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This wasn’t supposed to go like this. Kusuo had simply wanted to visit Anya, only to check up on whether she was still alive and not being experimented on. He had no ulterior motives whatsoever. And when his brother, Kusuke, had quickly agreed to help him on his little endeavor, he’d already suspected something was off. He should’ve known, really. Kusuke was his evil scientist brother, as Anya called him, so it was to be expected he’d pull something like this.
At first nothing seemed wrong. Kusuo was able to enter Anya’s world with little to no problems and was able to teleport to her house without being seen. He teleported to the front door, mind you, Kusuo didn’t want to get stabbed or shot on sight. Yet to Anya it was just as big of a surprise to suddenly hear the thoughts of a boy she thought she’d never meet again.
Kusuo!
Yes, it’s him, so open up the door. Loid was confused as to why his daughter suddenly gasped and ran to the front door, wanting to stop her before she did something stupid and reckless, only to find the familiar pink haired boy standing in front of him.
“Kusuo?” he asked, rather surprised. “How..? What are you..?”
“ Hello Loid, I came to check up on Anya ” Kusuo greeted, looking down to meet the eyes of the small girl. “ I see she’s still well, that’s good ”
“You came back!” Anya cried out, instantly hugging him. “I missed you so much!”
Yeah, well, maybe he missed her too, a little bit. He didn’t have the time to linger on those thoughts though, not with the way a glowing light engulfed them. His brother must’ve done something, must’ve made sure that something would happen the moment he touched Anya, or anyone at all. Was he teleporting them back to their world? Did he intend on kidnapping Anya, taking her away from her family? Saiki couldn’t let that happen. And so he used his own powers to interfere with the signal in an attempt to manipulate the glow, to make it die down. It only got brighter though, until it engulfed the two of them completely.
They ended up in an alley, but Saiki had no idea where. This looked closer to his time, and he could recognize Japanese signs around them, yet this wasn’t a place he recognized. Where are we? Didn’t you hear? He just said he doesn’t recognize this place. I’m scared… Oi, there’s nothing to be scared of. My brother is probably behind this so we’ll be able to figure out a way home in no time at all. Really? You promise? I promise, now come on, let’s see what we’re dealing with.
The moment they stepped out of the alley, they were almost run over by a group of tough, muscled guys.
“Sorry! We didn’t see you there!” their leader spoke. They were dressed in gym uniforms, so they were probably students. Saiki didn’t guess them any older than he was, but to Anya they must’ve seemed intimidating, because she cowered away behind his leg until she could hear from their thoughts they were absolutely harmless himbos.
“ It’s alright ” Kusuo told him, freezing up the moment he sensed it. That aura… It was strong, stronger than that of any other psychic he’d ever met, an aura that could rival his own. But when he turned to look, all he saw was a sweaty running middle schooler that looked like he was about to fall over and pass out any moment now. No, looks can be deceiving, Kusuo needed to stay on edge. Anya tensed up next to him, clenching the fabric of his pants. Is that guy really that strong? Stronger than you Kusuo? I don’t know and I don’t intend to find out.
“Ah, Mob! You already caught up! Doing good man!” someone from the club called out, but Saiki doubted the boy had actually heard a lot of it with how focussed he was to simply stay upright. The boy, apparently nicknamed Mob, stumbled when he noticed them, falling flat on his face.
“Mob! You okay dude?!”
The members of the club instantly jogged over to him, still running in place as they asked him if he was alright, whether he was hurt or he could stand. They really only think about muscle. Kusuo ignored Anya’s stream of thought in order to focus on Mob’s, finding them rather concerning. They’re espers… Their auras are so strong, I don’t know whether I can beat them on my own… Are they here to try to recruit me? Did another organization rise up? One we don’t know about yet? They haven’t tried to kill me yet but maybe they don’t want to attract that much attention… I need to call Ristu, he’ll know what to do.
