Awakening Lab and Ritsu Arc

Ritsu awakens his own latent powers and is drawn into a shady esper research facility, ending in his kidnapping by the criminal organization Claw.

The Awakening Lab and Ritsu Arc shifts focus toward Mob's younger brother, Ritsu Kageyama, exploring his complicated feelings of envy and admiration. Long overshadowed by Mob, Ritsu has always lacked psychic powers despite being talented and popular in every other respect. Through stress and his contact with the spirit Dimple, Ritsu finally awakens latent esper abilities of his own, and he begins using them recklessly to assert control at school. His growing notoriety attracts the attention of a suspicious organization running the so-called Awakening Lab, a facility supposedly dedicated to nurturing young espers. In reality, the operation is connected to Claw, a vast criminal group seeking to recruit or capture powerful psychics. Ritsu, along with other gifted children, is kidnapped, setting Mob and Reigen on a rescue mission. The arc deepens the brothers' relationship, examining jealousy, identity and the burden of expectations, while expanding the story's scope from school squabbles toward a larger conspiracy that threatens espers across the city.