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Chapter Text

Mikoto wasn’t sweating. She was glistening .

But whatever she called it, the weather outside was making it worse. 

Hidariwakibara was being smothered by an oppressive heat wave, and Mikoto needed some relief somehow. Her handkerchief was soaked from wiping her brow, and her makeup was melting off. Thank god she was able to get the last bottled lemonade at the kakigori shaved ice stand in the city square!

Of course, the fortune teller knew that having some good luck earlier meant that a balancing bit of bad luck would be coming soon. Hopefully it would hold off until after she finished her shopping trip.

The 100-yen store caught her eye as she walked past. The colorful displays just inside the door would surely have what she was looking for. Mikoto walked through the sliding door and stopped for a moment, breathing in the cool air and enjoying the relief from the heat outside. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stand there in the entranceway forever; it was already noon, the weather was only supposed to get hotter, and she needed to get home before it got even more unbearable.

She went straight to the wall of folding fans. Her small, battery-powered fan was nice, but it just didn’t seem to move enough air for a day like today. It didn’t hurt that these folding fans were super cute. Mikoto looked up at the selection of designs and noticed a row of brightly-colored, shiny plastic fans that looked like a perfect match for her sense of style. She held her hand up and matched each color against her glittery yellow manicure. 

She sighed and pursed her lips. They didn’t have any yellow fans.

Mikoto scanned the rest of the fan display for one that she could settle for. 
“No. Nope. Not that one. Ew, no.”

Just then, at the very top of the shelf, she saw a glimmer of yellow peeking over the side. They did have one! 

She looked around to make sure nobody was watching, and then she carefully stepped up on the bottom shelf to reach for the yellow fan. The shelf creaked as she stretched her arm up as high as she could, the tips of her fingernails barely able to touch the top shelf. She stepped down from the bottom shelf, defeated.

“Hey, gyaru!” she heard behind her suddenly, “Tryin’ to get that fan up there?”

An arm reached over her and grabbed the yellow fan from the top shelf. 
Mikoto turned around, and Nendou presented the fan to her. 

“It looks real fancy,” he said, “Looks just like your nails!”

“Wow,” Mikoto marveled, “Thanks a ton, Nendou! Today must be like, my lucky day.”

Just as that last sentence left her mouth, her heart sank. She knew that the luckier her day was, the worse it would be when her luck turned around.

Nendou pulled up the front of his shirt and wiped the sweat off his face.
“It sure is hot out there, huh? I had to come in here just to cool off, but now I gotta buy something!” he said, browsing the fans himself. “These look so nice, but I only brought ¥500. How much do ya think these cost?”

Mikoto blinked. 
“This is a 100-yen store. They’re ¥100,” she replied.

Nendou held his gut and laughed loudly. “Yeah! That’s right!” he said, grabbing a fan randomly from the display and following Mikoto to the registers.

The cashier greeted the teenagers and scanned the bar code on Mikoto’s fan. “Did you find everything you were looking for today?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Mikoto said with a smile as she pulled out her coin purse and paid for her fan. 

The cashier handed her the receipt, and just as she reached to take it-

“Oh, whoops!” Nendou shouted behind her. 

Mikoto turned around just in time to see a small ceramic dish fall off its shelf and shatter on the floor. Her precognitive mind latched onto the random scattering of the shards, seeing the ripples of time in the mess. The way the pieces reflected light, the way some of them tumbled as they landed on the floor, the combination of jagged and smooth edges – all painted a picture of the future for Mikoto in that moment that only a psychic like her could interpret. Something bad was about to happen.

She gasped.

“It’s okay, miss,” the cashier reassured, “we’ll clean it up.”

Mikoto snatched the ¥500 coin from Nendou’s hand and slapped it down on the counter to pay for the broken merchandise and Nendou’s fan. She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the exit. 
“We’ve gotta go NOW ,” she said with a sense of urgency in her voice.

“Hey, gyaru! What are ya doing?” Nendou shouted angrily, “I don’t think they’re gonna be that mad at us for bumping into that shelf and breakin’ that plate!”

They exited the store and stood on the sidewalk outside for a moment. Mikoto pulled out her bedazzled phone and began furiously typing.

Without looking up, she explained her reaction to Nendou. 
“There’s gonna be a fucking blackout in like, less than an hour. And the hospital’s generator is totally messed up so it’s gonna be really gnarly down there unless we do something! Like, people on life support are gonna die!”

Nendou frowned and wiped sweat from his brow.
“Oh? That sounds pretty bad!” he replied, “What are ya doing on your phone, though?”

Mikoto stopped typing and looked up.
“I’m trying to get ahold of some people who might be able to help. But they’re ghosting me,” she said, shoving her phone back into her bra with an exasperated sigh, “We’re gonna have to do this ourselves.”

Mikoto started running back toward the center of town. The hospital was just a few blocks away, but running in this weather felt like swimming through hot soup. Sweat poured down her neck and began to soak the back of her shirt. Nendou caught up with her quickly. Even the normally effortlessly athletic boy was beginning to struggle. He pointed ahead at the large white building in front of them.

“Th…that’s the hospital,” he huffed, “... right?

“Yeah… you find a maintenance guy and I’ll like, look for the gene…generator,” Mikoto directed, also out of breath.

Nendou ran ahead and barrelled through the doors.

Mikoto was running out of energy, but she mustered enough strength to jog around to the back of the building. She found a large metal box with cables running to it. That had to be the generator. There was a large access panel on the side with a slightly ajar door. Mikoto squeezed her fingers through the crack and pulled hard to pry the door open. Her hands burned against the hot metal, but the door soon popped open and revealed the inside of the machine. She looked at the machinery to try to find the issue. It was a complicated network of cables, pipes, and hoses. None of it made any sense to her. She peeked at the time on her phone; there was only about 20 minutes until the blackout. Nendou needed to come back with the maintenance guy soon.

A few more minutes had passed, and Mikoto was getting even more nervous. She started looking up diagrams of diesel generators, just in case she was on her own here. None of the diagrams she found online matched up with the one in front of her, but at least she was quickly becoming familiar with the parts and what each of them did.

Still no sign of Nendou and the maintenance guy. Mikoto kicked herself for sending him for help instead of going herself. She couldn’t wait on them anymore; she reached into the tangle of parts and started trying to figure it out. There were hoses on the bottom that felt heavy when she held them; they had some kind of liquid inside. She followed them up into a tank on the side labeled “coolant”. That was easy enough. She spotted another, larger tank in the back – that had to be the fuel tank. Mikoto reached deeper into the metal box until she could touch the tank, then she knocked on the side and listened to the dull thud it made. It sounded full of diesel; the generator had fuel at least. She pulled herself out of the machine and stared at the still-unidentified parts. Her head was pounding from heat exhaustion, and the world around her was beginning to spin. She took another look at her phone. 

Five minutes. 

She started pounding on parts at random; at this point, whatever she did now couldn’t make anything worse. She tugged on the hoses she could reach, hoping that if anything was stuck or clogged or broken her jostling could knock it loose and get the generator working. Tears and sweat streamed down her face as she tried anything she could think of.

