Violet Roses | Saiki K

Chapter 22

Ren gave her a confused look, "Ok?"

"I went to his house with some friends during New Year's and his mom said something weird," Akemi continued. "She called him a psychic."

Ren stared at her, even more confused than he was before, "What?"

"Ok, listen. This is all gonna sound crazy. But I went on this school trip a few months ago a little before I meet you, to Okinawa. And some really weird stuff happened while we were there. Stuff like a typhoon appearing and then disappearing all of a sudden and weird turbulence on the plane that suddenly went away. At first, I thought it was just some strange occurrences, but then stuff happened that would only make sense if Saiki really does have some sort of supernatural powers. This boy named Toritsuka was on the beach while we were looking for Teruhashi and everyone was acting like he was her. It was like I was the only one who actually saw him as Toritsuka and not Teruhashi." She paused for a second and Ren just stared at her. She lightly shook her head and continued, "It wasn't a dream either. I know that for sure."

"Ok. What?" Ren questioned, clearly not processing anything she was telling him. "You think this boy, Saiki, is a psychic? Like, a person with magic powers?"

Akemi sighed, "It's complicated and hard to explain. The point is, it was weird and unnatural. Like something that would happen in some weird anime or something."

"Ok, hold on," Ren interrupted. "I just wanna make sure I have this right. You saw this guy, Toritsuka, but to everyone else, he looked like Teruhashi?"

Akemi nodded, "Yeah, basically. I know it sounds really crazy, but that's what happened."

"Well, I know you're not the kind of person who'd make something like this up, so unless you're going crazy, what happened actually happened," Ren said, leaning back on his heels slightly.

"I'm not going crazy," Akemi growled. Ren held his hands up defensively and she continued. "Anyways, nothing super weird happened around him until now. I thought it was weird how Saiki's parents acted when his mom called him a psychic and it would've explained all the things that happened around him. But I wasn't just going to believe that. So I talked to him about it today and it seemed like he was trying to keep me from the truth. Like, if I had suddenly accused you of being a psychic how would you act?"

"Confused. And I would think you were crazy." Ren answered.

"Yeah, exactly. But he didn't really act like that. It was like he was trying to convince me I was crazy instead of being confused or weirded out." Akemi said.

"Yeah. But one of you're classmates being a psychic?" Ren questioned, sounding a little concerned. "I mean, the only reason I haven't asked you if you haven't been sleeping well or something is because I know it's you."

Akemi rolled her eyes, "Whatever. But it doesn't end there."

"Oh?"

"I went to ask Teruhashi what she thought about Saiki's mom's comment and she had a really weird answer," Akemi said. When Ren opened his mouth to say something, she quickly added. "And not in the way you think. It was like she had heard his mom say something different. She was talking about him having trust issues because of a breakup or something. I don't know, it was weird. So I went to one of the other people who had been there, the class rep, Hairo. And his answer was even weirder."

"What did he say?" Ren asked.

"Something about a tennis club and Saiki getting kicked out of it," Akemi answered.

"What?"

Akemi shrugged, "I don't know, it was really strange. But not only that, it was way different from what Teruhashi said."

Ren opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he said, "Yeah... you're right."

"See? It's like they heard Saiki's mom say two different things."

"That is really strange," Ren muttered. Then he sighed, "I don't know Akemi. I think there is something up with this guy, but I just... I can't get around the idea of him being a psychic. I mean, that's crazy."

Akemi frowned, "Yeah, I know. But I'm gonna try to get him to give me a clear answer tomorrow. I just wanna know if I actually am going crazy or not."

"Yeah. And make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight." Ren added with a smirk.

"Shut up," Akemi said, rolling her eyes. She stood up and moved the stool back to its place behind the counter. "Anyways, I just wanted to get your thoughts and talk to someone about this. It's been bothering me for months. Saiki's given me a weird feeling since my first day here."

"Yeah, I don't doubt there's something up about him," Ren agreed. "I would just be careful with this psychic idea."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Akemi said. She sighed before saying, "Well, I'm gonna head home."

"Ok, let me know what happens," Ren said as she stepped toward the door.

Akemi looked back at Ren and nodded, "I will."