Chapter Text
“Ow!”
Kusuo glared at his brother, who just smiled back at him innocently.
“What? I told you it would be painful. But don’t worry, it will be worth it. From now on, you won’t have to worry about people taking out your limiters.”
Kusuo sighed. “Just do the other one already.”
“With pleasure,” Kusuke replied. He quickly removed Kusuo’s remaining antenna, then clicked the new device into place. Kusuo clenched his teeth in preparation for the incoming shock.
This time, he merely grunted in pain as the device activated, relaxing as the feeling faded away after a few seconds.
His brother stepped back and looked at him. “How does it feel?”
He stood up from his chair, and began walking around his room. “Everything feels normal. I think.”
“Good. What about your X-ray vision?”
Kusuo let his gaze settle on a single point on his wall. 10 seconds later, it was still completely opaque.
He nearly smiled. Nearly. “It’s gone.”
“And psychometry?”
Kusuo looked down at his hand, then pulled off his gloves. He slowly reached out, touching a book on his bookshelf. Nothing.
This time, he did smile. “It’s gone too.” He looked up at his brother, hoping he wouldn’t regret his next words. “Thank you.”
Kusuke grinned. “Of course! Those were the only abilities I could completely get rid of, but eventually, I may even be able to do the same for your petrification.”
Kusuo nodded. “I would really appreciate that.”
His brother looked at him incredulously. “Wow! You’re being so nice! What’s going on with you?!”
He rolled his eyes, but didn’t give any answer beyond that. With a wave of his hand, he used psychokinesis to bring his germanium ring to him from its place on his desk.
“Going somewhere?” Kusuke asked.
He nodded. “Café Mami. I told my friends I would be there.”
Kusuke made an excessively dramatic surprised face. “Your friends ? Since when do you consider them your friends?”
Kusuo just shrugged as he left his room, leaving his brother behind. Of course, he made a good point. He had never really considered them his friends until recently. After the incident with the meteor, he had gradually been getting closer with all of them. At some point, he must have started considering them his friends subconsciously.
As he passed by the bathroom, he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. His new limiters were impossible to see under his hair. Rather than the antenna design that he had been used to for years, the new devices were small, flat squares, no thicker than a coin. He could still tell they were there when he touched his head, but they were otherwise completely unnoticeable.
In addition to his lack of “hairpins,” he had also been wearing a new pair of clear glasses. The few days he had gone without powers at the beginning of the school year showed him that it was nice for things to not be green all the time.
In a way, everything that had changed reflected how Kusuo’s life was now. The threat of the volcano was over. It had just been a coincidence that another country-razing natural disaster had shown up so soon afterwards. For the most part, Kusuo was now free to attend school and relax, without the stress of saving everyone on his shoulders. That was likely also why he opened up more around his friends, now that he thought about it.
He hadn’t told them about his powers though. He still planned to, just not yet. Eventually, but not today.
Kusuo slipped on his jacket as he put on his shoes, then stepped out the door. His parents were currently visiting his grandparents, and Kusuke had decided to stay for a few days, so he could “monitor Kusuo’s health” after the installation of his new limiters. With his brother alone in the house, he wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up looking like it came from 20 years in the future by the end of the week.
Stepping through the gate, he started making his way towards Café Mami. It would have been faster to teleport, but that was risky. Even with clairvoyance, he couldn’t guarantee that no one would see him.
He twisted his ring on his index finger, already nervous from not being able to detect people nearby. He wore it a lot more these days, but it was still hard to ignore the idea that literally anyone could be out to attack him, or stalk him, or steal from him, or kidnap him….
But he had been getting better, albeit slowly. He had always relied on his telepathy way too much, and he knew that nobody would be out to get him. Even if they were, they would stand no chance against him. Nothing could really hurt him, and his enhanced senses would alert him of any stalkers. He could easily find and capture a thief, and he could escape from any kidnapper with a mere thought. There was nothing to worry about.
“Hey, Saiki!”
He jumped away from the source of the voice, whirling around to face it.
Just because he knew no one would hurt him didn’t mean they wouldn’t scare him. He would really need to work on this.
Teruhashi giggled. “Sorry Saiki, I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you on your way to Café Mami?”
