.
"I can tolerate many things, but inflicting pain on others because you are is not one of them. If you do that again, your coffee jelly privileges will be suspended indefinitely. You will also be required to have Kokomi-chan chaperone your coffee jelly consumption." A chill ran down the spines of both Saiki men as he turned to face his mother, or at least what looked like her: the shadows emerging from her receded into her face, obscuring it as it swirled down like a whirlpool. For once, he and his father agreed on something. As the shadows disappeared, Saiki Kurumi reemerged, lips pressed in a tight line, arms clasped at the hem of her apron-covered skirt, and eyes fully shut.
As his father stopped massaging his jaw, his mind concocted a very stupid idea: "If I can make Kusuo angry again, he'll get a taste of his own medicine!" Equal parts petty and pathetic, he'd expect nothing less from that idiot. It was a new low for him to risk his personal safety just to spite his son.
Though Saiki wanted nothing more than to strike the thought from his father's mind, he knew attempting it would be the quickest way to start the most disastrous famine the world had ever seen. Forget the havoc wrought by removing his limiter, the worship leaders would be swallowed by the earth and satellites ripped to shreds. The world could be split in two, or the moon shattered. His mother wouldn't risk that, would she?
"Kusuo, apologize to your father," his mother said, her voice distorted by residual demonic energy.
And an apology? This day couldn't possibly get any worse. Saiki sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders, forcing down his pride with an extremely bitter grimace. His father looked down at the floor, but his conceited thoughts and smile were plainly visible.
I'm sorry, Saiki said curtly. Quick, easy, and minimally painful.
"Oh, am I just anyone to you? Or perhaps your father, dad, or maybe… daddy?" the embarrassment whined, looking up at Saiki with a smug gleam in his eye.
Keep it up and I'll make you wish you were never born, Saiki snarled.
"Dear?"
"Yes, mama?" His father's smarm immediately disappeared when his wife swiftly yanked him to his feet by his ear, causing him to howl while putting his hands up defensively toward her. She quickly (almost too quickly) returned to the same polite posture save her hand on her sniveling, pathetic husband's ear.
Why is it fair when you do it? Saiki grumbled.
His mother's face softened and her eyes reopened, but she still held onto the ear.
"So, Ku, what did you want to tell us?" she said softly, a stark contrast to the pathetic guy yelling next to her.
It was hard enough for me to say that before she threatened my coffee jelly, let alone the fact that he didn't need to apologize. Pride or not, though, he was smart enough to know when he was cornered. He could leave the conversation, but that seemed suboptimal for many reasons.
He sighed deeply.
"I'm sorry."
Both of their jaws slackened, flapping uselessly in the non-existent wind. His father didn't even bother to rub his comically throbbing ear.
"Ku… you…?"
"Started using my voice, yes. It's no big deal."
"When? How?" his parents replied in unison.
"A while ago."
"Why? With who?" they said, once again in unison.
"Teruhashi-san."
Their jaws hit the floor.
"Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" Honestly, they should be more concerned about their telepathy for each other. It was already annoying enough that Teruhashi-san had been picking up his thoughts.
They both stammered, but nothing intelligible came out as their tongues could no longer properly form words.
"Why won't you just let me apologize?" he said, crossing his arms and levying them a testy frown.
They faced each other and slotted the other's jaw back into place.
"Sure, Ku-chan," his mother said gently, her voice quavering.
"I'm sorry for forcing you to keep my secret under wraps for so long—to you especially, mom. I don't want you to think you were a bad mother because you slipped and told Teruhashi-san about my powers."
His mother's face drooped contritely. "It comes with the territory of raising children. As a parent, you are everything to them and they become you in every way, both good and bad. They take your good traits and multiply them while inheriting your worst insecurities, even ones you didn't know you had."
"With luck, they'll overcome your baggage; but you'll keep making mistakes while they do it. It can be difficult not to blame yourself when you feel like you make things worse even though you're often just as confused as they are. Both of you can accomplish more than we ever can, but we still feel like we owe our best to you kids," his father said, dropping his face and pushing up his glasses in an attempt to sound cool.
"As much as it hurts to hear, we understand why you used your voice with Kokomi-chan first. She really is a nice girl, please take care of her," his mother said sadly, but somehow... brightly?
It looks like I made the right decision by telling them, he thought with a smirk and a headshake.
"Oh, what's going on now, Kusuo? Are you thinking about Kokomi-chan? Would you say using your voice is A, B, or C?"
I take it back, now I regret it completely.
