Chapter Text
Saiki likes to watch the sunset.
Typically, he watches it alone in a secluded area, out in the open where nobody can disturb him. He enjoys watching it slowly sink towards the horizon line; he relishes the way that it always takes its time to fall despite the frequently vigorous nature of the world. He often watches it once or twice a week, if only to cling onto the rare remnants of peace that come from it.
But today, when he steps onto the field that he usually visits to see the natural occurrence, he takes notice of a small white creature laying in the grassy spot that he usually claims for himself, its side rising and falling as if it's asleep. Upon closer inspection, he realizes that it's a baby rabbit, feeble and thin because of what he can only assume is malnutrition.
He stares at it for a few seconds, contemplating, before leaning down and nudging its foreleg with his finger. "Hey, you. Wake up."
When it doesn't respond, he pokes it again, a bit harder this time. He can see its eyelid twitch and he tries again.
"Hello? You can hear me, right? Get up, this is my spot."
Its beady eye opens marginally, and he can feel its gaze land on him almost immediately. There's a long pause as it processes its surroundings, and then it jumps onto its feet so quickly that Saiki almost flinches.
It backs away from him cautiously, its movements relatively unsteady. 'You spoke to me,' its mind says in awe, and Saiki fights the urge to roll his eyes.
"It appears so. Now move, seriously." His patience runs thin as he adjusts himself to sit down in his usual spot, which resides right in front of a large clearing that displays a clear view of the sunset, which is due to begin very soon. The animal hops even farther back as he settles, but for some reason, it doesn't make any attempt to run off.
The hush that falls between them only lasts a few seconds before the rabbit decides to communicate again. 'You can speak to me… but how is that? I thought that humans couldn't speak to animals.'
Saiki ignores the feeling of alienation that that phrase always seems to awaken in him. "They usually can't. But I'm an exception."
'Why is that?'
"Er...Because I'm a psychic. I can read minds with my telepathy, and it just so happens that that includes animal minds, too."
'Oh. Do all psychics have telepathy?' The rabbit's curiosity is never-ending, it seems. Although he finds it a tad bit annoying, Saiki finds himself answering the question anyway, having nothing better to do to pass the time.
"No. Only some."
'Why is that?'
"I'm not exactly sure."
There was a short pause, and then:
'Is it hard being a psychic?'
It's an odd question— one that admittedly catches the pink-haired boy off guard— but he doesn't hesitate to respond.
"Good grief… of course it is. There's always something to fix, or somebody to save. But I'm used to it."
The rabbit steps closer, eyeing him. 'Is that why you look so unhappy?'
This time, he does hesitate. The sky starts to grow darker, and he trains his gaze on the sun, which is now gradually making its way towards the horizon. He watches, wordlessly, as the hues in the sky fluctuate from blue to orange to pink, but something about the sight is less enthralling than usual.
He thinks about the strangely personal question again. Is that why you look so unhappy?
The sun finally disappears. The warm colors in the sky morph into a mellow shade of blue, and a few twinkling stars become apparent in the sky. It was rather anticlimactic today, he notes. Then he grumbles, feeling abnormally heavy as he abruptly stands up. He was never one to linger, regardless of how long he stayed.
"I… I suppose it is, yes."
He turns to leave, but he freezes as he hears a soft 'wait' from the rabbit.
'Are… are you going back home now?
There's a hint of sorrow in the rabbit's voice that makes Saiki turn his head to glance at it. His expression is unwavering, but he feels a pinch of sympathy for the rabbit despite his usual aversion toward animals. It must be the fatigue.
He nods at the question. "Yes. I have school tomorrow."
The rabbit swiftly hops into the space in front of him, staring up at his face with pleading eyes. 'Will you take me with you?'
He looks at it questioningly, mildly taken aback. "Don't you have a family to get back to?"
It shakes its head. 'No, I live alone. I was separated from my parents some time ago. There's hardly any water here, and I can't travel to the ponds farther north because I don't have enough strength to.'' The rabbit moves nearer, placing a white paw onto Saiki's shoe. 'Please. I don't think I can survive here for much longer on my own.'
