Chapter Text
Kusuo is a typical teenage boy.
He likes detective dramas, video games, and especially manga.
With manga, there aren’t any annoying, perverted actors to be appalled at, and there aren’t any stupid game mechanics that make him shatter all the windows in the house. Just him, his thin psychometry gloves and a book he can’t read the mind of.
But he can’t read any popular manga like Jiji’s Strange Expeditions, More-Than-One Pieces or Several-Punches Woman. (The Horrific Life of Saito K. is an exception. It’s that good. You should try it.)
So, instead, he settles for niche manga he finds in a store by his neighbourhood. Kusuo likes the place especially because it only sells works written by unknown authors, so there’s barely anyone there. How they stay in business despite having no customers is beyond him. (He appreciates how the owner doesn’t pester him to purchase anything, so he kind of wants the shop to succeed. But secretly, he likes the peace and quiet, so he also hopes they stay out of business.)
The only flaw is that the owner is an old man that’s terrible at organising, so every shelf is a gamble. He definitely tries to sort them into sections, but when one gets misplaced, it’s there forever. Kusuo doesn’t get disturbed by this much as he can just use clairvoyance to find the right one.
That’s where he is now, tucked away in the back of the store. He only comes here at night when most of the neighbourhood is asleep and the only real noise he hears, apart from the old man’s endless snoring, is the whirring table fan on the counter. He even makes sure to wear his germanium ring before coming here, just in case the owner has read whatever he’s buying. The room is lined with tall shelves, books stacked on the floor and in boxes.
Like anyone else, not all manga are to his taste, so he takes his time skimming spines and covers. Kusuo prefers the mystery genre, since solving the case before the protagonist does is one of his sparse joys in life. The one he’s holding looks interesting enough, but it seems to be a knockoff of a famous manga where the detective main character turns into an eight-year-old who figures out murder mysteries by talking into a necktie.
He grabs another mindlessly, turning out to be a fantasy manga. He doesn’t like these as much because he already has psychic powers, so nothing is that fantastical. Still, he suspends his disbelief for them if the story is good enough.
Oh, this one’s published by Dad’s company.
He promptly puts it back on the shelf.
As he looks for another, he eyes the sign that reads “ROMANCE” through the gap of the shelves. He’s never even ventured near that section. Never had the urge, and most likely never will. He spends enough time trying to avoid being chased by girls in real life, why on Earth would he want to read about it?
Huh, there’s someone by that shelf. It’s usually just him here. Their black hood falls as they look up, revealing a girl with long, blue hair–
Damnit. He slips off his ring else she catches him off-guard, praying to whatever there might be that she wouldn’t notice him.
What could Teruhashi Kokomi possibly be doing at a manga bookstore? This feels like a place she’d rather be caught dead in.
I can’t believe I’m doing this, but this is my last resort!
Kusuo crouches, although her back is turned to him and she can’t see him, sneaking glances through the spaces between the spines. Last resort?
Teruhashi takes a book in her hands, flipping through it at random. She pauses. I’ve been trying to make Saiki gasp for a year now and nothing’s worked! Now where is that book Chiyo told me about?
How are those two correlated in the slightest?
Maybe I’m not looking in the right place… She turns in his direction, making him bump into the bookshelf behind him. Books scatter onto the wooden floor, just barely missing his head. Wait, is that…
He can’t go invisible, there are cameras in here. He won’t teleport away without paying — he lost that habit after he stopped being an infant.
Please don’t notice it’s him. Please don’t notice it’s him. Please, don’t—
“Saiki?” she calls out, having suddenly appeared in front of the shelf he’d been looking through.
What was he kidding, he has bright pink hair and antennae. Of course she would notice him.
God loves me so much! Running into Saiki here of all places? She thinks with a smile, which dissipates within a second. No, wait, this is the worst place to see him! Teruhashi looks down at her clothes, a black hoodie and loose sweatpants, up at him, then frantically tries fixing her hair. He can’t see me like this!
After a year of knowing one another, he and Teruhashi had finally shared a common interest — neither of them wanted to see each other at this moment at this bookstore.
“Saiki, what was that noise? Are you okay?” She hurries over to the other side of the shelf, where he is. Her eyes widen at how many books are splayed across the floor. As they both bend down to pick them all up (he could’ve easily done this with a snap of his fingers if she just wasn’t here), she asks, “What are you doing here?”
Buying books, obviously. He does not actually answer, watching her eyes move downwards at his hands. Her face contorts into something he can only describe as disgust.
Of course, a less than, err, family-friendly manga would fall right into his hands when she’s looking. That old man really needs to learn how to organise.
That title has more asterisks than letters! And the girl on the cover… maybe he really does prefer Aiura because–!
How many times does he have to reiterate that that isn’t the case.