“Hey, gyaru!” Nendou bellowed from the corner of the building, “I finally found a guy who would listen to me about the blackout! His name is Hajime!”

Nendou and Hajime, a young-looking man wearing gray overalls and pushing a cart, hurried over to join Mikoto at the generator.

Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to her knees, exhausted.
“Oh thank god…” she said, taking out her new yellow fan and cooling herself down, “I thought we were fucked.”

Hajime looked into the generator and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face. He paused for a moment.
“Yep…” he said with a slow nod, “...I got no clue. Sorry, kids.”

Mikoto stood up suddenly, wobbling slightly. 
“What do you mean you don’t know?!” she yelled, “What the hell kind of maintenance guy are you if you’re not even gonna try?”

Mikoto held her head and squeezed her eyes tightly. Her ears were ringing. The city was going to lose power at any minute now, and they had run out of options. She knew she was in for some bad luck today, but she didn’t think it would be so bad that it would kill people! 

“Do you at least have any tools or whatever we could use?” she said, pulling open the drawers of Hajime’s cart. They were full of rags and cleaning chemicals.
“Nendou, he’s a janitor,” she snapped, “We needed a mechanic!”

Nendou grimaced. “Sorry about that…” he replied sheepishly, “But maybe we can fix it? If we just start hittin’ on stuff, it’s gotta do something, right?”

Mikoto wiped her neck with her handkerchief as Nendou began banging on the machinery.

“I tried that. I smacked and pulled on like, everything I could get to in there. It’s hopeless,” she said, looking down at the clock on her phone again.
1:00 PM.
It was time. She put her face in her hands, defeated.

Nendou was still busy hitting the hoses and pipes inside the generator, making dull thuds every time. All of a sudden, Mikoto heard a hollow clang, followed by a quiet glug-glug-glug.

“Nendou, wait!” she said, looking up from her hands, “What did you do just now?”

He pointed at a pipe running along the top of the machine, out of Mikoto’s reach.
“I hit that thing up there and it made that funny sound. Do ya think I broke it worse or something?”

She saw the lights at the other end of the city center shut off, then the lights across the street, and then finally the lights in the windows at the hospital. This was it. This was what she saw in her vision at the 100-yen store.
Then, like a groaning beast coming back to life, the generator kicked on. The lights in the hospital windows above them began to flicker back on.

Mikoto couldn’t believe it. She spun around to give Hajime a quick hug, then turned to hug Nendou.
“Oh my fucking god, Nendou,” she cried weakly into his chest, “You did it… you saved them…”

“Miss…” Hajime spoke up behind her, “You don’t look so good. We need to get you inside.”

The janitor pulled out a ring of keys, unlocked the back door next to them, and ushered the teen heroes inside to cool down.

Chapter Text

The beach was packed, and the girls were wearing hardly any clothes at all. It was the perfect chance for Reita to catch a peek or twenty.

He crouched hidden behind an umbrella rental booth, ogling boob after boob from afar. It felt like a buffet for a guy like him. It was frustrating how all the ladies who spotted him yelled or gave dirty looks, but Reita was used to it. Girls just didn’t like him for some reason.

He pulled his tank top up and wiped the sweat off his face. This heat wave was rough, even if it did give him more chicks to look at on the beach. It was even hotter at the temple; at least there was a breeze here. He pulled his hair back into a small ponytail for some relief from the heat.

“Hi! One umbrella please!” Reita heard a voice he recognized talking to the worker at the booth. He peeked around the corner, past the umbrellas stacked against the side of the booth. It was Yumehara from the Occult Club. She wasn’t really his type, but who was he to miss the opportunity to get a look at a girl in a bikini?

She handed the money to the worker and cut her eyes straight at Reita and gave a disgusted scowl. He’d been spotted. She bowed politely at the worker and walked around to the side of the booth to pick up a beach umbrella.

“Stop being a creep, Toritsuka,” she hissed at him as she grabbed her rental, “Do you really think girls like this?”

“I don’t think they mind!’ Reita replied defensively, “They’re still coming to the beach, aren’t they?”

Yumehara rolled her eyes and turned to walk toward the beach. “I don’t even see how you can see much from back here. You’d have a much better view if you were on the beach with them…”

She stopped and turned her head to look back at Reita.

“It works for me, you know,” she said with a smirk before continuing her walk down to the beach.

Reita stood up and hurried to catch up.

“Wait! You just sit out in the open and look at guys? And they don’t get mad at you or anything?”

“Yeah!” Yumehara laughed, “If you’re not acting like a weirdo, they think you’re just enjoying the beach like everyone else.”

This didn’t sound right to Reita. Could he really get away with looking at girls out in the open like that? He needed to see it in action.

Yumehara staked her umbrella into the sand and opened it to create a circle of shade. She unfolded her beach towel and spread it out under the umbrella, then sat down. Reita started to sit down on the towel next to her. 

“No, get your own,” she said flatly, shooing him away.

His first instinct was to argue with her, but Reita needed to be agreeable if she was going to help him. He scooted over and sat on the hot sand instead.

Yumehara put on her sunglasses. “If you’re sitting on the towel with me, people might think we’re a couple. And you’ll never get a girl’s attention that way!”

Reita’s eyes widened. The lesson had already begun!

“These will help,” she added, handing him an extra pair of sunglasses out of her bag, “They hide your eyes so nobody can see what you’re looking at!”

He put the sunglasses on. Hopefully he wouldn’t get her sunglasses too sweaty.

Yumehara turned to Reita and smiled mischievously. “Now, we get to take it all in! Try to move your eyes more than your head so they don’t catch on.”

She was right. The view down here on the beach was much better than up where he was near the boardwalk. The girls were so close he could practically touch them! He could see every jiggle, every curve, even girls’ nipples poking through their bikini tops. If earlier felt like a buffet, this was a five-star gourmet meal. It was all making his head spin.

Or maybe that was the heat.

“See,” Yumehara said, “if you just act normal like this, you might even get a girl to hit on you. I could see it happening! You’re not too bad looking.”

Reita looked at Yumehara. She thought he was good looking? Now that he thought about it, she was pretty cute herself. Maybe this whole thing was just a way for her to get close to-

“Stop,” she interrupted his train of thought, “I know what you’re thinking, and no. Ew. But if a girl didn’t know your personality first, you might have a chance.”

Yumehara stood up. “I’m gonna go get something to drink. Hold our spot, okay?”

A drink sounded incredible right now. He was getting a headache, and he was starting to feel a little sick.

“Yeah! You got it,” Reita replied, weakly pulling a few sweaty coins out of his pocket and handing them to her, “Can you get me something too? I don’t care what, as long as it’s cold and wet.”

Yumehara looked at the gross money in her hand and frowned. “Okay… I’ll be back.”

With her gone for a few minutes, Reita scooted over into the shade under the umbrella a bit more. The sun was really starting to get to him. Of course, the shade wasn’t a complete relief. The sand under him was still radiating heat and the air was still thick with humidity.

His phone buzzed. Aiura was texting him. Knowing Big Boobs, she probably saw a vision of him and was just going to yell at him for coming out here to look at chicks. He turned his phone off and stuck it back into his pocket.

