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It was a loud day, a tiring one too.
Saiki stopped 4 deaths and over 40 injuries already, and it was only 2:00PM. The school day didn't end until 4:30.
Everything was so loud, louder than usual, and it was giving him a headache.
Were his classmates always this loud?
Saiki yawned, literally yawned. He felt like he hadn't slept for months.
His friends were talking to him and he couldn't exactly keep track of anything they were saying.
He just stared off into space without ever engaging in conversation.
He knew it might be a little rude, but he was too tired to even care about that.
He had prevented Makoto from getting into the school at 9:14, prevented a backpack from falling and killing Nendo at 10:34, prevented a literal fire at 12:52, prevented an explosion at 1:47, and on top of that he had to use his restoration ability multiple times.
He was stressed, he sighed a bit.
Kokomi Teruhashi, the perfect, pretty girl, joined the 'torture Saiki' bandwagon, as she too approached him.
She frowned a bit.
'Saiki, are you alright?'
Saiki focused a bit on her thoughts. Hm, she was genuinely concerned..
He glanced at her, and he thinks maybe his expression was a bit too concerning to pass off as alright.
'Woah- Saiki- You look terrible-'
Kaido mumbled, getting a better look at him.
'You look like you haven't slept in months..'
He remarked.
Thats just rude, don't you have any tact?
Kusuo thought.
'Isn't that a little bit rude-?'
Kokomi asked under her breath, she shrugged a bit, placed a hand on his shoulder and suddenly everyone was crowding around him.
Oh fuck oh fuck oh shit, you cannot be serious right now.
Even kids from other classes got out (mainly the Kokomins), just to see that and glare at Kusuo.
He felt another headache forming.
He had a vision, no, not again, come on, please-
Hairo was gonna get seriously injured while playing.
He grimaced to himself, standing up with shaky shoulders.
'Saiki??'
Kokomi asked, frowning a bit with concern.
Your concern is appreciated, I assure you, but leave me alone.
He commentated in his mind.
He nodded at her as a silent form of 'I'm alright,' instead of speaking his mind.
She hummed a bit reluctantly and stayed back. He was alone again, thank god.
He had another run in with the Kokomins, which could have costed Hairo his cognitive functions, but he got through them as quickly as possible and assessed the situation.
He was staring outside the window.
His eyes zoomed in on the culprit, a crack in the court. He would trip, fall, crack his skull and injure his brain so badly that he'd never be able to speak, nevermind play sports, again.
See? Thats really all it takes to ruin someones life.
Saiki sighed a bit. He couldn't really fill the hole with his powers, so he decided to talk Hairo out of the game. When that didn't work, he decided to play too.
He had to, otherwise Hairo would become wheelchair-bound and tetraplegic for the rest of his life.
He played a game of tennis, having to strain and grit his teeth to not throw the ball into orbit or accidentally kill someone with it.
He finished the game, and finally, finally, Hairo noticed the hole in the ground and deemed the court unfit to play.
He finally got to a secluded spot, to which he just collapsed against the wall and sat down for a few moments.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down from.. Whatever this was.
His eyes shut as he did, trying to focus on one thing and one thing only.
The air maybe? The feeling of the grass..?
He just couldn't focus, he grimaced, his teeth gritting together.
All he could here were people's voices, the loud noises, all of it.
He needed to get out of here, right now.
Maybe he'd teleport out of here, to a secluded spot. He wasn't one to skip class, but he could pass it off as feeling unwell and going home.
Yes. He needed this,
He convinced himself.
His eyes still hadn't opened.
'Saiki?'
He physically jumped at that, his eyes widened.
Why was he not expecting Kokomi to be here? He could use telepathy just fine, the school isn't too crowded, he was.. Just too focused on getting some sweet relief.
'Are.. Are you alright?'
She asked in a gentle tone, Kusuo nodded, trying to seem as 'alright' as possible. Which wasn't much. He felt like he was bursting at the seams.
'Al..Alright, I won't pry, if you don't want to tell me,'
She smiled softly.
'Okay?'
Kusuo sighed, he just nodded again, his head leaning on the rough school wall.
'Do you want to be left alone?'
God, yes.
Yes, he did. So badly. But how could he tell her that..?
God, this was the most push-overy he's ever been. He shook his head.
It's fine. She just wants to help.
Maybe I can get her to help me go home?
Home. No, thats not good enough. It won't do. I need quiet.
