'Saiki and I are just too similar, both in our thought processes and our goals.'
'Sorry, I don't think so.'
'Although the possibility is low, there's still a chance that, like me, he left another organization to come here.'
'I really was just born into an ordinary family.'
'I don't have complete confidence in being able to fully use Saiki, and he's probably already noticed something about me. The best option for now is to temporarily form an alliance with him.'
'Yare yare, what should I do?'
Saiki Kusuo looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in front of him, his mind racing.
Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka hadn't revealed everything about himself, his words were close enough.
Saiki Kusuo hadn't expected things to turn out this way and could only think about how to handle the situation.
'Should I continue playing dumb and refuse? But Ayanokoji is pretty much convinced I'm not an ordinary person now, so that won't work.'
'Should I agree directly? That would mean admitting... Wait, Ayanokoji doesn't realize I'm a psychic. He thinks I'm similar to him, and he's also someone who doesn't want to stand out too much...'
'With Ayanokoji around, maybe he can help me further hide my identity!'
Saiki Kusuo had already formed a plan. Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's extraordinary insight and reasoning abilities had revealed that Saiki was different from others, even Ayanokoji couldn't possibly guess that Saiki Kusuo was a psychic.
Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was still bound by the limits of being an ordinary person.
"Alright."
After some thought, Saiki Kusuo finally nodded at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and shook his hand.
"Let's work together from now on."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied.
Saiki Kusuo then began to think about what he should do next.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had outright stated that Ibuki Mio was a spy. Even if Saiki Kusuo had refused Ayanokoji's proposal, he wouldn't have been able to use Ibuki Mio to control the class's score...
Does this mean the class has to take first place in this exam?
What many people desired was a huge burden for Saiki Kusuo.
However, if Class C really did achieve first place, Saiki could just shift all the credit to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, making him the most noticeable person.
...
Another day had passed. The other classes were no different from usual, and Class D, as Shiina Hiyori had mentioned earlier, had collectively withdrawn and returned to the ship.
But of course, things weren't that simple.
Earlier, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune had seen Class D spending points extravagantly on the shore, enjoying their vacation. This was all a facade created by Ryuen Kakeru to make the other classes think Class D had given up—
But in reality, Ryuen Kakeru himself hadn't withdrawn. He had stayed alone on the deserted island.
Using his clairvoyance, Saiki Kusuo saw Ryuen Kakeru climbing a tree like a monkey, seemingly trying to hide up there for the time being.
'Robinson Crusoe, huh...'
Saiki Kusuo complained in his mind. From now on, Ryuen Kakeru would be surviving on the island without any supplies or support.
Like the day before, Saiki Kusuo had to continue playing the role of the "fishing expert." Thanks to the novel Shiina Hiyori had given him, the day didn't feel too long.
After returning to the campsite for dinner, everyone, as usual, spent some free time before preparing to rest.
'Let's just get through the remaining time without doing anything.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself in the tent. He no longer wanted to waste more time on this island. All he wanted now was to return to the ship and enjoy his vacation.
'But since I can go home every night to enjoy the air conditioning, it's not that big of a deal.'
The sky outside was pitch black, and the breathing of the others in the tent gradually became steady. Saiki Kusuo was about to use his teleportation to return home.
But just then, he heard a loud voice outside.
'The timing is right. It's time to start acting.'
'Yare yare, causing trouble now?'
Saiki Kusuo immediately recognized Ibuki Mio's voice.
After several days of lying low, Ibuki Mio was ready to start her operation.
'I need to cause chaos within Class C so I can move more freely.'
'Karuizawa seems to be the leader of most of the girls in Class C. If I target her, Class C will definitely erupt into a huge argument.'
'Is that so?'
Saiki Kusuo's eyebrow twitched slightly. To be honest, he was curious about what Ibuki Mio would do—
'I'm going to steal Karuizawa's panties.'
'So it's stealing panties...'
Saiki Kusuo was stunned for a moment.
'???'
'What the hell? Your ultimate plan is to steal someone's panties?'
For a moment, Saiki Kusuo didn't know what to say. He had expected Ibuki Mio to come up with some sophisticated scheme, but it turned out to be something as trivial as stealing panties.
Ridiculous.
'Can a pair of panties really cause a class-wide conflict? How?'
Saiki Kusuo smiled slightly, not taking Ibuki Mio's words seriously. He then used his teleportation ability to return home and get some proper rest.
But as Saiki Kusuo drifted in and out of sleep, he saw flashes of new images.
Class C students were arguing...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was holding a pair of panties...
A fire broke out in the campsite...
"?"
Saiki Kusuo suddenly woke up, feeling a slight headache.
This was Saiki Kusuo's precognition ability, which occasionally allowed him to see fragments of future events. It often activated while he was asleep.
However, this precognition ability was uncontrollable, and he only saw fragments without knowing the exact timing or cause of the events.
'Yare yare, so a fire really breaks out?'
