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This wasn’t where he was supposed to be.
No, Saiki wanted to travel to Kotoura, who was getting the hang of differentiating thought from speech. It meant she insisted he actually spoke while with her, which was annoying and sometimes humiliating- How could he ever mispronounce so many words in a language they’ve spoken from birth? It was embarrassing, if nothing else. A nuisance, but a nuisance he was tutoring nonetheless, as he did with others, too.
Yet he wasn’t standing in front of Kotoura’s house right now. No, the buildings didn’t match up. The style, the height. The streets were different, too. Different names, different twists and turns and signs. Oh, and there was an unmistakable omnibus aura radiation from the pitch black sky. So that was something.
“RUN!”
Ah, screaming. He should have expected as much. It was followed by a loud crash, a gust of wind ripping past him from behind, shattering the glass in the windows of the buildings. When he turned around, a couple of teenagers ran past him, one on top of the other like the most frantic piggy back ride he’d ever seen. Behind them, a large creature had crashed into one of the buildings, making it fall down. Creature was the only way he could describe it, because what the hell was that thing?
“WHO WAS THAT GUY?!”
Was he wearing a school uniform? Did he have antennae?! Another alien?!
“OI, GREAT LEADER, DO YOUR JOB!”
Where the hell is Aira at?!
He didn't turn to look at the pair that passed him, instead focusing on the giant that was now headed his way. It roared as it charged, as if that would scare him. What a pain… Kusuo lifted his hand, ready to get this over with, only to be yanked to the side at the last moment.
“GOT HIM!” a third voice yelled, whipping Kusuo up onto a roof with her. We need to avoid that thing for as long as possible and recover. Gotta get to higher ground. It was only then that he noticed the thing he was wrapped in was her hair. Pink hair. Of course it had to be pink hair, of all things. Of course this super powered high school girl had to have the same hair colour... Why was that such a consistency? It was almost as consistent as-
“HOLD ON, OKARUN!” the other girl yelled, translucent arms reaching from her as she used a streetlamp to turn and catapult them up to where they were. Yep, there it was. Psychic abilities. He let out a sigh, knowing this was going to be another ordeal. Hopefully he could get out of this weird post-apocalyptic world as soon as possible.
“Alright, who the hell are you?” the brown haired girl asked as she hopped off the boy’s back. She was right up in his space in an instant, jabbing at his chest and arching her head to look up at him. “Are you the one controlling that thing, huh? Are you with the- What are they called again?”
“The Serpoians,” the boy said, adjusting his glasses as he turned to look at the monster down below. It would only be a matter of time before it found them and the building they were on collapsed, too. Seems like it lost us.
“Those!” she called out, pointing to the guy behind her back. This weirdo better not be with those assholes or after any of our genitals or I swear to fucking god- Saiki made a face of disgust. Who did she think he was?
“Hey! I ’m the leader! I should do the questioning!” the pink haired one exclaimed, pushing the other aside so she was standing in front of him. “I saved your life down there so you better answer me, you hear? Who are you? Are you with the aliens?”
That’s right! Bathe in my beauty and tell me all your secrets, you vile alien!
“That’s exactly the same as what I asked!” the other complained while Kusuo’s mind reeled from their thoughts.
“Shut up! I’m the one who-!”
“MOVE!”
Suddenly he was flying again, being pulled by the back of his shirt as he watched the giant creature lunge at them. The speed at which that guy had grabbed them and jumped to the next building was inhuman, that much he knew for sure. Although it wasn’t fast enough. The monster was gaining, and Saiki was the first one in its path. A good thing, considering. Now he could finally deal with this thing and get some peace and quiet.
It was over with a flick of his finger, which sent the monster back with a force large enough to push it into a crater in the ground. A force that propelled them further into the air at a speed much larger than most could handle. There were screams, but these teens handled the quick change of pace surprisingly well. The landing was rough, for them, not him, but they only had a few scrapes. Most people would have to be hospitalized, if not dead on impact. Which meant his suspensions were true. These three were superhuman, with at least one psychic between them.
A psychic who pushed him down onto the ground with those weird translucent hands the moment she recovered from the drop.
