"Damn it, what are we supposed to do? You killed your own sister."
"Calm down first!"
"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down!"
"It's fine. Just wait until I travel through time and space to the past and change it."
"I… hehe, why didn't you say so earlier~ Okay, it's fine now, it's fine."
"..."
[Yare yare, traveling through time and space isn't something that simple. If you could go to the past, change things, and come back without any major consequences, that would be way too convenient!]
Saiki rested his left cheek on his hand, right hand holding the remote as he watched the newly aired "Love and Justice" TV program on the screen.
The male lead in it had a superpower that allowed him to travel through time and space, change the past and future, and there was basically no butterfly effect. Seeing this, Saiki couldn't help but complain inwardly.
[Traveling through time and space—I can do that too. But if I did it like in the show, going back for every little thing to change the past, the future would take massive turns, even leading to the destruction of the world.]
[I have plenty of authority to speak on this!]
After turning off the TV, Saiki lay back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and sank into thought.
[Traveling through time and space—I awakened this ability by chance back in elementary school, before I started wearing the psychic suppressors. At first it was fine. I relied on being able to time travel and thought there wouldn't be any problems, so I went to the past and did a ton of ridiculous things.
One of the most ridiculous was when I traveled back to search for the Loch Ness Monster. I didn't find it, so I grabbed a plesiosaur from the era when dinosaurs still existed and dropped it into Loch Ness. I brought it back right away, though.]
Back then Saiki didn't know what would happen if he abused this ability. But after using it too many times, there was a period when he almost couldn't return.
Although after going through a lot of trouble, Saiki did manage to come back. Later he discovered that this ability was extremely unstable—whether because he grew too fast or because he used it too much, during that time it went out of control and ran wild.
Saiki touched the limiter on his head that suppressed his psychic growth.
[But now it's okay. Ever since I started wearing the limiter, this ability rarely goes berserk anymore. As long as I don't run into "special traversal" cases, it's manageable, but…]
Saiki lay on the sofa thinking for a while and then fell asleep.
...
"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp…"
[So noisy. Whose bird flew onto the balcony again?]
Saiki scratched his head as he sat up, twisted his neck, opened his eyes—and immediately froze.
Saiki wasn't at home. He was on top of a big tree, and on his head was a mother bird's nest.
Saiki rubbed his head. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, his brows furrowed tightly.
[What's going on? Did "super-sleep teleportation" happen again? Well, that's fine. It's probably the limiter acting up. I'll get it fixed sometime. Good thing I didn't accidentally teleport the whole house away or blow it up. Yeah, pretty lucky overall.]
Saiki nodded, carefully set the bird's nest back on his head properly, then flipped down and landed steadily.
After getting down, Saiki walked a couple of steps and realized this wasn't near his house—because from here he could see Tokyo Skytree.
[Since I'm here, did my subconscious want to see Tokyo Skytree? Come to think of it, it's been a while. It even looks newer than before? Like about eleven years newer. Must be my imagination.]
As Saiki wandered around the area, he overheard many children talking about anime.
"Did you watch it? That Naruto is so good!"
(Naruto, huh? Yeah, it's been a long time since I watched it, but I already finished it in my previous world.)
"Yeah, it's super good. I think Sakura is basically a goddess!"
(What did you just say!!)
"Mm-hmm, so good. Those whiskers on Naruto are so cool. I'm gonna follow this new show."
(New show? Naruto's been airing for over a decade.)
While Saiki was still puzzled, the kids started talking again.
"But "Gundam SEED" is pretty good too. It's a new show as well."
"That one? Yeah, I like it too. I decided to follow it."
(What! No way!)
Saiki leaned against a wall, rubbing his temples with one hand.
(Hold on, let me sort this out. How could "Gundam SEED" be a new show?!)
Gundam SEED, the annual anime that premiered in October 2002 as "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED," was the first Gundam series of the 21st century. With its beautiful character designs and emphasis on depicting characters' inner feelings and emotional interactions, it gained a huge new fanbase for the Gundam series—especially female fans.
("Gundam SEED" and "Naruto" both premiered in 2002 as new shows. Could it be…)
Saiki noticed a middle-aged man nearby finish reading a newspaper and casually toss it into a trash bin.
Saiki glanced around, raised his hand in the direction of the discarded paper, and hooked his finger.
The newspaper quickly floated over into Saiki's hand.
He opened it.
The date: October 26, 2002.
Ah le le Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
[Hold on, give me nine seconds to think.]
"…"
After a long while, Saiki lifted his head.
[I am Saiki Kusuo, a psychic with all kinds of innate superpowers. I can do most things that are possible. But right now I've run into something very troublesome.]
[First, while sleeping at home, I accidentally activated my ability and teleported myself onto a tree. And it's one from where I can see Skytree—pretty far from home, but that distance is negligible.]
[But the real problem is that I didn't just teleport. I activated my time-travel ability again and came to the past. For now, the priority is to observe and figure out which timeline this is, then find a way back.]
No sooner said than done. Saiki started using telepathy, listening to the inner voices all around him.
Saiki walked through the bustling streets, weaving among the crowds.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. He still couldn't confirm whether this was the past of his own timeline.
Saiki had no intention of lingering. He walked into an alley, vanished instantly, and reappeared at the very top of Skytree.
Hands in his pockets, Saiki gazed into the distance at this city so similar to his own world and shook his head.
[Yare yare, it looks very similar, but I can't be sure. When I traveled through time before, I also ended up in a Japan that looked a lot like mine, but it wasn't my world.]
[If I don't confirm first whether this is the past or future of my own timeline, it's hard to use time travel to go back. That's the troublesome part—time travel isn't that easy at all.]
Saiki sat on top of Skytree, arms crossed, sinking into thought for a while.
Suddenly he stood up, a flash of delight in his eyes.
[Right—there's me!]
Saiki realized that if this was his own timeline, then his younger self from childhood would also be here.
[At this time period, I should still be in kindergarten. I should be living nearby… Mm… okay, decided.]
Saiki stubbornly checked the directions around him, and his figure vanished instantly.
...