Chapter Text
Kusuo’s brain wasn’t working.
He stared at the girl in front of him, and she stared back. Not a single thought went through his head. He simply stood there, looking at this girl who claimed to be his daughter.
Her eyes...he had noticed how similar they were to his own before, but now he saw them in a new light. They were his eyes.
Everything checked out. Her powers, her name, her appearance, even her love for coffee jelly…
There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. This was his daughter.
...His daughter .
Eventually, he sighed, closing his eyes. What was he supposed to do? It was too late to fix the timeline. She had already changed it too much at this point.
“You should have stayed away from me,” he said.
“I know, but I can’t get back on my own. I didn’t have any other choice.”
He opened his eyes, looking back at her. She seemed ashamed, her gaze fixated on a crack in the sidewalk.
“...Is your name really Kuriko?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “You should already know the story behind it at this point.”
“Yeah.” He assumed it was the same story he was thinking of, but it could have been one that hadn’t happened yet. She was from the future, after all.
He continued speaking in a softer tone than usual. “You know that the future will already be different, right? A lot different. If we can get you back, it won’t be the same.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what else to do.” She seemed to be looking anywhere except his eyes.
“...It’s okay.” Slowly, she began to look up at him again. “You didn’t have a choice. I understand.”
She gave a sad smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Thank you. I guess you already figured out who my mom is?”
His eyes moved to her hair. Its blue shade was all too familiar to him. He had only ever seen it on one other person.
“Yeah.” He didn’t exactly know what to think about that. “I have a pretty good guess.”
She looked back down at the ground. “I just hope I didn’t mess up your relationship with her before it even began.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond. It was all so weird to think about.
Kuriko reached into her pocket, then pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. She looked at it for a second, then handed it to Kusuo.
He tentatively reached out and took it, holding it with both of his hands. His eyes didn’t leave it for a very long time.
It was a photograph. Kusuo stood on a beach, seemingly in his late 20s or early 30s. Teruhashi stood at his side, leaning into his arms with a smile, as beautiful as ever. A young girl was perched on Kusuo’s shoulders, probably around five or six years old. With her blue hair and purple eyes, it was clear who she was.
Kusuo completely lost track of time as he stared at the picture. When he finally tore his gaze away from it, every detail was ingrained in his memory, from the way Teruhashi’s hair was blowing slightly in the wind, to the huge grin on younger Kuriko’s face, and the sunlight reflecting off of the rings that Kusuo and Teruhashi were wearing.
He looked up at his daughter. “I...” For what may have been the first time in his life, Kusuo was utterly speechless.
“What am I going to do?” Her voice was barely audible. “You were my only chance of getting home.”
“Kuriko…” He took a shaky breath. “I don’t have a lot of experience with time travel, but I’m going to figure something out. My brother is good at this stuff. He’s gotten me out of situations like this before.”
“Uncle Kusuke?”
He laughed, completely caught off guard by the title. “Yeah. Uncle Kusuke.”
She smiled at him, but he could tell she was still worried. He was too.
“So Da...or...um, what should I call you?” she asked. “I know this is probably really weird for you.”
It definitely was. But Kusuo was used to weird stuff happening all the time. Otherwise, he would still be freaking out and staring at her.
But she brought up a good question. It was strange to hear her call him dad, but...that’s what he was to her, right? That’s what she had probably called him for all of her life.
“While we’re around people who don’t know, just call me Saiki. Otherwise, Dad is fine.”
She grinned. “Okay, Dad.”
He realized it was getting dark out, and she was shivering a little bit. “Do you want to go back inside?”
“Should I?” she asked. “Don’t you think I should stay away from Mom?” She paused. “Sorry, that must be weird for you to hear too.”
He shrugged, ignoring the last part. “She didn’t recognize me when I was another gender. You’ll be fine.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s just hope the same name works to fool her twice.”
He let himself smile slightly. “Come on.” He glanced down, and realized he was still holding the photograph. He held it out, and she took it, then folded it and placed it in her pocket.
Before they could make it back to the cafe, the door opened. Kusuo’s breath hitched when Teruhashi stepped out. He wasn’t quite ready to see her again.
“Hey,” she said, approaching them. “Are you guys okay? You’ve been out here for a while.”
He nodded, trying not to stare at her. He couldn’t get the photograph out of his mind.
“I’m sorry about the misunderstanding earlier,” Kuriko said.
“Oh, it’s okay,” Teruhashi said happily. She was probably thrilled that she and Kusuo had been mistaken for a couple, even if it had embarrassed her at the time.
Kuriko gave a small smile, then quickly stepped into the building, leaving Kusuo and Teruhashi alone outside.
“There’s...something about her,” Teruhashi commented, watching through the window as Kuriko returned to the table. “I don’t know. I can’t really describe it.”