'Alright. I'll be here if you need to talk, alright?'
Teruhashi said, sitting down beside him. This was the first time her thoughts weren't so overwhelmingly loud. She felt peaceful, the esper could tell from both her thoughts and her demeanor. She wasn't obsessed with getting him to be impressed by her, wasn't pressed on talking with him. And she was alone, no stalkers in sight.
Saiki's eyes shut once more, he just sighed quietly.
Man, was he overwhelmed. He would take a trip to a nice secluded island, with hot springs, and no one within 200 meters of him. Hell, make it 200 miles. He needed complete quiet. No civilization, no humans, no animals, nothing to worry about.
His eyes cracked open again, Teruhashi was looking at him, a fond expression on her face.
He spared her a glance, his eyes wandering to look at her for a split second, just to check up and see what she was doing.
He hummed a bit and looked back up at the sky.
The bell rang and Saiki sighed.
'I'm going home, I don't feel well. Thank you for checking up on me.'
He said curtly, Teruhashi hummed.
'Do you need help? I can take you to the nurses office if you need?'
She offered. She seemed to also like the silence they shared. Kusuo shook his head.
'No, I'll be alright.'
He said, walking off in the direction of the nurses office. Well, he wasn't going there. He didn't have the patience to deal with the nurse interrogating him, and he was most certainly not in the mood to heat himself up using pyrokenesis to pretend he had a fever.
He went to the bathroom, and teleported. Far, far away. Onto an island with no hot springs. Beggars can't be choosers. But the island had underwater volcanoes, which were close enough for Kusuo.
He sighed, looking around. This place was totally uninhabited.
He hummed a bit, laying on the ground casually. It was comfy, so, so comfy.
So comfy that he fell asleep.
He woke up feeling disoriented, it must've been at least 5 hours..
He was still on the grass that he had laid down on.
It was so.. So quiet..
He wanted to stay forever.
No headaches meant no future disasters in the next day at least.
He took a few deep breaths. He was fine. He felt so much better after that nap. Now all he needed was to get home and relax further, take a shower, read a book with a comforting light and his sweet, sweet germanium ring donned on his finger to block all the annoying thoughts of other people.
Its okay,
He reminded himself.
It's okay. You just needed a little break, and thats fine.
He thought.
He didn't make any effort to sit up despite the fact that the sun was setting. It was barely visible from the grey skies, the foggy clouds obscuring the beautiful sunset.
His parents.. Crap, his parents must be wondering where he is right now. School got out over 2 or so hours ago..
Well.. Time to go back. It's fine. He can put on his germanium ring when he gets home and read a book in silence.
Alright.
Teleport!
He was back in his room. The voices started to flood in and he felt pure dread.
No, no, please. Stop.
He gritted his teeth. Endure, just until you see mom and dad. Just until you get your ring.
He found himself rushing out of his own room, running downstairs.
His mother and father were on the couch, looking concerned.
He was so tense too, his entire demeanor wasn't going to help the situation.
He waved.
'Ku?- Oh, you're home! Where have you been? We were worried sick!'
Kurumi stood up, furrowing her brows.
'Was on a vacation. Bayonnaise Rocks,'
He said, rushing to the drawer that kept his germanium ring.
Finally. He put it on again. Quiet.
'Since when?'
Kuniharu asked.
'Probably about 5 hours or so ago. I needed quiet and a nap.'
He hummed. His parents were never mad at him for skipping school over stuff like this.
Getting overwhelmed wasn't easy for Saiki, but when he did it was awful.
He wouldn’t be able to socialize or think or focus or do anything, possibly for multiple days, his powers would go out of control and he’d be incredibly irritable. So he learned to deal with it by going to secluded and relaxing places, like an uninhabited island, and take a nap, or meditate, or read, or anything really. He needed to recharge his social battery, and that was the perfect way to do it.
‘I’m going to sleep..’
The esper said, his mother stopped him.
‘Ah, Ku! Wait! your friends all stopped by and got you a little present,’
She said in a slightly teasing voice.
‘They got you your favorite!’
COFFEE JELLY?
HELL YES.
He immediately teleported to the fridge and suddenly felt all the exhaustion leave his body.
Mm, maybe having friends wasn’t all bad. Sure, it was sometimes overwhelming, but they all meant well.
So he’d keep protecting them..
Man.. This coffee jelly was delicious..