The student council, now including Yusarin, set out for where our 'target' is.
We make use of public transportation services to get close. Once we arrive, it takes us a bit of time before we find the guy we are looking for practicing baseball with his friends in a stadium that's a part of the school he's from. Fancy, all right.
Joijiro calls out to our target, and he responds in kind.
He says something to his friends before approaching us and says. "You don't seem to be from our school. Whatever you have to say, I hope you can hurry up; this practice is pretty important."
Rude.
Nao remains unperturbed and speaks calmly, "I'll be blunt with you. Do you use telekinetic abilities during your matches?"
The guy's eyes widen a bit as he answers mockingly, "Telekinesis? As in psychic powers? I don't have such a thing. What are you, members of some occult research club?"
Nao appears to be quite irritated (as am I) as she points her finger at him. "Listen here. That ability of yours is only a disease that will remain during adolescence. It will go away in due time. If you're thinking of going pro through the use of that ability, think again."
She pauses, takes a breath, and then continues, "There's also the fact that if someone notices that you have it, you will be captured."
The guy seems to be wholly unconvinced as he responds harshly, "Be captured? By whom?"
"Take a guess, genius," I respond before Nao can, "You have a supernatural ability, yes, but what makes you think you're the only one who does?"
"Even if that was the case, so what?"
Nao and Joijiro are unbothered by the tension, but Yusa seems to be getting nervous.
"How long do you think this has been going on for? Have you ever thought about how many children with powers are out there? Why isn't the public aware of it? Surely, you don't think that they have all been hiding it, right? You sure as hell didn't."
I said that last part bitingly, mimicking his mocking tone from earlier. What a piece of work.
He glares at me, but otherwise doesn't say anything.
"You asked who will capture you, right? That would be scientists who wish to study your power and dissect you," Nao says.
"That's something you'll see in movies, not real life. Get a grip." He remains stubborn.
Nao seems to think of something for a moment, then steps back a little.
The guy then begins to freak out as Nao uses her ability. She then speaks, "I have a power. All of us here do. What we are telling you is not some baseless conjecture but our own experiences."
The guy just looks at her, perplexed. Apparently unable to hold herself back, Misa takes over Yusa's body, moves closer, and grabs the cuff of his shirt as flames manifest on her raised palm, "How about we roast him and be done with it?"
The guy's expression shifts from mocking and stubborn to that of mild terror as he stares at the flames. Only that, and he looks like he will piss himself. Pathetic.
Still, it's not like I can just let Misa do this. So, I place my hand on her shoulder. "Stop it."
She glares at me with a "hah?"
"Don't show your ability off in public. You don't want to cause trouble for your sister, do you?"
Misa seems to have an epiphany as she clicks her tongue then spits at the ground. Joijiro once more disgusts us as he gets on his knees and stares at the spot where the spit landed. "Yusarin's saliva! No... this would be Misa-san's saliva... I'm troubled in how I should react!"
All of us look at him with disdain as Nao shouts, "Such a turn-off!"
I let out a sigh of disappointment, turn to Nao and ask, "Back to the main concern, what are we going to do?"
Nao then places her finger as she starts to think, then all of a sudden, she grins. I have an awful feeling about this...
"How about a game of baseball?" she says, smiling.
Wait, what? Did she really just challenge a guy who has a cheat ability for this game?
"Our team versus your team," Nao continues, "If we win, do as we say."
He looks a bit surprised but then responds, "Sure. If we win, never have anything to do with me again."
After that, we set the time and location for our match, which happens to be in our school's stadium.
Then, we start walking away. Once we are a good distance away, I stop and search my pockets for 'something'. This attracts everyone's attention to me. "Ah, crap. I think I've dropped something there. You guys go ahead; I will catch up as soon as I get it."
I then waste no time as I run back. Upon arriving, I use both Godspeed and Blink to securely hide somewhere close enough to see and hear the students practicing. I take a good look and spot the guy we just had a talk with speaking someone else.
Turns out, I am quite petty.
With that thought, I use my special ability to take over his body. Without wasting a single second, I ball 'my' hand and punch 'myself' in the face.
The next moment, I'm back in my own body, and observe as the guy freaks out over what happened, while his friend is confused. Yep, he's got a black eye. Lovely.
Done with what I came to do, I Blink out of the area. In little time, I arrive at where I separated from the group, and notice that only Nao is there.
As soon as I reach her, she stares into my eyes and asks, "Did you find what you dropped?"
Crap. Forgot about that. I am only carrying my phone, but she might've seen it in my pocket earlier when I was pretending to look for something.
"Nope," I responded, trying to sound as natural as possible, "I may have dropped it in the student council room."
She squints her eyes ever so slightly. "What did you do?"
This girl is too smart for her own good...
I attempt to deflect by smirking and saying, "Sure, I'll tell you, but only if I get a hug from a cute girl out of it."
Nao deadpans. "That's sexual harassment."
I choke on air.
"Wait, no. I am asking nicely. It's consensual if you agree."
Nao looks at me like I am scum.
I am so suave; speed running girls into hating my guts.
Surprisingly, Nao sighs and then steps close before wrapping her arms around me.
I feel her soft body press against mine and smell a sweet scent coming from her hair.
For a few seconds, I find myself at a loss. Then, I hug her back carefully.
Time passes, and it feels like both an eternity and a blink as I hold her close. Eventually, we break the hug.
Nao stares at my face for a few seconds, grins and raises a brow. "Well?"
"I shall treasure this moment every night before sleep."
She rolls her eyes. "That's not what I am asking about."
I don't want to anger her, so I explain, "Well… I went back and possessed, then made him punch himself. That's all, I promise. He was kind of a dick, especially the way he was talking to you, which pissed me off."
The more I spoke, the lower my voice got. I feel guilty, dammit.
She stares at me blankly for a moment. "I see. That's all, huh?"
Delighted that she doesn't sound angry, I nod quickly.
"Guess the game is off. Too bad."
Ah… Shit, of course. We revealed to the guy that we all had powers. Of course, he will figure out one of us made him punch himself somehow. If we go with the original plan, he might outright refuse, if not blow the issue up. Fuck…
Guilt, frustration, and regret mix within me as I realize I screwed everything up.
I don't know whether it is because she noticed it, Nao reaches out to hold my hand. "Come on, let's go."
As conflicted as I feel, the sensation of Nao's hand is far more important as I walk beside her.