Chapter Text
I guess my peaceful life ends here… yet strangely, I can’t say that I’m upset. I guess I might actually like troublesome things.
Japan was given two hours left to live. But, suddenly and with no understanding of what happened, they were saved. The meteor exploded in the air, the thousands of pieces of debris fell to the ground slower and gentler than anyone expected, not damaging anywhere they hit. The phenomenon is being studied thoroughly, to no avail. Although many cameras were filming the meteor at the time of the sudden explosion, no one was able to discern exactly what caused its decimation nor the twisted physics of the debris.
Saiki Kusuo was glad that although he was once again a full-blown psychic, and he made a very risky and public show of his powers, no one was drawing the conclusion that a pink-haired high schooler had been the cause. He hadn’t even bothered to go invisible in his urgency, but with the size of the meteor compared to him it’s no wonder no one would’ve been able to see him, even on camera. He was glad he still had a chance to conceal himself.
Before the impending disaster, he’d already realized his powers were quickly coming back. Initially, he’d desperately denied it. He didn’t want to reclaim his abilities or stop the meteor. Until the thoughts of his friends came flooding to him. He realized he couldn’t let the world burn. He wouldn’t lose the people that he’s only ever tried and miserably failed to push away, because he’s realized they do make his life a little more bearable.
He’d flown up to the meteor quickly, building up his force, and punched it with a solid 88% of his strength (aiming for 75%, but he hadn’t practiced in a while). The meteor shattered in one blow. He used his telekinesis to catch the falling debris, now realizing he probably should’ve let them fall just a little harder… at least no one was hurt. Once the danger passed he teleported back home and passed out immediately, exhausted from his sudden exertion and reclamation of his powers.
His school took the rest of the week off, since the entire country needed some time to recover from a very traumatizing and confusing ordeal. He was grateful for the time off, because controlling his renewed and quickly redeveloping powers was proving difficult, his limiters were not helping the way they did before. Over the week, Kuusuke ran various comprehensive reports on Kusuo’s power levels and designed several models of new limiters. It took Kuusuke half the week to perfect them (sort of).
He designed them to look like small cat ears, the same color as Kusuo’s hair to be “less noticeable.” Initially, Kusuo had obviously absolutely refused to even try them, but his brother refused to move on to a different prototype without even testing them. After an agreement of no pictures (Kusuo threatened death) and a full pack of the most expensive coffee jelly the world has to offer, Kusuo tried them on. After only a minute he realized they were definitely the best pair his brother had made so far. His telepathy range now half the size it was with any of the old limiters. His vision powers now controllable, giving him the ability to adjust his x-ray vision as well as only petrify when he wills it (they test on Kuniharu). He decides to still wear his glasses, just in case. He asks Kuusuke if he can make them a different shape but his brother insists the shape is integral to how they work. They really aren’t as noticeable as Kusuo initially feared, so he reluctantly lets his brother win this one.
Now properly restrained, he retrains his body to rediscover his limits and by the time the week is through, he feels comfortable (as comfortable as can be) with his powers again.
His friends had all gone through their own emotional experiences after the meteor, but they all tried to visit him multiple times over the break. Unfortunately, his family had to turn them away every time by making up various excuses ranging anywhere from him simply not feeling well to visiting his grandparents. When delivering the news his brother was always rude, his father was always awkward and uncomfortable, and his mom was always fighting against every fiber of her being to not allow them in. The act of keeping Kusuo’s friends away from him is like treason to her own heart.
Nendo and Kaido are the obviously ones who try to see him the most. Nendo’s able to keep a positive attitude about it at first, but the more he doesn’t get to go eat ramen with his pal, the sadder he becomes. Kaido’s active imagination does not help his own anxiety. He’s really starting to think that Dark Reunion has kidnapped one of his best friends and he fears for everyone’s lives. As the Jet Black Wings he’s sure to get to the bottom of it… he’s still sad. He wants to see them, but he doesn’t feel ready to face them.
Teruhashi had also gone to see him a few times, with so much on her mind Kusuo couldn't even parse through the thoughts in her brain. But she'd always leave just as quickly. Apologetic and shy.
Kusuo lies in bed, listening to the depressed thoughts of everyone’s Monday morning grumbles, wondering if he should go back to school yet. He knows he should. His powers are under control now and if he misses school his friends are sure to riot. But he’s incredibly nervous about going back. He considers wearing his germanium ring in order to ease himself into being around so many people with his powers again. The idea of not being fully prepared for everything the day has in store for him doesn’t make him feel any better, so he slips the ring into the pocket of his school uniform just in case.
He’d wanted to get to school before everyone else, but found himself procrastinating going outside. Everything he’d have to explain to his friends weighing on his mind. He wishes he could’ve said it when he was “powerless” but now he has to face them, powers fully intact, and finally tell them. He's just not sure if he's ready for that at the moment.
He gets to school with little time to spare, making his way to his locker and through the hallways quickly. He hadn’t run into anyone yet but that only means his welcome party is all already in class. He takes a breath before opening the door to the classroom, already seeing everyone with his x-ray vision.
As soon as his friends see him they all freak out.
“Saiki! I thought Dark Reunion took you! I thought you were dead!” Kaido cries.
“Partner! What happened to you? We’ve gotta get like 10 bowls of ramen after school,” Nendo asserts.
“Did you run into trouble with the law or something? What gives, man?” Kuboyasu asks. “Shun’s been worried sick about you!”
“It’s nice to see you again, Saiki!… Can I come with you and Nendo for the 10 bowls of ramen?” Mera requests.
“Saiki!!!! I am happy to see you back, but may I ask what the hell happened last Tuesday?” Hairo demands, passionate fury running through his veins. “According to Kaido and Kuboyasu, you left class even before news of the meteor hit!”