“Alright,” she panted, looking absolutely pissed. “Who the hell are you?! How did you just- kick that alien away?!”
This jerk better be giving some answers before I beat the crap outta him. I’m not in the mood to deal with the strong silent type. Images of some guy- an actor apparently- popped up in her mind, shortly followed by memories of the boy next to her, half naked. She shook her mind as if to get rid of the thoughts.
Not only that, but the moment she asked her questions, the world around them returned to colour. The sky turning blue, the ominous aura dissipating in an instant as if it never existed in the first place. And people. Suddenly, there were a lot of people. A lot of thoughts. The streets were bustling around them, some stopping to stare at what was going on. None of them seemed aware of the monster that rampaged these streets only moments earlier.
“Miss Ayase, we’re making a scene,” the boy whisper hissed. We need to interrogate him somewhere quiet, with less people- Maybe Seiko can help? “Let’s take him back to your place.”
“Hah?! And have him know where I live?!”
“Pretty much all the weirdos know where you live at this point,” the pink haired girl pointed out. They got those freaky living dolls living there, don’t they? Not to mention Turbo Granny. Ugh, living there was the worst! I don’t understand why anyone would like it. I’d much rather just-
“Not the point!” Ayase snapped, ignoring the onlookers as she stepped closer to him, keeping her hand outstretched to him as she did. Must be a part of her ability. A limit, maybe? “What are you? You sure as hell ain’t a spirit, not with those antenna thingies on your head, so you must be an alien. Are you an enemy of the Serpos?”
The faster we get answers, the faster we can kick this guy’s butt and get back home. I have an English essay due tomorrow, damnit!
“He looks pretty human to me, you know, for an alien,” the other girl frowned, also looking down at him. Looks kinda cute, actually. Ew. Saiki almost gagged.
“Well, a lot of aliens do use a human disguise in order to fit in,” the boy explained while glancing around nervously. Maybe he’s related to shrimp-kun? He has antennae too, right? Would his blood be made of milk then, too? Or maybe he’s from a sub species- Something closely related to shrimp-kun? I definitely need to gather more information for research! Oh crap, people are staring! Is that guy calling the police?! “Can- Can we really not talk about this somewhere else? People are going to think we’re mugging someone in broad daylight!”
A lot of people were staring at them by now. And that man over there did seem to be calling the cops on them. Kusuo still didn't understand how those people appeared out of nowhere, but he wasn’t questioning it right now. Not when he had other things to worry about.
“ I’m not an alien ,” he said while not speaking at all. “ Can you let up with the hands? I don’t particularly like lying on the ground .”
Not that he couldn’t break free if he tried, but he learned it was best not to escalate these types of situations. Even if he could totally kill them on the spot, the same way they wanted to eliminate him.
“So you can talk,” Ayase huffed. He doesn’t seem to be violent, so I suppose… “Alright, here’s what's gonna happen. I'm gonna let you go so you can get up- But don’t get any funny ideas! We’re not done with you and if you try to run we’ll catch you and beat you into next week, got it?”
When he agreed, she let go, as she said she would. The three of them eyed him while he got up and dusted off his clothes, escorting him back to a more remote area just outside the city. All the while the interrogation continued.
“So if you’re not an alien, what are you?” the boy asked- Ken Takakura, he learned.
“ I’m human, just as much as you are ,” Kusuo answered.
“Then what’s up with those weird antennae?” Ayase asked.
“ They’re psychic limiters ,” he explained. “ They help me control my abilities. ”
“Wait, hold on, you’re psychic?!” she exclaimed. “Why didn't you just say so!”
It’s not like he got the chance to. Besides, it was a good way to see whether any of them were mind readers. He tended to encounter those in these different dimensions.
“ Would you have believed me? ” he asked. No, now that I think about it… I would’ve just called his bluff and beat his ass. Exactly.
“But wait, if you’re a psychic, you must be here to visit my grandma, right?” she asked, clapping her hands together as if she just solved a riddle.
“ Not exactly ,” he sighed. “ Me being here is nothing more than an accident. I’m not supposed to be here- Not in this place, this time- ”
“Oh my god!” Shiratori gasped loudly, pointing. “I already thought you looked familiar! Now I know! You’re from the future, aren’t you?! You're Takakura and mine’s son! I knew we were made for each other!”
