He let himself get carried away, and this happens.

"Teruhashi Kokomi's crush revealed! (The answer will SURPRISE YOU!)"

"Teruhashi-san actually has a crush!" One boy cried, reading the newspaper in front of him. "God damn it, how could this happen..."

"And to think that it's..." Everyone stared at the pink-haired boy. He was just as shocked to see this newspaper as everyone else was. He was just as distraught, too.

How could this happen?

He won't deny it; he heard Teruhashi's thoughts from earlier. How couldn't he have? Even as her thoughts were hidden underneath the multiple layers of others' thoughts, he wanted to hear hers the most. Don't get him wrong, he just had to make sure that she wasn't dissing his dancing or anything.

He truly regrets taking that dance with her if it were to lead to feelings like that. There's nothing more impactful to a relationship than love. They can't have a genuine relationship if it's clouded by love.

...A small part of him was relieved to hear that from her, embarrassingly enough to admit. It was reminiscent of what they had before. Though, he didn't want it to be revealed like this. While he was distracted with Nendou and Kaidou, all this had happened.

Last night, he was busy judging an all-out dance battle between the two. He didn't know how it happened, he just got involved. It was a tough choice between the two, really. They were both equally horrible at it. When Kuboyasu and Hairou got involved in an all-out dance battle royale, it truly became even worse. At that point, Saiki debated whether to go home or numb his brain with alcohol.

That story isn't important right now though. As he looked at this newspaper, the dread started to kick in. The most popular girl in the school has a crush on him. Not only will this be an influx of jealous people trying to get rid of him, but there's also a chance that a group of people is going to try to befriend him to get closer to Teruhashi.

'Save me.'

Why didn't his precognition protect him? And how did those reporters even figure this out? The answers were unclear and he would need to interrogate Teruhashi afterward.

"Hey, Saiki!" A boy grabbed his shirt collar. A bunch of students followed suit, all fostering the same expression of anger. It looks like it's already starting. "What is the meaning of this poster!?"

Good grief, looks like he'll have to use it. It's been a while since he actually had to resort to this, but...

He donned a confused face.

"The hell is that!? That doesn't explain shit! You're one lucky dick, you know that!?"

He could hear Manako's thoughts. She was cackling to herself about how reporting truly is power and she was ecstatic at how much attention she was getting. He's gonna cause true misfortune to her later when he gets out of this situation.

"It's not true." A feminine voice peered through. They were all evoked in a bright light as the boy let go of Saiki, looking at the source of the luminescence. "This news isn't true."

"What do you mean?" A boy asked. "But the poster-"

"Manako-san got a little tipsy yesterday at Saiko's party. She wasn't able to properly interpret what I said," she explained calmly.

"Oh...?" Manako approaches the crowd, a complacent smirk on her face. The attention went on her as she put a hand on her hip. She put her other hand up, holding her phone. "Really, then what is this?" She tapped the screen with a devious grin. Teruhashi's face paled as with Manako's touch, subsequently, her fate would be sealed.

"Saiki Kusuo. I have a crush on Saiki Kusuo."

Their attention was on the goddess again. Some that were in disbelief were starting to tear up. Her confidence wavered in the form of a quivering smile. "W-Well, u-um..." She laughed to fill up the empty silence as she tried to find her words. "You know, v-voice editing has become a popular thing in Japan?"

"Teruhashi-san, I don't wanna doubt you, but did she really use it?" a doubtful girl asked.

"Oh, hey, look at that, they're offering free voice editing classes after school." A boy pointed at a poster on the wall.

Saiki would help out just this once. He put up a fake ad to aid her lie. With her charm and his psychic powers, the two are unstoppable.

"That's strange, I don't remember being there before," Manako shrugged.

"Yea, I don't remember it either. I remember that there was an interesting wall," another boy added. "It probably just got added."

He's gonna punch this kid later.

"So I didn't edit the audio!" She retorted. The bystanders nodded in agreement. "Plus, it's almost impossible for me to edit her voice sounding that accurate, don't you think?"

