'?'
Saiki suddenly opened his eyes wide.
'Strange, why do I have a bad feeling… come to think of it… how long did I sleep?'
Saiki shook his head and tried to stand up using the tree behind him, but the moment he touched it, the towering tree, more than two meters in diameter, snapped like a toothpick, and the upper part launched like a cannonball, smashing many surrounding trees.
'...'
Saiki froze for a second, and then immediately sensed something was wrong. As soon as he stepped, a huge crater formed under his foot.
'This is bad.'
Saiki quickly guessed the problem. He reached for his head, his right hairpin was gone.
That was no ordinary hairpin. It was a suppressor made by his brother, Saiki Kusuke, designed to limit the power of his psychic abilities.
Otherwise, with Saiki's power, he could destroy the world in an instant.
Even the slightest touch could unleash terrifying strength.
'Yare yare, the suppressor's gone? How could this happen? I wonder if I've already caused some trouble…'
While Saiki was thinking this, an overwhelming flood of voices poured into his brain.
[What's going on? Did the tracking system malfunction?!]
[Why did the computer suddenly show all of us appearing on the other side of the world??]
[Damn it, what on earth is going on?!]
Not only that, but a vast number of foreign languages also flooded into his mind. Without the limiter, his telepathy ability covered the entire Earth.
'Did I unintentionally instant-move the entire island together with the cruise ship?!'
Saiki hurriedly activated his ability and moved the entire island back to its former location.
[It seems to be back to normal?]
[No, not yet!]
[The location of one student is still in a farther place!]
'Good thing it didn't cause even worse consequences.....'
Saiki finally let out a long sigh of relief. After all, they were at sea and lacked other reference points. Aside from the global positioning system, no one realized that they had just instant-moved tens of thousands of kilometers. The other students on the island were even less aware.
He immediately used his restoration ability to restore all the destroyed trees around them. However, these trees looked a few sizes smaller than before.
'Without the limiter, the restoration ability returned to the state from seven years ago. Clearly, it's even harder to use now.'
Saiki sighed. Right now, he had only resolved the urgent crisis, the real critical issue was still not solved.
'But where did the limiter go? How did it come off?'
If he didn't know the whereabouts of the limiter, then if the entire island's people were accidentally wiped out, that would be a big problem.
Saiki's brain quickly spun, searching all possibilities, and suddenly, as if he remembered something, he hurriedly used clairvoyance to search for Airi Sakura's location across the entire island.
'No!'
'This is bad. Could it be that Sakura did it? And then I unintentionally teleported her to some other place?'
Sweat rarely appeared on Saiki's forehead. Without the limiter, even while asleep, he might unintentionally release psychic powers, like wetting the bed, this was called "leaking superpower."
He again used clairvoyance, quickly searching for Airi Sakura's location, and as expected, he found Airi Sakura in a forested mountain area thousands of kilometers away.
At this moment, Airi Sakura was leaning against a tree, her breathing somewhat rapid.
'Thank goodness, she's still alive...'
Saiki slightly adjusted the visible angle of clairvoyance and saw an enormous brown bear standing in front of Airi Sakura.
'Not good at all!'
A look of fear appeared on Saiki's face. He immediately used instant-move ability to appear in front of Airi Sakura and sent the brown bear flying straight away!
"Saiki... Saiki-kun... what exactly is going on?"
At this very moment, Airi Sakura had a completely terrified expression on her face. Everything that had just happened was totally beyond her comprehension.
'This is bad, seems like I can't hide it anymore now...'
Saiki hadn't expected things to develop like this, and for a moment, he also felt a bit helpless.
[Why did I suddenly appear in a strange forest..... why is there even a bear... all of this..... I totally don't understand.....]
'...'
[Could it be..... am I... dreaming right now?]
'Hmm?'
[Could it be..... could it be..... I was dreaming just now?]
[There seems to be a thing called lucid dreams..... people can maintain clear awareness inside dreams, and whatever they think of can come true.....]
After hearing Airi Sakura's inner voice, Saiki immediately had a new idea in his heart.
'Luckily, Sakura usually acts alone. The class probably hasn't noticed she's missing..... if she thinks she's dreaming, that's perfect, as long as I get her to confirm it's a dream, I can gloss over it!'
While Saiki was thinking of a solution, Airi Sakura suddenly stepped forward and hugged his arm directly.
"Saiki-kun, you're here!"
Airi Sakura's face showed a bright and energetic smile, looking completely different from her usual gloomy appearance.
[Since it's a dream, then..... I don't need to worry about interacting with people, right! Maybe I can interact with Saiki as the version of myself I want to be!]
The Airi Sakura in front of him was completely different from the one who played an idol on the internet. But deep in her heart, she strongly longed to become the real "Shizuku."
Even just from photos, she gave people the impression of being energetic and cheerful.
But because of her timid personality and fear of socializing, she simply couldn't achieve that in real life.
But now, things were different. Airi Sakura thought she was in a dream, so she had no reservations about social interaction.
People often do things in dreams that they wouldn't dare to do or simply couldn't do in real life. And that was exactly the state Airi Sakura was in now.
"Kusuo-kun!"
'Yare yare, even the persona has changed? This is a bit troublesome.'
Saiki didn't dare to resist in any way, and could only follow along with her actions and sit down on the ground.
