Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It really was innocent at first. Truly this hadn't been his original intention when he first started doing this, it just seemed as though events lead to this point by forces beyond his control. It all started-

Hey, who's telling this story here? Anyway the actions that unfolded were not my fault. Despite what other people might think. It was all pure coincidence. You see. . .

1 week ago

"Oh Ku! Good you're home, I need a favor to ask." I hope he says yes.

That can't be a good sign. But it's mom so it's probably nothing too bad. He arched an eyebrow in acknowledgement as he took off his shoes.

"You know how I go to neighborhood watch meetings right?"

He nodded.

"Well it would seem that someone is needed to file some papers and well. . ."

"You were roped into doing it since you don't know how to say no." Really he didn't know what he was expecting.

She sighed "Yes, but it's only for the month and then it will cycle to someone else."

Well it could be worse I suppose. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'll be getting home too late to pick up groceries for dinner. I would ask your father but he works so hard that I couldn't imagine making him go somewhere else before coming home. I can't do that to him."

He's too incompetent for something like this anyway. "So you need me to pick up groceries?" He asked.

"I hope it's not too much trouble. I know you like hanging out with your friends after school-" He interrupted "They're not my friends" "And I would hate to interrupt that. I know this is your first group of friends in a while-" He said again"Not my friends" "But there really isn't anything else I can do. Please will you do this for me?"

I was planning to after you told me this is what I would be doing but now. . .

"Oh and any money you have left over after buying everything on the list you can use to buy sweets." She smiled

"Sweets?!" He was aware that this was bribery but he didn't care. So what if people could bribe him with sweets? As long as nobody important found out he didn't care. "Deal."

"Oh good! That you so much Ku!" She hugged him. "I'll go start on dinner right now. There's a present from your brother in your room by the way. It was delivered by drone." And with that she went to the kitchen.

Good grief. A gift? What was it this time?

He made his way up the stairs to his room and slowly opened the door. He did a quick scan finding the present being the only thing out of place in his room. It would have to be dealt with but he could only rewind time on his clothes or his room, not both. In the event that it was a trap of some kind, which it no doubt was, he would have to take it some place that could handle any damage. He walked into his room dropping his bag near his bed and then stared at the gift. It was even wrapped in a bow. He sighed.

Leaving it alone might also trigger some kind of trap. Fine. I'll play along.

He lightly grabbed the box and teleported with it. When he arrived at his destination, a deserted island, he opened the box. In the box he found a note.

Hi Kusuo!
I know you're probably wondering where the trap was this time but there isn't one. Honest! And if I know you as well as I do you probably teleported somewhere far away and unpopulated.
I appreciate that you think so highly of me! But I would never send something to you that might end up hurting mom in the process.

What about dad?

Oh! And dad too I suppose hahaha.

And with that he began the long swim back to land.

present time

I got sidetracked. I'm still bitter about that swim. He turned the corner as he made the trek back to his house. After I got back my mom ended up giving me the list that I would need for the rest of the week. And honestly I should have had her make me do this a long time ago. It's only benefitted me.

Monday

"Hey Saiki! The force of Dark Reunion is strong today, I fear that if something isn't done then the world might meet a terrible end! Will you follow me into combat? The battle will be long and gruesome but-"

"I can't. I have errands."

"Oh, do you want company?" What happened to Dark Reunion? "I have to do errands for my mom sometimes and it can get lonely, so if you want I can come with you."

"Huh? What are you guys talking about? Ramen?"

"No you idiot! Only you would think about something like that all the time."

"Oh. So do you guys wanna get Ramen? I just found this new Ramen place."

"Saiki can't. He has to go. . . uh. Wait, what do you have to do?" He turned to look at him. "Wait where did Saiki go?"

"Buddy? Oh he left when you started talking about ramen. Hahaha. I can't believe that you would think about ramen so much that you would forget about your surroundings."

"Nendou, that was you!"

"Oh was it? Hahaha it doesn't sound like it!"

"What do you mean it doesn't sound like it?! Only an idiot like you-"

And that's enough of that. I made the right choice to leave after Nendou started talking. I'm sure Kaidou will be fine. But I can't believe that I'm leaving on time for once. It's like everyone is leaving me alone for once.

And they did. Saiki managed to go to the store, pick up everything he needed with money to spare for a coffee jelly, and then went home. There weren't any disasters that he had to avoid. There weren't any people that tried to stop him. He was able to go straight home.

What is this feeling? Is this. . . happiness? I can't believe that this came from things other than eating sweets and being able to blend perfectly into the background. His smile was brighter than it probably should have been given he just made it home at a reasonable hour, but he didn't care.

"Kusuo, is that you? What are you doing home so late? And where's your mom?"

"Didn't she tell you what was happening starting today?" He arched an eyebrow at his father as he started to put groceries away.

"What was she supposed to tell me?"

"She's working for the neighborhood watch and won't be back until late so I'll be picking up dinner groceries."

"Oh I see. Well then." There was a look of contemplation on his face but his mind remained empty. So he started walking back to his room.

"Hey wait! Don't you want to ask me how my day was?" He was following him up the stairs.

"Not interested."

"But it was really interesting!"

"Didn't you just lick shoes all day? How is that interesting?"

"Well I- I mean it wasn't all licking. I did some shining too but, no wait, that's besides the point!"

"Still not interested." He closed the door.

"You should respect me! I'm your father," He was whining "you're so mean Kusuo!"

What are you 5 years old? Grow up would you. He heard his father go down stairs and then turn on the t.v. grumbling on the way down.

And so that's how his day would go. He would leave school before anyone could bother him giving the answer of having to do errands, then he would pick up groceries, ignore his father, eat coffee jelly, wait for his mom to come home, eat dinner, and then do homework. His disastrous life suddenly seemed a lot less Disastrous. But all good things must come to an end.

Wait what?

And so after a week of peace he found himself staring at the person who he always did his best to avoid.

No. No wait.

"Oh Saiki! What a coincidence!"

Damn you.

Chapter Text

“Oh Saiki! What a coincidence!”

Teruhashi. The one person who could suddenly make this peaceful walk to the store a nightmare. Already he could feel eyes on him.

“I was just heading this way to go to this new café.” She leaned and pointed behind him, “Supposedly they have a new menu item that everyone won’t stop talking about. I thought I might go see for myself!” This is perfect! I hadn’t planned on running into Saiki today but God really does love me. Now he’ll probably get all flustered and be like “Oh wow! An invite from Teruhashi?! I must be dreaming!” And then we’ll go on a date to the café! He won’t want to leave my side after we share a meal together. This is it Saiki! This is the day I finally get you to say “Oh wow!”

How did you even have time to think that up? Either way I’m not interested. The upside is I don’t even have to use my powers this time. We’re going in opposite directions. The café she wants to go to is at the end of the street, while the store is to the right at the next stoplight.

“So Saiki, would you like to-”

He interrupted with a shake of his head, “I have to run an errand for my mom.” And with that as his only explanation he walked away.

He heard a mantra in his head as he walked away from the girl and had to hide a smirk, But but but but I you but I

Tuesday

The teacher let us out late today, if I don’t hurry I won’t be able to get the special on the coffee jelly. 2 for the price of one until 4:30 was a deal he just couldn’t miss.

“Oh hey buddy! You wanna go get some ramen? I feel like we haven’t gone in a week.” Nendou stood in his way blocking his exit.

Move, I don’t have time for this today. He tried to side step him but Nendou anticipated his steps.

“Hey don’t ignore me! The ramen shop I was talking about is really good, you get to build your own bowl. Me and the squirt already went there but his stomach was too weak.”

“My stomach was not weak! That food was poisonous!”

Great, they’re coming from all sides. If this continues there’s no way I’ll get there on time.

“I ate it too and I’m just fine. You just have a weak stomach.”

“I do not! That food was just horrible! That store shouldn’t even exist. I can’t believe it hasn’t been shut down yet.” He grumbled.

Saiki suddenly saw a mental image of the last time Kaidou went with Nendou to that shop, and he was glad he didn’t go. He didn’t get sick but no normal person could reasonably eat what they had been served. There was a small twinge of guilt at the base of his head as he realized that he probably could have saved Kaidou from his upset stomach had he been there, but grocery shopping was equally if not more so important.

“We’ll let buddy decide when he comes with us today.”

“Oh Saiki, you’re finally free?”

He shook his head “No. I won’t be for the rest of the month.” He was finally able to sidestep Nendou to get by and into the courtyard. Good, there’s still a chance to make it if I teleport. It might look a little strange if I suddenly appear right in front of the store so I’ll just teleport to the alley right next to it.

“What are you doing? Taking college prep classes?” Maybe I could ask my mom to switch to the ones that Saiki is taking then!

Don’t get any ideas, I’m not doing that. He shook his head.

“Are you trying to find odd jobs to help your folks around the house? If that’s the case then the ramen shop is hiring!”

He shook his head again and sped up his pace. If I can’t lose them I won’t be able to teleport.

Kaidou audibly gasped “Could it be that you’re secretly fighting evil forces that are lurking in the shadows and you can’t tell us because they’ll kill your family?! Don’t worry Saiki, we can help if that’s the case!”

Why did that sound familiar? Oh right. I read it in there. He shook his head once again and quickened his pace even more.

“Huh? Well then what’s so important that you can’t hang out with us? We’re buddies aren’t we?”

He withheld a groan.They’re not going to leave me alone today, and I bet even if I did tell them they would still try and follow me. What should I-

Ugh! Where did he go?! Chiyo said she saw him go this way.

Damn it. I’m about to be cornered again! Wait.

He picked up the pace one more time to the point where it could be considered a light jog if he wasn’t still walking.

He heard Kaidou panting “Hey. . . . can we maybe. . . slow down. . .?”

Just a little farther Kaidou. He didn’t slow down but pushed even harder. He still hadn’t broken a sweat but he was hoping someone behind him would-

“Oh do you wanna race? Haha yeah let’s do it buddy! To the end of the block!” He heard Nendou’s lumbering steps get heavier and faster.

“Wait. . .! G-. . . guys! Can . . . can’t we talk. . . . t-. . . . this out!?”

“Hahaha! Come on squirt, you gotta be faster than that if you want to- Agh!”

As a result of not looking where he was going Nendou tripped over an unsuspecting Teruhashi.

“Ow. That hurt.” She was rubbing her elbow almost subconsciously.

For your sake Nendou I hope that doesn’t bruise.

“Sorry buddy I didn't- Oh wow! It’s Teruhashi!”

What happened to your voice?

“Wait? Wh. . . what did you just say?” Kaidou finally caught up with them surprisingly faster than Saiki anticipated. “Wait did you just say that you ran into who I think you did?!”

Yes. Yes he did.

“You numbskull! You need to watch where you’re going more often.” Kaidou reached out his hand to help her up. Teruhashi, to her credit, actually let him.

She gave him a small smile “No no, it’s my fault honestly. I was looking for someone and I ended up not paying attention to my surroundings. I’m glad it was Nendou and not a car.”

The unanimous “Oh wow.” That was heard from the two teens was enough to distract them from a member mysteriously disappearing from their party.

“W-who were you looking for? We would be happy to help you find them.”

“Really? You wouldn’t mind? I wouldn’t want to trouble you.” Ha ha! This is perfect! Kaidou and Nendou are always around Saiki. If anyone would know where he was it would be them.

“It’s not trouble!” Was their unanimous answer.

“Oh well you see I’m looking for Saiki. I have something I need to give back to him.” That’s a lie but they don’t need to know that.

“Saiki? Oh well you’re in luck cause he’s-” As Kaidou turned to look behind him he saw no one there. “Wait where did Saiki go? He was just here!”

“What? He’s gone?! But we haven’t finished our race yet.”

“There’s more important things than that! Saiki’s gone! Vanished.” Kaidou gasped, “What if he was kidnapped?!”

Teruhashi spoke before Kaidou could spiral “I’m sure Saiki is fine. He probably just went somewhere else. Do you guys know where he might have gone?” Even if he wasn’t actually there with them, they were still with him at some point. They must have been making plans to go somewhere and he’s probably waiting for them there.

“Buddy? Oh he probably went to the new ramen shop we were talking about.”

“No he didn’t ramen for brains. He went to go do his mysterious errand remember?”

“Oh yeah. . .”

“An errand?” Teruhashi’s smile fell slightly and her glow dimmed.

“Yeah, he’s apparently busy all this week or no, I guess it's a month now. Sorry we couldn’t be more helpful.”

“Oh no it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You were actually more helpful than you know.”

Ow. Ow. Okay that was longer than I anticipated. I don’t like using two powers at the same time because stuff like this can happen. He moved his glasses out the way, staring purposefully at the tile floor to avoid eye contact with anyone. Now I have to wait for my vision to unblur before I do anything else. Oh. Are you confused? Well let me explain. Right after Nendou ran into Teruhashi I began to step back away from the scene. Because we were in a not often used side street I didn’t have to worry about anyone getting hit by a car. Once Kaidou caught up to us I stepped back one more time before making myself invisible. Then I went into the alleyway I saw as we were “racing” to the end of the block. Once I was there I simply teleported to my destination. However, I can’t trust any of them and I figured sooner versus later someone was going to notice I had gone missing. So I used my telepathy and clairvoyance to make sure everything else went according to plan. And now we’re here. I’ve finished my shopping and I got here just in time to get the deal on the coffee jelly. Though what Teruhashi said does concern me.

He walked up to the check out and watched as the cashier scanned his items. As he grabbed all the bags he realized he had forgotten something on his list. He sighed, ignoring the confused look on the cashier's face as he went back into the aisles.

Right as he was about to pick up the fish he had forgotten he was stopped.

“Oh hey there Saiki, what are you doing here?”

He froze. No. No, that's impossible. I would have heard her. Why didn’t I-

“Oh hey what a coincidence. I’m listening to the same song as the one that’s in my ear buds.” Maybe I’m on the same station?

That’s why. If she was just listening to the music and didn’t have any real thoughts in her head there was no way he would’ve been able to hear her. But what was she doing here? She had supposedly told Teruhashi where he was, how did she get to this store so fast.

“Ah wait, that's right! Kokomi was looking for you. Did she find you?”

He shook his head. This was bad. The more people that knew about what his errands were the more people would try and follow him here. The peace of the store was only maintained by the fact nobody crazy ever came in here.

“Oh that’s too bad. But on another note, is this the mysterious errand Kaidou was always talking about?”

Damn it. I forgot I was dealing with a stalker. This is even worse. Of course she would be listening to Kaidou’s conversations.

“Going grocery shopping really isn’t all that mysterious. I’m sure if you told Kaidou what you were doing he would come with you.” Wait, that's it!

No. Nothing is it. Stop what you’re thinking.

If I tell Kaidou where Saiki is going Kokomi can also come along and we can make it a double date! We can go to a small café before Saiki and Kokomi break off to go shopping. Then me and Kaidou can walk home.

No. No. No. That was absolutely not going to happen.

“Say Saiki, what if you had some company? Shopping alone can get pretty lonely and-”

Why did people always say that anyway? He wasn’t lonely and he liked being alone.

“No.”

“And no? No, what? Wait, do you not want me to tell anyone?”

Shit. I didn’t mean to say that yet. It’s fine. She said the words not you.

He nodded.

“Oh I see.”

It was quiet between the two of them for a moment, the only noise being the low ambiance of the music and the store.

“What’s in it for me?” There was a dangerous glint in her eye he saw before she turned around. “I mean it’s not as if I have any real reason to tell or not tell anyone. The only person who currently knows you’re coming here is me. And if I heard correctly you’ll be coming here for the rest of the month. The only logical conclusion can be that you are going shopping for dinner for your house, and so one can only assume that your mother is probably part of your neighborhood watch and that she got stuck filling out papers for the month. Your dad most likely works and won’t get home in time to pick up the errands before you do, meaning if you want to eat a well balanced dinner you’re the only one that can do this job.”

His mouth fell open and he blinked rapidly but schooled his expression before he turned back to him.

Are you a psychic too all of a sudden? What the hell was that? You got everything right except for the part about my dad, he’s just an idiot.

“Your silence says a thousand words. So I ask you again. What’s in it for me? Because I’m willing to bet if you haven’t told anyone there’s a reason. So if you really don’t want this to get out you need to give me something worthwhile.” I won’t let anything get in the way of our love Kaidou! Soon you’ll be mine. And Kokomi will get Saiki too. It’s perfect!

I’m sorry Kaidou, I’ll make it up to you by going to wherever the next spot Dark Reunion is hiding. “I’ll get you a date with Kaidou.”
.
.
.
Chiyo suddenly resembled that of a fish as her mouth flopped open and closed and then went a deep shade of red. She could have been easily mistaken as a cherry wearing a wig with a bow at that moment.

W-w-What?! How did he find out?! I was so sure I wasn’t making it obvious, I mean there’s no way I could have heard him say what he just said right? But I mean there’s no way he didn’t say anything else. Wait, Chiyo , what are you doing? So what if Saiki knows?! He just offered to get you a date with Kaidou! This is your chance, a date with Kaidou. It’s the perfect time to show him what an amazing girlfriend you can be. But wait, how do I know he’s not just saying that? What if he’s just trying to get me to stay quiet so that I don’t tell anyone? No, no , stay calm. Ask him to clarify.

Chiyo took a steadying breath before she looked at him again. When she did the words got caught in her throat. Saiki was wearing a devilish smirk.

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no! My face must have told him that he didn’t know that my crush on Kaidou was a secret!

“Actually I have a different offer to make you. If you don’t tell anyone what my errand is, I won’t tell anyone about your crush on Kaidou.” I usually wouldn’t stoop this low but I can’t take any risks. The last thing I need is Koko ahem, Teruhashi finding out where I’m going. That spells disaster.

Chiyo gulped. “Fine. You have a deal. I won’t tell anyone about you if you promise not to tell anyone about my feelings for Kaidou.” I never knew Saiki was so mean. “You have to promise Saiki I’m serious.”

“I promise not to tell anyone about your feelings for Kaidou.” Mean? Mean? I’m not mean. If anyone is mean here it’s you. You were getting ready to blackmail me into a date with Koko Ahem Teruhashi, against my will! That’s way worse.

Chiyo sighed. Bowed and then walked away. I thought we were friends. Or at the very least acquaintances. I guess not.

I’m not mean. He shifted the bags in his arms before walking back up to the checkout line.

-

It took him longer to get home then he would have liked. Teleporting with perishable items was always risky though, so he tended to avoid it when possible. When he got home he saw his father sitting on the front porch with his head between his legs.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh Kusuo! There you are! I thought I was going to be stuck out here all night, or at least until your mom got home. I was afraid you had already teleported inside and that you- Hey are you alright? You’re frowning more so than usual.”

He blinked before forcing his dad out of the way with one of the bags. “Here hold this.”

“Ughf, Kusuo what’s in here? It weighs a ton.”

“Dinner.”

He unlocked the door and quicker than usual he put the groceries away. He got impatient as he waited for his dad to get into the kitchen so he used his telekinesis to bring the bag to him. He put away it’s contents before grabbing the coffee jellies off the counter and heading to his room.

“Hey wait, you didn’t answer my question! Ku-”

He closed his door with a slam. It was unintentional and he would probably have to fix it later because it was most likely broken. But at the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care. He grabbed his ring and put it on his finger.

I’ve had enough of other people’s thoughts for one day. He sat down and placed his coffee jellies in front of him. His nose wrinkled at the idea of eating either of them but he opened one anyway.
.
.
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The first bite did not bring him joy as it usually did. It was spoiled with one line. I never knew Saiki was so mean. I never knew Saiki was so mean. I never knew Saiki was so mean. His jaw clenched as he heard the same mantra that had been playing in his head since he left the store. He leaned back in his chair. He was about to swallow the remaining coffee jelly in his mouth when he felt something hard. He opened his mouth and pulled out the head of his spoon. He had bitten right through it. He sighed. Good grief, when did I become sentimental? That’s out of character for me. He gently melded the spoon back together with his pyrokinesis. Fine. I’ll do it. But only because being “mean”, which just to be clear I'm not by the way, is not average. And there’s nothing more important than that.

Once the spoon was fixed he restored the door to his room before pulling out his homework. Sigh, now I have to look less than average just to stay average. This better work.

And so he began to scribble down answers that didn’t make sense, hoping it would be enough to get a certain someone with a hero complex to take the bait.

Wednesday

Much to Saiki’s dismay and relief, it was.

Chapter Text

“Huh? Saiki, is this your homework?” All these answers are totally off.

He nodded. I know. Just say you’ll help me.

Kaidou frantically waved his hands “Oh uh not that anything’s wrong with them! I mean there is some stuff wrong with them, but nothing major. All you need to do is fix your answers here and there. Because there isn’t a lot that are wrong really! I mean-”

Stop talking. I know how many I got wrong, don’t patronize me.

“Would you um uh. . . “ Come on Shun! You can do this!

You’re not asking me out on a date.

“Wouldyoulikemyhelpwithyourhomework?”

. . .

He nodded.

“Oh okay. You just wanna copy it? That’s fi- Wait did you say yes!?”

He nodded again.

Seriously? Saiki, Saiki wants my help with his homework? He doesn’t just wanna copy it really fast? I mean helping him out means spending time together. GASP!

Did you just say gasp?

And then maybe after we’re done we could hang out! And I can show Saiki how cool I am! Okay Shun play it cool, you got this. Deep breath and,

In a pitch higher than Saiki thought possible for Kaidou’s voice to get, he responded “Yeah I mean I can help you if you really want. Maybe we could go to my house and we can hang out afterwards.” AGH! That was so not cool! It’s okay, just play it off. “Or um or not. Whatever. Whatever works for you. . .”

Well now I don’t know if I should do this. I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction. But

“I was actually thinking we could go to get ramen and do our homework at whatever place we pick.” That sounded forced. Will he still-

“THAT’S FINE! Er ahem, I mean. Yeah that’s cool.” Nice. Saved it.

You did not.

“Here." He handed him a small slip of paper with an address written on it. "I’ll meet you at this ramen shop after school. If I’m not there before you just go inside and find a seat for us.”

“O-okay. Yes. I can do that.” Oh wait I actually can. I know this shop, it’s pretty close to my house.

That’s why I chose it.

And with that he started to walk away.

“I’ll see you after school Saiki!”

Present time

I would like it to be known that I only did this out of spite. Nothing more. Anyway

Wednesday(again)

And so the day ended with nothing memorable happening, Saiki noticed a pair of eyes on him but never made the motion to stop them. The eyes followed him everywhere in what he knew she thought was clever, unfortunately she was dealing with a physic. So even in the crowded school he could still pick out her thoughts. Everytime she would work up the courage to go try and talk to him he would disappear from sight. Much to her frustration and dismay this is how the day continued. It was an overly complicated game of cat and mouse, if the mouse were the one who was actually chasing the cat, and the cat was just running around chasing its tail.

Saiki used a multitude of tactics to avoid Teruhashi, including but not limited to: invisibility, telepathy, floating, hiding in the boys bathroom, hiding in the girls bathroom while invisible, teleporting, clairvoyance, and his favorite, simply turning a corner and going up the stairs too quickly for her to follow. If someone were to be keeping score of this twisted game the score would be 30-0. But who was counting?

Finally, it’s the end of the day. I feel exhausted but all my hard work should finally start to pay off.

*It should be noted that messing with Teruhashi was not necessary.

It was. Ignore that. Anyway, where is-

I don’t even feel like scheming with Kokomi today. I know she’s been trying to tail Saiki and all but. . . Ugh he’s the last person I want to see right now! Stupid Saiki! And his stupid face, with his stupid glasses, and stupid hair. Stupid stupid stupid. She sighed.

Is “stupid” the only insult you know? And what’s wrong with my face?

But I guess I do kinda deserve it.

You definitely do.

I did blackmail him first. But I would never use someone’s feelings against them like that! It’s a cruel and unusual punishment. We can’t control how we feel, only a heartless monster would manipulate someone like that.

So I'm a heartless monster now?

She leaned her head against the locker in which her change of shoes resided. Oh come on Chiyo. Just admit it. You’re not mad at Saiki. You’re just mad that he called you out on the same thing you were trying to do to him. It’s not right. I really should apologize.

Yes, yes you should. A coffee jelly will be fine as compensation. But unfortunately my mom raised me, and she always said two wrongs don’t make a right. She told me that every time I said I wanted to use my powers on a kid that was being mean to me. So for this time and this time only, I’ll call us even.

He finally stepped out from his hiding spot on the other side of the lockers and cleared his throat.

“Yumehara.”

AH! It’s Saiki! “Um, hi Saiki.”

He started to walk away.

“Wait! Saiki, I need to talk to you! Saiki! Hold on, at least let me put on my shoes!”

He heard her trip in an attempt to follow him. She was quick to recover though and was shortly calling after him again.

“Saiki! I know you can hear me! Where are you going?!” When she finally caught up to him she stopped talking. Out loud that is.

Where is he going? I said I needed to talk to him. Oh no. What if he’s giving me the silent treatment? She let her eyes fall to her feet. I mean I do deserve it but I didn’t think Saiki was the kind of guy to do stuff like that. I know he has feelings but he’s always so hard to read. Kokomi seems to be the only one who ever really seems to know what’s going on in his head.

Saiki faltered, but he quickly edited his steps.

I don’t know how she does it. But I guess it just goes to show the bond they share.

He really did trip this time, but Yumehara failed to notice too distracted by her own thoughts.

Maybe me and Kaidou will share a bond like that one day. Ugh Chiyo focus! You need to think up your apology to Saiki.

Saiki stopped having reached his destination.

Huh? We stopped. Oh. . . he must be waiting for my apology. Okay well, here it goes.

“Saiki I-”

“Kaidou is in this shop.”

“Wait really?! Where? I mean um, that’s not what I was trying to say.” Dang it Chiyo, focus! This is more, or no, slightly more important right now. “I was trying to-”

“He’s waiting for me inside so that we can eat ramen and then he can help me with my homework. He’s expecting it to take at least an hour. Maybe more depending on how badly I need help.”

Saiki gets to spend an HOUR with Kaidou?! But but how! I want to spend that long alone with him. Why does- NO bad Chiyo! Snap out of it! A-P-O-L-O-G-I-Z-E! “Er ahem I, well that’s very interesting but I was trying to say-”

“I don’t actually need his help anymore. And we both know I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Wait, where are you going with this?”

“Kaidou is waiting.” This feels weird. But I suppose I can forgive her. Even without the coffee jelly.

He began walking away.

“I but. . .” Thank you Saiki! I won’t forget this I promise! I just wish I could tell you that to your face. But I’ll tell you tomorrow at school. Just you wait!

I really don’t need that. You need to focus on not messing up this opportunity.

She walked into the shop with determination written on her face until she spotted a familiar head of light blue hair. “Um, hi Kaidou!”

Kaidou looked up from his textbook. “Yumehara? What are you doing here? Where’s Saiki?”

“Oh um, well he told me to tell you that he had figured out his homework after all. He said something about thinking it was a different class.” She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

“Oh. I see.” Kaidou closed his textbook and made a move to stand from his seat.

“Ah but well I could use some help with my homework. If you uh wouldn’t mind helping me that is.”

“You want my help? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather ask Teruhashi or someone?”

“NO!” Everyone in the small restaurant looked at her. She waved her hands at them in an apologetic manner. “I mean, no. I want your help. Please.”

There was a faint blush on Kaidou’s cheeks that he tried to hide by turning his head, but his voice was an octave higher than usual when he answered “Oh well if you're sure. I don’t mind.”

They both sat down at opposite ends of the table and began to talk about what homework they were going to work on.

Oh. That went better than I expected. Good for you Kaidou.

Saiki made his way back to PK Academy with little to no effort.

Good grief, that took longer than I anticipated. At least everyone will be gone now.

I can’t believe every teacher needed me to deliver something. Isn’t that the class president's job? But I had to do it, I’m the perfect pretty girl afterall! That means being the perfect student too. That does mean I won’t get to see Saiki though.

There really is no God. Saiki quickly turned invisible to avoid the girl, what he didn’t anticipate was her tripping, right onto him.

Tsk. Damn it.

“Oh thank you so much! I didn’t see- Saiki! What what what are you doing here?! I thought you left already!” She quickly backtracked so there was now a foot between them.

I didn’t want to deal with this. “I left my shoes here.” He made the motion to unlock his locker and grab out the shoes he needed. Teruhashi made quick work to follow him.

“Oh, well that’s lucky. Not that you forgot your shoes. Just that you and I get to walk home together now.” She smiled at him. This is Angel’s light Saiki! I bet you’re feeling overwhelmed with happiness. You’ll definitely say “Oh Wow” now.

Why do you always do that with your voice? My voice doesn't even sound like that. And nice try Teruhashi, but your smile won’t work on me. “I’m not going home. I have an errand to run. Alone.” He began to walk back across the courtyard.

Alone?! He just turned down an invite, from me!? But I showed him Angel’s light! That’s my personal attack! Anyone who sees it is supposed to bow down and say a hundred-no a thousand “Oh wow’s” at least! How is he unaffected? Maybe he didn’t see through his glasses? Yeah! That has to be it! His glasses got fogged up and he didn’t see my smile to its full capacity! I just have to try again. I’ll make sure he sees it this time. “Saiki! Are you sure you don’t want company?”

She rushed to his side. He nodded.

You can keep trying until I get to the street corner, but it’s not going to work.

"But errands are so much more fun with friends! You get to hang out and talk, and after the errands you can go do fun stuff! It makes a chore into something more fun!” This is it! Angel’s Light!

Her smile was even brighter this time as she stood in front of him blocking his path.

Well it was brighter, so I’ll acknowledge that. Otherwise, I'm still not interested. Nothing you said sounds good. “No. I’m fine.”

He could hear her shatter at her second failed attempt.

No! I will not give up! Even if you don’t say “Oh wow” I will find out what this mysterious errand is! “Okay. You don’t want company. I understand.”

Lying? Really? That’s what you're attempting to do right now?

“Well then. I guess I’ll be off.”

While the words left her mouth she made no effort to move, or change pace.

So that’s what you’re doing. Well let’s see if you can keep up. He began to walk faster moving his bag to the opposite side of his body. She followed quickening her own pace. Oh? You’re really that determined? Fine then. He picked up the pace again, and she followed. He ran even faster, and she kept up with him.

This game of running faster kept up until they reached the main plaza. By that point the two were out of breath.

If we weren’t coming up on people I could have lost her.

*This was not a true fact

Now what? People are already staring at her slightly disheveled state.

He can run so fast! I never would have guessed, but he’s on pace with Mera! And I get the feeling he wasn’t even running at full speed. But still, these looks may come naturally but I have to work hard to keep my girlish figure. Do you understand who you’re going up against Saiki? I may have lost the battle at school, but this is the true fight!

She’s right. If this keeps up I won’t lose her. He side-eyed her as she began to fix her shirt. Brushing off invisible dust as she did. She’s still out of breath. He smirked. I think you mean to say that you don’t know who you’re messing with Teruhashi. He stood to his full height and slowed his somewhat labored breathing. He focused on the cross walk in front of him. Even if I don’t hit everyone. It should still work.

He reeled his head back before mentally screaming “This girl needs help!” And just as he hoped they were suddenly surrounded by people clamoring to help her.

"Do you need help?” “How can I help you?” “Do you want to sit down?” “Are you lost?”

Teruhashi stepped backwards at the sudden semi circle of people around her. Where did all these people come from?! I never said I needed any help! She looked around the crowd for a head of familiar pink hair. There was none to be found. But more importantly, where’s Saiki! I lost him again?! No!

Sorry Teruhashi. Try again sometime. Maybe one day you’ll actually catch me.

*He would regret thinking those words.

Wait what? I’ll regret what words?

I know! “Um, yes I do need help actually.” The crowd silenced at the sound of her voice. “You see I lost my friend. He was right next to me a second ago, but I lost him. I’m supposed to help him with something. Would you help me look?”

We already did this. I still won in the end, and even if she did send that crowd to look for me I’ve already teleported. There’s no way she’ll find me.

And much to her dismay, she did not. She spent an hour looking for him with the crowd, and another looking for him by herself. Eventually on the verge of collapsing she gave up and went home. All the while Saiki watched from the comfort of his room, coffee jelly in hand.

See. I told you she wouldn’t find me. I wasn’t worried.

However as Saiki went to bed that night he had a dream.

“No! No! How could you know?! I’ll do anything please!”

Saiki woke up throwing the blanket from his body, gripping his head as he felt the oncoming headache.

Well. Shit.

Chapter Text

He put his feet on the floor as he rubbed his fingers against his temples.

That was definitely a premunition, but of what part? If it’s a disaster I should have seen the full picture or the end result, but I didn’t see either.

He looked at the clock on his desk. It read 5:00 AM.

I still have time before I have to go to school. Maybe if I go back to sleep I’ll see how the disaster ends. If I know that much at least I can prevent it from happening.

And so he layed back down and waited. And waited.
.
.
.

I can’t get back to sleep.

He got up and began pacing his room.

Why her of all people? There’s no way the world actually revolves around her. God or not, I exist and this anime is about me.

He clenched his fists.

Ignoring that, I’ve never heard her that scared before. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself, so what happened that she was so afraid? And who exactly was she so afraid of?

He sighed as he sat down in his chair. He took off his glasses and looked at the ceiling.

I may not want her to get everything that she wants but if something happens to her it will surely affect me.

He crossed his eyes using clairvoyance to look at the sleeping girl. She was restful in her sleep and her surroundings were clear of anyone, including her perverted brother. He uncrossed his eyes blinking a few times as he waited for them to readjust.

If she’s not currently in danger that means it happens later in the day. Keeping an eye on her is easy enough while at school, but afterwards. . .

He shook his head before putting his glasses back on. He then made his way to the bathroom before he could let his mind wander down a dangerous path.

It’s too early for this anyway.

-

By the time he was finished with his morning routine it was 6 o’clock. With the exception of eating breakfast he was ready for school. He paced his room shortly before remembering he had to re-do his homework. He was tempted to use his powers to finish it quickly, but figured the distraction might calm-

I am calm. I’m perfectly fine. I can’t use my powers because that would look suspicious. That’s it.

Despite his efforts to take his time with the worksheet, he was still finished before his mom had even woken up. Deciding that just sitting wasn’t productive he went to the kitchen to make breakfast himself. When his mother did come down she was surprised to see him in the kitchen.

“Oh, Kusuo! What are you doing?” He’s never up this early during the week.

“Making breakfast.”

“. . .”

Saiki stopped whisking the batter in the bowl as he turned to look at his mother. Her head was tilted slightly as she continued to stare at him.

“What’s wrong?”

Kurumi sighed before making her way around the counter to stand next to him. She lightly grabbed his hand to pull him away from the unfinished meal. It was rare that he couldn’t read his mother, but at this moment it was as if she was a different person. Her expression was neutral and her mind was kept purposefully blank. The last time she had done this was when. . .

“Oh Ku! You’re home!” She stopped washing the dishes that were in the sink in favor of looking towards her youngest son. “How was your day? Did you have fun at school?”

When she had finally made her way around the counter she saw him trembling, eyes closed shut tight as he held something close to his chest.

Why is he trembling? What’s he holding? What’s going on? Is something wrong with his powers?

She inhaled deeply before settling her mind as she watched her son respond to her anxious feelings and thoughts.

“Kusuo sweetie, come here. What’s wrong? And what are you holding in your hands?”

He shook his head as his feet remained planted to the floor.

“Honey, I want to help.” She made the motion to move closer to him but was stopped suddenly.

“No! Don’t come closer!”

She blinked as she froze. Kurumi was used to hearing her son’s voice. She had been hearing it since he was 3 months old, he was highly intelligent after all. So the act of hearing him speak wasn’t surprising, it was that he didn’t use his powers to do so that caught her off guard. He hugged the object in his arms even tighter as the trembling worsened.

“I- I don’t I don’t want to. . .” His voice was so small she struggled to hear him “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She shook her head before lightly laughing to herself realizing he couldn’t see her. “Kusuo you could never hurt me. I know you. Whatever it is, you could never hurt me.” I promise.

He shook his head repeatedly as he sank to his knees.

His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke. “You don’t know that.” He squeezed the object even tighter before seemingly realizing if he squeezed even a touch more it would break. His breath was shaky as he released it.

Kurumi took a deep breath before walking towards him.

“No mom! You have to stay away from me! I need to wait for Kusuke! Please!”

She faintly registered that he was trying to yell, but as a result of rarely using his voice it wasn’t coming off as such.

“Mom please! I don’t want to hurt you! Mom!”

Standing directly in front of him as he continued to shake on the ground she gently leaned down and picked him up. If her grip wasn’t so strong she would have started shaking right along with him.

“Put me down! You have to put me down!”

He kicked his legs in a vain attempt to break free from her hold, and while he was more than strong enough too, that would risk hurting her. She walked over to the couch and sat down gently, fearing too sudden of a movement would break him.

“Put me down! Put me down! You have to get away from me! I’m a monster! Put me down! You have to put me down!”

Kusuo. Stop.

He stilled as her thoughts filtered into his head.

I’m not going anywhere. You can’t get rid of me. So stop.

He tensed slightly before quietly sobbing into her chest. She was shocked to hear him cry, but happy he was beginning to relax.

“Shh. It’s okay, Kusuo. I’m right here. I’m right here.”

He shook his head as if the action might erase the memory.

She hasn’t done this since I first got my powers of petrification. Why is she doing it now though?

“Kusuo sweetie, what’s on your mind?”

He looked at his mother expectantly waiting for her inner thoughts to filter into his head. As he continued to look and wait her mind was still quiet. It was one thing for him not to hear people when he put on his ring, but another thing when they were tuning him out.

“Nothing. I’m fine. Just hungry.” How long are we going to do this? I wasn’t done with the batter yet.

She sighed “I raised you better than that Kusuo. You know you can’t lie to me.”

Says the world’s worst liar. “Really. I’m fine. Just a bad dream.” There wouldn’t be any point telling you the truth anyway. I’ll handle it just as I handle everything else in my disastrous life. And what’s with the tone anyway? This is a comedy isn’t it?

“I didn’t think you did dream. Not really anyway.” she tilted her head as she turned to face him, “What was it about?”

Don’t do that like you're a dog. “My dream?”

“Yes. What was it about?”

