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Hey scoot over, I brought water, Daichi moved down the bench as Kaito requested, gratefully taking the offered water. He pressed the cool bottle against his cheek before taking a sip. Still tired?
Yeah, physical training days are hard.
Agreed. In front of the twins, a blast of psychic energy slashed through the dirt, and they watched in amazement as Teru shot up into the air to avoid it. His upward trajectory switched immediately from getting safe to offensive, swooping away from them to throw a punch at the blue and purple barrier Ritsu retaliated with. The barrier shoved Teru before he could shatter through it, the energy sending him flying with a triumphant noise. Ritsu wasn’t as vocal with his success, but even from the bench the brothers could feel his aura strengthen with pride.
Ritsu’s getting better with that push technique, Kaito thought towards his brother. Water?
Here. Teru has been working with him on it for ages, looks like it finally clicked. Daichi passed over the bottle, trading it for one of the little towels stacked on the bench. They watched the training silently then,
Hey, Nii-san?
Yeah, Nii-san? Daichi could feel his brother’s playful energy spike.
I bet a week’s allowance Teru wins this again, Kaito’s outwardly expression didn’t change, but internally, they both grinned. This was their favorite game to play after their training was completed, watching the more physical espers continue theirs.
No bet, it’s always a long shot that Ritsu will win and besides, Shigeo is on his way. Teru always goes easier on his brother when he’s around and Ritsu hasn’t figured that out yet.
Oh you’re right. A pause. Three weeks on Teru winning then.
Daichi snorted, reply cut off as Ritsu let out a yell, spiraling through Teru’s guard with some sort of improvised weapon in his hands; a stick from the nearby trees? Teru didn’t flinch as it connected with his side, using the momentum of it instead to swing around and smack a hand on Ritsu’s shoulder, the palm glowing yellow as he traveled. Blue and yellow lit up underneath Teru’s hand and the charge sent them both flying away from each other, tumbling through the dirt. Ritsu stood up first, a clear few seconds faster. Whatever he had flung up in defense worked, a noticeable grin of competitive joy on his face. Three weeks and one of dishes. Daichi countered.
Deal.
“I recognize those looks, you’re both planning your bets. Who is it on today?” Rei plopped down by the towels, grabbing the top one to sling around her shoulders, wiping sweat away from her face. It looked like her laps around the park went well, blindfold shoved up as a makeshift headband.
“Teru,” Kaito said.
“How much?”
“Three weeks of allowance and one week of dishes.” Daichi said, right as Ritsu and Teru collided. All three on the bench winced when the barriers smashed against each other, light catching on the shards for the briefest of moments before they dissipated. Neither stayed in hitting range, landing quick hits before darting away into a game of cat and mouse. Go and Takeshi on the other bench shouted their reactions, fixated on the mock fight.
“Looks like they picked who they’re betting on. Opposite sides as usual... Do you want me to-?”
“Yeah, talk through the technique again, please?” Kaito asked, leaning around his brother to share a smile that Rei returned. Daichi nodded in agreement, adding, “We like hearing how you use your powers.”
“Okay!” She clapped her hands together, mostly to hide the blush from their excitement. She took a few calming breaths, which tuned out the majority of Teru’s encouraging yells, and squashed the rest of the peanut gallery’s comments. Her aura swelled gently around her, eyes zoned out to a place unreachable by the other esper kids, picking at the threads of the future. “I’ll start with what I know. Ritsu and Teru are practicing fighting techniques specifically to better Ritsu’s arsenal. Teru set this up and has a determined conclusion for Ritsu to reach in the lesson before he’ll call it off. That automatically gives him an advantage since he’s looking for weaknesses. Experience wise, Teru is more skilled too and that sets the chance of him winning at 87% without considering any other factors.”
She exhaled slowly, aura twitching in concentration as she inhaled and refocused. It was a workout of its own to speak at the same time and she had been using her powers for the past hour to get around the small obstacle course. Psychically, Rei turned over the threads of success, examining why the ratio was so high and what was required to change it. “However,” She continued. “Ritsu out of everyone is most likely to use the environment alongside his powers, since he grew up without them, and while Teru is really good at adapting to the situation, it still catches him off guard, dropping the ratio to a 78% chance of Teru winning.”