“Saiki-san! Welcome back! I knew you’d pull through for us! Does this mean the psychickers are back?” Toritsuka practically pleads.
“Saiki! Where have you been?! We’ve all been so worried about you!” Yumehara yells. "Especially Kokomi, but, ugh, she’d kill me if I said that."
“Kusuooooo, I’ve missed you so much! Thank you for saving us! I love you!” Aiura blows him kisses.
“Kusuo! I’m very happy to see you, like everyone else! We’ve all missed you a lot. I see you’re wearing your glasses again! I assume you were what stopped the meteor, so thank you for that, that was a level of power I never thought I could see in my life, thank you for saving the world. Was visiting your grandparents nice? How are you feeling? If you need help with anything let me know. I—“ Akechi speaks and thinks simultaneously, but he is interrupted by the class bell (though he continues to ramble about everything Kusuo possibly missed).
Everyone is told to go to their seats and quiet down, Kusuo’s never felt so grateful for class to start. He knew coming back today would be overwhelming but he actually had to stop himself from accidentally teleporting home. He sighs as everyone calms down and they all begin focusing on the lecture. Almost everyone that is.
He realizes one person hadn’t said anything to him upon his return. She’s now trying desperately to focus on class, but failing. She’d hoped he would return today and she was ecstatic to see him but she couldn’t seem to find her voice while everyone else was greeting him. Kokomi has had a lot of feelings and realizations in the past week, and she’s made a decision that makes them both nervous.
She’d known deep down that she wouldn’t be killed the day of the meteor, the universe loved her far too much for that. She’d known deep down that when she asked god to save them, she was heard. But when the meteor exploded and everyone realized everything would be ok, she was just as surprised as everybody else. A part of her had still expected to die. And the fact that she would’ve died with regrets shook her to her core. That is simply not the Teruhashi Kokomi way of life. She knows now that to get what she hopes for she needs to be honest. She needs to confess her feelings to Saiki.
Even though it feels like a blow to her pride, she simply has to tell him at this point. Plus, that has to be what gets a gasp out of him, right? She’s unable to imagine rejection from anyone but she’s also unable to imagine him actually accepting her, which terrifies her. But if there’s even a small possibility things could work out, she’s ready to take that chance. So over the break she had been hyping herself up to speak to him, but every day her hope was crushed more and more when she didn’t get to see him. She didn’t try to see him every day, she had a little more dignity than that; but she did think about visiting nearly every hour, and succumbed to her desires most of the days. Sadly, that courage did not pay off and she was left only sad, embarrassed, and missing him.
So, it would be an understatement to say she’d let out the happiest sigh of relief ever when he walked into class. But of course everyone else was just as excited to see him because they’d all been worried and/or depressed about him being MIA. She really wanted to say something to him too, but she felt too nervous to speak. And as she stared at him, she realized he looked less stoic than he normally does, more like a startled deer but still trying to keep his typical demeanor. Then class started and he didn’t even look at her as he sat at his desk next to her. Now her brain is running a million miles a minute trying to be the perfect student and focus on their teacher’s words but she can’t stop wondering about him. She accidentally looks at him 28 times and accidentally writes his name twice just in their first period, quickly scolding herself to look away or furiously erasing every time.
Her thoughts make him feel like he’s in the middle of a hurricane, but in a real hurricane he would feel more at peace.
So, she’s finally decided to confess to him. From the sound of her thoughts, she’s imagined what she would say many times but she hasn’t been able to come up with a concrete plan, mostly because she wasn’t sure when she’d see him again. Now that he's here, she can’t tell when they’d be able to have a moment alone or if that moment alone would be an appropriate time to tell him. That at least means he has some time to figure out how to avoid and stop the confession. But after dealing with this girl for as long as he has, he’s well aware that he can only run so far before she catches up. And he’s been in the slow and painful process of realizing that maybe it would be ok if she did catch up.
At some point he couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d grown on him. They had a complicated relationship, in which his main goal was to avoid her because of the attention she drew and her’s was to get his attention and make him fall for her like everyone else. They both lost to each other over and over, neither ever actually achieving their goals. She was too lucky to not receive every opportunity she’d had to get closer to him and he was too psychic to ever be like everyone else. But over the years, his likability meter for her has raised more than it’s dropped (he doesn’t want to look at where either of them stand with each other now).
He sighs. The concept of love has always been so hard for him to understand. He’s only recently opened himself more to platonic love. Familial love is somewhat understandable but still too messy to fully comprehend. But romantic love? By far the most confusing emotion that exists, he believes. Even though he’s telepathic, he’s not empathic and he cannot understand the thoughts of people in love because he doesn’t understand how the love is making them feel. Even though he’s gotten swept up in love stories at times, he could never see himself developing romantic feelings for anyone. Partly because he doesn’t understand the feeling. Partly because he’s only ever thought to distance himself from others in order to hide his abilities. And partly because telepathy ruins every part of the human experience.
In a proper romantic story, he wouldn’t be hearing Kokomi’s thoughts about confessing to him now and he would never have heard her thoughts in the first place. If he’d never had powers, had never tried to hide himself from the world, would a relationship between them make more sense to him? But if he didn’t have his powers, he probably would have just reacted to her the same as everyone else, and she probably wouldn’t have been as interested in him….
Maybe… it would be nice to try.
His eyes widen at his own thought and he has to stop himself from shaking his head. How could he accept her feelings? She draws the most attention he’s ever seen a person draw (although people tend to gravitate towards him no matter how much he tries to avoid them), she wears a fake persona and hides her true self to fit a standard she believes benefits her (as does he), and she doesn’t actually know who he is (he knows her better than anyone else but not really, and not by either of their own wills). They’re complete opposites and they simply wouldn’t work. But how can he convince her he’s not the one for her? What else can he possibly do?