“Hah?! He’s not from the future, you nut job!”
“Says who, you crazy bitch?!” she snapped back. “For all we know, he was battling some freaky ass alien and got sent back into the past by weird future alien technology! It’s totally possible! Right, Takakura-san?”
“Oh, uh, well, there uh, there are theories about- about time travel, so it’s uh a possibility but-” he stammered, red in the face.
“What?! You’re taking her side?!”
“I’m not! I’m just saying-”
“Just what, hah?! That you want this stranger to be your future kid?!”
“ I’m nobody’s future kid ,” Saiki intervened, wanting to make that one very clear. “ My name is Kusuo Saiki and I’m from another dimension entirely, not your future. ”
“Liar! You probably aren’t able to tell us anything about the future or you'll change the timeline, is that it? Oh! Were you sent here to stop a disaster from happening? Are you here to save your mom and dad~?”
“Shut up!” Momo snapped, kicking her. “You’re being freaky!”
The only thing she was, was desperate. Trying everything to convince Takakura to give her a chance, even if it was clear how smitten he was with the other girl. Feelings that were definitely mutual. That didn’t stop them from arguing, getting physical as they started slapping and pulling hair.
“ Are they always like this? ”
“Ah! It’s uh, it’s not always this bad, I promise!” Okarun said, adjusting his glasses. “They’re really nice if you get to know them.”
Sure. He'd like to see that before he could believe it.
“But you said you’re from another dimension? How did that happen?”
“ It’s a long story, but it’s part of my abilities ,” he explained, putting a hand on Takakura’s shoulder and teleporting both of them a couple of meters back as the girls started using their powers to brawl it out. Did we just teleport?! That’s so cool! “ You have abilities too, right? ”
“Uhm, yes, for now- These abilities aren't my own,” he said. “I was cursed by an evil spirit and when Miss Ayase drove it out, their powers stayed behind. I’m holding onto them while looking for my- Uh! Looking for something I lost! In the battle with the evil spirit!”
His balls. He was looking for his balls. Or, well, ball , by now. Which, ugh, gross. What kind of spirit took away someone’s balls? Toritsuka had never mentioned something like that, and with how perverted his every thought was, it was something that was sure to be brought up if he knew about it. Maybe the spirits in his universe were different. He sure hoped so.
“ I see ,” he said. “ What about them? ”
“Miss Ayase unlocked her abilities after being kidnapped by aliens,” he said. Why was everything always coming back to aliens? And why did Saiki feel this guy getting so angry about it? “Miss Shiratori was…similar to me. She…died, but we brought her back! We linked her life force to that of an acrobatic silky and now she has her powers.”
Kusuo could tell he wasn’t lying, which made all of these even more bizarre.
“What about you? What are your abilities like? How did you get them?”
“ I was born this way ,” Saiki said. “ As for my abilities, I'll show you. ”
He flicked his hand, pulling the girls apart, making them hover in the air with telekinesis. A basic power these people were sure to get the gist of without further explanation.
“ Are you two done now? I’d rather focus on getting back to my world than babysit rabid teenagers .”
They screamed and yelled some more, trying and failing to break free. Resistance was futile. Hopefully they’d see that sooner rather than later, because Saiki wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
…
They continued to argue when they continued to walk and things didn’t calm down when they arrived at the house, where Saiki was instantly confronted with Momo’s too young grandmother and psycho cat doll, which he later learned was a trapped evil spirit. The same one that stole Okarun’s balls, apparently. Something that was still strange to him, but he supposed his life was filled with weird phenomena already, so this might as well be added to the list.
At least there was free food.
“So how are you going to get back to your world?” Seiko asked as they ate. Saiki was sitting in front of a moving cat doll, trying not to think about where the food was actually going, while ignoring the way the girls were murmuring with full mouths about the future and alternate universes. Takakura was the only normal one amongst them, he decided. And that guy was missing one of his balls.