He hesitates again, and for some unfathomable reason, his gaze softens. He isn't used to feeling empathy for such a small being, and yet, here he is, unable to squeeze a 'no' out of his mouth like he usually does. He isn't sure if it's because he's lonely or because he's growing soft (which he isn't), but he ultimately finds himself bending over and carefully lifting the small mammal off of the ground. He supposes that its company isn't completely unbearable.
It's a lot lighter than he expected. He can feel its tiny rib cage through its fur, and with his semi-controllable x-ray vision (he can suppress it now, but only if he concentrates), he can see its weakened muscle structure all too clearly. He fears that if he isn't too careful, he might break the fragile creature, but he doesn't let the thought consume him for very long.
"... Okay. Fine. I'll take you in, but only if you promise that you won't cause any trouble." He sighs, using his free hand to push his tinted glasses closer to his face. "I deal with enough already."
The pale rabbit sits up on his palm, brown eyes sparkling. 'I promise not to cause any trouble.'
"Okay. Then we can stop by a pet store before going to the house. I'll buy you some food, housing equipment, and… " He suddenly yawns. His new companion blinks up at him wonderingly, but he chooses to ignore it. "...And maybe a collar? If you want one."
'What's a collar?'
"Hm, It's like… a thing that sits around your neck that informs people that you're a pet. Though I guess that we don't need to bother with that right now since you're still so small."
Saiki continues to ponder about his situation for a minute or two before he feels the rabbit shiver slightly in his palm. Now that the sun is down, it's becoming chillier, and he speculates that the rabbit feels cold. He warms up his body with his pyrokinesis, and the rabbit promptly stops fidgeting.
He hums mentally, feeling accomplished despite himself. Then, he holds the baby rabbit close to his chest to make sure it doesn't fall and teleports. As the scenery shifts and whirls around him momentarily, the rabbit looks around, cowering only slightly. They wind up in an alleyway that's a couple of blocks away from a pet store.
As Saiki walks down the dark path and onto a dimly lit sidewalk, the rabbit thumps its back leg against his hand, goggling at him. 'What just happened?'
"I teleported to my city. We're not in the field anymore."
The rabbit crouches down slightly, getting situated. 'That's so cool.'
Saiki grunts. "It's nothing special."
He makes his way through the area before catching sight of a small establishment with the words 'Pet Pstop' engraved above the front doors. That's a terrible pun, he judges inwardly with a shake of his head, before he discovers that the inside lights are still on.
He awkwardly ambles to the doors. Thankfully, his wallet is still in his pocket since he had been carrying it around at school, so he doesn't have to worry about apporting anything for money. He enters the building and instantly feels relieved that it's late, as it means that there are hardly any other customers inside.
He strides to one of the isles labeled 'Bunnies and Rabbits', and the mammal in his hand sniffs around with enthusiasm. They're surrounded by cages, bedding, different brands of food, and some weird-looking toys that don't even look remotely fun. He goes to the food section first and analyzes his options.
"Okay. Do you want the weirdly thin green ones, or… the other weirdly thin green ones?"
'What's the difference between them?'
"I don't know. Ingredients, maybe?"
'Ah. Can I smell them?'
Saiki moves his occupied hand to the closest bags of food that he sees, and the rabbit wastes no time to sniff them. It seems to linger on one of them before glancing back at Saiki.
'This one smells good.' It says, and the pink-haired boy grabs the bag to check its price. It's only about 900 yen, so he nods his head and tucks it under his shoulder.
He glimpses around and decides to look for bedding next. He chooses a container that looks large enough to last at least a few weeks or so, and then he moves on to locate a cage, bowls, litter, toys, and some other items that seem necessary for a rabbit. He ends up having to grab a basket to carry all of his things, and the rabbit ends up having to sit on his shoulder so that he can properly grab everything he requires.