He wiped his face with his shirt again. He wanted to go into the water to cool down, but with the beach as crowded as it was, their spot would be snapped up the moment he got up. Instead, Reita laid back on the sand, closed his eyes, and prayed for the next breeze to bring some cool sea spray along with it.

“Hey, Reita!” he heard a crass voice boom above him. He opened his eyes hesitantly; he was not in the mood to deal with his guardian spirit right now.

“Go away!” Reita shouted, waving his arms fruitlessly to shoo the spirit away, “It’s too hot! Unless you’re gonna get me something to cool off with, leave me alone!”

People on the beach around him turned to look at the commotion, shaking their heads and giving him looks of pity.

Reita sighed. “Great! Now they all think I’m delirious,” he whispered to the guardian spirit.

“I just wanted to tell you abou-”

“Stop! Go bug someone else!” the medium interrupted, holding his pounding head.

The ghost frowned. “But it’s really important, there’s gonna be a bl-”

“No,” Reita replied firmly, “Tell me later when I don’t feel like I’m gonna hurl.”

His guardian spirit nodded and dejectedly floated away toward the middle of the city.

Relieved, Reita closed his eyes again. He hoped Yumehara came back soon with the drinks before he passed out from the heat.

“Excuse me,” a girl’s nervous voice came from his right, “I, uh… What’s your name?”

Reita’s eyes snapped open and he sat up a little too quickly. He looked up at the girl. She was in a red bikini and had her beautiful teal hair tied up in a long ponytail. Her fingers anxiously twirled the strap of her bag. He blinked. She was hot! And she was talking to him!

“I’m, ah…” he started to reply, holding his head. He felt very dizzy. “Reita Toritsuka. What’s your name?”

The girl giggled and covered her blushing face.

“My name is…” she paused, too bashful to continue right away. 

Reita looked up at her, waiting for her answer. His ears were ringing, and his vision faded in and out. He leaned back to steady himself.

She fanned her face and took a deep breath.

“My name is To-”

Everything went dark.

Reita opened his eyes. The girl was gone, and in her place were Yumehara and a few men. They looked like lifeguards. One was spritzing him with a spray bottle, and the other was fanning him with a cheap plastic folding fan. It felt nice and cool; he was already feeling a lot better.

“Oh thank god,” Yumehara exclaimed, relieved. “Do you think we still need the ambulance?” she asked the lifeguards.

The men checked his pulse and his pupils. “I think he’ll be okay, but you really should take him to a doctor anyway. Just in case.”

“Where did the girl go?” Reita said as he sat up and looked around, “She said her name was… well I didn’t get her name.”

Yumehara handed Reita his drink, a mandarin-flavored Fanta. “If I knew you were gonna pass out, I would have gotten you something with electrolytes.”

He opened the lid and took a gulp of soda. He really needed to find that girl. It sounded like she was really into him!

“She had on a red bikini and she was carrying a mesh bag,” Reita said, “And her hair was kind of a bluish-green color!”

“Who?” one of the lifeguards asked.

“The girl! The girl I saw!” the medium snapped, “She was about to tell me her name!”

He stood up and looked around for her. Nope. She was nowhere to be found. 

Yumehara’s eyes lit up in understanding. “I get it now!” she said with a grin, “I’ll help you find her!”

Reita got the feeling somehow that his dilemma had become Yumehara’s pet project, but he could use all the help he could get.

After returning the umbrella to the rental booth, Reita and Yumehara ducked inside a 7/11 to cool down for a moment and come up with a plan. The air conditioning felt heavenly, but there were more important things to focus on.

“So,” Yumehara began, “What else do you remember about the girl?”

Reita shook his head. “I told you everything. She had a red bikini, bluish-green hair in a ponytail, and she had some clothes in her bag.”

“Anything else?”

Reita stared at the floor, deep in thought.

“Yeah! I remember now!”

Yumehara smiled and leaned in excitedly. “Yeah? What is it?”

“Her measurements were about 80-70-89, She had kind of an ass on her.”

“Something useful!” Yumehara said as she slapped Reita on the arm.

Reita rubbed his stinging arm. “I think the clothes in her bag were a work uniform or something. Is that anything?”

“What kind of uniform? Maybe we can stop by and find her at work!”

Reita thought hard to try to remember what it looked like. “I think it might have been a CoCo uniform. They wear stripes, right?”

“Yeah! So we find one that’s nearby and see if she’s working there!”

The cashier interjected, “I think there are about five CoCos in Hidariwakibara, and a few more just outside the city limits. You might be looking for a while.” He leaned over the counter at the teenagers. “Are you kids buying something or not?”

Reita and Yumehara looked at each other, annoyed. The convenience store looked like it was sold out of half their inventory; why was this old guy being such a stickler about sales now? Yumehara grabbed a package of melon bread and set it on the counter.

“Will that be all?” the cashier asked, scanning the bar code on the bread.

Yumehara blinked. “Yeah,” she answered flatly as she set the money on the counter and snatched her melon bread.

They walked outside, back into the heat. Yumehara unwrapped her bread, pulled out her phone and started looking up CoCo locations. 

“That guy in there was right! There are so many CoCos here! I guess we can start with the closest one, about a block that way,” she said, pointing ahead and taking a bite of the melon bread.

A few sweltering minutes later, they arrived at their first CoCo restaurant.

Reita stepped up to the counter.

“Excuse me!” he shouted to the workers, “I’m looking for a girl with kinda long greenish hair. She was just at the beach around noon!”

One of the workers stepped out of the kitchen and gave an apologetic bow. “I’m sorry sir, we don’t have anyone here who fits that description.”

Reita and Yumehara turned around and left to visit the next restaurant.

The same thing happened at each of the next three locations. None of them had a worker with bluish-green or greenish-blue or even – after Reita remembered the name of the color – teal hair. After a bus ride to the other side of Hidariwakibara, they finally arrived at the last CoCo location in the city. They had to know who she was. Reita needed them to know who she was.

Yumehara and Reita walked inside the restaurant and, as he had the last four times, Reita went straight to the counter. He pounded his fists on the surface in front of him.

“Excuse me!” he shouted. 

The workers usually came out to greet him right away, but they weren’t coming yet. Reita leaned over the counter to try and catch a peek at the staff. Maybe they were short-staffed?

He tried again. “Hello?”

Suddenly, Reita felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned around, hoping it was the teal-haired love of his life finally reunited with him. To his disappointment, it was just Yumehara.

“What?” he snapped at her, annoyed.

She pointed toward a small table in the corner. There was a framed photo of a young woman with long, teal hair and a beautiful, shy smile. Reita picked up the frame and read the inscription on the bottom.

In loving memory of Tomoko Tanaka. Gone but never forgotten.

“Is that… her?” Yumehara whispered.

Reita nodded slowly.

“She, uh…” he stammered, “she was a ghost. She’s dead…”

Yumehara gasped softly. “Oh no! I’m so sorry Toritsuka.”