He took a moment for his heartbeat to slow down. Because she surprised him, obviously. Not because of...anything else.
He nodded. “You’re coming too, right?”
“Yeah! We can walk together!” She quickly made her way over to his side as he started walking again.
Neither of them spoke as they made their way down the sidewalk, but Kusuo knew her head was likely full of thoughts about him, and how to get him to say offu . Normally, Kusuo would love the silence, and want to preserve it for as long as possible, so he was a bit confused when he found himself speaking.
“Who else will be there?”
She looked over at him in surprise, probably because she hadn’t expected him to speak up. He shared her surprise there.
“Oh, well there’s Chiyo, Kaidou, Kuboyasu, Nendou, and Hairo. And us. Mera doesn’t work there on weekends, and she has another job she needed to be at.”
Kusuo thought for a moment, then realized that that particular assortment of people was the same group that had barged into his room in the alternate timeline he had created nearly a year ago. Of course, they were all very different in that reality. But they were also very similar in a lot of ways.
Teruhashi spoke again. “I’m surprised you wanted to come with us, Saiki. You don’t normally...do this sort of thing.”
He shrugged. “I’m trying to be better about that.”
She smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re coming, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t.”
He looked over at her, surprised. That was…very considerate of her.
“Thank you, but I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t want to.”
She smiled at him again, and Kusuo found that he couldn’t force his eyes away. It was just like the first time he saw her without x-ray vision, all those months ago.
That wasn’t good. If this was going to be a recurring problem, he would have to find a way around it. He couldn’t get away with staring at her for so long if it happened again. He didn’t even know if he would get away with it this time.
“Saiki?” She had begun to blush, but she also looked concerned for him.
Finally, he was able to move again. He blinked, turning his head back to the road. He was glad he was wearing his germanium ring. He didn’t even want to know what she had thought about that.
They continued walking in silence for a while. Kusuo found that he enjoyed the feeling of the spring afternoon’s coolness, and the light breeze blowing around him.
“Oh, we’re here!” Teruhashi said. Kusuo turned to his right, and sure enough, they had already made it to Café Mami.
“Pal! You made it!” Nendou barged through the doors, reaching out to pat Kusuo on the back. He tensed, but then decided not to dodge it, just this once.
Nendou’s hand slammed down on Saiki’s shoulder with a ridiculous amount of force. If he didn’t have super strength, he surely would have fallen down.
“And Teruhashi!” He reached his other hand up, but then seemed to think better of it.
That was surprising. As far as Kusuo knew, Nendou didn’t think at all.
“Hi Nendou,” Teruhashi said. “Is everyone else here already?”
“Yep! See?” He pointed to a window, where the others were all sitting at a booth and looking at them through the glass. Yumehara seemed to be looking at Teruhashi with a smirk.
“Come on, pal, you’ll love this place! It’s got that stuff you like! What is it, coffee...something?”
Kusuo sighed. “Coffee jelly. And I go here all the time, Nendou.”
His eyes widened, like this was the most shocking thing he’d heard all day. “What?! You do?!”
He nodded, then followed behind Nendou, with Teruhashi behind him, as they entered the building. Nendou rambled about how he had no idea Kusuo had been here before, while Kusuo looked around the café.
At the booth they had seen through the window, everyone was sitting down and chatting. On one side, Kaidou was closest to the window, with Yumehara next to him. On the other, Kuboyasu was across from Kaidou, and Hairo was next to him. Nendou bounded over and sat down next to Hairo, taking up nearly all the space on that side of the booth.
Teruhashi then walked up and sat next to Yumehara, greeting everyone. Kusuo sat next to her. It wasn’t like he had a choice, since Nendou was taking up so much room.
“Saiki! You came!” Kaidou exclaimed, clearly thrilled. “I mean, uh...of course you came. We’re going to be discussing vital information about Dark Reunion. You couldn’t afford to miss it.”
“...Right,” Kusuo replied. “That, along with coffee jelly.”
“Heh. Of course.” Kaidou quickly turned to Kuboyasu and resumed his conversation with him.
“What can I get for all of you?” A waitress showed up, holding a notepad and pen.
After everyone ordered, she left and went into the kitchen.
“Hey pal, why do you like coffee butter so much?”
Coffee...butter. Coffee butter? Coffee butter ?!