I could tell her first.
He realizes this is unfortunately the only way he can think of to make her move on. Everything else he’s tried has failed miserably. And at this point, if he told her at the same time as everyone else, there’s a possibility her reaction would lead the rest of them to find out she’s had feelings for him and he’s been avoiding her. He doesn’t think either of them will be in the mood for that, so it’s in both of their best interests for him to give her the chance to process it first. He really doesn’t want to do that, he’d prefer to tell all of his friends at once like ripping off a bandaid. But with the way Kokomi’s currently psyching herself up to be confident around him, reminding herself of the dread she's felt this past week, and the way she’s been pining for him for what feels like 6 years, he knows he has to tell her the truth and end this.
The two of them are pulled out from planning their confessions as the class is told to split into their groups to continue the G7 projects, the deadline of which is extending to the end of this week. They look at each other and both of them think, oh, shit.
Kokomi pulls herself together and laughs a little awkwardly, “I, um, totally forgot about that project… but we made some progress on it before!” She opens her notes to find where she’d been writing her research.
He nods and pulls out his own notes. They both still have the books they were using, so they assign themselves topics to focus on and write their notes quietly, the classroom around them loud with chatter. Once the period ends, their teacher says they should finish the project as homework over the week.
“Should we go to the library after school?” Kokomi asks, encouraged by everyone around them making plans as well.
Kusuo thinks about the amount of people who will stare at, whisper, and think about them, “I’d rather not.”
“O-ok! Um,” Kokomi thinks, “Should we go to a café? I found one that has really good coffee jelly!” She panics, “Not that I’ve been tracking down good coffee jelly places,” she had been tracking them down, “I just… thought of it. Whyyy can I not speak?! I am going to scream!”
He can’t help but give a very small smile that she almost misses, but when she catches it, it makes her feel a thousand times better, “Yeah, that sounds ok.”
The rest of the day goes by painfully slowly, with both of them very anxious. Kokomi is wondering if she should wait to tell Kusuo her feelings until after they finish their report. He’s also trying to figure out when to tell her. It would be a dick move for him to tell her right before she’s about to tell him, but he's already a dick for reading her mind this whole time and planning on beating her to the punch anyway.
At the end of the day, she gives herself a pep talk and turns to him, beaming, “Shall we head out?”
He looks at her, a bit cautiously. For good reason, because when he sees her smiling face his heart sinks a little. He feels a range of emotions that all feel uncomfortable and annoying like guilt, anxiety, fear, and something else he can’t place his finger on but it makes his chest feel tight and his stomach feel weird. He nods and they get up. Luckily, everyone else is splitting up with their groups, too, so they’re spared from ramen with everyone for now, though Nendo is not happy about it.
They leave, most people watching them leave together and feeling jealous of Kusuo. Little do they know, he wishes he could trade places with any of them.
The walk to the café is silent aside from all the thoughts Kusuo hears and the ambient sounds of the day. Kokomi at least doesn’t feel uncomfortable with the silence. At this point she’s used to him practically being mute and she’s glad to not feel the need to start a conversation. She’s just happy it’s a nice day and she gets to have Saiki all to herself.
When they enter the café, multiple staff greet them and gasp at Kokomi, thanking her for coming in again. She gives them her loveliest smile, “Good afternoon! It’s just the two of us, but could we have a somewhat private table with a lot of space? We’re working on an assignment.”
“Offu course! Please follow me!” A waitress says, leading them to a table in the corner of the restaurant. It feels very cozy and secluded and Kusuo is grateful for it.
They decide on researching rolls between the two of them and silently begin their work. They’re able to actually focus for some time because they want to distract themselves from each other. After they’ve finished their first round of sweets, they order a second.
Kokomi is about to go back to her book but she catches sight of Kusuo eating his second coffee jelly, just as ecstatically as he ate the first one, and thinks, “Cute~ I missed that face~.” He blushes a little at that, but luckily she thinks it’s because of the jelly. “Ugh, I hate this, focus Kokomi, you can tell him later.” She forces herself to focus back on her work.
Kusuo winces at the fact that she’s probably going to hate him once he tells her his secret. He’s going to have to admit that he’s heard almost everything she’s ever thought about him. He internally sighs and gets back to his work as well.
They work pretty diligently (for their circumstances) for a couple of hours, building a steady tab of sweets. Kusuo doesn’t just get coffee jelly, but he mostly gets coffee jelly, because this place does in fact have great coffee jelly. He’s grateful to Kokomi for scouting it out for him. When they finally come to a pausing point for the night, both of their brains are a little fried but also quite on edge because they are both preparing themselves to confess to each other.
Kusuo knows he needs to say his part before she says her's, and it would be better to do it as soon as possible but… God, opening up to someone, especially in this context, is the most difficult thing he’s ever had to face, including the meteor, volcano, and all the other disastrous things that have happened in his life.
But she's trying to find her voice to talk to him, fully intent on confessing to him tonight because she's tired of holding on to it, so he has to stop it now.
“Teruhashi-san,” he says aloud, a little cautiously.
She squeaks a little, “Y-yeah?”
“I need to tell you something,” he utters.
She’s surprised and her first thought is to be hopeful, but he sounds more serious than she’s ever heard him so she feels more concerned. “… Ok?”
He sighs, he can’t tell her here. “Do you mind if we go somewhere else?”
Kokomi nods quickly. She asks for the bill and gets them a 90% discount, insisting on paying for both of them, “I’m just… happy to see you… so this is my treat!” She blushes a little at her admission.