He set the photo back onto the small memorial table and let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s okay,” he said, looking up at Yumehara with a tired laugh, “I’m used to it.”

“Welcome! I’m sorry about the wait!” a worker said, stepping out of the kitchen, “What can I help you with?”

Yumehara pulled out her coin purse. “Lunch is on me,” she said to Reita with a smile

, “In memory of Tomoko!”

“And my romantic prospects, I guess,” Reita added with a self-deprecating smirk.

Chapter Text

Kokomi hated being asked on dates.

When it was the boys at school, she had to find ways to let them down gently to avoid getting a reputation for being cold. There was only one boy at school she really wanted to go on a date with, but he never asked.
Being asked on a date by old men on the street was uncomfortable, but luckily the Kokomins usually took care of them before she had a chance to respond.

The worst by far, of course, was being asked on a date by the man sitting across from her right now at this café. Mostly because their parents always made her agree to go.

“Makoto,” she whispered angrily at him, “You bought me a croissant and a tea. Can we go now?”

Her brother lowered his sunglasses slightly to look directly into her eyes.
“You want to leave so soon? Our date has only just begun! Our love is a spreading patch of crab grass; we should nurture it or it will wither away,” he said, sweeping his hand dramatically in the air for emphasis.

Kokomi narrowed her eyes. “I’d rather use some weed killer…” she uttered under her breath.

Makoto sighed longingly and rested his chin on his hands. “You always have the wittiest comebacks, my dear angel. Truly beauty and brains! I’m so lucky to have you,” he said as he reached across the table and tucked a lock of his sister’s hair behind her ear.

Kokomi quickly slapped his hand away.
“Makoto, stop ,” she pleaded quietly. It was enough that she was attracting her usual amount of attention; she didn’t need to make a scene and make it all even worse. At least Makoto was wearing a pretty good disguise this time.

The blue-haired man smiled and raised his hand to beckon a waiter. “Bring us two cream puffs and another round of tea, please.”

Kokomi sighed. He was planning on being here a while. She looked around, praying that none of her classmates were around to see this.
Unfortunately, she spotted a familiar face staring at her from across the café. It looked like that strange transfer student Akechi. His round violet eyes were fixed on her, and it looked like he was working up the courage to come closer. Now that he had already seen her here today with him , she silently wished the boy would come interrupt their date.

The waiter returned and set a cup of tea and a small plate holding a big, round cream puff in front of both of the Teruhashi siblings. Makoto reached across the table and picked up Kokomi’s pastry.
“Open wide!” he said playfully while bringing the cream puff closer to her lips.

Kokomi turned her head and shut her eyes tightly. She wished in vain that her brother would be gone when she opened them.

“Oh, wow! Excuse me sir, I’m very sorry to interrupt your afternoon!” Kokomi heard a voice that didn’t belong to her brother join in. She opened her eyes to see Akechi standing at their table, looking intensely at Makoto.

“I can tell that you have important plans today, so I will make this brief. I couldn’t help but notice that you and Teruhashi have quite the resemblance. I suppose I should be more specific as to which Teruhashi I am referring; if you are indeed related it is most likely that you are siblings, and would presumably share a surname. In any case, Miss Teruhashi here to my right is my classmate, so I was very surprised to discover that her brother is the famous actor Touru Mugami!”

Patrons at the other tables in the café turned to look. Kokomi could hear them murmuring to each other.

Makoto leaned toward Akechi and placed a finger on his own lips. “Please be quiet!” he whispered, “I’m here in disguise.”

The blond boy nodded and placed his hand on his chin.
“Ah, yes! I can see that. I think your disguise might be better if you wore a wig or perhaps figured out how to disable that yellow glow that you’re giving off.”

“Yellow glow…?” Makoto asked under his breath, then shook his head, “My disguise is fine. Did you want an autograph or something?”

Kokomi looked around at the other tables. People were still looking, and they had started snapping pictures with their phones. She shrank in her chair and wished she could disappear.

Akechi dug through his bag and pulled out a small, well-used notepad and a pen.
“An autograph would be great, Mr. Mugami! Thank you! I am a longtime fan of your work; I used to be so excited to see the next film in your series that I wet myself right in the theater on a few occasions. Many might consider that to be an inappropriate anecdote to bring up to one’s idol, but I consider myself to be quite the open book when it comes to things of that nature.”

Makoto grimaced, reluctantly took the notepad and pen and scribbled his autograph on an empty page. 
“Here, kid,” he said with a sigh as he shoved the stationery back into Akechi’s hands, “Anything else?”

Akechi looked at the autograph and smiled. “Actually, I have one more request.”

Makoto slapped the table and stood up suddenly.
“What else?” he snapped, “If I do this, will you leave us alone?”

Akechi nodded and pulled out a digital camera. “Can I get a photo with you? I’ve always wanted one!”

“Okay, fine,” Makoto said with a sigh as he stood up from the table, “Make it quick. My Kokomi will take the picture.”

Akechi handed his camera to Kokomi and stood next to him for the photo.

She aimed the camera and counted down, “Okay, 3, 2, 1-”

“Wait!” Akechi interrupted, “Do you have the flash turned off?”

Kokomi inspected the camera. “I think so,” she replied.

“Oh, good! Did you know that the flash function on cameras is generally overused, and is a common cause for washed-out photos that later require retouching?”

“Can we just take the picture?” Makoto asked as he rubbed his temples as if trying to fend off a headache. 

Kokomi pointed the camera again. “3, 2, 1-”

“Wait! Sorry!” Akechi spoke up a second time, “Do I have anything on my face? I’d hate to embarass myself by taking a photo with Touru Mugami with powdered sugar on my chin from the doughnut I had just a moment ago!”

“You don’t have anything on your face. You look fine. Please, let’s just take it already!” Makoto seethed.

Akechi blushed. “Oh, wow! You think I look fine? What a wonderful and unexpected compliment to get from one’s idol! I believe I will cherish this moment forev-”

“Picture!” Makoto snapped, pulling Akechi over to his side and into position for the photo, “NOW!”

Kokomi, once again, lifted the camera up and pointed it at the boys. “3, 2-”

“Hold on! One last request. Mr. Mugami – or would you rather I called you Mr. Teruhashi? I want to respect you by referring to you by the proper name. If Touru Mugami is merely a stage name, then I don’t imagine you would be comfortable being called by that name on a casual basis. However, I think it’s probably a stretch to say that this meeting of ours is a casual one. After all, I am quite excited to be meeting you today! Not to worry! I won’t be having an accident today, no matter how exciting our meeting is. Although, I-”

“What did you want?!” Makoto shouted, “I don’t have all day!”

Akechi blinked. “Oh, I apologize. Before we take our photo, can you remove your hat and glasses? My friends won’t believe that I met Touru Mugami if I show them a picture of myself next to a man in disguise.”

Makoto sighed heavily. 
“Okay. FINE,” he said, ripping off his baseball cap and sunglasses. “Kokomi, take the picture.”

Kokomi stood up. “Makoto, I don’t think-” she managed to say just a few words before the crowd of café patrons rushed their table. 

“Oh my god! It’s really him!”

“I knew it!”

