(Little me back then was really… so cool!)
(Even though there was a bit of childishness to it, sure enough, childhood was the most carefree time.)
Saiki's mind replayed scenes of his youthful childhood, but for some reason the memories from kindergarten were especially blurry. He only remembered being extremely wild and arrogant back then, and that his psychic abilities hadn't just been misused once or twice.
Meanwhile, in the kindergarten, the teacher who was comforting the crying kids spoke calmly and gently to little Saiki.
"Saiki-kun~ I think it would be better if you shared more with your classmates instead of keeping everything to yourself, okay?"
Little Saiki glanced at her, continued eating his jelly, and answered casually.
"No thanks."
Teacher: ...
"Otherwise, Teacher, you could compete with me too!"
(What is that? Is that really me? I remember using rock-paper-scissors to drive away the teacher when I was five!)
"Mitsutani-sensei, another kid just arrived."
"Oh! I'll talk to you later then."
The teacher squatting beside Saiki answered casually, stood up, and went to greet the new child.
"Hi there, little one! What's your name?"
"I… I'm Gotoh Hitori."
(What? Gotoh and I were in the same kindergarten? That's way too much of a coincidence, but I don't have any memory of it.)
From the rooftop, Saiki saw a pink-haired little kid with a shoulder bag and a plushie, being led in by an adult.
(It's definitely Gotoh!)
Meanwhile, little Saiki, still standing on his tricycle, turned his head to look at the new arrival.
The gears of fate began to turn.
Saiki and Gotoh's first meeting →
[Hmph! Whatever. I've watched enough of the show. Time to head back.]
After taking one last look, Saiki decided not to stick around to watch the drama unfold.
He shook his head, walked to a corner, raised his right hand, and gave a light snap.
[Time-space traversal!]
In the next second, the art style around Saiki changed instantly. Space tore open, the void shattered into colorful, vibrant patterns. Saiki stepped inside, entering another realm with a tunnel-like traversal sensation.
"Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun… dun dun dun"
During the time-space traversal, Saiki even caught sight of a boy wearing glasses, riding some strange blanket-like electronic machine controlled by a robot, passing right by him.
[Who was that? Why does he feel so familiar?]
Soon enough, Saiki reappeared.
With his eyes closed, Saiki gently stepped onto the ground, landed steadily, stood up, and slowly opened his eyes.
[This feeling is right…]
[I'm on the rooftop!]
A northern wind blew past, sending a few leaves drifting quietly into the corner.
Saiki stood on the rooftop, which looked almost identical to the one from before.
[Wait, this doesn't make sense. Isn't this the same building as earlier? Did I come back? Or… it should be that I came back.]
Saiki reached out to confirm the wind direction, humidity, and temperature.
[It's a little different from that place—the sun is lower, plus the temperature, humidity, and clouds… Mm, so yeah, I came back!]
Saiki scanned the surroundings and observed for a while. The earlier excitement of returning home vanished instantly.
Because he saw the familiar kindergarten again, and it looked almost no different from what he had just seen—no signs of being worn down by many years.
And there was even a little Saiki with hands in his pockets, swinging on the swings.
[Yoshi, looks like I just ended up back in the same spot.]
Saiki pressed his forehead and sighed, his gaze drifting toward little Saiki.
Little Saiki seemed to sense something. He suddenly turned his head and glanced in Saiki's direction, but saw nothing.
"Must be my imagination. I felt like someone was watching me!"
(Yare yare, back in kindergarten I shouldn't have been as strong as I am now, but I could still notice my gaze? Can't underestimate myself after all.)
The invisible Saiki leaned over the railing and watched his adorable younger self shake his head and waddle into the classroom.
(Mm… At this age I probably couldn't see someone invisible from 300 meters away, but thinking calmly about it, it's pretty reasonable. After all, it's me. I might have sensed a faint presence. The level of power could be far beyond what I imagine. But right now I haven't awakened clairvoyance yet. I'll just use clairvoyance, x-ray vision, and telepathy from here to watch.)
Little Saiki [Yare yare, probably because of my "big brother," I'm on edge all the time now. And I don't know when he'll suddenly pop out to find me.]
〣( ºΔº )〣
(Don't suddenly narrate like that, you scared me.)
Little Saiki [Earlier I somehow felt like someone was peeking at me, but my senses are pretty sharp and I didn't detect anyone. Maybe I really have been playing too many games these past couple of days.]
(Mm, yes, that's exactly it—you've been playing too many games.)
Little Saiki [Heh, it's not like there's another psychic hiding far away secretly observing me. Even if there was someone like that, I couldn't possibly fail to notice—unless that person is me, but that's impossible.]
(Don't just casually guess the truth like that!)
Little Saiki [My name is Saiki Kusuo. I'm a psychic and a transmigrator. I've been in this world for… about four years now. I've done a lot of ridiculous things. I remember last week I accidentally knocked out a man-made satellite because I couldn't control my strength properly, but I quickly made a replacement so no one noticed.
But that's not important. I've been at this kindergarten for a long time now. I've already become the boss here, but the fun is gradually fading. I'm starting to feel a bit bored, so I've decided…]
(Decided what? You're not going to sneak out to play, are you? I remember I skipped kindergarten a lot back then.)
Little Saiki [I'm going to find a girlfriend first. I want to find a childhood fiancée and start a nurturing plan. For now, let's set a small goal: become the man who is the king of the harem!]
(Nani!!)
Little Saiki [Right now my abilities aren't that many. I don't even have clairvoyance yet. Looks like I don't have every superpower from the start. But that's fine too—no need to always see skeletons and flesh when looking at people. I can find a girlfriend, find someone pretty, train her properly, and later hehehe!]
(Is this really me?)
Saiki took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, put them back on, and repeatedly observed the "himself" in front of him.
(Yare yare, looks like that really is me. No matter how I look at it, it's me. And that self-introduction—definitely me, no doubt.)
Black lines covered Saiki's forehead. He could hardly believe it.
(No wonder my kindergarten memories are so sparse. Looks like I deliberately forgot them.)
Saiki suddenly felt interested. He wanted to see exactly what his past self had done.
(As long as it doesn't get too ridiculous… wait, no—that harem king thing is already ridiculous enough.)
"…"