Teruhashi yelped, literally and figuratively being backed into a corner as more boys approached her.

"Teruhashi-san, are you serious? You have a crush on Saiki-kun? Why?"

"Teruhashi-san, why him?"

"I'm so damn jealous! Why?!"

"He's so average though!"

"What's the point if she already has a crush on him?!"

"I'll observe from a distance if they ever get together."

"Dude, that's really creepy," a random boy retorts the earlier comment.

Teruhashi's face flushed a bright red, waving her arms in front of her as more people started to approach her. They began bombarding her with too many questions, giving her not enough time to think. Especially with this news coming out, it's not surprising that she was already overwhelmed. She ran away, dejected.

It's not a bad decision. Saiki was about to tell her to do so anyway.

Overall, this is the worst possible situation. The biggest risk that came with hanging out with Teruhashi was the attention and with this, he had gotten himself into the biggest disaster. It is literally the exact scenario that convinced his past self to stay away from her.

So why did he hang out with her in the first place? He really has changed and the consequences flooded onto him in a strong wave.

"Saiki, seriously dude, what did you do to her?"

Saiki shook his head. "I don't know."

The division of people who are now interested in him and despise him is halved, just as he expected. Either way, it's attention and it's the number one thing to get him away from. If it's possible, he would like to simply walk away but the crowd surrounding him prevented him from doing so.

If there isn't a path, he'll just make one.

"Sorry, so sorry, sorry..." Saiki pushed everyone aside, not minding their questions. He would use the nanana on them, but it's impossible in this situation. For someone as influential as Teruhashi, the news had an outbreak on the entire school. Each memory that would be replaced would be personal to each person. Due to the severity of the entire situation, each student would get a severe memory that is personal to them. It's bound to cause some confusion when there are inconsistencies in each story.

If he could, he would really prefer to rewind time. The option is already gone. He can't rewind time more than a day. The party was two days ago, and yesterday was a Sunday. He kinda didn't want to deal with anyone so he put on his germanium ring and watched TV the entire day.

If only he had known that it would lead to this. He's still confused why his precognition didn't warn him about all of this. If it led to something this catastrophic, why didn't it warn him?

He sighed, finally pushing through the last person. They tried to follow him again, but the ring of the bell signaling the start of homeroom directed them away. Mumbling, everyone left for their respective classes. Finally alone, Saiki sighed in relief.

He teleported to Teruhashi's location, who was already on her way home. "So, what was that? You have a crush on me?" He was in front of her, crossing her arms. She didn't even seem fazed by his teleportation anymore.

She pushed him aside, walking forward. "I'm sorry, but I need to gather my thoughts."

He blinked. This situation hasn't happened to him before. Especially from Teruhashi. She's annoyed and it's somewhat his fault.

"Hey, uh," he walked towards her again.

She faced him with a disgruntled look, "Seriously, I need to think. This wasn't a call for attention or help. I know I screwed up, so I'm trying to think how to fix this. Just go to class, homeroom's about to start."

Not sure how to deal with it, he paced back and forth as Teruhashi walked away towards the distance. He slightly anticipated her to be reliant on him so he didn't know how to react to this. He wasn't exactly ecstatic to continue talking to someone who isn't interested in talking to him.

Sighing, he teleported into the school's bathroom. He would check up on her later, yes. Surely she'll be fine then.

***

Class was terrible. Practically everyone in the class was thinking about him and Teruhashi. Why does the girl he hangs out with the most have to be so damn popular? And why did she have to fall for him? It's one of the many detriments in his disastrous life, he supposes.

Even slipping on the germanium ring wasn't enough. Some were audibly whispering. He expected the craze to die within a week, but everyone would always know. They'd always know him for the person that Teruhashi had a crush on. If you bring up Saiki Kusuo, a person would go, 'Hey, that's the average guy Teruhashi likes!'

