Once they returned to the house, Jeremy had begun to watch more anime. By the time Jeremy realized how annoying Jana would be when he tried to watch it on the living room’s TV, he was already knee-deep in an episode, and couldn’t rescind his decision without looking antisocial.

Well, more accurately, that was his excuse for being too lazy to change it to his phone when he had already sat down.

She sat down next to him, a bowl of ice cream(which she had lawfully pilfered from the not-so-nearby convenience store not long ago) in her hands, and started watching with him like it was nothing. She, evidently, didn’t know much about personal space.

“What’s this show called, again?” she asked, watching it with a curious expression.

“When I Got Transported Into My Favorite Game, I Regretted My Taste.”

She looked toward Jeremy with a disturbed expression. “Yo, is that a joke?”

“No. That’s the literal name.” Jeremy glanced back at the show. At the current moment, he was on the fifth episode of...the show, and the protagonist was busy slaughtering demons with a crazed, scared expression, alongside a character that was definitely not Doom Guy.

“Who...who would make up a name like that? Where’s the marketability?”

“In places,” Jeremy responded vaguely.

Jana sighed as she finished her ice cream, then floated it to the dishwasher as she stood back up and stretched. “Well, I don’t vibe with it.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Nobody said you needed to.”

“And because I don’t like this show’s name,” she said, walking to the door, “I’m going to leave.”

“Ok,” Jeremy said, averting his attention toward the TV.

Jana pouted inside her head about the lack of attention her leave was given, but she left regardless.

Jeremy hadn’t spent longer than a couple hours with her, at this point, and he knew very well from that time that she loved it when the spotlight was on her. He got a cruel pleasure from knowing he had deprived the conceited girl of attention. As fourteen-year-olds were rumored to be, he was sharp when it came to annoying people.

Once she’d flown away at the speed of sound, Jeremy finally bothered to show his curiosity on the subject. Psychi didn’t leave the house all that often, and he knew what she did in her free time(watering plants in some mountains or something), though he couldn’t help but get curious; what did Jana do in that free time?

Well, what she did was fly to the other side of Canada. Specifically, Montreal.

She landed atop some scaffolding, then walked to its edge. She was above a new stadium in the works, which was about halfway built. It was designed to be massive; large enough for some of the strongest psychics to compete in.

And it was, for sure, massive. The psychic sport that was currently getting a lot of attention, recently, was a five-on-five team game called ‘Psychic TeamFight’ where psychics attempted to knock out(or force a forfeit from) a designated ‘leader’ on the enemy team while, of course, defending their own.

Though, between the destruction that occurred when the psychics went all-out, the roots the game had in historical psychic warfare, the dangers it posed to the players, the exclusivity of only allowing psychics to fight, and many other issues that came up, it was a miracle the sport made any leeway into the public consciousness.

Though, maybe that was because most nations in the world marketed the hell out of psychic sports like it so they could cultivate the youth.

To stop people like him.

“Hey, Jana!” she heard from far below her as she looked on at the stadium. She quickly hopped to the bottom, about a hundred feet down, and met the person.

“Yo, Muffy, what’s going on?” she said, holding her arm out as she approached the person.

‘Muffy’ was an older man wearing mandatory work clothes. He wore a red and blue beanie and a pair of heavy soundproofed earmuffs hung from his collar. He met Jana’s outstretched arm with a solid smack of his hand, then gripped hers, and they came in for a short pat on the shoulders. “What’s up, Jana! I heard what happened a few days ago, it didn’t look all too great for you.”

Jana sent him a sideways look. “Are you talking about Psychi?”

“Yeah, how she disappeared after your fight. People are saying some nasty stuff about you.”

She shrugged. “People always are.”

“Well, this time, they’re saying you killed her; set her up.”

“Sheesh! Talk about dramatics. Why would I ever do that?”

Muffy leaned against a construction rod and pulled out his phone. “Well, people don’t trust you all. Or maybe super psychics in general.”

“Fair enough, after what’s happened. But both I and Psychi are barely seventeen. We don’t get that fierce.”

He chuckled, showing her his phone. It revealed a shaky video where whoever was recording it was running from the fight between Psychi and Jana. It was clear as day that Jana was pissed to hell and back once she started pummeling Psychi with a flurry of ice-empowered punches. It cut out not long after that. He shrugged matter-of-factly. “Teens are known to be the impulsive bunch, and I know you well enough to be sure you’re definitely no exception.”

Jana looked at him with an annoyed frown, crossing her arms. “I don’t get it. Am I just so scary they think I’m a monster or something?”

Muffy raised an eyebrow and snickered. “Yes, actually.”

“Talk about discrimination.”

“Hey, at least the universe isn’t discriminating against you.”

Jana looked at him with confusion.