Saiki could feel the boy’s stress levels rising, getting the feeling he was suppressing his powers as much as he could. That couldn’t be healthy. That had to come and bite him in the butt sooner rather than later, definitely with that aura of power he gave off. Do you think he can hear our thoughts? No, otherwise he wouldn’t be thinking what he was thinking right now. An organization of powerful espers… It wasn’t experimentation, exactly, but Saiki couldn’t rule out that possibility, certainly not when the whole recruit or kill thing came up. It seemed like this world had its own messed up problems to deal with, too.
One thing he knew for certain was that he needed to keep Anya safe, starting with finding a place to stay and a way to communicate with his brother.
…
“Are you sure that’s what you saw?” Ritsu asked when Mob explained his run in with the two strange espers.
“Yes, they were really strong, their auras were impossible to miss” Mob nodded. “One was a boy, uhm, I think he was a little older, maybe a high schooler? And the other was a little girl. I had never seen them before”
“This is concerning” Teruki frowned.
“Yes, also, who invited you here?” Ritsu asked, annoyed by the fact he was in their house.
“Mob texted me saying he ran into some crazy strong guys and didn’t know what to do and you’re seriously expecting me to stand aside and watch?” Teruki asked, raising a brow at him before turning to face Mob. “So what did they look like exactly? If we know what we’re looking for, it’ll be easier to find them”
“We’re not looking for-” Ritsu hissed, only to be interrupted by Mob.
“They had pink hair” he said. “And they had these weird things on their head, like hairpins but shaped really weird”
“Alright, I’m calling Sho to find out whether he knows anything about this. An eccentric fashion sense just screams Claw” Ritsu sighed, taking out his phone.
“Hold on, didn’t we deal with those guys?” Teruki asked. “Do you think they could be back?”
“Some members might be trying to rebuild” Ritsu shrugged. “We have to be careful either way”
Mob smiled. He knew Ritsu would know what to do! He always does! Always so organized and always ready with a plan of action! That’s why Mob looked up to him so much. Because Ritsu held real power, power that wasn’t related to being an esper. He left the room once the call went through, asking Sho about the pink haired espers he ran into.
“I should warn the guys from the awakening lab to look out for them, in case they turn out to be evil” Teruki said, quickly tapping away on his phone. “Should we, uh, inform Reigen about this?”
“It’s okay, I’ll go tell him myself” Mob said.
“Oh okay, sure thing, uhm, I’ll be going then” Teruki said, giving Mob a small salute before heading out the door. Ritsu came in a little later, telling him Sho didn’t know anything about the people he saw but that he would look into it for them and find out what he could. That’s all they could ask for, really, so Mob was happy with the results. He just hoped they weren’t really evil, that they weren’t planning on hurting him or his friends. Mob’s percentage rose at the thought alone.
…
It had been a few days and Saiki was sure that Loid and Yor were going to kill him when he finally got Anya back home. He’d been able to get them a room at some random hotel with money he obtained in a not so legal way, so shelter wasn’t a problem. He could also take food from the local grocery stores without getting noticed, so food wasn’t a problem either. No, their biggest problem was figuring a way out of this place and back to Anya’s dimension and hopefully after that he could return to his own dimension.
“I’m bored” Anya whined. “Can we go out? I wanna go to the park!”
Well, they needed to go shopping anyway, so Saiki didn’t see why not. He also didn’t want to be locked up with a whiny child all day, so he gave in to her request without much resistance. The park she mentioned wasn’t far from their hotel and had a playground within it where Anya could just be a kid and enjoy herself. Kusuo didn’t want to burden her with any of this either, but sometimes that was difficult, being a mind reader and all. He was glad she wasn’t scared anymore.
Kusuo sat down on one of the benches while Anya ran to the sand pit, tensing up once he felt that very same aura again. He turned to look, seeing that very same boy was sitting on the other end of the bench. Why didn’t Saiki notice him?! He looked so plain, but his aura was so strong, how could he have missed it?! Oh no, it’s him again. What is he doing here? Did he follow me? Saiki didn’t want to see him either, if it was of any comfort. Come on Tome, where are you? Mob jumped up at the pling on his phone. She’s…not coming. Looks like his friend canceled on him last minute. Saiki would be elated if his so-called friends did that.