Kusuo nodded. “It’s like I feel like I should already know her.”
She turned to him, smiling. “Exactly!”
Seeing her, he realized where Kuriko got her smile from.
This was all so weird. He and Teruhashi were barely friends, and now he knew that they were supposed to be together in the future. And they had a daughter .
It was probably best not to think about it too much.
“Saiki?”
He blinked, realizing he had been staring at her again. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
“It’s fine.” She tilted her head, smiling slightly. Kuriko had done the same exact thing earlier in the cafe. “I think I’ve heard you talk more today than any other day, Saiki.”
He nodded. “Probably. I’ve always kept to myself.”
“So why not anymore?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m tired of it.”
He wasn’t lying. He couldn’t really explain his change in behavior. Maybe it had something to do with him using his actual voice to talk, instead of telepathy. Or maybe he really was just tired of staying quiet all the time.
“Well, I’m glad,” Teruhashi said. “It’s nice to hear you talk.”
He wasn’t...exactly sure what she meant by that. Did she mean she liked to hear what he had to say, or she liked how his voice sounded?
Why am I overthinking this?
She had a nice voice herself.
And why did I just think that?
A lot of things were nice about her.
Stop.
“Do you want to go see a movie, Saiki?”
...What?
He looked over at her in surprise. She was blushing furiously, and even trembling a bit. She looked like she was forcing herself to meet his eyes.
Wow, that came out of nowhere. I didn’t think she’d ever ask me directly like that. I’m actually impressed.
He sighed internally. I almost feel bad now, but I have to tell her no.
“Yes.”
Wait, that’s not right.
She looked at him with a surprised expression. “Really?”
Why did I just say that?
He nodded. “Yeah. Right now?”
What…
Her eyes shone with happiness. “Sure! Let me just get my things.”
She stepped inside the cafe, then grabbed her bag from the booth and stopped to say something to Yumehara. He took the opportunity to talk to Kuriko with telepathy, but he wasn’t sure if the germanium would let her hear him.
“Can you hear me?”
She looked at him through the window, and nodded subtly.
“I have to do something for a couple hours. ...Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded again, giving a small smile.
“Okay. I’ll find you later with clairvoyance.”
With a final nod and another smile, she turned back to her coffee jelly.
The door opened, and Teruhashi stepped out, her eyes still glowing with joy as she grinned at Kusuo.
“Ready?” she asked.
He nodded, and they both started down the sidewalk, side by side.
“This was really nice.”
Kusuo nodded. “Yeah. It was.”
“So...do you want to do it again sometime? Not necessarily another movie, but...anything?”
He gave a small smile. “I’d like that.”
She grinned, radiating just as much happiness as earlier. “Great! Well, I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday, Saiki.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” She turned around and walked through her gate, then opened the door to her house and stepped inside.
Kusuo waited for about 10 seconds before he began his breakdown.
What...was...he... DOING ?!
That was Teruhashi!
He was Saiki!
He didn’t do this kind of thing!
In fact, he had constantly made an effort to ensure this wouldn’t happen!
She had had a crush on him for years, and he had always done his absolute best to avoid this exact situation!
So why was he acting like he liked her just as much as she liked him?!
...Maybe it was because he liked her just as much as she liked him.
But he didn’t . He couldn’t .
He didn’t get crushes. He didn’t like her like that.
So why was he feeling so happy ?! It was ridiculous! The stupid warm feeling in his chest wouldn’t go away.
He sighed in frustration, turning around to face the street. He quickly stepped in front of Teruhashi’s fence, so she couldn’t see him through the window, and teleported home.
He appeared in the middle of his living room. Kusuke was sitting on the couch, typing on a laptop. He looked up. “Ah, you’re back. You certainly took your time.”
He didn’t respond, silently making his way over to the stairs. At the top, he stepped into his room and sat down on his bed.
His Teruhashi problem could wait until later. Right now, he needed to check on Kuriko.
He crossed his eyes, activating his clairvoyance. He saw her sitting in a chair, reading a book in a...strange setting. It appeared to be her room, but it was cut out from the rest of whatever building it came from, instead sitting in what looked like some kind of warehouse. It was eerily reminiscent of the time Kusuo woke up in the past, when his own room came with him and landed in a tree.
He teleported to the place he saw, and immediately noticed how cold it was.
“Kuriko.”
She looked up from her book, then put it down and stood up, smiling.
“Is this...where you’ve been staying?”
She nodded. “As you can see, my whole room came with me for some reason, so I’ve got my bed and everything.”
He looked around. Like he had thought, they were in a warehouse. It looked like it had been abandoned for years, and it was filled with nothing but dust. Kusuo wouldn’t want to spend a single night here, even if his room came with him. He felt awful that she had to sleep here.
