"Thankfully, it didn't cause any more serious consequences..."
Saiki Kusuo finally let out a sigh of relief. Since they were out at sea, there were no other reference points besides the global positioning system. No one had noticed that they had just teleported tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant, and the other students on the island hadn't noticed either.
He then used his restoration ability to restore all the damaged trees around him, though the trees now looked several sizes smaller than before.
"Without the limiter, the restoration ability only restores things to their state seven years ago. It's actually less useful now."
Saiki Kusuo sighed. This was only a temporary solution; the real problem still hadn't been resolved.
"But where did the limiter go? How did it fall off?"
If he couldn't find the limiter, it would be disastrous if he accidentally wiped out everyone on the island.
Saiki Kusuo's mind raced as he considered all possibilities—and suddenly, he seemed to remember something. He quickly used his clairvoyance to search the entire island for Sakura Airi's location.
She wasn't there!
"This is bad. Did Sakura do something? Did I accidentally teleport her somewhere else?"
For the first time, sweat appeared on Saiki Kusuo's forehead. Without the limiter, even in a deep sleep, he could unconsciously release his psychic abilities, like wetting the bed. This was known as "psychic leakage."
He used his clairvoyance again, quickly searching for Sakura Airi's location. Sure enough, he found her in a mountain forest thousands of miles away.
At that moment, Sakura Airi was leaning against a tree, breathing heavily.
"Thank goodness, she's still alive..."
Saiki Kusuo adjusted the angle of his clairvoyance and saw a massive brown bear standing in front of Sakura Airi.
"This is not good at all!"
A look of panic crossed Saiki Kusuo's face. He immediately used his teleportation ability to appear in front of Sakura Airi and sent the bear flying with a single motion!
"Saiki... Saiki-kun... What's going on?"
At that moment, Sakura Airi looked utterly shaken. Everything that had just happened was completely beyond her comprehension.
'This is bad. There's no way to hide this now...'
Saiki Kusuo hadn't expected things to turn out this way and felt momentarily at a loss.
'Why did I suddenly end up in an unfamiliar forest...? And why was there a bear...? None of this makes any sense...'
'...'
'Could it be... that I'm dreaming right now?'
'Hmm?'
'Could it be... that I was just dreaming?'
'I think there's something called lucid dreaming... where people can maintain clear consciousness in their dreams and make anything they want happen...'
After hearing Sakura Airi's thoughts, Saiki Kusuo immediately came up with a new plan.
'Thankfully, Sakura usually keeps to herself, so the class probably hasn't noticed she's missing. If she thinks she's dreaming, that's fine. As long as I can convince her she's dreaming, I can cover this up!'
Just as Saiki Kusuo was thinking of a solution, Sakura Airi suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Saiki-kun, you're here!"
Sakura Airi's face was bright and full of energy, completely different from her usual gloomy demeanor.
'If this is a dream... then I don't have to worry about social interactions, right? Maybe I can be the version of myself I want to be when I'm with Saiki!'
Sakura Airi was completely different from her online idol persona, but deep down, she longed to become the real "Shizuku."
Even in photos, she could give off a lively, sunny impression.
However, due to her timid personality and fear of social interactions, she could never achieve this in real life.
But now was different. Sakura Airi believed she was in a dream, so she had no reservations about social interactions.
People often do things in dreams that they would never dare to do in real life, and Sakura Airi was no exception.
"Kusuo-kun!"
'Yare yare, even her persona has changed. This is a bit troublesome.'
Saiki Kusuo didn't dare resist and could only follow her lead, sitting down on the ground.
'Normally, I would just knock Sakura out and take her back to the island, but without the limiter, I can't do that. If I even lift my arm slightly, Sakura would go flying like a soda bottle rocket. For now, I'll just have to wait for her to fall asleep naturally... But it's daytime now, so getting her to sleep will be a bit tricky. At most, I can play a lullaby in her mind. I need to find a way to get back quickly. The commotion earlier seems to have alerted the teachers. If they come to check on us, it'll be a disaster.'
As he thought this, Saiki Kusuo used his telepathy to transmit a lullaby into Sakura Airi's mind, trying to make her feel drowsy.
"Strange, I feel like there's some weird sound in my head."
Sakura Airi pouted, looking incredibly cute.
"Kusuo, let's take a photo together! As for the camera..."
'She's changed how she addresses me.'
Instantly, the digital camera Sakura Airi usually used appeared in her hands.
Due to the nature of the exam, the camera had been confiscated before they boarded the island. But to maintain the realism of the dream, Saiki Kusuo used his powers to teleport the camera into Sakura Airi's hands.
"Come on, little Kusuo, look at the camera!"
'She's changed how she addresses me again.'
Saiki Kusuo had no choice but to cooperate, turning his gaze to the camera. However, Sakura Airi didn't press the shutter for a long time.
"Ah, the scenery here isn't good... It's too gloomy... We should change the setting. And my clothes and hairstyle..."
Before Sakura Airi could finish speaking, the surroundings instantly transformed. In an instant, they were in an amusement park, and Sakura Airi's clothes changed into the stylish short skirt she wore as a model. Her loose hair was tied into twin tails, making her look even cuter.