“Touru Mugami!! Can I get a kiss?”

Kokomi squeezed through the mass of fans and took advantage of the chaos to sneak out of the café. That was one way to get out of one of Makoto’s creepy dates. She was so lucky that Akechi turned out to be such a big fan of his.

“Teruhashi!” she heard her classmate call from behind her. He ran to catch up. The heat made Akechi’s face red right away.

Kokomi gave him a fake smile. She really wanted to be left alone, but it would be rude to tell him that. She suddenly remembered the camera in her hand.
“Sorry!” she apologized, handing the camera back to its owner, “I didn’t mean to run off with it!”

“It’s no problem at all. I expected to have to catch up with you out here,” he replied cheerfully and slightly out of breath.

“Oh, no!” Kokomi gasped, “I didn’t get your picture! I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

Akechi waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not a problem at all. If I’m being honest with you, I’ve never seen a Touru Mugami movie before. Now that I’ve met him, I’m confident that I don’t want to see one in the future, either.”

“You mean you’re not a fan of his? Then why did you-” 

“While I was in the café enjoying my doughnut, I noticed that you were there with a man who appeared to be your brother. Of course, I am not immune to your unique charms, so I took a moment to stare – respectfully, I can assure you. While looking, I was able to observe your body language and that of your brother. It was alarming, to be frank! I’m sure I don’t have to elaborate to you on why I was so disturbed by what I saw. Anyway, I wanted to look away in disgust, but I felt a need to keep watching. Perhaps your ‘Kokomins’ fanclub should recruit me as a member! But back on topic: I saw a bulge in your brother’s front pants pocket that concerned me. Oh! I am not referring to any kind of anatomical bulge, of course! I apologize if I misled you. The bulge in question appeared to be roughly cubic in shape – just the size of a ring box.”

Kokomi shook her head. “A… ring box?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I had to come to the conclusion based on the evidence I was able to gather in the few minutes I had to observe that your brother was planning on surprising you with a public proposal.”

A public proposal? Makoto was such a scumbag. He knew Kokomi would be pressured to agree to marry him with the whole café there cheering them on. It made her so angry.
Kokomi wiped her brow with her handkerchief and dabbed a tear from her cheek.

“And all of that about being a fan of his was because…?”

Akechi grinned. “It was the only thing I could think of that would create enough of a distraction so you could leave before he ‘popped the question’, so to speak.”

Kokomi looked around to see who else was on the street. Thankfully, everyone had rushed into the café when they heard about the celebrity sighting. With nobody around to see, she leaned into Akechi and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Ah… uhm. Oh, wow…” the boy stammered. His face was even redder now.

“Thank you, Akechi,” she said, walking away. If she hurried, she could meet Chiyo at the beach before her brother figured out where she went. It was only about 11:30; she had the whole afternoon to waste before she had to go back home and deal with her family.

As she headed toward the beach, she heard quick footsteps behind her again.

“Wait!” Akechi shouted as he ran to catch up again, “You almost left me back there. I am regrettably not especially athletic, and the current heat wave we are experiencing is making exertion even more difficult for someone as ‘indoorsy’ as myself. Do you mind walking a little bit more slowly while I attempt to catch my breath?”

Akechi did rescue her earlier, but Kokomi didn’t really want to spend the afternoon with this guy. He was kind of weird, and he talked too much. Unfortunately, perfect pretty girls couldn’t be rude to people so soon after they did her such a big favor. Maybe he would take the hint eventually.

She slowed down so that Akechi could walk alongside her toward the beach. If she walked slowly enough, Kokomi thought, maybe he would get too hot and go home. 

It wasn’t working.

“... and did you know that those yellow tactile pavers on the sidewalk – truncated domes or tenji blocks, to give some more exact names – were a Japanese invention? Seiichi Miyake invented them in the 1960’s for his visually impaired friend. They’re now in use all over the world! For a person who is blind or has low vision, having a way to feel paths underfoot allows them independence – essential for any disabled person. Do you know what the various patterns mean? This one means…”

Akechi was rambling about seemingly everything he saw along the way. If she cared about public infrastructure, this might have been a fun walk. Unfortunately, all Kokomi wanted to do was cool down at the beach. She could feel the heat radiating off the streets, bouncing off of the windows in nearby buildings, and beaming down directly onto her from the sun itself. 

“Akechi,” she interrupted whatever he was saying, “Do you mind if we sit down for a moment in the shade?”

“Oh, yes! I’ll look for a place to sit! It may be difficult due to the relative lack of benches in the city square, but I shall do my best!”
He looked around, before directing Kokomi to a patch of sidewalk under a plum tree.
“We can sit here,” he offered.

Sitting on the ground felt undignified. It wasn’t that Kokomi minded it, but what would people think if they saw her sitting on the sidewalk? 
She paused for a moment to reconsider whether she really needed to rest.

“I think standing here would be better,” Kokomi said with a cheery smile, “The sidewalk is warm, so we might get overheated if we sit down.”

“Excellent point, Teruhashi!” Akechi beamed, seemingly satisfied with her excuse. He stood in the shade under the tree next to Kokomi and they enjoyed the small relief from the heat.

Kokomi pulled out a plastic folding fan and fanned herself, but it just felt like she was blowing hot, humid air on her face. She leaned against the tree, closed her eyes, and tried to will herself cool. Maybe God would bless her with a cold breeze.

“Oh, wow!”

“She’s under that tree with some guy!”

“We need to make sure Teruhashi is okay!”

Kokomi opened her eyes. The people in the plaza at the city square were beginning to notice that she was there. She normally thrived on their attention, but she was not in the mood for it today. Even just the thought of being surrounded by people made her feel even warmer.

“Akechi, we should go,” she said quietly.

“Are you sure? We have only been here for a minute, and you still look alarmingly overheated! With unusually hot temperatures such as these, heat exhaustion is a real danger. Perhaps I should run through a list of symptoms with you and we can assess ourselves for signs that we should seek medical attention. Let’s see if I can remember them… ah, yes! Do you have a headache?”

Kokomi looked around the plaza to see more people looking at her. This conversation was giving her a headache.

“Yes, a little bit. Listen, can we go now? I need-”

“How about heavy sweating?” Akechi interrupted, “Oh! I see already that I can check that box too.”

Was she really sweating that much? How unbecoming! Now she really needed to go before people saw sweat stains on her outfit. Kokomi started to walk away.
Akechi grabbed her arm before she could leave.

“Wait! You need to stay in the shade if you are indeed suffering from a heat-related illness!”

Kokomi pulled her arm away from his grip. “Don’t touch me! I’m leaving!”

The people in the plaza who until then had been just watching from afar began to rush over to her rescue.

“Irritability…” Akechi gasped, “That’s another symptom! Teruhashi, I must insist that you stay here while I call for assistance.”

He patted his pockets, then frowned.

“Oh dear… it appears that I have misplaced my cell phone,” Akechi said, looking out at the crowd that was growing around them, “But maybe one of these men would be willing to make the call instead.”

The sea of Kokomins rippled with a protective hostility. They saw Akechi as the threat that was harming the object of their adoration. He started to look nervous.

