Saiki Kusuo covered his ears without thinking. Wait, what's the point of a psychic covering his ears for telepathy? That's something normal people do... Wait, is it really gone?
Saiki Kusuo let go of his hands and found that he really couldn't hear any thoughts.
Was that just an illusion? Someone's hand gradually brushed his hair away from his face, and he could see the person directly.
No x-ray vision, no petrification.
So my psychic powers really haven't come back, huh?
Saiki Kusuo sighed in relief.
Illumi put Saiki Kusuo down, and Saiki Kusuo finally saw it.
Illumi had a red band on his arm with the five big characters 'Student Council President' written on it.
Long time no see, Illumi has become such an impressive figure.
"Yo, Wig, that set of moves was so cool! Did you practice it secretly on your own?"
Two people chased after them. They were wearing similar clothes to Illumi, and the most recognizable things about them were their curly hair and glasses… No, it should be the red bands they were also wearing on their shoulders.
Both of them are Student Council members!
Of course… it's Gintoki and Shinpachi! Hey, Shinpachi is one thing, but isn't it weird for an old guy with curly hair like Gintoki, whose age is unknown, to be at school?
"It's not Wig, it's Student Council President." Illumi corrected calmly.
It's like a famous saying being said by someone.
"Okay, Wig."
"No problem, Mr. Wig."
Illumi looked confused. He already denied it, so why are they still calling him Wig? Does his hair look that fake?
Well, well, I'm completely mistaken for someone else.
Illumi didn't pay much attention to it. What was more important now was his little brother.
"Why didn't you use teleportation? Kusuo. Huh, your temperature…"
I know, it's only 38.2 degrees. It's nothing big. When there aren't any contagious diseases going around, I keep a constant temperature of 70 degrees.
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be... at least 42 degrees?" Illumi frowned, not daring to be sure since it hadn't exceeded the universally known limit of human temperature.
How could it be so high?
"Yosh, Wig, Gintoki to the rescue in a time like this! Do you want this one to stick in your butt to take your temperature…"
How do I kick the silver-haired guy from the other show out of school? Don't come here to be a student council member, old man.
"Or this mercury thermometer that you put in your mouth—"
That one, just that one is enough.
"Or this digital thermometer, which is super convenient in modern society! It takes your temperature in 60 seconds, with a digital display. If you're in a hurry, you can take it out after 30 seconds, no problem!"
If you had something like this, why didn't you take it out sooner?!
But my temperature isn't something that needs too much attention…
"Beep! Beep!" The thermometer displayed a red number: 50 degrees.
"50 degrees! This isn't even a fever, it's almost like he's on fire!" the boy with glasses shouted.
Saiki Kusuo: ...Wait, what?
Illumi and Gintoki were rarely in sync, and they rushed towards the school infirmary with Saiki Kusuo.
The boy with glasses caught up and shouted, "Hang in there! Don't pass out! Everyone, clear the way! This person needs to go to the infirmary!"
Gintoki shouted, "Don't lose to the illness, buddy!!!"
I'm used to being around calm and rational people, the people from the other show are so scary.
The infirmary.
Saiki Kusuo was forced to lie down with an ice pack on his head. The measured temperature was still 50 degrees.
"It's okay, looks like the thermometer is broken. We'll use physical methods to lower his temperature and save his life."
There was a mysterious blonde rookie doctor in a white coat in the infirmary.
"After patrolling the high school, the student council members still have to go to the university to carry out more strict inspections, right? That place is very dangerous and desperately needs the organization and discipline of the Student Council."
"Saiki Kusuo is of course very healthy. He's still breathing, isn't he? He's in such a healthy and energetic state that he could get up and dance the hula."
Being in the mental state to dance the hula in public is very worrying.
"You can come to visit anytime, the door to the infirmary is never closed—"
It took Saiki Kusuke a long time to finally send everyone away.
Saiki Kusuo did a sit-up, turned over to the edge of the bed, and wanted to get out.
"I hung a 'Resting' sign on the door, but I can't guarantee that no one will come to visit you," Saiki Kusuke sat on the other side of the bed, leaning over to look at his little brother's back. "Wouldn't it be better to rest in bed? "
"Just now, my psychic powers came back for a bit. I heard telepathy," Saiki Kusuo said.