Kusuo stares at her for a second but nods, “Thank you.” They pack up and leave.
They walk silently, in the direction of their houses.
“Where did you want to go?” Kokomi asks.
Kusuo wonders. They should probably go to his house in order to have the privacy for him to show her his powers but he doesn’t feel like having her around his family. He doesn’t want to go to her house because running into Makoto was a possibility. She’s starting to get cold though so somewhere outside won’t be suitable. When Kokomi isn’t looking at him, he quickly uses clairvoyance to check his house. Luckily, only his mother is home and she is the least of the evils residing there.
“Are you ok with going to my house?”
“Yeah, of course!” She smiles.
They walk quietly. The silence would be awkward if it weren’t for both of their thoughts racing.
He opens the door to his house and says, “I’m home.” To his mom he projects, “do Not freak out,” then he says, “Teruhashi is here, too.”
His mother runs out to greet them, “Ahhh!! Kokomi-chaaaaan,” ignoring Kusuo’s wishes. She happily hugs Kokomi, who hugs her back. Kokomi wasn’t expecting that reaction but she appreciates it. Kurumi has always been so nice to her and is more maternal than Kokomi’s own mother, so she enjoys spending time with her. One of the reasons she's apprehensive to confess her feelings to Kusuo is that she's worried she won’t be able to see Kurumi as often if things go south.
“Pardon my intrusion,” Kokomi says.
“Oh, never apologize for coming over here, sweetheart! I’m always so happy when any of Ku-chan’s friends come over,” Kurumi says sweetly. She leans in and says quieter, “Don’t tell any of them, but you’re my favorite.”
That sentence feels more validating to Kokomi than any compliment or gasp she’s ever received and she feels like a flower just bloomed in her heart. She smiles and says, “Thank you, that means a lot…. You’re my favorite, too.” Kokomi means that with every fiber of her being and it makes Kurumi just as happy.
Kusuo sighs to himself. He wants to tell Kokomi about being a psychic more and less now. Less because if it goes south, Kokomi might feel awkward around Kurumi, and more because hearing Kokomi’s thoughts about his mother makes him trust her more.
Kurumi tells them to go wherever they want and that she’d shortly bring them snacks and refreshments.
They go upstairs, Kusuo never knows when his brother will be home and he doesn’t want to risk any interactions. She heads to the bathroom and he settles down in his room. He first flops onto his bed—already exhausted, even with the amount of coffee jelly inside him—but he can’t be laying like that when she comes in. He settles at his small table on the floor and mentally prepares himself to tell Kokomi the truth. She comes back in, sitting across from him and before the silence can get awkward, Kurumi knocks on the door, bringing in tea and cookies.
“Thanks, mom,” Kusuo says. Kurumi smiles wide, she loves when Kusuo tries to speak aloud, so he does for her.
“Thank you!” Kokomi says. She pours herself some tea. Kurumi leaves them be.
After a few moments, he still doesn’t say anything so she asks, “Um… what was it that you needed to tell me?” She holds her tea cup with both hands, to keep herself from fidgeting and because the heat soothes her nerves.
He takes a moment then starts, “I have… a secret.” She’s obviously intrigued. “I was going to tell everyone together, but I’ve realized I should tell you first because… well, you’ll understand.”
She’s very curious now. This is the most she’s ever heard him speak, so nervously, all at once, and with his mouth. "Wait… Why do I feel like he’s doesn’t always speak with his mouth?"
“It’s because I’m a psychic. Most of the time I speak telepathically.”
“… What?” Kokomi says, confused. "Was that a joke? Is he making a joke? Wait… what?"
“It’s not a joke,” he projects.
Her stomach drops when he answers her thoughts a second time, this time without his mouth.
He takes a breath as he tries to speak, “I was born with psychic powers, but I hide them in order to live without drawing attention to myself….”
Kokomi is really trying to catch up mentally… "No, he must have actually been a chuunibyou this whole time, just better at hiding it than Kaido...."
“Please don’t compare me to Shun.”
Her eyes widen, he’s definitely hearing her thoughts and his voice definitely sounds different in her ears and in her head.
“S… so you… can you hear…” she tries to put together a sentence, her face already starting to get red.
He nods, “I’ve been able to hear the thoughts of everyone around me my whole life. It’s not something I can turn off. Well, there is a material that cancels it out but… ironically, not having telepathy unsettles me at this point, I just don’t like surprises. But if you want me to, I can wear it.” He pulls his ring out of his pocket to show her, she just looks at it in his hand. “Part of the reason I never wanted to tell anyone is because I don’t want anyone to feel like they can’t think freely around me.”
Kokomi’s mind is racing. Part of her believes him, the undeniable proof tied into his speech, but most of her can’t wrap her head around it. She also desperately wants to deny it. But she looks at him and his expression is the most honest and uncomfortable she’s ever seen it. She can tell this is hard for him to say. “So… you know…” she finishes her sentence in her thoughts, “…that I have feelings for you?”
He nods.
“Say it out loud, or it doesn’t feel real.”
Kusuo sighs, she’s really making him say it, “… I know that you have feelings for m—“
“Ok!” She stands quickly. “Ok. So, you can read my mind. You can read my mind. You’ve been reading my mind this whole time…” she repeats to herself, pacing around. She thinks back on all of her interactions with him and she has to admit it makes sense, but she is quite horrified by the reality she’s being faced with. He knew this whole time. He knew everything. Her face is red and she feels like crying so she can’t bring herself to look at him, “Why… are you telling me now? Why couldn’t you just say something before?”
