Saiki Kusuo could sense things. Suddenly, he appeared in a closed space and realized the heat-sensing figures around him had disappeared.
The driver who should have been next to him and the two people in the back were gone.
To be exact, there were still heat signatures, but the amount was much smaller than before, and there was no one around.
That feeling just now must have been teleportation. Where was he now? Feeling the wooden floor under him, he could guess the answer: indoors.
Saiki Kusuo reached out and pulled down the blindfold.
In his own home with no one around, he didn't need to worry about triggering petrification.
He looked up and, sure enough, it was his house.
Now that he was home, the first thing he had to do was get his glasses.
Saiki Kusuo went upstairs, heading to his very familiar room. Before opening the door, he used his X-ray vision to see the very familiar…
Coffee jelly!?
The room was filled with coffee jelly. What was this, a combination of heaven and hell?
Saiki Kusuo opened the door. It wasn't a trick or a hallucination. A pile of plastic-wrapped coffee jelly rolled out of the room, almost burying him!
Was this the coffee jelly mountain he had thought about before? Or was he being too greedy now?
Oh well, but this was coffee jelly that cost 800 yen, the same value as the toy glasses on his desk! As expected, nothing could stop a psychic. Saiki Kusuo reached out and did an equal exchange!
Glasses appeared, but they were the 100-yen superhero glasses.
He had completely forgotten that these glasses were also around the same price. Oh well, how unstable would his powers become?
But any glasses would do. Saiki Kusuo put on the glasses, and everything he saw was finally safe.
Thinking of Chrollo and Illumi still in the car, Saiki Kusuo made himself cross-eyed.
His clairvoyance had also returned. He accurately located the taxi in the shopping district, but the taxi had already left.
["Chrollo, Shalnark is gone."
"…Driver, how long will it take to get to K Street?"
"Shalnark is gone. Shouldn't we look for him?"
"It's okay, Illumi. Shalnark just had to step away for a moment."
"But he suddenly disappeared, right?"
"I told him to."
"Really? Does Shalnark have that kind of ability?"
"I used Nen just now to send him away."
"Just now, you had money in one hand and were holding the statue with the other. You couldn't have been holding a book?"
"I sent him away using the teleportation ability I had bookmarked."
"Then does Shalnark know where we are going?"
"He knows. Isn't our destination what he suggested?"
"Oh, but…"
"Hisoka's statue is in the way. Driver, please hurry!"
"Why hurry? Are you trying to get rid of Shalnark? Is Shalnark disliked?"
"How could that be! We've been friends since childhood. We have the best relationship."
"But he wasn't willing to share the piano with you at the rooftop performance."
"Haha, that's because…"]
Okay, perfect. No need to worry. He would pick them up after they arrived on the street.
No, more importantly, he should…
Saiki Kusuo quickly grabbed the landline phone at home and dialed his mother's number.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Mom, it's me."
"Eh? Is it Kusuke? Kusuke, you're back! Although the voice is a little different, Kusuke is the only one at home who can talk and call me Mom. Achoo…" His mother made a choking sound.
Saiki Kusuo was silent. "Mom, I'm Kusuo…"
"Eh!? Kusuo can talk!?"
After being a normal person for a while, Saiki Kusuo agreed with the way normal people used phones for communication, especially when his powers were unstable. What if he teleported to his mother while trying to find her?
Ideally, he had to take the two Nen users away from the normal world today, so he shouldn't affect his mother's life.
"When did Kusuo come back? Mom just got back from the supermarket. If I had known, I would have bought some coffee jelly."
No, no need. There was too much coffee jelly at home now.
"Well, I came back because of a little accident with my powers. But more importantly…"
His mother exclaimed, "Ah!? There was an accident with your powers! Did Kusuo leak powers?" *Leaked powers, like a child's bedwetting, is a special term used by parents to affectionately describe a psychic.
How could she say that so loudly? Mom, oh well, where was Mom now? Hopefully, there weren't many people around.
"Madam, would you like to learn about this skin care product?"
Huh? A sales person? Was she still near the mall?