'Normally, I should knock out Sakura and bring her back to the island. But now that I don't have the limiter, I can't do it, if I just lift my arm a little, Sakura would go flying like a soda-bottle rocket."
"Right now, I can only stay with her until she naturally falls asleep..... but it's daytime now, so it's a bit troublesome to make her fall asleep. The best I can do is put a lullaby in her mind. I have to find a way to return quickly."
"That commotion just now might've already alerted the teachers. If they come to check on us, then it's over.'
Thinking this, Saiki used telepathy to transmit a lullaby into Airi Sakura's mind, trying to make her feel sleepy.
"Weird, I feel like there's some strange sound in my head."
Airi Sakura pouted, looking very cute.
"Kusuo, let's take a photo together! The camera is....."
'The way she addresses me changed again.'
In an instant, the digital camera that Airi Sakura usually used appeared in her hands.
Because of the nature of the exam, this camera was originally confiscated before they got on the island. But to maintain the dream's realism, Saiki used his superpower to teleport it into Airi Sakura's hands.
"Come on, Kusu-chan, look at the lens!"
'The way she calls me changed again.'
Saiki had no choice but to cooperate and moved his eyes toward the camera lens, but Airi Sakura didn't press the shutter for a long time.
"Ah, the environment here is really not pretty..... it's so gloomy... we should change to a different scene. And my clothes and hairstyle....."
Before Airi Sakura could finish speaking, the surrounding environment instantly changed. In a blink, they arrived in an amusement park, and Airi Sakura's clothes changed into the stylish short skirt she wore when modeling, and her loose hair was tied into twin tails in "Shizuku mode," making her look even cuter.
'Yare yare, is doing a girl's hairstyle with superpowers this troublesome for the first time?'
Saiki felt slightly mentally tired. While activating his powers, he had to blink frequently to avoid seeing Airi Sakura as a skeleton.
"Come on, Kusu-chan! Let's take a bunch of selfies!"
Now fully in Shizuku mode, Airi Sakura pulled Saiki close and leaned her head against his shoulder. She could clearly feel Saiki's body temperature, and in her heart, she marveled at how real the dream felt.
Click click, Airi Sakura took a series of photos with Saiki and even traveled virtually all over the world, with her outfit constantly changing.
Finally, after finishing the last location, Airi Sakura finally let go of Saiki's arm and stared at the photos on her camera.
For her, taking photos was her only hobby.
Looking at each photo, Airi Sakura's face revealed a genuinely happy smile, "Kusu-chan! Which photo do you like best?"
Saiki looked at Airi Sakura's profile for a second, then raised his hand, just now, he had finally found the opportunity to retrieve his limiter.
'Sorry, Sakura. It's time to truly dream.'
Saiki put the limiter on his head, then instantly moved behind Airi Sakura and activated his power to make her fall asleep.
———
"Saiki, Sakura!"
By the river on the island, Sae Chabashira was loudly calling out for Saiki and the others while searching for their figures. Finally, she found Saiki and Airi Sakura beside the river.
"Is something the matter, Chabashira-sensei?"
At this moment, Saiki was holding a fishing rod, sitting beside the river, while Airi Sakura was leaning against a tree, asleep.
"It's nothing, the school just asked us to check on your situation."
After confirming that Saiki and Airi Sakura were safe, Chabashira Sae left.
Just now, because of a brief signal anomaly from Airi Sakura's watch, the school had sent Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher, to check the situation.
"Ah..... did I fall asleep just now?"
Right at this moment, Airi Sakura slowly opened her eyes and yawned. Nearby was half-eaten food and water.
"Yeah, you said you wanted to nap for a bit, so I didn't bother you."
Saiki turned his head and said to Airi Sakura.
"Ah!..... I'm very sorry, very sorry... I originally wanted to help Saiki-kun..... but I accidentally overslept....."
Airi Sakura lowered her head shyly, her cheeks slightly red.
[So it really was a dream just now?]
[It was really, really vivid...]
[If only I could stay asleep just a little longer.....]
Airi Sakura held a small hope in her heart, reached into her backpack, but there was no camera inside.
This left a slight sense of loss in Airi Sakura's heart.
[I really want... to dream that kind of dream again.....]
[But..... I even thought about Saiki-kun in my dream?]
[Could it be....]
Thinking of that, Airi Sakura's cheeks turned even redder, and her breathing slightly quickened.
"Um..... Saiki-kun."
"What is it?"
"Can I..... from now on, call you....."
Airi Sakura wanted to say something, but the words caught in her throat, unable to come out for several seconds. Her eyes shifted evasively to the ground.
Saiki naturally knew what Airi Sakura wanted to say and didn't urge her.
A few seconds later, Airi Sakura gathered her little bit of courage, her eyes turned serious, and finally lifted her head, locking eyes with Saiki.
"Can I... call you Kusuo-kun?"
After asking this, Airi Sakura slightly curled up, nervousness written all over her face.
Calling someone by their first name was completely normal among close friends, but for Airi Sakura, it was a huge challenge.
"Mm." Saiki nodded.
Upon hearing Saiki's answer, a rare sparkle lit up in Airi Sakura's eyes.
'Just treat this as compensation for accidentally teleporting you to the middle of nowhere.' Saiki replied in his heart.
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