“ I’ll need to find my own dimension by skimming over the ones I can reach from here ,” Kusuo said, which was an overly simplified version of the truth. He wasn’t about to go dimension hopping in order to find his way back. One jump already took way too much energy. Enough so that he could only jump once a day with his psychic limiters on. And that was when he knew where to go. Now he was completely lost. Again. “ It will take some time .”
“Well, you can stay here however long you like,” Seiko shrugged. A visitor from another universe, huh? If it wasn’t for his psychic abilities, I wouldn’t have believed him. But if he’s really one of us… Hm, better to keep an eye on him either way. So it was a precaution and not hospitality. Noted. Not that he minded, he was glad to have a place to stay which he didn't need to break into for once. Her invitation did earn her granddaughter’s attention, though.
“You’re just gonna let a stranger live here?!”
I can't believe this! She does this every time! Would it be too much to just ask me?! To give me a warning?! Ah, the impulses of parents and guardians. Saiki knew those, too.
“How many strangers have you brought home this month alone?” she asked, raising a brow.
“That was different!” Momo sputtered.
“Spirits, aliens, psychics. What’s the difference, really?” Seiko shrugged. “In a way, we’re alienated from the rest of humanity the same way they are.”
“Are you saying psychics are the same as aliens?” Okarun asked, setting down his utensils. It makes sense, kinda? With the superhuman abilities and unexplainable powers and phenomena… Maybe they actually share a common link with aliens? A common ancestry with certain species- With how much some of them are obsessed with genitals, it could very well be the case.
Never mind. Takakura was not the normal one.
“Don’t be silly,” Aira said, waving it off. “ You are evil spirits that must be purged from this earth- For I ’m the only true savior, ready to do everything for the planet I vowed to protect!”
“Ugh, not this again,” Momo groaned, but Kusuo could tell Aira was joking. Only acting the way that was expected of her, even if she didn’t actually mean any of it. Perfectly two faced, and she dared to call him a liar.
Dinner continued like that for a while, and he was shown his room for the evening afterwards. It was nothing special, he was going to have to sleep in a sleeping bag on the ground, but it was better than nothing. When the sun set, it was time for the others to go home, which led to the scene he was staring at right now.
“They do this every time,” Shiratori snorted, standing next to him as they watched the awkward exchange of goodbyes between Takakura and Ayase. Their thoughts were all over the place, ranging from nervousness to fear to love, and it was painfully confusing. How could people like this act so similar to his own foolish parents? “Hopeless, I swear.”
“ If you know, then why chase after him? ” he asked before he could stop himself. He’d been showing a lot of interest in these people’s lives, more than he liked to admit. He blamed his other experiences for that. A certain pink haired girl too talkative and curious for her own good. A guy too shy and mundane, asking too many awkward questions. Another girl pleading for help, demanding he share his voice with her, like the others had taken aspects of him for themselves. He supposed it was only natural for him to adapt to these situations as they occurred to him.
“Someone has gotta give that girl some motivation,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “It hurts, not gonna lie, but I know when things aren’t meant to be.”
“ So why act like it? ” Kusuo asked, a question he’s pretty sure he could guess the answer to from reading her mind, but asked anyway. A politeness, if nothing more. “ Why act like someone you’re not, just to play with them? ”
“Like I said, someone’s gotta do it,” she said with a sad smile. I’d rather it’d be me than someone with bad intentions. At least like this, I’m still part of something special. Saiki could tell she’d never known anything else. That she’d always put on an act in order to be liked, to fit in. And even if she wasn’t putting up as much of a front right now, she was still hiding behind invisible expectations. “Besides, I don’t mind. They might be hopeless weirdo’s, but they’re still my friends… Don’t tell them I told you that.”
“ I won’t ,” Saiki promised, watching Okarun finally take his leave.
“Well, that's my cue! See you tomorrow, my darling son,” she teased, pinching his cheek before darting off as Ayase yelled after her. Kusuo hated the personal contact, the way her touch still stung on his cheek in the most annoying way. But he supposed he didn't hate her. Not as much as he probably should. Good grief, he was going soft.
“Ugh, she’s such a handful!” Momo complained, huffing and puffing as she went back inside. Tell him about it. “Oi, you coming or what?!”
