"First time out, anything you want to do?" Illumi asked Saiki Kusuo as they walked down the street, handing him a bag of chocolate.
These "wish" type questions were the worst for Saiki Kusuo — he never knew how to answer. And once the wish was granted, you'd owe someone a favor. Too much hassle. Saiki Kusuo just lowered his head and ate the chocolate.
If he had to say, what he really wanted was: to go home.
But even if he went home now, his parents would probably grill him about what happened. So he had to think of something else.
3... 2... 1...
[As every second passed, Saiki Kusuo still hadn't come up with anything.]
"How about the arcade, little guy?" Hisoka suggested from behind.
Oh right. Hisoka was still here.
Saiki Kusuo quietly moved to Illumi's other side, getting out of arm's reach before Hisoka could try putting an arm around his shoulder.
Hisoka: [Oh? He noticed? Interesting…]
If you'd just get rid of that big pink snot bubble on your hand, you might actually not get noticed. There's no way anyone wants to get touched by that sticky gross thing.
Saiki Kusuo muttered inside.
He vaguely remembered it was called… Love-something? That just made it even worse.
"The arcade would be too loud. Kusuo doesn't like crowded places," Illumi said, shutting it down.
"Hey, no need to reject it so fast. We could rent out the whole place. I'll pay — but in return, both of you have to play three games with me. You pick the games. Deal?"
Hold on, who are you calling 'little pink'?
Wait, Hisoka's paying?
Saiki Kusuo and Illumi exchanged a glance — and instantly came to an agreement:
If Hisoka's footing the bill, then one trip to the arcade was fine.
Last time he'd gone to one… was ages ago.
The arcade.
With one move, the Heaven's Arena rich guy booked the entire place. Even the staff were told to stand aside. The place instantly got way quieter.
Even though the overall noise inside Saiki Kusuo's telepathy range hadn't changed much, the nearby area was quiet enough. He put his judgments aside and gave Hisoka a word of thanks.
"You're more polite than I thought, little pink."
Again — who the heck is 'little pink'?
[My name is Saiki Kusuo. Thanks.]
"Mhm, I'm Hisoka. You're welcome~" Hisoka waved his hand and dumped a huge pile of coins into Saiki Kusuo's hands.
That stack of coins had to weigh at least five kilos — solid, heavy metal.
That's… way too much.
Saiki Kusuo caught it effortlessly, like catching a piece of foam board. But this simple action caught Hisoka's attention.
Hisoka chuckled: "il-chan, didn't you say your little pink hadn't had any training?"
[With zero training, a normal person's hand should drop under five kilos of weight.]
"Yeah. So seriously, don't think about challenging him. I'll really kill you."
"Then tell me — can an average person really hold a five-kilo metal tray in one hand so easily?"
[No adjustment, no hesitation. Like it was as light as a feather.]
Crap, he's trying something shady here?
Saiki Kusuo quickly set the coin down, placing the coin tray on top of a slightly worn machine, which let out a pitiful groan.
...So even just five kilograms does have some weight after all.
Saiki Kusuo glanced nervously at Illumi, but Illumi's reaction was unusually calm: "Mm. Kusuo is a Zoldyck, so what's there to react to over something that light?"
That confidence, that tone like it was only natural—as if all Zoldyck kids were born super strong—left Hisoka speechless for once.
"...Fine then."
Big bro, you really never miss a beat.
Now reminded of his strength, Saiki Kusuo skipped the whack-a-mole game while picking which game to play.
"King of Fighters—know how to play it?" Hisoka suggested.
Has it really become popular across the whole manga world?
The condition for having the place to themselves was playing three rounds with Hisoka. This kind of game didn't seem dangerous, so Saiki Kusuo agreed right away—the sooner they finish, the better.
The two sat down across from each other at the machine.
Hisoka said, "This way we can't peek at each other's strategies, little guy."
Honestly, your way of talking to people is way too free.
Saiki Kusuo nodded, but he felt some kind of energy spreading out.
After a careful look around, he saw it—a nen circle.
Saying it doesn't give him an edge, but clearly cheating right in front of him—what a guy.
Illumi glanced over but didn't seem to care. In his eyes, a Nen user using Nen wasn't cheating—it was just making use of the tools available.
Right now, Illumi was having a stare-down with the coin-pushing machine.
[Maybe I should give it a little nudge with Nen too…]
Big bro, it's just a game, no need to take it that seriously. Do you really need that many coins?
[...I'll just insert another coin.]
Saiki Kusuo let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Big Bro didn't go full cheater mode.
The character selection screen popped up on the machine. Saiki Kusuo scrolled left and right and finally picked a female character.
The match with Hisoka officially began.
At first, he didn't understand why Hisoka chose this game.
Even though telepathy could pick up people's thoughts, Hisoka seemed to have a goal from the start. He kept staring at the King of Fighters machine, and his thoughts were something like, [This one'll do.]
So Saiki Kusuo had no idea what he was really thinking. It was one of those rare cases where the mind's voice was vague—something only people who really go with the flow have. Even Hisoka himself didn't seem to fully think it through.
But as the game went on and Hisoka's side kept hammering the buttons, Saiki Kusuo had to press his more and more gently. So gently that sometimes he missed the input altogether.
He finally realized Hisoka was using a kind of psychological tactic—forcing him to keep hitting the same button over and over.
The more he focused on it, the harder it got to control his strength. Especially with that one button—he started pressing it with extreme caution.
"Little Pink~ doesn't seem quite on point today."
On screen, Hisoka's character walked around casually with his hands in his pockets, while Saiki Kusuo's stood stiffly in place, only guarding.
This guy's way too suspicious. He didn't let it go just because Illumi said something—he's still trying to test my strength… *on an arcade machine*, of all places!
"What started as a gut feeling now seems pretty spot-on. Kusuo, are you maybe having trouble keeping your strength in check?"
"I wonder what kind of thing causes someone to lose control like that. I heard the Zoldycks have a new mysterious kid lately. Your family is always full of surprises. Hehe… I'd love to go take a look sometime."
I'll be the one holding the door shut if you ever try to come in, you creep.
But the fact that I'm struggling with my powers… there's no way to deny it. Man, agreeing to play this game might've been a huge mistake. Saiki Kusuo finally gave up holding back. With a loud *crack*, he smashed the button, sending Hisoka's practically undefended character flying. Then with lightning-fast inputs, he strung together a combo and won the round.
If I've already been found out, might as well win first.