'First, expose all your online comments, then lay bare your thoughts for everyone to see, so they can truly understand who you are.'
Saiki Kusuo's lips curved slightly upward as he fixed the other person with a meaningful gaze.
'And not just that—every day from now on, you'll step in dog poop on the street, your toilet paper will tear, you'll choke on your food, and you'll have nightmares every night...'
'I feel like... something just... changed with Saiki...'
'This intuition is a bit too sharp, isn't it? Is this the legendary sixth sense?'
Hearing Sakura Airi's inner thoughts, Saiki immediately shifted his gaze from the shopkeeper, avoiding letting Airi notice too much.
"Since everything's settled, let's head back!"
Kushida Kikyō said, then led Saiki and herself out of the electronics store and back to the plaza.
"Now that the camera's fixed, I'll be off! Let me know if anything comes up later! Don't forget you have class this afternoon!"
Kushida waved at the two, seemingly in a hurry, and parted ways with them. Saiki also prepared to leave.
"Umm... excuse me... Saiki... I mean, Saiki-kun..."
Just as Saiki was about to leave, Sakura Airi suddenly spoke up, stopping him.
Saiki turned, his gaze meeting Airi's for a moment. Airi, flustered, quickly looked down.
'I should... I should thank Saiki-kun... His name's Saiki, right... I need to express my gratitude...'
Airi thought, but couldn't bring herself to say a word for a long time.
'This is too much for her. Maybe I should just go.'
Before Saiki could finish his thought, Airi gathered all her courage—though it was barely enough—and whispered, almost inaudibly:
"Th-thank you... Saiki... Saiki-kun!"
An ordinary person wouldn't have heard Airi's faint words, but Saiki, with his psychic abilities, caught them clearly.
"You're welcome."
"Umm... about Sudō-kun... I... I did see what happened... I'm so sorry... I didn't have the courage to speak up earlier... I saw the whole thing... It was some students from Class D who provoked Sudō-kun first..."
"It's fine. You don't have to testify if you don't want to."
Saiki replied calmly. If Airi wasn't ready to testify, he wouldn't force her. He already had his own plan.
"About that... I... I'm not prepared yet."
"Don't push yourself too hard."
Saiki gave a brief response.
At a time like this, encouraging words might be more appropriate, but Saiki wasn't one to offer such words. He preferred keeping his interactions with others minimal.
After a brief conversation, Saiki left the plaza, while Airi watched his retreating figure from a distance.
'Saiki-kun feels... special... but I can't quite put my finger on why...'
Airi thought, but Saiki, too far away, didn't hear her.
...
Meanwhile, in a private room at the school's karaoke lounge:
"Class D must be in chaos right now."
Ryūen Kakeru leaned against a pretty girl, a smug smile on his face.
Sending classmates to frame Sudō Ken was his plan all along.
Earlier, he'd sent Yamawaki to test the waters, but it didn't work. No matter—it didn't affect his main plan.
"In this school, getting into a fight isn't a small matter. Even if Sudō Ken doesn't get expelled, he'll be suspended for at least a month. It might even affect his class's points. Who knows, his class might even turn on each other."
Ryūen's smile widened, as if victory were already his.
...
After school that afternoon, Saiki left the classroom and headed to the school's delivery center.
This school had almost every imaginable product, but not quite everything.
So, the school offered online shopping. Students could buy items not available on campus through the school's dedicated shopping site—even items not listed could be specially ordered through customer service.
Of course, all this required spending points.
At the start of the school year, Saiki hadn't used the shopping site. He rarely wanted anything specific.
But recently, while browsing out of boredom, he discovered the site sold experimental equipment. This gave Saiki an idea.
He decided to buy germanium products.
His telepathy let him know others' thoughts, but it caused far more trouble than it was worth.
Telepathy was uncontrollable, leaving Saiki in constant noise and robbing him of life's simple joys.
No surprises, movies spoiled by strangers... It was a nightmare for Saiki.
But germanium could block others' thoughts, letting Saiki experience life as a normal person—or so he'd discovered by accident. He didn't know how it worked, but holding germanium blocked thoughts, giving him some peace.
Saiki had ordered a germanium ring from the shopping site, and it arrived that afternoon.
He eagerly picked it up and put it on—
Instantly, the world fell silent. All thoughts vanished!
'This is amazing!'
Saiki's lips curled upward.