No longer can he fade into the background as the persona of being Teruhashi's crush was bonded onto him like an adhesive. Instead of acknowledging Saiki as just some other guy, he's now Teruhashi's crush. It's the worst situation.

"Hey, Saiki, I wasn't able to confront you earlier because you came to class so late but... Y'know, the news posted earlier about you and Teruhashi-san... Is it real?" Kuboyasu nudged his shoulder with an expecting gaze. Class just ended and it was time for their lunch break.

"Of course not." Saiki sighed, shaking his head. "Remember who runs that thing? They always spread ridiculous news..."

Nendou was as oblivious as ever in this conversation. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Even then..." Kuboyasu pulled out a flash drive. "It's an audio where Teruhashi flat out admits it."

The hell? Manako actually gave out flash drives? How desperate for big news can she be?

"Forged. Voice editing." Saiki decided to support Teruhashi's past excuse. It didn't work that well judging by Kuboyasu's doubting face.

"Perhaps the Dark Reunion used the esteemed Voice Mimic to steal Teruhashi's voice!" Kaidou remarked. "I wouldn't be surprised..."

"Actually, yea, I'm pretty sure that's what happened," Saiki agreed.

"Impossible..."

"Stop messing around," Kuboyasu punched both of them on the shoulder. "Frankly, I still find it hard to believe. No offense Saiki, but you're so average."

The offense was invalid, Saiki took it as praise.

"Though the two of you do sit next to each other and I always noticed there was something fishy going on between you too."

"Teruhashi-san isn't even here today," Saiki grumbled.

"Wouldn't it be possible that she left because of the news? It just puts more credibility into the fact."

"Maybe it's because Saiki is always straightfaced," Kaidou mused. "Teruhashi-san may be into people that aren't desperate for her."

Saiki tensed up.

"Oh, Shun, you may be onto something! That's probably it!" Kuboyasu yelled.

Never had Saiki expected that Kaidou would be the one to get it.

"Saiki, aren't you glad man? You're lucky as hell, dude." Kuboyasu once again punched him. "You can pull the cutest girl in this school. If you weren't my friend, I'd probably beat you up in jealousy!"

That's not very nice to hear.

"Relationships are trivial, anyway. Heh, to me, all people are tools. It doesn't matter how they are, I only see how useful they are to me..." Kaidou cut in. This isn't Classroom of the Elite.

Even though this was painful as it is, the whispers around him were worse. Eyes were on him as people discussed the psychic. They weren't very ecstatic that this is the person that the perfect Teruhashi had a crush on. The gazes were more apparent as he looked around the room. If he wanted his school life to not be a nightmare, he should probably do something.

***

At home, Teruhashi put the eraser of her pencil on the bottom of her lip, bouncing her leg up and down. She stared down at her desk with nothing on it. This position helped her think.

No matter how much she thought, there wasn't a single solution to this problem. She knew that she shouldn't have drank. Whatever she did, she really inconvenienced Saiki's private life where he fades into the background. It's her fault.

She knew she should've put aside her feelings. It's impossible to contain the rough waters of love with a thin layer of obligation.

She really screwed up this time.

She debated whether to skip school tomorrow, but that probably wasn't an option. It'd increase suspicions. She'd have to think of a solution today in order to fix Saiki's private life. It's mainly her fault that all of this happened. Even if she apologized, she's not sure how he'd react.

To put it in simple words, she's stumped.

***

Saiki walked home, lost in his own thoughts as he thought of a strategy. Even if he were to threaten Manako to tell everyone the news was fake, the audio recording still existed. Even if she said it were a voice recording, those feelings of doubt and jealousy would still exist. It seems he can't completely fade into the background unless he lays low for a year. Which, of course, he doesn't have. They'd be graduating soon.

No matter what he thought of, he can't completely fade into the background. He could just embrace it but it's affecting someone as well: Teruhashi Kokomi. He wouldn't want his presence to ruin Teruhashi's narcissistic life where she bathed in people's affection for her. When she's no longer available, although there'll still be people fawning over her, it'd probably decrease by a significant amount.