“Um, my apologies! I mean no harm!” he attempted to calm the crowd, before turning to Kokomi again, “Are you experiencing any other symptoms? Dizziness? Muscle cramps? Excessive thirst?”

Kokomi’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yes!” she blurted, “That’s it! I’m thirsty!”

The crowd stirred.

“She’s thirsty!”

“Anyone have a drink on them?”

“No! We cannot give Teruhashi a drink sullied by our backwash!”

“Nothing but the finest, fresh bottled water for her!”

Akechi turned to the Kokomins, surprised at their reaction.

Kokomi closed her eyes and held her head dramatically. “I really need a cold drink…” she said, opening one eye just enough to peek at the crowd, “Who can get one for me?”

The stampede of people sprinted across the city square, looking for places to buy something to quench her thirst and save her from the heat. As soon as they were out of her sight, Kokomi continued toward the beach.

Akechi jogged to catch up again. “Teruhashi, you really need to rest! Heat exhaustion is very dangerous, and can lead to heat stroke – an even more serious condition! I must insist-”

Kokomi giggled.

“I’m really fine! I’m just a little hot,” she said with a cheerful smile – this time, a sincere one, “We’ll both feel better after a swim!”

Chapter Text

“Ku! Did you do this?” Kurumi asked as she stood in the doorway to her younger son’s bedroom while inspecting her mysteriously carbonated glass of iced coffee. 

“Good grief,” Kusuo grumbled to himself. He hadn’t seen that particular psychic ability in a while.

A wiring issue in their house meant that the Saikis were without electricity – and air conditioning – until it was fixed. Kuniharu, unfortunately, picked this week to start being stubbornly self-sufficient. Kusuo could have restored the house and fixed the wiring a few days ago, but his dad insisted that he didn’t need the help. The psychic had been happy to encourage the rare show of independence; after all, he could handle the heat with his cryokinesis and he could always help fix the wiring with telekinesis later whenever Kuniharu gave up.

Unfortunately, Kuniharu wasn’t giving up.

And the heat was beginning to take a toll on Kusuo’s abilities.

The teen laid back on his bed, begging for a cool breeze to blow through his open window. Every time he tried to create one himself, some unexpected problem happened… like his mom’s fizzy coffee.
Several of his powers were completely refusing to work. If he could use cryokinesis right now, the problem would be solved easily.
Even his telepathy was beginning to give him issues. He could still hear everyone in a 200 meter radius, unfortunately, but their thoughts were echoing and whooshing in his head. It was impossible to make sense of most of it right now, and it was beginning to give him a headache.

Kusuo was kicking himself now for deciding to get rid of that germanium ring at the shrine.
“I’m sorry, mom,” he finally said, “I didn’t think it would get this bad. I guess I’ve never been this overheated for so long before.”

Kurumi gave her son a sympathetic look and walked over to sit on his bed.
“This reminds me of that time you were in the hot spring for too long when you were little. Do you remember that?”

Kusuo continued staring at the ceiling.

She continued, “You were just fine like always for hours. You never even broke a sweat at the hot springs. Then, all of a sudden, you got really sick! You were holding your stomach and crying.”

Kusuo sighed.
“Yeah, and then just about everyone there fell asleep thanks to me. Of course I remember it.”

“I had to jump in and pull your father and a couple of other people out of the water. Everyone was okay, though!” Kurumi said, wiping sweat from her face with a hand towel.

Kusuo shut his eyes tightly.
“Except the hot spring closed down after rumors of a gas leak got out.”

His mother patted his leg gently before standing up to leave the bedroom.
“You have a lot more control over your abilities now than you did when you were eight,” she reassured cheerfully, “I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

Kusuo sat up and brushed his sweat-damp bangs away from his face.
“Can you please tell Dad to hire an electrician?” he said as Kurumi walked away, “If he blows up the house, I don’t think I can fix it this time.”

“Or, we could call Kuu-”

“ NO ,” he interrupted firmly, “I’d rather boil alive.”

He was glad his mom left before the heat made him too hateful. Well, the heat plus the noise, of course. Kusuo had to do something about it before he ended up doing something he would regret – accidentally or otherwise.

He looked at the clock. It was 11:30, and he knew it was just going to get hotter as the day went on. If he was going to have to leave the house, it would be better to get it over with now. There was a shady health food store near the city square, and he knew they would have exactly what he needed to help with the noise.

The walk to the center of the city wasn’t pleasant. All around him, all he could hear were the garbled complaints of everyone who had to be outside in the heat wave.

I los…. ater bottle!

It’s s …. tside… I think I’m go …. ow up!

…. eally true? Tou …. ami is at the caf…

If I don …. ew fan soon I’m gonna, lik …

He couldn’t quite tell what they were all thinking, but it was clear that they seemed to be suffering almost as much as he was.

By the time Kusuo made it to the health food store, his head was pounding and he had sweat pouring down his face. If he were normal, his eyes might have stung from the salt dripping from his forehead. He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, shut his eyes so he could safely remove his glasses, and wiped his face dry. He quickly replaced his glasses and walked through the door.

“Welcome to Nature’s Medicine!” the shopkeeper greeted from behind the counter of the small shop, “Let me know if I can help you find anything!”

She lowered her voice and added, “By entering this store you affirm your understanding that none of the remedies sold at this establishment have been approved as a treatment for any disease or condition by either local or national regulatory agencies and that any food, drink, supplement, device, or other product here is sold for entertainment purposes only.”

Somehow Kusuo doubted that legally-required disclaimer would have much of an impact on their sales. People who are desperate enough to buy unproven remedies for their health problems won’t suddenly become skeptical just because the shopkeeper had to recite some legalese.

He squeezed past the crowded shelves to a display of “healing jewelry”. It was a cheap metal rotating rack covered in dust-covered bracelets and necklaces made of various semi-precious gemstones and metals.

“What kinds of problems are you having?” the shopkeeper asked, stepping over to the display, “We have copper bands you can wear to relieve arthritis pain… citrine to help with digestion and circulation…”

Kusuo let the woman rattle off her useless trinkets and their made-up health benefits as she spun the rack around to point out the different items.

“Let’s see… We also have crystal quartz to boost your immune system! Oh! And amethyst to alleviate migraines.”

Migraines, huh? Kusuo leaned in to get a closer look.

The shopkeeper took notice of his interest and grinned.
“The amethyst is a popular choice! We have bracelets, keychains, and pendants. You’re going to love what it can do for you,” she said excitedly, “It can help with anxiety, irritability, stress…”

It sounded like just what Kusuo needed… if it actually worked, of course. But who was he to judge whether these miraculous properties were real or not? Maybe he should buy an amethyst pendant just to try it out.

The shopkeeper handed him a keychain.
“Go ahead! Hold it in your hand. Feel its energies flowing into you,” she said, closing Kusuo’s hand around the purple stone, “Amethyst is particularly powerful!”

He closed his eyes and tried to feel for the supposed energies.

“Do you feel it? It’s also said to enhance intuition and even boost any latent psychic abilities!”