"If we're lucky, maybe Kusuo will love Kokomi-chan a millionth as much as I love you, Mama..." his father said dreamily, pulled his mother in by the waist, took her hand, and stared into her eyes longingly.
"Oh, Papa, I really hope so too; but for now I'm satisfied by how much I love you." She pushed her chest into his, wrapped her arm around his waist, and matched his longing gaze. "Maybe he'll have 10 grandbabies and all of us can visit for Christmas and every other holiday!"
"That might be possible with the way Kusuo's relationship is going..."
"…that's why we're here right now," Saiki-kun grumbled. His expression was as neutral as ever, though his hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. After the previously described altercation with Kuniharu-san, Saiki-kun was suffering serious coffee jelly withdrawals—his insistence spurred the couple toward the dessert café in the next town over.
Teruhashi giggled cutely, covering her mouth with her fingers. Did Kuniharu-san really deserve that? It might have looked strange to see her emote for no specific reason, but it was preferable to her fans figuring out that she had a sense of humor. Worse, she counted about 10 offus from a cute giggle which was, frankly, insulting. It nettled her so much that the aura lowering training also required supplemental classes for taking blows to her ego since she reflexively put her aura back up when her offu quota was not reached.
"Yes." he said tersely, though his face betrayed none of the delicious tsundere rage that practically radiated from him. The Saiki family's pettiness never ceased to amuse her. She'd have to thank Kurumi-san later.
She brought an outfit to match Saiki-kun's brooch: a simple light purple cardigan, white collared dress to frame the brooch around her neck, and brown low-heel pumps. She could have skipped the cardigan, but she insisted on showing his gift off to the world. He wore her scarf as well, but apparently gave up on matching it. He sported a light green sweater, green collared shirt, and green pants which, in her humble opinion, made him look like the grinch wearing a scarf. He was adamant about wearing it despite her misgivings with the style because in his words, "It's only fair." Well, like any good girlfriend, she could graciously offer her styling services until he gave in. Dragging him to a department store kicking and screaming was a much more realistic outcome though.
"You're lucky we're in public," he thought at her through gritted teeth, knowing full well that her admirers would immediately turn on him if he dared to show even the slightest distaste in her presence.
Not that it's a problem, of course: a few sycophants are paltry to the overwhelming power of a psychic, she read telepathically.
His eyebrow twitched. As usual, she was right on the money.
How can you be so grumpy when spring is about to start? With me around, you can get all sorts of free things, including a perfect spot for a hanami picnic, she said slyly, brushing the back of her hand against his pants pocket. Of course, her execution was perfect: close enough to feel suggestive but far enough to excuse herself with plausible deniability.
"Because the last hanami picnic went so well."
You're such a child. You sound like a penniless Saiko-san, she drawled mockingly.
His eyes flashed and she heard his hand comically clench in his pocket. Her jab seemed to be 4x effective—potent enough to set a twinge of remorse in her chest.
Sorry, sorry, she apologized, ducked her head, and rubbed the brooch between her fingers.
Tumult erupted in the surrounding crowd. She chided herself for her mistake, but she didn't have time to dwell.
"I'm sorry to trouble you all, no need to worry about me!" she said, tacking on her artificial, winning smile. She had been too surprised to think of an excuse quickly, so she hoped her cuteness would carry her through this interaction. Thankfully, the clamor died down quickly.
"…I'm sorry," she heard back. "That exact situation happened a while ago."
It didn't go well?
"About as you'd expect."
I'm imagining caviar rationing, she said coyly, her eyes narrowing mischievously.
He aspirated his nostrils abruptly, as if surprised by her perfect perception. "Bingo. You're way too good at this."
Please, I've been to enough dinner parties to know those people measure wealth and status in ounces of caviar, she drawled with more than a hint of mirth in her tone. She perked up when they reached the point in the alley lined with tatami mat shops where that nice fan had lead them to the dessert shop. From here, it was 2 blocks to the left.
By the way, how've you kept yourself from destroying the world from coffee jelly withdrawals? she thought, barely covering a snicker with her hand. That was a close call; another mistake could cost her dearly.
"It's been under 12 hours, so still before my usual time. Once my body realizes that it's being deprived of coffee jelly, the cataclysms will begin. Other sweets will delay and reduce the severity, but cannot staunch the tide."
She couldn't be too upset; his tsundere charm happened to be quite infectious—enchanting, even.
The corner of his lip twitched briefly. "I don't want to destroy your progress."
That's for me to decide. Besides, you still have an entire dessert lunch to get through, she said suggestively, receiving only a groan in response. If he didn't want to endure her antics he should have been more careful around Kurumi-san.