There's one thing they can do. Teruhashi has to tell everyone that the news is fake. With someone as characteristic and trusting as her, they'd probably believe her in a heartbeat as long as she throws in a few crocodile tears. She could probably pass it off as being drunk or something. Though, people still wouldn't forget completely. There has to be a bigger piece of news that's bigger than Teruhashi's crush so people forget about it. Was something like that even possible? Saiki pondered for a moment.

...Come to think of it, they are graduating soon.

Anyway, it's best if they were to discuss things. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave Teruhashi a call.

After a couple of seconds of ringing, he heard it suddenly stop as a voice pushed through, "Hello?"

Saiki walked home as he talked, "Can we talk?"

She hesitated for a moment, "Sure."

"I'm not mad," he quickly affirmed to her. He could've said, 'just disappointed,' to tease her, but he didn't feel like that this was the right time. "It's an annoying situation but it's not impossible to deal with."

"I see," she said. "Anyway, why didn't you just teleport here? Can't we talk face-to-face?"

"Well, I gotta get home for dinner," he said. "Plus, your brother is there, isn't he?"

"How'd you know?- Oh, wait. You know everything. Stalker." She said that last part mostly to herself.

"That's rude," Saiki chided.

"...Can I ask something?"

"Sure."

"Why aren't you mad? I thought you'd be enraged for me dragging so much attention to you. It's like, the main reason you avoided me."

"I'm fuming," he said, denying her eased words

"Oh."

"No, I'm just kidding," he sighed. "I mean, it sucks. But it was out of your hands. Well, it was, but still. I'm not gonna be angry about it. I'm just... Not gonna push you away, you know?"

He heard her gulp.

"...I've done it too much, so I won't do it again," he admitted, looking down at his steps. He hated himself for saying something as corny as he just did.

Teruhashi was silent for a moment. "...Thank you."

"Uh huh," he nodded, despite the fact she couldn't see him. "By the way, uh, about your feelings..."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry about that," she groaned. "You can be mad at me about that. I know I was drunk but because you're a stupid mind reader, I can't really deny the feelings exist. I went against your trust."

"You can't control your feelings, can you?" He said quickly. "I understand."

"Really?"

"Obviously," he said matter-of-factly.

"But, I have a crush on you. It probably won't go away. It's gonna make these conversations awkward."

"What, do you want me to leave? Why are you arguing?"

"No!" She yelled rather quickly. Embarrassed by her clinginess, she coughed and composed herself. "No, I'm just trying to make sure."

"I can assure you that I'll stay. I had to deal with this for a while now anyway. I mean, you're like a really close friend to me. It's not impossible for us to have a relationship, even if you like me. A genuine relationship is still possible, I promise."

Again, she was silent. "...It's almost weird to hear all of this from you. To be honest, I thought you'd drop me as soon as I started being like this again."

"You must not think much of me."

"Yea, maybe," she giggled. He scowled.

"Thank you, Saiki-kun. This eases my mind a little bit about everything. So you're sure you're fine with all of this?"

"Duh."

"Alright... Anyway, what do you want? I just realized I kinda went ahead with what I wanted instead of listening to you."

"Yea, I was starting to get annoyed with that. I was about to end our friendship because of this." He felt like teasing her.

"Wha-!"

He brushed it aside, "Anyway, uh, I wanted to talk about a plan. We're probably gonna be in trouble for a while. Firstly, you should probably tell them it's a misconception and you were drunk."

"Obviously," she replied sarcastically. "I was gonna do that anyway, dumbo." It seems the teasing atmosphere they usually have has come back.

"Then, let me take care of it." He brushed it off. "Let me do the rest."

"Really?" She remarked. "Are you sure?"

"Mhm." He replied. "Well, anyway, that's all I needed to say. It was brief, I know. I just can't imagine how else you could be useful."

"You're so rude," she scoffed.