Just what’s probably the end of the world. “I don’t-”

His mother’s face turned dark and her voice dropped 3 octaves “Kusuo if you lie to me again I will make sure you never see another coffee jelly as long as you live under this roof. Do you understand me?”

Kusuo was many things, in fact he was so many that there were too many to name. But the one thing he was not was disobedient. Especially when it came to his mother.

Scary. Good grief it’s really not that big of a deal. “It was just about a classmate.”

". . ."

I don’t like where this is going.

She gasped “Oh Ku!” My little boy is becoming a man!

I’m sorry I’m what?

“There’s no need to be embarrassed honey.” I think there’s been a misunderstanding. “Oooo! Was it about that pretty girl with blue hair? K- K- oh what was her name?” Stop. “Kokomi! That’s her name! Was it about her? Oh I bet it was!” She got up patting his head before walking back to the kitchen. I realize what you’ve assumed and I would like to remind you that this fic is rated T. “Don’t worry, I’ll make breakfast right away!”

He watched his mother finish off his batter. Oh. He got pretty far, I guess he wanted pancakes. Can do! Oh my little Ku!

On second thought, I take that back. I’m not that hungry anyway.

“Huh?” He heard his father come down the stairs with an audible yawn. “What’s with all the commotion?”

“Oh sweetie! You’ll never believe the dream our little Ku just had!” Stop.

“Hmm? What’s this now? What dream? Wait Kusuo you dream? I kinda just thought you closed your eyes.” What, like I’m a phone or something?

“You know! Kusuo’s at that age where-”

Whoops. Involuntarily teleported there. Guess I’ll skip the pancakes today, and it was a good batter too.

He looked at his surroundings, thankful there was no one around to question his sudden appearance in the alley.

Figuring out the rest of that premunition will also have to wait. With Aiura away on “business” I’m on my own here. Well he’s still here, but I try not to make contact with him if I can help it. The last thing I need is to stick out by associating with him.

*He is referring to a certain boy with purple hair

Fine then, off to school.

-

He arrived at school in record time, finding the campus primarily empty, even with him stopping quickly at a café to pick up breakfast. He made his way to the classroom belatedly realizing there was a small chance the teacher might not be in the room yet.

Who is my teacher anyway? I think it’s a woman but they're never around enough to have a consistent appearance, let alone knowledge of their gender.

He tried the classroom door, finding with little surprise that it was locked.

He sighed. Good grief, now what? I don’t just want to sit outside the classroom. That’s just pathetic.

He briefly entertained the idea of teleporting home but went up to the roof instead.

It’s a nice enough place to wait for school to start.

He looked down at the city below him. There were few people around due to the early time, but he knew the inherent silence wouldn’t last. He just wasn’t aware of how quickly the serenity would disappear.

You know, I’m supposed to be the narrator here. But what do you mean “it wouldn’t last?”

This is it Saiki! I’ve arrived at school so early there’s no way I won’t be able to keep track of you! If I get a good start I can keep it for the rest of the day!

Oh. I see. Funny.

Just you wait!

Well I’ll give this one to you Teruhashi, your plan might have worked. Well as long as I wasn’t a psychic, and if I wasn’t already here. But I am.

He watched with his clairvoyance as she made her way through the school dropping her bag off near their classroom and made the trip up to the roof. Seeing her coming he made sure there was ample time for him to turn invisible.

10 minutes isn’t long enough, I’ll just sit on the roof instead.

“This is perfect! Up here I can see everything! There’s no way he’ll be able to get past me. Then I’ll finally get payback for yesterday!”

Revenge is not something I thought you were capable of. What with the whole "perfect pretty girl" act.

“What am I saying?! Oh I hope no one heard me.” She frantically looked around the empty, well mostly empty, roof. Phew. No one heard me, my perfect pretty girl reputation is still intact. I heard you. Even still. . . me? And revenge? What’s wrong with me? I should be happy I got to spend time with him at all. He’s always so distant at school despite our best efforts to include him. Just because you- Don’t say it. Just because I- You’re mistaken. You don’t know what that word means.

She sighed. “Whatever. He’s not yours Kokomi, stop acting like it.” Still. I will find out what this mysterious errand is. “That much I do know.” She muttered to herself as more students started to pour into the campus.

You? Catch me? We’ll see about that.

He smi-

I did nothing of the sort. Don’t put words into my mouth. If anything I’m happy to accept the challenge. Maybe it’ll finally get her to give up.

He made an effort to fish out his keys from his bag, though it was awkward since he only had one hand.

I should have just let her catch me. Maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation if that was the case.

He looked to his right, jaw clenching slightly.

In some ways I suppose this could be considered my fault. But I’ll fix it. He whispered “I promise.”

It was 20 minutes until class started and Kokomi was still on the roof looking down for a familiar head of pink hair.

How is this possible! Saiki always makes sure he has enough time to sit down before too many people arrive! If I’ve learned anything about him, it’s that he doesn’t like to stick out.

I have mixed feelings about you coming to that conclusion.

She sighed. Okay think this through. If Saiki hasn’t arrived with Nendou and Kaidou yet it has to be for a good reason. . . right? No no of course it does. Perfect pretty girls don’t second guess themselves. She looked down at the courtyard once again finding a familiar pink ribbon on brown hair. That’s it!

She quickly rushed through the roof’s exit to the floor where she knew her friend would be waiting.

Well it’s fine that she’s going to use Yumehara as a second pair of eyes, but I won’t be coming in through the courtyard.

Saiki teleported home to gather his bag and other things he would need for school, as he was getting ready to go downstairs he looked at the keys on his desk.

I never need keys. I have telekinesis for that.

He stared at the keys for a moment longer before grabbing them and putting them in his bag.

I’m simply doing this because whenever she is involved things get complicated.

He silently walked down the stairs surprised to see his father still eating pancakes.

“Don’t you work?”

“Ah! Kusuo! I though you left already? And what are you talking about, I still have plenty of time to get-”

“Check a clock every once in a while.”

“Huh? What are you. . .” Kuniharu looked at his watch “AAHHHHH Kusuo! I’m going to be late for work! Please, you have to teleport me there!”

Saiki took a pancake his mother offered him and began eating it like a piece of toast.

“Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I can’t. I have to teleport myself back to school to make it on time, if I teleport you that won’t happen.”

Kuniharu fell to the floor “You can skip!” His father was tugging at his pants “Please Kusuo! I need you!”

“Stop whining, I have more important things to deal with. If you need to be on time so badly, don't lose track of time so easily.”

“But I was! Please, just this once!”

“It’s been more than once, and like I said I can’t.”

“Oh I’m sure your boss will understand honey, and have a good day at school dear!” His mother lightly waved at him.

“Kusuo I’ll do anything!”

Saiki kicked his father off his pantleg. Bye

He teleported back to school in a hallway nobody used. Successfully avoiding being seen he made his way to the classroom.

10 minutes is cutting it a little closer than usual.

“Oh Saiki! There you are, me and Nendou were wondering where you were. You didn’t walk to school with us.” Kaidou walked to the side of his desk.

“I came early.”

“Oh! Were you trying to get the jump on Dark Reunion? I’ve felt an evil presence since yesterday, can you feel it too Saiki?” Kadiou put his hand over his face as he looked throughout the room.

“Hey buddy! Where were you this morning? Were you feeling sick?” Nendou made his way around the front of the table to stand in front of him.

Never mind me, what happened to you?

Nendou made an effort to look where he was looking before laughing, “Bawahahaha! Oh this? I tripped a little.”

Down a mountain? You don’t get injuries like that from “tripping”.

“That car must have given you a concussion, Nendou, which is a shame since you don’t have a lot to lose.”

“What are you trying to say, squirt?” Nendou walked back around the table to stand in front of Kaidou.

“You got hit by a car trying to chase that penny that fell into the street, or did you forget?”

Silence.

“I did?” Nendou looked at his bandaged arm and leg. “Haha I don’t remember that. All I remember is falling and then being in a lot of pain.”

I really shouldn’t make fun of him. It’s a miracle that he can even stand right now, let alone talk to me. “You did fall, after, you got hit by the car.”

Saiki used his x-ray vision to stare at Nendou’s injuries. He saw several small fractures in his arm and one solid break in his leg.

Oh wow, you weren’t kidding. He’s standing on that without a cast?

“Oooooooh. So that’s why I never got that penny, oh well.”

“That’s all you have to say?! You could have died!”

“Awww were you worried about me? Hahaha I’ve got thick bones, you don't have to worry.”

Kaidou’s cheeks turned pink, whether from frustration or anger Saiki couldn’t tell.

“I wasn’t worried you idiot!” Kaidou stomped off to his seat

I know you have the whole Dark Reunion thing, but do you have to act like a child too?

“Did you see that buddy? He was totally worried about me.”

It was a car after all, anyone would reasonably be worried about getting hit by one. Oh, but I guess therein lies the problem.

“It was just a car. It wasn’t like a train or something. The squirt really needs to learn how to lighten up.” Nendou began hobbling back to his seat.

You’re an idiot.

As Saiki half heartedly watched Nendou hobble back to his seat he heard a commotion on the other side of the classroom door. As he glanced his eyes in that direction he saw a slightly frazzled Teruhashi.

“Kokomi, I'm sure he’s here somewhere. We just haven’t-” As she was trying to calm down the blue haired girl the brunette caught sight of who she was looking for.

“S-Saiki? When? But how?” Yumehara rapidly blinked at him before rubbing her eyes.

“Chiyo there’s no way he’s here, we were watching that whole time.” Unless he can suddenly turn invisible there is no way he would have been able to get past us.

“Kokomi look!” Yumehara grabbed her face and turned it toward him. While only for a split second she became a frazzled mess.

Saiki turned his head towards the window as he hid his mouth with his palm.

That was a better reaction than I was hoping for.

He heard the faint “Oh wow’s” as she straightened herself even more so than usual before walking over to him.

“Saiki?”

He turned his head to look at her.

“I was just wondering when you got to school today? The teacher asked me to give you something, but I never saw you arrive.”

He could hear the groans of “I wish Teruhashi would give me something.” and “I wish I was Saiki right now”

“I got here early.” Hmm that might raise questions, well it would if she hadn’t cornered herself.

Ugh! I want to ask him how that's possible, but if I show too much interest in Saiki people will get the wrong idea. They might think I like him, which I do. Don’t! It’s just a matter of figuring out how he keeps eluding me! That’s all! She smiled and the “Oh wow’s” erupted once again “Oh I see.”

She began heading back towards her seat, but before she could sit down he spoke up “What about the thing?”

She froze.

You don’t have anything. What will you do to uphold your image?

“Oh! How silly of me, I seem to have forgotten it at home.” she turned around to face him again “I was in such a rush to get to school to make sure I could give it to you, I ended up forgetting it in the process! I’m terribly sorry.” Did you think I wasn’t ready? I’m not caught off guard so easily.

She headed back to her seat as the teacher entered.

If anyone was keeping track of their little game the score would now read ‘Saiki 32 to Teruhashi 1’

I’m not surprised, but wasn’t that a little risky for you? If I didn’t know any better I'd say you were getting sloppy.

He faced the front of the class as the teacher, who he still didn’t pay much attention to, began the lesson.
And that was how the day went. He let Teruhashi follow him without ever letting her actually catch him, and he tried to trip her up in class. Be it when she was spacing out trying to figure out how she had lost him on a turn, or when he knew she didn’t know the answer to a question but still had the teacher call on her anyway.

To the outside observer this may seem cruel, but I’m actually doing this to help her.

*He was mostly just enjoying teasing her

Ignore that. If she’s already on guard at school, she’ll be fine outside of it. The premonition won’t happen, and the world won’t fall into some form of chaos.

He looked out at the city as he finished his lunch, choosing to avoid the too close space of the cafeteria by going to the roof and to keep K-

Hey.

To keep Teruhashi on her toes. It was as he was listening to the dull murmur of voices downstairs, and the far off noises of the city that his exhaustion hit him. He fell asleep leaning his head against the balcony rails.

“Fine, I'll do it.”

“Did you hear what happened?! Teruhashi isn’t coming to school anymore!”

“It’s horrible! Nobody’s seen her in days! What if she died?!” “That’s not possible! It’s not!”

“Teruhashi! Teruhashi! Where have you been?!”

“I’m sorry everyone, I have to go.”

“When will you be back?”

“I won’t be.”

“Teruhashi has moved! She’s never coming back to school!” “How could this happen?!”

“A war has started in America!”

“Teruhashi has been sent to space! Now nobody will ever get to see her beauty again waaaaaaahhh”

Saiki jolted awake.

You’re joking. There’s no way that’s the result. She gets sent to space?! And a war starts in America that spreads to the rest of the world, all because of her? Good grief, how is that even possible?

Saiki rubbed his temples as his headache returned to full force.

Even still, I don’t know what caused this. What’s the inciting incident?

He stood as the 5 minute bell rang.

Damn it, I was out longer than I thought.

Saiki walked down the stairs in a way that would have been considered a sprint for other people if it wasn’t for the fact that both feet remained on the ground at all times.

“Oh Saiki, there you are. You didn’t eat lunch with us.” Kaidou stood in front of him.

Saiki, with as little force as he could manage, pushed him to the side.

“Hey! What was that for? I just asked you a question.” Kaidou followed him back to his seat trying to get an answer out of him.

I don’t have time for this.

He looks pale. Maybe he’s sick. “Hey Saiki are you-”

“I’m fine Kaidou.” The last thing I need is you asking questions.

“Oh. Um well alright. I guess.” Kaidou shrinked in on himself as he made the way towards his seat.

Saiki discreetly scanned the room, irritated that she still hadn’t arrived. He eyed the brunette that was currently staring a hole in the side of his face.

She got up and walked towards him. He ignored her.

“Hey Saiki! You weren’t in the cafeteria today, where were you?”

“Eating lunch.”

Should have known it would be harder than that. “Oh I figured, I was just wondering where you ate lunch.”

“At school.” Saiki peered around her to see the door.

Grrr. “Haha I would hope so.” Her laugh was sarcastic but she continued on “I was more asking where in the school did you eat lunch.” Checkmate.

Never. And move you’re annoying and in the way. “In a place where you’re allowed to eat lunch.”

UUUUUGH!! Fine. Fine, fair enough. But I won’t give up! “Okay Saiki, I’m going to make this as clear as possible. Since you weren’t in the cafeteria, and you aren’t allowed to leave school grounds for lunch, you must have eaten here. Right?”

He looked at her once before turning his view back on the door.

“Since you ate lunch at school there are only a few options where you could have eaten.”

That you know of.

The minute bell rang as she leaned both her hands on his desk.

“You weren’t in the cafeteria, so that option is out. I saw you leave the classroom, so you didn’t eat in here. I had Kaidou check all the boy’s bathrooms, so you didn’t eat in there.”

Isn’t this edging on stalking? I know you’re one, but I didn’t think Teruhashi was.

“So that leaves the hallways, the courtyard, and the roof. With that being cleared up, where. Did. You. Eat. Lunch?”

Irrelevant. The bell is about to ring.

“Saiki, dont-”

Before she could berate him, the door to the classroom flew open and the bell rang. Teruhashi gracefully walked to her seat as the teacher followed behind.

“Alright everyone, to your seats.”

Saiki side-eyed the girl in front of him. She gripped his table in a feat that might have broken it, had he not used his own powers on the desk to stop that from ever happening.

“Ahem. Yumehara. Your seat please.”

She clenched her fists even tighter before making her way to her seat.

Saiki stared at the girl who was haunting his nightmares. He inwardly sighed.

Now what?

-

As the end of the day finally arrived he made sure he was the last out of his seat. He walked the halls of the school twice before going to the bathroom. And then he went to the roof for 10 minutes before heading to his locker. He was mildly concerned that nuisance A and B would try and ask him to go for ramen, but Nendou was hurt more than he thought and ended up at the hospital. Kaidou followed after him shortly after the ambulance left. So Saiki stood at the entrance to the courtyard, everyone long since having left except for those who had sports and club activities.

“Saiki, what a coincidence! I’m getting ready to leave now too. Maybe we could walk home together?” I assure you Saiki. This is no coincidence.

I know. You’ve been following me since I left the classroom. “I have my errand to run.”

“Oh, still? I thought the month had already come and gone.” She made no motion to leave, instead choosing to stare at him. When did he get so tall anyway? We were never at eye level, but now I have to look up at him.

“I do my errand alone Teruhashi.”

He-He said my name! No! Stop it! So what, he said your name. That’s not a big deal. At least 100 people say your name on the daily. Snap out of it Kokomi. “O-Oh.” WHAT WAS THAT! Next thing you know I’ll be blushing too! This is Saiki! You’re the perfect pretty girl, and the perfect pretty girl doesn’t get flustered! Especially not over someone who isn’t rich and refuses to say “Oh wow” whenever they see me! She cleared her throat. “What I meant to say was ‘Oh, what a coincidence! I have an errand to run too!’ So you can ignore what I said before. I thought I was going to sneeze which is why I lost my train of thought.

Saiki began walking towards the exit of the school as Teruhashi followed.

“You know our errands might be at the same place. Where are you going?” It’ll never be this simple.

Why does everyone care so much? It’s an errand. I’m not saving the world. I’m entitled to my privacy. “Why do you care anyway?”

He turned his head away from her as they kept walking. She stuttered slightly before she stopped.

“What. . . what do you mean?” Did he? Am I? No, there’s no way. But he sounds annoyed. No, no that's not right. He sounds angry

“Why are you so determined to know where I’m going? What do you have to gain?”

He turned around to face her.

“I-I don’t. I don’t understand what you’re trying to ask me.”

Saiki rolled his eyes as he continued walking to the shopping district. She hesitated slightly before she followed him.

Why do I care? Because. . . because.

She looked at him, really looked at him. His hair was slightly more disheveled than usual, his clothes were a little too neat like he was trying to make sure nobody suspected something was wrong, and his jaw was set tight as if he was tense.

“Because I care about you.” No that’s not true is it. I’m selfish. I thought if I learned everything about you that I would be able to get you to say “Oh wow”

It’s like I said. You don’t know the meaning of that word. You've had determination and the other one confused for so long, you don't know the difference between the two anymore.

But now.

She reached out for his hand before he had time to react. She pulled on it, forcing him to stop. He didn’t turn around, choosing instead to focus on the busy street just ahead of them. They were in a hallway-like space that led out into the main plaza. Teruhashi was purposefully making sure she was hidden behind Saiki to avoid onlookers. “That’s not why. I’m following you because, I want to know because.” She set her own jaw before exhaling a shaky breath. “I want to know where you’re going because you keep enough secrets as it is. But-But you’re entitled to your privacy, which is why I’ve never asked about it.” She held his hand tighter as she forced him to look at her. “I can figure out anyone based on just one look, but you’re different. I feel like you’re always hiding from us. I just couldn’t handle one more thing.” Her hand shook slightly before she released him.

What was that? Saiki will never believe I’m the perfect pretty girl now. But what does that even mean anyway? Probably not stalking the object of your affections, and it definitely doesn’t mean making them angry.

Teruhashi brought both her hands up to her chest before speaking again. “I-” No. Don’t lie. “You said that you want to do your errand alone, so I’ll go. I shouldn’t have followed you in the first place.” She took a deep breath forcing her smile onto her face, and making her halo brighter than ever. “I hope you do whatever you need to do. I’ll be going now.”

With that she walked away, the crowd parting for her as she left the hallway-like alley.

Saiki watched as she left before making a turn in the opposite direction from the “Oh wow’s” that could be heard throughout the street. He made it to the store in record time. Once he was in it he made his way around it faster than he had ever done so in the past. As the clerk rung up his items she eyed him curiously. After she rung up the last item she looked at him expectantly.

“What’s my balance?”

“O-Oh! Sorry it’s um-” She looked at the items that she had scanned before looking at him once again. “I’m sorry it’s just, you always buy a coffee jelly right? I thought that it was you, the pink hair is kinda hard to forget. But you, I mean not that you have to but, you didn’t buy any today.”

Saiki looked quickly over his own items before realizing the woman was right.

Tsk. “Thank you for reminding me.”

He quickly ran back towards the sweets aisle to grab the coffee jelly he had passed. He went back to the cashier who gave him his usual price, and then began bagging his items. As he was walking home he had to restrain himself from breaking something with how tightly he was holding the bags in his hands.

I can’t believe I let myself get distracted like that. Coffee jelly is the most important part about this errand.

He made his way into the house, breaking the door on his way in. With more force than necessary he began putting away the groceries. Once he was finished he made his way towards the stairs, fixing the door before heading to his room. Choosing to close the door with his telekinesis in hope the force wouldn’t break it. He sat still for all of a minute before he teleported to his father’s place of work.

“Oh Kusuo! This is a surprise. What are you doing here? I thought you had to go pick up groceries.”

“I did. Are you ready to leave?”

“Are you alright? You seem more irritated than usual? Is it because of that-”

Saiki grabbed at his father’s neck before he could finish his sentence

“Choose your next words very carefully.”

He released his neck and his father started coughing. “I was just going to ask if it was because of that test you had today! Nothing else.”

“I’m fine. Are you ready to leave or not?”

“Oh, yes. Yes we can go. Just let me put these papers in my bag first.”

He watched as his father carefully put the papers in a folder labeled ‘proofread’ before putting the folder in his bag.

“Okay, we can leave now.”

Saiki looked around once before teleporting. Once home he began walking back towards his room.

“Kusuo, are you sure you’re alright? You seem tense.”

I'm fine.

You're lying.

As Saiki yet again made his way back towards his room he slammed his door shut. There wasn’t enough force to break it this time, but the door cracked on its hinges. He sat at his desk bouncing his leg as he did so.

Tsk. What was she hoping to gain from that confession? I feel nothing as usual. If anything I’m just on edge from the stupid premunition. That’s it. Nothing else.

He clenched his fist tight enough that it would have made his hand bleed were it not for his own strength.

Damn it.

He used his clairvoyance to check in on the girl. He watched as she exited a small café.

She sighed “Maybe I can make it up to him somehow. Maybe with a coffee jelly? Or cake maybe? Though I think any sweet would be good enough. But what if he thinks I’m bribing him? That won’t work.”

She tripped as she was lost in thought. A man two times her size catching her before she could face plant on the pavement. The resounding “Oh wow” left his lips almost too fast for Saiki to hear.

“Oh! Thank you, that would have been a disaster.”

She righted herself but the man still held onto her.

“It was no problem, but you should really watch where you’re going. We wouldn’t want your pretty face to get damaged, would we?”

Your hold has exceeded the amount of time allowed. It’s time for you to let go. “Haha, you’re right.” She began pushing her hands against him but he held strong.

She’s right, it’s time for you to let go.

“What do you say I walk you home? To prevent any,” The man eyed her up and down letting his hands shift lower down her back. “More unfortunate incidents.”

Teruhashi tensed slightly. Is he for real right now? Like I would ever walk home with him. His face looks like it was pieced together by a 5 year old, his hair is the ugliest shade of yellow I have ever seen, his haircut makes Nendou’s look good by comparison, and his breath stinks. The only thing he has going for him is the car I’m assuming he’s leaning on, but by the looks of it he’s still paying that off. Does he really think he has a chance with me? She smiled a touch brighter. “I appreciate the offer, but no thank you. I’m perfectly fine on my own.” She once again tried to push away from him, but the man brought her flush against him squeezing her arm to the point where it would bruise.

“Look little girl, this isn’t up for negotiating. I saw you yesterday in this plaza, and I knew you had to be mine. You go to PK Academy, you’re in class 2-A, your full name is Teruhashi Kokomi, and your best friend's name is Yumehara Chiyo. Yesterday you were with some pink haired boy who left as soon as you were surrounded by all those people.”

Kokomi let her face fall. “I’m sorry you have the wrong person.”

The man laughed against her, forcing her to hold her breath so as to not breathe in the acidity of his rancid breath. “You’re funny, but I know it’s all true. I have the pictures to prove it.”

The man began walking them towards an alleyway moving his hand in a way that made it seem like she was willingly going along with him.

If he gets me in the alley I’ll be trapped.

Before she could call out for help the man spoke at the base of her ear.

“Your brother’s name is Makoto Teruhashi, but he goes by an Alias. If you scream I'll make sure that he’ll never see a day’s peace ever again. And if that isn’t good enough I’ll make sure your little friend’s house mysteriously burns down.

She held her breath as she forced herself not to shake and to cry. Don't give in. Stall. Do something, anything.

The man walked to the far end of the alley where no light would reach so that nobody would pay attention to them. And even on the slim chance someone did notice he was blocking her from sight.

“What do you want from me?” She let herself be guided until she was facing the wall directly in front of her. The man quickly turned her around and forced her back against the wall. Slotting a leg between hers and pinning her hands above her head. With his other hand he slowly let it crawl up her chest.

“Be mine. All mine and nobody else’s.”

She managed to scoff despite using most of her strength not to shake “And why on earth would I do that.”You can get yourself out of this. You're fine. Stall. Stall. Stall.

He brought his face to her neck and she forced down a shiver.

“Saiki is your little crushes name. I’ll make sure to ruin his life too.”

Her eyes blew wide “No! No! How could you know?! I’ll do anything please!” She couldn’t hold back the tears that were beginning to stream down her face. No no no. Please no. I can't do that to him. Not to Yumehara, or Saiki. I could never forgive myself. Please somebody!

“Then you’ll be mine?” The man licked at her neck gripping her wrists tighter. Anybody!

“I-" Help!

“No way in hell.”

Chapter Text

Saiki was standing in the entrance of the alley having arrived just before Teruhashi could respond to the repulsive man’s request.

If I was a second later she would have- no. The point is I’m here.

The man turned his head to face him but kept Teruhashi pinned to the wall.

“Huh? Who the hell are you?”

Saiki continued to stare at the man in front of him.

I’m here but now what? I’m at a serious disadvantage.

“Oh yeah! I remember you! You were with my prize here yesterday.” The man smirked revealing yellowed teeth.

Yesterday? But. . .

Teruhashi strained her neck to see around the man who was trapping her against the wall.

Saiki! Please help me! No, no wait! Get away from here! This man is dangerous, he knows so much. I don’t want you to get hurt. If he wants me he can have me, just get away.

She forced her voice to stay calm. “This doesn’t concern you. Leave.” Please.

Saiki locked eyes with her for only a second, but he saw the sheer terror in her eye, but more importantly, her earnesty to keep him safe.

“What a touching reunion! How about this? I’ll take you both, that way you two don’t have to leave each other’s side.”

Saiki looked back at the man in what he knew was a glare. He could feel his powers brimming under the surface of his fingertips.

Teruhashi once again tried to force her way out of the man's hold, pushing against the grip he had on her hands.

“No! Leave him out of this!”

“Huh? So eager, I like that in a woman. Unfortunately sweetheart, you’ll have to wait.”

The man licked at her neck as she pulled away. The wall broke to the right side of them but neither seemed to notice.

She tried once again to break free with more force. “I said-”

“Ugh, too eager.”

The man used his free hand to bang her head against the wall. Her vision went blurry before she fell limp in the man’s arms.

“Women am I-”

Before the man could finish his sentence Saiki was right in front of him.

“Right. Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing so close?”

“Let her go. Now.”

“Haha! Are you threatening me kid? You realize I’m taller than you right? Stronger too I bet.”

The man let the limp girl in his hands sink to the ground, though before she could touch the floor Saiki caught her with telekinesis. The man not noticing this grabbed his collar.

He smiled in a way that Saiki assumed was supposed to be reassuring. “I’ll go easy on you if you beg. I’ve been curious about little boys for a while now. Teenage girls just get too predictable. All the screaming and the begging, it's just so irritating.”

"1."

“Were you not listening to me kid? I told you to beg.” The man tightened his hold on his collar.

"2."

The man shivered. What the hell? I feel like I’m holding some pro wrestler, not some teenage kid. Snap out of it. “Fine! Since you didn’t beg I’ll make your life a living hell! You’ll wish I just killed you when I’m done with you!”

“3.” Saiki grabbed the man’s arms that were gripping his collar, tightening them the longer the man held him. He tried to move them but found that the pressure was increasing. He let go of his collar.

“The fuck? Let go! You little shit, I said let go!”

He thrashed against Saiki’s hold to no avail. The grip getting tighter.

“You’re crazy! You’ll break my arms!”

He kept holding, listening as he heard the beginning of a crack in both forearms.

“AAAAGH!”

The man tried to drop to the floor and scurry backwards, but Saiki caught his collar before he could.

“What was it you said?” Saiki stared at the man who was now at eye level with him. “You’d make my life a living hell? You’d make me wish I was dead when you were through with me?”

The man was quivering in his hold. He tried to move his arms to swing at him, but the movement only increased the fracture.

Saiki tilted his head “You know the problem with people like you?” Saiki brought his free hand up and punched the man right above his stomach.

“AGH!”

“You make it so hard to want to hold back.” Saiki twisted his hand in the man’s gut.

“AAAAAGH! Stop!” What the hell is this kid? He’s a monster! A psychopath!

“No. You’re those things. I’m just your average.” He stepped on the man’s right foot with enough force to break all the toes at once. “GAAAAh!”

“Everyday.” He removed the hand from the man’s gut to grip his nose. He twisted it with a flick of his wrist. “GAUH!”

“Teenage boy.” He dropped the man who fell to the floor hitting his head on the way down. He shook his head trying to scramble away from him, but Saiki stepped on his chest.

“Get-Get away from me! You freak! You're a psychopath! You Monster! You animal! You-”

Saiki clenched his fist and the man's jaw dislocated before cracking.

“You’re annoying.” Saiki increased the pressure on his sternum. He watched as the man began to struggle even more to breathe. He began to gasp as he pressed harder.

I can’t breathe! I’m going to die!

Saiki stopped his pressure and forced the man on his side with his foot. He began coughing up blood. Trembling as he turned to look up at him. The man tried to speak.

“W-” The man’s voice was raspy from the sudden assault of blood in his throat, and sounded muffled from the broken nose.

“You can still talk? That’s impressive.”

“W-w what.”

“You’re taking too long.”

J-Just what is this kid?

Saiki smirked “I’m a fucking God.”

Then kill me! Death would be better than this! This is hell! Please just kill me! I’m begging you! I’ll do anything! Have mercy!

Saiki raised an eyebrow before frowning. “As if you deserve mercy.”

Saiki picked the man up with his telekinesis and forced him against the wall, making sure to do exactly what he did to Teruhashi. The difference being he made sure he stayed awake.

“If I ever see you around here again, I’ll break every bone in your body. If I ever hear you think about doing what you did today to someone else, I’ll rearrange your organs. And if I ever hear you think about her again,” He forced him to look at the girl who was slumped against the wall, bangs obscuring her face from view. “I’ll break off all your limbs. Rearrange your organs. Rip out your tongue, and then feed the rest of you to my cat. And I’ll make sure you feel every part of it.”

Saiki dropped him to the floor knowing full well the man sprained his ankle with the way he fell. Though the man didn’t scream in pain this time.

“Leave. I’m sick of looking at your face.”

The man nodded quickly and tried to get up several times, but each time he fell due to another body part aching from the abuse. Saiki glared after the 5th attempt, and the man’s adrenaline seemed to kick in. He got up off the floor, using the wall as support, and made his way out of the alley hobbling all the way. Saiki used his powers to make sure nobody noticed the man’s mangled appearance until he was far away from them. He looked over to the girl who was still hovering just above the cold alley floor. She was still out and he couldn’t tell if that was a good thing.

"Shit."

-

He quickly made his way over to her limp form and kneeled in front of her. He used his x-ray vision to make sure that nothing was broken, and to his relief there was nothing wrong. He was about to touch the back of her head before he hesitated.

After what’s just happened I should ask, but I can’t. If she’s bleeding, that will only make it harder to wake her up.

He clenched his jaw before using restoration on her head. Though other than the fact he saw his hands glow, nothing changed.

"Sorry."

Barely touching her he leaned her head against his shoulder to get a better look at the back of her head. There was no blood, and her skull remained unfractured. He sighed in relief. He then carefully leaned her back against the wall in what he hoped was a more comfortable position.

How do I wake her up? We can’t stay here, it’s getting dark.

He quickly scanned her face once again, and as if feeling his gaze she lolled her head to the side. He watched her vision go in and out before focusing on his chest. Once her vision was completely focused she looked up to meet his eyes.

S-Saiki? Is that? I don’t. . .

She looked around at her surroundings, before looking back at him. Her body relaxed before every muscle tightened at once.

“Where is he? No, wait. We need to run! He might come back! We have to-”

He cut her off “He’s gone. I took care of him.”

Her eyes quickly scanned the area once again trying to assure herself of his words. When she seemed satisfied that he was telling the truth, she relaxed slightly.

"O-oh."

She seems fine physically, that’s good. “Can you stand?”

No. No. I can’t, he can’t see me like this. Please not like this.

She turned her head away from him, but nodded. Bringing her hands to support her efforts she made the move to stand. Before she was fully up straight her legs gave out on her and she fell to the floor, scuffing both her knees.

Work body! Come on! “Sorry, just.” Get up!

“Teruhashi.”

Get up! You’re not weak! This isn’t your first time! Stop acting like this is a big deal!

Saiki clenched his fists and the wall to his left fractured, now matching the one on the right.

“Teruhashi.”

Just get up! Get up and go home, and then cry under the sheets. No, thank Saiki, get up, and then go home and cry under the sheets. Just like always. Just. Get. Up!

“Teru-”

“Sorry, I. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

He watched as she struggled to swallow. She blinked rapidly before closing her eyes shut.

“I, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She clenched her own fists as her lips trembled. “It’s not hard, I just have to get up. I just-” She gasped for air as she once again tried to fight her tears “I just have to-” Tears began streaming down her face. “I-I I just, I just have to- to.” She brought her hand up to her mouth to cover her quiet sobs. She began shaking as the adrenaline completely left her system.

“Can-” what do I do? What’s the average- what’s the response here? Getting her out of here, but she can’t even walk. Not that I blame her.

Then as if her body was protesting against her existence she fell onto his chest. Saiki tensed.

Well now she’s touching me.

Brokenly she whispered into his chest “I’m sorry.”

Saiki’s eyes widened before he fixed his expression.

“Can I- Am I allowed.” There’s no way to make this not sound horrible given what just happened. “Can I hug you?” That’s safe. Safer than the other version of that sentence anyway.

Please. “I-” Yes. Make it stop. Please.

It doesn’t count if it’s not out loud. “I- I don’t have to.” He tried to carefully pull back, but she tightened her grip on his shirt.

It was so faint, and he almost didn’t hear it. But it’s quietness spoke volumes louder than if she was using her normal voice. “Please.”

Shaking slightly, not used to giving hugs, he brought both arms around her back. She gasped before she started crying again. She pulled closer to him crying into the crook of his neck instead. He brought her closer until she was fully holding onto his body, and she cried even harder once he did. Then as if the sky was watching the occurrence, it began to rain. Saiki just pulled her closer using his pyrokinesis to make his body warmer than it was.

-

He didn’t know how long they sat like that in the rain, but he knew it had to be at least 10 minutes. Kokomi never let go of him in all that time. Half of him believed she fell asleep, but the other half could still pick up on her very quiet conscious thoughts.

Trying to make his voice softer so to not scare her, he spoke again“Teruhashi, I’m going to pick you up. Is that okay?”

She nodded slightly, but made no effort to speak. And while it was awkward without being able to use his powers, he was able to get in a standing position. Once both her feet were on the floor as best they could be, he brought one hand underneath both her knees, and the other supported her back. She didn’t make a sound throughout the movement, the only way he knew she was still responding was her quick latch onto his neck as she was lifted off the ground. Once she felt like she was secure she let her hands fall into her lap.

She seems so small like this.

He stared for a second longer before shaking his head and made the motion to start walking out the alley. She tensed after his first steps.

“Sorry, I should have told you I was going to start walking.”

She shook her head before relaxing again.

“Tap my arm when you’re ready for me to start walking.”

She was still for a minute before she tapped on his arm.

“I’m walking now.”

He turned invisible before heading out into the alley, though being seen seemed to be the least of the blue haired girls' concern at the moment.

I’m so tired. I just want to sleep, Saiki won’t let anything happen to me. I need to thank him, I need to. Before. . . before I. . . . . . Before I lose consciousness.

“Th-thank you, for saving me. I’m. . . I’m sorry.”

He wanted to look at her, but their current position didn’t allow for that.

Sorry? Why is she sorry? She didn’t do anything wrong, that bastard is the one who should be saying sorry.

He sighed as he continued to walk to his house.

I hope mom knows what to do. Even with all my powers, I’ve never felt as helpless as I do now. Good grief, when did this fic become a drama?

-

He opened the door with his key for the first time in ages, it was foreign to him from not having done it in so long. He was tempted to unlock it with his telekinesis like he has done for the past several years, but Kokomi had been slipping in and out of consciousness the entire walk home. He didn't want to risk her seeing the door magically open, and then having something else to worry about. So the keys it was.

“Oh Ku!” He heard his mom call to him from the kitchen, she was coming around the corner into the foyer, “I was worried when your father said that you were gone. The forecast said it was going to rain and-” She stopped cold when she saw him.

“Honey what’s wrong? It’s just Kusuo right? I told you he’s more than capable of-” His father stopped in much the same way his mother had.

This probably looks even worse than I already imagined it did.

Saiki stood in the foyer drenched, his wet hair sticking to his forehead, and green glasses streaky from the rain. In his arms he held Kokomi who was just as wet as he was, with the exception of the side of her body that was touching him. Her wrists were bruised and her knees weren’t faring much better with the force that she had fallen onto them. The only sign that she was alive was the fact she was shivering, her face hidden in Saiki’s neck. The girl's glow was also distinctly missing from around her body. There was an eerie silence throughout the Saiki household.

Kuniharu walked forward trembling slightly as he went to stand besides his wife, though he made no motion to speak or think.

Kurumi opened her mouth to say something but closed it just as quickly, bringing her hands to cover her mouth.

The apparent stillness was broken as the girl shifted, doing her best to get warm despite her wet clothes. Saiki carefully moved around his parents into the living room to lightly set her down on the couch, he paused to dry her off with his powers before setting her down. He then did the same to himself before going to sit down at the kitchen table. Kuniharu and Kurumi watched the exchange silently.

“She's tired, I don’t think she’ll wake up anytime soon.”

