Spin-Off of the Okinawa Class Trip

Chapter 21: Nice To Meet You, Part 4

"What do you mean 'you're not the only psychic'??"

Akemi fidgeted nervously. "Well... You see... Grandma... Grandma also had powers. Though, she never called it that. She always said it was magic."

Her mother got excited, "Does that mean I have powers???"

*anime sweat drop* "Sorry Mom, I don't think that's how it works..."

"Oh, okay..." she pouted ever so slightly. 

Kenichi, Akemi's father, chimed in, "How have we never heard of this before? I mean, why would your Grandmother keep it a secret from everyone... except you?" 

"This doesn't make sense. My whole life, I've never seen her do anything like making objects float or-- what did you call it?-- prykonesis?"

"Pyrokinesis," Akemi corrected politely.

"Yes, that... You two must be mistaken. My mother was just a hard-working housewife."

"I believe that the reason why Akemi's--"

Using her first name earned Kusuo a threatening gaze from Kenichi. "Watch what you say, antenna-boy."

"Dad!" Akemi huffed. "God, this is so embarrassing."

After a nervous pause, he corrected himself, "Um, I mean, I think Akiyama-san's grandmother gave her the germanium necklace as a safety precaution in case Ake-- Akiyama-san had any signs of psychic abilities."

"We don't know how she found out about germanium metal, but it would explain why she told me to never take the necklace off. Maybe instead of just good luck..."

"She was trying to ensure Akemi would have a normal life."

She nodded as she twirled a section of hair between her fingers to ease the nervousness. Surely it couldn't get worse than this, right?

"Young lady, you are grounded." Kenichi sighed. "I am so disappointed."

Panicked thoughts ran through Akemi's mind, "I didn't choose to have psychic powers! Please don't ground me for this I swear I'm telling the truth! Didn't you see me levitate all those things earlier?"

"Oh honey, we believe you." Sayuri looked at her husband and nodded, "But we simply cannot tolerate you rebelling by dyeing your hair purple! It is against school rules young lady, and you know how we feel about you taking your studies seriously."

"Especially after that Saiko girl--"

Swatting her husband under the table in one swift moment, he decided to stop mid sentence in fear of the wrath of a protective mother.

"Um yes, your mother and I do not approve of your changing your appearance; whether it is out of teenage angst or some boy you brought home. Rules are rules."

She took a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, that was all. Thank goodness."

"Don't look relieved, Akemi. This is a serious matter. You could be expelled for it not being your natural color."

"Actually, sir, since Akemi's powers have been suppressed for so long, we believe that this is her natural hair color."

Sayuri got up from her chair to inspect her daughter's hair more closely. "It's so cute on her~!"

Akemi smiled, "Don't worry dad. I can always dye it back to black and no one will suspect a thing, right?"

"I suppose so.." He huffed. "My daughter is so adorable that she can pull off any look, even if hair dyeing isn't allowed, she pulls it off so well."

The two psychics thought in unison, "ah, tsundere..."

All her fears seemed to melt away in that moment. Akemi tried not to make it too obvious, but she eventually let a chuckle slip from her lips, which grew into a laughter so pure that everyone couldn't help it but smile at her in curiosity.

"What's so funny, dear?"

"It's just... I was so scared about telling you both. Making you worry or think I'm crazy. I thought you would send me to a mental hospital or.. even worse, you would think I was a monster...."

Her eyebrows knit as she remembered the deepest fears that lied at the bottom of her heart. Shaking her head, she realized that it was over now and they accepted and loved her as they always have. "I'm glad nothing has changed."

Her parents teared up, sensing how daunting this conversation must have been for their anxiety-prone daughter. They knew the Saiko girl incident had been challenging on her; trouble sleeping, fear of trusting others, the inability to express her true feelings out of her fear of hurting someone again. Throwing themselves at her in a Hokkaido-bear-hug (get it? Hokkaido is known for bears hehe), the two parents sobbed and nuzzled into her.

"Of course everything is the same! I mean, it'll take a while to adjust to the fact that you can hear our thoughts and stuff, but we're your parents Aki-chi!"

"We'll always love you, no matter what, okay? We would never think of you as anything less than our beautiful, intelligent, responsible daughter!"

They stayed like that for a little, tears being shed from all the Akiyama family members. Saiki could only smile contently at the scene.

Kusuo put his hand on Akemi's free shoulder. A firm, yet gentle reminder that it was over."I told you it would be okay."

She looked towards the pink-haired psychic and smiled through relieved tears, "Yeah, I guess you were right."

---

After explaining the control devices to her parents ("wow those hair ribbons do what now??") and talking for a while more, Kusuo hears his mom call for dinner (hooray for telepathy), thanks them for inviting him into their home, and begins to say his goodbyes. The four of them walk to the entryway ready to see him off when Saiki abruptly pauses.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Kusuo reaches into his schoolbag to hold out the latest issue of Konyak to Kenichi. "Akiyama-san told my dad that you were a fan of the series he helps publish, so he wanted to give you this before they released copies to the public."

Kenichi's eyes sparkled for a split second before hiding his true feelings of excitement. He cleared his throat to remain the scary and protective father figure he needed the pink-haired boy to see.

"Hm... You know what?"

His eyes warmed ever so slightly as he smiled for the first time Kusuo had entered the house. It wasn't a huge smile, but hey, anything was better than a cold glare.

"Maybe it is nice to meet you after all, Saiki."

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A/N: he finally called him by his real name instead of pink-haired weirdo or antenna-boy! so sweet~

ALSO!! anime recommendation! "The misfit of demon king academy" is SO GOOD and Anos is so hot asndjflkdsajdfjh

Saiki is husbando material but so is Anos and I can't choose-- I just wanna live in their world sometimes because they are very very cool. ALSO I don't really like eng dub but I have a few exceptions: Kyo from Fruits Basket, Saiki (the same voice actor as Kyo), AND NOW Anos because OMG his english voice is so much better than the Japanese voice and I FR CANNOT SAY THAT FOR A LOT OF ANIMES

Anyways, that's my rant. Thanks for coming to my ted talk everybody~