I’m a Telepath, but It’s Tough Because the Cool Beautiful Girl Next to Me Is Having Pink Thoughts - Chapter 38

“””──────────”””

Thoughts from every direction came flooding into my mind. A crushing headache pounded against my skull, sharp enough to make me fear my head might burst at any moment.

My vision swam, doubling and tripling until I could barely tell which way I was moving or even what position my body was in as I staggered forward.

But I didn’t have the right to complain.

Tatsuki had been taken. I didn’t know who, but odds were high it had something to do with me. Maybe someone with Kisara’s clairvoyant ability had reported on me, or maybe my cover had already been blown. Either way, it was clear they were exploiting my connections and were using her as a hostage.

That meant the reason she was kidnapped was none other than me. The moment I dragged an innocent person into this, any chance of running away had vanished.

And more than that… I had toyed with her heart. If I had shut her out from the start, none of this would have happened. After that day that I saved her from that molester, I should have gone back to being just another faceless background character. Instead, I pretended to be someone decent. Someone normal.

Now, I had to take responsibility for my half-hearted choices.

…But my body didn’t agree with my resolve.

“…Haa… haa.”

The rain pelted down with such force that it felt like I was being struck. It stung, biting into my skin and so cold it bordered on pain. My body was already weak from my powers running out of control, so it wasn’t surprising.

“…Damn it.”

I cursed under my breath and stopped for a moment. My trembling arms wrapped around my shaking body as I was just barely keeping myself from collapsing.

But I couldn’t waste time. If I was going to pause, it had to be to pin down her location.

“──────”

I plunged back into the sea of telepathy, searching for Tatsuki’s voice or any voice that might belong to the ones who had taken her. It was like threading a path through mountains of sand, sifting through endless fragments of thought. Impossible for an ordinary person.

But I wasn’t ordinary.

Not from a human’s perspective, and not from a telepath’s either.

I pressed my index finger and thumb together into a circle, peering through the small ring they formed.

“… …Ah!”

My hunched body straightened in an instant, as though struck by lightning.

“Found you…”

Dragging my heavy feet forward, I forced myself to move again. Toward them.

Toward Tatsuki.

—

“…There she is.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

I had expected the kidnappers to be fully prepared for me, so I kept my distance and observed from as far away as possible. Even so, I could clearly sense her presence.

The place was an old, rusted warehouse on the outskirts of town. Strange that something so worn-down had been left standing all alone. After checking into it, I found out it had been used long ago, and because tearing it down would have made it harder to move equipment in and out, they’d left it as it was.

Which meant, if it happened to be destroyed now, it wouldn’t really cause any major problems.

Tatsuki was unconscious and slumped in a battered chair, likely from some kind of sedative. Her arms and legs were bound, but there weren’t any visible injuries.

That was a small relief, but I couldn’t assume she was unharmed. I had no idea what these people might try.

Either way, the conclusion was the same. I had to break in.

The number of guards… seemed moderate. To the naked eye, there weren’t many, but I could tell some were camouflaged. Against me, that kind of trick was pointless.

Still, if I couldn’t take them all out in one strike, I’d be the one overwhelmed. It had been a long time since I’d been in a situation like this, a long time since I’d used my power, but there was no choice.

It was time to face everything I’d done. Time to take responsibility.

—

[Rio’s POV]

I was dreaming.

In the middle of a swirling darkness, I sat curled up with my knees to my chest. I didn’t know why I was there, or why I was sitting like that.

It was strange, and it was almost as if I were watching myself from a distance, detached from the dream even as I was inside it.

From every direction, hands began to emerge out of the shadows. Black, writhing, snakelike palms reaching for me. But I didn’t move. I didn’t push them away. I just stayed there while sitting motionless.

In my heart, I was screaming that I had to run. But no matter how hard I tried, my body refused to obey.

I don’t want this. Please… someone help me.

The words tore through me, but no sound came out. It was as if I were trapped inside a cage made from myself and unable to break free.

One by one, the black hands stuck to me, pressing and smothering, covering my entire body. My vision grew narrower, the light slipping away until nothing was left but the darkness swallowing me whole.

And then, just as I was about to be consumed entirely.

“─────”

My lips trembled. I didn’t even know what I had said. But it was definitely my cry of, “..Help me.”

—

“…~~~Ahhh—!!”

A sound, sharp and metallic, rang inside my skull, snapping my consciousness awake.

Light flooded in suddenly, and I winced, squinting against it. As my eyes adjusted, I realized the sight before me was anything but ordinary.

“…Huh?”

The place looked like some kind of storage room, with things scattered everywhere. But what struck me most was the number of people there. Men dressed like soldiers, armed with what looked very much like guns. It felt less like Japan and more like some foreign sting operation.

…Why am I here?

My memories began to crawl back.

The blow to the back of my head. The heavy rain. My chest tightened with grief as I ran and was desperate to escape my tears.

And his words and his cold rejection. “I hate you.”

…Ah, that’s right.

Rei-kun had rejected me.

I remembered the fury on his face, the way he shoved me down with brute strength, so unlike the person I thought I knew.

Normally, maybe… a part of me might have been glad to be touched by him, even roughly. But not then. Not after baring my heart, only to be crushed by his response. I couldn’t endure it.

He had shouted at me. “What do you really know about me? You only know the surface, you’re just another fool dancing to lies.”

Looking back, maybe he was right. I never truly knew much about him. Whenever I tried to ask, he dodged my questions, and I couldn’t remember many moments when I felt he was honestly opening up.

I always thought it was my fault. That I was simply bad at communicating.

But now… now I wonder.

Maybe Rei-kun, “Itsumi Rei” …isn’t even human at all. That’s what his words made me feel.

“…!”

Suddenly, I felt someone’s presence. I instinctively tried to pull back, but my body wouldn’t move. I was tied to a chair.

Before I could do anything, the figures stepped into view.

Two men. Both wore white lab coats and strange masquerade-style masks that hid their faces. Even so, from their build and features, they looked Western.

“───”

“────”

“──”

They spoke to each other in low voices.

I couldn’t understand a word. It wasn’t Japanese. It wasn’t English either. Some unfamiliar language slipped between them in short exchanges.

The foreign sounds were paired with the eerie atmosphere, and that only made my fear grow sharper.

“───────”

Then, all at once, both pairs of eyes turned toward me. Even through the masks, I could feel the weight of their gaze.

“…A-ah…”

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a broken whisper. My teeth chattered uncontrollably, and the chair beneath me rattled from how hard I was shaking.

“──────────”

One of the men extended their hand toward me.

Their shadow fell across my face. Their open palm loomed closer, as if to cover my entire head.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t resist. Whatever they planned to do, it couldn’t be anything good.

My eyes burned hot as tears welled up until my vision blurred.

And then their hand covered my sight completely.

Right before it happened.

───Crashhhhh!!!

A deafening blast rang out. Every window in the building shattered at once.