“Coffee jelly , Nendou.”
“Oh. Well, I’ve never seen anyone else who likes it as much as you do.”
Kusuo shrugged. “And I’ve never seen anyone who likes ramen as much as you.”
For some reason, Nendou seemed to find this hilarious. “HAHAHAHA! That’s true! I love ramen!”
“I like ramen,” a voice said from behind Kusuo. “But it has nothing on coffee jelly.”
The new person walked into Kusuo’s line of sight, standing at the end of their table.
“Hi, I’m Kuriko.”
Kusuo looked up at her, surprised. He didn’t know anyone else with that name, which was one of the main reasons he had chosen it for his female form.
“Oh, that’s Saiki’s sister’s name,” Yumehara said. She squinted at her, then added, “You actually look a lot like her.”
She was right. This girl shared many features with Kusuo’s other form. In fact, their faces were scarily similar, but different enough to distinguish them. What took him by surprise was that she had purple eyes, seemingly identical to his own.
But she was also a few inches shorter, and her hair was completely different. It was blue–the same shade as Teruhashi’s, but a bit longer than hers.
“Pal has a sister?” Nendou asked.
Kusuo nodded in response, not wanting to draw too much attention to the topic. Fortunately, the new girl spoke up again. “I don’t want to intrude, but is it alright if I sit with you guys?”
“Of course!” Hairo replied. “You’re a freshman at PK Academy, aren’t you? I think I’ve seen you around.”
She nodded. “I just transferred in this week. I haven’t really met anyone yet, so thank you for letting me sit with you.” Nendou scooted over, and she sat down next to him, across from Kusuo.
“I’m Teruhashi, and this is Saiki.” Teruhashi said. She pointed to her left. “This is Yumehara, and then Kaidou. And next to you is Nendou, then Hairo, and then Kuboyasu.”
Kuriko nodded, smiling. “It’s nice to meet all of you. I’m always glad to have new friends.”
Kusuo nearly laughed. Here he was, four or five years (in a time loop, but still) after he had met these people, and he was only just starting to consider them his friends. And this girl, who had never met any of them before, was already doing the same, not even a full minute after meeting them.
“We’re all seniors, so you might not see us a lot at school,” Kuboyasu said.
“That’s okay with me!” she replied.
At that moment, the waitress came back with everyone’s orders. Kusuo’s eyes lit up as his coffee jelly was placed in front of him.
“I’ll take a coffee jelly too,” Kuriko told the waitress.
He looked up at her, and she shrugged. “I love it too. It’s the best food in the world.”
He nodded in agreement. “See, Nendou? I’m not the only one.”
Nendou turned to him. “Oh? Maybe it’s only for people who have purple eyes.”
Kuriko laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”
Kusuo ignored them, picking up his spoon and starting on his favorite dessert, savoring each bite.
After a few minutes, the waitress came out again with another coffee jelly. She placed it in front of Kuriko. “Enjoy.”
After he was finished with his own treat, he looked up at her. She certainly seemed to be enjoying it. She had a blissful expression on her face–just like the one that Kusuo had been told he had when eating sweets.
He wasn’t the only one to notice this. Several others were looking at her as she ate her dessert with her eyes closed.
Something about this girl...Kusuo couldn’t put his finger on it, but she seemed so...not exactly familiar, but something else. Obviously, she had quite a bit in common with Kusuo himself, but that wasn’t all. He couldn’t figure it out, though. Maybe he should read her mind.
He quickly slid the germanium ring off of his finger, bracing himself for the overwhelming presence of everyone’s thoughts.
He took a moment to adjust to the noise, then focused on Kuriko, only to hear...nothing. Not a single thought. He looked at her in confusion, but then his eyes fell on her wrist. She was wearing a plain metal bracelet.
“Interesting bracelet. What’s it made of?” It may have been a strange thing to ask, but he didn’t care. He needed to figure out who this was.
“Oh, thanks. It’s germanium. My dad gave it to me.”
Great. So he wouldn’t be able to read her mind. Of course, he could easily remove the bracelet with psychokinesis, or apport it away if he really wanted to. But that would reveal his powers.
He slipped his ring back on, thankful for the silence.
“That’s germanium too, isn’t it?” She pointed to his ring.
