Charles, sporting shoulder-length, greasy hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in a week, stumbled down the stairs, unshaven and with hazy eyes, clearly just up from a hangover.
He clutched an expensive bottle of liquor, taking swigs as he questioned Hank.
"Didn't I say no visitors? Hank, why did you let someone in?"
Hank explained, "Teach— Charles, this guy isn't an ordinary person. He's a mutant."
Charles's gaze sharpened for a moment, then quickly turned cloudy again.
He walked up to Saiki Kusuo, looked him up and down, and then patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry, this isn't a school anymore. If you're looking to enroll, there's a school not far from here. I have a working relationship with the administrators there. As long as you don't use your powers recklessly at school, they'll keep your identity confidential."
"I'm not here to enroll," Saiki Kusuo replied.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hank rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight. "So you are here to cause trouble."
"Hank," Charles glanced at him, signaling him to calm down. Hank, reprimanded, reluctantly muttered, "Got it," and sulkily turned his head away.
Charles sat down on the sofa, placed the bottle on the table, and shook his head, trying to clear his muddled thoughts. He planned to get rid of this young man who seemed to have attached himself to them.
Before he could speak, Saiki Kusuo glanced at the clock above Charles's head.
"It's 6 o'clock. I'd like to know what time you serve dinner?"
Charles: "…"
Hank: "…Are you kidding me? You want a free meal too?"
Saiki Kusuo nodded, his gaze fixed on Charles. "Of course. You promised me food and lodging." Before Charles could raise an eyebrow and object, he added, "The future you said so."
Saiki Kusuo felt like he'd been tricked by Charles. Where did this damn, middle-aged, balding man look talented and wealthy in his youth? He was just a loser who had suffered a heavy blow, couldn't get back up, and spent his days deceiving himself.
"The future?" Charles seemed to hear something amusing. He chuckled, but his expression quickly darkened again. His face, devoid of emotion, held a certain authority reminiscent of the future Professor X.
"Alright, kid, the joke's over. Now, please leave immediately. If you insist on staying here, I'll have Hank throw you out."
Seeing that Charles and Hank were determined not to offer him a meal, Saiki Kusuo sighed.
Hank, thinking he'd finally gotten through to him, stepped past him to open the door and show him out. Suddenly, he made an about-face and gestured to Saiki Kusuo.
"This way to the kitchen, please."
Charles: "…Hey, Hank, what are you doing?"
He quickly realized Hank's behavior was off and questioned Saiki Kusuo, "What did you do?"
Saiki Kusuo retorted, "What I did, logically speaking, you should be very familiar with. Tsk, so troublesome. If you still had your telepathy right now, I wouldn't need to explain."
Knowing that he even knew about his telepathy, Charles gasped. He was starting to believe Hank's claim that this guy was here to cause trouble. He signaled to Hank with his eyes, but Hank, controlled by Saiki Kusuo, couldn't receive his message.
"But it doesn't matter," Saiki Kusuo's tone shifted. "The person who can explain has arrived."
Just then, a series of footsteps sounded from outside the door. Logan, who was late, pushed open the half-closed door and walked in.
[Is this guy the helper he brought?]
"Not a helper," Saiki Kusuo corrected. "More accurately, he's the helper the future you brought in."
Turning his head, he called out to Logan, "Over here, Mr. Logan."
Hearing Saiki Kusuo's voice, Logan strode over aggressively.
"Saiki, where the hell did you run off to? Do you know I've been looking for you all over?"
"Looking for me?" Saiki Kusuo looked puzzled. "Looking for me in a den of iniquity, Mr. Logan? I'm still underage. I don't want to see that kind of eye-searing scene. It would taint my pure heart."
His words made Logan blush furiously. He roared in exasperation, "Don't pry into other people's minds, alright? Why are you as much of a bastard as that guy Charles?"
"I wasn't prying, Mr. Logan," Saiki Kusuo said righteously. "You should have taken a shower before coming here. The perfume smell is too strong. Even a fool would know what you were doing."
Seeing the conversation veering wildly off course, the "bastard" Charles had to intervene and steer it back on track.
"Who exactly are you two, and why have you barged into my home? And release Hank from your control."
Logan, at this point in time, had actually met the young Charles once. He remembered the professor as a spirited, dashing, and charming man. He could hardly imagine that he would become the gentle and kind head of a school in the future.
Logan thought his memory was pretty good, and even after twenty years, he would recognize Charles immediately.
However, facing this Charles, reeking of alcohol and radiating an aura of pure despair, he began to doubt his own memory.
Finally, he couldn't help but turn to Saiki Kusuo and ask, "Did we time travel to the wrong place? Who is this greasy middle-aged uncle?"
Charles, taking an arrow to the knee: "…"
Hearing this, Saiki Kusuo gave a thumbs-up in praise. "Well said. You're much more stylish than you were 16 years ago."
Logan: "…"
Charles had given up resisting. Having lost his abilities and with his prolonged alcohol abuse, even a newly awakened mutant could easily defeat him.
"Speak, what is your purpose in coming to me?"
Saiki Kusuo was about to say, "Let's eat first, and we can talk business while we eat." But then he remembered that Kitty might not have obtained the Time Stone yet at this time. It was better to find the stone before Kitty broke it.
So, he spoke before Logan, asking, "Is there any possibility of recovering your abilities?"
"Recover? Is there any need to recover that ability that tormented me day and night, making it impossible to find peace?"
Charles laughed self-deprecatingly. As a victim of telepathy, Saiki Kusuo could understand Charles's pain. However, he needed Charles to find Kitty for him. And, although he complained about the ability, Charles was actually also resentful of losing it and being unable to save his comrades.
From Logan, he knew that Charles had been taking medication to treat his legs, which had been injured by Erik. But that medication altered his DNA, preventing him from using his powers.
Legs or powers, he had chosen the former. No, it should be said that, to escape, to deceive himself, he had chosen to stand up and become an ordinary person.
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