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He knew Saiki was hiding something. Something within him that he wouldn't let others see. He knew this. He just didn't think that it was something this powerful.
He knew it, he had always known. When they were in gym class, especially. How he would always have such a nonchalant look towards him. How he seemed to only sweat and play along when he was being watched.
He could have been wrong and maybe Saiki just didn't like sports, but when it came to tests, he realized the truth.
He was suppressing his talents.
He had to have been to keep his average mark. I mean it was just too average. The way he would get exactly one concept question right with no mistakes and then fumble another was just peculiar. Not to mention the lack of mistakes made. Every student fumbled once in a while and caught on and changed their answer, but never Saiki. He always picked one after a while and went with it, never even checking over his answers.
At first, he thought Saiki might have been cheating somehow, so he paid extra attention to him during the next test. But still the same average mark, and he didn't even look around. He just sat at his table, pondered for a few minutes, wrote down his answers, and handed the test in.
He had always wondered why he purposely didn't do his best. Most students wanted to be noticed for their hard work, but never Saiki.
He would never come to know why until the meteor happened.
He saw Saiki's face everywhere after that. Apparently, he was the one to stop it from destroying the world. Video proof and all. At first, he was shocked. I mean anyone would be. Never in his life did he think he would have a psychic as a student!
But then he was saddened by it. Everyone at school was talking about him as if he wasn't there, as if he wasn't human.
He understood now.
He just wanted to be normal. Have a life like everyone else without being feared or used in some way. And honestly, he felt sorry for him. Being treated as if he was less human than the rest of them. As if he was some toy people could play with.
And he understood now more than ever why Saiki hid his powers from everyone. Being at the top was lonely.