Even though he basically spent all fourteen days hiding in the Phantom Troupe's house...

Saiki Kusuo suspected Illumi had learned how to lie with a straight face from Hisoka.

Why was he acting like Kusuo had been in some life-and-death fight in Meteor City?

"We already got the message, but seeing Kusuo come back in one piece is still a surprise.

Come, Illumi, Kusuo, let's sit down and tell Mama everything that happened in Meteor City.

It's been so long since the three of us had a good chat together."

Kikyo was originally from Meteor City.

Now she dragged Saiki Kusuo and Illumi together, clearly excited.

Hey, I didn't do anything in those fourteen days.

Illumi, help me…

"Kusuo probably doesn't know this, but Mama used to be the Shadow Queen of East District 3 in Meteor City!"

What kind of edgy title is that?

"Hehehe, just something I got from killing a lot of people."

They kept talking, one line after another.

Saiki Kusuo once again lowered his psychic presence, hoping to get through this dangerous conversation by saying as little as possible.

"So, how did Kusuo survive? Did you eat dead crows or something?"

The topic was starting to get out of hand, but Kikyo suddenly dragged it back.

Mom, is that what you think of your own son?

Do I really look like someone who would end up eating crow corpses?

"Then how else could you have made it?

Mama really can't think of anything else…"

Yare yare. Saiki Kusuo looked at Illumi, clearly not planning to keep lying. Reporting honestly, huh... Saiki Kusuo organized his thoughts and decided to slightly change some details using telepathy.

Tell a few lies that match their expectations! For someone like Saiki Kusuo who can read minds, winning people over is way too easy.

Saiki Kusuo: [On the first day, I found a place to stay. There were some strong people there too...]

Kikyo: [There aren't many houses in Meteor Street. Did he get help from a gang? It's been so long, all I remember about gangs is from that show...]

Saiki Kusuo: [I did go to a gang. On the third night, I met one of the gang's squad leaders... I think he's the guy from that show. He was pretty easy to figure out.]

"Mom seems to know that kind of guy. It's always the same—if there's a benefit, he'll move." [Kusuo made a deal with that person? On just the third day in Meteor Street?]

Saiki Kusuo: [I helped with a negotiation and got xx and xx in return...]

Kikyo: [We should send someone to confirm that. If it's true, we might be able to do something with it.]

Sorry, Chrollo. I gave your deal away word for word to my mom.

For a psychic like me, dealing with people is easy. Just listen to Kikyo's thoughts and say what she wants to hear. Even though I didn't tell her everything that happened over those days, Kikyo was still impressed with my brain. And once the questioning was over, her approval would stick and help convince the rest of the family that I'm just a smart kid—nothing more.

Thinking that, Saiki Kusuo quietly reinforced the idea in Kikyo's mind: "Saiki Kusuo is smart, but still physically weak."

That alone was enough to secure his position as someone who didn't need to do too much. Illumi, seeing that Kusuo had successfully pulled the wool over their eyes, felt comfortable enough to leave on another mission.

Yeah, missions at home had been piling up. Lately, both Mom and Dad had been busy with training Killua and Milluki at age four, plus researching Alluka's ability. They didn't have time to clear the mission queue.

Illumi, even as a kid, had already taken on a heavy burden. The butlers also took missions, but anything labeled with the Zoldyck name couldn't be left to the staff alone.

"Young master!" Saiki Kusuo had just returned to his room and ran straight into Gotoh.

[Oh, long time no see, Gotoh.]

"Young master! It's been so long! *sniff sniff sob sob* I thought you weren't gonna make it back from Meteor Street! How could the eldest young master let you go there alone for 14 days?! That place is so dangerous!"

That place is your hometown, right? You turned out just fine, didn't you?

Most of the Zoldyck butlers were recruited from Meteor Street. They had potential, were powerful, had clean records, and could handle the Zoldyck rule of "no holidays, ever."

"Sob sob sob… Master Kusuo…"

Come on, stop crying already. Yare yare, what do I even do with you?

"Young master, you still have 14 days' worth of homework… sob sob…"

Saiki Kusuo was speechless: [Wait, I still have homework during a trial like this? Isn't that supposed to be paused?]

"Nope! Since the head of the family didn't approve of the eldest young master taking you to Meteor City, it wasn't officially a trial. So your homework was just marked as 'delayed due to long-term travel'—which means you still have to make it up now."

…

Fine. Just homework.

Saiki Kusuo walked into the room and saw books stacked into a wall.

What is this? These aren't your average high school subjects—they were deep academic topics, some already reaching college level. Even for someone with psychic powers, it'd take at least three hours to finish them.

Hey hey, I have never spent more than 30 minutes a day on schoolwork in my entire life! Even you normal people reading this can probably imagine how much work this is if it takes a psychic three hours!

"Young master… we can start right away. Recently, after discovering Killua's talent, the head of the family said he wants to raise the difficulty of your assignments, and get you started on practical research early."

Because of Killua's talent, huh. Yare yare. Well, Killua really is amazing. If my little brother passes me up... no, he never will.

That night, Saiki Kusuo stayed up late reading.

Reading non-school books. His room already had a full bookshelf of them. By then, he had already finished one-sixth of his assignments and read two old books.

Reading ancient texts wasn't like studying. He couldn't speed-read them with quantum learning or anything. He took his time and enjoyed the stories. His reading speed was almost like a normal person's.

As for schoolwork, he only needed to understand the key ideas. Once he got it, he skipped the explanations. If he ran into a problem, his psychic brain would instantly debug and solve it. Learning was just too easy for him.

You ask, why not just make a miracle, power through, and finish it all in three hours? Don't be silly. No human, no matter how smart, could finish homework as fast as a psychic could. And I'm trying to *pretend* to be a genius—not expose myself as a psychic. So I can only study for 10 minutes and then slack off for 3 hours!

"Young master Kusuo, please don't push yourself too hard. You should rest soon." Late at night, Gotoh was listening through the door and noticed Saiki Kusuo still wasn't sleeping.

[Yare yare, Gotoh, you're still awake too?]

"I haven't seen you in so long, young master! I don't mind staying up tonight!"

[Then go to sleep already, will you.]

"I'll sleep after you do, young master!"

Gotoh stood firm. Saiki Kusuo sighed, put down the book he hadn't finished, and went to wash up.

Going to bed—lying on that familiar, soft bed—felt really nostalgic.

Saiki Kusuo lay down on the bed that smelled like sunshine. After fourteen days of wandering, he finally got to sleep in his own bed again.

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