His parents flinched slightly before looking over to him. They glanced at Kokomi once more before walking over to join him at the table. They sat across from him both staring intently without any thoughts, and without saying anything. His mom recovered after she had grabbed his father’s hand. Though her voice was quiet when she spoke.

“Kusuo, what happened.”

Saiki waited for her internal thoughts, but the only thing that followed was uncomfortable silence.

That’s not really my place to say. I know I brought her here in hopes they would be able to help, mom more so than dad, but this didn’t happen to me. He glanced back over to the girl who was sleeping on his couch.

“We should probably wrap the scratches on her legs so they don’t-”

“Kusuo.” His mother’s face hardened, and while he wasn’t looking he could feel her gaze. She sighed “What happened?”

He didn’t look at her, instead he got up from his seat in hopes of finding a first aid kit. His mother grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Kusuo what-”

“I need,” He sighed. “I need a minute.” He looked at her “I need a minute.”

Kurumi searched her son’s eyes for a moment longer before releasing her hold. Saiki went upstairs to look for the first aid kit. To his parents' credit, they were either too stunned to bombard him with thoughts, or they were talking in hushed tones as to not disturb him.

He sighed as he began searching for the kit. What should I say? Her privacy has been violated enough for a lifetime, the last thing she needs is someone talking about something that she obviously would like to pretend never happened. If her thoughts were true- of course they were. That means she really does take that ‘perfect pretty girl’ image to her grave. He grimaced. Is that why? Because she. . .

Saiki shook his head as he opened the cabinet in the last place he knew the kit was. His parents had stopped buying as much supplies as a result of him being able to heal most injuries, they still kept stuff on hand incase of emergencies though. He didn’t understand when he was younger, but he was grateful for it now.

When he walked back downstairs the hushed tones of his parents stopped. They watched him as he walked over to the sleeping girl.

“Kusuo,” It was his father this time “Do you know what you’re doing?” He paused. “You can end up making the situation worse if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

He looked over to him “Do you?”

“This may be hard to believe but we did function before you and your powers, Kusuo. I know how to use a first aid kit, and even if I didn’t your mom does.”

Saiki looked back to Kokomi for a second before looking at his parents again. He held the first aid kit up for them to take from him. Kuniharu made the move to get up but Saiki stopped him.

“Mom should do it.”

“What? I just told you that I can!”

Saiki clenched the kit tighter “Mom should do it.”

Kuniharu furrowed his eyebrows for a second before seeming to understand the subtext of the situation and sat back down. Kurumi got up and took the kit from him, kneeling next to Kokomi all in one motion. Saiki watched as she opened a wipe and gently applied it to the skin on her knees, her foot spasmed, though from reflex or the wipe he couldn’t tell. She then ever so gently wrapped one knee and then the other before setting a blanket over her lower half. She then looked at Kokomi’s wrist frowning and took out bandages for them as well.

Does she really need them? It didn’t seem that bad.

“She technically doesn’t need these, but the skin will be sensitive. It also looks like this isn’t the first time she’s received injuries like this. I’m just taking a precaution.” Kurumi looked at him before resuming her ministrations.

Did I say that out loud? No, absolutely not. Then how. . .?

“I’m your mother Kusuo, it’s my job to know what you’re thinking.”

Saiki flinched before frowning. If that was the case then what was this morning about? He shook his head. That's not important right now.

“Kusuo,” His father again “We understand you’re trying to. . . to protect Kokomi, but. . .” Saiki looked at his father and noticed he was fiddling with his watch. “But in order to help.” Kuniharu sighed “We just need to know if it’s as bad as we’re thinking.”

“The more we know the better we can help. Both her,” He didn’t know when but his mother was standing next to him “and you.” She lightly touched his arm before urging him back to his chair.

Me? “I don’t need help.”

His mother’s lips formed into a thin line, and Saiki watched as his parents looked at one another before looking back at him.

“One thing at a time, Kusuo. Just tell us what happened, as best you can since,”

Since Teruhashi is still asleep. “I found her.”

His parents waited a moment before speaking “You found her? Like, like that?”

“No.”

Kurumi furrowed her eyebrows “So you didn’t find her like that?”

“Yes.”

Kuniharu took off his glasses to rub his sinuses before putting them back on to look at him. “So you did and didn’t find her like that?”

“No.”

“Kusuo this isn’t productive!” Kurumi slapped a hand over her husband's mouth before they all turned to look in the direction of the couch. They all sighed before looking at one another again. Kuniharu let out a muffled “sorry.” before Saiki spoke again.

“She was,” She was about to be assaulted, and she has been assaulted at least 1 other time previous to this. “In a situation.” That would have traumatized her more than she already is. “She didn’t want to be in it, and her thoughts alerted me that she was having trouble finding a way out.” She was being overpowered and blackmailed, she was frozen in fear “I gave her the way out.”

In unison his parents had the same thought. He stopped her from being assaulted.

Saiki was glad he had years of practice not responding to people’s thoughts, and he was even more grateful that his poker face was as good as it was.

Kurumi got up and went back to the kitchen. “She’ll stay with us for the night, and we can figure the rest of the details out tomorrow.”

“We can’t make her stay if she doe-”

“This isn’t up for debate.”

Saiki didn’t say another word.

-

Kokomi woke up with blurry vision realizing two things very quickly. The first being that this wasn’t her living room, and the second being that she smelled food.

Where am I? What happened to me? Am I- no breathe. Saiki found you in the alley, something happened, you woke up and Saiki was still in the alley but the man was missing, you. . . She paused. You- did some stuff and then Saiki started walking. So that must mean he took you to his house. There’s a blanket over my legs, so maybe if his parents aren’t home they haven’t seen the state of my knees. The best case scenario is that I can tell them I’m fine and go home. Worst case is that I’ve missed something while I was asleep.

Saiki stopped on the last step of the stairs to marvel at her quick recovery, having gone to his room to sort through what to do next. She figured that all out on her own? She’s even more intuitive than I gave her credit for, unfortunately she won’t be getting the situation she hoped for.

He walked into the living room, his presence alerting his mother. She had slowed her cooking speed considerably to make sure that Kokomi at least had a fighting chance to wake up and join them to eat. Reheating the food wasn’t bad, but his mother seemed insistent on the issue. Kurumi was about to speak before she watched him walk over to Kokomi.

Kusuo? What are you doing? She’s still asleep.

“Teruhashi.”

Kokomi turned her head to look at him, sitting up as he kneeled on the ground next to her.

“Hi Saiki.” I want to touch him to make sure this isn’t a dream, but if it isn’t that might be awkward.

“How,” he paused. She’s obviously not fine, and even if she did want to tell me the truth since I was there, my mom’s in the room. They might have guessed correctly but she doesn’t know that.

Kokomi looked at him silently searching his eyes for what he was going to say next.

Well say something “Are you hungry?” Why did that feel so unnecessarily awkward?

Kokomi blinked several times before a small smile appeared on her face.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Saiki flounder like that before. If the situation weren’t what it is I might have laughed. . . but—but it is.

“I’m not, but thank you.”

Saiki looked to his mother, who was now standing near the dining room table, before projecting the words “I told you” into her mind. Kurumi ignored him and walked over to them.

“I couldn’t help overhearing, are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

Not good, saying no to Saiki is one thing, but his mother? She still thinks I’m perfect, I can’t destroy that, no matter how much the idea of eating is making me sick. No wait,

Kokomi turned to Kurumi, as best as she could without getting off the couch. “I had a really big lunch, so I’m not very hungry. Thank you though, I really do appreciate the offer.”

Kurumi stared at her. It sent a shiver down both the teens' spines. Kurumi then looked at her son, who then quickly got up from his spot to stand at the head of the couch. Kurumi then looked back at the blue haired girl.

“Kokomi, I know you may not feel hungry, but you have to eat. It was- it was raining lightly when Kusuo brought you home.”

She didn’t say Ku, I wonder if K- Teruhashi will pick up on what that means.

“You might get sick.”

Kokomi looked down at the blanket atop her legs, the glow that had faintly returned disappearing again.

Kurumi sighed “You- Saiki told us that he. . . that he found you.” A lie. “And that he didn’t know what had happened.” Another lie. “You don’t have to tell us, but it’s late and I don’t feel comfortable sending you home. I’m sure your parents would agree, and if you’re worried I can call and talk to them myself.”

I doubt they’d be up right now. A 16 hour time difference makes things difficult. I think it’s 4 o’ clock right now, though I don’t know if they’ve been moved again.

Why are they in the states?

“Unless your parents aren’t your care takers?”

Technically it could be argued my brother is my caretaker since he’s home more often, though he went to go shoot a show the second week of the month, so he won’t be home for a while.

Saiki clenched his jaw. “Kokomi?”

“I really do appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I really shouldn’t stay. I really need to get home.”

I don’t want to impose on Saiki more than I already have, he lied to his parents, somehow got that monster away from me, and carried me all the way back here. Staying over would be too much.

Kurumi set her face, her voice was firm but gentle “Kokomi I can’t let you go home. Both as a mother and as a member of the neighborhood watch, I’m sorry but you’re staying here for the night. We have more than enough room, and it’s more than late enough.”

Kokomi tried to protest “But-”

Kurumi cut her off “This isn’t up for debate. I’m sorry.” She stood up and walked back towards the kitchen, but then paused “And you don’t have to worry about what we might think of you. We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Take her to the bathroom to wash her hands, Kusuo. Tell her to mind her wrists, and help her up the stairs if she needs it.

Saiki walked back around the couch to kneel where he had been before. Kokomi didn’t meet his eyes.

“You don’t have to eat more than two bites, but she’s not going to leave you alone till you eat.” He was projecting into only her mind so that his mother wouldn’t interfere.

Saiki watched as she struggled to swallow before she nodded her head.

“Okay.”

Kokomi swiveled her legs, being careful not to hit him, before she looked down at her knees. It was then that she actually made the effort to look at her body. Both her wrists were bandaged along with her knees, the upper part of her right arm was also bandaged.

This is bad, but it’s been worse. Worst than the first time, but better than the second.

Saiki strained himself not to break the dining room table, instead offering his hand.

“I can show you where the bathroom is so that you can wash your hands, and help you if. . .”

If I can’t walk.

Kokomi took a deep breath before standing, she wobbled but stayed upright.

“I’d be grateful if you could show me where the bathroom is. And um,” She fiddled with one of the bandages on her wrist “Thank you for not telling them what happened. I appreciate it.”

He nodded before walking around the couch to go into the foyer. Kokomi wobbled a bit on the first step but quickly followed after.

-

Saiki walked up the stairs slower than he usually would to make sure Kokomi could keep pace, but fast enough so that it didn’t look like he was pitying her. He didn’t actually have to be a mind reader to tell that it would hurt her pride if she did think that’s what he was doing. He was trying to be considerate, which was a foreign concept to him. Though it seemed like he was doing a good job until he had gotten to the second to last step, he had made it to the top, but Kokomi had slipped on the step. It had broken a long time ago, but he had missed fixing it once when he was 14 and it was now perpetually slanted. His father had promised to fix it a long time ago but had never gotten around. Saiki cursed his father for his cheapness now. Not wanting Kokomi to slip, he grabbed her left arm as lightly as he could, more so using his powers than his actual strength, and pulled her up to the top of the stairs. Unfortunately he ended up stepping on the accursed step and slipped himself. Being a millisecond too slow he missed the banister and fell down the stairs banging his head on the tile floor below.

I can’t believe I let that happen. I’m an all powerful psychic, I do not fall. He sighed staying in the position he was in too frustrated with himself to move.

To her credit Kokomi made it down the stairs a lot faster than she had made it up them, though it was hard to tell if that was just because of the adrenaline that was now pumping through her system.

“Saiki, are you okay?” She looked like she wanted to kneel down next to him, but her scuffed legs made it too difficult to do so.

I’m fine. Annoyed but fine.

Kurumi came out shortly after she heard the thud to play the part of worried mother, but when she saw that he was on his back he noted genuine concern.

I’m fine mom, I just slipped.

Kurumi sighed in relief, before slipping back into the role of the “concerned mother^TM”.

“Kusuo sweetie, are you alright?”

Saiki withheld his grimace at his mother’s horrible acting skill, but otherwise didn’t respond. He stared at the ceiling a moment longer before sitting up, and then standing completely. His mother hovered her hands around him in case he fell, even though she knew full well he wouldn’t. He then did a mental inventory to make sure nothing happened to him, or his limiters, and when he was satisfied he physically checked his head to play into the act.

He turned toward Kokomi who still seemed to be frantically searching him up and down with her eyes to make sure nothing was wrong. “I’m alright.”

“But you fell! Down 12 steps!”

Did you count that just now? “Yes. And it surprised me, but I’m fine.”

Kurumi piped in as well “My Ku has always had a hard head sweetie, he’ll be alright. Won’t you Ku?”

He nodded.

“But!”

“I’m fine Teruhashi. I’m fine.”

And with that he went up the stairs for the second time, Kokomi swayed in place for a moment before following after him. Both of them avoided the second to last step.

Chapter Text

It was. . . quiet to say the least. Saiki had prepared himself mentally for all sorts of issues in the short time he was in his room, ranging from his parents slipping up, to Kokomi passing out at the sight of food. However, there wasn’t a single instance where it was just quiet.

This is unnerving.

Saiki wasn’t used to the quiet, not that he didn’t mind, usually anyway. The thing was he wasn’t used to it. Being a psychic meant it was never truly silent, people always had thoughts going through their heads after all. Even while they were asleep, though it was rare, he could hear people’s thoughts. Yet it was utterly and completely quiet, not even the chewing of food, or the scraping of utensils could be heard.

Isn’t there a saying about this somewhere? It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop or something?

He glanced at the girl sitting next to him. She had tactfully moved the food around in her bowl enough for it to at least look like she was eating. Though no food actually made it to her mouth.

Saiki looked back at his parents, ‘One of you say something.’

They both jumped, grateful that Teruhashi had been looking down rather than up at them.

His father raised both eyebrows when he looked at him.

We’re trying not to scare her here. This is a. . . delicate situation.

He frowned. ‘So you kidnap her, force her to eat against her will, and when she broches the topic of leaving, you shoot her down by guilt tripping her.’

His mother glared at him and he flinched.

Kusuo I know you may not. . . like our methods, but what we’re doing is important for Kokomi. Some part of you has to realize that.

He clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. ‘You’re still avoiding it.’

Kuniharu glanced at his wife before looking back at him.

Avoiding what Kusuo?

‘The real reason why we’re keeping her here.’

Silence.

Don’t worry about it Kusuo, it was his mother this time, it’s not something you need to be thinking about.

His eyes widened.

What does that mean?

It was rare his parents kept him in the dark about things. Trying to shelter your kid who happens to be able to look inside people’s mind makes that difficult. So when he was younger if he had any questions, he would usually get the answer, no matter what the question was. But before he could ask, his mother changed the subject.

“Kokomi sweetie, your determination to not eat is impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen such a powerful drive since Ku was on his “dessert before dinner” spree.”

Dessert before dinner? I can see Saiki being like that when he was a kid. A small smile spread over her face, but she quickly squashed it before the feeling could grow.

No. No good feelings right now, they turn bad in an instant. Just stay numb, don’t process. You know better

A figurine in Kuniharu’s collection broke, but nobody noticed.

“Unfortunately,” Kokomi looked at Kurumi, “I can tell that you haven’t actually touched your food.”

Teruhashi and Saiki both shared a small grimace. I was hoping she wouldn’t notice.

Kokomi forced herself to swallow before speaking, though she felt her stomach revolt at the simple action. “I haven’t taken a bite yet?” Fake cheerfulness isn’t necessary. “I didn’t notice! I was lost in thought. It happens sometimes. It used to be a bad habit when I was younger and-”

Kurumi cut her off “And now you’re stalling.”

Kokomi slowly closed her mouth that had still been open, having been cut off in the middle of her sentence. She didn’t know when exactly but at some point she had started scratching at her legs. Ordinarily this wasn’t an issue, but today wasn’t ordinary.

Great, now I probably need more bandages. “Kokomi,” A question. Ugh why am I so bad at this today! I’ve done this two times before. Stop acting like a big baby and pull yourself together! Your Teruhashi Kokomi! “Kokomi.” A statement. Just lift the food to your mouth, chew, and swallow. That’s it! The whole process couldn’t be more simple. “Kokomi.” A demand.

In one quick motion Kokomi had brought the food to her mouth, forgetting about manners for the time being. Just as fast as she put it in her mouth, she swallowed. Silence once again filled the room.

Why did you do that? You obviously didn’t-

I’m going to be sick. I don’t want to be sick. I don’t want to cry. Please no. Not again.

Her left hand was clenched so tightly that it bled.

“Koko-” Before Kuniharu could finish his sentence she shoved another piece of food in her mouth. Before her stomach could fully lurch at the action, Saiki was up and ushering her to the stairs. He helped her take the steps two at a time, while simultaneously helping her not throw up with his powers, and led her to the bathroom. Just barely making it in time for her to throw up into the toilet.

Why? The food in her mouth was gone. Why? She had started to clench the bowl to keep herself stable. Why? Her lunch was gone. Why? Then went her breakfast to follow. Why? A dry heave where nothing came up. I just‒ I just don’t get it. Another heave, the contents unknown. I had been so careful. Another dry heave. I had tried so hard to be careful. Gasps for air. So why? Coughing followed by more gasps. Why am I being punished again? Shaking as more air slipped through her grasp. Just for being born. The silence of tears dripping down someone’s face on the bathroom floor. A girl.

Damn it.

-

Teruhashi was still shaking despite having taken her head away from the bowl. She wanted to get up, but every time she released her hands from the toilet, she grabbed them just as quickly again. So she stayed put.

I’m doing it again. I need to say something, do something. Standing here isn’t helpful.

“Teruha-”

“Can you. . .” her voice was trembling. “I just, please. . .” Don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to do this alone again.

Swallowing was harder than Saiki remembered, but he still managed to do so, before joining her on the tile floor, answering her unspoken wish.

Teruhashi’s mouth opened in an attempt to say something, but nothing came out. Instead she closed the toilet and clenched her hands in her lap. She hesitated before sitting on top of the now shut toilet.

Breathe. You’re fine, just breathe.

Saiki very carefully schooced to sit on the opposite facing wall, bringing his knees up to his chest to stay out of her sphere.

You can breathe. You know how to breathe. Just breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

She was hyperventilating.

Teruhashi.

Air. Air. You have air. It’s right in front of your face. It’s all around you. Breathe.

“Teruhashi, can you hear me?” She’s not breathing. What should I do? What do I do?

Saiki got up onto his knees kneeling right in front of her. She was looking at him with unseeing eyes.

I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

“Teruhashi, I’m right here. Tell me how to help you.”

No no no, please. I’ll do whatever it takes, just let me breathe! I can’t breathe!

Tears were streaming down her face. She was crying without ever taking a breath.

“Teruhashi!”

No, please! Let me breathe! I’ll be good!

She was clawing her hands on her neck, trying to force the air inside her by whatever means necessary.

Help! Please someone! Anyone! I can’t breathe.

Saiki grabbed her hands, trying to hold her back from clawing at her neck. “Teruhashi! I’m here, I’m right here! You can breathe, I promise.” She’s blacking out. What do I do? How do I help her?!

Please.

“Mom!” She won’t get up here fast enough, I have to do something. “Mom!”

Teruhashi was trying to gasp, though she never actually took a breath. It was just choked sobbing.

“Teruhashi, I'm right here, please. I don’t know what to do. How do I help you?!”

Her vision was going in and out, she was starting to lean to the side.

Saiki stood up completely this time and turned on the sink, not caring what the temperature was. He forced the water into his hands faster than any normal person could, and he threw it on her face.

“Teruhashi, please.”

Kokomi gasped, a real one this time, sputtering as the water hit her face. She had stopped trying to claw at her neck, and latched onto the next closest thing, Saiki’s shoulders.

“Teruhashi? Can you hear me?”

She stared at him, eyes watering as she did.

“Say something please. Say something.”

She tried to get her mouth to form words, but nothing came out. Instead she nodded, shaking as she did. Her lips trembled and she gripped his shoulders tighter.

“Kokomi?”

Both teens jumped at the sound of Kurumi’s voice.

Kurumi flinched at their response. “I’m sorry, I just. . . Kusuo called me. Do you need me to do anything?”

Kokomi closed her eyes and then looked at Saiki.

I don’t know. I just don’t want to feel like this.

Saiki’s hands hovered over Kokomi’s before falling back to his sides.

That might not be the best course of action right now.

Kurumi fidgeted at the door, “I’ll go get you some water,” she paused, “and maybe some paper towels?”

They both nodded.

“Okay, just, just call me if you need anything else.”

It was Saiki who responded “Okay.”

Kurumi hovered for a moment more before leaving the threshold of the bathroom once more.

-

It was silent again, neither teen saying anything. Kokomi’s grip hadn’t lessened on Saiki’s shoulders, not that he could really feel it in the first place. When she started shaking again he panicked slightly and put his hands on her feet. Kokomi had been looking down at the floor, tears still falling, but she looked up at him, noticing the hands on her feet.

Right. You're ok. You're not alone. You know what to do. You have your techniques. 5, find 5 things you can see.

Kokomi looked away from the boy in front of her and looked around the bathroom.

1: the roll of toilet paper to my left. 2: the tub to my right. 3: Saiki in front of me. 4: the bathroom tiles. 5:. . . Where’s 5? I can’t find the fifth thing. I- breathe, panicking is the opposite of this exercise.

Saiki squeezed her feet slightly and she looked back at him, and then to where he was ever so lightly holding her feet.

5: The socks that are being covered by Saiki’s hands. See you, you can do this. Okay, Kokomi took a shaky breath, but didn’t say anything.

Now I have to find,

She paused looking at where her hands were gripping Saiki’s shoulders. A very small part of her, most likely the rational one, realized that Saiki’s shoulders were not her lifeline. The much larger part of her wanted nothing to do with reason, and felt like the second she let go of him she would start crying.

No, you can do this Kokomi.

Slowly and begrudgingly she pried one hand off of Saiki’s shoulders.

Now, 4 things I can touch. 1: the lid of the toilet seat. 2:the skirt on my legs. 3:Saiki’s blazer. 4:Saiki’s hands.

Kokomi’s breathing had returned to some semblance of normal, but every few seconds a new tear fell.

3 things I can hear. 1:My breathing. 2: The dripping faucet. 3: Saiki’s breathing.

Her breathing is back to normal. She’s still crying, but at least she doesn’t feel like she’s going to explode at any second now.

2 more things Kokomi. You can do this. 2 things I can smell. 1:Hand soap. 2:um. . . I don’t know. It just smells like a bathroom.

Kokomi looked around the bathroom again, trying to push down her panic.

This always sounds so easy when you learn about it, but what am I supposed to do when I can’t figure it out? What if I’m just imagining all of this? What if I’m really with him? What if-

“Teruhashi.”

She blinked, the tears that had started falling slowed. She swallowed.

Breathe.

She took a deep breath in, before slowly releasing it. She leaned forward and let her face fall onto Saiki’s shoulder. He tensed, but didn’t try to push her off.

I’m taking advantage of him. I need to appear normal so I can leave in the morning. I don’t need to burden him and his family with something they should never have to deal with. It’s unfair. I-

“Teruhashi,”

Her train of thought stopped as she listened to him.

“I. . .” She’s not a burden. What happened to her shouldn’t have happened to anyone. Why does she think she’s burdening us so much? Damn it, why am I so bad at this? “I’m. . . I’m not good at this.”

His hands only tightened a fraction more on the girl’s feet before relaxing.

“I don’t. . . I don’t know what to say, other than the truth. You’re not a burden to any of us. And you’re not a burden to. . .” I’m pathetic.

He sighed and Kokomi hugged him. It was unexpected, but he didn’t protest because he had a feeling it wasn’t for him. He as gently as possible put his arms around her. He was unfamiliar with hugs. He didn’t give them, and the only hugs he got were from Nendou, but he didn’t really count those. A normal person would probably die by the force. All the same Kokomi buried her head further into his neck, trying hard not to let him see she was crying again.

“You’re not a burden to me.” It was a whisper.

She gripped him tighter as the words left his mouth. He was not used to using his vocal chords to form words, and he felt like his voice was raspy from yelling for the first time in at least 10 years. But she hugged him tighter, and she cried harder. Her unspoken fears being silenced by his words.

I’m not going anywhere until you want me to. I won’t make you go through this alone.

I don’t think I deserve this, but I don’t care. I’m going to be selfish.

Kokomi continued to cry into Saiki’s neck, and not another word passed between them.

-

In the time of 10 minutes Kurumi considered returning to the bathroom 3 times with the aforementioned drink of water. She fully intended to deliver it, she just didn’t want to startle Kokomi into another panic attack. That was the last thing she wanted. The first time she had gone up she had heard more hyperventilating, she decided that it wasn’t the right moment. The second time she heard more crying, and decided that, no this wasn’t the right moment either. The third time she thought for sure that this was definitely the right time. However she hesitated. She knew there were times when her son only spoke so that the person he was talking to would be the only one to hear him. It was rare that he did it subconsciously, but on the very off chance that this was one of those times, she leaned her ear against the closed door. She heard him talking. Kusuo was actually speaking. Kurumi stumbled back from the door. Her son talked all the time, sure, but this was different. She genuinely couldn’t remember the last time he spoke words. Yes a few minutes ago he cried out for her, but that didn’t really count. That was out of fear, not out of genuine want to do so.

“He’s really speaking.” It was mumbled since she didn’t want him to hear, and she wasn’t talking to anyone else.

Kurumi only vaguely thought of what her son’s voice would sound like now that he was older. Kusuo was exceptionally good at voice matching, so she wasn’t surprised that the voices sounded basically the same. The difference between speaking in one’s mind, and speaking out loud however, was that one had a quiver no matter what. You could mask feelings and emotions with your mind, but the human vocal cords would always do their best to echo the truth.

Kurumi smiled at herself, releasing a sigh she didn't realize she was holding.

“Kusuo’s grown up faster than I thought. Still. . .”

She looked back at the door she had slowly started walking away from.

“No. I know my Ku. Everything is fine. We’ll help Kokomi get back on her feet, and Kusuo will be fine too.”

Kurumi clutched the glass in her hand a little tighter as she descended the stairs, trying to push back on the ominous cloud she felt.

-

His mom came back a fourth time with the glass of water she promised, but unlike the last 3 times, she actually came into the bathroom. She knocked this time, which only startled Teruhashi slightly.

“Come in.”

His mother opened the door, only popping her head in at first.

“I brought the water.” She gave a small smile, though her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Then her eyes shifted to the girl who was currently turned away from her.

Teruhashi in the short time his mother had left, moved to sit across his lap. She was trying to do her best to both be shielded, but also be open. Her arms were clenched tightly around Saiki’s middle, and her face was still in the crook of his neck.

Is she asleep?

It was his mother this time. Saiki lightly nugged the blue headed girl with his shoulder. She inhaled sharply, but then turned around to face Kurumi.

Teruhashi swallowed twice, closed her eyes, and then looked at Kurumi. “Thank you.”

Kurumi’s smile widened, and she fully entered the room. “I’ll just leave it here.”

She left it on the farthest edge of the tub before seeming to realize she needed to move it closer. Stepping into the bathroom, she placed the cup just a little ways away from the pair. She knew that it was out of Kokomi’s reach, but figured her son could make up the distance.

“Call if you need anything else, I won’t be far.”

“Okay.”

"Thank you."

Kurumi nodded and then left the room.

Once his mother left Saiki reached for the glass. He thought about putting a hand on her side so that she felt more stable, but decided he didn’t need to since he had excellent balance. Teruhashi watched him, and then took the glass from his hands.

“Thank you.” Was her quiet response.

He gave her a head nod as an answer.

Saiki watched as she at first sipped the water slowly, but then began drinking it quicker as she realized how thirsty she was.

You’ll probably need more later. Crying, bleeding, and throwing up are all great ways to become dehydrated.

When Kokomi finished the water, not even pausing to take a break, she set the glass next to her on the tile floor.

They both sat once again in silence, though this time the air didn’t feel charged or drained. Kokomi had officially exhausted herself, and didn’t have much energy to do anything. Not even think. Saiki was equally as tired, but refused to move. It was during this time of sitting in the bathroom with his legs crossed over each other that he realized something. Muscles could become strained even if he wasn’t fighting his psychopath of a brother. While he could dislocate every bone in his body, teleport, shrink, and shapeshift he wasn’t aware of any of those times affecting his muscles. Needless to say, he was pretty sure he was losing feeling in his feet. And a quick glance at Teruhashi proved that hers weren’t faring much better. He was literally watching the blood flow stop.

“Teruhashi.”

She made a slight humming sound in the back of her throat to acknowledge she heard him, but her head stayed resting in the crook of his neck.

“I can’t feel my feet.”

Saiki could almost see the gears working in her head to process what he said. When she finally did she gave the smallest laugh. It only lasted for a moment, and part of him thought it was a hiccup, but he knew when people laughed. That and he could feel the small vibrations of it.

“I can’t feel mine either, but I just. . .” her sentence tapered off.

“You don’t have to stop,” Touching? Absolutely not. Holding? Holding is definitely better than touching. “Holding on to me.”

She looked at him, her eyes no longer glossy, and her nose and cheeks were no longer red.

Wait I can see her-

“I um, thank you.”

Saiki blinked mentally shaking his head. The vision of her cheeks and nose disappearing with the action.

“Can you stand?” Focus. You’re imagining things from exhaustion. It happens after enough consecutive days without sleep.

Kokomi nodded.

. . .

“Teruhashi?”

“Oh right yeah, you can’t um. You can’t move until I do.”

Teruhashi got up stumbling before leaning against the wall for support. She cringed as she got pins and needles, but she didn’t fall. Saiki got up shortly after making sure she was secure. He stood up and then immediately felt static coursing through his feet.

Ow! Why?!

He sat on the lid of the toilet seat and glared at his feet.

“Pins and needles are really annoying. I’m sorry. I should have gotten up sooner. It my f-”

“It’s fine. Just unexpected.” Normal people suffer more than I thought.

He frowned.

Much more.

Saiki stood up completely this time, and was outside of the bathroom when Teruhashi stopped him.

“I-”

He turned around to face her, searching her eyes for her question.

“I actually need to use the bathroom.”

Saiki blinked. Once, twice, three times.

“Okay.”

She held the sleeve of his blazer for a moment more before forcing herself to let go. Saiki closed the door behind him.

Asking him to stay with me while I'm sick is one thing, but I can’t ask him to stay in the bathroom with me. That’s too far.

Saiki stopped in the doorway to his room and blinked.

Yeah, I would have needed a little more convincing for that one.

He closed the door and went to his drawers to take out his Pajamas.

I still probably would have done it if you asked though.

Chapter Text

After Saiki put on his pajamas he sat on his bed. He dislocated and relocated every bone in his left hand as he waited for Teruhashi to come out of the bathroom. After a few minutes Kurumi lightly knocked on his door, though he didn’t acknowledge it. When she came in she saw his dislocated hand and gave a small scream. She rushed to kneel next to him and turned over his hand.

“Kusuo, are you okay?! Of course not, look at your hand. Oh my-”

I forgot I didn’t tell them about this. “Mom.”

“Shh, it’s okay Kusuo. We can fix this. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that you can fix this-”

“Mom.”

“You can fix this right? I mean I know you heal your father all the time, but can you heal yourself?”

He blinked as he realized he didn’t know the answer. To be fair he never got physically hurt, and any time something happened to him it was usually just his appearance, not his body. When you’re virtually indestructible it makes it hard to focus on things like “what happens if I get hurt?”

“Kusuo?”

Saiki looked back at his mom and sighed. Shaking his hand, he snapped all the bones back into place. He flexed it once before setting it back in her hand. Before she could speak he gave her an unamused look. When she furrowed her eyebrows he realized he was going to have to explain.

“It’s another one of my powers.”

Kurumi blinked at him.

“I can dislocate all the bones in my body, and consequently relocate them. Certain body parts are more unpleasant to do than others, but it’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Kurumi gave an exasperated sigh, and moved to sit on the bed next to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder as she looked out his window.

“Do I want to know how you learned about such a power?”

He thought about it for a moment.

Well it was an accident, and it kind of freaked me out when I realized what had happened as well. I thought I had broken my leg while I was fighting Kusuke. Finding out it was only dislocated was weird, but made more sense than me suddenly breaking a bone. Still, all things considered it’s best to leave some discoveries a secret.

He shook his head, and Kurumi nodded on his shoulder. They were quiet for a moment before Kurumi hopped up off the bed.

“I almost forgot why I came in here. I need your help setting up the guest bedroom.”

Saiki frowned. “Why?”

“Well Kokomi’s not going to sleep in here with you silly,” She started before giving him a small smile. “So we need to set up the guest bedroom.”

Saiki rolled his eyes. “I get the reason we need to set up the guest bedroom, I'm asking why you need my help. It’s a task you can do on your own.”

Kurumi closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, “Because I’m your mother Kusuo, and I am asking for your help.”

Saiki flinched and then sighed. He got up and waited for his mother to leave the room before following.

“That and,” Kurumi glanced at the bathroom door. “I need to talk to you about Kokomi’s. . . condition.”

He raised an eyebrow. Her condition?

“Condition might not be the right word.” She turned to face him once they were in the aforementioned bedroom. “Perhaps it might be better to say her . . . situation.”

“Her trauma, you mean.”

Kurumi frowned, placing a hand on her face as she did. For all his intelligence, he can really be socially inept.

Saiki glared at her. I’m right here, and you know I can hear what you’re thinking.

Kurumi brought both her hands in front of her. “In any event, it’s important we talk about it. Me and your father both know that you have never been in a situation like that before, but now that Kokomi is staying with us, it’s important you know what to do. In case. . .” she stopped, eyes looking at something far beyond him.

“In case it happens again.” He supplied.

She took a deep inhale, and slowly exhaled. “Yes.” Her expression was serious when she looked back at him. Saiki straightened his posture under the gaze.

-

Kurumi carefully explained the Do’s and Don'ts of what to do when someone is having an anxiety attack, and or in Kokomi’s case, a panic attack. She said that while splashing water in Kokomi's face was probably out of sheer panic, that it actually helped her calm down. She also said that him panicking was not the best thing to do while she was, she explained that it most likely heightened her own anxiety. Saiki flinched at that. She told him that it was fine that he panicked this time since he didn’t know what to do, but for future reference he should try and stay calm. When he asked why she was clawing at her neck her eyes widened and she pressed her fingers against her eyes. When she felt like she wasn’t going to cry, she had him sit down on the now made bed next to her.

“Most likely it was because,” she reached for his hand, and placed it in hers. “It’s most likely because- because she was choked in her past.”

Saiki waited, but when she didn’t say anything else he stood up and teleported. He arrived at his secret spot, and looked at a boulder. It exploded in an instant. He flicked another larger boulder, and sent it flying. Using his extreme speed, he ran to its landing and punched it before it could hit the ground. He did this several more times until he was out of breath. It was only when he started panting that he realized he had been clenching his teeth together. He slowly let himself fall to his knees, before hitting the ground with his fist. The ground crumbled around him creating a crater. When a full minute had gone by he teleported back home. His mother was pacing the room, and startled when he reappeared. She didn’t say anything, but instead offered her open arms. He hesitated, but accepted the offered hug.

“She might not have been choked sweetie. She might have just been looking for the fastest way to get air into her system.”

“Might is not assured.”

She was crying now, and closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the flow of tears. “I wish I could give you assurance Kusuo.” She squeezed him tighter “I really do.”

-

They stood like that for a couple minutes more, before they returned to setting up the bed. Saiki broke the silence.

“Is there anything else I can do? For the panic attacks I mean.”

Kurumi hummed as she flattened out the wrinkles on the covers. “Oh! Has Kokomi been seeking out any form of physical touch? Like holding onto you, or herself?”

Saiki nodded.

“Then you can also hold her hands, or her shoulders, or give her a hug. Physical touch can be helpful in situations like that. It’s just important to make sure that the person isn’t repulsed by physical touch like you are honey, or that she feels trapped by said physical touch.” She said as she finished fixing the covers.

“Hold on, I'm not repulsed by physical touch.”

“It’s okay that you are Ku. You’re similar to your brother in that way,”

“Don’t compare me to that ingrate.”

“It’s just differences in what people need. You, unlike your brother however, just have to be extremely comfortable with the person before you let them have any form of physical contact with you. ”

"I-"

“It’s why your father and I can touch you, but only certain people in your friend group can touch you as well.”

“They’re not my-”

“Either way,” She ignored him, “no matter how you feel about physical touch, it’s important for Kokomi. You’ve already been letting her hold onto you, and generally let her touch you. But that’s not enough Kusuo. You’re going to have to do the same.”

“I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

“She’s seeking out your touch sweetie. She’ll make it clear when she doesn’t want it. Okay?”

It felt wrong, and made him uneasy to think about just hugging her so casually, but he nodded.

“It’ll be okay, I promise.”

-

Shortly after they had finished their conversation Kokomi knocked on the open door. Both Saiki and his mother turned to look at her. She was fiddling with her skirt.

“Sorry I,” she paused. “I it’s just,” she clenched her fists. What the heck is wrong with you? You know how to speak. “I,”

Kurumi walked over to her and gently grabbed her hands. “Kokomi dear, it's alright, take your time.”

I shouldn’t have to take my time. One little panic attack should not have turned me into this. “No I just, I,” Come on! “Bad taste.”

Kurumi turned back to look at her son.

Bad taste?

What are the odds they would both have the same thought at the same time. He raised both eyebrows at his mother. ‘Bad taste in her mouth. She threw up.’

Oh! Oh yes that makes sense.

“I’m so sorry sweetie,” she turned back to Kokomi. “I completely spaced. Let me go get something for that bad taste in your mouth. Oh! And I also have something else for you as well.

Kurumi left the room, maneuvering around Kokomi to get downstairs, leaving the two teens alone in the room. Saiki tried to think of something to say, and Kokomi tried to figure out what she was supposed to do.

This is the guest bedroom, right? So it’s okay if I go in? She hesitated before stepping deeper into the room. She glanced around it before eventually settling on standing next to Saiki.

Saiki turned his head to say something to her, but his mother came back in before he could formulate the sentence.

“I’m back! And I brought crackers!”

Both teens blinked at her.

