Jana spoke in Japanese, holding her phone to her ear. "[Yep. Understood. And add wasabi on the side.]"

"[No, I won’t need that. Also, I want that to go.]"

"[I’ll be there in about ten minutes.]"

"[Yes. Thank you. Understood. Bye]" She put her phone down. “Just for the record, I still regret skipping Hawaii,” Jana said to Jeremy.

They were flying over the Atlantic as a landmass finally appeared on the horizon. It had been the good part of a day since they had left in the morning.

“Was there really no way to make this faster?” Jeremy asked, lying belly-down on their ice platform.

Jana put a hand to her cheek in thought. “Well, I’ll admit that there’s one way we could have, maybe.”

“One way? Please, elaborate,” Jeremy said boredly.

“But the only person who knows how to do it is Parkarka.”

“The girl you hung up on, huh?” Jeremy said, looking up at Jana with a smug expression.

“Yes. Besides, I doubt it’s possible to carry someone and do it.”

“Would you like to actually tell me what it is, or...?”

“I’m getting to that...It’s space flight.”

“Yeah, why can’t we do that? My sister says it’s not practical, but...”

“Unfortunately,” Jana said, “Flying in near-space has a lot of downsides, even if it could quintuple our speed. Stuff like radiation, air, and temperature are obvious problems, but calculating our trajectory is a huge one as well.”

“Hmm...But Parkarka can do it? Isn’t she the girl who beat the Living...y’know?”

Jana gritted her teeth, averting her eyes. “W-with help, yes.”

“Right, he killed, like, five-”

“Let’s not talk about this,” Jana said, not accusatory or meanly, but pleadingly.

Jeremy looked forward, “If that’s what you want...” The next few seconds were so awkward that he felt inclined to say something. Eventually, he did, repeating something his sister had said to him a lot of times.

“If you want to talk about...a-anything, I can be there to listen...ok?”

Jana remained quiet, the muffled blowing wind drowning out all other sound as they descended towards the land. She checked her phone, which had a map pulled up.

“Why is your phone so bulky, I forgot to ask?” Jeremy said, pointing out how it seemed to have an add-on hardware installed in it, making the phone look like it was made over a decade ago, despite being a fairly ordinary smartphone.

“I don’t get coverage in a lot of places, and I need to be available for business stuff, so I had to get that. It connects me to the internet basically anywhere on the planet, no matter how fast I fly.”

“Huh, didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Probably because it’s experimental technology worth a small fortune for each unit, due to how specialized they are.” Not that there weren’t similar devices in standard commercial use, but this particular type was intended for heavy-duty uses. A certain super-psychic who frequently explored the deep-sea used one to connect to the internet, record videos and stream at the bottom of the sea. It was surreal for the average viewer.

“Yeah, that would do it.”

Jana put down her phone and then changed the trajectory of their platform, flying only a hundred feet above the ground. The scenery was one of steep mountains, forest, and coastline, although the area below was quite suburban. They were so low now that Jeremy could clearly see pointing civilians below, surprised to see the platform of ice zoom above.

“Ok, just a few minutes from Tokyo,” Jana said.

“And I’m pretty excited for that!” Jeremy responded, sitting up into a squatting position.

“I mean, I guess it’s a cool city. I usually stop by here since they have good sushi.”

“Mmm, yeah, that’s cool, too.”

“But everyone always asks if I like anime since they think my hair is dyed, and it pisses me off.”

“Hmm...well, with how you changed your hair, I doubt they’ll comment on that.”

Jana nodded, looking at Jeremy suspiciously. “Hmm...is that a jab?” she said slowly.

“No?” Jeremy responded, confused.

“Then what did that mean?”

“I meant they’ll be commenting on how great it looks instead,” he said, motioning his head to Jana’s hair, shimmering under the midday sun.

“Uhh...yeah, maybe,” she reluctantly said back, her hand nervously tapping her thigh. “Oh, anyway, there it is!”

They could have technically seen Tokyo’s skyline almost a minute beforehand, but it only became apparent they were there as they rounded a mountain’s bend. The city extended far toward the horizon, and the buildings towered high, up near the clouds.

“Wow, it is massive! Look at the size of it.”

Jana nodded. “Yep. It’s pretty big.” She then frowned at him. “You’re pretty excited about this.”

“Yeah! I mean, I’ve seen it in anime and stuff, but it was never that impressive. I’ve still wanted to give it a look, though.”