Seeing she didn’t get it, Muffy elaborated. “Cuz’ you were born with psychic powers.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh.”

Muffy rolled his own eyes back, annoyed Jana couldn’t take a bit of prodding, as always. “Anyhow, why’re you stopping by?” He looked back to the active part of the construction site, not too far away, where a few workers in hardhats were taking their breaks and looking at the two with curiosity.

“Well, I’m moving in with some kid for a bit while everything blows over. I just thought I could say hi while I was here.”

“Hey, that’s chill with me. While you’re sticking around, do you mind helping with the construction for a bit? Our crane’s stalling.”

Jana laughed haughtily. “Sure! Just point me in the right places and I’ll make the whole construction team look like ants!”

“Hey, that’s the enthusiasm!” Muffy slapped her on the back and started walking to the site.

He pointed her in the right direction, and Jana got to work...

About two hours later, Jana landed on her front porch, just a few miles away, finally ready to do what she had come to do.

She began psychically sorting all her things as she walked into her apartment, her possessions all moving to the center as she waded through the dense snow coating her porch, and further into the place.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She looked around the apartment curiously, tracking everything in the place with a subdued expression. After everything that had happened, she really felt she needed a rest.

She knew rest didn’t come for the wicked, though.

Jana paused her activities when a picture landed in the pile of items. She gently lifted it up to her face. It depicted Jana, much younger, flying upsidedown in front of an amusement park ride. Her white hair fell to the ground, the microscopic ice crystals hidden between the strands reflecting the bright sun behind her, causing her hair to appear silver. Beside her was a man with opaque white hair, smiling behind a fan of cash.

With him, she had made a whole roller-coaster. That was her proudest moment; when she was nine years old.

Jana hugged the photo to her chest. For a few minutes, her telekinesis resumed floating items about the room, commanded by her. Though it may have seemed she was incredibly sad, inside, she was...was ‘bored’ the right way to describe it? Perhaps ‘melancholy’ was.

Either way, it was her choice to be sad, at that moment. She could feel, deep in her heart, that things wouldn’t stay peaceful for much longer. Soon, she wouldn’t have that choice.

Once she had finished packing just about everything through memory alone, she set down the portrait, then double-checked the one-room apartment for anything she could’ve forgotten.

Finally, she lifted it all up and flew away.

----------------------------------------

Boredly, Jeremy whispered to himself, “One-thousand years ago, there was a war between mages and psychics. After the mages won, few psychics remained. Now, Kusuo, one of the remaining psychics, teams with a practitioner of dark magic, Sukima, to save the kingdom. Thrilling...” It had been quite a while since Jana had left, and Jeremy was filling his time searching for new things to watch, as he had always planned to. “...well, I guess that’s an alright concept, I’m just being cynical because I can b-”

The door slammed open, and floating through it backward, Jana came, followed by a parade of items from her apartment, some in bags, and others simply floating about. Without a word, she slowly scattered them across the room, trying to find the right spots for everything. Once she was finished, she threw the remaining bags beside the couch and hopped onto it excitedly.

She turned her head to see Jeremy hadn’t stopped staring at her ever since she walked in. “What, is something on my face?” she asked, putting her hands to her waist.

“Uhh, not...not exactly,” he responded, blinking with a dumbstruck expression.

“Then, what?”

“It’s just, your hair...it...”

Jana fiddled with her hair, and asked matter-of-factly, “What about my hair?”

“It’s sparkly.”

“That’s one way to describe silver. How does it look on me?” she brushed it to the side, expectation on her face.

“Really...” Jeremy squinted, his eyes wandering about her figure. “Uhh, were you always that...buff?”

Jana tilted her head, looking down at her biceps. She wasn’t bulky to an exaggerated degree, but most men her age would squeal in fear if they saw her in a dark alley, psychic powers or not. “Yeah. What about it?”

“It’s just with your...” Jeremy coughed. “I mean, your hair looks fucking beautiful. If whatever you did were cosmetic, it would fly off the shelves. Heck, I’d buy it.”

She leaned towards Jeremy threateningly. “What were you about to say about my muscles, though?” she asked with an oblivious tone.

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

“No really, what?”

“You look really weird.”

Jana shrugged, then patted the top of her own head. “Well, I thought so. In that case, can you braid hair?”

“Uhh, wait, what?”

“I asked, can you braid hair.”

“Yeah, I can...” he said, nervous about where her question was going.

“Good, then I guess you can braid my hair while we watch your stuff.”

Jeremy rubbed his eyes in irritation. “Do I really need to do this?”

She shrugged. “Would you like an icicle in your throat?”

“I really hope you’re joking.”

Jana slid off the couch, looking at him with a bit of concern, then got settled in front of the coffee table. “Well, start whatever you were going to watch. We don’t have all day.”