“They’re plain, so they won’t upset your stomach honey. But the salt will help get the bad taste out of your mouth.”

She nodded and accepted the sleeve of crackers.

“Wait one more minute as I go get the other thing I have for you.”

There was silence once again, but this time there was the crinkling of plastic as Kokomi opened the sleeve of crackers. She nibbled on one as she offered another one to him. He took it and began nibbling on it as well.

So much for trying harder to help her.

Kurumi returned once more, this time with something behind her back.

“Now I’m going to assume you don’t want to sleep in your school uniform, right?”

Kokomi nodded, grabbing another cracker as she did.

“I was hoping you would say that!” Kurumi gave a wide smile before bringing her arms in front of her. “Ta da!” Resting in her hands were folded pants and a shirt. “No I know that you’re taller than me, but I have shrunk a little since I’ve had big Ku and Ku.”

Stop bringing him up, you’ll make the author put him in the tags. And you were taller?

“I know it might be hard to believe, but I was about your height at one point.”

For some reason I have trouble believing that.

Saiki flicked his eyes towards Kokomi, but otherwise kept looking at his mother.

Kurumi walked over to the pair, and handed Kokomi the clothes. Kokomi handed him the crackers so she could look at the clothes more fully. They were more lounge wear than pajamas, but either way Kokomi didn’t seem bothered. She walked over to the bed to set the shirt down, and then held the pants against her waist. She grimaced slightly and then did the same with the shirt. Both he and Kokomi had the same thought.

They’re too short.

Kokomi looked at Kurumi in her best attempt at a smile. “Um, th-thank you for the clothes.”

Tell her the truth. “Oh good, I'm glad you like them!” You don’t, just tell her. “Well then, me and Ku will leave you to it. Kusuo’s room is almost directly opposite yours, and mine and Kuniharu’s room is just a little ways down the hallway. Just call if you need anything.” Tell her. “Come on Kusuo.”

His mother pulled on his wrist and dragged him to the door. She stopped once they were at the exit. He searched her eyes for any indication that she wanted him to say something, but she just gave him a trembling smile.

“Kusuo?”

He quietly sighed, gave a small wave, and then closed the door. Kokomi was once again, left alone.

-

Saiki paced his room trying to figure out what to do next. He was an–

Not anxious. I simply don’t know what to do given the current situation and am trying to figure out how I should proceed from here. Don’t put words into my mouth.

Trying to figure out what to do next given the current situation, he continued to pace his room for a full minute, before deciding he had too much energy for it to be productive. He looked at his desk where he had haphazardly discarded his bag earlier that day. Sitting down in his chair he pulled out the homework he had from the bag. It wasn’t hard, nor would it be time consuming, so he did his best to work on the assignment.

.

.

.

5 minutes. 5 minutes had gone by and he hadn’t even read the first question.

You’re being ridiculous and unproductive. There has not been a single thought that has crossed through Kokomi’s head that would indicate that she wants any sort of help, or acknowledgement.

Saiki didn’t make a habit of willingly looking into people’s minds, the fact he had no control over the power in the first place was invasive enough, he didn’t need to add being nosy on top of that. However, this was not a normal situation, so he attempted to look into Teruhashi’s mind. Focusing he attempted to see what she was thinking.

Focus, and-

He reeled back in pain as he was met with what could only be described as t.v static. He closed his eyes and brought both hands to clutch his head as he did his best to focus on anything else other than her. He was panting once he finally regained control.

What. . . the. . . actual. . . hell?

He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples, his eyes widened when he realized they were throbbing. Further inspection of his body revealed that his nose was bleeding. He slowly brought a finger to his nose, and pulled back. Sure enough, there was blood when he looked at his finger. He stared at it as the blood slowly made a trek down his finger to his knuckles.

Odd.

Using his pyrokinesis he set his hand on fire burning the blood, then he focused on his nose and used his cryokinesis and froze the excessive blood flow in his nose. After a minute he unfroze the artery and held his head back. He had never tasted his own blood before, but quickly learned he didn’t like the taste of it as it flowed down his throat. A few seconds passed and he stuck his tongue out at the coppery taste that was left in his mouth.

Gross.But what was that?

He looked at the finger he had used to wipe away the blood.

I don’t ever remember bleeding in my life. Why now? And why did it happen when I tried to look in Teruhashi’s mind?

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He resisted the urge to look at the clock, knowing it would only make him upset. He stalled doing miscellaneous tasks for another 20 minutes before deciding he should just go to bed.

Koko- he grit his teeth Teruhashi is fine. She’s probably asleep, like anybody should be given the time.

Fiddling with his pencil for another 5 minutes he finally decided to call it quits. As he was getting his bed ready he saw the shadow of feet underneath his door. Actually looking at the door revealed Kokomi’s fidgeting form. He almost rushed to open it before he stopped himself.

If I open the door it’ll look suspicious. But what if I say I’m going to the bathroom?

He frowned, he had no interest in emptying his bladder at the moment.

Going to get water?

He shook his head.

She might go back to her room under the guise of “not wanting to bother me”.

Tapping his finger against his leg he moved back to his chair. Crossing one leg over the other he continued to look at the door.

I’ll just wait for her to come to me then.

And so wait he did. And he waited. . . and waited. . . . . . and waited. Getting impatient he refocused on the door and noticed her form was gone.

Maybe she didn’t need anything after all?

But waiting a few more minutes she was back in front of the door.

Nevermind then.

It was another 15 minutes before Kokomi finally, lightly, knocked on his door. Getting up he almost opened it before he remembered his glasses. Forcing them into his hand, he began placing them on his face as he opened the door.

"Hi."

"Hi."

He turned his body and motioned for her to come in, once she did he closed the door.

-

Teruhashi stood idly in the middle of the room, shifting on one foot to the other. Saiki, meanwhile, had sat back down in his chair. He looked at her expectantly and she quickly rushed to sit on his bed. Her knees were pressed together and it seemed as though she was trying to force herself to take up as little space as possible. Moments later she began shaking and he panicked.

He cleared his throat “Are you. . .”

“Oh, ah no, I didn’t need anything. I mean like water or sheets or more crackers or. . . anything.” She bowed her head.

There was a beat of silence. Saiki swallowed.

“Ok.”

He slowly turned around to face his desk again. Kokomi’s head shot up at the action.

“You’re not,” she faltered.

Saiki hummed.

She was quiet when she spoke again. “You’re not going to tell me to leave?”

“Do you want to?” He half turned to look at her. She shook her head. “Okay.”

“But, but I mean,” she stammered. “I mean shouldn’t you? I mean shouldn’t I?”

“Leave?”

“Yes!” It was such a quiet shout of disbelief.

Something unsettled him about the fact she seemed so meek. It wasn’t pity per say, he was just disheartened by her.

What made her like this? Why is she so afraid she’s bother—

*“Why are you so determined to know where I’m going? What do you have to gain?”*

*“You said that you want to do your errand alone, so I’ll go. I shouldn’t have followed you in the first place.”*

His stomach dropped and he felt light headed.

She feels like she’s bothering me, because I gave her that impression.

Never before had he so strongly wanted to go back in time and punch his past self.

“Koko-” He stopped himself, quickly clearing his throat. “Teruhashi, I’m sorry.”

Teruhashi looked at him, eyes wide in disbelief.

No no no, now look at what you’ve done. He’s apologizing. You’re despicable! Unforgivable! You’re-

“I think I’ve given you the wrong impression.”

No he’s just saying that. He pities you because of how weak you’re acting! Get a hold of yourself. You just-

“Earlier today, I was frustrated.”

You should be! I followed you like a creep, you had every right to send me away. Tell him to stop! You’re at fault here! You’re the one to blame!

“But I-I wasn’t angry at you. Mildly irritated, but that’s everyday.”

You’re annoying, he flat out just said so. Just go back to that room and sleep.

“I mean, I just don’t really um, like people?” Why would you phrase it as a question? “It might be more accurate to say I don’t like most people.”

Of course he doesn’t. Maybe if you actually paid more attention to the boy instead of the fantasy, you would know that.

“I don’t let people near me who I don’t like Teruhashi!” He clenched his fists, reeling back quickly as he realized he had raised his voice.

Her thoughts stuttered to a stop.

“You. . . what?”

“I-” No, don’t backtrack. Being open is good. You need to make her realize she’s not bothering you. “I’m not the biggest fan of most people. They irritate me to no end. But. . .” He hit himself in the leg with his fist, turning away from her as he did. “You’re not like most people.” God that was sappy. He chanced a glance back at the girl and saw—

“Wait, why are you crying?!”

“No it’s” she wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to. It’s just really nice to know you don’t hate me.” She gave him a trembling smile as more tears streamed down her face.

Saiki reclined back in his chair, letting the fear fall out of him. At least she’s not worried she’s bothering me anymore.

Getting up he kneeled in front of her, ever so gently pulling her hands away from her eyes.

“I don’t think I really hate anyone from school. And I definitely don’t hate you,” He forced himself not to spasm from the earnesty of his words. “I’m just not very good at expressing. . .” He paused. Expressing what? Your feelings? Because that’s what it is you dimwit.

“Your anger?”

He looked at her, and nodded.

She made a face that was understanding yet, sad at the same time. “I’m pretty similar to you in that way then. I’m not very good at,” her shoulders slumped and her condensed frame fell apart. Anything really. Especially emotions.

Saiki pursed his lips. “You can lay down if you want.”

She nodded and then let half her body fall backwards onto his bed. He got back up and moved back to his desk, pulling a book from his shelf as he did.

They were quiet for a long while, the only sounds that could be heard were the two teens' collective breathing. Saiki broke the somewhat comfortable silence, Kokomi was still too on edge for it to be completely comfortable.

“You can get under the covers too. I know it’s not the warmest in here.”

He could hear rather than actually see her jolt up.

“No no no!” She frantically waved her hands in front of her face. “I really shouldn’t be in here in the first place. Not after all the work you and your mother put into the guest room. That and I’m really not that tired, so there would be no point getting comfortable under the sheets when I have to get up and go sleep in another room entirely.”

“If you fall asleep in here it’s okay. My parents- we all just want you to be comfortable. As best you can, considering you’re not in your own house.” He didn’t take his eyes off his book as he spoke. She whimpered but laid her dead down on his pillows.

Slowly and steadily he dropped the temperature of his room. It was easy given the fact that he had been telling the truth about the natural temperature of it. His parents had the central air flow, and heat respectively, removed from his room for the most part. Considering he didn’t need it with being able to regulate his own body heat. There was a switch next to his light that would rewire the flow back to his room, but he only did it when guests were over. Though at the moment he had no intention of turning it on.

As he continued to drop the temperature, Kokomi began to shiver. After 10 minutes she got under the covers. And in another 20, the light buzz of her thoughts, and her eyes on him, were gone.

See? That wasn’t so hard.

Saiki replaced the book on his shelf, having finished it in the time it took everything to be set into motion, and moved towards the door. Walking over to the sleeping girl he fixed the covers over he better, then made his way to the door. But before he could move past her, his hand was grabbed. He looked at her.

“I thought you were asleep.”

She shook her head. He walked back over to her, sitting on the floor so he was eye level to her.

“Please just. . .” Just tell him to stay. Or tell him that you can leave. Say something. He’s right here. You don’t have to do this alone. “I–” Say it! “Can, can you stay?” He furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Just, just until I f-fall asleep.”

He resisted the urge to slap himself in the face. Mom was right. I am socially inept.