Jana looked at the city. It was pretty big, she admitted, but it was just one of many impressive cities, in her eyes. “I don’t get it...wait, you haven’t been here before?”

“Of course not,” Jeremy said, a bit preoccupied with his sightseeing.

“How come? Couldn’t you have gone here on a day trip with Psychi or something? She’s way faster than me. Plus, she seems like the type of girl who loves traveling. So...bubbly and extroverted and naive and stuff, you know?”

“Uhh...” Jeremy slouched, chewing his cheek. “No, she really isn't.”

“Really?” Jana asked, leaning forward in shock. “Totally against my expectations.”

He shook his head. “She doesn’t care too much anymore. Ever since our parents died, she...” He paused, staring forward with a neutral expression. “Psychi...lost her...her spark.”

She looked forward, not acting particularly sad for Jeremy. “Sorry to hear that. I guess she can be a bit too serious at times.”

Jeremy nodded exaggeratedly, quickly bouncing back. “Yep, like that time you collapsed her school building’s second floor. She really overreacted to that.”

Jana nodded with him. “See, that’s exactly what I mean!”

Jeremy sighed in exasperation as he gazed forward at the far away Mt.Fuji, wondering what life choice led him to this strange present.

Not long later, Jana slightly discreetly landed the platform a block away from the restaurant they were about to take out from. Jeremy looked about, the city distracting him. The experience was a bit surreal since he hadn’t been on a road trip for a while.

Although, the building crowd of people was a bit more normal for both the foreigners. There was only so ‘discreet’ a flying sheet of ice could be.

Jana stood from the platform and stretched. “Ahh~ Finally, on land. Thought the blue would never end.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t the most fun thing I’ve done.”

“What, so you’re saying I wasn’t good company for a long road?”

“You’re the worst I could ask for,” Jeremy said sardonically.

Jana grumbled at the deprecating humor. “Let’s just get going.”

Jeremy nodded and followed Jana as she led him into a large nearby mall.

Once they walked in, she led him past the growing crowd of people, strutting imposingly. They respectfully made way for her as she passed.

“Should I be leaving my stuff just...on the platform like that?” Jeremy asked, looking back to his computer wearily.

“Nobody is going to steal your stuff, trust me.” Jana looked back at him with a smirk. “Well, if they do try, that’s just all the more fun for us.”

“I get the feeling you aren’t interested in practicing diplomacy.”

“Heh, I prefer roman diplomacy.”

“I can’t wait to take that attitude to a dictator.”

They arrived half a minute later in the mall’s center, where the many rising floors were visible.

“Arms out,” Jana said, slowing to move behind Jeremy.

He looked back at her, in the middle of walking toward an escalator. “What’d you say?”

“Face away from me and hold your arms out.”

He looked forward and did as he was asked. Jana walked behind him and looped her arms under his before quickly flying them up to the fourth floor, then letting him stumble back to his feet.

He put a hand to his mouth afterward. “That...that’s nauseating. Hurts my arms, too.”

Jana patted his back, walking past him into the shop not far. “You’ll be fine.”

“You know, I can just meditate...”

“But that takes too long.”

“If you think a few seconds is too long...I dunno’ what to say.” Jeremy slowly accelerated to a jog, catching up with Jana and running through the glass doors she telekinetically held open for him.

Carrying someone with telekinesis was safe, as it lifted their whole body at the same time, but physically carrying them too quickly could harm vital organs due to g-forces. Not only that, but it would also put a strain on the person carrying them. Though, it seemed Jana was too strong to mind.

Jeremy watched as Jana quickly floated her wallet from her fanny pack and held out her credit card, standing in front of the sushi restaurant's main counter. The cashier had seen them fly up and looked a bit confused as to what she was meant to do, perhaps overwhelmed. Some normal psychics could fly, but not many.

“[Food?]” Jana said in Japanese, flicking the card up and down impatiently. “[Do you got my food?]”

“[Uhh...]” the girl began before saying, “[Is that takeout?]”

She nodded. “[I’m registered under my name, ‘Jana’. Take my money and gimme da’ food.]”

“[U-understood. I’ll get it for you immediately.]” The girl uncertainly walked to the kitchens after grabbing Jana’s card.

Jeremy took a seat on a counter stool and looked at Jana with a disapproving expression. He may not have known the language(well), but he could pick up her tone. “You like to bully everyone, huh?”

