A bar was hardly a novel place for a group of teenagers, except, of course, for a good student like Saiki Kusuo, whose life revolved around school, the supermarket, and home.
Originally a party of four, the awkward addition of an outsider made Scott extremely annoyed. But when he met Jean's gaze, he could only swallow his anger.
I can't get angry. I can't show any negative emotions towards the newcomer. Jean is so sensitive, she'll notice it. Scott didn't want Jean to think he was a petty man.
Frankly, this kind of guy earned Saiki's respect. If Jean didn't also have telepathic abilities, making it difficult to interfere, he might have been willing to play matchmaker for the two of them.
The five of them arrived at the bar's entrance, where the bouncer stopped them, requesting to see their IDs.
With Charles having pulled some strings, their identities were all in order.
Except for Saiki Kusuo.
He was an outsider, and Charles hadn't had time to resolve his undocumented status. Even if he had, Saiki wasn't old enough.
Seeing Saiki's hesitation, Scott's eyes lit up. He saw an opportunity to get rid of his rival.
Ignoring his feigned regret, he patted Saiki on the shoulder. "Sorry, buddy. It seems you're not old enough to enter a bar. Why don't you just..."
Before he could finish, Jean interrupted him. After all, she was the one who'd dragged him along; she couldn't just let Saiki go back alone.
Her eyes flashed red as she locked gazes with the bouncer.
The bouncer felt a moment of confusion and stepped aside.
"Alright, you're all good. Go on in."
Scott wanted to say something about this blatant cheating, but seeing Jean's smiling face as she boasted to Saiki, he instantly forgot his prepared speech. He just wanted to spread his feathers like a beautiful male peacock courting a female, attempting to show off his good qualities to win her over.
(What a disgusting analogy.) Saiki grimaced and took a step away from Scott, who was practically radiating hormones. Jean immediately took his arm.
"Let's go, Saiki. You don't look like you've been to a place like this before. Come on, let me show you around."
(Rather than watching the lunatics in the mosh pit thrash around in this deafening place, I'd rather find a quiet dessert shop and have a treat. I'll find a chance to slip away later.)
Saiki frowned at the piercing music, mentally planning his escape. Unfortunately, Jean, who could read his mind, threatened him.
[If you dare to ditch me and run off, I'll brainwash Scott into a crazed fan who's obsessed with you.]
Saiki Kusuo: "..."
(He's your admirer, isn't he? Isn't that a bit cruel?)
[Don't worry, Scott said he'd go through fire and water for me. It's just a little prank; he won't mind.]
Saiki couldn't help but cast a sympathetic look at Scott.
(Hang in there, Scott.)
The completely unaware tool, Scott, sneezed.
In the end, under Jean's threat, Saiki finally agreed to stay. Back when his friends had learned about his telepathy, they'd always complained that it was a disgusting power. Now, he finally understood his friends' feelings. It really was.
So!
Dis!
Gust!
Ing!
Grey, as the instigator of this gathering, intended to confess to his long-time crush, Kelly.
To show off in front of the person he loved, he acted like a regular, found a table, and summoned a waiter.
Coming to a bar naturally meant ordering drinks, but they were still students. School rules clearly stated that they couldn't drink, even if they were of legal age. The two girls hesitated, but unable to resist Grey's constant persuasion, they finally relented.
"Let's just order one bottle then, Grey. Just one. I don't want to be forced to write a self-criticism essay when we get back to school," Kelly said.
"Though I doubt we can keep this from the Professor," Jean sighed and added.
The waiter, although suspicious of this group of seemingly young teenagers, thought their bar was quite reputable and shouldn't have let minors in. So, he followed their instructions and turned to prepare their drinks and food.
"Wait a minute."
Saiki suddenly called out to the waiter.
The waiter turned back and bowed politely.
"Is there anything else, sir?"
"Do you have any desserts?"
The waiter: "...Sorry, sir, this is a bar."
Saiki: "Or a milk tea would be fine too."
The waiter: "..."
He suspected this kid was here to cause trouble. Taking a deep breath, the waiter repeated himself.
"I'm sorry, sir. We only sell alcohol here."
"Alright then." Saiki looked at the departing waiter with a look of regret.
Before long, the waiter returned with their order of drinks and food.
Eager to show off, Grey poured drinks for everyone. When he got to Saiki, Saiki covered his glass, refusing.
"Thank you, but I don't drink."
"Seriously, Saiki, you're such a killjoy," Scott complained, dissatisfied. "That's why I said we should have let him go home earlier."
He glanced at Jean as he nitpicked, only to see her glare at him fiercely.
"Hey, Scott, stop picking on Saiki."
Being scolded by Jean made Scott feel even more frustrated, and his goodwill towards Saiki plummeted to rock bottom.