“Please” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, and he nodded quickly. Then hesitating only slightly, he held out his hand to her. She looked at it for only a moment before placing her hand in his. Slowly, giving ample time for her to pull back, he closed his hand around hers. She did the same.

~~~

If he was being honest he wasn’t sure how much time had passed, the only thing he knew for certain was that Kokomi had finally fallen asleep. He knew this because he was watching her breathing. Excusing the fact it felt exceptionally creepy to do so, he was able to quite literally see when she had completely relaxed. Her breaths were slow, yes, but the most recent breath she took had been a deep inhale followed by a slow exhale. She might have tricked him before, but she wouldn’t do it again.

Saiki made the motion to stand but found he stumbled when he tried to take a step. He closed his eyes tightly two times before trying to move again.

I guess it’s not irrational that I’m so tired. It’s not like I slept yesterday, and it’s now exceptionally late tonight.

He released a quiet sigh as he teleported to the guest room. He thought about simply walking out the door, but that might have woken the somewhat peacefully sleeping girl. So he chose teleportation, though it seemed to be a bad idea. When his feet hit the ground he had to stop himself from collapsing to his knees. Pushing his hands out in front of him, he glared.

Okay, now I’m annoyed.

Somewhat stomping, somewhat shuffling, he made his way over to the bed. Only bothering to take his glasses off, he flopped down face first onto the sheets. In seconds he was asleep.

.

.

.

Or so he thought.

The first thing Saiki noticed about this place was that it was dark, yet when he looked down he could see his skewed reflection.

Is that water?

Before he could bend down to check his hypothesis, he heard the sound of a spotlight kicking on. Ignoring his previous curiosity he walked towards the spotlight, though he found that there was an invisible wall he couldn’t move past. Another spotlight kicked on directly in front of him, and another one kicked on to his right. In total there were three spotlights equidistant from each other to his left, right, and middle.

What? Is this a premunition?

Closer inspection of what was under the spotlights revealed several stages,

No, that's not right. It’s . . . furniture?

Under each spotlight there was furniture set up in a specific way. To his far left there was a cardboard cut out of a t.v and a couch. The screen was cut out so he could peer in through it. In the middle, there was a couch and then a small table set in front of it. Under the final spotlight there was the unknown. Saiki kept staring trying to figure out what was underneath the spotlight, but he couldn’t make out anything helpful. Before he could try and focus more on the last spotlight all the lights dimmed. The spotlight to his left calling his attention.

“Are you watching a show?”

It was a man. He was tall, and balding. Maybe in his late thirties early forties, it was hard for Saiki to tell.

“Mhm!” It was a little girl.

“Can I join you?” The man was already sitting down.

“You have to be quiet though, I’m almost done with my show.”

Who is that? She looks so familiar. . .

“Oh of course, I’ll be very quiet. Say, don’t you have a better spot?”

“I. . . do I?” The girl looked away from the screen to face the man.

Is that. . .? That’s Teruhashi!

“You do! But it’s okay, I’m a diplomat like your parents. We can compromise right?”

“Ok!”

“Such a good little girl,” The man’s smile turned dark, though Teruhashi didn’t seem to notice.

The center spotlight drew his attention as the one to his left quickly dimmed.

“Oh thank you so much! I’m so grateful you could help me pick out a keychain for my niece, I would be just so lost without you.”

“It’s no problem sir! I’m the same age as your niece, so I don’t mind helping.”

“You’ve already helped me so much, I am truly so appreciative.”

The two were sitting on the couch, though this man was older than the last. He was definitely in his forties, maybe even his fifties. He didn’t show it, but it was clear to Saiki. The man kept trying to move closer to Teruhashi on the couch, but she kept a respectable distance. Hidden in her left hand she had her keys in a vice-like grip.

“I’ll help you pick out your keychain and then go home. My parents are expecting me, I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

She was antsy, refusing to fully sit on the couch. She also kept taking note of how far away the front door was, and how close the man was to her in comparison. Though she hid it with her long bangs and by continuing to look at the table full of keychains.

“Oh of course, of course. Ugh! Silly me, I forgot one keychain.” The man pulled one out from his pocket adding it to the collection already on the table. “Here we are.”

“It’s so pretty!” hesitantly she sat down next to the man to admire the keychain better.

The last spotlight clicked on as the middle one clicked off. Full attention on the last spotlight he felt his heart stop.

That’s–

“Woah there! We wouldn’t want you to fall would we?”

The disgusting man grabbed Teruhashi to keep her from tripping.

“Ah yes, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Thank you.” Her smile was genuine as she finished catching her balance.

“Of course, it would be a shame if something happened to such a pretty face.”

Teruhashi gave another more restrained smile as she tried to pull out of his grip.

“I suppose so. Now please let me go.”

The man gave a mock pout, but his smirk was too prominent to have the desired effect. “Don’t I deserve a reward for saving the damsel?”

She resisted the urge to scoff.

“Perhaps I won’t go after Yumehara Chiyo if you behave,” he was whispering into her ear now “Or tell the world about your big brother. I wonder how they would react if they found out the name he used for the stage wasn’t the one he used for his family”

Teruhashi shivered. “You’re bluffing.”

“Well I can meet you at PK academy tomorrow after school if you don’t believe me.”

Her face went pale.

This isn’t what happened. . . is it? I wasn’t there, but this seems wrong. Off.

“There we go, that’s a good little girl. Why don’t we head into that alley and we can discuss my payment, and if you scream I’ll figure out just who that pink headed boy was with you yesterday.”

Robotically she walked into the alley.

The first spotlight kicked on again and Saiki recoiled at the sight.

“See, isn't this better? Now we both have the spot right in front of the television.”

“But um,” She tried to turn her head, but the man brought it back to look at him. “I’m facing the wrong way.” Teruhashi squirmed as she tried to get out of his lap.

The man gave a small groan and Saiki punched at the invisible wall.

“Ah, but it’s on commercial right? You don’t need to watch commercials, so just focus on me.”

The center spotlight again.

“You really have been such a great help.” The man slinked an arm around her shoulder, and Teruhashi went stiff under it.

“I think I should be going now. I really think your niece is going to like that keychain.”

“So soon? I really think you should stay.”

“No I don’t want to!” She tried to push out the man’s grasp but she was smaller than him, so he forced her down onto the couch.

“Come now, we’re friends aren’t we? I thought you trusted me.” The man was caging her in with his body.

“No!” She stabbed him in the side with her key and kicked him with all her might as she raced for the door.

Last spotlight.

“You’re behaving so nicely. If that changes I won’t hesitate to kill that girl I mentioned before.”

The man had her pinned against a wall, and she was desperately trying not to cry.

“I’m so glad we understand each other.”

Bastard! That’s not what happened. I got there. What’s going on?!

The man opened the first three buttons on her shirt and licked up the length of her chest, moaning as he did.

Teruhashi was trying so hard to restrain herself from crying that she was shaking.

Teruhashi!

First spotlight.

“Please stop, you’re scaring me.”

“Shh shhh, the show's back on. We have to be quiet remember? Be a good little girl and stay quiet.”

The man was unbuttoning his pants, a very obvious bulge in his underwear.

No! Teruhashi! He was banging on the wall, trying to force it to break under his might.

Middle spotlight.

“You little brat! You were behaving so good. I thought you were a good little girl.”

The man lunged for her ankles and succeeded in grabbing one. She fell to the floor with a thud, banging her chin as she did.

“Please, don’t do this.” She was begging, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh shh, it’s not going to hurt. Just do everything I say and it won’t hurt a bit.”

Dragging her by the leg he forced her back onto the couch, ignoring the key still sticking out his side.

Let her go! He was punching it now. His fists were going numb from the action but he didn't care.

Last spotlight.

“You’re doing so good, such a good little girl.”

Tears were streaming down her face as the man started to pull down her skirt and underwear in one motion.

No! He was trying to yell but the sound died before it left his lips.

First.

“A little bit closer.”

Middle.

“That’s right. Hold still. Just like that.”

Last.

“Don’t move, this’ll be over quickly.”

“Stop!”

Violently, Saiki sat up from the bed. He felt his stomach drop and he covered his mouth racing for the bathroom. Just barely reaching the toilet, he flung the lid open and retched the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Every time he remembered another piece of the nightmare he threw up some more. He did so until he was dry heaving into the toilet. His hands were shaking as he tried to hold the sides of the bowl to keep his head from fully falling in.

Feeling somewhat safe he pulled his head away from the toilet and closed the lid, flushing it as he did. On shaky legs he stood, but realized he couldn’t see. Bringing his hands to his eyes he felt wetness on his cheeks. He was gasping and shuddering, and only just realized he couldn’t get himself to stop shaking.

On jelly legs he walked back to the guest room trying to keep his crying silent.

Why? Why why why why why?

It was the only thing that was replaying in his head.

She didn’t do anything. She was behaving. Why?

He stumbled as he tried to get back to the bed, legs giving out on him halfway through and he fell to his knees. He clenched his fists as tears continued to stream onto them.

She couldn’t have been more than 6 in the first one, and 8 in the second. So why? How could they? She was a child. She did nothing wrong. Why?

He tried again to make his way to the bed, but still found he couldn’t get on top of it. He squeezed the sheets once they were in reach.

I don’t get it. She didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that.

The man’s words echoed in his head. *”I’ll go easy on you if you beg. I’ve been curious about little boys for a while now.”

Saiki had powers, a threat like that meant nothing to him. But Teruhashi didn’t. She had maybe luck and that wasn’t even guaranteed based on what was underneath the other spotlights.

Time seemed to slow, though Saiki was very aware that he wasn’t moving at supersonic speeds.

If. . . if the last spotlight was true. . . that means–

His stomach lurched again and he grabbed the bucket his mom had placed in the room. At the time he had been confused on why it was there, but he understood now.

Pulling his head away from the bucket he leaned his forehead on the bed.

Even if only half of that is true,

His stomach tried again, but he forced it to relax. The tears that had slowed returned in full force. Words once again echoing in his head.

*”Worst than the first time, but better than the second.”*

Saiki hugged himself as his tears violently racked his form.

Three times. She’s lived through this three times.

He clutched his mouth as he tried to suppress a yell. He gripped his head just barely missing his inhibitors. Each scene playing in his head on repeat, exactly as he saw it thanks to his photographic memory.

Stop, stop, stop! “Stop!” His voice was hoarse and watery.

The last line before he woke up cementing the images forever in his head.

Someone, please! Help!

Unbeknownst to the psychic, the sound of a crack could be heard in the room, too drowned out by the sound of tears.

Chapter Text

Saiki didn’t go to sleep for the rest of the night. He thought about it, namely because he was getting double vision, but he didn’t do it. Couldn’t do it.

It’s not like I need to sleep yet anyway. The human body can safely go 11 days without sleeping. So getting to the 24 hour threshold is nothing to be concerned about. And I did sleep. Even if it was only for an hour, it’s still sleep.

His hand started involuntarily shaking as he remembered the hell that was the one hour. His stomach rolled again and he clenched his fists.

What is wrong with you? It didn’t even happen to you. Calm down.

Saiki clenched his jaw, and paced in his room. He glanced at the clock. 4:43 in the morning.

Mom gets up at 6 so that she can start making dinner, breakfast so that I can be out the door by 7 to get to school on time. That’s about one more hour.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, doing his best to hold his breath so he wouldn’t have to smell his own vomit. It was more potent than he would like, but he wouldn’t dare go back to the bathroom. He didn’t trust that his stomach would keep down the few bits of food it had left in it. He took a deep breath then started staring at the door in front of him.

1. . .

-

By the time he got to 3000 he went downstairs.

The counting feels very similar to something else. Wait, isn't this the second reference now?

He felt stuck in the guest room, and there was only so many times a person could rake their eyes over the same four walls before going insane.

Don’t ignore me.

So he went downstairs, ignoring the somewhat unsettling atmosphere. It felt oddly cold, and the feeling was foreign seeing as he hadn’t had to worry about temperature for around a decade now. A small part of him wanted to exhale to see if his breath would come out foggy, but he forwent that idea in favor of sitting at the dining room table. He glanced at the oven clock.

At least my count isn’t off. I still have more time to kill though.

He drummed his fingers on the table, still counting in the back of his mind. He sighed and then got up to grab a metal spoon from the drawers.

It worked when I was younger, so maybe it’ll work now.

Sitting back down in the chair he began to manipulate the spoon with his mind. At first doing the classic trick of maneuvering it into a knot, then splitting it in two. He twisted both parts around each other, and then untangled them.

Was this really that fascinating when I was 6? I suppose it’s been 10 years but still. Good grief did I have nothing else to do as a kid?

He stopped manipulating the fork spoon to answer his own unintentional question.

Nevermind. I don’t want to answer that question.

He went back to fiddling with the spoon, bringing his count back to the forefront of his mind.

3065. . .

-

Kurumi woke up feeling detached from her body. She would swear up and down that she heard Kusuo throw up last night, but she had never known Kusuo to throw up in his entire life. She was only vaguely aware that he could get hurt, but for the most part he hadn’t ever gotten sick. He had allergies, sure, but sick? To the point of throwing up no less? That was new.

I must be imagining things. A stressful day can lead to a stressful night's sleep. That’s all.

Resolving that to be the issue she started her morning routine, careful not to wake her sleeping husband.

Even my dear sun and moon had trouble falling asleep, I do hope we’re doing what’s best for Kokomi. Time will tell I suppose.

Her grimace lasted for only a moment before she returned to her routine, ignoring the turmoil in her stomach.

-

Kurumi made her way downstairs even more quietly than she usually did.

Ku’s always been a light sleeper, I hope I don’t wake him up. I’m sure he’s being extra careful of his surround—

“Ah!”

Kurumi slapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she released her small yelp. Kusuo looked up at her, surprise distinctly lacking from his features. Neither made a noise as they waited for the other patrons in the house to stir from the sudden scream. Kurumi looked at her son for confirmation that her husband, nor Kokomi had woken up. After a full minute Kusuo shook his head.

Honey, you scared me! What on earth are you doing up so early for?

‘I want to call you out on what you just referred to as my father a little while ago, but I’m going to ignore that to save us both some embarrassment.’

Ah, you um. . . heard that?

Kurumi began to feel her face flush. Her son tried hard not to roll his eyes at the action, but exhaustion had him slipping and he lost the fight.

‘Please stop acting like you’re the high school student here.’

Well how was I supposed to know you’d be up? My thoughts are usually private this time of morning.

She pouted and made her way to the kitchen passing him.

". . ."

When the silence stretched on for too long she looked back at him. He was looking away from her, clenching something tightly in his hand. She set down the bowl she had grabbed to start making breakfast and walked over to her son.

“Kusuo, what’s wrong. You hate mornings, why are you up so early?”

No response. Kurumi bit her bottom lip.

“Oh I know! You decided to become a morning person so that you could hang out with that friend of yours that has a lot of energy!”

She watched him violently shiver at the thought.

“A meteor will strike before I do something like that.”

“Hmm if not that, then perhaps something to do with your school? Oh Ku! Why didn’t you tell me that you had secretly joined the choir and that you needed to start going to school early? I would have gotten up earlier to make you breakfast!”

She gave a mock pout and he finally whipped around to look at her. Disgust clearly written on his face.

"No."

She smiled, grabbing his hands to make sure he didn’t turn away from her again.

Not that it would stop me, I can just dislocate my body.

“If you don’t tell me I’m just going to keep getting more drastic in my assumptions.”

“Can it really be called an assumption if you know it would never happen?”

“Do you really think you can stall answering your mother's question by changing the topic?”

He was quiet for a moment and then sighed. “No.”

She let go of his hands to rub circles on his cheeks.

You haven’t let me do this since you were nearly a baby. Please sweetie tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help?

Saiki clenched his jaw.

I could tell her. Tell her about the nightmares. Tell her about how I haven’t slept. But it’s not my problem to tell, and I can’t believe I’m letting myself be affected. It’s ridiculous.

“I promise whatever your feeling isn’t ridiculous.”

I swear sometimes she’s actually a psychic too. “I just couldn’t sleep. I thought some water might help.”

Kurumi exhaled strongly through her nose, she didn’t like it when her son lied to her. Even if it was to keep her from worrying. But today he could get a pass, even though there was no evidence of a cup anywhere.

“Ok. You should try and get some rest then honey. It’s not good to go too long without sleeping, Ku.”

He nodded and then started heading back up the stairs.

A human can go 11 days without sleep, but only 3 days before they start going insane.

Saiki paused, swallowed, and then continued up to the guest bedroom.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m pretty far from human then.

-

Saiki went back upstairs and paced the guest bedroom. It was six on the dot when his mom came down, and their little conversation put him at 6:10. He sighed.

Good grief, why does time always move slower when you want it to go fast?

He knew that the flow of time hadn’t changed, he was just anxious.

Anxious implies I have something to be anxious about. I’m frustrated, nothing more. This situation has stuff to do with me, but I wasn’t meant to see those dreams. It was a play and the admittance was for one, and that one wasn’t me.

He was frustrated and anxious. He waited five more minutes before his impatience got the better of him and he apported his clothes.

That’s. . . odd. I could have sworn I was going to have to cycle once before I could get to my uniform.

He continued looking at uniformed body, but couldn’t come up with a solution.

I guess I’m just overthinking things.

He looked at his clothes one more time before heading downstairs to retrieve underwear and socks.

Unnecessary information.

-

When he was done gathering everything in the clothing department he hovered outside his bedroom door. Focusing on the door revealed that Teruhashi was still sleeping in his bed, though the sheets were a mess, and she looked like she was fighting for her life. Quietly entering the room he walked over to the sleeping girl.

She’s lost in her own head. I can’t not be able to help her. At this rate she’ll never wake up.

Lightly grabbing her hand, and silently wishing he could do more, he squeezed once, and then let go. Teruhashi shifted, sighed and then relaxed into the bedsheets.

She’s ok?

Her breathing evened, and the tension slowly seeped out of her.

She is.

His own shaky hand calmed at the sight, and he picked up his bag and left the room. As he made his way back down the stairs he noticed his mom was humming while she cooked.

That usually means she’s trying not to think about something. But I’m going to choose to ignore that.

“Kusuo honey is that you?”

“Yes.”

He set his bag down near the dining room table and walked into the kitchen next to his mother. She was stirring something in a bowl that looked suspiciously like pancake batter. When he attempted to dip a finger in the batter to test his theory, Kurumi swatted his hand and continued to go about cooking. He frowned and then reached for the bread.

“You know better, Ku. If you want to be my taste tester, you have to be in the kitchen with me the entire time.”

A dumb rule in my opinion.

“It’s the only way to make sure that my psychic son doesn’t eat all of my cookie batter.”

He flinched as his mother once again seemed to be able to read his thoughts.

Seriously. Stop doing that, it’s creepy. And that's coming from me of all people. “I only did that 3 times.”

“Three times is still too many. In any event is Kokomi still asleep?”

He turned to lean on the counter as he counted the seconds left on his toast.

“Yes.”

“That’s good. She deserves to get some sleep after everything she went through.” You both do.

He considered his mother’s thoughts, but left himself back to his counting. The silence before the Ding! of the toaster was comfortable, and it almost made him fall back asleep where he was standing. But he didn’t and instead put himself into a small trance to make the walk to school more bearable. Grabbing the bread that was now toasted to a golden brown he started heading to the door, picking up his bag as he passed it.

“Kusuo do you— Wait where are you going?”

He put the bread into his mouth, cringing only slightly about how he was playing into a cliché, and grabbed his blazer from the coat hanger.

“Kusuo?” Kurumi was becoming exasperated. He was ignoring her. He never ignored her. At least not like this. “Kusuo! What are you doing?”

Kusuo, having finished putting on his blazer, waved goodbye with his free hand, using his powers to slip on his shoes.

"Bye."

Kurumi tripped as she ran towards the entrance of the foyer. “Kusuo! If you go out that door I’ll—”

He teleported and was gone.

“Ground you. Damnit Kusuo.”

Kurumi clenched her fists as she looked at the spot her son had been standing moments before. She didn’t mind having a superpowered son, truly she didn’t. She nor her husband did really. Sometimes she wished she had more chances to help him be his age, but there wasn’t much she could do to control other people’s thoughts. So he grew up too fast, and he discarded his emotions too soon.

Even still. . . She looked back up the stairs to where their new and more permanent than temporary guest was, I’ll have to make him act his age this time around. I can’t let him handle this the way he handles everything else. “I’d be a terrible mother if I did.”

"Impossible."

She felt arms behind her and didn’t flinch when she heard the sound of her husband's voice.

“You could never be a terrible mother.” Kuniharu continued. “Just a little lost sometimes.”

She squeezed his arms. “Do you think he’s going to hate us?”

Kuniharu let go of his wife slightly so that she could turn and see his face. “If I’m being honest I’m not sure he doesn’t hate us, well at least me anyway, already.” Kurumi slapped him somewhat playfully. “But this time I don’t think it matters. We both know he avoids his emotions because of what happened that day, and that was when he was six.”

There was a grave silence between the two adults.

“He’s not six anymore.” Kurumi breathed out.

“No. And we can’t keep treating him like he is. Especially not now. And no matter what happens we’ll do this together.” Kuniharu grabbed his wife’s hand.

“Together.” She squeezed it hoping the action would dissipate her worries, even though deep down she knew it wouldn't. Not really.

Chapter Text

Kusuo was walking slower than his usual pace, which slightly defeated the purpose of why he teleported.

You try teleporting when you're only working with a third of your processing capacity.

By the time he made it to where Kaidou and Nendou were usually waiting for him, Kaidou was already there.

I wonder where he is? Could something have happened to him? Did he get into a car crash too? Saiki is never usually late. Breathe Kaidou. It’s fine. He’s fine. Probably just—

He gave a large gasp. “The forces of Dark reunion! They must be behind why Saiki is late! Of course, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner.”

On a different day Saiki might have done everything in his power to avoid Kaidou at that moment, but he was too tired to care.

Feels like that is going to be a recurring theme today.

Saiki walked up to where Kaidou was and continued walking without pause.

Wait, was that Saiki?

“Saiki, wait! The forces of Dark reunion are strong today, it’ll be safer if we travel to school together.”

He ignored the chibinnoyu. You say that everyday.

“Plus, with Nendou still in the hospital,” Kaidou fiddled with his bag straps.

“What?” Saiki paused to look at him.

“You didn’t know? Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn’t. He’s been in the hospital since yesterday, and when I went to go visit him they said he probably wouldn’t be out until Sunday. The doctors said they wanted to make sure he didn’t sustain any brain damage.”

Saiki was reeling.

Was the accident that bad? Kaidou seemed worried, but brain damage? Isn’t that a bit excessive?

“I’m going to see him after school,” Kaidou looked away from him. Uncomfortable under the strong gaze. “If you want to join.”

Saiki shook his head, realizing how long he had been staring.

“I’ll come.” He began walking again, making a mental list of things he needed to do today.

“Wait, you will?!” Kaidou had to jog a little to catch up to him, seeing as he started walking when he wasn’t paying attention.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, you’ve just seemed. . .'' the smaller boy trailed off. Angry isn’t really the right word. But it’s definitely a stronger word than irritated.

Saiki clenched his jaw.

“I um, guess it doesn’t really matter.” Kaidou whimpered.

Kaidou trailed three steps behind the psychic for the rest of the walk. Neither spoke.

When they arrived at the school, Kaidou quietly excused himself to put away his shoes. Saiki made no comment and headed to class faster than him. Even with their little chat stopping them on the way to their destination, they still made it to school at their usual hour. Saiki resisted the urge to rub his temples as he sat in his seat. Everyone’s voices were extra loud today, and he felt like a bomb.

I do not. I just have a headache.

Kaidou made his way to his seat, only glancing at him before sitting down. The whole room seemed to notice the pink headed boy's plight.

Is he ok?

Why is he glaring?

Did he always look that mean?

Ugh I don’t want to be here today.

There’s always an outlier I suppose. I just wish the conversation topic would get off of me. Don’t you people have lives?

There was a slam on his desk, but he didn’t move to meet it.

“Where is she?” Chiyo was seething. Rage clear, and directed solely at him.

“I don’t know where the teacher is Yumehara.”

“Don’t play dumb Saiki, you know who I’m talking about.”

“Since you insist on always giving vague questions, and assuming people will know the correct response, no. I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Ugggh! I don’t have time for this. “Just tell me where she is Saiki.”

Good grief, I really don’t know who she’s talking about this time. Why won’t she just leave me alone?

“Do not ignore me! This is important, and if you know where she is I have a right to know.” She was clenching her fists.

“You’re going to get in trouble.”

“Because I’m looking for my friend? Why would I—”

“Ms. Yumehara, if you are quite done chatting with Saiki, I’d appreciate it if you'd take your seat.”

Chiyo didn’t move, continuing to stare down the psychic.

“Yumehara. I will not ask again.”

She clenched her fists even harder, he raised an eyebrow in response. “This isn’t over.” was what she whispered to him before returning to her seat.

“Yumehara, you will be seeing me after class. As for everyone else—”

Saiki turned his head out the window, tuning out the rest of the period.

Actually, I think it is.

-

9:30 - Go to class and avoid Chiyo

10:30 - Eat a snack on the roof to avoid everyone

10:45 - Avoid Chiyo, talk to Kaidou

11:30 - Start actually paying attention in class, and avoid Chiyo

12:30 - Stall getting lunch, go behind the gym to avoid Chiyo. Listen to be talked at by Hairo. Sit with Kaidou

1:05 - Take notes in class

2:10 - Gym. No Chiyo

3:10 - Pack up

3:15 - Wait for Kaidou, no Chiyo (?), walk to the hospital to see Nendou

That seems like a cheap way to avoid writing important story elements.

Kaidou relaxed after Saiki joined him again during the period after snack. He had the impression that he was angry at him.

I. Am. Tired.

It was only when they arrived at the hospital that he decided to confront their follower.

“Go inside. I’ll meet you in there.”

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

“I just have a hunch about something.”

Gaasp!

Did you just think gasp?

Has Saiki finally seen what I mean about Dark reunion?! That must be it! I’ll have to start thinking of the official welcome ceremony.

Please don’t.

“Ok, I’ll meet you inside Saiki. Nendou’s room is number 214.” And with that he walked inside the looming building.

-

Saiki didn’t like hospitals very much. The idea of so many doctors in one place made him exceedingly uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable would mean that it’s still bearable to some extent. I avoid hospitals like I avoid bugs. It’s chronic.

His fear of hospitals steamed from his childhood. Not only did his brother put the idea in his head that doctors would love to experiment and dissect him, his parents agreed. But he couldn’t stop the guilt that started eating away at him when Kaidou told him about the monkey-brained buffoon. But he wanted to give all his attention to the said buffoon though, meaning he had to deal with his present stalker first.

“Are you done following me now?” Saiki was staring at a telephone pole, and with his x-ray vision he was able to see right through it to the girl that was hiding behind it.

Her form flinched, and then walked out from behind the pole.

Chiyo walked towards him. “If you knew I was following you, then why didn’t you call me out on it sooner.” How’d he know I was there? I’ve followed so many people like that before and I’ve never once been noticed!

Your stalker tendencies are more than slightly concerning. “Mostly because I didn’t want to talk with you.”

She pouted. I just want to know what happened to her. Why does he have to make it seem like my very existence is a crime? “If you just would have told me where she was this morning, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Good grief. “Yumehara, I don’t know who you’re asking about, and quite frankly I had a very, very long night,” his expression slowly turned to a glare. “I would like nothing more than to go home and sleep. But Nendou is in the hospital and since no one else is going to visit him, because no one else knows, I’m here.” He lied.

Irrelevant. He stood at his full height glaring down at the smaller girl. She gave him a wavering gaze. “All of this means I don’t have the time, or the patience, to figure out why you’ve been stalking me all day. So for both our sakes, who the hell are you looking for?”

His palms were on fire, and he had to clench them to keep them from bursting into flames. Chiyo stepped back and pretended to dust off her skirt.

I had no idea Saiki could be this scary. It’d probably be hot if I wasn’t so scared.

Saiki mentally rolled his eyes. “I just want to know where Kokomi is. She wasn’t at school today, she didn’t pick up my calls yesterday, and she wasn’t waiting for me to walk to school together. I’ve called her at least a thousand times, but I just keep getting her voicemail. You were the last person with her to the best of my knowledge, so you have to know where she is.” She folded her arms across her chest. “For her to just disappear like that. . .” There’s too many things that could have happened, and I can’t help but think it’s not the reasonable ones.

Saiki stopped breathing.

*Someone, please! Help!*

He had to punch himself in the leg to stop his knees from giving out. The horrendous images returned in full force. Every scene sharper than the first time. Had he not been in public he would have punched a crater in the ground, instead he closed his eyes and forced his body temperature to drop to the point where he was shaking.

“Teruhashi, Teruhashi is-” He couldn’t get his mind to work. He couldn’t get the sentences to form properly. Everything was coming out half formed, or not at all. He was losing control over his emotions, which led to losing the hold he had on his powers.

“Saiki?” Chiyo reached out to touch him. He flinched away like he did when he couldn’t hear people’s thoughts.

“I need to see Nendou before visiting hours close,”

“But what about—”

He interrupted her. “Later.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Saying it out loud made it real. It showed the pain, it showed his discomfort.

She let out a soft gasp at hearing the word. “I’ll tell you later. After. . . after Nendou.”

By this point he was at the doors, the sensor opening them automatically.

“I’ll wait.”

He nodded and went inside.

-

She bolted from the sheets, heaving and sweating profusely. Backing herself into the corner she tried to remind herself where she was. Everything was spinning, the walls were wavy, and it felt like she couldn’t get enough air to her lungs fast enough. There was a screeching. What was that? Who was that? Her cheeks felt hot, but her hands were ice cold. She felt like a contradiction. Where was the screeching coming from? Where was she? Someone’s trying to grab her, she doesn’t want to be touched. Can’t be. It’s him. It’s him. It has to be him.

“Kokomi!” He knew her name. Knew where she lived. There would be no escape. No solace. She was done for. There would be no one who would save her this time.

She kicked at the person, clawed at them. Still there was that godawful screeching. It was so loud.

“Kokomi!” The voice was louder this time. More firm. She was outmatched. Her hands were being held. She was pinned to the wall. She was shaking her head. She wouldn’t sit still, couldn’t sit still.

“Teruhashi, stop.” It was gentle, pleading. Of course he would beg. It was harder if she squirmed. She couldn’t stop now. Not even as her arms ached. Not even as her ears were still ringing from the screeching. If only it would stop. If only she could think.

“Stop.” She couldn’t breathe. Was she choking? Was he going to do it while she was unconscious? That scumbag. But her throat hurt so much. Her limbs felt like lead. She needed to fight, but the longer that arm was on her windpipe, the harder it was to do so.

“Please.” She tried to beg. Was she crying? The screeching stopped. “Please. . .” She couldn’t feel her arms. “Plea—”. Her head lulled to the side as she tried to take in one more breath.
.

.

.

It was quiet when she woke up again. There was a weight on the edge of the bed, and she had a cold washcloth on her forehead. Slowly Kokomi sat up.

The figure tensed, before turning to look at her. Kurumi looked at her, eyes watering, face pensive. “O-oh! You’re awake! That’s good. I was hoping you would wake up soon.”

She tried to speak, but her throat was sore. Why was it sore?

“You must be thirsty.” Kurumi stood, stepping towards her son's desk. She handed the girl a glass of water. “Do you remember anything? Anything that happened this morning?”

Kokomi paused in her drinking, panting slightly as a result of how fast she was drinking the water. “No.” was her garbled response. Voice now hoarse, but usable.

Kurumi reached out to touch her, but hesitated. Deciding to hover her hand over her leg instead. “You woke up screaming.” It was a whisper, the way Kokomi assumed the older woman talked when she didn’t want to frighten a child.

“Screaming?”

“You don’t remember?”

She shook her head.

“You were screaming, and crying. You were clawing at your throat. I think you woke up, but you didn’t escape the. . . the” Kurumi didn’t finish her sentence.

I was having a nightmare. That explains a lot.

There was a beat of silence as neither looked at each other.

“What time is it?”

Kurumi jumped at the sudden question. She glanced at the bedside clock. “11:35.”

Kokomi nodded. “When did I. . .?”

“Wake up?” Kurumi finished.

She nodded again. “The first time I mean.”

“It was a little after 8 o’clock, though the time was the least of my concerns.”

This is bad. I need to do damage control. My image is crumbling. “You don’t need to worry about me. You could say I have an overly active imagination.” She tried to smile, trying to reassure the mother that she was fine. She was met with an even more concerned stare.

“I’m going downstairs to re-heat some food. Come down when you’re ready, okay?”

Kokomi slumped, but nodded.

You can still get out of this. You just need to show her that you're fine. Because you are fine. It was a nightmare, just a figment of your imagination. Get over it.

Teruhashi got up and made her way to the bathroom. Hesitating for only a moment, she forced herself to look in the mirror. She was almost afraid to touch her face, fearing it might break her reflection.

The bags under her eyes were deep enough to swim in. Her hair was so tangled in knots that if you told her someone had actually knotted her hair, she would have believed you. Her skin was so pale it reminded her of a sheet of paper, and she was shaking. She clenched the sink.

You’re pathetic. It wasn’t even as bad as last time. Get a hold of yourself.

She looked at her wrists and saw the dark marks around them.

Kokomi backed away from the sink until she bumped into the wall, falling to the floor once she did.

~

“Oh you’re such a good girl, stay still just like that.”

“Please, you’re hurting me.”

“Huh? Oh. You’re little wrists, they're so small I almost didn’t notice I was holding them.” He laughed, squeezing tighter.

Kokomi whimpered. “Do you like that? No? Well it’s just an insurance policy. You’ve been such a good girl, I'd hate for you to mess up your reward.” The faceless man licked the shell of her ear.

Teruhashi tried to wrestle out of her seat looking for a way to end the play she was watching. The puppets were all smiling, even as their voices broke into sobs. Scene after scene playing before her. The puppets becoming more like dolls with each spotlight turning on and off.

“Let me out! Let me out of here!” She fought against the ropes, fighting even harder as the curtains began to fall.

Not being able to do anything, she watched as each man from the different scenes came up to her.

“Oh you’ve grown up so nicely, maybe now we can watch your favorite show again, hmm?” The man from the first spotlight leered.

“No no, it should definitely be me. She just can’t get enough! Did you see how she wouldn’t stop staring at me?”

“I should be first. We didn’t even get the chance to play together good.”

As each man got closer, she became more violent in her escape attempt.

“All three of you can have me.” She heard her voice say.

“Always such a good girl.” It was said in unison.

She was screaming at herself to stop talking. Fighting with everything in her as the men drew closer. She was about to give up when—

~

It was white. There were no stages, no strings, no men coming towards her. She was just existing. But that wasn’t quite right. She looked down at her feet, watching as long grass tickled her ankles. She looked up at the sky and saw eternal blue.

Kokomi sat down, letting herself fall into the tall grass. It was only then that she felt a firm pressure on her hand. It was someone she knew, but their face was obscured by a book. They seemed content sitting under a cherry blossom tree. Even though it was probably harder to do so, they still refused to let go of her hand, even as they flipped the page of the book.

“You’re okay.” The voice said.

She continued to stare, relaxing as the hand holding hers squeezed tighter.

“I am?”

The person set the book down, revealing their face. Even without him speaking she knew the bespectacled boy was telling her the truth.

“I’m okay.”

He resumed reading, a slight breeze blowing in the near desert-like field.

Kokomi brought her hands away from her eyes as she looked at the tile floor underneath her.

See? You’re fine.

-

As Teruhashi made her way down stairs, she was proud of what she accomplished in the bathroom. Not only did she look like a human being again, she looked like one that actually got sleep. The fact that she didn’t was unimportant as far as she was concerned.

“There you are, I was beginning to think you might have gone back to bed.”

“No, I just wanted to wash my face before coming down.” She made her way over to the woman, sitting at the dining table.

“Well good,” Kurumi set one more plate down on the already packed table, before sitting across from her. “I was afraid I was going to have to eat all by myself this morning.” She began to make herself a plate, watching Kokomi when she didn’t move.

Slowly she reached out for a small bowl of rice, out of the corner of her eye she saw Kurumi frown, but it only lasted for a second before it was replaced by her smile.

“Unfortunately it seems that Kusuo has decided to go to school today, otherwise I would have had him go and get you.”

He went to school? That’s good. . . right?

“I would have liked him to stay home, but he can be so independent sometimes. I suppose there's not a lot to be done about it.”

Maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought. Kokomi cleared her throat after swallowing a bite of rice. “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done Mrs. oh- I mean, Kurumi.”

“Of course honey! It wasn’t a problem, I want you to know that you always have someone in your corner.”

“You’re so kind, but I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome. So I think after I finish eating, I’ll be taking my leave.”

She smiled in a way that would have made most people turn to jelly, instead Kurumi returned her smile in kind.

“Kokomi dear?”

“Yes?”

“You won’t be leaving this house any time soon.”

“What?!” Her smile dropped as she stood from her seat.

“Kokomi, I would love nothing more than to let you go home, but I would be a terrible mother, and adult, if I did.”

“No you wouldn’t!”

“Yes, I would. You’ve been traumatized, and hurt. It’s nothing that won’t heal with time, but I simply can’t let you go. And if you don’t like it because I’m a mother, then think of it as me telling you as a member of the neighborhood watch. We failed to protect you, and I won’t let that happen again.” Kurumi folded her hands in front of her, used to making a strong claim.

“You’re not my mom, and this isn’t even my neighborhood!” Kokomi slapped her hands over her mouth as soon as the words left her lips. She watched as the hurt entered Kurumi’s features before she stood up and walked to the hallway. Fidgeting only for a moment, Kokomi followed.

She found Kurumi going through a large pamphlet. She stopped once she found what she was looking for.

Teruhashi opened her mouth to say something, but closed it once the phone started to ring.

What is she doing?

“I’m calling your parents.” Kokomi blinked. Did I say that out loud? Wait hold on.

“What?”

She didn’t get a response before there was a *Click* on the other line.

“To whom am I speaking? Oh good, I have the right number then.”

Kokomi stepped forward to try and hear the other side of the conversation, but she was stopped by a sharp look.

“No I don’t believe you do, but our kids are in the same class. Yes. Yes, that’s right. She’s here right now actually.”

Kokomi swallowed, wishing not for the first time that she could disappear.

“I know this is short notice but— my son? No, he’s not here right now. I’d like it if you didn’t talk about my son that way, thank you.”

Kokomi gave a small smile at the idea of someone sticking up to her parents. They were scary people.

“Now if you’d let me finish I’d be more than happy to explain why your daughter is here. There was an incident, I’m not sure what happened— no, technically I don’t know the full reason why she’s here, but that wasn’t my place to ask. This is a very delicate situation and as diplomats I would assume you know what that word means, if you don’t then I fear for what it means for Japan as a country.”

A pause.

“Thank you. As I was saying, I don’t know all the details, but I know fear when I see it. Both as a mother and as a member of the neighborhood watch I couldn’t let Kokomi go home at night in good conscience. However, I realize this is not my decision. She made that very clear, I am not her guardian. You are. Yes, she’s right here. One moment.”

Kurumi held the phone out for her to grab. Teruhashi took a deep breath before bringing the phone to her ear.

“Hi.”

“Kokomi! Oh my dear Koko! Are you alright? Are you eating well? You’re not hurt are you? Did that Kusuo do anything to you?” She tried to speak, but she was interrupted.

“If he did, I’ll make sure he pays for hurting you my love. I’ll make sure that whole family pays. Say the word and I’ll—”

“No!” Kokomi surprised herself at the firmness of her own voice. She centered herself, allowing her voice to even out. “No. Saiki didn’t do anything to me. He and his family have been nothing but kind. I am eternally grateful to them.”

“If they’re so nice, why do you want to go home?” Her mother’s voice was accusatory. She didn't like it.

“I’ve just taken up too much of their time. I am more than old enough to take care of myself, so there’s no reason to stay.”
.
.
.

"Hello?"

“We’re still here.” Her father now. “Koko, I'm going to ask you a question. Answer it honestly.”

“Okay.”

“What happened last night.”

Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to come up with and answer that wasn’t the truth. When she finally had one, she smiled. “It was raining, and there was a flash flood warning. I just didn’t want anything bad to happen to me, that’s all.”

“Perfect girls don’t lie to their parents. Put Kurumi back on the line, we need to have another conversation.”

Kokomi wanted to cry, after everything she’d done, she still wasn’t perfect enough. Not for her parents, not for her peers, not even for herself. Doubt creeped in about whether or not being “perfect” was actually possible, or even near perfection for that matter.

She handed the phone back to Kurumi, only half listening to the conversation now.

I will never be more than a good little girl. I will never be perfect.

.

.

.

Kurumi explained that for the next few weeks that she and her husband would be her legal guardians, and that she would be staying with them until her brother returned from his movie shoot. If at that point she or her husband still felt it was too soon to send her home, they wouldn’t. Kokomi only nodded before excusing herself to go upstairs. Her initial response was to go to the guest room, but before she knew it she was in Saiki’s room.

More like a machine than a girl, she sat down on his bed. After 20 minutes, she felt tears roll down her cheeks. Everything she worked for, everything she had done, she was watching it all fall away. Just like the tears that rolled off her face, and onto the hardwood floor.

-

Saiki felt used. Kaidou made it sound like the other boy was in a lot of trouble, he was even willing to use his powers to speed up his healing process even more. But when he got to the room, he found Nendou fighting a nurse that was trying to put an IV in his arm.

“Sir! Sir, please! I must implore that you sit still!”

“Get your cold lady fingers away from me! I don’t need that thing back in my arm!”

Kaidou was trying desperately to help the nurse. “Nendou you idiot, she’s trying to help you! Let her do her job!”

“No way! That thing is sharp, and the fluid feels weird in my arm. And it’s so—”

As Saiki was about to turn around and leave, he was pulled into a side arm hugged by the gorilla man.

“Hey buddy! How’ve you been? Did you miss me at school? You don’t have to be shy, I know we’re best friends.”

“Get off of me.” Saiki tried to slip the large arm off of him gently, but it only squeezed his neck tighter.

“You won’t believe the crap they’re trying to do to me here buddy! They give me these yucky pills, and won’t let me drink anything but water. I know they have apple juice, but that lady keeps hoarding all the good stuff for herself. I just know it.” He said the last part as if it was a secret.

“Maybe you really are brain damaged.”

Now’s my chance! That other boy seems to be distracting him.

“Well I won’t let her get me!” He stood to his full height pointing a hand in the air with the action. “I plan on breaking out of this place tonight. Ain’t no one is going to— Hey!”

The nurse sighed in relief at finally getting the needle in. Nendou began to try and pull it out, but Kaidou stopped him.

“Nendou, stop it! You need that IV in you so you don’t pass out.”

“I don’t need to take a dump though.”

“No you moron, I mean pass out as in faint.”

“I’m not faint though? So why do I need something for it?”

“Because you would be without it!”

Nendou and Kaidou continued to fight as the nurse made her way over to Saiki.

“Are those two friends? Or should I call security on the smaller one?” She looked at him questioningly, and he shrugged.

“We go to the same school, and we all walk together. They might be friends, but I’m more of an acquaintance at best.”

The nurse looked at him for a while before giving an airy laugh. “I’m not sure you know what the definition of friendship is, young man, but coming to visit someone in the hospital to the point where you were on the verge of tears, is more than being an acquaintance.”

Saiki frowned. Don’t you have somewhere else to be?

“I’ll be taking my leave now. Please make sure Mr. Nendou doesn’t take out his IV. He’s doing well, but he’s still more dehydrated than the doctor would like.”

Saiki gave a half-hearted nod, and proceeded to watch the other teenagers fight. He watched for five more minutes before deciding he’d had enough.

“Are you done now?” Saiki walked over to the left side of Nendou’s bed, and sat in the empty chair. Nendou and Kaidou both followed sitting on the bed and other chair respectively.

“We wouldn’t have been fighting in the first place if Nendou actually understood what a hospital was.”

“I do know what a hospital is! I just don’t need to be in one. It was just a scratch.”

“You had to get 5 stitches in your head! That’s more than a scratch!”

Nendou grumbled something that was incoherent. Saiki held back his sigh, listening as Kaidou explained what he had missed in school. A half an hour passed and Kaidou excused himself to use the restroom.

“Hey buddy,” Nendou began looking out the window as he did, “why didn’t you sleep last night?”

Saiki blinked. “What?” The question came out on reflex.

“You’re all droopy, and usually you’re more tense. So you have to be tired. It’s a similar situation with my mom. She comes home from work with really droopy shoulders, it’s how I know she’s tired. But she’s tired because she works two jobs. Why are you tired?”