The girl shrugged, leaning with her hand on a stool. “I just don’t like it when people waste my time.”

“Right, because it’s so important?” Jeremy asked.

“I have better things to do than baby grown adults.”

He shrugged. “I guess that’s difficult to refute...sort-of.”

“The heck do ya mean by ‘sort-of’? I’m more important than any of these suckers are ever gonna be. No need to pretend anything else.”

Jeremy frowned. “You’re right, but...” he trailed off, looking to the side. “I don’t think you should make a habit of treating others as lesser.”

“That’s not what I do,” Jana asserted, scowling.

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe,” he said doubtfully.

The girl returned with their food and card, and Jana quickly took them. Jeremy altered his thinking patterns, lowing his defenses as they walked out, and Jana quickly flew him to the ground floor and started walking back toward the platform.

Jeremy struggled to catch up with her as she powerwalked with the plastic bag floating behind. “I’ve been curious, just because my sister is a bit different: why do you walk?”

“As opposed to floating?” Jana redundantly asked, still looking forward. “Just cuz’ I can.”

“Because you can?” Jeremy said, perplexed as he walked out of the mall with her.

“Once you float long enough, you can grow to appreciate standing, I guess.”

“Huh...My sis said, ‘Once you start floating, you can’t go back.’” he said conversationally.

Jana stopped. “And that’s why I don’t like her.”

Jeremy looked back, slowing to a halt in front of her. Jana met his eyes with her usual, fiery gaze, and he didn’t look away, as usual. “What, because she doesn’t like to walk?”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “No.” She looked around and began walking again. “Where should we eat?”

Jeremy pointed to the mountain in the distance, barely visible between the buildings. “Could you bring us to the top of Mount Fuji? That would be a fun place to eat.”

She shook her head. “That’d be a pain in the ass. I’d need to bring hot air with us since you can freeze and stuff, and even then, that’s a little less than ten minutes away. It would take a while.”

“That far, huh? Then what about Tokyo Tower? That’s another cool spot, right?”

Jana looked around, a bit confused. “Tokyo Tower...? Oh, you mean the big, red tower that looks like it ripped off Eiffel boi?”

“The what?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s an inside joke. Sometimes I’ll meet up with other super psychics on the Eiffel Tower, and we call it the ‘Eiffel boi’.”

Jeremy tried to hold in chuckles, putting a hand over his mouth. “Pfft...you really are...” and trailed off.

“Are what?” Jana said with a challenging stare.

“N-nothing.”

“No, what were you going to say?” Jana asked, sticking her face closer to Jeremy's.

“S-seriously, I didn’t even remember what I was going to say,” he responded, partly honestly. It had simply occurred to Jeremy that Jana, despite her flaws and experiences, wasn’t much older than himself. It was difficult to describe how that was so funny to him.

“If you say so...Anyway, onto the platform you go.” She shoved Jeremy onto the ice platform.

He sent her a strange look as he let himself topple butt-first onto the ice.

Jana flew them upward, then toward the red tower in the distance. After a minute, they arrived in front of an observation room a few dozen meters off the ground, where people pointed at them from inside. She briefly looked about the tower, then shrugged and landed the platform atop it, behind a railing.

Jeremy stood from the ice to take in everything around him. There was a lot of advanced technology above them, towering up through scaffolding, some of which split like branches, supporting a set of massive white and red rings.

Jana’s shoes clicked on the steel floor as she landed. She quickly formed a small but wide table of ice, telekinetically slid out blankets from their luggage, and draped them over the table with a sly smile.

Jeremy, who had been a bit hesitant to move after landing, quickly slid his feet under it. “A kotatsu!” he said excitedly, stuffing his hands between his thighs for warmth.

Jana nodded silently and did the same.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do, eh’?” Jeremy said, ecstatic. “Can you heat it up underneath the blanket?”

“I suppose I can,” she said before absently using pyrokinesis to heat it. She noticed Jeremy’s feet kept touching hers, so she annoyedly folded her legs, kneeling under the blanket.

Jeremy looked up at the imposing structure above them. “You know,” he said. “Psychi used to love plants...well, she does.”

“Likes plants?” Jana said, slapping the takeout box on the table. “What does that even mean?”

“Mostly that she grows plants everywhere. You’ve seen her room, right?”

Jana nodded. “I guess. It was pretty overgrown- why the hell didn’t she have a bed?” she suddenly asked.