“Not much of a change,” Daichi commented, earning a nod.
“Yeah, Teru’s been fighting a long time. He honestly messes with a lot of our bets.” Rei joked, dropping her focus to clear away the excess energy from her aura before it built up and formed into a headache.
“What about their shared skills, how do they factor into your Sight?” Kaito asked, following some of the excess strands as they fluttered away.
“Like barriers?” She hummed in thought. “It just cancels out I think. Telekinetic techniques are all sort of the same, right?”
“Huh! I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Daichi leaned back, kicking a foot in the dirt as his excitement surfaced. “They really don’t feel different even if different espers use them?”
“Not when I’m Looking. Woa-” Rei paused as the air changed, goosebumps traveling up her arms as Teru did something with his barrier. It flexed under Ritsu’s weight, his aerial attack pushing into its surface like jello. The new improvised weapon bounced harmlessly off and the boy twisted to avoid falling onto his face. Ritsu landed hard on his back, but didn’t let up, throwing psychic energy at Teru with a surgical swipe before scrambling to his feet.
Kaito tugged her arm, “Look at it now, Look at it now, does that feel different?”
“I was just thinking the same!” Rei didn’t waste a breath. What did Teru call this technique again? Multi-barrier? Yeah! Will a multi-barrier feel differently? Tugging gently at the threads, Rei resurfaced almost immediately with the answer. “It does! It feels different, the ratio went back up! If Ritsu doesn’t change up his strategy, he’ll lose.”
The trio watched Ritsu’s weapon shatter against the barrier, and even with an extra force behind his attack, the outermost shell only wobbled in response.
“Ritsu!” “Ritsu!” “Try something else! You won’t get through!” The trio on the bench overlapped their shouts, now invested in watching the other boy succeed against Teru’s advanced skills.
There was no sign the Kagayama brother heard them, skidding away with one of Teru’s telekinetic shoves. He sat, chest heaving in air, glaring underneath bangs that had escaped his clips. His aura was spiky, condensing around him like a porcupine shield.
“Giving up already?” Teru taunted, voice muffled through the barrier layers. Ritsu politely flipped him off. He only got a laugh in response, which surged the pair into action. Some invisible check-point had been reached, and though the spectators couldn’t see what it was, their bets would need to change after Ritsu’s next attack flung Teru, barriers and all, across the field. Two of the layers broke on impact, the third fracturing as a result of the protection it gave the boy inside. Teru got up unharmed, wide smile lighting up his face underneath his hair that rose like a cloud, suddenly free of its hair tie. His aura crackled around him; a counterattack was coming. The other bench leapt to their feet, yelling in excitement.
“What was the original bet again?” Rei asked, before sinking back into her powers. She wanted to watch the fight through her vision as long as she could.
“Three weeks of allowance and one of dishes but-”
“We should adjust it-” “Yeah”
Four weeks allowance, two of dishes?
Still three weeks, but two dishes and one bathroom?
“I think Ritsu unlocked some Kageyama energy,” Rei said beneath the twin’s thoughts.
Ritsu’s not worth trading bathroom chores over!
Yes he is! Did you see how far he flung Teru?
“Since you pointed it out, the telekinetic moves look different now…”
….Four weeks allowance and two bathroom, no dishes.
“Wait, different?” Daichi asked, a noise of confusion echoed by his brother. Internally, he sealed the new bet, deal.
“Yeah.” Rei pushed her Sight further, brows scrunching up. “If I track the auras instead of the moves themselves, they light up differently! I bet it’s related to how auras are different colors!”
“Woah,” “That’s so cool.” “What does the ratio look like now?”
“Who’s winning?” A soft voice asked behind the twins and Rei. All three jumped, whipping around to see Shigeo there, who immediately looked apologetic at their reactions. “Sorry.”
“Teru, but Ritsu is pushing back.” Daichi answered for Rei, who was swaying from the backlash of being startled out of her powers. Shigeo put a hand on her shoulder, and support as cooling as a summer breeze swept through her system, making her hair floof from the extra esper energy.