Saiki didn’t know how to respond. Everyone else had simply figured he was upset about something. Nendou seeing not only that he wasn’t upset, but that he was tired was astonishing.

I really have to start giving him more credit.

“Ha! That cloud looks like a butt. Oh! And that other cloud looks like it’s coming out of the first one. Hahaha! It’s a farting cloud. Look buddy! It’s great.” Nendou was pointing out the window, giddy at his discovery.

I resend my previous comment.

-

Saiki spent the rest of his time with Nendou quietly speeding up his healing process. It wasn’t necessary by any means, but he had an excessive amount of energy and wanted a way to channel it.

I did not. Healing him gave me something else to think about, and if you keep misinterpreting the events, I’m going back to telling the story.

As he walked out of the hospital, he said goodbye to Kaidou and began walking the street to his own house. Chiyo quietly slipped in next to him. He didn’t acknowledge her. He continued not to acknowledge her until he was almost back home.

“Okay Saiki, I’ve tried to be patient, but we’re almost at your house. Where is Kokomi?”

Saiki slowed his walking until he stopped completely. Everything around him became a dull buzz.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“What?!” Chiyo was angry, and Saiki wasn’t surprised. “You’ve made me wait all this time, only to say that you won’t even tell me where she is? You do understand how shitty that is right?” Her hands were clenched into fists, and she looked like she wanted to punch him. He didn’t blame her.

“It’s complicated.”

“You’re a man of few words. Make it uncomplicated.”

Saiki wasn’t sure what to do. He knew that Teruhashi wouldn’t want anyone to know what happened to her, but there was a strong chance she would end up telling Chiyo in the future. He ran his fingers through his hair to stall for time.

“You—”

“If you’re about to tell me that I wouldn’t understand, I swear to God Saiki, I’m going to kick you in the crotch.”

He used one hand to rub his temples. “Please don’t.”

“Then tell me where she is! Or at the very least. . .” her shoulders fell, and her hands unclenched. “At the very least, just tell me if she’s okay.”

He hesitated finalizing the words he was going to say, and then looked at her. “I can’t say that she’s okay. That would be a lie. She’s going through a lot, and she’s probably too upset to be considered ‘okay’. But I can tell you she’s safe.”

Chiyo stared him down, waiting for a break in his face to show he was lying. When no break came she let herself crumple. “I’m going to trust you. But if I found out you’re lying, I’ll make your school life a living hell.”

He nodded. Chiyo searched his eyes one more time before walking away. Saiki wanted nothing more than to teleport home to his room, and sleep for the next 24 hours, but seeing as he had a house guest he knew that was a bad idea. As he continued to walk, the sense of dread that had been growing in his chest grew stronger. When he reached the gate to his house, he saw blue hair dart out of the front door and down the steps. Saiki dropped his bag as she tried to race past him.

“Let me go! I just want to go home. Please!” She was hitting his back, but he didn’t move. “I just want to go home.” She was crying now as she clutched his blazer. He saw his mom standing in the doorway panting.

“What happened to her?” He directed the question only at his mother, she ignored him.

“Bring her inside. She just wore herself out.” In a similar way that you did.

He wanted to refute, but the girl in his arms was making it hard to have a conversation as she kept trying to sneak out of his hold.

“Teruhashi.”

Said girl froze as her name was said. “If my mom doesn’t want you to leave, you won’t leave. She is a force of nature.” He projected the last part only to her, though based on his mother’s glare he sensed she knew what he said.

I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. Not again. Why? Why does this keep happening to me? I’m so tired. I’m so tired. She pulled out of his hold, walking back towards the house. I’m so tired of trying to be perfect. I’m so tired.

Saiki gripped his bag tighter than needed as he followed the girl back inside.

Chapter Text

Static. Similar to the previous day, he felt the static reverberate around him, but it was so much stronger than before. He had to physically restrain himself from gripping his head. His mother was talking, but he couldn’t hear a single word.

“Suo. . .?” He closed his eyes tight enough to feel his glasses move with the action. “Ku. . .?” He tried to clench his fists, but he couldn’t feel them properly. “. . . listening to. . .?” He curled his toes and felt his breath come out foggy, if he wasn’t already sitting down he was certain he would have collapsed.

Kurumi gripped her son’s shoulders, forcing him to look at her. “Kusuo!” She felt him tense as he opened his eyes to look at her. She rubbed his arms before grabbing both his hands, she kneeled in front of him as she did. “Did you hear me?”

Saiki blinked several times, trying to regain his boundaries. He forced the static to the back of his mind to focus solely on his mother. “No.”

Kurumi nodded. “That’s okay.” She gave his hands a squeeze before standing in front of both teens again. “Kokomi already knows this honey, but she’ll be staying with us for a while.”

He nodded. That makes sense, though I don’t think she’s too happy about it.

“As of today, you’ll both stop going to school as well.”

Both teens snapped to look at the woman, surprise visible in their features. “What?!” Saiki glanced at the girl next to her before returning his gaze back on his mother.

“I’ve thought about this a lot, and me and Kuniharu both agree this is the best course of action right now.”

Saiki grit his teeth. “On what grounds?”

Kurumi was surprised at her son for taking such a tone with her. It furthered her feelings that this was the right choice. “First of all, I’m your mother Kusuo, and you need to watch your tone.” She returned the glare he was giving her tenfold. He looked away irritated. “Secondly, I just don’t feel as though either of you will be able to perform in school properly at the moment.”

“But I don’t understand,” Kokomi was gripping her pants. “Won’t we fall behind if we don’t go to school?”

Kurumi sighed. “Under normal circumstances, yes, but seeing as this is a special situation, you’ve both been given permission. I’ll be getting your homework for the week, and turning it in at the end of it.”

“But what if we don’t understand something and need to ask the teacher a question?” Kokomi was grasping at anything to prevent this from happening.

“Should you ever be confused about something, I have all of your teacher’s email addresses at my disposal. I’ll give them to you whenever you feel as though you need them.”

Kokomi clenched and unclenched her fists. “But. . . but.”

“Kokomi,” the girl looked up to her. “Anything you're thinking of, me and the school have already resolved. There’s protocols for things like this.”

Saiki held back his scoff, knowing it would only get him in more trouble. Kurumi looked back at her son. “And as of today, you’re grounded Kusuo.”

Turning back to his mother he stood. “Why?”

“Other than the fact you blatantly ignored me this morning, your attitude since getting home has been unacceptable.”

‘I had a long night,’ he sneered. 'I have a right to my emotions.’

Kurumi raised her eyebrows at the words he projected into her mind. He usually wasn’t so bold when there was someone who didn’t know about his powers with them. I am not saying you are not entitled to your emotions, but you are responsible for how you deal with them.

Slowly Saiki closed his fists, and Kurumi watched as fire formed around them. She was well aware of how unpredictable his powers got when he was emotional, but it wasn’t until now that she understood how dangerous it was.

Your hands are on fire.

‘I know.’ He glared at her for a few moments longer, before storming off to his room. To her relief, he didn’t slam his door. She felt her shoulders relax once he was gone.

“People will worry if I’m not in school.” Kokomi whispered.

Kurumi looked at her, kneeling in front of her like she just did for her son moments before. “The teachers will tell everyone that you’re okay, and they’ll say you’re studying from home until further notice.”

Kokomi wanted to cry, she felt her eyes get heavy, and she didn’t stop when the tears fell. Kurumi felt her heart break. “When you feel that you’re ready to go back to school, truly ready, let me know. But just for two weeks, it’s better if you stay home for now.”

Kokomi stood, tears still streaming down her cheeks, she started walking towards the stairs. Kurumi reached out to her. The teen ascended the stairs easily enough, and Kurumi heard the slow close of the guest bedroom.

“Why is the right thing for your kid,” she let herself fall onto the couch “sometimes the hardest thing to do?”

-

Saiki was pacing in his room. He wasn't angry and that emotion was the most dangerous for a psychic to have. It leads to things catching on fire, exploding, or even turning into a hurricane. He needed to calm down, but he couldn’t get a grasp on his anger. He knew it was because he was exhausted, but he couldn’t do anything to change that at the moment.

I should leave. I need to leave.

He listened to his surroundings for a moment, before allowing himself to teleport when he was sure no one would notice.

He let his breathing show his anger, before walking up the mountain and punching it. He half expected it to move with how hard he hit it, and was surprised when it only crumbled to sand. He punched it again, and again, and again. He punched it so much he started to feel the bones in his hand, and he punched it so hard that he was having to dodge the rock particles flying at him. He punched and punched and punched until he fell forward with the force of his hit. He caught himself, panting as he was met with sunlight. He stood up straight and looked behind him.

Where a solid mountain once stood, there was now a tunnel. His breathing slowed as he looked at it. When he was in control the tunnel likely would have been about the size of him, but this tunnel was not like that. It was wide and unstable, similar to when explosives were used to make tunnels for trains. It was also 3 heads taller than him, which surprised him the most. Never once did he punch upwards towards the now ceiling of the tunnel, meaning the pure force of the initial hit was strong enough to create a rickashay.

That’s concerning.

He continued to stare at the tunnel before getting the tingling sensation that he should check on his room. He looked at the sky and guesstimated the time.

That took longer than I thought. Crap.

He teleported back just in time to be met with Kokomi lightly opening his door. It was just a crack, but enough so she could see in the room. She jumped away from the door when he opened it.

“Sorry, I was reading. Is something wrong?” She’s been crying again.

She blinked and then quickly shook her head. “No, I just didn’t know if you heard your mom, and if you did I was wondering if I could hide out with you?”

Saiki tried to scan for his mothers thoughts, but there was still too much adrenaline in his system to do it properly. “I didn’t.” he confessed. “What did she say?”

Kokomi began to fiddle with her hands, before she stopped herself abruptly. “She was just calling to say that dinner was ready.”

He frowned. Excusing the fact he wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t too keen on having a meal with his mother at the moment. However, he also knew that ignoring her would most likely lead to an early grave.

He glared at the hallway stairs, annoyed that he was in the situation to begin with.

“Saiki?” He looked back at the girl, she was biting the inside of her cheek.

I really don’t wanna go back down there. Why can’t I just go home? My parents haven’t been back for a year, and now they want to be my guardians? How is that fair? How is any of this fair?

It’s not. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but changed his mind at the last second. “We should go down. It’ll be easier than if she comes up here.”

Teruhashi sighed slightly, but nodded. She followed him down the stairs.

-

Kuniharu was fairly certain he wasn’t breathing. There was an American saying that went something like “you could cut the tension with a knife”. When he first heard it he brushed it off as another weird idiom, but now he was beginning to understand it. The aforementioned ‘tension’ being an uncomfortable atmosphere, and the ‘knife’ was because it was as if the tension had taken a physical form. It was clever if he was being honest, and he would have to tell his English translators when the proper use of the idiom could be now that he better understood it. Regardless. . .

Kuniharu looked around the kitchen table. He felt as though he missed a very important conversation, which didn’t completely make sense to him seeing as the only thing his wife was going to tell the two teens is that 1) Kokomi was going to be staying with them for a while, and 2) They weren’t going to be going to school for the next two weeks. Neither of those should have, at least as far as he could tell, result in this kind of tension.

His son glanced at him and he choked on his rice. ‘Mom didn’t tell you I’m grounded?’ His voice was bone chilling as it entered his mind. He wouldn’t have been surprised if his doctor was there at that moment, that he would have put him on oxygen. The only thing stopping Kuniharu from clutching his chest like a dying man, was the young lady sitting across from him. By the time he did regain his composure, his wife and son were seemingly having a silent conversation. He knew for a fact that there was nothing “seemingly” about it though.

But what about Kokomi? She’s still not eating, which isn’t too unexpected, but it looks like Kurumi told her she killed her cat. She seems more like a ghost than a girl.

Kuniharu mentally sighed, thankful his son was too engrossed in the argument with his wife to listen to his thoughts. Or at least he hoped that was the case.

He glanced at the girl across from him, trying to figure out how to pull her from her thoughts. Should I ask about school? No, that is probably a sore subject right now. Her interests? What am I, crazy? Given what just happened to her, that’s an awful idea. Her friends? No, no, nope. Same vain. Her brother? He’s famous. Maybe she wouldn’t mind talking about—

As if he was shot, Kuniharu stopped any train of thought regarding Makoto Teruhashi.

Not her brother. Her brother is off limits. Okay Kusuo? I won’t think about him anymore. See? He’s gone from my thoughts. Like he never existed.

It took several moments, but eventually the sensation of pure dread went away. Kuniharu took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Okay, okay. What did I always want an adult to ask me about when I was younger? I got so sick of the “how’s school?” and the “do you have a girlfriend?” and worst of all the “what are your plans for after high school?” I hated them all. I do see how those are the safe questions though, given how easily any interest from an adult can turn less than ideal fairly quickly. He rested his chin on his wrist, sighing as he looked at his curry. If only my anime taught me how to be an adult. Such amazing quotes, startling life lessons, and wonderful music, but nothing to help in— Wait a minute! He took his chin off his hand, hitting his elbow as he did. All members looked at him before returning to what they were doing before the interruption.

Ow, but that’s it! Music! That should be safe, especially if I don’t make it weird. That’s the key thing here. Keep it casual, don’t make it an interrogation, and throw in what I personally like. Hopefully she won’t like music from my generation so that she can tell me what she likes, and then I can recommend some older songs. It’s perfect!

He took a deep breath, and then looked at Teruhashi. “Kokomi,” he started. “Do you listen to music?” Aaaagh! No, no no! I completely forgot about the slim chance she might not even listen to music. The conversation will die before it even begins! He began to rub his now sweaty palms on his lap.

Kokomi looked over to the living room, before glancing back at him. “What?”

Kuniharu swallowed. “Music? Things like pop, or rock. Music. Do you listen to it?” Maybe she’s not allowed to listen to music at home. Gasp! This would be the perfect time to show her that she’s allowed to be a kid! Music is so important, this is perfect.

Kokomi shook her head slowly. “I know what music is, I’m just not sure I. . .” she furrowed her eyebrows, “understand the question?”

Kuniharu’s eyes went wide, and he felt his face start to sweat. “Oh! Yes, I see. I simply meant, in your free time, or when you’re doing homework. Do you listen to any kind of music?”

Kokomi tilted her head slightly in confusion. Why is he asking about music?

“Whenever I work I like to listen to music, it makes the day go by faster. I suppose what I listen to would be considered “old” by your standards, but it’s what I grew up with. I just can’t seem to part with it.”

Kokomi let the tension fall out of her shoulders by a fraction. He’s just trying to make conversation? I think, no, I can do that. This. I can have a conversation with an adult man and not freak out. He’s not trying to harm me. Calm down.

“Though when I was younger,” he continued. “I used to be a rebel.”

“A rebel?” she whispered.

“Yeah. My parents didn't really pay much attention to me when I was younger. They were too busy working, or being adults, or whatever else that meant they were too busy to talk to their only child. So I figured I could try and force them to pay attention to me.” He scratched the back of his neck, embarrassment showing through. “So I decided to get into rock and roll.”

Kokomi sat forward in her chair, enthralled by the man's words.

Kuniharu glanced at her. His sons never paid much attention to his past whenever he brought it up. He was shocked to see her hanging on his words. “I listened to anything that was supposedly going to “rot my brain” or “melt my insides”.”

Kokomi gave a small laugh at the familiar phrases. Kuniharu took it as encouragement. “I started wearing all black clothes, and wore eyeliner. I think at one point I even got my lip pierced. In the end none of it got my parents attention, and when I got to highschool I went back to blending in with the crowd. Being a rebellious teen usually meant teachers expected you to turn to a life of crime and join a gang. I wasn’t interested in either of those things, so I just dropped the aesthetic. I still listened to the music though.”

“You did?”

Kuniharu nodded, tilting his head towards the girl's bowl. Getting the silence request, she picked up her spoon, nibbling on the curry.

“I did. Turns out, I really liked the genre. It’s mostly just people yelling about their problems, and at the time I related to a lot of the singers. I would listen to rock music from all around the world too, not just artists from Japan. European rock music was very different from the rock music I was listening to, but I still really liked it. It’s also how I got better at English.”

“Did your parents ever scold you for it?”

His eyes widened at the question, and he set his hands on his legs. “After my first year I moved out from my parents house.” Kusuo glanced at his father, not knowing about this. “Not even Kusuke and Kusuo have met them. They weren’t the best people, and I know that now.”

Kokomi understood the pain of wanting to love your parents, even when they didn’t deserve it. It’s how she felt about most of her family, whether she wanted to or not.

Kuniharu clapped his hands, snapping her out of her melancholy. “Enough about me!” Kusuo was still looking at him, but he ignored him. “What about you? What kind of music do you listen to? That is if you do listen to music.”

“I like classical music. A lot of people say it puts them to sleep because it’s boring, or sounds like a lullaby, but that’s not true! If you really listen to the melody and all the different instruments, you can hear the emotion in them. Even when it’s just the piano you can still hear the anger, the pain, or the sorrow coming from the keys. But. . . um,” she stopped herself, realizing classical music was not the “perfect” response. “I mean, I really like any genre really. What you consider old, is just aged nicely. So um—”

“Do you have a favorite composer? I’m afraid I only know Mozart and Beethoven off the top of my head.”

“Those are just the famous ones that people know. But there’s so much more! I personally like Chopin, but he’s not everyone’s favorite. There are also a lot of Japanese composers that make amazing covers of the original songs.”

Kuniharu smiled. “Kusuo, you like classical music too right? Something about the music not being annoying?” Kuniharu looked at his son, pulling him out of his silent conversation once again.

There was a beat before he spoke. “I like Bach more than Chopin. Different emotions.”

There was a flicker of golden light as Kokomi entertained the idea of talking about composers, before her stomach dropped and the light faded.

“Never give away too much Kokomi. That is the most important thing to learn from this experience. Always be what they expect. Always.”

What am I doing? I know better. She gave Kusuo a small smile, nodding at his opinion.

The tension at the table had decreased dramatically, so Kuniharu took his silent victory for what it was. Glancing over to his wife, giving her hand a strong squeeze. He wasn’t sure what the conversation had been about, but it seemed to exhaust her. He was thankful they weren’t having it anymore.

-

Both teens left the table shortly after the dinner. Kusuo knew he was being petty by arguing with his mother for most of it, but he had the sneaking suspicion that there was more to the whole “grounding” situation than she was letting on. He pestered her about it for nearly the entire duration of the dinner, and was still just as oblivious as he was before. And in his pettiness he missed Kokomi’s thoughts. The brief memory concerned him, but he didn’t know how to bring it up without outing himself.

He groaned. Just what else has she been told? I find it hard to believe anyone would tell a child that after what she’s been through. But. . .

He glanced towards his door, x-ray vision allowing him to see the room across from his.

Is that why she keeps stopping herself abruptly? She’s still clinging onto being “perfect”?

The idea made him angry and annoyed. What kind of people drill perfection into a kid’s head so much that even when they're suffering, they can’t escape the need to be perfect.

Saiki clenched his jaw. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to make sure Teruhashi knew that she didn’t have to be perfect, that she was allowed to break, and there would be no consequences for doing so. At least he would tomorrow. Today he couldn’t even think properly. His head was swimming and his eyes were droopy.

Kusuo looked at the work in front of him, trying to remember the English he was supposed to be writing in. He was on the verge of skipping the assignment when he heard a light tap on his door.

“Come in.” He didn’t turn around to see who it was.

“Um, are you busy?” He heard the hesitance in her voice.

“I’m just doing the assigned English homework, I’m on the last problem.”

There were quiet footsteps as Kokomi made her way over to the table. She hovered over his shoulder as she looked at the sheet.

Oh, this isn’t too hard. It’s focusing on grammar for the most part. It’s more tedious than anything.

Slowly Kokomi made her way down the page, silently noting all the answers Saiki got “wrong”. When she got to the final question, she could barely focus on the words. Japanese and English blurred together until both languages were unintelligible. She rubbed at her eyes stepping away from the desk.

Saiki rubbed his own eyes, tired of working on the assignment. He forwent his need to blend in, choosing to finish the assignment instead. If he really felt like it, he could go back and edit the answers tomorrow. Kokomi idled near his bed, though she didn’t sit down.

“You can sit if you want.”

She startled at the sound of his voice, not paying attention to him. “Oh, no I’m, it’s, I’m fine.” She put her hands behind her back, picking at her bandages. I already slept in his bed last night, I can’t do the same thing again. “Um,” she began, looking away from his gaze. “About last night.”

Saiki stood and walked over to his bookshelf. “Yes?”

Kokomi relaxed now that his eyes were no longer on her. “I’m sorry for kicking you out. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s fine.” He winced at the nonchalance of his own voice. Emotion Kusuo, this is bothering her, try and sound like you care. Because you do. “I don’t really . . . like sleeping anywhere other than my room.” he leafed through a book to force himself to calm down. “It makes me uncomfortable at best, and makes my insomnia worse than it already is.”

Her eyes widened. He has insomnia too?

“The fact you felt comfortable enough in my bed to even doze told me it would be best if you slept in here. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you kicked me out though. I left because I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.”

You wouldn’t have. No, no. You can’t get attached. This is temporary. Don’t become co-dependent. Don’t rely on anyone. You can handle this alone. You have to handle this alone. Alone alone alone alone alone a —

“My mom,” his voice cut through the growing static, and he quickly wiped the blood from his nose. “My mom told me that I used to only sleep with my parents until I was 4.”

Kokomi looked back at him. “She said it was because I was too anxious in my own room. That my thoughts convinced me that something bad would happen to them if I wasn’t there to protect them.” He swallowed, uncomfortable in admitting such a thing. He felt his shoulders tense. “I was scared.”

Kokomi blinked, unsure of what to say. She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to shout at the top of her lungs.

“Did,” she tried, “did something happen to them? Your parents I mean.”

He looked back at her, shaking his head. “No. And once I realized that nothing would, I was able to sleep in my own bed again. I even stopped going to them when I had nightmares.”

“Really?”

He placed the book back on the shelf, gripping it tightly. “It wasn’t good. Instead of feeling like I needed to protect them, I stopped feeling like they could protect me.” He looked back at her. Her eyes were glossy as she realized she had done the same thing to her own parents. “You’ll go insane. Humans need people. Relying on one person is dangerous, yes, but not relying on anyone is worse. So it’s fine that you slept in my room, a place where you’ve been and feel safe in.” It means you do want outside help. You just don’t know how to ask.

Teruhashi sat down on his bed, bringing her knees to her chest. “I wish none of this happened.” She felt raw even though she wasn’t the one being vulnerable. “I hate this.”

“You’re allowed to.”

“What?”

“You’re allowed to hate this. All of it. You’re allowed to hate things. You’re allowed to hate people. You’re allowed.”

Tears streamed down her face as she reconciled with the boy’s words. This time Saiki knew the difference, and only sat next to her.

“You’re allowed, and I’m sorry no one told you that sooner.”

-

He wasn’t quite sure how or when, but the evening quickly turned to night and with his lack of sleep it wasn’t hard to start slipping into the land of dreams as the hours continued on. Yet both teens stayed awake. Saiki had turned on the t.v and had been channel surfing as Kokomi sat on the floor of his room. He tried to tell her she could stay on the bed, but she insisted that the floor was better. He didn’t have the energy to fight her.

Kokomi glanced at the clock. It’s already midnight, I should go. I have to sleep eventually.

Saiki glanced at her, noting her thoughts. She was pulling at her sleeves, trying to make them longer than they were. I’ll have to do something about that.

“I should go.” She stood with the words. “I should probably go to bed.” She picked at her fingers.

“You don’t have to go.”

She bit her lip looking at his door. “Do you have a futon?”

Saiki blinked trying to get his mind to work to any capacity. We probably do, I find it hard to believe we don’t. “I don’t know where they are if we do have them.”

Her shoulders fell as her hopes shattered. “Oh,” she said, “that’s fine. I’ll just go back to the guest bedroom.”

She reached the door all the way before he could stop her. And she was in her room before he could reason with her. He sighed, barely hitting the door frame as he went back to his own room. He sat down in his chair letting his head fall onto the desk.

Good grief, you really are socially inept.

He’s not sure when but he closed his eyes. He was thankful that he didn’t actually fall asleep. He woke up again to the sound of his door opening. He turned to the noise to see Kokomi’s small form in the doorway.

“Hi.” She whispered.

“You can come in.”

She shifted on her feet before doing as he recommended, this time not hesitating to sit on his bed. “Your room’s so nice.” she breathed out.

“You can go to sleep.”

“I don’t want to kick you out of your own room again.”

Saiki scratched his head. The only way I can think of to get around that doesn’t seem like a great idea. Though I guess the floor isn’t so bad.

“And I don’t want you to sleep on the floor. If anyone should be doing that it’s me.”

“You’re a guest.”

“It’s your room.”

He sighed. “You’re not going to let this go?”

She sat up just enough to shake her head, before letting it fall back onto the bed. Kusuo sighed with his whole being before sitting on the bed. It dipped before he fell backwards in a similar way to the girl next to him.

“What are you doing?” She asked incredulously.

“I’m laying down, because I’m tired.”

“I’ll—”

He cut her off. “This bed is more than big enough for us to both lay like this. It’s fine. But if you still feel like you should leave, you can go.”

She turned her head to meet his face. His eyes were closed and she noted the slow rise and fall of his chest.

“Okay.” She whispered.

“Okay.”

In less than 30 minutes both teens were asleep.

~~

Eyes. That was the first thing she noticed. Not eyes in the sense of people were looking at her, but eyes on things where eyes didn’t belong. It was otherwise a normal day as she walked to school, but she was positive that there were eyes where eyes didn’t belong. She looked to her left, seeing eyes on the walls out of the corner of her eye to the right. When she turned her head to the right the same thing happened. The worst feeling though were the eyes that she felt behind her. She knew they were there, but she couldn’t see them. No matter how fast she turned, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see any eyes. She began to pick up the pace. Her leisurely walk to school turned into a speed walk.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

She started to jog, still refusing to run. She was walking to school. There would be other kids joining her on the streets soon enough.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

It was school, she was safe. She could see the buildings from where she was. She broke out into a sprint. She was so close. Curiosity finally taking hold, she looked behind her. Eyes were everywhere. They consumed the streets and the buildings, the sky becoming white and the sun becoming the iris. The asphalt turned to eyes too. Eyes everywhere.

She ran faster, harder, she was so close. She was almost at the gates. But the eyes were faster. The solid ground became squishy, and try as she might she couldn’t escape the eyes that had begun to surround her. Her safety, her beacon of hope had too, become an eye. She stood looking all around her, looking for anything that wasn’t an eye. The world was spinning. She was stumbling. She began walking backwards, and before she knew it she fell into one of the irises.

Down. . .

Down. . .

Down. . .

Down. . .

She was in darkness. She looked up at the hole she fell through, watched as all the eyes turned to watch her descent. She looked down and found an eye as big as a house looking at her. She tried to scream, but the void stole the sound. She was falling, falling, falling, falling. Falling to become another eternal portrait for the giant eye. She knew when she reached the bottom she would be chained to it for eternity. There would be no hope.

She curled in on herself, trying to block out the vision of the multiple eyes.

Help. She cried. Help! No one answered.

Down. . .

Down. . .

Down. . .

A little more and she was— flipped. Her falling down became falling up, and suddenly she was amongst the clouds.

~~

“What?” She looked around, trying to find the eyes that had been surrounding her moments before. As she continued to look she was met with the silhouette of a man. Hesitantly she approached the form. There was music emanating from him, warbling the space around him.

“Hello?” Her voice came out shaky, unsure of what to make of the man. His head fell unnaturally to the left.

“Your destination?”

She was stunned. “Um,” she shook her head. “No I,”

The man’s head fell to the other side. “Okay. Destination set.”

Just as suddenly as she fell, she was moving forward while standing still. “Where are we going?” She questioned.

“Where are we going?” The man echoed.

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to go back there.” She clutched her shoulders.

“Can’t go back anyhow. No way.”

“You can’t. . .” she paused, “you can’t turn around?”

“Nothing to turn around for. Looking back. Don’t do so.”

Her eyes furrowed as she tried to understand the man’s words. She fell forward into him at the abrupt stop.

“All stop.” She rubbed her nose from the impromptu headbutt. She eyed the man as he stepped off the cloud they had been on.

“Where are you going?” She called.

“Where am I going?” He answered.

Kokomi followed him down the cloud steps, being careful to stay behind him. When he stopped, so did she. Looking at where she arrived she gasped. “It’s the same field.” She muttered to herself.

“You’re gone.”

Gathering the courage she stepped in front of the man, finally seeing his face. Brown bangs framed around maroon glasses. Slowly he raised his arm and pointed at a tree in the middle of the grassy field. When she looked at the tree she found herself teleported to its location. When she looked back to where she was, the man was gone. Carefully she trudged towards the tree, sitting down once she reached its base.

“You’re okay.” She heard a voice on the other side of the tree state.

“I’m okay.” She echoed.

-

Saiki forced himself out of his sleep, still reaching out to grab the falling girl next to him. He turned to her, prying her hands away from her head. He dragged her towards him, pulling as hard as he would allow himself and he hugged her. He hugged her curled form in a way that shielded her from everything else. He hugged her tight enough to feel her bones, and shared all of his warmth until he was as cold as a corpse. Eventually she stopped fighting him, and the tension in her body dropped. As she relaxed, so did he. His last thought was to grab a blanket to stop them from getting cold. Tangled legs and hands holding each other relaxed into the pillows of Saiki’s sheets. Sleep overtaking them both at last.

Chapter Text

Saiki woke first, the sting of glasses on his cheek the first thing he noticed. He gave an internal groan and took them off to rub at said cheek. He blinked at his white ceiling noting his still present exhaustion. As he tried to move to roll on his back he nearly teleported at the realization of someone being in his arms, the events of the night before replaying in his head.

Right, Kokomi, ugh Teruhashi and I fell asleep and she had another nightmare. After I woke up I pulled her in my arms to calm her down.

He looked at the slow rise and fall of her shoulders.

Based on how well she seems to be sleeping, I guess it worked. Still. . .

Carefully he attempted to maneuver himself from the girl's hold. Kokomi inhaled sharply and tightened her grip on him, eyebrows furrowing the more he tried to struggle.

Good grief, I really didn’t think this through.

Ignoring the cramp in his arm from supporting Kokomi’s—

Teruhashi's

Teruhashi’s head, he rolled on his back, taking her with him. Letting her rest on his chest more so than the bed. Wincing he changed his breathing to accommodate the sudden return of blood flow to his arm.

The person who deemed that as the right thing to do if someone falls asleep next to you is an idiot.

Bitterly he stared at the ceiling once more.

I’ll have to get her up eventually, I just don’t know how.

Resisting the urge to look at her as a result of not wanting to put on his glasses yet, he placed a hand on her shoulder. Teruhashi moved until she was in the crook of his neck. Saiki froze until she sat still again.

Okay, well, I guess I live here now.

-

An hour later Saiki realized two things: 1. He couldn’t feel his hip. And 2. He had to go to the bathroom.

Too much information.

Teruhashi stirred as she attempted to get more comfortable, the fatigue of the past two days plaguing her even in her sleep.

Okay fine, I’ll just cheat then.

Saiki gently began to lift Teruhashi off of him, taking in account her hands still gripping his shirt. Just as he was about to move, Teruhashi began to wobble in the air, quickly focusing he held her up with his hands as well. Heart racing in his chest he sat still. He closed his eyes, willed his glasses back onto his face, and then scooched off the bed. Settling Kokomi back on his sheets he stared at her resting form.

What just happened?

Bringing a shaky hand to his face he exhaled. Mentally he scanned his body to identify the sudden faltering in power.

There’s nothing wrong. But then why. . .?

Tentatively he brought a hand up to his head but stopped just short of the limiters.

It’s fine, I’m just tired.

Looking at the girl on his sheets one more time he left the room without a sound.

-

Kurumi bounced her leg underneath the dining room table, her husband wasn’t fairing much better. It wasn’t often that the Saiki’s got into arguments, not real ones anyway, but this felt different. This felt real. Their youngest son was mad at them, well and truly mad. This wasn’t like when he was younger and was frustrated they cut him off after having two slices of cake, no, this was the anger of a teenager verging on adult. But even more importantly, this was the anger of a grieving child unsure of how to handle the situation that was before him. Then there were also the psychic powers, but to save their sanity both adults were choosing to ignore that.

“What if he retaliates?”

Kurumi looked at her shaking husband, fear palpable on his features. “Then we’ll extend his grounding.”

Kuniharu wheezed. “Extend his, you’re kidding right? Honey, please tell me you’re kidding.”

Kurumi shook her head, firm in the belief that their decision to ground him was the right one. “You heard what Kuusuke said. This is for the best. I thought we both agreed on that?”

“My love,” Kuniharu reached across the table for his wife’s hands, “I believe in every word you say and know you only want what’s best for our boys.” He clenched his jaw, swallowing. “But are you absolutely certain this is a good idea?”

Kurumi flinched. “What do you mean?”

Kuniharu squeezed her hands before releasing them. “Kusuo has never done well when understimulated. It has always resulted in unpredictability. Both in his powers. . . and in his emotions.”

Kurumi looked to the doorway leading to the foyer and the stairwell.

“By forcing him to stay away from school, and forcing him to look after Kokomi, we might be overstimulating him.”

Kurumi’s head whipped back to her husband. “What? You were just talking about what happens when he’s understimulated. How would this be overstimulating?”

Kuniharu pressed his lips in a thin line. Quietly he got out of his chair and walked into the foyer. He listened for any noise emanating from their son’s bedroom. After waiting a moment he returned to the dining table taking a seat next to Kurumi.

“Kurumi,” Kurumi jumped at the use of her name. “You see the best in our son’s because both of them are mama’s boys.”

Kurumi opened her mouth to protest but Kuniharu stopped her with his hand. “It’s fine. I truly don’t mind. And I think Kusuo loves me more than he lets on. It’s not ‘cool’ to love your dad, I get it.”

Kurumi turned her head away from the man in front of her.

“It does mean I get an advantage in these situations though.”

Kurumi rolled her hands over each other in what Kuniharu recognized as a nervous habit.

“I’ve gotten to see the irritated glances, the half-formed smiles, the annoyed groans, the cocky smirks, the concerned pacing, and the sadistic pleasure our son gets. Well, Kusuo anyway, Kuuskue makes it difficult.” Kuniharu shook his head as he realized he was getting off topic. “My point is, as much as Kusuo wants to be normal, he’s not. And quite frankly I’m not sure he could handle it after all this time. Keeping that in mind, how do you think he’s going to react to the very traumatic situation he’s been put in.”

Kurumi fidgeted in her seat understanding the point her husband was trying to make. “I get that Kuniharu. I know he’s not going to take it well, but it’s a rock and a hard place here. If we let them both go to school it’s only going to result in Kokomi freaking out and doing something she might regret. If we don’t let them go to school it means. . .” Honestly she didn’t even want to theorize what her son might do. “It means we’re going to be dealing with a version of our son that we’ve never seen before. But we’ve handled that in the past and we’ll handle it again now, right?”

Kuniharu rubbed the back of his neck. “Right but, placating a 5 year old and placating a 16-17 year old is a lot different.”

Kurumi smiled. “Then it’s a good thing Kusuo’s still a 5 year old.”

Kuniharu pouted. “Yeah he acts like one. That doesn’t mean he is one.”

Kurumi finally looked back at Kuniharu, placing a hand on his cheek. “Everything will be alright my dear, I have faith.”

Kuniharu leaned into her touch. “It’s not faith that’s the issue, it’s our stubborn son.”

“He just thinks he knows best and in a lot of cases he does.”

“Just not this one.”

Kurumi gave him a sympathetic smile, happy that they were both on the same page again.

“But that’s why he has us! And we’re in this together.”

“Of course.” Kuniharu stood and kissed the crown of her head. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kuniharu made his way to the foyer once more.

“Honeybun?” Kurumi called lightly.

Turning, Kuniharu looked at her. “Yes?”

“If you break and tell Kusuo the real reason we’re grounding him you’ll have more than a psychic son to worry about, okay?” She accented the last words by holding her hands together.

Kuniharu gulped. “Yes dear. I understand.”

“Good! Just making sure.” She beamed standing from her seat and entering the kitchen.

Kuniharu grumbled as he made his way up the stairs. Talk about a rock and a hard place. I can’t think in my own home and now I have to avoid my terrifying wife. Sighing quietly as he walked through the hallway, Kuniharu made it to his office. At the very least I hope Kusuo will understand why we’re doing all of this. Someday.

Kuniharu paused as he looked at the note from his oldest son on his desk.

“I hope so anyway.”

-

After finishing his business in the bathroom he went back to his bedroom. Opening the door as quietly as possible he checked on the girl sleeping in his bed. His shoulders relaxed as he realized she was still asleep. Reaching out a little farther with his powers he was even more comforted to know it was a peaceful sleep. Closing the door behind him he made his way to the stairs hearing the whispers of his mother’s thoughts. Irritation rippled and for once he didn’t try to stop it.

Descending the stairs one at a time he made it into the foyer without a sound, even managing to enter the kitchen before she noticed him. Kurumi nearly dropped the plate she had been holding when she noticed he was across from her.

“Hi honey. How did, how did you sleep?”

Saiki glanced at his mother out of the corner of his eye before opening the pot on the stove to reveal the oats inside.

Kurumi’s voice was soft when she spoke again. “Kokomi could use the nutrition.”

Setting the top on the counter he grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets. Kurumi continued to fidget near the sink.

“I honestly don’t remember the last time I made it. Do you still like umami?”

He turned his head slightly towards her before looking back at the bowl in his hand, it was shaking. He willed his hand to stop, though the shaking did not go unnoticed by Kurumi.

“Kusuo look, I know you’re upset but—”

He scoffed.

Kurumi clenched her jaw. “Fine. You can be angry at me, you can be angry at your father, but you will not treat Kokomi like this.”

“Kokomi hasn’t done something irrational.”

Kurumi felt herself flinch as her eyes widened, frustration disappearing from her face. Quickly she shook her head and walked over to her son. Though he was taller, that didn’t stop Kurumi from being intimidating.

“I will tolerate this treatment from you for a week, Kusuo. A week singular. You can be upset, angry, and throw a temper tantrum for a week, and if you’re still acting like this there will be further punishment.”

The bowl in Saiki’s hands cracked. Kurumi ignored it.

“Do I make myself clear?”

“I am not a child.” He ground out.

Kurumi tilted her head. “No?” Pulling on his shirt collar and forcing him to look at her, he glared. “Then stop acting like it.”

Saiki felt his nostrils flare and distantly realized his eyes were glowing.

“Don’t you dare say ‘or what’ to me, young man. I may not have powers but I am your mother. That is all the power I need.”

His gaze turned sharper and another crack formed in the bowl he was holding.

Kurumi let go of his collar and walked around the island counter. “I have to go pick up your homework for next week, and then I have some errands to run. I won’t be back until late. Until then,” she turned around to look at him. “Make sure Kokomi eats at least one meal, and that she doesn’t do anything drastic.”

He remained facing where she was before, but gave a curt nod.

Disposition breaking again she inhaled before reflecting his steely gaze. “I’ll be back later.” It came out softer than she intended, but she left after the statement nonetheless.

Saiki exhaled slowly as he put the bowl down, willing himself to contain his anger. Clenching his fists he closed his eyes.

I am not going to hurt my mother. I have control of my powers. Today was a fluke. He opened his eyes, exhaling slowly. He picked up the bowl grabbing a utensil on the way to the dining table. He sat in silence as he tried to figure out what to do next.

-

Kokomi woke up to the realization that she was, all things considered, okay. The sense of dread and the feeling something terrible was going to happen the moment she relaxed was still there, but overall she was calm. Immediately doubting herself she frantically checked her surroundings. Placing a hand over her heart she relaxed into the mattress.

I’m okay. I’m at the Saiki residence. My life isn’t in danger. No one is going to hurt me. I’m safe.

She rubbed her eyes and then looked out the window.

Window. . . window? The guest bedroom doesn’t have a window. It’s on the wrong side of the house.

Sitting up relying entirely on her core strength she gawked as she realized where she was.

“I’m in Saiki’s room. I’m in Saiki’s room. I’m in Saiki’s room. I’m in Saiki’s room!”

Scrambling, she fell off the bed with a soft ‘Thud’ and jumped to her feet, after which she sprinted for the guest room.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god. I was in Saiki’s room. No, no, that’s not the issue Kokomi. You were asleep in Saiki’s room. Asleep in his bed!”

She groaned slowly falling to her knees.

“You were asleep on his bed, in his room, in his house. His mom gave you a guest room! This room! What is wrong with you?”

Hands falling from her face she looked at the ceiling.

She gave a weak laugh. What isn’t wrong with me more accurately.

She clenched her jaw as she forced herself not to cry, again. Just as she was unsure whether or not she could do it, she heard a knock on the door.

“Ko—Teruhashi? Are you okay?”

Her back snapped pencil straight and she cleared her throat to stall answering.

No, I’m not okay. I’ve had a shit Thursday, Friday was a blur, and I just found out I kicked the guy who practically saved my life out of his own freaking room, AGAIN! I am anything BUT okay.

“I’m fine!” She called out hoping it was more believable than it felt.

There was silence on the other end and she took the opportunity to stand. Walking quietly over to the door she listened to see if he was gone.

“Can I come in?”

He was not.

Crap. Okay, stay calm. I can— She blinked as she remembered the last two days in more detail. Her shoulders slumped as she reached for the door. What’s the point Kokomi? He’s seen you at your absolute worst.

She gave him a weak smile as she opened the door. “It’s your house.” She whispered.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve privacy.”

Saiki walked until he was in the center of the room and then sat on the floor. Kokomi closed the door and joined him on the wood.

“You could sit on the bed.” She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

“Do you want to sit on the bed?”

“I didn’t say we.” She glanced at him before looking back at the floor.

“I did.” his voice soft as he answered.

She looked at him surprised by the sincerity in his voice. Biting the inside of her cheek she shook her head, hoping he would understand it was in regards to his question.

“Then we’ll stay on the floor.”

“I’m—” before she could finish her sentence he put his hands over his ears.

“No.”

“What? Saiki I’m—”

“Nope.”

“Why are you being like this! I want to say that I’m—”

“A human being and have no reason to apologize for something you aren’t being blamed for in the first place?”

If there was a smirk on his face, she ignored it. “No! I’m trying to say that I’m—”

“A highly intelligent individual who wouldn’t treat someone as harshly as you’re treating yourself now?”

“How do you keep doing that? You have your ears covered. . . don’t you?”

He didn’t respond to her question.

Kokomi groaned as resisted the urge to strangle him.

Why is he making this so difficult! I’m trying to apologize, can’t he see that?!

“Saiki will you please just let me say that I’m—”

“No. I will not.”

An exasperated sigh left her wilting. “But why not?”

“I already said. You have no reason to apologize for something I’m not blaming you for in the first place, and more importantly, I’m not upset.”

She threw her hands in the air. “I kicked you out of your room!”

“No you didn’t.”

“You leaving out of kindness is the same thing.” She frowned.

“No it’s not, and I didn’t leave my room.”

“Great!” She stood pacing in front of him. “So I made you sleep on the floor of your own room without a futon. That’s even better than I imagined.” She smiled at him sarcastically.

Good grief. “You didn’t kick me out of my room.”

“If you didn’t sleep in here and you didn’t sleep on the floor of your room. . . did you sleep on the couch?” I mean the couch would be a little better at least.

If I tell her the truth she’ll freak out. If I agree with her she’ll feel guilty.

He looked at the girl in front of him. Her clothes were disheveled from her freak out when she first woke up. Her hair needed to be washed. She had eyebags that seemed to be getting darker by the day, and she was overall visibly distressed.

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter either way.

“Saiki?” She managed to look at him again, shifting on one foot to the other.

“We slept in my bed.” He looked away from her at the wardrobe on the side of the room. “Together. At the same time.” He clarified further. Adamant to not say sleeping together because the connotations weren’t presently needed.

They wouldn’t ever be needed.

“We. . . we slept. . .”

Saiki looked at her in time to see her falling to the floor. He caught her thankful for his reflexes and inhuman speed. She was up and twisting out of his arms before he could fully comprehend that she passed out.

“I’m okay.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “This is fine.”

“We fell asleep the way we were laying on the bed when I said you could sit on it. Remember?”

She furrowed her brows as she looked to the side before remembering what he was referring to. She nodded.