“She flies.”

Jana’s eyes moved up to glare with challenging disbelief. “Flies? In her sleep? You’re pulling one over me, right?”

Jeremy giggled. “No, she flies in her sleep.”

“Well...that’s ridiculous. I didn’t even think that was possible.”

“Really? I just assumed it was normal.”

Jana shook her head, rolling her eyes. “In what world is it normal to sleep midair? Your sister’s a freak, yo.”

Jeremy appraised the sushi on the table, then quickly snapped two chopsticks apart and picked one up to eat. “You have a lot of insults lined up for my sis, huh,” he said, mostly as a jab.

The wind was strong and tugged Jana’s hair to the side, causing minuscule snowflakes to drift away into the current. She looked at their brief shimmering, thoughtful. “You don’t defend her,” she said. She looked Jeremy in the eye questioningly.

The seriousness of her expression affected Jeremy. Although he was ready to take another piece of sushi, he set his chopsticks down. “That’s just because I can’t. What would I say, ‘take that back’?”

Jana looked up. “So you really think I’m right?”

“No, I don’t think you are.”

“Hmm...” Jana looked down at her food, tapping her finger, then dug in with Jeremy, taking out a bit of sushi. “You know, I’m a fourth Japanese,” she said, changing the topic.

Jeremy looked up at her with surprise. “I wouldn’t have thought so.”

“Yeah, my mother was half. Funny, huh?”

“I see nothing funny about it, but whatever,” Jeremy absently said as he chewed.

Jana clicked her tongue in dismissive acknowledgment.

“So your dad was the dude who owned Psychic League. Who was your mom then?” Jeremy asked.

Avoiding the question, Jana said, “I dunno, who was yours?”

“Nobody, really.”

“Heh, kinda rude to say about your mom.”

“Well, she really wasn’t. Once psychi started raking in money by...existing, she kinda stopped doing anything of note. She lazed around the house, had fun with her friends; that sort of thing. Our dad got into social work and sometimes had arguments with her over how little she was doing. He was pretty self-aware of our one-in-a-billion privilege.”

“Birds of a feather,” Jana said.

...

“You know,” Jeremy said, “It feels like the only thing we talk about is Psychi.” He leaned in, smirking. “You don’t like her, do you?”

Jana looked up at him with a disgusted half-scowl, though the other half of her face seemed to take the joke better.

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Jeremy said, leaning away. “Sort-of.”

Jana shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Well, the only reason we’re on this journey together is for her. It stands to reason she would be our one commonality.”

That made Jeremy curious. How different was she from him?

As Jana continued eating, Jeremy looked at her with a neutral expression, thinking. She met his eyes, expecting him to say something, but he took almost a minute to finally say what was on his mind.

“Do you have friends?” he asked.

Jana raised an eyebrow. “Yeah.”

He scratched his head. “Who?”

“I dunno, my coworkers, subordinates, and some other people I meet. I talk with the construction teams sometimes. There are reporters I talk to, too. I know a few of the top psychics in the league, as well. I’d mention politicians, but they always treat me like a tool.”

“Huh...”

Jeremy was silent for a few more seconds before taking a long breath in.

“So...you don’t really have...” he looked to the side. “Anyone like you.”

“A super-psychic?” she chuckled. “I know a few, and I guess we’re on good terms, but-”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“O-oh...” Jana said, her voice strangely quiet. “I mean...no, not many people know what it was like to-”

“I’m gonna stop you there.”

Jana blinked.

“I mean, do you have any friends your age?” Jeremy asked.

“Uhh...no, I guess it’d be a stretch to say I do.”

Jeremy picked up a piece of sushi and presented it to Jana, a dozen centimeters from her face. “Want one?”

Jana burst out laughing. “Oh, that is a good one, real rich. You’re asking if I want to be your friend?”

Jeremy nodded, not flustered at all as he ate the sushi, unconcerned.

“Uhh...” Jana mellowed up quickly, looking at him with an almost worried expression. “But...you were serious? I can’t tell.”

He swallowed and stared her in the eye. “Of course I’m serious.”

“Right...well, I don’t...I’m not so sure...”

“What, are you worried I’m too young to be friends with?”

“Well, you’re only one or two years younger than me, so that’s not exactly the problem.”