Should I just stand up and leave? Will he attack me if I try to run away? Or follow me home? I can’t let him know where I live, that would be dangerous. Ritsu always tells me to be sure not to go home when I’m being followed.
“ Look, I’m not evil, so this Ritsu person has nothing to worry about ” Kusuo told him, startling Mob yet again. It was time to get this miscommunication out of the way. This boy wasn’t a threat to them anyway. “ I know you’re a psychic, or esper, the name doesn’t matter, and I know you know both me and Anya are psychics too. We got stuck here by accident, it has nothing to do with you or your friends ”
“Oh… That’s a relief” Mob said with a small smile. “How did you know Ritsu’s name? Are you able to read my thoughts?”
“ Yes, both me and Anya are mind readers ” Saiki confirmed. “ My powers aren’t limited to mind reading, though. So what about you? Your aura is really strong ”
“You think so?” Mob asked, scratching his cheek. Was he blushing..? “I, uhm, I can move things with my mind. I think the proper word is telekinesis”
“ Seems like we have something in common, then ” Kusuo replied, looking over to where Anya was playing. He easily called her over by making his thoughts louder and getting her attention. “ Allow me to introduce you to Anya, a mind reading esper. I am Saiki, by the way ”
“Oh, uh, call me Mob” he smiled. “It’s nice to meet other friendly espers. It’s good to know not all of us have evil plans to take over the world, you know?”
Saiki did, in fact, not know, but he decided to ignore it.
“So if you’re a psychic…” Anya frowned, looking up at Mob. “Why don’t you have pink hair?”
“ Not all psychis have pink hair, Anya ” Kusuo told her, but Mob seemed to take it to heart.
“...Why don’t I have pink hair..?” he mumbled, taking a strand of his black hair as a mischievous grin rose to Anya’s face. Oh, Saiki wasn’t liking where this was going…
…
“What the-”
Kusuo didn’t know how else one would react to finding your brother and two strangers in your bathroom together, let alone if one of the strangers was dying your brother’s hair pink. Saiki didn’t know how Anya managed to rope him into this, but here he was, his gloved hands applying the recently bought hair dye to Mob’s already bleached hair. Ritsu didn’t know how to react, didn’t know whether to scream or to punch someone, or both. Both sounded good too, actually.
“Hi Ritsu” Mob smiled, waving at his brother like nothing was wrong.
“Shigeo, who are these people?” Ritsu asked, obviously losing his patience. Saiki was surprised he actually managed to hold out this long without punching someone. That might be because Anya was closest to him, though.
“Oh, these are the people I told you about!” he smiled. “This is Saiki and that is Anya. They’re espers like us”
“Okay” Ritsu breathed. “And what are they doing here?”
“We’re dying Mob’s hair pink!” Anya exclaimed. “Then he’ll be a real psychic! Like us!”
I look away for five seconds and my brother is already being indoctrinated into a cult. Just great.
“Kusuo, what’s a cult?” Anya asked, turning to Saiki while Ritsu’s eyes widened. Nothing for you to worry about. I’m actually rather surprised none of your shows told you about it.
“They’re mind readers, isn’t that cool?” Mob told his brother, who was descending into madness as this conversation went on.
“Can I… Can I have a word with you? In the other room?” Ritsu asked.
“ A wall isn’t going to stop our telepathy ” Kusuo informed him while continuing to dye Mob’s hair. “ Also I’m not done yet, so could you wait a moment? ”
“You don’t trust us” Anya frowned. “But you’re like us! You can move things with your mind! Mob told us about it”
“Yes, well, Mob should really learn how to keep his mouth shut” Ritsu said, his eyes twitching. Saiki really couldn’t blame the guy, but he also found it slightly amusing. Saiki ended up having to project his thoughts onto him in order for the boy to stop freaking out, and with a lot of convincing from both Anya and Mob, Kusuo was allowed to dye his hair pink as well. Their parents didn’t seem to like that decision, though.
