#teruki prefers to trick himself into thinking he is an exception again and again

[da-janela-lateral]

A detail I very much enjoy writing in Teruki is his distrustful general perspective about adults. Grownups, at least in his previous point of view, were somewhere between the extremes of Background Character and Villain. That is, they could be ignorant and helpless at best (ex: his parents) and violent and threatening at worst (ex: Claw), because these were most of the experiences he had.

For the longest time, Teruki didn't have an adult he looked up for, or that he trusted, and that persisted even after he stopped believing that he was the Protagonist. In this case, the harmless ones weren't foolish commoners: they were people who just wouldn't help him. Being nice normal humans, there was nothing they could do to keep him safe, and they couldn't understand his situation. It would be useless to appeal to them, even more considering the amount that would try to stop his plans as soon as they heard about them. They simply don't understand. They aren't to be relied on. They would give him more trouble. They are condescending and don't believe he can actually take care of himself.

That's one of the reasons Teruki is different from the other children. Kids can rely on adults all they want. No one is going to help Teruki.

It only makes sense. Why should he expect anything of them? What can a powerless person do about an esper?