I didn’t try to pick them up.
I picked them up.
“...Huh?” Realizing a few moments later that the cracker crumbs were in my hand, I scrutinized them.
That was strange, right? I feel like something incredibly strange just happened like it was nothing at all.
I looked at the floor. No crumbs. I looked at my hand. Crumbs. Yet I had no memory of moving my hand to gather them up.
Which means... What does this mean?
Now I was starting to doubt my memory of senbei crumbs even having been on the floor in the first place. I did not have early onset dementia; it’s just that it was such a mundane thing that it didn’t fully register in my mind. The only people who clearly remember every single detail in their lives are probably those with photographic memory.
Don’t tell me I seriously picked the crumbs up with psychic powers?
For confirmation’s sake, I turned to look at the bag of senbei, then mentally willed one to come out. But nothing happened. There was no sign of movement.
See? It doesn’t work. Yeah, yeah, I just imagined it.
Heaving a sigh, I scattered the crumbs in my hand with telekinesis, then grabbed the TV rem—
“HAH?!” I dropped the remote control.
WUUUTTTTTTTTT?! I didn’t imagine it! This time, I didn’t imagine it! Even though I didn’t move my hand, the crumbs still dispersed! Eh? It wasn’t my imagination, right? Or was it? Wait a second. Eh?
My heart was beating so fast, I felt like it would burst out of my chest. The last time my heart rate got this high was probably when I fell asleep at morning assembly from listening to the principal’s never-ending speech, but then got reprimanded by the vice principal by name. He shouted directly into the mic, so the feedback was going nuts, and I was jolted out of sleep so my head was all foggy, and when I looked around everyone was staring at me, and the silence was just excruciating, and my cold sweat just wouldn’t stop... No, let’s leave that memory well enough alone.
My head was a complete mess. According to light novel logic, now that I had awakened, in the near future I would be attacked, but a beautiful girl would show up and there would be a bloody struggle followed by some “oh yeah~!”
No, no, let’s calm down. I can do without any and all blood-soaked developments, thank you very much. Let’s calm down. Take a deep breath. Let’s go cool my head. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Let’s go do that.
I tottered to the kitchen with unsteady steps, thrust my head under the faucet in the sink, then turned it on at full blast. Cold water cascaded down onto my head, then splashed all over and soaked my clothes and the floor. I shut the faucet in a fluster. Shit. That was like, three times the amount of water that I had expected.
But the silver lining was that the water that cooled my head also cooled my thoughts. I strained my ears, but the only sounds I heard were the usual low hum of electrical appliances doing their thing and the carefree laughter from the variety show that I had left on in the living room. While feeling the coldness of the water seeping into my clothes and making even my underwear wet, I stood stock-still in silence.
What can I say? I had cooled down. Both my head and my heart. Being able to use telekinesis didn’t actually mean anything. The world was not going to end, my grades weren’t going to get better, and my allowance wasn’t going to go up. The water dripping off my hair just felt... melancholic.
I sighed, then grabbed a rag to wipe the floor with. I took off my clothes, wrung them out, and chucked them into the washing machine in the bathroom. Then I returned to the kitchen in just my underwear and proceeded to wipe off all the cutlery and spice bottles that had gotten wet.
I was glad my parents happened to be out. If my parents had seen how bizarrely I was behaving just now, I wouldn’t have known how to explain myself. More than anything, it would have been awkward af.
After thoroughly cleaning everything up, I turned off the TV with a heavy spirit, grabbed the bag of senbei crackers, and returned to my own room. Now I just feel stupid.
I sluggishly pulled on a mismatching T-shirt and jeans, and sat on my chair. Then I sank deep into thought while holding my knees to my chest and munching on the rest of the senbei.
Having regained my calm, I started to doubt whether it really was just my imagination after all. If it was so obviously telekinesis to the point of knocking over houses or lifting refrigerators, then it might have been easier to accept. It would be so unbelievable as to be believable. But all that had moved in the end were just senbei crumbs. They were even smaller than BB pellets. One morsel probably didn’t even weigh a gram. It wasn’t the senbei that flew, but the crumbs. Maybe it was just the wind? That would have been way more believable than me suddenly having awakened a superpower.
I didn’t remember clearly whether the windows in the living room were open or not. So to make sure, I got up from my bed and ensured that the door and window in my own room were firmly shut. Then I slammed my bed hard to make some dust float up. The sun that shone through the window illuminated the particles floating lazily in the air. There was no indication of them being blown in any specific direction by wind.
I broke apart a senbei to get a piece about the size of my pinky nail, then I placed it on my desk. I just stared at it, but it didn’t move. Of course it didn’t.
Next, I brought over a handheld fan and fanned it. The piece flew off like normal. Well, I’m not sure what I expected. It was as expected, but it seemed different somehow. When the crumbs flew in the living room, they were more, like, stable, and flew in a more direct path... I think.
I gulped audibly. Should I do it? Am I gonna do it? If nothing happens, then this can become a funny story. Well, no, it’d be an embarrassing story. But if I think of it as a waking dream, then maybe it could pass as a precious experience.
I broke off a small piece of senbei again and left it on the table. This time, I stared at it intently and consciously made an effort to properly remember what would happen next. I held my breath to make completely sure that there was no wind, then I held out my hand. I visualized the senbei fragment being grabbed and pulled toward me.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, the fragment floated up, then flew into my hand.
“Eh, seriously?”
I dropped the fragment. Held out my hand. The fragment flew into my hand. Once again, I dropped the fragment. Held out my hand. The fragment flew into my hand. One last time, I dropped the fragment. Held out my hand. The fragment flew into my hand.