I didn’t know Saiki was like that…
For a second, he’s almost willing to let this misunderstanding go until he realises he doesn’t exactly want Teruhashi to think he’s some kind of pervert who reads explicit material to relieve himself of urges he doesn’t have. On instinct, he drops it onto the floor. Then realises he also doesn’t want her to look at what’s on the cover, so he flips it over and picks it up again.
“I wasn’t reading that. It fell when I bumped into the shelf.”
Aw, he was so nervous to see me he bumped into the shelf! Wait, that’s not the point.
“So, if you’re not here for, ahem, that…” she says, getting up to place the books back into the shelf. “What are you here for?”
What else could I be here for? He thinks to himself, following after her. “What about you?”
“Well, I— um,” she stammers. “Chiyo recommended a book to me, so I thought I’d find it here!” I guess I’m not entirely lying. But he doesn’t have to know I need some more ideas on how to make him gasp!
And so she’s chosen to get “ideas” from romance manga? Good grief, she must really be desperate.
“I’ll leave you alone with your, um—“ She looks down at the last book he’s holding, coincidentally the same manga as before. “With that.”
She can’t possibly think he’s actually into… this, can she? He shoves it away haphazardly as she scuttles back to the romance section. What’s more puzzling to him is that she’s leaving him alone. Something he prays for on normal days. Was God finally doing something good for him?
He gazes at her back again, listening to her ruminations. Okay, well, she doesn’t think he’s a pervert which is good. But she does think he’s getting them for “that weirdo spirit medium”. First of all, since they got reassigned for their third year of high-school, she should probably know Toritsuka by name by now. Actually, scratch that, he wouldn’t want to refer to him by name either. But more importantly, she still thinks he’s buying that revolting book.
Running into Saiki here… usually I’d be excited but this is so embarrassing! I need to hurry up and find this stupid thing so I can get out of here.
Well, she didn’t have to make him sound so embarrassing for coming here often.
Oh, there it is! Her searching is cut short as she reaches for a book on one of the higher shelves, standing on her tiptoes. After some struggle, her fingers curl back in hesitation. Should I even still bother if he’s that type of—
“I told you, it fell when I bumped into the shelf.”
The book she’d been reaching for presses against his palm, arm stretched as far as he can manage. By no means is he that much taller than her, but he does have psychokinesis to help. And she’s too busy squealing internally at how close he is to notice how the book just so happens to slip right into his hand. From an outside perspective, one might think he’s trying to cage her with his body.
She turns to face him.
Wait, isn’t this—
—just like a romance manga!?
It’s rare that their thoughts line up enough for something that cliche to happen, but seriously. A chance meeting at a quiet bookstore where the girl isn’t tall enough to reach the book she’s looking for. How, despite his better judgement, he isn’t moving away as fast as possible. How her perfume – or whatever that sickeningly sweet scent is – overwhelms his senses. It’s unsettling.
(And before you question how he knows this is a trope given he hasn’t read romance manga, Kusuo has been met by unfortunate, shoehorned-in romance subplots many times. Some authors have no clue how to reel in more female readers without completely ruining the promised plotline.)
“Saiki?” It comes out barely a whisper, but the thoughts in her head blare louder than any siren he’s ever heard. Why is he so close? How did he know what I was thinking? Why isn’t he gasping?!
Only one of those questions was worth asking, and it certainly wasn’t the last of the three. He steps back, pushing the book towards her. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
It doesn’t take much reading for it to be obvious what type of manga it is. Flowery background, attractive male lead in a soft art style. At least it’s a lot less compromising than the book she’d found him holding. By the looks of it, it’s about a beautiful girl that falls for an irritatingly apathetic boy with a supernatural secret.
“Yes, err, well–!” Wait, I don’t have to explain myself to him. Plus, it just makes me more down-to-earth. Even the perfect pretty girl has cute hobbies like this! “Thank you, Saiki.”
“It’s fine.” Now for the love of everything, please leave so he can window-shop to his heart’s content.
But that moment just then… Could it really be…? Her grip on the book tightens, thumb brushing against the title. Could this romance manga be the solution?
The solution to what? To all his worst nightmares coming true?
“I’ll get going now. I’ll see you at school!” He sure hopes she doesn’t.
Teruhashi finally does him a favour and escapes through the bead curtain to the front of the store. Her steps are light as she bounces towards the old man running the store, who offers her the book for free. Kusuo has never been offered anything for free and he’s basically their only customer!
(Okay, well, now that he says that, it makes sense why he wouldn’t be offered books for free if he’s quite literally their only customer.)
Whatever. He’ll just have to work harder to avoid her the coming week, and she’ll eventually give up on this plan, like she always does.
He goes further into the store, distancing himself from the wretched romance section. Back to searching for his next read. And the first thing Kusuo pulls from the shelf is –
“The World of Romance is Tough for a Psychic! The Perfect Pretty Girl is in Love with Me?!”
That old man needs to learn how to organise.