He takes a deep breath, but still speaks telepathically, “Until recently, telling anyone I was psychic was out of the question. Outside of my family, only three psychics in our class know because I couldn’t hide from them. I’ve only ever wanted to be normal so I tried to seal my powers away a few weeks ago. I wanted to tell all of you together when I thought I’d lost them, but they came back almost as quickly as they left. But I still want to be honest so… that’s what I’m trying to do now…. I’m sorry.” He feels the need apologize aloud.
Kokomi nods slowly, just trying to comprehend everything. She always felt like he was hiding something but something like this was unimaginable. At least he wants to be honest now… she’s embarrassed when she realizes he felt the need to tell her alone because he totally heard her thoughts all day. And the entire time she’s known him. She does her best to calm down. This is a very surreal conversation, though. And she’s still hurting. She finally gets herself to look back at him and asks, “So… you have other powers?”
He nods sadly, “Too many… I usually start with this one.” He lifts his tea spoon telekinetically and she gasps. He makes weird shapes with the spoon and ultimately ties it in an extravagant knot. She simply gapes. She walks forward and reaches out to it to grab it from the air, studying it. She laughs. He looks at her, surprised. No one ever laughs at this trick, most people just think it’s fucking weird. It makes him a little, cautiously, happy though because he’s always wanted someone to laugh at it. He makes it ridiculous for a reason.
She covers her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter, sitting back down, “Sorry… I just… you keep throwing me off. Can you show me more?”
He nods and shows her examples of his powers, explaining drawbacks at the same time. Teleporting from one part of the room to another; levitating both of them; becoming invisible and having her touch him to see the cloak break; safely practicing his different kineses; making a picture with thoughtography; restoring a mug he drops on the ground; and showing his super strength by lifting his bed with one hand, looking like he’s simply picking up a large book. She’s in awe at every power he shows her, simply enjoying some (teleportation, levitation, invisibility) and just gaping at others (restoration, kineses, thoughtography, super strength). The super strength makes her mouth fall open the widest and she immediately thinks, “Please, pick me up.”
He replies, “No.”
He briefly explains the things he can’t really show her like clairvoyance, astral projection, premonitions, petrification (he mentions the Nendo sculpture incident, clarifying the use of his glasses and ‘hair clips’ while he’s at it).
“Ohhh, so that’s why you’re wearing your glasses again! It’s too bad, I like the color of your eyes, but I guess it’s for the best so you don’t turn anyone to stone,” Kokomi says.
Kusuo blushes very slightly, “… Actually… my new limiters are strong enough to help me control it, I’m just wearing them as a precaution.”
Kokomi gets a little brighter, “Oh!… Could you take them off now?” She’s been blushing this whole time so it doesn’t make much of a difference for her when she blushes as she asks internally, but his face gets noticeably pinker.
“… I could turn you to stone.”
Kokomi shrugs, “I think it’s worth the risk.”
He actually laughs a little at that, surprising both of them, but Kokomi is absolutely elated to hear it and see it.
He sighs, “やれやれ. If you miss school, don’t blame me.” He closes his eyes and takes off his glasses, opening them slowly once he feels like he has a handle on the power.
When his eyes meet her’s, she smiles, “Yeah, it’s worth the risk. Also, sorry for pulling out your limiters… several times in the past….”
He shrugs, “You didn’t know, it’s ok.”
“Thanks… but where are your new limi-“ she starts to ask and when he points at the little ears on his head she squees, “how did I not notice those?! Oh my god, that’s so cute.”
“My brother is a cat lady, he insists this design is the most powerful limiter he’s been able to invent. It’s not very noticeable but I still hate it.”
“Well, I think you look great. I want to pat your head,” she thinks cheekily.
He does his best to ignore her and gets to talking about transformation. First he tells her he can turn into pretty much anything, then mentally prepares himself to clear up the Kuriko situation.
“I don’t… have a sister.”
Kokomi puts her head in her hands, “Oh my god.”
“I really was just trying to eat some discounted desserts that day, but then Mera came up to me and… everything happened…. The actual name I go by in my female form is Kusuko but I couldn’t tell you that. Sorry.”
“You know… of course that was you,” she’s crimson with embarrassment but in the grand scheme of things it’s kind of just funny how he’s been hiding all of this under everyone’s noses and its just too outlandish for any of them to have guessed. “You’re cute as a girl, too, it’s not fair.”
“Thank you?”
He continues with psychometry, bilocation (she really doesn’t like the idea of dozens of off-looking Kusuos just wandering around), hypnosis, size augmentation, and x-ray vision. She wonders about the x-ray vision.
He says, solemnly, “Unfortunately, I have seen everyone naked. I’ve also seen everyone’s muscle and bone. I couldn’t see faces for more than a second before I lost my powers.”
“Oh, god,” she says, once again horrified by the reality of Saiki’s powers. “I always wondered why you didn’t gasp at me, but…wow. Can see you me now? And that day in class when you were staring at me, was that when you’d lost your powers? Were you realizing how beautiful I am?”
Kusuo stares at her blankly, “I haven’t gasped both because I couldn’t see your face and because I can hear your thoughts. At this point, I don’t gasp at you on principle.”
Kokomi huffs a laugh at that and squints at him, “Aaaand the other day?”
“… Yes, I was understanding for the first time why everyone makes such a big deal out of you, but don’t expect any more compliments than that.”
She laughs, “If that’s your idea of a compliment, you’ve got a long way to go.”
She’s taking everything a little too well, he thinks to himself.
“But can you see me now that you have your powers back?”
“… My new limiters are strong enough to help me control it. So, yes, I can see you.”
She nods and doesn’t press any further, just content to know she’s not muscle tissue in his eyes right now.