He already knew there would be long days ahead of him…
…
“Thanks for the assist man,” Ayase panted, leaning onto her knees as she caught her breath. Unbelievable. Kusuo had been living here for two days. Two days . And he’d already been attacked by some kind of snake spirit, animated objects, and these so-called Serpo aliens. Twice . No wonder these teens were so chaotic.
“ Are they always this persistent? ”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, they attack us every so often,” Okarun sighed, wiping his glasses and frowning when he held them up to find one cracked. Oh man, these were new! My parents are going to be furious!
“They’ve totally ramped it up this week, though. Like they’re on a deadline or something,” Ayase frowned, standing back up again. “Man! The trouble we have to go through just for your balls!”
“Hey! They’re after you too, you know!” he called out.
“Hah?! Are you blaming me for getting attacked?!”
There they go again. Always having these pointless arguments whenever they found the time. Even when there wasn’t time, when in the middle of a fight, they could still be mad at each other. All while working together, albeit not flawlessly. A true miracle. A by product of the stress of it all, probably. One would be pent up for less. And that was without taking their suppressed romantic feelings into account. Something which Kusuo still didn’t understand.
“ Didn’t the two of you have tests to prepare for? ” he asked, interrupting their quarrel. Right, my math test! Crap, I totally forgot about that big biology test coming up!
“Could you stand guard while we study? Please?” Ayase asked, putting her hands together and giving him the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. “You’re so good at dealing with them and we don’t have time to waste on this bullshit!”
“ Are you saying I do have time to waste on this bullshit? ”
“Come on! Don't be like that!” she whined. “You’re staying at my place rent free, you know? This is the least you can do!”
An hour later, he was sitting next to them at the low table in the Ayase living room. While the two of them were working away, Saiki could focus on trying to find his way home. No easy feat when he didn’t know what universe he stumbled into this time, but a necessary pain in the ass. Except he couldn’t concentrate. Not with Momo sighing next to him every time she turned a page, or with Okarun repeatedly tapping his pencil against the table as he was figuring out an exercise. One would think, with the thoughts of everyone around him flying through his mind as if they were his own, he was used to these types of noises. It still ticked him off, though.
“ Could you quit that? ”
“Huh? Oh, sorry,” he stammered, putting the pencil down so he couldn't fiddle with it anymore.
“Uuugh, why is this so haaaaard,” Momo complained, throwing her head back as she slapped her hands in her face. That’s it. Concentration officially broken.
“ It’s basic biology, ” Saiki pointed out. “ And basic math, too. Stop complaining. ”
“What? So you understand all of this, then?”
No. Not gonna happen. Saiki knew where this was going, he’d let himself be trapped like this once before, but never again. He wasn’t going to try and make them understand, wasn’t going to put himself in the tutor position. Not this time. Not again.
“ I don’t need to understand. I don’t have a test tomorrow .”
“Ugh, you’re the worst!” she complained, letting her head fall onto the table.
This must be the place. It fits the description. Alright, get the kids and get out. Meet back at the rendezvous point. Easy money!
He frowned as Momo continued to whine while Takakura was doing his best to cheer her up. When he looked outside, the sky had turned black. A sign of an alien attack, he learned.
“ If you want a break, you could fight that guy ,” he suggested, reflexively putting up a shield around the house as the alien launched its first attack. It didn’t stop the sound of impact from traveling in, the loud bang resonating through the building as the being smashed onto the shield.
“Another attack? Seriously? ” she groaned as she got up.
“Miss Ayase, you don’t have to- Saiki and I can take care of-” Takakura offered, only for her to shut him up.
“No, I’m in the mood to beat someone up. Let’s do this,” she said, putting up her hair and pulling up her sleeves as she moved to the door. Takakura hurried after her, and Kusuo wondered what he was even doing here. What was the point of standing watch if they were going to deal with this either way? Well, not that he was complaining. Less work for him.
“Oi, Saiki! Set a timer!” Ayase called out as he appeared in the doorway to watch the fight. Purely for his own entertainment. He wasn’t worried. “Ten- No, twenty minutes, tops! After that he’s yours!”
“What? Miss Ayase, what are you-”
“Taking a break from studying,” she grinned. “Can’t have this take too long!”