"Yeah, about how long did it last?"
"5 seconds 32."
"That's so short. Looks like it won't be easy for your psychic powers to come back. Do you really want them back, Kusuo?"
"..."
"Would you prefer 'Ms. Nanka' or 'An Invitation to Anthropology'?"
Why is the option of that second book there?
"But these are the only books for now. Some were prepared by your clone for you, and some I was going to read before."
He can have as many books as he wants, Kusuko can just make them.
"You say not to rely on psychic powers, but you're constantly using them out of habit," Saiki Kusuke teased, "That's not true. I already erased Kusuko's psychic powers."
Huh? You're being too cautious, aren't you?
"All sorts of worries. Having one more psychic with no powers can also be a control group."
What kind of science experiment is that? What will happen to the Dark Continent if Kusuko's psychic powers disappear? Everyone will be in danger.
"Are you worried about those people? Why? Coming to a place like the Dark Continent was their own choice. The possibility of dying exists, of course. And if Kusuo is worried, he can just get his psychic powers back, right?"
Easy for you to say...
"For now, you can only rest. I have to go to class. The dark creatures seem to be acting a little strange too."
What's wrong? Are the dark creatures going to rebel too? Hey, wait a minute…
Saiki Kusuke closed the door.
He just left, what a conscientious teacher.
Saiki Kusuo looked at the stack of books on the bedside table.
Well, well, I can only rest, huh?
…
The next day, Saiki Kusuo sat up in bed, looking a little speechless.
Why? Because there were too many things in the room, and they were constantly increasing.
No one came to visit all afternoon yesterday. After eating dinner, he suddenly felt more tired than ever before, so he went to bed early.
When he woke up, there were many more things around him, such as flower baskets and fruit baskets.
The room was filled with a rich array of items, with very rich colors, just short of having his name written in big letters on the headboard.
All of this made Saiki Kusuo feel deeply puzzled.
"Routine checkup. Student in bed A—"
There's only one bed in the whole room, right?
Saiki Kusuke walked in. Unlike yesterday, he had a small black thing with him today.
The black thing had two pointy ears and a tail with an arrow at the end.
For a moment it looked a lot like Kuromi, but it definitely wasn't Kuromi.
So what is this thing?
"Huh, are you wondering about this thing I have with me? The people who came to give you gifts probably had the same purpose, didn't they? Don't you recognize them?"
I just woke up and saw these things. I have no idea who sent them.
Saiki Kusuo glanced down at the fruit next to him and suddenly found that each basket came with a slip of paper from the giver.
Gift from Illumi, gift from Alluka, gift from Milluki, gift from Killua… So the people who buried me alive with gifts were my family. What's going on?
Did they all send them?
Saiki Kusuo grabbed some more things at the foot of the bed to confirm.
Hisoka, the big brother who's worried about Pinky (/heart)
Ew, I touched something dirty. Saiki Kusuo stuffed the note back in.
But, these names seemed to have been left deliberately.
"Haha, didn't I erase Kusuko's psychic powers? The world didn't collapse right away, but the most important points ranking system in this area successfully broke down! The dark creatures voluntarily proposed a solution, which was to create this creature with the character 'Score' on its head to follow everyone and keep score."
The place where there used to be a pig nose on its forehead had been changed to the character for "Score."
This is so troublesome. That's why I said don't casually erase psychic powers.
"Do you remember what the Ant King said at yesterday's meeting?"
I didn't hear that.
"The ultimate purpose of this area is to become an outstanding person. How many rankings there are in this area and where the lists are placed, we don't know. But this time, with the statistics, we know what actions add points and what actions deduct points. It's all told to us by this scoring Kuromi."
Hey, you just said Kuromi, you can't say that.
Saiki Kusuke had a stethoscope hanging on his shoulders. He sat closer to Saiki Kusuo and placed the circular end of the stethoscope on Saiki Kusuo's chest.
He didn't even put the ear pieces of the stethoscope into his own ears, even though there was a layer of normal school uniform cloth in between.
"Examining a patient, Doctor Ranking Points +5, currently ranked 2nd," the dark creature behind Saiki Kusuke said.