Saiki had no idea if Jean was being dense or deliberately trying to make things worse for him. She clearly knew Scott had a crush on her, yet she was fiercely defending another man in front of him.
The loud music was giving him a headache. The constant barrage of emotions and the crowded space made it almost impossible for him to breathe. Unable to bear it any longer, Saiki stood up.
"Excuse me, I'm going to the restroom."
His expression wasn't very good when he left. Scott couldn't help but mutter, "If he couldn't handle it, he shouldn't have come. What a buzzkill." He was once again fiercely reprimanded by Jean.
Saiki intended to go to a quieter place to catch his breath. As he walked, he encountered a strikingly beautiful woman.
Of course, even the most beautiful woman was just a pile of muscles and bones in Saiki's eyes. But this woman caught his attention because he learned from her thoughts that she was also a mutant.
[I wonder how Charles is doing. Does he miss me?]
(Oh, so it looks like she's the bald Professor's old flame.)
[Tsk, what's there to miss about that bastard? What I should be thinking about now is how to get rid of these foolish humans.]
Saiki Kusuo: "..."
[Hmph, a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites. I swear I'll tear you all to pieces.]
(Where did this middle school syndrome come from?)
As he passed Raven, Saiki couldn't help but take a few extra glances at her. But the next second, he quickly averted his gaze, avoiding being caught by the alert Raven.
[I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I felt like someone was watching me?]
After moving away from Raven, another man approached.
[Humans should all be destroyed!]
[Today, I'll wipe out all these social parasites!]
Saiki Kusuo: "..."
[I'll make them pay! Charles, you can't stop me!]
(This one with the middle school syndrome seems even worse than the last one! And why are all the Professor's friends terrorists who want to destroy humanity? It makes you, the peacekeeper who maintains harmony between humans and mutants, seem abnormal.)
Saiki silently complained in his heart, and then he heard the man named Erik's inner doubts.
[I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I felt like someone was watching me?]
Two people with middle school syndrome in a row had this feeling. Saiki, who was extremely confident in his abilities, didn't believe they were talking about him. That could only mean that there was really something wrong with this bar.
Saiki sat on the toilet and began to monitor the bar.
There were too many people in the bar, and the noisy environment made it difficult for him to obtain the information he wanted.
He learned that Raven and Erik were a team, and their goal was to kill everyone in the bar. And within this bar, it seemed there was another group lurking.
They appeared to be Stryker's men, sent to capture Raven and Erik.
That relentless Colonel had a deep obsession with mutants. Even though he hated them to the bone, he still captured mutants, intending to use them for his own purposes.
However, Erik and Raven weren't small fry that he could easily control.
Saiki decided not to interfere, to let them kill each other. But first, he had to evacuate the ordinary people and his companions from the bar.
Although he didn't want to meddle, the ordinary people in the bar were innocent and didn't deserve to be caught up in this disaster.
He used telepathy to contact Jean.
"Jean, can you hear me?"
"Saiki? Where did you go? Why haven't you come back?"
"Don't worry about me for now. I have something important to tell you."
Jean wasn't an unreasonable girl who liked to make a fuss. Hearing Saiki's serious tone, she straightened up.
"What's going on? Tell me."
Her control over her abilities wasn't very proficient yet, and her mental strength wasn't sufficient. Therefore, unlike Saiki, she couldn't simultaneously know the thoughts of everyone around her.
Saiki told Jean the information he'd gathered. Jean, who had never experienced anything like this, was so frightened that she stood up.
The other three, who were enjoying their drinks, looked up at her in confusion.
"What's wrong, Jean?" Scott inquired. Although he really didn't want to mention his rival's name, he still asked, gritting his teeth, "Did something happen to Saiki?"
After all, he'd been gone for a while. Scott didn't like him, but he was still a little worried.
Especially with Jean's expression, which made it seem like disaster had struck, he thought something had happened to Saiki.
Jean didn't explain much, but instead said to her companions, "Go! We need to get out of here!"
Jean's sudden outburst of emotion confused her three companions, but they were familiar with her abilities. Urged by her, the three of them went to the bar to pay the bill and quickly slipped away. However, they found that the bar was empty, and the people in the bar were also starting to retreat.
"What the hell is going on?" The sudden large-scale evacuation made the timid Kelly almost weak in the knees. Grey quickly helped her up, and the four of them headed for the exit.
"Wait!" Scott suddenly stopped.
"Saiki hasn't come back yet. We can't leave him here. We have to go find him."
Scott's concern, devoid of prejudice, earned him a lot of points with Jean. She reassured him, "Don't worry, Scott. Saiki will be fine. Let's get out of here first."
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