“You can stay at my house. My parents are gone for the weekend, so it’s just Kusuke and me.”
She looked hopeful, but apprehensive. “A warmer place to stay might be nice. But...should I really be around you?”
“At this point, I doubt it matters. I already know who you are, so just being around me shouldn’t affect the timeline too much.”
“Okay.” Her eyes were full of relief. It just made him feel worse. “Thanks, Dad.”
It felt weird to be called that, but he got the feeling it would be even stranger for her to call him anything else.
“Of course. We’re going to have to tell Kusuke about you, since he’s our best chance of getting you home.”
“Alright. Uncle Kusuke always loved me. I wonder if he’ll be the same now.”
He raised his eyebrows. “So he’s...a good uncle?”
“Eh...” She tilted her head. “He’s always good to me. He just doesn’t like Mom. He thinks she’s not worthy of you, or something.”
“Oh. Right.” He already knew that from the time Teruhashi and Kusuke had met, but he didn’t know he was the same way in the future. “So, are you ready?”
She picked up the book she had been reading. “Yep!”
He walked over and grabbed her shoulder, then teleported both of them back to his living room.
Kusuke was still on the couch, sipping tea as he typed on his laptop with one hand. He didn’t even look up this time. “Back again? I didn’t even know you left. And look, you brought a friend.”
Kusuo was about to respond, but then Kusuke looked up, his eyes falling on Kuriko curiously. He looked at her for about three seconds, before his face split into a wide grin.
“She’s your daughter, isn’t she?”
Then his smile dropped, and he had a look of disgust. “That spoiled blue-haired girl? Really, Kusuo? I mean, you may not be with her yet, but clearly you will be at some point, given that you’re going to have a child together.”
Kusuo glared at him, but before he could say anything, Kusuke turned back to Kuriko and grinned again. “But that doesn’t matter! You’re my little brother’s daughter! You probably already know me from the future, unless I died or something. So, what’s your name?”
She blinked, probably overwhelmed by the sheer amount of words thrown at her. “Um...I’m Kuriko.”
“HA! Kusuo gave you the same name he used when he turned into a girl and pretended to be his own sister! That is good!”
Kusuo’s head snapped to his brother. “How do you even know about that?!”
Kusuke just ignored him. “But really, it’s not a bad name. I like it. So, what powers do you have?”
“I can teleport.”
He gestured for her to continue. “And?”
“That’s it.”
Kusuke sighed. “Oh well. I was hoping for more, but you’re still far superior to everyone else. Other than your father, of course.”
Kusuo glared at him again, but Kuriko just laughed.
“So, Kusuo, I’m assuming there’s a reason you’re letting her run around in the past?”
“She’s stuck,” he said. “We can’t get her back.”
Kusuke raised his eyebrows. “How did she get here in the first place?”
Kuriko shrugged. “I have no idea. I just woke up here, along with my room.”
“The same thing happened to me once,” Kusuo added. “I woke up in my room, but it was about 20 years in the past.”
Kusuke looked intrigued. “And how did you get back?”
“I just travelled back to the present. But she can’t do that.”
Kusuke turned to her. “But you got here. Clearly, you have the ability to time travel. You probably just don’t know how to use it.”
Kuriko’s brow furrowed. “I’ve been trying to go back for nearly a week now. I can’t do it.”
“Hmm.” Kusuke looked back at Kusuo. “And you can’t just take her to the future?”
He shook his head. “I tried. I can’t seem to take people through time with me.”
His brother seemed to ponder something for a moment. “I have a theory.”
“What is it?” Kuriko asked.
“It’s rather simple, actually. Kusuo, you need to wait between every time you teleport, correct?”
He nodded.
“Do you know if the same applies for time travelling?”
He thought back, then shrugged. “I haven’t done it enough to know for sure. I often have to wait two hours in between time jumps anyway, since I have to change my form when I’m around my younger self.”
Kusuke nodded, a knowing look in his eyes. “Well, I’m guessing that Kuriko has a cooldown on her time travelling ability,” Kusuke said. “And, since she clearly has much less overall psychic power than you, I would be willing to bet that her cooldown is quite long.”
“How long?” Kuriko asked.
He shrugged. “That depends. How long is the cooldown for your teleportation?”
“I don’t have one.”
Kusuo looked at her, surprised. “You can teleport as often as you want?”
She nodded, smiling a bit.
Kusuke scratched his chin. “Hm. Well, that complicates things. My best answer to your question is this: I have no idea. It could be any amount of time. If I were you, I would try to sense your power recharging.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Just...try to sense it? That’s a bit vague.”
Kusuke shrugged. “I’m not the one with psychic powers. Maybe you should ask your father.”