I see, so it's really a cheap way [to gain points].
"What counts as an outstanding person is hard to define. That's why there are such varied standards and different types of rankings. After calculating the scores for each, they are summed up in the final tally. Whenever there is a scoring item, this creature will start writing and drawing. As long as you make eye contact, it will answer related information, it's quite smart."
Don't say creature smart. So, what does this have to do with all the things that were put around me?
"Still haven't figured it out? Kusuo without psychic powers is really slow. Is there really something wrong with your IQ? At least you should have inherited half of mine…"
You're my brother, not my father. We don't have a genetic inheritance relationship.
"Visiting a classmate, visiting a sick patient, such simple ways to solve things with money, and also a demonstration of your own excellence that brings in big points, have been discovered. So everyone gave you a lot of things," Saiki Kusuke put away the stethoscope, picked up a small knife, and casually took an apple to wash on the side.
So the things around me all appeared to get points. It suddenly became pathetic.
A small plate was placed in front of him, with a couple of apple bunnies nicely cut on it.
Would a normal person be touched?
Saiki Kusuo looked at the parts other than the bunnies in the trash can on the other side.
Don't waste food, you!
"Huh? Anyway, there are so many apples. Once they become bunnies in my hands, they can end their mission," Saiki Kusuke didn't think he was doing anything wrong at all.
"Ah, are you worried about not sorting the trash? Don't worry, you don't have to sort trash here."
Who's worried about that.
"The environment of this Dark Continent is great. There are people who aren't afraid of getting dirty and won't get infected by bacteria, and even take charge of breaking down dark creatures to sort out the trash. They might even be grateful to me for throwing away delicious food. Being environmentally friendly and frugal depends on the place. Here, throwing away anything will only be turned into rich nutrients for the land."
What twisted logic. Make saving be a habit for me. These are mature, big apples that would take years to grow on a normal person's land.
"Is that so? Normal people really have it hard. If it were me, I would use machines to replace all the manual labor. I would just have the machines follow a fixed path every day, check the condition of each tree, adjust the spray treatment, and use vibrating machines to make the fruit fall from the trees when it's time to pick them. I would use machine-controlled nets to catch them, and then create a machine that sorts items based on color to classify apples and leaves. I would also classify the apples by grade to sell them at different prices. Finally, if the local people still want a job to support their families, they can apply for a job licking the dust off the machines. I wonder if it would be easier than before?"
More burdensome and even less dignified.
"Hey, do you still need dignity when you're working? Humans are so troublesome."
Hey. You're hurting too many people.
"Okay, okay, I won't waste the next apple."
Saiki Kusuo picked up the bunny apple. No matter how exquisite the food is, its fate is still to be eaten in one bite.
Saiki Kusuke easily peeled the apple without breaking the peel, continuing his small talk, "Kusuo, your temperature is 45 degrees today. Although there's still a small difference from the normal human temperature, I think you can leave the infirmary. It's not that great to stay here, and it's troublesome for me to come over. It seems like someone else is going to be hired."
Hired as a real doctor, please. Go be a good teacher, Cambridge graduate student.
"It seems to be a big guy who's 1.9 meters tall. It's best not to do strange things to our Kusuo."
Killua and the others would definitely find out the real situation. I need to leave the hospital now. How do I complete the discharge procedures?
"Haha, a smart decision. I've already written your health report for you, and I've also written your leave slip and approved it for a maximum of three days. It's okay if you don't go to class for these three days. Where does Kusuo want to go next?"
You've planned all of this out so far in advance. Saiki Kusuo got off the bed and tidied up his clothes.
If you ask what direction a normal person who hasn't recovered their psychic powers can go, it can only be…
Going home.
"Then do you want to move in with your brother? The Dark Continent isn't as safe as it used to be. It doesn't matter if the monkeys all die, I'm still worried about my little brother's safety."
Care about the monkeys a little bit, they're under the same roof.
Saiki Kusuo picked out some food to take with him from the bedside. Luckily, most of the people sent flowers. There were also many strangers who sent gifts whose names he had never heard of. How can just anyone enter my hospital room? If I was a ninja, wouldn't I be in danger while I was sleeping?