Finally, they arrived at the café and slipped through the front door with surprisingly little fanfare, though they were still seated immediately at the exact secluded table she had requested from god—a welcome victual to her earlier offu deprivation.
"Offu! Teruhashi-san!" the manager who had hustled over to their table proclaimed. Now this was more like it. Yes! The resplendent goddess has descended upon us once again! I can see it now: 'Teruhashi-san's favorite dessert spot!' 'Touch the tablecloth that she once laid hands on!' the manager thought. They'd make a killing from that advertisement, so it was only fair that they get their meal gratis—a problem for later.
They ordered their dessert, initiating phase 1 of her plan. The waiters brought out a variety of desserts, but she made her first move: coffee jelly to her mouth. Saiki-kun glowered at her as she scooped a part of the elegant confection for the refined palate and slowly closed her mouth around the spoon. Immediately, the slight bitterness of the coffee cut by the light sweetness of the dollop of cream on top of it swirled around in her mouth. She made sure to swirl it around in her mouth, making the pleasurable sensation last as long as possible and projecting her elation straight into his mind. The spoon in his hand was suddenly crushed, wrapping around his fingers while the spoon end pointed nearly straight up.
"I'll make sure to rewrite the Geneva accords to make this a war crime," his voice grumbled in her head, his tone brimming with hostility.
Next move: shortcake to his mouth, sprinkled with some extra insurance. You know, you might be able to taste the coffee jelly if you take a bite from this spoon... she thought in the most saccharine manner she could muster and brought her spoon close to his mouth. He was right where she wanted him—phase 1: indirect kiss was so tantalizingly close! Just a little...
He leaned forward and closed his mouth on the spoon, suckling the contents so eagerly that she felt the metal warp as he cleaned the spoon with his tongue. The other restaurant-goers somehow seemed not to notice, almost as if he had planned this stunt beforehand.
…Eh? Her cheeks flushed and her lips pursed, wobbling from some combination of surprise, embarrassment, and excitement.
He withdrew his mouth from the spoon, allowing her to see the now wafer-thin spoon, promptly restoring it before the staff took notice. His eyes cast a smug glint on her face.
What is wrong with you?! she said, nearly hissing at him. That's not how this was supposed to go!
"Should it?" he shot back.
It took months to get you to hold my hand; now it's somehow so easy for you to go straight into an indirect kiss?
"We crossed that bridge before we were ever together. You were correct about that milkshake being lighter."
Did you really just use an indirect kiss as a show of dominance—twice? She let the words ruminate, regarding him with utter confusion.
He declined to answer, instead using his now-restored spoon to sample some of the desserts, flashing her a smug grin whenever he took a bite. Why did she choose this guy again?
"I'm just as confused as you," he said, hiding behind each spoon of dessert he took.
You're sweet when you want to be and not nearly as tough as you think you are. Your telepathy has been slipping, by the way. She fluttered her eyes at him, casting an enticing twinkle to make it all the more enrapturing.
He shot her a testy glare. "You're not the cause of everything that happens."
You're a big softie and you know it.
He sighed. "I just don't completely understand it. It's jarring when it comes and goes for no discernible reason."
Your power training has no effect on it?
"It's always been possible for me to suppress it but doing so feels like holding my breath."
…And not having it feels like an impairment for you anyway.
He nodded seriously.
She dropped her head in thought. Do you think it's related to letting go? Like I need to with my aura?
"It only happens when you're around, so I'm not entirely sure."
Her heart skipped a beat. His eyes narrowed at her, but seemed to relax when he realized that she didn't intend on following it with more teasing. At a shot of positive emotion, a warm, fuzzy feeling spread through her chest, causing her heart to thump erratically. He reflexively drummed his fingers on the table in response to the parts of her thoughts he could detect.
I think it may be some manner of comfort you get from me, she said almost tersely, unable to quell the heat bubbling up to her face from her chest.
"What does that mean?"
How could he tug on her heartstrings so carelessly? She clutched her hands to her chest, resisting the urge to squeal like the schoolgirl she pretended to be.
"I'm serious."
I know you are, I'm just so happy… Try as she might, she couldn't stop the schoolgirl giggle bubbling from her mouth instead.
His eyes flashed and a complicated expression dominated his face, some mixture of apprehension and another emotion she instinctively knew he didn't want her to see. He stopped drumming his fingers and resumed quickly spooning dessert down his throat, his swallows lingering longer than before. She had a feeling that, for the first time in his life, coffee jelly deprivation was not his most salient thought.