"Well, see you tomorrow," he prepared to end the call, but her yells of protest caused him to do otherwise.

"Wait, seriously? You haven't seen me the whole day and you just wanna leave like that?"

He couldn't understand her. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Let's just talk!" She suggested. Sighing, he decided to entertain her ideas.

***

After an exhausting few minutes of walking home talking to Teruhashi, Saiki was exhausted. He opened the front door to be welcomed by his brother with a stupid grin.

"Kusuo, welcome home!"

Saiki kicked off his shoes, shooting a glare at his brother. "Why are you still here?"

"Come on, can't your brother just stick around? Surely it's fine, right?" He said, walking with Kusuo to the couch. "You know, some people are heartbroken when their sibling goes away for college but you're rather glad I don't live at home anymore. I wonder why."

"For someone proclaimed to be so smart, you're pretty dumb."

Kusuke laughed it off. The two sat down. He made himself at home as he crossed his leg over the other with a pleased grin. Kusuo, disgusted, shot him a glare. "Why are you sitting with me?"

"So aggressive," Kusuke shook his head. "Is there anything wrong with sitting with your brother?

"Good point," he replied. "Usually though, I'd expect you to want something. It doesn't hurt to be on guard when I'm around you."

"Well, I'm here to gossip."

Well, this wasn't what he had expected but he's glad he was on guard now. Kusuo raised a brow, facing him. "What do you mean? You don't care about other people."

"Well, you're right about that!" He laughed briefly, letting out a small 'ah' as he calmed down. "Though, I do care about affairs with my brother. You seem to be the talk of school right now. I wonder what you're gonna do to have it simmer down again. Though, I can't believe it's something as stupid as psychic powers," he complacently grinned.

"How did you know?"

"Well, I know everything," he said bluntly. "Tell me Kusuo, how will you deal with it? Will you go back in time before everything that happened?"

He hesitated before answering, "...No."

"Oh?" Kusuke was surprised. "How come?"

Memories from the party flooded in Kusuo's mind. If he were to go back in time, he'd risk erasing that dance. Not that he enjoyed it, but it was a fond moment. In a way, it was essential for the growth of their relationship. The butterfly effect was ruthless as ever and he's not sure what would happen if he went back in time. It's not good to always be messing with time, especially with something as trivial as this.

Okay, maybe it was a little because of that dance. Of course, Kusuo could not flat out tell his brother that.

"...I just won't. Anyway, I'll find a solution. I have a plan anyway," Kusuo said with resolve.

"How 'bout letting me hear it?" He offered. "I'll edit it to make sure it goes off with a hitch!"

"Do you mean, 'without a hitch?'"

Kusuke just smiled.

Well, it's not like Kusuo would tell him the plan anyway. He's sure that Kusuke wouldn't approve of it. In fact, even he himself is regretting it. If this is the path he chose, then it's whatever. It's the consequence of being with Teruhashi. Although his normal life wouldn't be the same from now on, that was okay.

He didn't stay away from Teruhashi for the sole purpose of his private life. Well, it was part of it, but still. He chose this path to make her happy but if it ends up ruining her social life, then there's no point.

Yea, he'll risk it. 

A.N: Big news today, please read.

I messed up on this chapter. I finished half but I had to rush as I worked on literally the other half today because I wasted my time these past two weeks from writer's block. Well, I still think I did pretty well. Next chapter will be more fleshed out, hopefully.

Here's the big news. I'll most likely be taking a big hiatus. Not from writer's block (well not entirely) but because I'm about to start an extracurricular that's incredibly rigorous. Not gonna say the specifics because I feel I'll be dissed haha but I probably won't have time to balance my writing and this. Even if I did, I'd probably be stressed and it won't be quality. I want the next few chapters to be my best but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it like I had initially hoped. I will be back by November as that is when my activity ends. I may post earlier if I write in my notes enough to actually make a chapter but I doubt it.

I'm so sorry for this. Hopefully you'll still be here for the end. Thank you for reading.