When they’re about to finish off with memory alteration, time travel, and mind control, he sighs and tells her… “ok… I’ve done a lot of morally questionable things. Please know in advance that I’m very sorry.”
She gives him a look and thinks, “Morally questionable?”
First, he gives her an explanation of his mind control powers and how he’s mostly only used it to make himself blend in. She goes, “Ohhh,” as she understands why he looks so average but at the same time not average at all. She’s floored when she learns that hair use to only be various shades of black, brown, red, and blonde before he accidentally changed the human genome.
“So, you gave me my hair color?” She asks, stunned.
“I mean, I didn’t mean to, but yeah. Sorry.”
“No! I love it… thank you,” she beams and he wants to slap himself a little for no particular reason just the way her smile and words are making him feel.
He explains his memory alteration powers and apologizes for using it on her and the others that one New Years.
“So… your mom didn’t say you have trust issues?”
“No, your brain put that thought in the space where I removed the word ‘psychic.’ For Kaido it was that I was a chuunibyou, for Hairo it was a very long-winded story of a tumultuous relationship with tennis, and I can’t read Nendo’s mind because he’s genuinely just stupid, but it did seem to make him feel closer to me. Basically, I think you all projected on to me, which makes sense psychologically, but it was still a pain.”
Kokomi laughs, “Wow… but I mean… you do have trust issues.”
“I don’t, you just imagined that. You have trust issues.”
“I didn’t imagine it, you caused me to think your mom said it, even if you didn’t mean to… but after telling me about how you’ve lived your whole life hiding everything about yourself, you want me to believe you don’t have trust issues? I know I have them, but I can admit that.”
Kusuo doesn’t know how to reply to that.
“It’s ok,” she thinks. “It’s because we’ve given ourselves roles to play outside in order to make ourselves and the people around us feel better. But then we don’t let anyone in all the way because our facade could break.”
He nods. He processes that but he doesn’t know what to say so he moves on and she lets him.
“It’s possible I forgot something, but I think I have one last power to tell you about. I have the ability to time travel, my restoration is a part of it. It’s stressful and I don’t like using it, but at times I’ve needed to use it… And I had to keep us stuck in a time loop for 6 years.”
“Wh..” That officially fries her brain.
“I had to prevent a volcanic eruption in Oshimai that would destroy all of Japan, but it took me 6 years to become strong enough to stop it. I had to rewind the world a year every April 10th in order to plan for the eruption as well as keep confusion to a minimum. I used mind control to make it seem normal. I finally stopped it this year, so we’re no longer in the loop. That’s why I thought I could finally get rid of my powers.”
After everything she’s learned tonight… it all makes sense. She’d always wondered why her second year felt so long. It's absolutely bonkers that he could do all of that, everything he’s told her, and make it seem normal. She takes some time to process it all. He’s given her sufficient evidence and it all makes everything click into place about their world, but it’s going to take a moment to get use to the idea of Kusuo actually being an omnipotent god.
She looks up at him, “Did you stop the meteor?”
He nods, “That was the day my powers fully came back.” He doesn’t tell her about hearing her and how she’d made him smile and gave him the push he needed that day.
“Do you always hear me pray?”
That makes him still for a second, “… Not always, and I’m usually not the one answering.”
She nods, but she knows he heard her that day. They talk for a while, she asks questions when they come to her and he clarifies everything for her.
“The first time I tried to get your attention and you disappeared. I thought you were an illusion, but you teleported didn’t you?”
He nods, “I saw Nendo, realized I’d have to act normal around you, and panic teleported.”
She laughs at his phrasing.
“There was this time I was sick and my brother kept bothering me but then he suddenly stopped… I saw you for a second and I thought it couldn’t be you but… it was you?”
He nods, surprised she remembered that. “Everyone at school was depressed and coming up with worst case scenarios about you dying. I had to make sure you came back as soon as possible for the sanity of the school.”
She laughs a little awkwardly, “Yeah, that makes sense… sorry to cause you trouble.”
“You didn’t,” he says quickly, too quickly for his liking but he’s already done it.
Her smile becomes more comfortable and she nods, “Thanks… Um… Let’s see, oh! The time I saw you in town, lost you, had a whole horde of men try to find you… did you teleport that time too?”
“No, I turned invisible and sat with you in the diner the whole time.”
She gapes at him and then realizes, “You finished my milkshake, didn’t you?”
“Sorry… it was good, I finished it before I realized it.”
She scoffs, “So, you’re saying that instead of accepting my invitation, that I hadn’t even offered yet, to get milkshakes, and I would’ve bought you your own, you decided to hang out with me… without me knowing…… and drank MY milkshake………”
When she says it like that, he realizes that maybe he was a little dumb.
“Oh, that first time we went out because I wanted to apologize for my brother… you kept doing the exact opposite of everything I wanted you to do, why did you just not go out with me?”
He has the decency to look a little sheepish. “I couldn’t reject you because you thought you would die and I realized I could try to get you to lose interest in me. But no way I’ve tried to get you to like me less has actually worked.”
She wonders about everything he must’ve tried that backfired. She’s quiet when she asks, “Why is it so bad for me to like you?” She wasn’t really prepared to go into this line of questioning but she’d already said it.
He was somewhat prepared for this line of questioning but not as much as he felt he wanted to be. He takes a deep breath and says, “I’ve been living my whole life trying to avoid attention.”
She sighs, “I gathered that much, but is that the only reason?”
“I’ve never…” he feels so awkward but he had to get this out, “understood love or romance. And living the way I do, I don’t even know where I would start in a relationship.”