Jeremy always felt older than he was, so he wasn’t going to correct the girl on the indirect compliment. Still, she was probably three or four years older than him. He didn’t really know her age either, though. “Then?”

“It’s just...” Jana began before tapping the table with a concerned expression. “I don’t really need more friends, man. You and I are of different worlds. Things should stay that way. Enjoy your school life, be a normal-ass human. You seem to like it like that.”

Jeremy shook his head, sighing. “You’re stupid,” he said.

Jana displayed a clenched, dangerous fist. “And you’re weird as fuck. Maybe a punch to the face will straighten that head of yours.”

He sighed, the conversation wearing the boy out. “And you’re fucked up.”

She spat to the side. “You think I didn’t notice?”

“What you just told me to do was precisely what you hate Psychi for doing.”

“I guess so.”

...Jeremy stared.

“You know,” Jana said, explaining herself, “my dad once told me something. ‘Tears are the burden of the weak, pain is the burden of the strong.’”

“A philosopher, I see.”

“He fancied himself one.” She shrugged. “He never cared much for following his own advice, though.” She briefly averted her eyes, frowning. “But that’s beside the point. Your sister is strong, and she can’t take pain for shit. She’s all talk, all tears, but no guts. If she can’t get over that...Well, she may as well be a normal-ass girl.”

“Your point?”

“My point? Am I not clear?!” she asked, pissed at Jeremy’s obliviousness. “I’ve tried to point this out nicely to you, Jeremy, but your sister is a fucking dick. She’s a negligent girl with her head up her ass who does nothing but whine and complain when she’s pushed into changing. She abuses her power by not using it.”

Jeremy didn’t look away from Jana.

“Do you not get it yet? What I’m trying to say?”

He stared, his expression strangely neutral.

“Jeremy, two years ago, when the fucking catastrophe rolled in. Think, Jeremy. Where was your sister when people died? Where was your damned sister when I was crying in fucking pain, praying for someone to save me? Where was your fucking sister when the world was burning down!?”

...

“Your sister, Jeremy, is the entire fucking reason the world is worried.”

...His expression didn’t change.

Jana was almost at a lack of words. Was he dumb? Did she miss something? It was so obvious why she hated Psychi, why she deserved to be her object of rue. She just didn’t want to say it clearly, without beating around the bush, but if she had to...

“Jeremy,” she said, almost pleadingly. “Your sister is the reason Azad never died. She could have saved millions if she’d fought him, but she whimpered and played house while...” She shook, furious. Something about what she was saying felt so wrong. Could she really blame so much on a person so obviously goodhearted? “While I...”

For some reason, Jana couldn’t muster the malice needed to hate Psychi at the moment. It was all a projection, she was well aware. Yet, even logically, she understood that Psychi was a horrible person. Hundreds of thousands of people died and suffered because the girl hadn’t even bothered trying, while Jana suffered for the lives of others on the other side of the world.

Conceding some sort of defeat after a few seconds of silence, Jana began to pay attention to Jeremy rather than her feelings.

She froze.

Jeremy’s expression was familiar.

“Uhh, you alright?” he asked, the expression quickly changing to worry.

“Y-yeah,” she said, perplexed.

“I-if you say so. You got pretty heated there.”

“Yes, I...I did.” Jana picked up a piece of sushi and held it near her mouth as though she was wondering whether she had an appetite.

“Hmm...” Jeremy emoted, taking his own bite, entirely unperturbed. “Well, you’re not wrong, I guess,” he said. “I blame myself for that too.”

“You...what?” she said, looking back up at him with surprise.

“I mean, you don’t really have the full story, but I see where you’re coming from,” he continued.

“The full story?” she asked. “I can’t imagine anything more urgent taking up her time.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “No, there wasn’t anything like that. It’s just that our parents had died not long before that whole fiasco.”

“Hmm...” Jana admitted she hadn’t thought about that, but that would never be an acceptable excuse.

“Anyway, what I was trying to say is that I’m her brother, so I share some of the responsibility. I could have told Psychi that she needed to fight, back then, but I didn’t. I didn’t have the heart to.”

“Well, I can’t blame you for-” Jana began.

“If I had told her to, how many people could she have saved?” he asked.

Jana didn’t respond, even though she had answered the question earlier, pursing her lips with an annoyed expression.

“But yeah, I prefer not to think about it. What’s done is done,” he said with a shrug.

Jana looked down at her lap as Jeremy continued to eat, the subject done and over with.