Kusuo’s face dropped and he immediately handed the keychain back to the shopkeeper.
“No, thank you,” he said with a frown.

He spun the rack and spotted a plain-looking germanium bracelet. Kusuo touched the metal and listened for the silence to make sure it was real.
“I’ll take this one, please.”

The shopkeeper, still taken aback by her customer’s sudden change in demeanor, brought the bracelet to the front and wordlessly completed the sale.

Kusuo stepped outside into the heat and slipped his hand into the germanium bracelet. The quiet was welcome on a day like today. He looked up at the clock tower in the middle of the city square. It was noon already, and it was even hotter than it was when he walked into the store. He probably needed to head back soon, but it would be a good idea to get a cold drink for the walk home.

He looked around the plaza and spotted a 7-11 across the way. After a sweltering short walk, Kusuo stepped through the sliding doors and breathed in the cold air. The store was surprisingly busy; there were dozens of people buying armfuls of bottled drinks. His curiosity almost made him take off his bracelet and try to find out what they were up to, but he concluded that giving himself another headache wasn’t worth it. Kusuo walked over to the drink coolers once the crowd let him through.

The coolers were empty.

He squeezed his way through the line of people at the cash register. An older man was behind the counter, ringing up the customers as quickly as he could.

“Excuse me, sir!” Kusuo projected to the cashier, “Are there any more drinks in the back?”

The man let out a heavy, frustrated sigh.
“Just like I told your friends,” the man said sternly without looking up from the register, “You guys are buying all the drinks we have. If you’re not gonna buy anything else, I’m gonna need you to leave my store.”

Kusuo made his way past all the other customers and left the 7-11 as he was told. He was a little disappointed that the 7-11 was out of drinks – they were the only place that sold his favorite iced coffee. It wasn’t a huge problem, of course. It was summertime! Plenty of other places sell cold drinks.

Unfortunately, the Lawson and Family Mart were also sold out. And the takoyaki stand. And the fast food restaurants.

All of this running around in the heat was tiring, even for Kusuo. He started feeling surges of psychic energy bubbling in the pit of his stomach. His mom was right; this did feel just like that time at the hot spring when he was a kid. He didn’t want to let it out – especially where other people could see – but he knew that if he didn’t cool down soon it was going to come up whether he liked it or not.

Kusuo’s eyes scanned the city center one last time, pleading with the universe to please, PLEASE let there be something he could do.

Then, he spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye. He snapped around to see what it was. It looked like a large cart being pushed by a girl in a bright blue uniform… was that Mera? 

More importantly: was that a picture of shaved ice on the side of her cart?!  

Kusuo made his way over to the other side of the city square to get a better look.

“Hi, Saiki!” Mera greeted as Kusuo approached. She wheeled the cart into a spot near the edge of the plaza and ran to plug it into an outlet on the side of the building behind it.

Kusuo got a good look at the cart as Mera continued setting it up. Just as he thought, this was a kakigori stand. The fruit syrup and condensed milk-topped shaved ice dessert painted on the side looked incredible. Mera set out a sandwich board menu in the path in front, then pulled out stacks of striped paper bowls and a cup of spoons to set on her counter. Finally, she extended two poles on the top of the cart and rolled out a blue canvas canopy to stretch between them for shade.

Kusuo walked closer to the stand and into the shade just as Mera lifted the heavy ice shaver out of the cabinet under the cart and onto the counter.

“I’m almost set up! Sorry for the wait, Saiki!” she apologized, wiping sweat from her face with a paper fast food napkin before folding it and putting it back into her pocket. She opened the cooler, pulled out a block of ice, and placed it into the machine.
“Okay, all ready! Hopefully it works this time.”

Kusuo dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief as he looked over the menu.
“I’ll take the sweet plum, please.”

“One sweet plum kakigori, coming right up!” 

Mera set a bowl under the ice shaver and pressed the button on the machine. It whirred for a moment, slowly dispensing soft flakes of ice. Then suddenly, a horrible grinding sound erupted from inside. The ice shaver shook and shuddered for a few seconds before slowly winding down to a stop.

Mera looked distraught.
“Oh, I was afraid that was going to happen again!” Mera said, rushing around the cart to bow in apology to her favorite customer, “I’m really sorry, Saiki.”

Kusuo waved his hand reassuringly. “It’s okay, really.”

He looked at the menu board again.
“I’ll take a lemonade instead.”

“I’m sorry,” Mera said as she bowed again. “I just sold the last one about an hour ago. I feel so bad! I know it’s really hot out.”

Kusuo nodded. Yeah, it was really hot. Unfortunately, this was the closest thing he had to something cool and refreshing out here. He had to do something quickly.

He looked inside the machine with his x-ray vision to see if he could find the problem. There were more moving parts than he expected an ice shaver to have. It looked like a terrible design; no wonder it broke.

“We could try to fix it,” he offered, “I don’t know a lot about machines like this, but it’s worth a shot.”

Mera’s eyes began to well up.
“Really? That would be great!” she exclaimed, “My boss would kill me if he found out I broke his equipment!”

“Hopefully, you won’t have to worry about that,” Kusuo reassured.

He walked around to Mera’s side of the stand and took a closer look. 
“Do you have a screwdriver?” he asked.

“We might! I’ll look for it,” Mera said, bending down to rifle through the cluttered storage area.

Kusuo looked at the screws holding the back panel in place. He could take them out himself with his telekinesis faster than this. He waited until Mera’s face was fully buried in the storage area, then twisted the screws out quickly with his mind before she noticed.

“Oh my god!” Mera suddenly shouted as she jumped back from the cart, “They, uh.. Everything just disappeared!”

Kusuo swung open the cabinet door to investigate. The storage area, which had been crammed full of miscellaneous supplies and junk, was now almost completely empty. Only a pair of leather shoes and ¥2700 in change were left inside.

He could kick himself for being so reckless. He was so focused on getting his shaved ice that he had forgotten all about the issues with his abilities. It was hard to think in temperatures like this. Kusuo shut the door and quickly apported the supplies back into the cabinet where they belonged.

Mera opened the door again. “See? They just vanished all of a sud–  huh? Oh. It’s back.”

Kusuo changed the subject. “I managed to get the screws out while you were looking for the screwdriver.”

“That’s good news! Do you see anything broken inside?”

Kusuo looked through the open back panel and into the machinery. It was hard to tell what was going on inside the ice shaver with so many pieces. Maybe if he saw everything in motion, he could make sense of it. He pressed the power button and waited for the machine to stir.

There was no movement at all.

“It might not turn on with the panel taken off,” Mera noted, “It’s a safety feature, I think!”

That complicated things. How was Kusuo going to test it now? He could put the panel back on and watch it with his x-ray vision, but he couldn’t think of a way to explain that to Mera without revealing his secret. With his powers acting up in the heat, he couldn’t really trust most of his methods for keeping them hidden. If he tried erasing her memory, for example, who knows what other power would activate? He could accidentally shapeshift into something grotesque or send them both back into the stone age! This was a real problem. Unfortunately, it was going to get worse soon if he didn’t do something.

