After checking that the coast was clear, Kusuo carefully teleported back by the school's lockers with two minutes to spare and swiftly changed into his indoor shoes. With the first class of the day starting imminently, the corridors were thankfully devoid of students, and Kusuo managed to make his way to the boys' bathroom without attracting any more unsolicited comments on his choice of spec color.
After removing the offending glasses and equipping his eyes with the clear lenses he had effortfully managed to buy from the pushy saleswoman, Kusuo looked at his reflection in the mirror, and sighed.
Today was going to be a long day...
Now, at this stage of the events, you would be well within your right to wonder: if wearing contacts had always been a viable option for Kusuo, then how come he was so reluctant to do so and elected to wear such a strange and surprisingly flashy pair of glasses instead? Surely, if his mission in life was to blend in, then sealing this power with run-of-the-mill clear contact lenses would have been the better pick. After all, he did choose to wear a pair of custom made transparent gloves that were completely invisible even to the more observant eyes, all in order to discreetly keep his psychometry powers in check. So what kept him from covering his petrifying eyes in a similarly inconspicuous way?
Well, aside from obvious reasons such as ease of wear and a general disregard for teenage fashion standards, Kusuo actually had a third excellent reason to favor his good old glasses over contact lenses.
To understand the origins of this life choice, let's rewind to the day when Kusuo Saiki, 15, tentatively swapped his trusted glasses for contact lenses for the very first, and the very last time.
~~~
"Ahyuuu! My little Ku-dear has been accepted into PK Academy!" Kusuo's mom sobbed with emotions, dabbing at her leaky eyes with a white handkerchief as she read over his acceptance letter. "I can't believe that my baby boy is already starting high school next spring. He's all grown up, now! Look, my darling, he's even taller than his mommy!" she happily added as she sauntered next to Kusuo and reached up to lightly pet his pink head of hair.
"Good for you, Kusuo!" his dad smiled, patting his shoulder. "You know, high school really is what made me the man that I am today, so look forward to it!"
"This isn't as inspiring a statement as you think it is, dad," Kusuo replied, vividly remembering the hunched form of his father grovelling in front of his boss only thirty minutes ago. And also this morning. And also yesterday. And also...
"We've also received a package from Big Ku!" his mom exclaimed, thankfully taking Kusuo's mind away from the vortex of mental images of his dad "working". She was showing him a package with a big Royal Mail stamp on it. "It's for you, Ku-dear. Why don't you open it?"
Kusuo was well aware that his mom's question was entirely rhetorical, but he could think of many reasons not to open a package from his elder brother Kusuke. If history had taught Kusuo one thing, it was that there was nothing in this world that was more suspicious than a "gift" from his brother.
Kusuo eyed the package distrustfully. A careful look through the outer cardboard of the package told him that whatever deadly device Kusuke had hidden inside had been slyly camouflaged by an enticing box of fancy-looking English jelly. If he thought that Kusuo would be stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trick, he was well and truly...
Wait.
Did this box just say "New Recipe: Enhanced Arabica Coffee Flavour" ?!
Before the non-coffee-jellied part of his brain could do anything to stop the rest of his body, Kusuo swiftly ripped the cardboard packaging wide open.
YOU ARE READING
The Green Lens
Fanfiction'Good grief. What is happening here?' As soon as Kusuo stepped through the entrance of PK Academy, he could not help but notice that most of the student body seemed to have unanimously elected overnight to add green-tinted glasses identical to his o...