“I don’t know how long we were asleep but—” Do I want to admit to knowing about her nightmares? Saiki clenched his jaw as he stepped away from her. “You were shaking, in your sleep. I woke up and put you under the blankets, but when I tried to sleep you held on. I think I woke you up and you didn’t want me to leave before you fell asleep again.” A little white lie. “I was cold too, so I got under the covers as well,” It’s not bad if it’s for good intentions. “I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up this morning.” She doesn’t need something else right now. “I got out of bed before you because I didn’t want you to freak out.” It’s for her own good. “I guess I failed on that front. Sorry.” Even if she doesn’t know it yet.

Kokomi slowly nodded as his explanation came to a close. “So you didn’t do it on purpose? Or I mean, I didn’t make you sleep with me. IN BED! I didn’t make you sleep IN BED with me.”

Saiki bit back a snort.

“Please don’t laugh at me.” She turned around and leaned her head on the wall. “It’s not funny.”

“I know. I’m sorry. But no, you did not force me to sleep in the same bed as you.”

Well that’s good. “Did you still manage to sleep okay?” I know physical contact isn’t something he’s a fan of.

“I slept well actually. Did you?”

The question surprised her as she continued to stare at the wall. “I did. . .” she whispered.

“Good, you’ve earned it.”

She turned to face him and he started walking to the door.

“My mom made miso breakfast oats. If you think you can stomach something?”

She nodded and followed him out the door.

I slept well.

-

He was quiet as he served her the oatmeal, and she was silently grateful for the small portion size. Something about baby steps tickled in the back of her mind, but she didn’t want to think about it for too long. As she ate at the dining table, Saiki admitting to already having had breakfast, Kokomi watched him. It wasn’t as if he were cold or distant by any means. He just wasn’t present, mentally anyway. Physically he kept occasionally tapping his foot on hers. A simple gesture to do 3 things. 1. Remind her that she wasn’t alone. 2. To keep her grounded in reality. 3. To give her mind something else to focus on when her thoughts were getting too loud. Adding to the grounding she tapped back every other time. That was their silent game. Eventually though, she noticed a crease in the boy’s eyebrows. Looking down at her oatmeal and then looking up at him she let herself relax.

“Are you okay?”

Pink eyebrows shot up and green covered eyes met hers. Regret weighed heavily on her nerves.

“Um, I just, you. . .” She searched his eyes to try and figure out what to say next, instead she was only met with her reflection.

Oh no. What if I overstepped? What if he thinks I’m being weird. He’s probably going to hate me, being clingy and not acting like a normal person. I asked if he was okay! Of all the stupid things to ask. Of course he’s not okay. Why would he be okay? He probably thinks you’re acting childish and that you can’t handle yourself. He probably resents you. His whole family does. They're going to send me back home. I don’t wanna go home. Please wait, don’t send me to that empty house. Don’t make me handle this alone. I don’t wanna be alone! I can’t be alone! I—

“Kokomi!”

Kokomi looked in the direction where the sound of her name came from. Sitting in front of her and holding her wrists, he was on his knees. She felt herself hyperventilating and turned the frantic shallow breaths into calm deep ones. She felt Saiki rubbing small circles into her wrists. When she was calm again Saiki stood and took a seat next to her. It was quiet before Saiki cleared his throat. She didn’t look at him.

“Do you know what PTSD is?”

She remembered the words of her therapist from a few years ago.

Post traumatic stress disorder, more commonly known as PTSD is a mental disorder where the body still feels as though it’s in a perilous situation. As a result, it responds as such triggering one's fight or flight response. Unfortunately, there is no actual threat. Other than the one that the mind wants you to believe is there, so more often than not there are anxiety and panic attacks, hallucinations, and full mental shut downs. The mind implores every technique it can think of to combat the perceived threat, which is what is called a breakdown. While it tends to be most common in veterans and other war survivors it can also be found in commonplace everyday. Losing a loved one, nearly dying, watching someone die in front of you, are all things that might cause PTSD. People who break away from their abusers and live, neglectful parents and of course sexual assault survivors could all develop PTSD. The younger you are when the incident happens, the more likely it is the symptoms will be diagnosed as something else. All of that knowledge dumped on me and yet the end result is that there’s ‘no cure’. You can only treat the symptoms. It’s all BS. I hate it. Years of turning over those words in my head over and over again, only to be told to ‘talk about my feelings.’ I don’t want to talk! I don’t want to be like this. I just don’t want to think about it at all.

“Yes,” she whispered bitterly. “I know what PTSD is.”

Saiki was quiet for a moment.

Dumb question I suppose, but “Do you wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head quickly. He’s still probably going to make me talk about it. ‘It might make you feel better’, or ‘it might help to get it off your chest’. He’s going to press and I—

“Okay.”

Kokomi blinked in shock, making the effort to look at the boy next to her. She looked back down at her bowl and smiled. Then huffing she resumed eating.

"I. . ."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before focusing back on her oatmeal.

“I never answered your question. I’m okay, I just,” I don’t wanna talk about this. But it’s only fair. “I got into a fight with my mom.”

Kokomi was expecting something more grandiose, but given it sounded like an admission of guilt rather than mild disdain, she hesitated. When Chiyo got into fights with her parents Kokomi always took her side, usually finding her parents to be unreasonable. This felt different though. Heavier in a way that made her uneasy.

“You guys are close, right?”

He nodded. “We’ve never fought before.”

Honestly she could understand. The Saiki’s as a whole seemed like a very close family. She envied them, but it was even harder to imagine fighting with Kurumi. Sure she had a bias, she loved the woman, but she genuinely seemed like a good mother. But she knew first hand looks could be deceiving.

“What did you fight about?”

“My grounding.”

She set her spoon down in the bowl, happy to have finished all the food given to her.

“You finished. I’m proud of you.”

She smiled and then remembered how much there was still left in the pot. “Aren’t you going to make me eat more?”

“Do you want more?”

She shook her head.

“Then no.”

He stood taking her bowl to wash it in the sink.

“W-why did you fight about the grounding?”

His shoulders tensed.

“You don’t have to tell me!” She waved her hands frantically in front of her face.

“No it’s, you just caught me off guard. I don’t really know. I think it’s because it doesn’t feel justified. My parents from a young age have always told me why I shouldn’t do something. Running with scissors is dangerous because I could trip and stab myself. Playing around countertops is dangerous because I could burn myself. Eating too much sugar is bad because I might grow up to have problems later. Sleep is important so I’m not grumpy in the morning. Don’t go out alone because—” He cut himself off, clearing his throat and drying the dish and spoon. “Don’t play on the stairs because I could trip and fall. Explanations so I could understand why there would be punishment.” Even if realistically I don’t have to worry about any of those things. He grit his teeth. “But this one is just because they think they know better and have given no other reason than ‘They’re my parents.’ Which is annoying. If I’m going to be punished I want it to be over something better than a disagreement about what's the best course of action in a specific situation.”

“Maybe it’s not about that.” She offered quietly.

He turned around to look at her confused. “What?”

“Maybe they haven’t told you, if what I’m gathering about this whole situation is right, because they don’t know if you can handle it. And I don’t mean in the sense that you can’t, but maybe your parents think that? Maybe they think that the reason you’ve been grounded might be too much for you to handle, and they’re trying to protect you.”

“I don’t want protecting.”

“Did you tell them that?”

He looked away from her.

“When we’re kids we think our parents know everything, and so we come to them with all our questions and concerns, but once we grow up we become influenced by other things. The outside world, our friends, our teachers, and we realize our parents don’t know everything. We start to pick and choose what concerns we go to them for, and what we try to figure out on our own. Sometimes we end up not going to our parents when we should and they take matters into their own hands. I don’t think this is an issue of not wanting to tell you why they’ve grounded you, but more so that they’re trying to figure out how to tell you in a reasonable way. Or it might be because I’m here.”

She watched as he walked back to her and stood across from her. “Sometimes parents will give both kids that same punishment when they have siblings. A way to ensure there's not fighting about ‘unfair punishment’. So maybe they’re giving the grounding as a blanket punishment for me, and you happened to be caught in the crosshairs.”

Saiki stared at her.

“But I don't know. I’m not going to tell you how to feel or tell you what your parents are doing. You’ve known them longer and you would know better. It’s just hard to imagine Kurumi or Mr. Kuniharu doing anything simply because ‘They’re your parents and they know better than you.’ I just think there’s more to it than that.”

The annoying thing is she’s probably right. I guess I’ll just have to ask dad when he gets back. Even if mom doesn’t crack he might give me something.

“Saiki?” She called.

He snapped out of his thoughts, embarrassed to be caught zoning out.

“Sorry, yes. I mean, thank you. You’re probably right.”

“Wait really?”

“My parents are annoying and coddle me more often than not. It’s easier to imagine them doing something outlandish like grounding me to protect me, than something petty simply because they’re my parents.”

Kokomi beamed and Saiki felt his heart flutter.

I did not.

“Well I’m happy I could help ease your mind.” At least one of us can be mentally stable.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?”

“Huh?” That’s out of nowhere.

Which is why it’ll be a great distraction.

Chapter Text

“I asked if you wanted to watch a movie.”

Kokomi blinked. That’s what I thought he said. She blinked at him again and then stared. Is he being serious? He’s not being serious. . . right?

Saiki walked into the living room and picked up the remote off the coffee table. 

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just figured it’d be something to do.”

Which was mostly true, but he was also still fairly exhausted. His mind being unhelpful when even trying to think about school. Scenario after scenario playing through his head like it’s own movie. The willpower it was taking not to sigh and rub his temples was extreme.  

Bit of an overstatement.

Extreme.

Kokomi stood robotically and walked over to him. “I just. . . should we. . .?” the words died on her lips. Should we really be watching a movie when everything that’s happened has happened? Shouldn’t we be talking about this? Shouldn’t he be making me talk about this? Isn’t this all. . . “weird.”

Feigning ignorance to her thoughts he repeated her words as a question. “Weird?”

She jumped and then crossed her arms over her chest before realizing that showed her midsection and dropped them down to her sides again. “Well, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“Weird?” he repeated again.

“Yes.” she answered exasperated. 

Saiki paused in his scrolling to look at her. The snarky twisted part of him wanted to give her a twisted laugh, the humane part of him was going insane. 

Unfocused eyes looked back at the screen in front of him. “It’s awful,” he said, dazed.

She tilted her head taking a step forward. She could swear from behind his glasses she could see eyebags deeper than hers and red rimmed eyelids. 

He turned to her and she flinched again, stepping back. “Like I said, I just figured it’d be something to do.”

She stared at him a while longer as he sat down and continued to scroll through the channels. Eventually Teruhashi found herself sitting down next to him on the couch, a comfortable foot—

No.

A comfortable few centimeters apart. 

Saiki sank deeper into the couch and was quickly reminded of why he hated watching tv. Every show he had already heard the end of, and if he hadn’t they all had too much of an emphasis on romance. Evey movie was either action, drama, or some combination of both. Horror movies were out on the pure principle that their life felt like a horror movie at the moment, and every single detective movie or show seemed to star Teru Megumi. His name in so many things was making the both of them cringe. 

Good grief. This is why books are better. At least not every book has the same plot with a different name slapped onto it.

Oh! I remember that.

Saiki paused and actually looked at the titles on the screen. He recognized all of them except,

“What’s ‘Barbie in a Mermaid Tale’?” Saiki glanced at the girl next to her and saw the deep blush on her face. 

I guess we’re watching whatever this is.

“No, no! Saiki, no, we don’t have to watch this.” I think I might die. No, I know I’ll die. Guilty pleasures are something you do alone!

Not a compelling argument. “Why not? Its synopsis is better than the other things we’ve seen.”  

“I uh,” Kokomi fumbled as what he said registered in her mind. The synopsis intrigues him? Really? Would he actually— NO! You are not watching a barbie movie with Saiki! Have you actually lost your mind Kokomi?! 

Barbie. . . wait, I thought she was a doll? She has movies? “Unfortunately, ‘Uh’ is not an argument, and again, better than anything else on.” He clicked on the movie annoyed by the commercial on screen. Cyborg Sider-Man really isn’t that good of a show or a product. 

“Well I mean, um, it’s just a silly girl’s movie right? You don’t wanna watch that! You’re a boy. We should watch something else.” 

You don’t understand the lengths I’ve gone to for coffee jelly, and honestly gender is a social construct I’m too tired to abolish. “Movies can’t be gendered.”

“They can! And this is! This really is! I mean it just reeks of girl power! You really,” she began trying to reach for the remote. “REALLY wouldn’t be interested.” 

Saiki moved the remote to the other side of him out of her reach. “The United States making a movie about empowering women and young girls instead of having the idea planted in girl’s heads that they need a man to come and save them being mass produced for public consumption? Now you really have my attention.” 

“No! I mean, wait what? Are you serious?”

He thought about it for a moment, looked at the synopsis again, and then went back to the movie. “Yes.”

“But, but, but, why?”

He gave her a side eyed glare. “Were you actually not listening to what I was saying?” 

“I thought you were just saying those things to help your case! Do you actually mean them?”

“Yes. What? Have you looked at the world? ” 

“Well yeah but. . .” 

Honestly Kokomi wasn’t convinced anyone else had. There were so many horrible things going on all the time that so many people just seemed to accept it as the norm. Even though she had power to change things because of her parents and annoyingly enough because of her beauty, she stood by and did nothing. The rare occasions she brought up the state of world affairs to her peers she was always dismissed with a ‘That’s not my problem.’ or a ‘What am I going to do?’ and her least favorite ‘I’m just a kid.’ To see Saiki genuinely knowing what he was talking about was astounding.  

“You actually care.” She breathed.

“What?” He looked at her again.

“I mean you’re not just talking out of your ass. You actually care. ”

He pointedly looked back at the screen, throwing the remote somewhere she couldn’t see. “No.”

“But—”

“No. I can’t—” he paused. A voice in the back of his head screamed at him. 

Liar.

Saiki clenched his fists. “I don’t want to.”

Teruhashi furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”

“The movie’s starting.”

Kokomi watched him for a long time. She didn’t need to watch the opening seeing as she had the entire thing memorized. The tension in the air was heavy and she felt like she was suffocating. 

Drop it Kokomi. A voice that sounded eerily close to Chyio’s sounded in her head. 

“Okay.” She brought her knees to her chest and out of the corner of her eye she could see Saiki relax again. 

-

Okay so Saiki may have overestimated how good a movie made in the 2010’s could be. He was trying to keep an open mind about the cultural differences, but even still he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just . . . bad. 

Bad is a strong word. The plot is genuinely, mildly, interesting. And it’s significantly better than Cyborg Sider-man.

This really is cringy. I can’t believe I’ve watched this movie 20 times.

Saiki blinked, doing his best not to acknowledge Teruhashi’s thoughts.

20 times? Really? 

The girl on the screen, Merliah, was currently running away from her friends as her hair suddenly turned pink. He tried not to be offended on why it was such an issue. 

People dye their hair all the time. Maybe she’s doing it for effect. How do they know? 

“I never liked this part of the movie,” Kokomi grumbled. “It’s really not a big deal that her hair turned pink. I know it’s sudden but the announcer didn’t have to seem so appalled."

“It’s not even all pink, and realistically the announcer shouldn’t have been able to see the hair change color from where he was. None of them should until she got out of the water.”

“And it’s not like it’s any worse than their dancing.”

Saiki snorted, caught off guard and he looked at her.

Kokomi raised her shoulders in a shrug as her defense. “ What? Their dancing is really bad. It was all arm movements. It was like their legs were stone and they couldn’t move. I’ve seen people in wheelchairs with better dance moves.”

Saiki was trying not to openly laugh at the sheer venom that was in her voice about the dancing of the girls on screen.

“You’re just upset because you memorized the dance moves and thought it was the coolest thing in the world, but now that you’re older you can see how horrible it is.”

Teruhashi flushed again and let out an indigent huff. “You’re missing the big reveal of the movie.”

Saiki inwardly snickered as he turned his full attention back to the movie. 

Merliah’s grandfather was telling her how her mother was actually a mermaid and was currently reliving a flashback. Merliah ended up storming off and going back to the beach with her friends. 

“It’s unrealistic that she just lives in her bathing suit.”

“Not the fact her mother is a mermaid?”

“Her mother was trying to protect her, so of course she left her in the human world to be safe. That’s not unbelievable.”

“And the talking pink sparkly dolphin?” 

“Pink wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it’s obvious they’re going for a theme.”

“So you can buy mermaids,”

“Yes.”

“Talking dolphins,”

“She can talk to everyone so I’m just assuming magic is at work.”

“And the fact that she was just left to be raised in the human world by her grandpa, but you draw the line at continuous wearing of her bathing suit?” 

“ Unrealistic.”

“I just think you have an issue with bathing suits.”

“They’re uncomfortable. ”

Kokomi nodded. 

Merliah and the dolphin, Zuma, were now on the way to Oceana. Once they arrived the city was filled with stores that were knock off names of popular clothing stores. As the villain of the story was introduced, Eris, Saiki relaxed into the couch.

“It’s kind of weird they just sell Mermaid tails.” Teruhashi unfurled her legs in favor of sitting criss-crossed. 

“ It’s like pants.”

“I’m really surprised you're cool with all of this.”

Saiki watched as Merliah was introduced to the other side characters that would be helping her on her journey. A montage began to play on screen.

“It really isn’t that bad for a children’s movie.”

“But there are ones that are so much better. Compared to Studio Ghibli this is nothing.”

Saiki said nothing.

“You agree, right?” Teruhashi looked at him. When he didn’t respond she moved closer to him leaning her head in his field of vision.

“Saiki, you agree, right.” A statement.

He ignored her.

She unfolded her legs to stand and then walked in front of the tv. Saiki leaned to keep it in his vision. 

Merliah and co were on their way to some psychics to figure out what she needed to do to save Oceana.

“Saiki!”

He glanced at her before looking back at the screen. “She’s run into the villain. She might get caught.”

“You know she won’t because this is a children’s movie.” She crossed her arms and stood blocking where he was leaning. He leaned on the other side.

“ You never know with foreign films.”

She starfished in front of the screen so he couldn’t see anything clearly. 

He sighed. “Good grief,” he muttered. “ Haven’t seen them.”

“WHAT?!”

Saiki stood and sat her back on the couch so she could have her freak out without blocking the screen. 

The psychics were telling her what items she needed in order to stop the Evil queen Eris. 

This isn’t how psychics act. We don’t get possessed. Well, I don’t, maybe Aiura does. I’ll have to ask.

“Saiki!”

Right. Freakout. I guess she finished. “Yeah?”

“How have you never seen a Studio Ghibli movie! We live in Japan for crying out loud!”

American idiom. Interesting. “I am aware this is controversial. I also do not particularly care.”

“But they’re such good movies!”

“Okay.”

Kokomi could feel the unsaid word of ‘and?’ lingering. She clenched her jaw.

“I have the entire collection of Movies on DVD, we are going to watch them.” 

Saiki gave her a side-eyed glance. “Okay.”

“They’re going to be amazing and you’ll regret not watching them sooner!” 

Saiki smirked. “Okay.”  

She huffed, turning her attention back to the movie. “You’re not going to like the next part.” She grumbled. 

Saiki watched as Merliah entered the cave while her friends kept the giant jellyfish distracted. After what he supposed was an ‘intense scene’ Merliah and co had to hide again to avoid being seen by Eris’s hench 

“No.”

“I told you.” 

“Mantasharks?”  

“Yep.” Teruhashi gave him a self satisfied smirk.  

“ What the hell would they even eat? How would they hunt? Do they need to keep moving to stay alive like normal sharks, or do they still sit in the sand? Can you do the trick where you flip a shark on it’s back to stop it from attacking you? I think not. It’s a biological nightmare and that should be the actual thing Merliah is fighting.”  

Kokomi laughed, covering her mouth as he did so.  

Saiki mentally froze. He was fairly certain this was the first time he had ever heard her real laugh. He inhaled deeply before exhaling quietly. 

“I had no idea you had such strong views on sea creatures.”

He clenched his fist hard enough to snap him back into reality. He would have to check later if he broke the glove and his skin. 

“I have strong views on biological abominations, yes.”  

She laughed some more before fully relaxing into the couch. Without realizing Saiki had planted her back on the couch closer to where he had been sitting. When she reclined into the back rest they bumped arms. It took all of Saiki’s willpower not to jump like Kokomi did. Once she saw he didn’t react she reclined again, albeit slower, and let their shoulder touch. Saiki focused very hard on not putting distance between them.  

-

Merliah and co were looking for something called a dreamfish when Kokomi relaxed even further. Her exhaustion was catching up to her again and he wouldn’t be surprised if these were normal circumstances that she would want to take a nap. He would. Telepathy simply made it hard to accomplish. 

“I don’t think you’re going to like the dreamfish very much either.”

“It can’t be worse than the mantasharks.”

“You underestimate.”

At this point Kokomi was leaning her head on his shoulder and her body was curled up into his side. He had to move his arm to the back of the couch to give her room to do so. He was freaking out—

I’m perfectly fine. I’m just worried I’ll flinch or something and hurt her. Super strength is a very real thing I have to be concerned about. 

He was perfectly fine and not freaking out about the fact she was leaning on him, but worried he might end up hurting her with his super strength. 

Kokomi shook him and he glared at the screen.

“Why do you like this movie again?”

Kokomi hid her face in his chest as she laughed. 

“It’s cute in an ugly way,” she said once she stopped laughing. “And honestly cgi wasn’t great during this time. You can’t be too harsh.”

“I can and I will .”

She laughed some more before watching the movie again. 

-

The movie continued on and Merliah was faced with Eris herself. Both Saiki and Kokomi were cringing at the dance moves the characters on screen were using to distract Eris.

“Gosh, it’s so bad. I thought this was the coolest thing ever when I was younger.”

“ Nendou could probably dance better than this. ”

Kokomi elbowed him. “Nendou definitely could! You’re not giving him enough credit.”

“Have you seen Nendou dance? ”

She stayed quiet.

“I didn’t think so. It’s not something you forget.”

“Is he really that bad?” she whispered.

“Have you seen how he runs?” Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her nod. “ That’s how he dances.”

Kokomi shuddered. “I stand by what I said.”

“That’s a choice.”

She tried to hit him again but he caught her hand. He continued to hold it for the rest of the movie.

-

Kuniharu was exhausted, but he figured leaving at lunch and working from home for the rest of the day would probably be the best idea. He didn’t know what he was going to walk into when he entered his house and honestly he was afraid it would be Kokomi screaming again. He hadn’t left when Kurumi rushed upstairs to figure out what was wrong, and he only left after she returned saying it was a nightmare. He forgot how a scream could settle in your heart and haunt your waking nightmares. 

He was quiet as he neared the 200 meter mark making sure not to think anything. Routine thoughts that blended in with the crowd were usually what worked best. Once he neared the door though he wondered if he was worried for nothing.

“It was symbolizing that she already had her dream come true!” He heard Kokomi through the door. 

“ It was a waste of energy and if she wasn’t going to use it, what was the point?” Kusuo deadpanned. 

He heard Kokomi. . . laugh? 

He slipped off his shoes and set his satchel on the coat rack by the door. 

“That’s what I keep trying to tell you! It was symbolic, she didn’t need the dreamfish at all.”

“ So the psychics were just high on hair fumes?”

“I’m starting to think you—” He watched Kokomi tense before she turned and saw him. He froze the same way she did. 

It didn’t take long before Kusuo saw why she had frozen. 

‘Why they hell were you sneaking into the house?’

He swallowed as he realized the words were only projected to him. 

Um, I wasn’t? Well I wasn’t trying to. I didn’t want to startle her—

‘Great job’ he sneered. 

Kuniharu wanted to crumple. He had no idea how Kurumi did this.

‘Say something.’

What?

‘Say something to her!’

Me?

Kuniharu felt a shiver down his spine. “Hi Kokomi!” He was short of a shriek and his voice was too high. He cleared his throat. “Hi, I, hi. Sorry about um, startling you, I, you startled me. I thought you two would be in Kusuo’s room. I shouldn’t have assumed. Sorry.” he caught Kusuo still glaring at him from behind the girl. “Sorry.” He whispered again. 

He watched as Kokomi seemed to come back to herself. She untensed and walked backwards to stand next to Kusuo. 

“Hi Mr. Kuniharu. It’s okay, I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” She avoided eye contact.

“I heard you two talking about something, so I’ll just go up to my office and—”

“I think you wanna work down here.” Kusuo commanded.

“Or I’ll work down here. Down here is good.” He grabbed his satchel off the hanger and quickly maneuvered around the two teens to sit at the dining table. 

“We're going upstairs.” Kusuo said. 

Kokomi walked into the foyer and Kusuo followed. 

Kuniharu slumped in the chair before banging his head on the table. When he looked up again, Kusuo was standing at the other end of the table. 

“AH! God, Kusuo! You scared me.”

He watched as Kusuo pulled a chair from the side of the table and sat down at the other end of it. The back of the chair pressing into his chest. 

Kuniharu swallowed and tried to loosen his tie. It didn’t move and he quickly realized why.

“You’re angry.” He gasped.

Kusuo just stared.

“If it’s about the door I really am sorry. I was just trying to sneak upstai—”

His tie got tighter and he realized the error in his wording.

“Okay okay, you got me! Yes, I was trying to sneak upstairs but that really was because I was trying not to scare Kokomi. I realize now I was wrong and should have announced I was home. It’s a learning curve! I’m sorry!”

His tie returned to its usual tightness. 

“I know you’re upset because it's obvious you got her to relax and I ruined it.” He took off his glasses and rubbed his hands on his face. “I really don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“Then why did you ground me?”

Kuniharu tensed. “Me and your mot—”

He wheezed as the tie tightened so fast it probably burned him.

“Your mother,” he tried. The tie loosened a fraction. “Your mother thought it was best to ground you, and after we talked I agreed.” It went back to normal and his hands flung to his neck as he gasped for air.

“ Why .”

“This is not conducive to a reasonable—”

He went still as Kusuo was right next to him. He felt the power radiating off of him. 

“You’re angry.” he whimpered.

“Astute observation.”

“Kurumi said you broke a bowl this morning.”

“Mom’s good at seeing things.”

Kusuo put his hand on the table and it creaked. Kuniharu watched as it began to crack. 

Kuniharu steeled himself and took a shaky breath. “Kusuo, you know I don’t play the bad guy. I’m too weak willed to do that. But you are my son,” he looked at him. His eyes were glowing behind his glasses. “And you’re scaring me.”

Kusuo flinched hand falling from the table to his side. 

“You’re losing control.” 

“I’m losing patience. There’s a difference.”

“You’re losing control of your emotions . Which is making you lose control over your powers.”

“Last time I checked you didn’t have any.” 

“Last time I checked I raised you!” 

Kusuo glared again. Kuniharu stood so they were the same height. 

“You have been dealing with your powers for 16 years Kusuo, but you know what? I’m not convinced you actually have. And that’s mine and Kurumi’s fault. I understand that. You’re angry, you’re confused, and you’re scared so you’re acting out.”

“I’m not scared!” he growled.

“Then I raised a liar.” Things were floating in the air and Kuniharu didn’t acknowledge them. “You’re throwing a temper tantrum.”

“I am not. ”

“Then stop using your powers.” Kuniharu placed Kusuo’s hand on his chest.

Kusuo tried to pull back but Kuniharu held onto his wrist. He knew Kusuo was stronger, but he knew he had little to no control over that strength. He couldn’t pull away without hurting him.

“Stop.” Kuniharu said again.

Kusuo was straining. 

“Kusuo.” Kuniharu took his glasses off and Kusuo reflexively closed his eyes. Even more so, Kusuo was trying to pull away. The floating objects were beginning to spin. 

Putting his hand on Kusuo’s neck and using a little effort he got Kusuo to put his head on his shoulder. 

“Breathe.”

Kusuo gave a strangled groan of frustration and annoyance. 

“Yeah, yeah. Do it anyway. Breathe Kusuo.”

Finally listening to what he said Kusuo slowed down his breathing. The longer he did the more Kuniharu watched as the kitchen put itself back together again. 

Kusuo eventually let his breathing return to normal but Kuniahru still didn’t give back his glasses.

“I’m not above turning you to stone.”

“I know, but just listen. We grounded you because we’re trying to save you from yourself. And before you say something like ‘bullshit’ you literally just made all the knives and forks in the kitchen float around like a tornado.”

Kusuo didn’t respond. 

“You know I can’t tell you the full reason without your mother killing me, but that’s definitely part of it.”

Kusuo stood and Kuniharu let him. He was staring at the floor so he wouldn’t turn him to stone. Kuniharu handed back his glasses and he watched as Kusuo put them on and began to leave. He was in the foyer when the thought occurred to him.  

And I’m not scared of you Kusuo. Not generally. You’re my son. I know you would never hurt me.

He couldn’t see him but he knew that he heard him. Once he heard the door close to his son's room he sat back down in the chair with jelly legs.  

He let out a shaky sigh. “I can’t believe that it still worked, oh my gosh.”  

If his boss asked about the shaky writing for his editor notes he’d blame the lack of caffeine in his system.  

- 

When Kusuo entered the room he was still out of it from the ‘temper tantrum’ he had just finished throwing.  

“Saiki,” His head snapped down to the girl curled up on his floor. “Did you talk to your dad?” 

He walked over and sat on the floor next to her. 

“You could have sat on the bed.” He tried softly. 

She shook her head. 

He sighed. “I did. ”  

She scooched next to him so her head was leaning on his shoulder again. Before she had the chance to register what she was doing he relaxed.  

“You were right. They were just trying to look out for me. ”  

He felt her relax into him more and her hand found his again. “I’m glad.” She yawned. 

“You’re exhausted.”

“Humans can go 11 days without sleep and I’ve been sleeping here and there so I’m fine.” 

Is that how I sound?  

“I’m fine Kusuo, just, let’s just sit here for a little. Let’s just sit here.” He wasn’t unconvinced she didn’t close her eyes. But the longer the both of them sat on the floor, the more he found his eyes drooping.  

Saiki woke up a few hours later to the sun setting on his face.  

That’s probably bad.

Kokomi was still sleeping soundly on his shoulder. 

Saiki glanced at the clock to catch the time. 5:00. 

That means she only ate one meal today. . . that was the goal. My guilt is absolved.   

45 minutes after him Kokomi woke up. She didn’t wake up with a start, but instead with bleary eyes and calmness. Eventually her eyes made it to the book he had started reading as he waited for her to wake up.  

It has pictures. Was her first thought. “What are you reading?” 

“A manga. ” 

“I didn’t know you liked manga.” she looked at the page he was on, following the words to the next one. 

“4 shelves are dedicated to it, so I’m not sure how you missed it.”

“Really?” 

He nodded as he flipped the page. “ My dad does work for a manga company.”  

“I thought all the manga he makes are terrible?” 

“They are. But he gets really excited to show me and every once in a while he’ll edit one that’s actually good. I have the first edition of every manga my dad has ever worked on.”  

Kokomi stood and then walked over to the bookshelf. She dragged her fingers over all the different titles. 

“ Top shelf is books my dad worked on, second shelf is titles he worked on that then got picked up by a different company, third shelf is other manga, and fourth shelf is a continuation of the third.”  

She couldn’t see the top shelf in its entirety because she wasn’t tall enough, but she could see the third and fourth shelf clearly and if she stood on her tiptoes she could see the second one.  

“There’s so many. At least,” she quickly counted in her head. 5, 10, 12, 18, 20, 35, 48, 50. “There’s at least 50!” 

“63 actually.”

She turned back and smiled at him. “That’s really cool. I didn’t know you liked to read this much. What are the other shelves?” 

He finished reading the manga and stood to put it back on its proper shelf.  

“Classics, foreign stories, poems, books that were turned into movies, and DVD’s.”  

She crouched to see all the things he was talking about. Saiki stayed standing leaning on the bookshelf watching her. 

“I can’t even read some of these titles. Wait, are these the stories by the Grimm brothers?” 

“ My,” he’s going to show up isn’t he? This is the third mention. He’s like a ghost. Chant his name 3 times and he’ll appear.  

“Saiki?” She looked up at him. “If it’s a sore subject—” she tried to back track. 

“It’s not. My brother got me that book when I was 4. He said it was full of children’s stories.”  

Her eyes blew wide as she stared at the book. 

“These stories are full of kids getting eaten, turning into animals, or other gruesome things!” 

“That’s why he got it. He was convinced I was going to freak out. I read the entire thing and then gave it back to him saying it wasn’t that interesting. But I couldn’t eat sweets for a week and I avoided going to see my grandparents for a month. Logically I knew a wolf wasn’t going to come out of the woods and eat me, but like 3 different stories had a wolf messing with children. I didn’t want to take my chances.”   

“No wonder you’re so cynical.” she mumbled. 

“My cynicism stems from many things actually.”  

She jumped as she realized he heard her. “Sorry.” she muttered. 

“ You’re right. I don’t care.”  

She brought her knees up to her chest and then put her head on them. She stared at him. He stared back. 

“I feel like I don’t know anything about you.” 

“That makes two of us.”

She opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a knock on the door. It started softly before getting louder. Kurumi was on the other side when it opened. 

“Oh good! You’re both awake. I thought you might be napping.” 

Kokomi never would have guessed the two were fighting.  

“Well I started making dinner early this morning so it should be ready soon.”  

It was then that she realized Ku— Saiki had been carrying the conversation for the two of them.  

I guess he really is upset.  

He glanced at her before looking back at his mom.  

Kurumi puffed out her cheeks like a small child. Kokomi would have laughed if she wasn’t afraid of what would happen if she did. 

“Fine. Kokomi,” her eyes snapped to her and she tensed. “Kusuo is being childish and giving me the silent treatment.” 

She watched him roll his eyes and brush past them to sit on his bed. 

“If you could get him to come down to eat it’d be much appreciated.” 

“Oh um, I’m not really—” 

“Hungry yet? Well it’s a good thing dinner isn’t ready. I’ll come back up in 15 minutes. Carry on!” She left swiftly leaving no room for discussion. 

“Your mom’s scary.”  

She walked over to him. 

“ I know.”  

- 

When Saiki and Teruhashi made it downstairs Kurumi and Kuniharu were already sitting at the table. Kokomi tried not to fidget at the prospect of eating again so soon. 

It’ll be fine. You ate breakfast at like 10:30. It’s 6:30 now. That’s 8 hours. It’s fine. This is fine. I’m fine. Normal people have 3 meals a day, Kokomi. Normal people normal people normal people normal—

She whipped her head to look at her hand. Saiki was in front of her pulling her along gently by her pinky.  

‘You ate a meal today. My mom can’t take away from you. Just do your best.’  

She took a shuddering deep breath and followed him. It was only when they sat down and the food was placed in front of them that they released each other's hands. 

“Um, no. No, I’m not doing this. Kokomi,” Kokomi looked at Kuniharu, surprised he was ignoring the daggers his wife and son were sending him. “We’re going to go sit in the living room.  

She glanced between the Saiki’s and noticed the sweat on Kuniharu’s brow.  

“Please.” He mouthed at her. 

“Kuniharu honey,” the man hit his knee on the table with how hard he jumped. “Kokomi is free to eat wherever she wants.” 

The ice in the woman's tone made Kokomi shiver. 

I guess that’s why Mr. Kuniharu wants to eat in the living room.   

“It’s alright, I don’t mind.”  

Kuniharu looked at her like she was an angel, though she hardly felt like one at the moment. 

“Oh, alright then dear!” Kurumi then went back to her meal facing her son. 

Kuniharu all but sprinted into the living room sitting as far away from the dining table as possible. Kokomi followed slower and sat on the floor with her  back to the tv. After pushing her food around for a while Kuniharu began waving at her.  

“Wha—” 

He put a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion and she closed her mouth. He waved his arm to sit closer to him. Standing she walked until she was eating at the far end of the coffee table looking at the dining table.  

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“I just wanted to thank you for going along with me. Getting caught in between the two of them probably would have given me a heart attack.” He whispered back.

Kokomi looked back at the mother and son and nodded absentmindedly. 

“I’m trying to get them to talk to each other, but I’m not sure it’s going to work.”

“We can hear you dear!” Kurumi called back with false cheeriness. 

Kuniharu yelped and hid behind the couch cushion.

Kokomi watched as Saiki and Kurumi returned to their silent question. Kuniharu touched her shoulder and she tried not to jolt away. She was only mildly successful. 

“Sorry. You just weren’t responding when I called your name.”

“It’s,” she took a deep breath. “It’s okay.”

“I hate to be the bad guy, but you really do need to take a bite.”

She looked down at her bowl.

“Yes, because forcing someone to eat is still such a good idea. ”

“Kusuo!” Kurumi snapped.

What’s the point in going over to the living room if they can still hear us?

“Rock and a hard place.” Kuniharu mumbled. 

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. I am just SUGGESTING,” he looked at his son to put emphasis on the word. “You take a bite of your food. Please? I don’t think your parents would be happy if they knew we weren’t at least trying to get you to eat.”

My parents wouldn’t be too happy if I knew I was doing this again. ‘What was the point of therapy if you’re not going to listen to the therapist Kokomi!’ maybe I didn’t wanna go dad. ‘Your hurting yourself Kokomi!’ no more than you do Makoto. ‘We just want to help you, Kokomi. Why can’t you see that?’ you just want your angelic daughter back.

She stared at the soup. 

“Koko—”

She ate silently. 

Kurumi slapped her hand on the table and Kusuo stood and walked to his room. 

“Wha, Kusuo! Wait, where are you going?” Kuniharu struggled a few times, but he ended up on his feet fast enough. She heard a slam. 

“Kokomi my dear,” Kurumi called. “Can you come back over here?”

~

She nodded and stood. She sat across from her where Kusuo had been seated moments before. 

He didn’t finish either.

“I wanted to talk to both of you at the same time, but I’m afraid I’ll have to leave that to Kuniharu for a while.”

She rubbed her hands on her shoulders looking away from her. 

“I’m not going to put you between our squabble, rest assured. Kusuo’s just being stubborn.”

“Are you sure?” 

“What do you mean?”

She squeezed herself tighter. “I don’t know Saiki very well, but whenever I think he’s being stubborn he seems to have a legitimate reason. Are you sure you aren’t both right?”

“Ah.”

“I’m sorry!” She looked at her again. “I shouldn’t, I mean, it’s. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said anything. I’m just.” Breathe Kokomi. Don’t do this again. Not in front of her. She never even asked for your opinion. Mistake mistake mistake. 

She was hyperventilating. Her clothes were too short, her hair was too heavy, she felt her stomach.

Breathe breathe breathe. 

She couldn’t breathe. Her chair was uncomfortable, she wanted a shower, she probably stunk. She slept in Saiki’s bed. She was filthy.

Breathe breathe breathe breathebreathebreathe.

She brought her feet to her chest and pulled at her hair. 

Ha ha ha ha I can’t ha I cant breathe. No no no no nonononnono

She was choking. She put her hands around her throat and squeezed.

“Hey!” 

Her eyes were wide and she was shaking. She still couldn’t breathe. 

“You can. I swear on my life Kokomi breathe. ”

She was trying. She had to try. He was out of breath too. He looked scared. 

I don’t, I can’t, it’s, i’m

He squeezed her wrists. She looked at them. Her hands were shaking? No, it was his hands that were shaking hers. She was fighting him. She forced herself to stop. 

“Breathe. 1. . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 . . . 6,” she held her breath when he stopped. “ Exhale. 1. . . 2 . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 . . . 6 . . . 7 . . . 8.”

They did that for 3 more counts. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his back. Shaky arms came around to hold her. She started crying. She hated herself for crying. 

~

But maybe I just hate myself. 

Saiki squeezed her and she cried harder. 

-

She’s not sure how he did it, but somehow they were back in his room on his bed. She was practically straddling him, but she didn’t care. 

“I think this shirt is driving me crazy.” She rasped. 

“Can you let me go for a second?”

She hesitated. 

“ I promise I’ll come right back here.”

Reluctantly she detangled herself from him. He stood and walked over to his dresser. He pulled something from the bottom of it and held it out to her. It was a beige sweater with a giant yellow star over the heart. She looked at him and then the sweater. Gingerly she took it from his hold.

She gasped. It’s so soft! Hurriedly she tugged it on over her head. It was big and warm and most importantly it covered her midsection. Actually, hold on. She sat up on her knees and pulled the sweater down farther. It covered her butt as well. She could probably wear it as a mini dress. 

She looked back at Saiki and just like he promised he was back where he was before he got up. He was staring at her. She beamed at him and flopped her sleeves. They swallowed her arms whole. 

“It’s so big.”

He winced. “Sorry.”

She waved her sleeves in front of her. “No! It’s great! I love it. I love baggy clothes. I wish I had been wearing this the whole time. It’s perfect.”

He stared at her. “It’s the smallest thing I own. ”

She crawled back on top of him. “Really?” 

He put his arms back where they had been before. “ Yeah.”

“You’re tall.”

“I’m 167cm.”

“That’s taller than me.”

The knock on the door created a sense of deja vu. Except this time Saiki didn’t say anything.

“Is she alright now?” She heard Kurumi whisper and she was thankful her face was hidden by Saiki’s head.

“She’s not crying anymore. ”

“I’m sorry Kokomi. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

She shook her head. 

“I only came up here to suggest something.”

She felt Saiki clench his fist on her back.

“Kokomi, I think it might be better if you had your own clothes dear. I don’t think my clothes fit as well as I hoped. Kusuo can go get them and bring them back. You have your motorcycle license right?”

She felt him nod and she sat up to look at him.

“It’ll be an expedition for tomorrow. Tonight I think you both could just use some rest.”

Kokomi nodded but kept her eyes trained on the boy in front of her. When she was sure Kurumi was out of ear shot she looked at him expectantly.

“Does my riding a motorcycle bother you? ”

“I didn’t even know you had one! Let alone the fact you knew how to ride one.”

“Kaidou and Kobayasu wanted to get their license. I was dragged along.”

“That’s still super cool.”

“If you’re up to it, I’ll let you ride it tomorrow.”

“Really!”

“Yeah. I mean I don’t think you want me picking out the clothes you’ll be wearing for the next few months or so.”

“I trust you.” She whispered.

“You still have a right to pick out your own clothes.”

“Then I guess I’ll get to have my first ever motorcycle ride tomorrow.” She hugged him tighter smiling.

He hugged her back.

Chapter Text

To his surprise and relief, the large sweater seemed to calm Kokomi down significantly. They were sitting on the floor again, but she wasn’t fidgeting anymore. She was simply existing in the space with him. He wasn’t crazy enough to say that she was calm by any means, but she definitely wasn’t freaking out as much.

“All these channels are so boring.” she mumbled mostly to herself.

He scanned her back from where she was sitting in front of him. It was fairly late now, yet her exhaustion seemed nonexistent. He wished that was the same case for him.

Eventually she sighed and turned off the tv looking over to him to see what he was doing.

“What book is that?” she asked, crawling over to him.

“It’s a manga I’m rereading actually. It’s called Dr. Stone.”

“I don’t think I know that one.” She glanced at the pages as she spoke, her eyes looking but not reading.

He looked at her. “ You read manga?”

I went on a manga binge a while back to get closer to one of the guys I was trying to befriend in middle school, does that count?

I wouldn’t say yes.

“Kind of,” she settled on, “I did when I was younger. I haven’t done it in a while.”

He hummed.

“Do you only read manga? I mean, I know you said you have classics and foreign novels on your shelf, but have you actually read them all?”

He set the manga down on his lap. “I’ve read every book on that shelf at least twice.”

Her eyes widened as she balked at him. “Twice?! I know most of those are manga so they’re not too long, but some of the books look at least 700 pages long.”

He nodded.

“I don’t get it, how have you read them all at least twice? Are they all really good?”

He shrugged. “Some of them are, some of them aren’t. But anything is better than watching tv.”

“Yeah?” She asked absentmindedly as her eyes scanned the shelves. 

“I tend to avoid it whenever possible.”

She stood and then squatted in front of the shelf. 

He has the entire Sherlock Holmes series here. I didn’t know he was into mysteries. I wonder how many of these are mystery based.

He continued to read letting her thoughts act as background noise.

Not a single romance book. She glanced back at him. He looked up in time to see her looking away. I suppose I can understand that. He doesn’t seem like he’s too interested in romance.

He flipped a page he only half read.

Sci-fi? I never would have guessed. Then again he rides a motorcycle. He said he didn’t wanna do that though. Does that count then? What are his other interests? Does he have any? Do I have any? 

He flipped the page despite only skimming the pictures.

Wow Kokomi, 16 years and not a single hobby. That’s depressing.

What about calligraphy?

You learned calligraphy because you had to, mandarin because you had to, English because you had to, the piano because you had to, ballet because you said no to gymnastics. Ugh. “The perfect pretty girl”. As if.

He watched her shoulders slump as he turned another page without looking at it.

Does religiously watching Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away count?

He rubbed his hands on the page, but didn’t flip it.

Probably not. Fashion is not a real interest of mine. Nothing is. You’re so shallow Kokomi.

She sighed. “Are you still reading that?”

His head snapped up to her question as he realized she was no longer thinking.

“ Do you want to read it?”

“No. You’re flipping the pages faster than usual.” She turned around to face him from where she was still crouched in front of the bookshelf. “It’s a common tactic people use when they are looking at someone and trying to act busy.”

He blinked, surprised that he was called out.

You memorized my reading speed? How did you, when did you? “You memorized my reading speed?”

She flushed slightly and fiddled with the sleeve of her borrowed sweater. “I do a lot without thinking about it anymore.” She brought her shoulder up to her ears. “You probably think that’s creepy though, huh?” she whispered.

“No. ”

She looked up at him with a mixture of hopefulness and surprise. 

“It just means you’re observant. You’d make a good detective.”

I never thought about it like that. It’s just a survival skill at this point. “Thank you.” She murmured.

He tried not to let the twinge of anger show through in his thoughts. “You’re welcome.” Even if you shouldn’t have had to learn how to do it at all. What situation would warrant that kind of attention to detail? That kind of memory?

She stood looking at the books on the higher shelves.

I really know nothing about her.

No romance books, but romance manga huh? More than meets the eye.

-