“I don’t know either,” she catches him off guard with her quiet admission. “I never liked anyone the way I like you because no one ever saw me the way you see me so I could never see them the way I see you… does that make sense?” He nods, she continues, “And maybe that’s my own fault for putting up a front…. But you shouldn’t feel like you have to be alone just because you’ve been different your whole life. Or like you can’t explore things you don’t understand.” She says everything before she can think too much about it and he’s silent for a minute, looking at her.
After a few moments of silence, she remembers their school trip and says, “The lucid dream I had at that hotel with the bear and the castle wasn’t a lucid dream, right?”
He shakes his head, “When you removed my limiter you teleported into the wilderness, I found you with clairvoyance, but I was almost too late to save you. I teleported to you and touched the bear but because I couldn’t control my powers I sent it flying… I thought I’d have to tell you then but you wondered if it was a dream so I took the opportunity to hide my secret… and I couldn’t move because without my limiter I could’ve shot you into space.”
She laughs, baffled, but with every new wild piece of information, she gets more use to the chaos of it all. “You did say ‘offu,’ that night though, right?”
He shakes his head again, “I replaced myself with Toritsuka.”
She rolls her eyes, “Figures.” She wonders for a second and upon hearing her memory he wants to sink into the earth. “Wait… I think I did heard you say ‘offu’ once… when I was thinking about you and looking out the window.” When he doesn’t reply, she continues, “You heard my thoughts, didn’t you? You heard me realize it was only a matter of time and you said ‘offu’!”
He hides his face but it doesn’t do much to cover his blush. He’s been caught. She enjoys seeing him flustered. He sighs, “Ok. I said it one time because you surprised me.” That was a lie, he’s said it a couple times now, but that’s the only time he’s said it in a way that she’s been aiming for.
“How did I surprise you?”
“… With your persistence.”
“You already knew I was persistent.”
He has nothing to say to that. He doesn’t want to admit that when she thought that, it made him realize she could be right about them. He doesn’t like how this feels at all. The vulnerability of coming face to face with his own feelings and the feelings he could have for another person. And that person being aware of those feelings. He knows this is how she feels, too, but god she’s taking it so much better than he is. It’s too much for him to think about and he feels like he’s stuck in place.
“Saiki?” Her voice brings him out of his head. She looks worried. “Sorry… if I pushed you too much,” she says, softly.
“No… I owe you these explanations,” he says. Speaking aloud still feels strange, but he knows she deserves to truly hear it from him. “I just… you’re taking this all way better than I thought you would and you… don’t seem to like me any less.” She actually seems like she likes him more and he feels like he messed up somewhere. He was fully expecting to be hated by this point.
“… Do you actually think I could like you any less?”
“I’ve been listening to your thoughts this whole time,” he says aloud as if to drive the point further home. “I altered your memory, I more than doubled our time in high school, I’ve basically only ever tried to avoid you, I’ve been lying to all of you this whole time while knowing all of your secrets.”
“And you’re trusting me enough to tell me all of this now and you had the decency to tell me alone. And you’re explaining everything and trying to make me feel more comfortable when this is obviously uncomfortable for you. Do you really think this conversation could make me like you less?”
He stares at her, stunned, “I mean… that was my expectation.”
“Do you want me to like you less?” She wonders.
He hesitates before saying, “I think… that would be for the best.” He regrets it when she gets the saddest look on her face he’s ever seen, but he stops himself from taking it back. It was the truth, even if he doesn’t really want it to be.
After a moment, she pulls herself together, and says quietly, “Can we… at least still be friends?”
He was expecting that even less. She really was accepting that he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with her but she still wants to have him in her life because he means a lot to her, even more now.
“I would like to be friends with you,” he says cautiously, and she gets a little brighter, grateful. He thinks he should be the grateful one.
“Ok,” she says, softly, smiling. “Um, is there any other time I haven’t thought of that you used your powers around me?”
He thinks about it, “I’m sure there’ve been plenty of times… that time Kaido and Nendo wanted to pick something for you to wear… I swapped what Nendo chose because you would’ve probably slapped him.”
She laughs as she remembers and beams, “Wait, so you picked that outfit for me? I knew you’d have good taste! I was so disappointed when I thought you left without picking anything.” She pouts and he once again wants to slap himself because he thinks she’s cute?? What is that??
He moves on, “Also, for some reason your brother asked me to help him look for your birthday present. He kept picking the worst possible things and wouldn’t listen to me when I told him they were bad.” He shakes his head at the memory, “I found an animal mug but he told me you wouldn’t like it. He tried to get you this horrendous blue mug,” he realizes he still has it and pulls it out of his junk drawer, telekinetically bringing it to his hand to show her. “It was the same price as the mug I’d shown him so I just bought that and apported it with this one.”
She looks at him with wide eyes, “The one you picked is my favorite mug.”
He struggles to meet her eyes, “I just… thought it was good and simple.”
She smiles at him, “I’m actually relieved it’s from you, the only thing I’ve ever not liked about it was that it was from Makoto. But now there’s even more reason for it to be my favorite.”
He doesn’t have a reply to that.
“Anything else?”
“Uh… oh, during the play for the school festival, after Saiko pulled out all his funds, you came on stage and I hypnotized the audience to see the play with all the props and costumes. I figured since we were both in charge of the play I should carry my weight a little, too.”
She gapes at him, “That was your hypnosis? Wow, I really thought I was just that talented. I guess that’s fair though, even my perfection has it’s limits.”
“You were the reason I was able to pull it off, we made a good team.”
She beams and nods, “Oh, what happened when we had to draw each others portraits, how did you come to a blank canvas?”
