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[Smoke Mirrors]

"I don't imagine you'll listen, but just know you don't need to fight all of our battles anymore, especially not alone." Minato replied, "...though admittedly, there are a lot fewer people trying to start battles with me now than there were two years ago."


"Oh, and also, I'm paying for your food, and you're not allowed to argue about that."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

As the group discusses lunch plans, before they can order anything, they see a young man, probably just out of middle school.

Of course, from his scruffy brown hair, the eyes he shared with his sister, and awkward gait, they could recognise him any day. Kousei Saihara had arrived.
"....He's grown up. Last time I saw him he was barely chest height. Now....he's taller than you, I'm pretty sure."

"He is. You....still don't want us to tell him about you, right?"

"Not yet. I don't want to face my family like this, Satoshi."
Satoshi turns around to the others, whispering as he approaches.
"Alright, you know the deal. Don't tell Kou-kun about Hana-chan. Besides, if we tell him his sister's here but he can't see her, it'd kill him."

The young man approaches them as Satoshi finishes whispering.

"..."

Satoshi greets him with a grin and a wave.
"Yo, Kou-kun! How are you?"

Kousei opens his mouth as if to speak.
"..."
"....Kou-kun?"

Kousei then sighs, frustated. Closing his eyes, he whips out his phone and types something in very quickly, before showing it to the others.

Sorry. My voice is gone. I can't talk. Don't know what happened. Parents will freak out if they find out. Please help.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Wasn't planning to. I don't turn down free food."

Takeo chuckled quietly, then turned as Satoshi pointed out Kousei. After the brief exchange, he tilted his head.

"One weird thing after another these days. Sure it ain't just laryngitis?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

My throat is fine. I just stopped being able to speak a few days ago when I was trying to help Yelena out with her homework.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Takeo snuffed his cigarette and tucked what was left into the pack to finish later.

"I see. Willing to help out, but how do you think we can fix it? Herbal remedies or what?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

I was going to ask Satoshi actually. He's friends with nearly everyone, so he might know someone. I was looking it up on Google last night and some message boards were talking about stuff like this. It just happens randomly and nobody knows why.

At that, Satoshi perks up.
"Huh? Me? Why?"

They called it stuff like "adolescence syndrome" or "Abnormalities".

"Abnor...oh. Now I see. One sec."

Satoshi looks over at the others. Takeo feels a rush of air around his back, probably where Hanako is. Satoshi's phone, left on the counter, lights up, switching to the messaging app.
"Is Kou-chan okay?"
"You guys know what those are, right? The rumours, everything?"

[notquitethere]

"What rumours? What with all the rehearsals, I've been out of the loop..."

"'Adolescence syndrome' just sounds like something boring old people made up because they can't handle our creative spirits."

[Smoke Mirrors]

"’Adolescence Syndrome’ or just ‘Abnormalities’ is a term for any supernatural phenomena not related to kaijin or Akuma." Minato began, ”There’s not really any formal research on them, just info floating around on message boards, and no one knows what the cause is, but it’s been linked to odd going’s on, like memory loss, or time loops. People claim that they’re linked to the subconscious desires of those who suffer from them, and can be cured by dealing with those desires, though admittedly I’ve generally just considered them like any other internet rumor.”


"I’d advise asking Amagi or Takeba. They say that espers have some sort of connection with abnormalities, so they might be able to help… just push for an answer that isn’t ‘denpa waves’." he continued, ”Sorry that I can’t be of too much help. Like I said, I don’t know that much about this kind of thing.”

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Satoshi rubs the back of his head.
"Uh, well. It's just...weird stuff that happens to people. Stuff like people literally being in two places at once or people literally experiencing the same day twice. Like that Mandela effect they talk about online or something. It-"

"Did someone say....denpa waves?"

[Now Playing: Chizuru's Theme]

As if summoned by a magic incantation, a bright-eyed young lady, blonde hair arranged into two drill-like curls behind her head and in an odd, Victorian-style dress, tilts her head right in front of Minato. After briefly studying Minato, she rubs her chin and speaks with a confident tone.

"Your waves feel....yellow today. That's good! Keep it up!"

Amagi-senpai?

"As local purveyor of all denpa wave-related phenomena and leader of the Denpa Detection Club, I, Chizuru Amagi, will investigate these issues and protect people from overexposure to denpa phenomena!"
"....who is this lady and why are they talking about denpa waves?"

"She transferred into school after you...left. I'd explain but it'd take a while."

[Smoke Mirrors]

After quietly deciding to avoid the color yellow for the next few days, including people with yellow hair, and biting back a snippy retort about being both a purveyor of "denpa phenomena" and claiming people needed protection from it, Minato was... as ready as he ever was to speak to Chizuru Amagi.


"Hello Amagi-san. Yes, we were just discussing you. Kousei believes he may be dealing with an abnormality, and I am aware that you are more knowledgeable about those than most, so I was hoping you would be able to help."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Takeo said nothing, but from the fact he had a more sour expression than his normal resting bitch face it was obvious to those who knew him that he didn't believe an ounce of this nonsense. He glanced at Kaya and Satoshi out of the corner of his eye, then over to where he mistakenly thought Hanako was, before sighing quietly and leaving it up to Minato.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Chizuru tilts her head further.
"As the local expert in all things denpa wave-related, I would be happy to help!"

She then turns to Kousei, who is suddenly taken aback by how fast Chizuru rounds on him, examining him like a particularly interesting painting. She rubs her chin.

"Your denpa waves feel....purple. And clogged. That's no good."

Chizuru turns to the others.
"I would say there's something unresolved bothering Saihara. It's been bothering him for a while, which is clogging up his positive denpa waves and letting him be showered with negative denpa waves, which is causing the Abnormality. I couldn't say what exactly, maybe there's something he couldn't do."

At that, Kousei flinches.

"I can't say what for sure. It's not my place to intervene, so I'll let you, Nagase and Akamatsu handle it, Date-kun."

She stands back, practically skipping.

"If you do need more help or find more denpa wave phenomena, give me or Aya-chan a call. Keep your denpa waves up, Date-kun!"

Chizuru turns to leave, but before she does, she pauses. Her eyes are lingering somewhere beyond Takeo's back.

At that moment, Takeo feels a slight swaying in the wind behind him, right where Chizuru is looking.

Right where Hanako is standing.

"....hmm. Very weird waves. Very weird."

She wanders off without further comment.
"Did....can she see me?"

"Who knows with Amagi? If it was Takeba, I might not question it. Y'know, Esper and all."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"...Didn't say a damn thing about how to 'unclog denpa waves'."

Takeo rubbed his forehead and turned to Kousei.

"How about it? Feel like there's 'something unresolved' we can help you with?"

[Smoke Mirrors]

"As usual, I only understand about half of what she's saying, but she does have an uncanny tendency to be right about these sorts of things." Minato said, before adding under his breath _{"*Wish she'd stop calling me 'Date-kun' though. We don't know each other nearly that well.*"}

He turned to Kousei

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to, but I'm not sure we can help you if we don't know what's causing the problem."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Kousei thinks for a bit.
....
Plenty. I'm not sure what Amagi-senpai could be talking about. I'm sure it has to be something serious if it's causing this Abnormality thing, so it's probably not that 500 yen I owe Natsuo.