She turned to Kusuo. He sighed. “I...can’t really explain it any better than he did. If it’s like teleportation is for me, you should be able to feel the power recharging.”
She nodded. “Okay, maybe I’ll recognize it when I feel it.
“Until then,” Kusuke said, “you’ll just have to stay here. And I, for one, am thrilled to be able to get to know my niece. My psychic niece.”
Kusuo frowned. “What about the future? The more any of us know about her, the more it’s going to change.”
His brother looked at him incredulously and laughed, like he found it genuinely funny. “Of course it’s going to change! It’s almost certainly changed so much already that it’ll be completely unrecognizable to her! Anything else she says or does will change it further, but it’s not like it matters at all at this point!”
“So…” Kuriko furrowed her brow. “I can tell you about the future? And it won’t matter?”
Kusuke nodded. “The butterfly effect is essentially when something small makes a huge change in the future. But by revealing who you are to us, you’ve already done something huge, so the effect on the future will be colossal. Basically, anything else you say or do will pale in comparison. It doesn’t even matter at this point.”
Kuriko looked down, seemingly ashamed. It hurt Kusuo to see her like that.
“Kuriko, it wasn’t your fault. You had no other choice.”
She nodded. “Yeah, you already said that, but...if I really just needed to wait for my power to recharge, maybe everything would have been fine if I had just waited longer.”
He shook his head. “You waited long enough. I would have done the same in your situation.”
She met his eyes, giving a small smile.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Kusuke said. “You have about 15 years to catch up on, Kusuo.” He retreated up the stairs, leaving Kusuo and Kuriko alone in the living room.
“Let’s sit down.” Kusuo gestured towards the couch. She sat at the end, and he used psychokinesis to move a chair over to him, placing it across from her. He sat down, staring at his daughter.
“I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have, now that I know I can,” Kuriko said.
Kusuo nodded. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t dying to know about her.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“15, like Uncle Kusuke said.”
“So...obviously, this is strange for me, since I’m only two years older than you.”
She nodded, then tilted her head and looked at him. “Aren’t you technically in your twenties? Because of the time loops?”
He paused. “I...never really thought about it that way. But yeah, I guess I’ve technically been alive for...21 or 22 years. I’m not sure. I wasn’t keeping track of how many times I didn’t stop the volcano.”
“So that’s a six or seven year difference. I’d say that’s better than two.”
He smirked. “Yeah. It’s an improvement, at least.” He looked to the side, in the direction he knew Teruhashi’s house was in. “Tell me about your mother.”
She gave a small, sad smile. “I wasn’t going to say it, but now I guess I can. Before I messed it up, you were supposed to have your first date today.”
Kusuo’s eyes widened. “What...what kind of date?”
She furrowed her brow. “I think you were supposed to have gone to the movies.”
Oh.
Had that been a date? Apparently the older version of Kusuo and Teruhashi considered it to be one, if they had told Kuriko it was.
“Yare yare. You didn’t mess anything up, Kuriko. Where do you think I went for two hours?”
She blinked, then looked up at him with a grin. “So you did get together?”
“No, we...I didn’t think of it as a date. We just went to see a movie.”
“Riiight. Just a movie.” Her grin was just like Teruhashi’s.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes. Just a movie. Now, let’s move on.”
“Sure.” She dropped her smile, but her eyes still shone with amusement. “What do you want to know?”
He thought for a moment. “How...is life? How was your childhood?”
She shrugged. “Pretty good. When your mom is probably the most beautiful woman in the world, and your dad is probably the most powerful man in the world, life isn’t bad. We’ve got a nice house, but nothing too fancy. I go to school at PK Academy.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? So we still live here?”
She nodded. “We travel sometimes, but this has always been home.”
That was strange to think about. Kusuo had stayed here longer than any other town he’d lived in, but to think that he would remain for...however many years in the future she was from…. Of course, it was entirely possible that that wouldn’t happen anymore, since the future was changed. What Kuriko was telling him about was just one possibility.
He was about to ask more, but then a glint of reflected light caught his attention. He squinted at it, then walked over to it, finding a small camera hidden on the TV.
He picked it up, then sighed and crushed it in his hand. “I’ll be right back.”
He teleported to his brother’s temporary room, crossing his arms and glaring at him. “Just because my X-ray vision is gone doesn’t mean I’m blind.” He tossed the scraps of metal and glass onto the floor in front of his brother, who was sitting in an office chair in front of three monitors.
Kusuke grinned at him. “Yes, well that was just one of them. I seriously doubt you’ll be able to find all of my cameras, and I would just replace them if you did. But you have more pressing concerns right now.”
Kusuo raised his eyebrows. “Such as?”
“Such as the fact that you still haven’t taken off that ring, meaning you can’t sense our parents, who are walking through the front door as we speak.”