Rushed, Jeremy played the anime he’d just been eyeing, then scooched across the couch till’ he was behind Jana. He grasped a bit of her hair and looked closer at it. He could see the cold hair falling from it now that he was closer, but the ice crystals that made it shimmer were a bit too small to be seen by the naked eye.

He idly looked up from her hair at the only other place to look up to, the TV. “You know,” he began, “I feel like it isn’t normal for someone to act like you.”

Jana didn’t seem to react, though Jeremy couldn’t see her face.

“Why did you come here, again? I’m sure you could afford a five-star apartment or something with all the money you make.”

Jana shrugged. “Sure, I do make money, but apartments like those attract company.”

“So, what? My company is better than that.”

“Hmm...I guess it is.”

“This is what I was talking about! You’re acting awfully close to me for no real reason!”

“No, there’s a reason,” Jana said, an edge of confidence in her voice.

Perhaps, if Jeremy had as much of his own edge as he acted he had, he would have asked Jana what reason it was, but he let the response make him falter. He sighed, then resigned to picking up more of Jana’s cold hair and reluctantly braided it.

The show was a little generic as it began(at least for Jeremy's tastes), with the main character stealing a magic item from a secret facility for the majority of the first episode. However, the tone went from serious to hilarious once the reveal came that the dark magic user mentioned in the synopsis turned out to be in the middle of stealing the artifact at the same time, and the two main characters had to fight their way out together while bickering with each other.

For the most part, they watched it without talking to each other. Once the first episode was wrapping up, Jeremy said, “So, if you’re going to be staying here, I’m going to need...” He struggled to think of the word, partly focused on braiding her hair(which he had been really slow at doing). “Expectations.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for one, don’t get into fights with other psychics anywhere near the city.”

Jana crossed her arms, glancing back at Jeremy with annoyance. “I can’t guarantee that won’t happen, you know.”

“Even if I did ‘know’ that, I sure as heck know Psychi wasn’t the one who forced you to fight in the neighborhood. You impaled a poor old man’s house with an icicle!”

Jana grumbled something to herself in response.

“Second, if you make a mess around the house, clean it up.”

“What, did you think I wouldn’t do that?” Jana asked incredulously.

“I don’t have much faith in you. Third, try not to make the house an antarctic ice cap. I don’t feel good about keeping the AC on constantly.”

“Wha- You have, like, a couple million in the bank from your sister, don’t you? I think you’ll be ok.”

“3.8 million, to be specific. But that’s beyond the point. My house, my rules.”

“Whatever, sure.”

“Umm...also these are subject to change. I’m not creative enough to think of everything right now.”

“Cool, you can change the rules on the fly. Very fair.”

“And you can kill me in point-two-five seconds without lifting a finger. Let’s call it even.”

Jana sighed like the conversation was taxing. “Well, is that all, then?”

“Yeah...” When Jeremy finished braiding Jana’s hair, he touched his face with his right hand, feeling how cold his hand had gotten. “Actually, one last thing.”

“And what would this thing be?”

“Help me find Psychi.”

Jana remained silent for a minute, laying her arms on the coffee table in laziness. A whirlwind began to blow around her, sending her braids billowing and shimmering. Finally, she said, “I don’t mind doing that...” She gritted her teeth. “...However...Why did you lie to me?”

“Lie...” Jeremy said to himself, his mind wandering for a moment. “Oh.”

“Earlier, when I mentioned I felt like we were being followed, you were obviously lying. I don’t like it when I can’t trust people, and I most certainly don’t want to work with someone I can’t trust.”

“It really wasn’t anythi-”

“Don’t give me that!” Jana snapped, before speaking concisely, chilly air falling from her in heaps. “I felt a presence following us, and I’d felt it for a while beforehand. The instant I mentioned it, the presence left, and you tried to blow me off. I’m not the best at seeing lies, but I can sure as fuck tell when someone’s gaslighting me. If you want my help with something like that, it isn’t a problem, but I will not work with someone I don’t trust. The last time I did that...” Jana averted her eyes in thought, then slowly hunched in defeat. “Well, the last time I did that, my parents got killed.”

Jeremy held his breath, looking down at Jana’s hair.

“So, yeah,” she continued in an unusually casual tone, clearly wanting to skim that topic. “I do want to help your sister, I really do...but...I have my own expectations. Take it or leave it.”

Jeremy tiredly rubbed his face around with his hands before sliding them down, stretching it taut in a strange expression. “Yeah, sure,” he said awkwardly. “I don’t really know why I was keeping it from you in the first place, but I guess I’ll start from the top.” Jeremy laid down on the couch, burying his face in the cushions. “Yesterday, I had a vision...Wait...”

He looked back up from the cushion, realizing he felt really cold. “Before I start, if you keep spouting cold air out like you just did, you’re gonna piss me off!”