Saiki Kusuo's expression grew serious. If a fire really did break out in the future, it would be dangerous. If he didn't resolve it in advance, the consequences could be severe.
'Wait, earlier Ibuki said she would use the panty theft to cause infighting in our class... Did she actually succeed?'
Saiki Kusuo was surprised. He still found it hard to believe that a simple pair of panties could cause such a crisis in the class.
Could it be... that the class infighting led to arguments... and then someone set a fire out of revenge? Or maybe the fire was accidentally started during a fight...
Saiki Kusuo's mind raced, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.
'No matter what, I have to prevent this from happening.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, then teleported back to the tent.
Using his powers, he quickly found where Ibuki Mio had hidden Karuizawa Kei's panties and used telekinesis to return them to their original place.
...
The next morning finally arrived.
"Saiki, you're up early again... But you look like you didn't sleep well?"
Hirata Yosuke turned to Saiki Kusuo and asked.
'I barely slept at all last night.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, but he could only use the excuse of the hot weather making it hard to sleep.
Soon, everyone left the tent, and Saiki Kusuo kept his attention on Ibuki Mio.
'Girls change clothes every day, right? Karuizawa will probably notice her panties are missing soon. I've hidden them in the boys' clothes. Once they're found, there's bound to be a huge argument!'
Ibuki Mio thought to herself, her gaze fixed on Karuizawa Kei, waiting for her to come out—
But a few minutes later, Karuizawa Kei walked out of the tent, chatting with other girls as if nothing was wrong.
'What? Karuizawa didn't notice?'
Ibuki Mio's face showed a look of surprise.
'Sorry, I can't let your plan succeed.'
Saiki Kusuo replied in his mind.
'No, no, that can't be... Could it be... Karuizawa hasn't changed her clothes at all?'
As this thought crossed her mind, a look of disgust appeared on Ibuki Mio's face.
'Sorry, Karuizawa.'
Saiki Kusuo shifted his gaze elsewhere, pretending not to know anything, feeling a slight pang of guilt toward Karuizawa Kei.
After the morning roll call, Saiki Kusuo had to go fishing by the river as usual. Although he didn't like the sudden role he'd been given, at least it kept him away from the other idiots in the class, which was somewhat acceptable.
Today, Sakura Airi seemed to be busy with other tasks and didn't follow Saiki Kusuo, giving him some rare private time.
'I didn't get much rest last night, so nothing should happen today. I'll take a short break, then catch a few fish to bring back later.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, leaning against a large tree to rest. However, he accidentally fell asleep.
Just then, Sakura Airi hurried over to Saiki Kusuo.
'Saiki-kun... has been working so hard these past few days... I prepared some food and water for him...'
Sakura Airi had left the campsite early to prepare these things, wanting to do what she could to ease Saiki Kusuo's burden.
"Huh? Is Saiki-kun asleep?"
Sakura Airi saw Saiki Kusuo with his eyes closed, leaning against the tree. She placed the food beside him and quietly sat down next to him.
"It's the first time I've seen Saiki-kun sleeping..."
"He must be exhausted from helping the class catch fish every day..."
"But he's still wearing his hair clip while sleeping... That seems dangerous. I'll take it off for him..."
Sakura Airi sat next to Saiki Kusuo, staring at him intently. Her breathing became slightly faster as she cautiously reached out, then pulled her hand back. But soon, as if she had made up her mind, she reached for the hair clip on Saiki Kusuo's forehead.
...
"?"
Saiki Kusuo suddenly opened his eyes.
"Strange, I have a bad feeling... How long have I been asleep?"
Saiki Kusuo shook his head and prepared to stand up, leaning on the tree behind him—
But the moment he touched the tree, the massive tree, over two meters in diameter, snapped like a toothpick. The upper part of the tree shot out like a cannonball, smashing through countless other trees.
'...'
Saiki Kusuo froze for a second, then immediately realized something was wrong. As soon as he took a step, he left a massive crater in the ground.
'This is bad.'
Saiki Kusuo quickly figured out the problem. He reached up to touch his hair and realized the hair clip on the right side was missing.
That wasn't an ordinary hair clip. It was a limiter made by his brother, Saiki Kusuke, to suppress the power of his psychic abilities.
Without it, Saiki Kusuo could destroy the world in an instant.
Even the slightest touch could unleash terrifying power.
'Yare yare, the limiter is gone? How did this happen? I hope I didn't cause any major problems...'
As Saiki Kusuo pondered this, countless voices flooded his mind.
'What's going on? Is the tracking system malfunctioning?!'
'Why does the computer suddenly show all of us on the other side of the world??'
'Damn it, what's happening?!'
Not only that, but countless foreign languages also flooded his mind. Without the limiter, his telepathy now covered the entire planet.
'Did I accidentally teleport the entire island and the ship to the other side of the world?!'
Saiki Kusuo quickly used his powers to move the island and the ship back to their original location.
'Seems like everything's back to normal?'
'No, not yet!'
'One student's location is still far away!'