“ I’m giving you 15. Don’t waste my time ,” Kusuo sighed, twisting his hand to reshape the shield around the house, effectively trapping the alien in the courtyard. “ Go wild. ”
“Thanks, Si!”
“ Never call me that ever again .”
…
Saiki was using his telekinesis to move the biggest damage away as Momo wiped the smaller rubble from the damaged courtyard. Her grandmother was watching from the side, ordering them around.
“Why do we have to clean all of this?” Momo whined.
“You’re the ones who damaged my damn pavement, weren’t you?” she snapped. “So you gotta clean it up!”
“We were attacked by an alien!” Momo argued. “How is that our fault?!”
“Someone’s gotta do it.”
Huh, that reminded him of what Shiratori said. Someone has to do the work, whether they like it or not, whether others want it or not. Guess life isn’t fair to anyone, which in turn, makes it fair again. Not that it mattered, all it was to him was a nuisance.
“Thanks for helping out, Saiki. Those powers of yours sure do come in handy, huh?”
“What?! You’re thanking him but not me?!”
“He was the one who saved the house from falling apart. Something I can’t say about you, now can I? Or whose fault was it that we had to rebuild the entire thing?” Seiko stated, making Momo tense up. “Taking responsibility for your actions is part of being an adult, so grow up.”
“ She’s still a teenager, not an adult, ” Kusuo pointed out.
“Hah?”
“ You said taking responsibility is an adult's job and you’re right ,” he explained. “ But your granddaughter is still a child, so you shouldn’t treat her as an adult. Which doesn’t mean she cannot help around the house, but there's a clear difference. ”
Seiko squinted at him, bordering on full on glaring. Kid thinks he’s so smart, doesn’t he? Ugh, youth these days. Don’t appreciate everything I do for them- Do they know how expensive all those damn uniforms are?! I suppose that’s just the inexperience and naivety of younglings… Guess it can’t hurt, just this once.
“Alright, fine, leave it,” she sighed, waving him off.
“For real?” Momo asked, still holding onto the broom.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she said, getting up and making her way inside. “I have better things to do, anyway.”
“Yes! Saiki, you’re the best!” Momo cheered, jumping up and slamming his shoulder with her fist. “I’m almost sad you’re actively trying to get away from here.”
Yes, he was aware. He could read her thoughts, after all. Something he had yet to tell them, something he probably never would. Which was odd in and of itself. He never had any trouble telling other psychics about his mind reading, definitely not those in the different dimensions he’d visited. Yet it somehow didn’t get brought up at the start, and now it was too awkward to suddenly dump on them. A self made predicament. Ah well, no reason to dwell on it now.
“ So what are you going to do now that you have free time? ” he asked instead, although he had a pretty good idea as to what the answer would be.
“Probably just chill,” she shrugged, which was surprising. “I mean, if nothing attacks us, which would be nice.”
“ You’re not meeting up with Takakura?”
Images of the actor flashed through her mind, mingled in with images of Okarun. Ayase’s face flushed red and she used her abilities almost instinctively in order to push him away. Something that failed completely.
“I told you not to call him that! Okarun! His name is Okarun !” she called out. “And what is it to you anyway? I’m not stopping you from hanging out without me!”
“ You love him .”
“HAAAHH?”
“ He loves you, too, ” Saiki added. “ I know. I can tell. ”
“What? Like it’s one of your abilities?” she snorted, trying to laugh it off. “Don’t be absurd! I don’t- He doesn’t- Wait. Are you serious?! You can tell when someone loves someone else?!”
“ There is more to it than that ,” he sighed. Mind reading was so much more than simply likes and dislikes, unfortunately. Oh my god! OH MY GOD! Okarun likes me! He LOVES me?! Wait, does he love me as a friend? Yeah, that must be it! He loves me because I’m his first friend and- “ It’s definitely more than friendship. ”
“Stop! Stop it!” she exclaimed, slapping his chest. “Why are you even telling me any of this?! Why now when you’ve kept quiet the entire time?!”