Kusuo slammed the back panel into place and put Mera’s hand on the back of the machine.
“Hold that panel on, okay?” he told her with even more urgency in his voice.

Mera blinked. “Okay, but why?”

Kusuo sighed. He didn’t really have another choice.
“I’m going to explain, but we need to keep trying to fix this while I do. Is that okay?”

Mera nodded quickly. She wasn’t used to hearing him so panicked. Though he couldn’t hear her thoughts, he could tell by her body language that his demeanor was throwing her off.

He pressed the power button on the ice shaver and peered through the case into the machinery within. It started to whirr and grind again.
“I don’t like telling people about this,” he began, “Make sure you keep holding that panel, please.”

She pressed it tightly in place while he continued.

“I’m a psychic. And I’m using my powers to look inside this machine to find the broken part.”

Mera’s eyes widened. “Powers? Wh- what powers?” she stammered, “Or are you just playing a prank on me?”

Kusuo shook his head forcefully, his gaze still fixed on the inside of the shaver.
“I’m serious. I am not lying to you. I have a lot of abilities, and I promise I’ll explain them all to you. But I need to get this machine working right now.”

He leaned in closer to the machine as it began screeching and smoking. “Please don’t tell anyone. I really don’t want this getting out.”

Mera nodded in understanding. “I won’t say a word to anyone about this,” she promised, her voice still shaky from the shock of his admission, “But you don’t have to fix the ice shaver for me! I’m used to getting yelled at for sneaking bites of the strawberry topping. I’m not that worried about it!”

Kusuo released the power button and stepped back. “It’s the only cold thing to eat or drink within the entire city square, and I’m dangerously overheated. My powers are already acting up, but I can feel something bigger coming. Something really bad is going to happen if I don’t cool down right away.”

“Something bad?” Mera gasped, “Like what?!”

“Something might explode or catch on fire. Or I could accidentally rewrite history or trap everyone on Earth in another time loop.”

“You can do that?!” Mera exclaimed, “Wait… another time loop? What does tha-”

Kusuo waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll explain it all later,” he said, taking Mera’s hand off the panel and revealing the interior mechanics, “Here’s the problem. This gear at the bottom is getting caught because the motor attached to it is not working.”

“Is that something we can fix?”

“That depends. Do you have a manual for the ice shaver? I think I can fix it if I know where the wires are supposed to go.”

Mera brought her hand to her chin to think. 
“I don’t think I do. Maybe you could just make your best guess?”

“That won’t work. We could break it worse that way. I might blow something up on purpose if that happened,” Kusuo replied, “But there’s probably a manual on their website. Can I borrow your phone?”

Mera dug through her apron pockets and pulled out a basic gray flip phone.
“This is all I have. It doesn’t have the internet,” she said, handing the phone to Kusuo, “Don’t you have a phone?”

“I usually don’t need one,” he said as he flipped open the phone and started dialing, “Telepathy.”

“Oh! That makes sense.” Mera nodded in understanding.

Kusuo put the phone to his ear and waited for the other line to pick up.

“Hello? Who is this?” Kurumi answered.

Kusuo cleared his throat. Having to talk out loud was one of the many things he hated about phone calls.

“Hey, Mom. It’s me. Listen, this is really important. I need you to go on Dad’s laptop and look up ‘Ice Queen Kakigori machine model 23AQ8 manual’, okay? Hopefully it’s charged.”

“Ku! It’s been so long since we’ve talked on the phone! You know I love hearing your voice. Your father is almost done fixing the electricity, I think! Do you want to talk to him, too? He’s outside at the transformer-”

“ Mom . Focus. Go to Dad’s laptop.”

“Oh, okay, sorry! I’m walking there now… okay, I’m here. Now what do I do?”

Kusuo wiped his face with his handkerchief and sighed.
“Is there a blue cable plugged into it? You’ll need to get on the internet.”

“Let me see… Yes! There’s a blue cord in the back. Should I unplug it?”

“No, leave it. Look up ‘Ice Queen Kakigori machine model 23AQ8 manual’.”

“Do I do that in email or do I go to Line? Or Facebook?”

“Go to Google, Mom. Type it in Google.”

“Oh! Of course! Your silly mother doesn’t know anything about computers. I’m so lucky that my sons are both so smart and-”

“Mom. Please. Look up ‘Ice Queen Kakigori machine model 23AQ8 manual’.”

“I’m typing it in now. Ice Queen… Kakigori… machine…… model…… what was that model number again?”

“Model 23AQ8. Please hurry up, Mom.”

“Okay, I’ve got it! And you needed the manual, right?”

“Yes! Open it up and press the ‘Control’ and the ‘F’ keys at the same time.”

“Is ‘Control’ the one that says C-T-R-L?”

Kusuo rubbed his brow in frustration. This interaction felt like pulling teeth.
“Yes, Mom.”

“Okay, I pressed them and a box came up. What now?”

“Click that box and type in ‘motor wiring diagram’. Hopefully that’ll get us to the right page.”

“Okay… done! It looks kind of like the instructions for your father’s model kits! Is that the right one?”

“Yes! That’s it!” Kusuo said excitedly, “Now take a clear picture of it with your phone and text it to the number I’m calling you from.”

“I just took the photo… and now it’s sent!”

The phone in Kusuo’s hand buzzed, and he pulled it away from his ear to take a peek at the text message. That picture was exactly what he needed. He stuck the phone between his shoulder and his ear to free both hands, and started reattaching the wires to the correct terminals.

Kusuo gave a tired smile. 
“That was perfect, Mom,” he praised just as he twisted the final wire in place and replaced the back panel, “Thank you.”

“I’m so glad, Ku! What did you need it for?”

Kusuo pressed the power button to test the machine. It hummed smoothly, and flakes of shaved ice finally started to fall slowly into the bowl.
“Shaved ice,” he answered quickly, “Okay, I have to go now. I’ll see you at ho-”

He was interrupted by Kurumi’s sudden scream.

“ OH NO! Ku, please come home right now!” she cried, “Your father was working in the big electrical box outside and it just burst into flames!”

Good grief. He knew something like this was going to happen with his dad trying to play electrician. It didn’t sound like he was hurt, at least. It could wait until after he got his kakigori.
Kusuo flipped the phone closed and watched the ice shaver spin the block of ice over the blades. 

“I’m sorry it’s taking so long! This machine has always been kind of slow,” Mera apologized.

All of a sudden, the machine stopped spinning. There was no grinding this time, only silence.

In fact, the whole city sounded quieter than usual.

Kusuo looked around the plaza. Every window he could see was dark. Even the empty drink coolers he saw through the front glass of the convenience stores were missing their familiar glow.

Mera picked up the bowl of shaved ice. There was only about a tablespoon inside.
“It’s not much,” she said disappointedly, handing Kusuo the nearly empty paper bowl, “Did the machine break again?”

Kusuo drank the melting flakes and shook his head.

“It’s a blackout,” he grumbled as he grabbed the ice block out of the machine and placed it awkwardly on the back of his neck in a last-ditch effort to avert a psychic catastrophe,
“I wish I could have seen this coming.”