It only takes him about thirty minutes or so to acquire everything that he needs, but it's enough to make him feel even wearier than before. He ends up having to drag himself to the front counter to pay, and as the man at the counter scans his items, he can hear him saying something along the lines of 'yikes, he looks terrible' in his head.
Gee, thanks, Saiki thinks sarcastically as he brings his wallet out of his pocket and pays for his things. He takes the bulky plastic bags that the man gives him and wordlessly exits the store, completely ignoring the farewell that the worker gives him out of sheer pettiness.
The bags hang loosely on his arms as he shuffles over to an unoccupied space next to the store. The rabbit nestles into his neck as he teleports directly into his room. It's dark, as his light is turned off, and he uses his telekinesis to flip the light switch as he drops the bags onto the floor. "Okay, we're home." He announces as he immediately starts to remove his shoes. Usually, he takes them off before entering the house, but he's too depleted to bother with putting them in their designated spot right now, so keeping them on his own floor will have to do.
He raises his hand up to his shoulder and lets the rabbit climb onto it. 'Is this your room?' It asks him. 'It's pretty spacious.'
Saiki levitates the bag of food and two small bowls out of a grocery bag. "Yes, it is. I'll get your cage and stuff set up tomorrow, but… I should probably give you some food and water real quick, right? We can go to the vet this weekend since it's only in a couple of days… "
He finds himself mindlessly rambling as he uses his abilities to rip open the food bag. He pours some of the little green pellets of food into one of the bowls before putting the bag away near his TV and placing the food bowl down a few feet away from it, hoping that the smell of it won't attract any bugs.
He sets his companion down and watches as it quickly scampers over to the bowl. It eats the food at an alarming speed, but Saiki doesn't judge. Instead, he grabs the water bowl and goes to his door.
"I'll go and get you some water. Be right back."
The rabbit doesn't respond. He goes and fills the bowl up in the sink, failing to stifle another yawn as he does so, and then hurries back and softly shuts the door behind him. The rabbit, unsurprisingly, is still eating when he sets the bowl down next to the other one. The small animal looks at it for only a second before immediately abandoning its meal in favor of drinking.
Saiki stands up straight again, though there's a slight dip in his posture. He apports his school clothing for his pajamas, which have an equal monetary value, before finally taking a seat on his bed. He maneuvers himself into his usual spot to lie down.
"Hey, if you need to use the bathroom or anything, then wake me up. I'm a fairly light sleeper." He doesn't usually like to be woken up in the middle of the night, but if it means that the rabbit doesn't have to relieve itself on his carpet, then so be it. He pulls his covers up to his chin and turns off the light with his mind. "You can sleep on the rug or something… or on that stuffed cat in the corner that Aiura gave me."
He prepares to remove his glasses, but he pauses as he hears the rabbit finally stop drinking its water. He can feel its eyes on him before he even looks.
'Can I sleep with you?' It asks.
"What? No, don't be silly. I might accidentally crush you or something."
'But you're so warm!' It states airily, as if his body heat is worth dying for. 'I can stay away from your body and sleep next to your head or something.'
Saiki is reluctant, but he eventually lets out a drawn-out sigh, unwilling to argue when he was so close to being able to fall asleep. "... Damn it. Fine, you can sleep on my bed. But don't mess with my glasses. I don't want to turn you into stone by accident."
The rabbit immediately perks up and travels to the side of his bed, and Saiki helps it up with his powers. It stays true to its word and makes its way to the right side of his pillow, next to his ear. Saiki closes his eyes with a small exhale.
A few seconds pass, and he can suddenly feel something gently nudge one of the limiters on his head. He tenses up at the unpleasant sensation that it sends throughout his body.
"Hey… don't touch those either."
'Oh. Sorry.' The sensation vanishes as quickly as it had appeared.
A comfortable silence fills the room as he and the rabbit finally settle down for the night. As he can feel himself rapidly starting to drift away from reality, a feeling of contentment coming from the other's mind broadcasts into his own, and it makes him feel significantly more at ease.
Tch. Maybe some animals aren't that bad after all, he muses.