“ Because if I have to watch the two of you awkwardly dance around each other and create one more weird misunderstanding, I will bash my head in ,” Saiki deadpanned. “ Just confess to him. ”
“No way!” she said, violently shaking her head while making a big X with her arms. Why was she being so difficult about this? Wasn’t romance something every teenager was supposed to want? That’s what those nuisances back home led him to believe, anyway. “It’s the guy’s job to confess, anyway, isn’t it?! Everyone knows that!”
Really? Ugh, these people were impossible. Maybe he should just link up her thoughts with those of Takakura, the same way he did when forcing the Forgers to face each other’s secrets.
“ Alright. Then I’ll just go tell Takakura that- ”
“What?! No! Wait! Stop!” Momo yelled instantly pulling at his sleeve as he started walking towards the gate. I can’t have someone else basically confess for me! Everyone will think I’m a coward! Seems like his threat worked. Because that’s all it was, a threat. If he was actually planning on telling the other guy, he would’ve simply teleported to his location. “You win, okay?! I’ll confess to him!”
Small victories.
…
“What have you done?!” Shiratori exclaimed when they saw each other, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him the most desperate look he’d ever seen. “They’re even more annoying now!”
Kusuo couldn’t disagree. The constant pinning was annoying and frustrating, but the new lovebird phase even more so. Takakura and Ayase had become nearly inseparable, their every waking thought about each other, only to be interrupted by thoughts of life threatening situations. Disgusting, really. Then again, he’d never seen the appeal to love.
“ I regret everything ,” he stated, yet that didn’t change their current predicament.
“Good,” Aira huffed. If I have to suffer, he needs to suffer too! Ugh, too bad he won’t be here for long. I guess the only one I will be able to share my heartbreak with is Jiji… Hm, Kusuo had heard a lot about this Jiji person, but he hadn’t actually met him yet. He didn't go to their school, so he wasn’t always around, yet he had a weekly appointment to fight with Okarun, if he got things right. A weird arrangement to keep in a cursed spirit. Saiki didn’t question it. “I should hate you for this.”
“ You don’t. ”
“No,” she huffed. “But I’m close.”
Liar. He didn't call her out on it.
“So how is the universe search going?” she asked. Bet he’s straight outta here the moment he can hop back home. I wouldn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of nutjobs either. Kusuo didn’t have it in him that he discovered a way back about two days ago. He didn’t know what he was still doing here, and yet here he was. Tying up loose ends, enjoying some mindless free time, letting loose on some evil spirits and aliens? Whatever it was, the feeling still gnawed at him.
“ It won’t be long now ,” he said, more a promise to himself than to her. He needed to go back home, needed to leave. Even if he was better equipped to deal with these paranormal phenomena. Even when their injuries had seriously gone down because of his interventions and- Ah. So that’s why. He huffed. Worry. Pathetic.
“Aw… I’ll miss you, my future boyo,” she teased. Kusuo could see past that fake smile though, and he knew that deep down, he might miss this, too.
“What? Are you leaving already?” Momo frowned. It’s barely been a week! Wow, time sure flies, huh?
“Did you find your dimension, then?” Okarun asked. I wanted to ask more questions about his world. Bummer.
“ I could come back here, ” he said, regretting it instantly. Their unfiltered thoughts and loud gasps and shouting were already giving him a headache.
“Really?! We could meet up?! But- But how would we communicate? If you’re in a different dimension then-” Okarun mumbled, frowning as he thought about all the possible problems that could pop up.
“ Communication isn’t possible, ” Kusuo said. “ Appointments can only be made when I’m here. It’s what I do with some of the other psychics I’ve met across universes .”
“There are others?! Why is this the first time you’ve brought that up?!” Momo gasped.
“ Why would it matter? You won’t meet them in normal circumstances ,” Saiki stated. He didn’t want them to meet, either. His life was already complicated enough as it was and adding this to the mix would only complicate it further. Besides, their unfiltered thoughts and frequent cursing weren’t exactly something he wanted to expose children to.
“At least promise you’ll visit again,” she demanded, holding out her pinkie. She was dead serious. Kusuo sighed. Good grief.
He ended up linking pinkies anyway.
And so yet another nuisance was added to his already disastrous life as a teenage psychic.