"Ah, sorry, I don't need it…"
Never mind that, he needed to quickly tell his mother.
"This product has the effect of reversing aging. If you don't need it, maybe your family will. Like a virtuous housewife like you…"
He had two non-human guests at home. He needed to send his mother and father to a hotel or the countryside for a few days. They absolutely shouldn't come home for now!
"But we have a machine at home that reverses aging…"
How could she say that!
"Mom, give the phone to the salesperson." Saiki Kusuo knew his mother wasn't good at refusing. These salespeople who coax and force people to buy their products were really annoying, but he couldn't use his powers carelessly. It wouldn't be good if he accidentally cursed the salesperson to die seven days later.
He just needed to communicate with normal people through words. He would use his twenty-plus days of experience as a normal person to argue back!
"Hello, are you this mother's son?" The voice on the phone changed.
"Tsk, my mother doesn't need that kind of sales pitch. Stay away from her."
"…Pfft."
Huh? Saiki Kusuo was slightly puzzled.
The voice on the phone said, "I heard 'psychic' as soon as I got out of the car. I don't think that's a common term. I didn't expect it to be you. But Mom? What's going on?"
Click. The phone in Saiki Kusuo's hand cracked.
"…The phone over there seems to be broken."
Chrollo handed the phone to Kurumi Saiki, Saiki Kusuo's mother.
He had just heard Kurumi Saiki mention Kusuo. Chrollo figured that was Saiki Kusuo's name here. It couldn't be his full name, Saiki Kusuo Zoldyck. If he included the "Kusu" sound, then the safest thing to call him would be…
"Sorry, I was just joking. Actually, we know Kusuo," Chrollo said with a smile. "We are his friends. My name is… Shiru."
"Kusuo's friends? Achoo! Kusuo actually has new friends…" Kurumi Saiki was moved to tears.
Crying? Chrollo was also surprised.
He reached out and took the shopping bags from Kurumi Saiki's hands, constantly wondering why Saiki Kusuo had parents in a certain area of the Dark Continent. Was this also part of the role-playing?
"Kusuo invited us to his house, but the driver only brought us here. We were going to ask him to come pick us up… Can you show us the way?"
"Kikyo! Shiru is such a good boy. What's the other one's name?"
Illumi looked at this person, appraising him. Ordinary and helpless. Kusuo's family? He didn't think it was role-playing.
"I'm called Teki."
…
At home, Saiki Kusuo had a dark expression.
Welcome to the two new friends who were created in an instant, Shiru and Teki.
"I've known Kusuo since he was nine years old. Well, I was a transfer student. Later, my family had an accident and I left quickly. Then I met him again in high school," Chrollo explained reasonably.
Not lying. He had met him in high school as a physical education teacher.
"Achoo! Thank you for playing with Kusuo!" His mother wiped away tears, moved.
"I've been watching Kusuo since he was born. I play games with him, buy him snacks, and grew up with him," Illumi insisted, arms crossed.
Not lying, but…
"Oh…" Even his easily trusting mother didn't believe it.
His mother wiped her tears, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry, it's so rare for you two to come, but Kusuo just happens to not be home."
Huh? Illumi and Chrollo looked at Saiki Kusuo, who was sitting next to them.
The only difference between the current Saiki Kusuo and the "Saiki Kusuo" was that he was wearing 100-yen superhero glasses.
Only his mother would really believe that a mysterious 100-yen superhero had appeared when Saiki Kusuo put on the glasses.
[Mom, I'm right here.]
The telepathy scared Kurumi Saiki. She looked around. Saiki Kusuo closed his eyes and exchanged the glasses again.
This time was much better. He switched to the most commonly used toy glasses very smoothly.
"Oh! So Kusuo is here!"
Illumi and Chrollo: [This dark being identifies people based on glasses.]
The atmosphere needed a new topic. The introductions weren't over yet, and Chrollo had already thought of an explanation for the statue. "As for this statue, it's…"
However, before he could say it, Kurumi Saiki said in a flustered manner, "Oh my! What a beautiful statue. I suddenly remembered there's cake in the refrigerator. Should I get the cake out to welcome everyone?"