“Sorry for startling you. I didn’t realize you were still using your powers.” Shigeo said.
“It’s okay,” Rei smiled, patting his hand in thanks. “I think I figured out a new technique.”
“Oh?”
“If I focus on the auras instead of tracking techniques, I can see who is doing which telekinetic move.”
“That’s great Rei,” Shigeo smiled, it was small but his eyes lit up even more. Everyone was immediately charmed. “I’m glad the workouts are improving your control. If you look now, who will win?”
Everyone was curious it seemed; not even Shigeo could avoid the excitement of learning about the future. All four looked back to the field. It was a fair reaction based on how it was progressing. Neither boy had backed down, literally both floating; Teru was higher, concentrated attacks of energy swirling down at Ritsu, who deflected them with little shards of blue and purple. Each hit sparked like clashing swords, noises just as sharp to their ears.
“...Ritsu unlocked some ‘Kageyama Energy’ so it looks like that made the ratio more of an equal chance either winning. But…” Rei said after a pause, trailing off as the threads twisted with new information. She grasped at them, trying to pull them back into view.
“‘Kageyama Energy?’” Shigeo asked, setting down his school bag to lean against the bench.
“I think Go came up with the term,” Daichi explained. “He described it in video game logic, like unlocking the star in Mobo Kart or leveling up a skill tree entirely."
"You get really strong both physically and psychically, faster reflexes and stuff. Your aura gets stronger, more visible too.” Kaito finished the explanation, clearly excited to finally share this knowledge with the source. “We noticed it particularly with you when Claw tried to take over, but Ritsu has it too. We’re not sure if other espers can do that, so the group voted to name it after you two.”
“Oh.” Shigeo processed the information, the twins patiently waiting for his response, looking back at the fight while the elder esper worked it through. Both boys were shouting at each other now, verbal taunts harmless but amusing; their vocabularies were bountiful of clever combinations. I’ll have to remember some of these… the twins thought almost simultaneously.
“Ah-!” Rei snapped back to the world with the results right as the earth trembled, watching with the rest of the observers as Ritsu’s blue aura curled large fists around the dirt, ready to sling at Teru. The cracks fractured through the field, making everything buck and sway.
“What Rei?” Daichi asked, before Shigeo leapt over the bench out onto the field. He was still in his school uniform, looking out of place among the rest of the espers in their haphazardly chosen workout gear, and yet at the same time, he was right where he was supposed to be, legs eating up the distance with confident strides while his aura breathed into view.
“Don’t destroy the park, Ritsu!” Shigeo called up, his own blue and purple aura spreading out wide. “We don’t want to be kicked out again.”
His powers swept the entire area, popping the barriers like soap bubbles, sliding through the earth in an attempt to settle it back into its proper home. The cracks still remained, but everything was flat and stable. Ritsu landed almost on his brother, who cushioned the fall with another little burst of power.
“Hey! Nii-san! I was just about to get him though!” Ritsu said as soon as he found his footing, hands on Shigeo’s shoulders.
“You can beat him without destroying the park.” It was a reply of certainty, backed up Teru’s surprised laugh.
“C’mon little brother, do you need help fighting your own battles?”
“You’re standing all the way over there, don’t be so cocky!” Ritsu threw back, sliding down into a fighting stance.
“Ah,” Shigeo held up his hands, halting the two fighters with the casual gesture. “How about you take a break first? There’s a nice breeze by the river.”
“Oh,” “Yeah, that sounds,” “Sure Nii-san.” The two shrugged as soon as they were able, clearly embarrassed at how easily they let themselves be distracted by Shigeo’s appearance into their fray.
“I was right!” Takeshi suddenly shouted, pointing over to Rei who groaned, while Go crumbled in dramatic misery.
“What was he right about?” Kaito asked, followed closely by Daichi’s, “How did he know?”
“He bet Shigeo wouldn’t be going to Spirits and Such today, and would win the fight.” Rei sighed. “I just Saw it too.”
“Did he win?” The trio looked over to the other trio out on the field, the quiet chastising of the eldest Kageyama brother, and the proud smile that bloomed and the supportive hands on shoulders.
“Yeah. He definitely did.”