…
“They need to be squares!” Anya stated.
“Why is that?” Mob asked.
“Well, Kusuo has circles and I have cones so yours have to be squares!”
“Ah, that makes sense”
No it didn’t. It didn’t make any sense at all. Why did Saiki agree to go shopping with them again? Oh yes, because he can’t leave these two gullible children alone in a mall. And now he had to supervise as they searched this place for the perfect hair pins to match Mob’s new pink hair. Ritsu didn’t join them, but only because he had a test to study for. Seriously, that kid was more paranoid than the Forgers and that’s saying something.
“What about these ones?” Anya asked, pulling out two blue crystal-like cubical hair pins. “Come on! Try them on!”
“Alright” Mob nodded, taking the pins and putting them in his hair. And as paranoid as his brother was, the more trusting Mob was. Saiki doubted he’d ever heard of stranger danger. That and he was simply following the instructions of a six year old without question. Yep, this one wasn’t the brightest, to say the least. But he was powerful, that was something Saiki couldn’t deny. And despite having all that power, he still wanted to live a normal life, which was something Kusuo could respect.
“Kusuo, what do you think?” Anya asked, making Saiki blink. Huh, that weird blue color actually matches the pink, how about that… “He likes it!”
“Then I’m buying them” Mob smiled, clearly happy to be able to hang out with people similar to him despite wanting to live a normal life. Saiki couldn’t blame him for that, not really. He’d always taken the annoyances in his life for granted, but not having any other psychics around could be lonely, isolating, like for Anya. Mob wasn’t alone, though. He had his brother and several friends. Being an esper seemed to be more common in this world, or maybe they just happened to be more concentrated in some areas. It was hard to tell. It didn’t matter either, it’s not like they’d be here long enough to actually be functioning members of this society.
Just admit that you care . Never. Saiki glanced down at Anya, who had a knowing smirk on her face. Alright, maybe I do care, a little.
“Mob! You hear that! Kusuo cares about you!” she laughed, running towards her new friend with her new found victory. Saiki sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. At least nobody from his world heard that just now, otherwise it would be a whole other-
“Oh Kusuo~!”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I’m glad I finally found you, my dear troublesome brother! Do you have any idea how many dimensions I had to search through because you messed up my signal?” he asked, swinging his arm around Saiki’s shoulder.
“ You shouldn’t have tried to kidnap Anya ” Kusuo pointed out.
“Alright, fair” he shrugged. “Anyway, let’s get going. I don’t know how long the portal will be stable and we have to get three people through this time”
“Are we leaving already?” Anya pouted as she came back with Mob.
“Oh, so you must be Anya! I’ve heard a lot about you” Kusuke smiled. “I’m Kusuke, Kusuo’s older brother!”
“Are you an esper too?” Mob asked. Oh wait, he doesn’t have pink hair. So he must be normal, then.
“ He’s not ” Kusuo confirmed. What he is, is our way home. Say goodbye to Mob, Anya. I’m sure your parents are worried enough already and I don’t want to be killed on sight. Anya started tearing up, hugging Mob as she mumbled something about not wanting to say goodbye just yet.
“I’ll miss you too” Mob smiled, petting her head. “But I’m sure your parents must be worried. It’s alright, I’ll be fine”
Saiki could tell he wouldn’t be fine, sensing Mob’s stress levels were rising even now. They should probably leave before he couldn’t handle it anymore. Kusuo really didn’t want to see what would happen when Mob finally snapped. And so he ushered Anya to speed things up, following his brother to where the portal was supposed to be hidden. The next day the papers would report an explosion in the mall, but neither Saiki nor Anya would be any wiser.