Chrollo was surprised. Wouldn't normal people find the statue strange? And beautiful? What was beautiful about Hisoka's statue? The obituary part?
But if it was the taste of a dark being… well, he could understand.
During snack time, Saiki Kusuo discussed the way to return with the two.
Shalnark? No one cared about Shalnark. Illumi had stopped asking. The true situation was clear to the two. Saiki Kusuo was someone who came along as an accident, perfect. His younger brother would never be suspected of anything unusual.
[First of all, this is a region of the Dark Continent.]
[But this isn't any of the 25 regions previously explored, and it has a special isolation method. I can't directly teleport out.]
Isolating the entire dimensional wall couldn't be reached by simply teleporting.
Saiki Kusuo knew there were two ways to return.
One, restart Kusuke's otherworld-traveling machine. This machine needed repair after one use to be able to use it a second time. He had helped make it, so repairing it wasn't a problem, but his ability to work with fine and intricate things was lacking, so everything would be slower.
Two…
[The way back is to find something that was connected to the outside.]
The two didn't understand and waited for Saiki Kusuo to explain.
[You all know my restoration ability. For example, if you tear a piece of paper in half, and leave one half in the original place, and you bring the other half here, if I use my restoration ability, the paper will fly toward the other piece of paper. As long as you grab it, you can go back together.]
"Restoration is a rule of time, so it transcends certain physics…" Chrollo thought about the principle behind this.
Saiki Kusuo interrupted, [That's not important. Can you think of anything you have with you that fits this description?]
The two powerful people looked at each other.
Then looked at each other again.
They shook their heads.
"I don't have anything on me that was connected to something else from before today." [This condition is too difficult to meet.]
Saiki Kusuo remembered, [Wait, not before today, I just remembered that before today won't work. It has to be something long ago, conservatively estimated to be seven years ago.]
Illumi and Chrollo: …
Okay, I know the difficulty has increased, but think quickly.
"…Can he even do something from seven years ago? Does the cost matter?" Chrollo was shocked, [Can he use that ability on people? Is that 'reverse aging' that lady mentioned?]
He can even use it on the entire planet, restoring everyone in the world to a year ago. Can you please not focus on that little thing?
"If it's a condition as long as seven years ago, there might be something," Illumi suddenly suggested.
Reliable big brother! Saiki Kusuo awaited Illumi's answer. Illumi had thought about many things, and he wasn't sure which one it was.
Illumi pointed at Chrollo.
What's wrong? Did Chrollo have a conjoined twin seven years ago? Good, let's try.
"Me?" Having the attention of the two, Chrollo was also surprised.
He himself hadn't thought of anything. How did Illumi know?
"The coat. It's a high-quality leather coat, right? Even though so many years have passed, the scraps should still be on the continent. Just leave here first, and Kusuo can teleport us to the Dark Continent, right?"
Chrollo slowly grabbed his coat, which he was already wearing. "…Wait a minute, what will the coat turn into if it's restored?"
[The leather will become an uncut piece of leather, the fur and parts of the decorations will be scattered…]
"No!" Chrollo refused decisively.
"Leader, you are an uninhibited, mature leader," Illumi advised from the side without expression.
"Calling me Leader won't work at this time. And think about it, my coat was already a finished coat seven years ago!"
"Really?" Illumi questioned.
"Really. Not long after I left Meteor City, I realized the need for an image after a large-scale operation, and started to customize a coat. I spent some time specifically looking for leather and craftsmen, considering the manufacturing process and the matching… The final product was when I was 20 years old. I'm 28 now, so it's been 8 years!" Chrollo explained reasonably.
"Really? I remember the Phantom Troupe incident happened at the end of the year 8 years ago. When is Chrollo's birthday?"
"…Second half of the year."
"So Chrollo, you're lying about your age. Actually, you're only 27 years old. Your birthday hasn't arrived yet, and the incident actually happened seven years ago."