He sighs, “Because of my thoughtography, if I have an image in my head I immediately draw it hyper-realistically. But I never want my work to be above average, so I was struggling to figure out how to draw you and eventually I decided to put all of the other pictures people drew of you together in one combined image, but Aren’s drawing of a transformer got into the pile so it ruined the whole picture.” Kokomi laughs at that. “And then I ran out of time.” She laughs even harder. Her laughter makes him feel better about everything.
“Ok, I understand what happened now but… could you still draw me at some point?”
He narrows his eyes a little, “Maybe.”
She thinks, “You will.” He rolls his eyes and she says, “Ok… anything else I should know about?”
Racking his brain for a second trying to think about any possible time he used his powers around her that she doesn’t now know. “Probably. If you think of anything you can ask me and if I think of anything I’ll tell you—” his eyes go wide momentarily and he cuts himself off suddenly remembering the karaoke mixer. Should he tell her about that? He’s been honest about everything up until now it’s ok if he doesn’t tell her about one time, right? But that doesn’t feel right or fair. He’s been hesitating too long and he knows it, and she knows he thought of something.
“What is it?” She’s staring at him now, waiting for him to look at her. He uses every ounce of strength in his super-powered body to look at her. He has to be honest but he really doesn’t want to be.
Before she can say anything else he starts, “I… ok, if you haven’t hated me for anything else you might hate me for this.”
She braces herself, but says confidently, “I could never hate you.”
He sighs, “There was a point in time… where I had Aiura pretend to be my girlfriend in order to get you and Imu disinterested in me. Imu ended up hiding us from you. After hearing your feelings she realized she loved you and disapproved of me. She had the idea to get you with someone else at a mixer.” Kokomi stares wide eyed at him. Kusuo continues, refusing to look at her, “That was good news to me but I wanted to ensure that you would at least start to fall for someone else. So I sat in the neighboring room and made sure the guys that were with you said and did all the right things.” She’s silent so he continues, “And I thought it was going well but… you still ended up thinking it would be better if I was there, so I left.”
Her face is such a deep shade of red she has to look away from him. “You really did all that so I would stop liking you?” She sounds hurt. Her thoughts are a mess, too.
“I’m sorry,” he says, quietly.
She sighs, “What happened to the boys?”
“What?” He tries to play dumb, but she’s too smart for that.
“They left to go to the bathroom and never came back. Did something happen with them?”
He tries to think of anything to say other than the truth but he can’t, “They were playing janken in the hall to see who would take you home. They all tied so I put them to sleep and took them to their houses instead.”
She narrows her eyes at him, “Did you throw in your hand?”
How could she know that? “No,” he says firmly, trying to lie. When she doesn’t say anything but her thoughts ask him to be honest, he sighs, “Yes, but my wins don’t count.”
She sits up and starts, “So… what you’re saying is… you wanted me to be over you so bad you mind controlled the guys with us—“
“I gave them telepathic suggestions—“
“— to do everything that would make me happy… heard me wish you were there, and then… got rid of the guys after winning a game for who would get to be with me?”
“I said my wins don’t count and you aren’t a prize, anyway,” he says, quickly.
She looks at him with all the mixed emotions she feels on her face. She wants to punch him as she thinks, “I guess I understand why you think I would hate you. I do want to hate you.”
He looks at her, scared. “I—“
“Why can’t you just accept that we could be good together?” She asks, frustrated.
He tries to calm his nerves and cautiously says, “I’m not in a position to reciprocate your feelings, you deserve someone who can… love you properly.” He cringes at his own words, he knows he owes her this conversation but it’s exceedingly difficult to keep up with.
“You don’t get to decide what I deserve!” That makes him look right at her, she’s fuming now. “I thought you were smart but you’re obviously not intelligent enough to realize that if anyone could love me properly it would be you!” His eyes go wide and he blushes despite himself, her words catch up with her and she hides her face in her hands. “Sorry, but you know how I feel anyway so there’s not really any point in hiding it.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to wear my ring?”
“No! Because that’s how you know who I really am! Now that I know everything, I’m entirely comfortable with the fact that you can hear my thoughts! I actually trust you immensely, now!” Her words are nice but she’s yelling with the angriest voice he’s ever heard from her. She’s just feeling a lot of things. She takes a moment to calm down, sighing, “I’m ok with staying friends. I want you to stay in my life no matter what.” He stays silent but his chest aches a little. “You have clear boundaries, I won’t cross them.” Her voice goes a bit quieter, “But just… keep being honest with me, please.”
He nods, “I will. And I really would like to be friends, too.”
She looks up after a second and smiles at him, genuinely but still sadly. She feels as much turmoil as one would expect in this situation but it’s also so outlandish and unexpected she mostly just feels exhausted.
It’s gotten late so she realizes she should probably go home. They go back downstairs, Kurumi is knitting on the couch while watching a romantic drama on TV. Kokomi realizes she can still always come see Kurumi and that makes her feel better. Kurumi hugs her goodbye, they don’t tell her that Kusuo told Kokomi his secret because they both know how she’ll react and they are too tired to explain that it does not mean they are in a relationship.
Once they walk outside, Kokomi realizes, “Wait… could we teleport?”
Kusuo nods, touching her arm because holding her hand would be too much, “Brace yourself.”
Suddenly they’re in front of her house. She laughs, enjoying the rush of teleporting, “Oh, that’s fun! Thanks… I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waves and walks to her front door.
He watches her go inside as she thinks about everything she’s learned tonight and how she’s going to have to explain things to Chiyo in a very redacted way. That makes her turn, “Hey! When are you going to tell the others?”
Kusuo sighs, “I have no idea.” Telling her was exhausting enough, now he’d have to explain everything again??
“They won’t judge you,” she thinks to him. “We all love you. Take your time, but you can be honest.” With that, she walks inside and he stares as she closes the door.
He considers her words and teleports home.