'Yare yare, this is the first time I've used my powers to style a girl's hair. Who knew it would be so troublesome?'
Saiki Kusuo felt a bit mentally and physically exhausted. While using his powers, he had to blink frequently to avoid seeing Sakura Airi as a skeleton.
"Come on, Kusuo! Let's take some photos together!"
Now fully in "Shizuku" mode, Sakura Airi pulled Saiki Kusuo close, resting her head on his shoulder. She could clearly feel Saiki Kusuo's body heat and couldn't help but marvel at how real this dream felt.
Click, click. Sakura Airi took a series of photos with Saiki Kusuo, traveling to almost every corner of the world, with her outfit changing constantly.
Finally, after taking the last photo, Sakura Airi let go of Saiki Kusuo and stared intently at the photos on the camera.
For her, photography was her only hobby.
As Sakura Airi browsed through the photos, a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Kusuo! Which photo do you like the most?"
Saiki Kusuo looked at Sakura Airi's profile for a second, then raised his hand. He had finally found the opportunity to retrieve his limiter.
'Sorry, Sakura. It's time to really dream now.'
Saiki Kusuo put the limiter back on his head, then instantly appeared behind Sakura Airi, using his powers to put her into a deep sleep.
...
"Saiki, Sakura!"
By the river on the island, Chabashira Sae called out their names while searching for them. She finally found Saiki Kusuo and Sakura Airi by the river.
"Is something wrong, Chabashira-sensei?"
At that moment, Saiki Kusuo was holding a fishing rod, sitting by the river, while Sakura Airi was leaning against a tree, asleep.
"Nothing much. The school just asked us to check on you."
After confirming that Saiki Kusuo and Sakura Airi were safe, Chabashira Sae left.
Earlier, Sakura Airi's watch had briefly shown an abnormal location, prompting the school to send Chabashira Sae, their homeroom teacher, to check on them.
"Ah... Did I fall asleep?"
Just then, Sakura Airi slowly opened her eyes, yawned, and noticed the food and water beside her.
"Yeah, you said you wanted to sleep for a while, so I didn't disturb you."
Saiki Kusuo turned to Sakura Airi and replied.
"Ah!... I'm so sorry, so sorry... I wanted to help Saiki-kun, but I ended up oversleeping..."
Sakura Airi lowered her head in embarrassment, her cheeks slightly red.
'So, it really was a dream?'
'It felt so real...'
'I wish I could have woken up later...'
Sakura Airi felt a pang of longing and reached for her backpack, but the camera wasn't there.
This made her feel a bit disappointed.
'I really want to have that dream again...'
'But... was I thinking about Saiki-kun even in my dream?'
'Could it be...'
At this thought, Sakura Airi's cheeks turned even redder, and her breathing became slightly faster.
"Um... Saiki-kun."
"What is it?"
"Can I... call you..."
Sakura Airi wanted to say something, but the words stuck in her throat. She stammered for a few seconds, her gaze darting to the ground.
Saiki Kusuo naturally knew what Sakura Airi wanted to say and didn't rush her.
After a few seconds, Sakura Airi mustered her courage, her expression becoming serious. She finally looked up, her gaze returning to Saiki Kusuo.
"Can I... call you... Kusuo-kun?"
After asking this, Sakura Airi curled up slightly, her nervousness written all over her face.
Using someone's first name is normal for close friends, but for Sakura Airi, it was a huge challenge.
"Sure."
Saiki Kusuo nodded.
Hearing Saiki Kusuo's response, Sakura Airi's eyes lit up with a rare sparkle.
'Consider this compensation for accidentally teleporting you to the middle of nowhere.'
Saiki Kusuo replied in his mind.
...
That evening, Sakura Airi sat next to Saiki Kusuo as they ate dinner together. Tonight, she seemed to talk a bit more than usual.
Nearby, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka noticed the interaction between Sakura Airi and Saiki Kusuo.
'Sakura seems closer to Saiki now. Did Saiki do something? Is he planning to use Sakura as a tool to achieve his goals? What method did he use?'
Meanwhile, Ibuki Mio planned to steal someone else's underwear tonight, but the moment she thought of this, her plan was doomed to fail.
Late at night, everyone had returned to their tents to sleep, and Saiki Kusuo, as usual, used his teleportation to return home.
However, he didn't go straight to bed. Instead, he sat at his computer desk.
In his hands was Sakura Airi's digital camera.
Although he had used his powers to make Sakura Airi believe it was all a dream, the photos were very real. Saiki Kusuo naturally couldn't let anyone else find them.
But just as he was about to delete the photos, Saiki Kusuo paused.
'Yare yare, I'll keep them for now. They might come in handy if something like this happens again.'
Saiki Kusuo backed up the photos on his computer before deleting them from the camera.
...
Another day passed, and in the morning, everyone prepared to split up for their activities.
Saiki Kusuo was the first to find Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"Ayanokoji, I can help you get a high score in this exam, but in return, I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Transfer all the credit to someone else when the time comes."