“I don’t know,” he lied.
She tilted her head, smiling at him strangely. “Hm. Well, I think it’s germanium.”
“If you say so.”
She went back to eating her coffee jelly, smiling with each bite.
“Hey Kuriko,” Teruhashi said. “Where are you from?”
She paused her chewing, like she hadn’t expected to be asked that. She swallowed, then answered. “I’ve always lived here. I just moved to another house recently, so I switched schools.”
“Oh. Well, I think you’ll like PK Academy.”
“I do so far.” She smiled. She seemed to do that a lot. “How long have you two been together?”
Everyone stopped talking. It took a moment for Kusuo to realize she was talking about him and Teruhashi.
“What?! Saiki and I?! We’re not dating!” Teruhashi’s face was practically a tomato.
Nendou laughed. “AHAHA! She thinks pal is dating Teruhashi! Wouldn’t that be something!”
Kuriko looked genuinely surprised. “Wait, you’re not? I thought...”
“You thought wrong,” Kusuo said.
She looked between him and Teruhashi several times, her brow furrowed in confusion. She was definitely hiding something.
“But…okay. What’s the date?”
The date? Was she trying to change the topic?
“It’s the 14th,” Kaidou said.
Kuriko’s eyes widened. “Oh. Of...April, right?”
“...Yeah.” Kaidou looked at her questioningly.
Time traveler.
The thought appeared from nowhere in Kusuo’s mind. But it made sense. Why else would she be asking about the date and acting so strangely?
He stood up. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
She paled a bit, then stood too. “Sure.”
Without looking back at the rest of the table, he made his way over to the door and stepped outside, Kuriko following behind him. He walked down the sidewalk until he was out of his friends’ sight, then turned around. But Kuriko was gone.
“I messed up.” The voice came from behind him. He whirled around, and she was standing there, an apologetic expression on her face. Okay, time traveler and teleporter.
“I didn’t mean to come here. But now I can’t get back.”
He sighed. “So you’re from the future?”
She nodded.
“And you’re a psychic?”
“Not entirely. Not like you, anyway.” She looked to the ground. “I can teleport, but nothing else.”
“So how did you get here?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I just woke up here several days ago. I’ve been trying to find my dad, since he has experience with this kind of thing.”
Kusuo raised his eyebrows. “He has experience with time travel?”
She nodded. “Yeah, but I won’t have to find him now that you’re here. You can get me home, right?”
He thought back to the few times he had time travelled before. “I...might be able to. I’ve never actually traveled to the future. Just the past.”
She took a shaky breath. “Okay, well I’m from 2034. It was August 6th, my mom’s birthday.”
That was farther in the future than he had expected. It didn’t matter though. He needed to get her back as soon as possible. “Alright.” He focused, preparing himself for the time jump. “Ready?”
She looked up in surprise, like she hadn’t expected him to do it right now. She nodded, and he grabbed her shoulder. Kusuo let himself be dragged forwards in the flow of time, and a flash of light blinded him. He blinked, disoriented, then looked around after his vision cleared up.
His surroundings were different, but most of the changes were minor. The sidewalk was a bit more cracked and worn down, and Café Mami was completely empty. It looked like it had been closed for years. That was sad, but there was a more pressing issue.
Kuriko wasn’t there anymore.
“Yare yare,” he grumbled. He took a deep breath. Apparently, he couldn’t take people with him through time.
He quickly travelled back to the very moment he had left from. His hand was still on Kuriko’s shoulder, and she was staring at him expectantly.
“It didn’t work. I made it there, but you didn’t come with me.”
Her expression fell. “If you can’t get me back...then what do I do?”
“Well, you said your dad has experience with this.” She nodded. “But whatever you do, you cannot talk to him. You shouldn’t even go near him. The butterfly effect would wreak havoc on your future.”
She seemed to pale at his words.
“I should be able to talk to him though,” he said. “Maybe he can help, as long as I don’t mention you.” He wanted to get her home as soon as possible. Just by being here, she had almost certainly changed the future already.
“So who is he?” he asked.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head as she stared at the sidewalk. “Um…”
He frowned. “Kuriko? Who’s your father?”
She took a deep breath, then looked up at him, her purple eyes meeting his own.
“You are. Hi, Dad.”