Kokomi continued to look at the shelves for a long while after he went back to his manga. He made sure to go all the way back to where he was before when he started listening to her thoughts instead of reading the pages. By the time he finished his manga it was 11:30. 

She looked at him as he replaced the manga on the proper shelf. “Was it as good as the second time?”

He let his hand fall before answering her question. “6th, but same idea. And yes, it was.”

“Wait, when you said ‘at least twice’ you meant that as a blanket statement, didn’t you.”

Despite his best efforts he found himself smirking. “ Maybe.”

“How many times have you read all the books here?”

He walked over to his dresser and grabbed his pajamas. “ At least twice.”

She huffed. “That’s not an answer given you just said you read Dr. Stone 6 times.”

“No, I said it was my 6th for that manga,” He opened the door and then turned around to look at her before he left, “ I never said I had read the entire series 5 times.”

She tried to argue but was left simply opening and closing her mouth, minimal sound escaping as she did.

“I like to read.” Was the last thing he said before closing the door behind him. When he returned Kokomi was looking through his CD’s.

“You have the entire series of a children's tv show on DVD.”

What children’s tv sh— “Ignore that. Every time I try to get rid of it my mom says I can’t because it has ‘Sentimental value’. I haven’t touched them since I got them at 7.”

She gave him a hard stare and he determinedly ignored it as he put his clothes in the hamper.

“So you have no feelings about these DVD’s one way or another?” Her voice was neutral as she asked the question.

A feeling of dread washed over him that he brushed off by stretching.

“ That’s right.” He sat down in his chair and spun it to face her. 

“So I can open these up and look at them?”

He squinted his eyes at her, but gave a silent nod.

She hummed a song he wasn’t familiar with as she opened the first DVD case. Carefully she took out the DVD and inspected it.

“For a 7 year old, you took really good care of your DVD’s.”

He waited for further elaboration and when he didn’t get any he simply said “ Thank you.”

She continued to inspect the DVD until she grabbed it with her fingers. He flinched.

I did not. I don’t care about some silly DVD’s from when I was a kid.

She continued putting her fingers all over the tiny grooves of the disk.

If I clean it later once she’s done looking at it, that’s irrelevant.

“You know I always thought DVD’s were so cool,” she began to hold it in both hands, “they were always so durable .”

“ Yes?” I never really noticed.

“Mhmm. You can bend them and they won’t break for a long while.”

His hand twitched. “ Really?” The deadpan didn’t land as solid as he hoped.

“Really. And since you said you don’t care about these, we could try,” she looked up at him. “Right.” She stood and walked over to where he was sitting. “Now.”

His jaw clenched but he didn’t respond.

“Unless of course you would like to admit that your mother might be right about certain things and thus the argument between the two of you is something that could easily be resolved by trying to understand her view point.”

His jaw unclenched and he rolled his eyes. That’s what she’s trying to do. When did she even have time to come up with this? I should have heard it the second the thought entered her mind.

“And as I told my mom several times,” He grabbed the disk from her and held it in his hands. “ I don’t care about these movies.”

“Then break it.” She was staring at him again.

“ No, it’ll be a mess I don’t feel like cleaning.”

“I’ll clean it. Break it.”

“ I’d rather give them away or have them be properly disposed of. No.”

“You can still dispose of it even if it’s broken and I doubt any store would take a show that’s 9 years old now. Break it.”

“ Asking me to do the same thing over again isn’t going to fix anything.”

“I didn’t say it would. I’m simply asking you to break it.”

“ No.”

“Why?”

“ Because I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“ I just gave you two valid--”

“Counter arguments to both. Why?”

“I don’t have to debate you on this. They’re my DVD’s.”

“I thought you said you didn’t care about them.”

“ I don’t.”

“Then why won’t you break them?”

He stood fast enough that his chair hit the back of his desk and she jumped.

“ Why does this matter to you so much anyway?”

She flinched away at the venom in his tone. She looked away from him and took a step back and then another.

Nice going Kokomi. Pushing him again. “Sorry.” She mumbled and then disappeared through his door.

Guilt ran through him like a bucket of ice and he sighed. Falling back into his chair he ran a hand through his hair. Damnit.

Fear climbed up his spine and settled right between his shoulders. He had been making progress today. Maybe not in the way his parents wanted, but still , it was progress. She hadn’t felt like a burden for most of the day and now he went and messed it up. 

His leg bounced as he looked at the door. What if she doesn’t come back? Should I go and apologize? What if she wants space? Should I give her space? What if she doesn’t want space. Why can’t I hear her thoughts? Why can’t I--

As his vision was blurring on the edges the door creaked open. He snapped his head up and stood from where he was.

“S-sorry, I just, I understand if you wanted me to leave you alone, but I wanted to apologize.” 

“Please don’t.”

She slumped into herself. “Oh, o-okay.”

Shit. “No, I meant--”

“It’s okay Saiki. I get it. You don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Teruhashi, I don’t want you to apologize when I was in the wrong.”

“You weren’t though. I shouldn’t be trying to fix things between you and your mom. I just,” Your fault your fault your fault yourfaultyourfault “I just feel bad.”

He inhaled sharply and walked over to her. “It’s not your fault that me and my mom are arguing.” His voice was so soft he worried she wouldn’t hear him.

“Isn’t it though?” She whispered back just as quietly.

“No.”

“But if I hadn’t--”

“Teruhashi. My mom is stubborn and I’m hard headed.” He shrugged. “ The two of us fighting isn’t the end of the world, even if my father is acting like it.”

“But I thought you said the two of you don’t get into fights?”

He lightly pulled her back into his room so they could sit on his bed. “ We don’t.”

Her shoulders slumped at his response. He frowned.

“Just because we haven’t fought before doesn’t mean this is going to be the start of continuous fighting.”

I wish I could believe that. I want to believe that. But if that is true, then why are my parents, why are they. . . She sighed. “How do you know that for sure?”

“ You said it yourself. My parents don’t just do things because ‘they’re older and know better’ or some other kind of bullshit. That’s why I stormed off at dinner actually.”

“What? I didn’t think you guys were actually talking.”

Not out loud. “My father doesn’t have any concept of what whispering is.”

Kokomi tried to fake out her giggle as a cough. It didn’t work.

“ I tried to calmly ask her why she wouldn’t just explain why I was grounded. She told me I wasn’t ready to hear the reason yet. And then she began to reprimand me for getting upset at my dad. Thing’s spiraled from there and I didn’t want to listen to her anymore.”

Maybe storming off is why your mother doesn’t think you’re ready.

He tried to brush off the passing thought, but he was only half successful. 

“ Regardless, none of this is your fault. I’m sorry that you have to see this though.” Given it seems to be bringing up bad memories.

“I’m just overly sensitive to this.” She slapped her hand over her mouth the second she said it. “I don’t know why I said that, please forget it.”

He was silent for a moment as he shifted higher on the bed. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

He nodded and watched as she crawled to where he was.

“At least not right now.”

“ Okay.”

“Thank you though,” she looked at him. “For saying this isn’t my fault.”

He didn’t say anything as he grabbed the remote to flip through the channels again. Despite not verbalizing her want to not have him respond to that, she was grateful he picked up on her unspoken desire. The companionable silence returned. 

-

As it neared 12:30 he flipped to his favorite tv show. Even though it was late he could tell that Kokomi still wasn’t all that tired. 

I should still try and get her to sleep. It’s late enough as is. And there’s also the whole “we’ve probably only slept for a maximum of 10 hours over the past 3 days” thing.

He glanced at her and watched as the colors on the screen illuminate her face.

After this goes off I’ll suggest going to bed.  

A wave of nausea hit him as he realized she would likely try and leave again the second he suggested it.

Good grief. Why does it have to be such a big deal? Of course she should be unsettled Kusuo. What are you talking about?

The host began the show and started talking about the kinds of things they feature for any new watchers.

She has consistently had bad interactions since she was 8, if she wasn’t hesitant it would be even more concerning.

The host announced where they would be today and introduced the special guest.

But she clearly sleeps better when we’re in the same room. Should I say that I feel more comfortable with her in here? His entire face scrunched up at the very thought of it. 

Mental and physical exhaustion began to hit him at once and he allowed himself to lay down, still keeping his eyes trained on the screen. Kokomi glanced back at him.

“I can go if you want.”

“You don’t have to, I’m just tired of sitting up. My back was starting to hurt.” At least it’s not a total lie.

She nodded and returned her eyes to the screen. “I thought you didn’t watch tv.”

He was glad her back was facing him so that she didn’t see his yawn. “ This is the exception.”

“Is this how you know all the best places to eat in Japan?” She joked and looked back at him.

“Yes.”

He looks exhausted. “Oh.”

“This particular episode is a rerun.”

Maybe if I lay down he’ll feel more inclined to fall asleep.

I can’t sleep, I have to figure this out first. “There’s only 3 episodes out of this season that have been recorded in our hometown. I’ve seen all of them and I’ve been to all the places featured.” He held his breath to hold back another yawn.

“So you watch this a lot then?” She laid down next to him making sure not to block his view of the tv with her head.

“ I make a habit of staying up to watch the new episodes, but those don’t come on until Wednesday. Sorry, Thursday. . .”

“What’s wrong?” She asked but continued to face the tv.

“ The host always says ‘catch us next Wednesday for another trip around Japan's sweetest spots’,” he mentally cringed at the signature line, “ But the show doesn’t actually come on until after midnight. So it’s Thursday. I make a habit of watching it every Thursday morning.”

“12:30 is an interesting time for a show like this to come on. Is it really worth watching?”

“ Yes.” He was so adamant about it that she turned around to see the ferocity in his face, only to discover his eyes were closed.

Her voice was nearly inaudible when she spoke, “Maybe I’ll have to start watching myself.”

As Kokomi continued to watch the host and the guest discuss the dessert they were tasting she felt the boy behind her becoming increasingly relaxed. By the time the show was almost over she was certain he was asleep.

I should get up now. I don’t want to sleep in his bed again.

As she was about to move to get up, she felt an arm sling around her. She froze as she feared he had somehow woken up. A slight turn of her head confirmed that he was still asleep.

Okay. This is fine. I’m fine. This is fine. Just carefully move his arm without waking him up and leave his room with him being none the wiser. Easy. Easy peasy. You sneak in and out of your room all the time Kokomi, this is no different. Easy Easy Easy.

Slowly she attempted to lift the arm that had loosely fallen on her midsection off of her. To her dismay the arm only tightened. Immediately she stopped trying to move it.

Okay, this is fine. He moved once, he’ll move again. I guarantee by the time the show is over he’ll move again.

The show ended and she made a mental note to check out where they had gone when she didn’t feel like throwing up at the idea of being in a crowd. The arm around her though had not moved as she hoped.

She gave a small sigh. Reaching with her feet she was able to bring the remote control to where it had been placed at the edge of the bed. Turning off the tv she let herself be consumed in the darkness.

It’s so quiet. I feel like I’m the only person awake in the entire world.

Gently she allowed her fingers to settle on top of the arm that was around her waist.

Does he get to rest like this all the time? There’s still so much I don’t know about him. I claim to love him, but I don’t even know anything about him. That makes me no better than my fans. I’m a terrible person, aren’t I?

She felt tears well in her eyes and she gasped as the arm brought her closer to him. She took a shuddering breath and allowed herself to relish in the warmth that she was now surrounded in. 

No. I’m not a terrible person. I’m just at a really low point. I have to  believe that. 

Despite her mind screaming at her that it was selfish and wrong to stay by his side like this, she allowed herself to relax.

I’m sure he’ll move his arm before morning comes. I’ll get up and leave before that happens.

Content in her decision she let herself drift off to soft snores and the hum of the house she was in.

-

Saiki woke up slightly irritated as he always did. Once the voices started filtering in, there was no use in trying to get back to sleep. His parents said that this neighborhood would be a great place to raise a child because of how quiet and peaceful it was. On most days he could agree on the peaceful aspect of it, but the quiet was something he wasn’t so sure of.

He sighed as he sat up, vaguely realizing he was still wearing his glasses.

That’s weird. But I also don’t remember falling asleep last night. 

He looked to his right out of curiosity of why he wouldn’t have put his glasses on his night stand, and nearly jumped at seeing the girl next to him. Freezing so he didn’t risk waking her up, he went over everything that happened the night before in his head.

The last thing I remember is getting irritated at the time that show comes on, but after that, it’s blank. How did I fall asleep? Did she stay willingly?

He looked at the placement of their bodies and an idea started forming in his head. He internally groaned.

I ended up on my side, so I probably wanted to roll all the way over. Kokomi, Teruhashi , being in the way is likely why it was just my arm instead.

He continued to watch the steady rise and fall of her chest.

At least she looks relaxed. I guess when she’s not putting on an act, or letting her thoughts spiral out of control, she’s just a regular person.

He flinched as she began to stir, quickly lying back down before she could realize he was already awake.

Kokomi woke to the comfortable silence and wished every morning would be this relaxing. 

She stopped breathing as she realized there was a weight on her lower body. Panic started to set in as she tried to remember what happened the night before.

Relax Kokomi. You’re at Saiki’s house. There’s nothing here that can hurt you. Just remember what happened. You and Saiki were watching tv, and then Saiki fell asleep, and then his arm fell around you. 

She looked down at her waist to confirm her theory. She let out a small huff of relief. 

See? You’re fine. Everything’s fine. Actually, no. Wait.

She once again tried to move the arm that was on top of her, and found it didn’t move an inch.

Why is it so heavy?

My body relaxes when I sleep. I’m not as light as Nendou makes it look like I am.

She heaved a quiet sigh. Okay, this is still okay. Saiki keeps saying he doesn’t mind if I sleep in his room, but this will be a real test of that. The way someone reacts when they first wake up shows how they really feel. If he’s really okay with me being here, he won’t freak out.

I am suddenly very glad that I woke up first.

All I have to do is wait until he wakes up to see his reaction. And then when he inevitably hates it

She gave a rough swallow and felt her eyes start to burn.

What is wrong with you? Just accept that he doesn’t want to be around you and move on. No need to cry about it like a baby.

Her eyes started to burn and she was glad her arms weren’t pinned to her waist as well.

Okay, I don’t like where this is going.

Rising slowly without looking at the girl next to him, he crawled to the edge of the bed and got off before opening the door to go to the bathroom.

Did he just. . .?

When he came back he looked at her blinked and then went to his dresser to find his clothes for the day.

He’s not even phased?! We were definitely sleeping in the same bed together! And he just brushed it off like it was no big deal? Has he had a lot of people sleep in his bed with him before?

Saiki suppressed the grimace at the implication that thought held.

No Kokomi, don’t be ridiculous. But then if it’s not that then, no. It has to be that he’s not fully awake yet and going on autopilot.

“Are you hungry?” He pulled out a shirt, looked at it, and then put it back. “ My mom ‘suggested’ we go get your clothes from your house, but it wasn’t a suggestion.” He looked at another shirt before going through the same process as the first. “ There’s still leftovers, but I was going to reheat the rice and make an egg or 3.”

Turning around to look at her, he was surprised to see she was just staring at him.

“ Are you not feeling well?” Crap, did she have another nightmare? “Did,” he hesitated, nervous to bring up that he was aware of her nightmares. “ Did you have a nightmare?”

Snapping out of her daze, Kokomi shook her head.

“I’m oka-, um, I didn’t have a nightmare. And I wouldn’t mind eating breakfast actually.”

He nodded, turning back to his dresser and finally finding a shirt on his 3rd go round.

“ Okay, I’ll call you when it’s ready then.”

“Ku-- er, Saiki.”

He looked at her from his spot at the door. He didn’t say anything as he waited for her to get her thoughts together.

“Are,” she sat up straighter and fiddled with his sheets. “Are you sure that you don’t want to,” she rolled her hand in a circular motion to try and get him to fill in the blank. He stayed quiet. “Um, ask?”

He blinked at her.

“About, uh,” she gestured to him, the bed, and then herself. “Any of this?”

“Did I hurt you in my sleep?”  

“No! No. It’s just, are you really okay with me sleeping in here? In your,” In your bed. He can’t be. There’s no way. He values his personal space too much and I already push that boundary when I’m awake. Of course he’s not actually okay with it while he’s sleeping. Why did you even bother asking? Stupid stupid stupid--

“ If I’m being honest,” he wasn’t certain if he was projecting loud enough for her to hear over her own all encompassing thoughts, but he continued anyway. “ It’s a little jarring.”

Her thoughts screeched to a stop.

“ I’m not really used to sharing my space with people.”

Kokomi looked down at the bed, clutching the sheets and an apology forming on her lips for being a bother.

“ But,”

She looked back up at him through her bangs.

“It just takes some getting used to. There are other people who I wouldn’t even let enter my bedroom, let alone sleep in my bed.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, and he turned his head towards the hallway to avoid making eye contact with her.

“So unless it bothers you, it’s fine with me.” He glanced back at her. “Does it bother you?”

She shook her head slowly.

He didn’t realize how tense his shoulders were until they relaxed. “Okay then.”

And with that he left the room. 

Kokomi brought the sheets to her chest and allowed herself to cry. It had been a long time since people have given her the opportunity to say no without it being a spectacle, and she didn’t realize how exhausting it was until she didn’t have to worry about it as much anymore.

Wow Kokomi, you really are messed up. Huh?

Saiki tried hard not to respond to her thoughts, or the small sniffles he heard on the other side of his door. He was only glad she didn’t see him with his shirt on backwards.

It was not on backwards.

-

Even though he said he would go back upstairs and get her when the food was ready, he was still nervous. Given that it was a Saturday and it was already 10:30, he doubted his mother would be home. Even if she wasn’t helping the neighborhood watch, she still liked to do things in the morning on the weekend.

Not that I want to ask my mom for help. Someone crying is just farther out of my comfort zone than I feel capable of handling. 

He just wanted to make sure he didn’t ask questions that to other people would have obvious answers. He had been doing well so far, but he wasn’t confident that would last. Clenching and unclenching his hand for a while in an effort to help decide, he went back upstairs to see what she was doing. The last two mishaps with reading her mind making him uneasy to try again.

Knocking gently on the door he heard a “it’s your room”, so he opened it.

“It’s still a courtesy to knock.”

“The odds of me changing in your room are slim.”

That’s not what I was thinking about.  

“Is the food ready?”

He watched as she slowly went into a forward lunge before turning her waist to face him while her legs and feet stayed facing forward.

“ Yoga or tai chi?”

She slowly rose and then repeated the action on the other side.

“Yes. It was yoga,” she paused to stand on one leg as she lifted the other to her calf, “but now it’s closer to tai chi.”

“ I didn’t know you did tai chi.”

She took a deep breath in and on her exhale she cracked one eye open to look at him. “So it would be less surprising if I did yoga?” Somehow that feels presumptuous. 

He shrugged. “ We both do yoga. It’s a requirement for our physical education class. Doing it outside of school to get better at the stretches so you don’t get marked down isn’t out of the ordinary.”

“That’s true.” she murmured as she switched legs.

“And to answer your question, breakfast isn’t ready. I just got bored waiting for the rice to heat up.”

Is he lonely? “Do you want me to come down and sit with you?”

He shook his head. “ It’s okay. I was just curious what you were doing up here. ”

“Yoga tai chi fusion.”

“I can see that.”

He watched her kick her leg up gently and raising her right arm to follow it.

“I can come down when I’m done?” She let her foot fall to the ground as she raised both her hands in a cupping motion.

“Okay.”

He left as she was about to change to another pose.

-

She came down stairs as he was about to go up and tell her the food was ready.

“Convenient timing.”

He set her bowl down across from where he was going to sit.

“I had a feeling the eggs would be ready.”

“Do you cook eggs a lot?”

Considering it’s quick and easy and I prepare food for myself almost everyday? “Yeah.” She gave a strained smile.

“They might not taste to your liking then.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

He raised his eyebrows at her.

She jolted. “Good!” He smirked. “Good! I meant I’m sure they’re good .”

“In your honest opinion, you think they’ll be fine.”

“No I don’t! I’m sure they’re going to be great actually. They’re eggs. It’s really hard to mess them up. I just said fine, because it was the first-- I mean.” She closed her eyes tight and then looked at him. His amused smirk had yet to falter.

At this point he was a third of the way through his own eggs. They were sunny side up, and honestly? They were a little underdone. They’d live. 

It’s going to be really funny for her to take that first bite and watch her lie through her teeth.

Quickly cutting into the egg so it would run over her rice, she shoved the food in her mouth and then paused.

Ugh, ew. It’s underdone. Grooooooosss. No, no. This is fine. Good! This is good. The rice is good. The rice isn’t overcooked or undercooked at all, and that’s common when reheating rice. I can definitely make it seem like I am praising these awful eggs--

Rude.

When I am in reality talking about the rice.

She swallowed the too runny egg and looked up at him. It looked like he was waiting for her to lie. 

“How is it?”

“Good!” She did genuinely mean it. . . about the rice. 

“ Really? Cause your face said--”

“Nope! You must have misunderstood my shock for dislike. It’s good! What kind of seasoning did you use?”

“Salt and pepper.”

“Really? Because it doesn’t taste like it.” She was rambling.

Yes it does. “ I’m glad you like them.”

She smiled, taking another bite and regretting letting the eggs touch all of the rice.

He took another bite himself before speaking. “ Personally I think I undercooked them. But since you like them, I’ll keep it in mind when I make eggs again.”

She nearly choked. “Wai--” She coughed as she tried to talk around a mouth full of rice and egg.

“ I’ll go ahead and make another one right now.”

She frantically looked for water.

Whoops. Genuinely forgot to do that. “Do you want something to drink?”

Her head could have been easily mistaken for a bobble head with how fast it was nodding up and down.

“Is water okay?”

She didn’t stop nodding.

He placed the cup on the table and he leaned on it to watch her. She gulped down half the glass.

“Are you okay?”

He was concerned. Kind of.

“Yes.” She croaked out. “Went down the wrong way.”

He nodded. “ Alright then. Once the pan reheats it won’t take long for me to get your egg how you want it. Unless you want it runnier?”

She threw up in her mouth and had to hold her hand over it to not let it become any worse.

“Please don’t . I cannot stand runny eggs.”

He was at the stove again.

Never would have guessed. He rolled his eyes to himself. “ You could have said so instead of trying to lie.”

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings or be ungrateful!”

He turned back to look at her with a deadpan expression. “ They’re eggs, I think my ego can handle it.”

She slumped in her chair and crossed her arms.

“ But thank you anyway. I can appreciate the thought.”

She stayed slumped in the chair but uncrossed her arms. “You’re welcome.”

-

When they finished their unrunny eggs, Saiki stood up to head to the yard.

“Where are you going?” Kokomi looked at him from where she was still seated at the table.

“I was going to get my bike from the yard. Unless you would rather walk?”

She shook her head.

“Give me a second and I’ll meet you in the front.”

He continued his short trek to the yard before he paused after hearing the screech of a chair. Slowly turning around, he looked at Kokomi.

“Um!” She was fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

“ Yes?”

“Your mom was really kind in letting me borrow some of her old clothes,” Even though they clearly don’t fit. “But, uh,”

He turned all the way back around and put his hands in his pockets.

“Well I know we’re getting clothes from my house like right now, but I would really rather I. . .” She was clenching and unclenching her fists. Come on Kokomi. Spit it out! He can’t read your mind. “It’s just,” she continued to squirm.

Doing a quick once over before his x-ray vision kicked in, he tried to figure out what was causing her discomfort. His eyes caught on the pants that were technically too short to be considered pants. They stopped too high on her calf, and if he didn’t know they were a size too short, he would have believed it was simply the style.

“ Would you like a different set of pants?”

Her shoulders relaxed as she gave a small nod. “Yes please.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he stood still. A shirt was easy to lend. If it was big on her. So be it. It really didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t slipping off her body. But pants? That was harder to loan. Even though they were about the same height, he still had a skinnier waist, if only by a little, and longer legs, if by a lot. 

Which all things considered doesn’t make a lot of sense since she’s taller than me when I’m a girl, but I guess it can’t be helped.

“Saiki?”

He let his eyes catch hers from where they were looking on the ground.

“If you don’t want to lend me some pants, I don’t mind.” She was fiddling with the sleeves again.

You definitely do. “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just know I won’t have anything that will fit you.”

“That’s fine.”

If they weren’t getting ready to ride a motorcycle, he might agree.

He shook his head. “ If we were staying inside, I wouldn’t care, but we’re riding a motorcycle. If the pants don’t fit you, you’re not going to be able to sit on the seat right. You’ll slip around too much.”

She frowned. “Oh. Um, well I guess I can stay here? You won’t be gone long right? I can just tell you where the spare key is and you can get some clothes for me and come back.”

“ No. I already told you that you have a right to pick out your own clothes.”

“At this point I really don’t care as long as they fit and they’re comfortable.” She grumbled. Though he couldn’t tell if it was to him or herself.

He walked back upstairs to his room and looked through his drawers. He didn’t get rid of things easily, mostly because his mom felt that each piece of clothing he ever wore had sentimental value. It would be fine if it didn’t take up so much room.

Going deeper in his pants drawer than he ever usually did, he found a pair of black slacks. He held them up to his waist and nearly laughed.

Why do I still have these?

“Oh Ku! You really look like a real stage manager now!”

“Even though you hated the fitting process, it does look really good. It would be amazing if you were done growing so this would be a worthwhile investment.”

He rolled his eyes at the memory.

Too bad for dad that I wasn’t done growing. These were comfortable though.

“Saiki?” Kokomi peered her head into his room. “It’s really alright if you don’t have any spare pants.”

“I have these.” He held them out for her to look at.

She took the pants and rubbed her fingers on the fabric. Smooth. And based on the stitching on the waist and the side, this was fitted to him. She looked at him. “Is it really alright if I wear these?”

“ They won’t ever fit me again without serious alterations. The last time I wore them was 2 years ago. But for the sake of my mother, try not to rip them. ” He brushed past her to leave. “ I’m going to get the bike and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

She nodded and he left.

-

It was a good thing that she wanted a change of pants, because he didn’t actually have a plan for how he was going to get his motorcycle. It was on the side of the house in the yard, but he always got it out by teleporting on it. With Kokomi taking care of herself, he was able to teleport the motorcycle to the front yard, and find his keys all before she came down.

Her smile was so wide and genuine he felt a pang of sadness that he had never seen it before now.

“They fit! Like, really well!”

“ I’m glad.”

She continued to smile at him until her eyes caught on his motorcycle. 

“Is that your motorcycle?” The awe was so clear in her voice he almost missed what she said.

“Yeah.”

“I think you are the only person I have ever met to be nonchalant about owning a motorcycle. ”

He supposed he didn’t get what the big deal was. 

“ The novelty wore off when I was 5. . . to 10. The novelty wore off when I was 5-10.”

5 to 10? Huh?

“ I’ve been riding dirt bikes since I was 8, so a motorcycle didn’t really have the wow factor for me.” Yes, let’s reveal I had already ridden a motorcycle on my own at the age of 5. Great idea. Good grief, I must still be tired.

“Oh! That’s super cool!”

He gave her a confused look.

“What’s wrong?”

“ Is it?”

“Is what?”

He shook his head. “ Nevermind. Here, put this on and we can go.”

She took the helmet from his hand and approached the bike. He swung his leg over, turned the key in the ignition and waited for her to get on.

This is real. Oh my god. Okay, nope. This is not okay. This is real. This is a really real motorcycle. Oooooooh my gosh.

“ Teruhashi? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!”

Helpful.

He flicked up his visor and stared at her.

“Seriously! I’m fine. It’s fine. You’re fine. Everyone is fine!”

Is she scared of the motorcycle? “Are you nervous?”

“What?! Don’t be ridiculous. Motorcycles just have more accidents than any other vehicle out there, and we’re both 16 so I’m not even sure if you’re allowed to drive me, not to mention motorcycle accidents increase when there’s more than one person on a bike, but everything is fine. I’m not worried, because you’re not worried, because you definitely have a license and have done this plenty of times before.”

His eyes were wider than they had been in a long time. Where does she get all that air?

“ I won’t lie and say this is safe. A motorcycle is dangerous, just like a car is dangerous, and a plane, and a train, and a bicycle, and a boat, and pretty much every man made invention. But we’re only going a couple blocks and the speed limit is 15 in residential areas. But we probably won’t even reach that because the courtesy is 12.”

She visibly relaxed at that.

He turned off the cycle and got off. “ I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. ”

Her eyes were so big and clear he could see his reflection in them.

“I promise.”

It felt like he was promising more than just protecting her while they were on the motorcycle, but he didn’t have time to think about that.

Kokomi took a deep breath and then nodded. “Okay.”

He gave her the faintest smile and then sat back down on the bike. Kokomi edged closer, but still didn’t get on.

“I am going to reiterate that I’ve never been on a motorcycle before.”

He nodded.

“So I don’t know how to get on one.”

Oh. “It’s easy. Have you ever sat on a chair backwards before?”

She shook her head. He raised an eyebrow at her, even though she couldn’t see it with the helmet on.

“It’s not ladylike.”

He sighed and then went into the house. When he returned he had a chair in hand. 

“Swing your leg over the other side of the chair, and have your chest rest against the back of the chair.”

“Oh! Like riding a horse!”

“What about being ladylike?”

“It’s a horse.”

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. She easily swung her leg over the other side of the chair and sat down. 

“ Easy. Right?”

She nodded.

“ Now try it on the motorcycle.”

Standing up from the chair, she attempted to swing her leg up and over, but hit the bike and tripped falling on her butt on the other side. Saiki winced.

“ Are you o--”

Kokomi stood up irritated and brushed herself off. “Show me how you do it.”

Walking back over to the bike, he swung his leg over and sat down.

“Do it again, but slower.”

Following the directions, he stood up and sat back down.

“ Here, let me get out of the way and hold the bike so it doesn’t move.”

Confidence restored, she tried again to swing her leg up and over, but still overshot it.

“ You’re using too much force. It’s not alive so it’s not going to move, especially now that I’m holding it steady. Try using as much force as you used to swing your leg over the chair.”

Doing as he directed, she hit her ankle on the side of the bike and winced falling to the floor.

“Sorry.”

She glared at him.

“ More force than the chair, but less force than you would use when trying to get on a horse.”

Psyching herself up, she took another deep breath and applied what she learned from her last two failed attempts.

“I did it!” She shot her hands up in the air and smiled at him.

“You act like I didn’t believe you could do it.” He handed her the helmet and motioned for her to scooch back.

“You didn’t?”

He swung his leg over and sat down. “ Not once.”

“But why not? I failed twice and I’ve never even been on a motorcycle before now.”

He turned slightly to look at her. “ You’re Kokomi Teruhashi. If you said you were going to move a mountain, I’d believe you.”

He flipped her visor down as she started to blush.

“ You’re going to want to hold onto something.”

“What? Why?”

He mimicked tapping the side of his helmet and she brought her hand up to the side and pressed a button.

“ What did you say?”

“Oh, could you not hear me before?”

“The helmets muffle surrounding sound, but now that we’re on the same frequency it shouldn’t matter. What did you say?”

“I was just asking why I had to hold on.”

“Once I start going, it’s going to be a lot of forward momentum. We won’t be going very fast, but there’s no barrier between us and the wind unlike in a car. You’re going to feel everything.”

“Where should I um,” she looked at his back and shoulders. “Where should I hold you?”

“ Anywhere is fine.”

Her face became warm at the idea of holding him around the waist and she settled by gently putting her hands on his shoulders.

“ I’m going to count down from 3 and then I’m going to go. We go from 0-10 really fast, okay?”

“Okay.”

“ Ichi,”

He turned the ignition on and Kokomi tightened her grip at the sound of the bike.

“ Ni,”

He flipped down his own visor and revved the engine.

“Mittsu.”

Kokomi yelped and her hands flew to his waist as they started to pick up speed. It was so fast that he swerved slightly but course corrected fast enough that it could have been mistaken for a dip in the road.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, we’re just going a lot faster than I thought.”

“We’re not even at 12 yet.”

“What!” She lifted her head up to look at her surroundings and gasped. “Everything is whizzing by.”

“It gets even blurrier when you're over 30.”

Slowly she released her tight grip around his waist and let the wind flow through her.

She felt free . Right at this very moment it felt like the rest of the world didn’t matter. And even though they weren’t going very fast, she doubted anyone could see what either of them looked like. She could feel her long hair blowing in the wind and she could almost imagine what the air sounded like as they were whizzing by.

“Can we go faster?” She whispered it, afraid he might say no and burst the freedom she was finally getting a taste of.

Saiki glanced at his speed gauge and twisted the accelerator a little bit farther. Kokomi went back to resting her chest against his back, but it wasn’t out of fear anymore. 

This is amazing. He felt himself smile at the thought but did his best to ignore the warmth blooming in his chest.

Chapter Text

All too soon for Teruhashi’s taste, they arrived at her house. The walk from his house to hers would take 30 minutes at a leisurely pace and 15 at a speed walk. It only took 5 minutes on the motorcycle.

I wish we were going farther than my house. She hopped off the cycle with a little bit of effort, and then took off her helmet. I want to know what it’s like to go 30 like Saiki said. Maybe even 50 if he would allow it. Going that fast, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything but holding on.

She watched as Saiki got off the bike himself and held out a hand for her helmet.

I’d probably have to hold him tighter than I was just now. She glanced at his face as he took off his helmet. She felt herself starting to blush. Maybe going at 12 is just fine.

She cleared her throat as she ran a hand through her hair. “That was fun, thank you.”

“15 wasn’t so scary, right?”

“I thought you said it was 12 in residential areas?”

He rolled his shoulders and then started walking the bike into her front yard. “Don’t tell my instructor.”

She felt herself smile as she followed him to the gate. “I won’t tell.” She bit her lip. “Well as long as we can take the long way around on the way back?”

He glanced at her from where he stood as she waited for her to open the door.

Blue eyes looked directly at him. He felt his own eyes widen at the way they looked. “Alright.”

Her arms flew to her side in joy. “Really?!”

"Yeah."

He stepped one foot backwards to stabilize himself as she threw her arms around him in a hug.

“Thank you! It was so much fun and I didn’t want to stop but I was afraid I would bother you if I asked you to keep going and--”

“It’s fine.” Slowly he put his own arms around her back. “I don’t mind.”

She peered up at him from where she was. She beamed.

He cleared his throat after a while and she startled. “Oh my god! Sorry!” She detangled herself from him and rushed to open the gate. “Um, come in.”

He nodded and continued to guide the bike into her front yard. Once it was all the way inside he nudged the kickstand into operation.

This feels so wrong.

"Saiki?"

He looked up from where he was still fiddling with the bike.

“It’s fine. Nobody else is here and we’ll be leaving soon. Don’t worry about leaving it in the walkway.”

He was stunned. Robotically walking forward, he stared at her. 

“What?”

“ Why do you think I was worried about the bike?”

She watched him for a moment, eyes flitting back and forth, and then took out the spare key from its hiding place to open the door.

“Because you’re a polite person, and it’s considered rude to do something like that.” She opened the door and stepped inside, kicking off her shoes and setting them aside. “The same way you take the time to format your shoes after you take them off whenever you go into your house or someone else's. It’s just who you are.” She adjusted her sweater so it wasn’t falling off her shoulder anymore, having come dislodged when she got off the bike. “Come on. I don’t wanna stay here too long and make your parents worry.”

Out of spite he kicked off his shoes without formatting them and walked towards the stairs. When he got to the fifth step he looked back at them and used his telekinesis to fix them.

I want it to go on record that I didn’t do that because I was being polite. They’re just a safety hazard if they’re lying about like that. 

He hurried up the stairs so she wouldn’t notice his absence. 

She still knows nothing about me.

He clenched his hands as he tried not to think about the other reason why she would be so good at observing something as small as how he put his shoes.

I never thought about it like that. It’s just a survival skill at this point.  

Maybe it’s better if it’s because she thinks she loves me.

-

Her room was so clean . It’s not as if he expected it to be dirty by any means, but it felt too clean. Even by her standards. He did his best not to stare, but given the previous time he had been there unknown to her this was a stark contrast.

“Okay,” she opened her closet and pulled out two backpacks. He decided to ignore the cleanliness of her room for the moment. “I’ll get clothes and you can grab my Ghibli collection, as well as any books on my shelf you’re curious about.”

When his eyes caught on her, he flinched at the bags she was holding. One was labeled “sleepover”, something he could consider reasonable, and the other was labeled “last resort”.

“ Teruhashi.”

“Hm?” She turned around to look at him, surprised when she saw how pale he was. “Saiki what’s wrong? You look sick.” She stood up quickly and rushed over to touch his forehead. He took a step back.

“ Why do you have that?”

Her eyebrows squinted as her hand stayed in the air. “Have. . . what?”

“That.” He pointed at the bag.

She followed his gaze and her hand fell. Why wouldn’t I? Makato might one day find a way to  fulfill his wish of marrying me. My parents might try to send me to America again for school. Any number of the men who’ve done that might come back. Anything could happen. Everything could happen. I should change out the supplies in it after this is over. I’ll hide the supplies in it right now in the spot. She started going through her clothes. “It’s good to be prepared.”

“ No.” He whispered.

“ Don’t think about it too hard, okay?” She turned back and gave him a smile. The most painful part was that he could tell it was genuine.

-

The silence, while usually something she could appreciate in small doses, was uncomfortable. She knew it was because of the bag that he saw. The one he wasn’t supposed to see, but she wasn’t sorry. Any number of things could happen at any given time that would require her to need such a bag. Everyone should have one! It wasn’t always a “last resort” bag. Before the first incident it had been a “survival” bag. Her father had taught her how to make it when she was little. He stuffed it with 15,000 yen and told her to never touch it unless there was an emergency. After that they stuffed it with other things she might need in an emergency: portable charger, flashlight, first aid kit, rope, extra clothes, etc. and told her to update it every 2 years. But after the second incident, she changed the bag's purpose slightly. As well as added more money over time. She was at 100000 yen now.

She glanced back at Saiki. He was in front of her bookshelf, but he was just sitting there. Unmoving. She sighed as she folded up and put away the last of her underwear.

“It bothers you.” She heard him shift and turn to look at her. “I don’t want it to.”

He didn’t say anything and she rubbed a shirt in between her fingers. 

“I know that may be asking for a lot, but it’s not as bad as you think.”

Still no words were said.

“Everyone should have a bag like this. Japan could get hit by a tsunami or an earthquake or even a volcanic eruption! Having a disaster bag is a good idea.”

“ Is that what that is?”

No. “Yes.” She turned around to look at him. She regretted it as soon as she did. “It is.”

They both knew it was a lie, but Saiki simply turned around to face the bookshelf again.

Kokomi clenched and unclenched her hands. 

“It is a survival bag. It’s just, well, you know.”

He turned his head to face her.

“It just has survival stuff. . . plus some other things.”

The furrow in his brow didn’t leave like she hoped.

She huffed. “I’m not going to apologize for having it, and I don’t want your pity! Bad things happen Kusuo! It sucks and I wish they didn’t, but they do. People change in accordance to those things, because if they don’t they’re left with open wounds. No, I don't want a “last resort” bag, I don’t want to think of the worst case scenario, but I have to! You know why? Because it’s already happened! It’s not a worse case scenario anymore, it’s an actual reality I’ve lived through twice. I do this because I have to. Because I need to know that nobody can hurt me. I need to know that I can get away. I need to do something to ease my mind so I can sleep at night. So I don’t want your pity. Nobody else helped me the way I needed it, and that changes you as a child.” She looked up at him heaving a shaky breath. “I don’t want the fucking bag. But I’m too scared to imagine what happens if I don’t have it. So please stop thinking about it and we can go back to the tentative bubble that we’ve created where we’re both just two teenagers sharing the same house because of a funny circumstance that won’t have long lasting psychological effects on either of us.” She wiped her eyes of the stray tears. “Okay?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.

“ Okay? ” She pressed again.

He turned around to face the book shelf, balling his hand into a fist. “Okay.” he whispered as a single tear fell.

“Thank you. Now do you think I should bring some of my sweaters, or should I just stick to short sleeve shirts?”

He swallowed. “ It can get pretty cold upstairs depending on who’s in control of the air conditioner last. A sweater or two might not be a bad idea.”

Or I could borrow his. “Okay, good to know.”

As she continued to sift through her clothes, he felt the ball of what he could only assume was guilt eat away at him. It was bitter in his mouth and uncomfortable in his stomach. He wanted to blame those damn eggs for the way his stomach rolled.

Worst than the first time but better than the second.

I never thought about it like that. It’s just a survival skill at this point.

But maybe I just hate myself.

At least one of us can be mentally stable.

Don’t make me handle this alone. I don’t wanna be alone! I can’t be alone! I—

Don’t rely on anyone. You can handle this alone. You have to handle this alone. Alone alone alone alone alone a —  

I’m so tired of trying to be perfect. I’m so tired.

Guilty .

He stood up and bolted into her bathroom, just making it to the toilet before he threw up. An eerie sense of deja vu came over him as she rushed to kneel by his side.

-

After he was certain he wasn’t going to throw up again, Kokomi offered to go downstairs and get him some water. He gladly took it with a nod of his head before drinking the entire glass. She blinked at him once, then twice, before standing to get him some more.

“I’m sor-- I,” He took off his glasses and set them aside. Bringing his knees to his chest he rested his head on them. “I wish I was better at this.”

Kokomi walked in front of him and knelt. “Better at what.”

“I don’t want to push you to talk. I don’t want to be the one to make you cry again. I never want to be the one to hurt you. But I keep messing up. I keep doing it anyway.”

“Saiki--”

“You don’t want pity and I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want it either. But I do want to help you. I just don’t know how.”

Ever so gently she put her hands on the top of his head. “But, you are helping.”

He scoffed.

“I will admit I could stand to. . . to try and be a little more talkative about this stuff, but it’s hard. It’s just easier for me to play pretend.” She sat down and a tired smile graced her features. “When I was younger I used to see magazines with beautiful women, and high school girls that looked like nothing bothered them. It was just 4 months after the incident of the. . .'' she cleared her throat, “of the first time. I figured ‘hey, those women are so pretty, they probably never worry about this!’ And then I decided I was going to pretend I was just like them. 8 years later,” she chuckled humorlessly, “I’m the best at my game of make believe.”

“I think I’ve been playing make believe too.” His voice was scratchy and his vocal chords burned.

Her eyes snapped to him. “Yeah?”

He nodded.

Reaching over she grabbed his glasses and tapped him on his head. He took them making sure he closed his eyes as he put them on. Once he did he looked at her.

“I think that’s probably some mental disorder.”

He coughed out a laugh and stared at her incredulously. 

“What?”

“ I just wasn’t expecting that. ”

“I’m opening up to you and you laugh at me. Very rude Saiki. Very rude.”

He rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously though, I don’t want you to feel like you’re not doing a good job at this. You’re doing the one thing my parents never bothered to try.”

“ And that is?”

“Giving me time.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back.

“ I’ll also try.”

“Try what?”

“ To be more open. We all have demons.”

He stood and helped her up. “Yeah,” she looked at him. “we do.”

-

The tense atmosphere wasn’t prevalent anymore and they were able to go back to being just slightly okay. 

“ The amount of cheesy books you have on your shelf should be illegal.”

“I’ll have you know that every book on my shelf is world renowned. Thank you very much.”

“ That quite literally doesn’t change the fact that they are cheesy.”

“They may be cheesy, but they are award winning.”

He rolled his eyes and continued to look at the shelves.

“If my amazing romances aren’t something you’re interested in, I have more um,”

He looked at her, watching as her face became redder by the second.

“ Yes?”

“Actually nevermind. You’ll hate all the books on my shelf. Just grab the Ghibli movies and you can sit on my bed.”

“ I’m not done looking at all the books yet.”

“You don’t have to. That’s silly. Don’t waste your time.”

His eyes caught on a specific title as he let his eyes glide over the titles. 

“ I’m sorry,” he grabbed a book off the shelf “ What is ‘ The Youkai and the Oni’ ?”

She shrieked and grabbed the book from his hands all in one fluid motion.

“Nothing, what book?” She threw the offending novel into her closet and shut it.

“ Don’t you need to get back in there?”

“No, nope. I can just use my dresser.” She began humming off tune a song he didn’t recognize.

“ Okay, what about ‘The Angel and his demonic wolf’?”

The same thing happened again, even faster than the first time.

“What book?”

This time when he grabbed the next book he held it above his head. “The Mystery of my Neighbors” Wait, what? He flipped it over and began reading the description. 

“Oh my god please no,” she tried to bring his arms down to get the book from him.

A young upcoming detective moves into an old abandoned neighborhood in hopes of getting away from her rabid fans. What initially seemed like a great idea may hold more than she bargained for as she comes to realize she’s not so alone in her neighborhood after all. 

“ You’re into thriller romances?”

As she slipped off his body like she was made of syrup, she groaned. 

“Please please pleeeeaaassse don’t tell, OH MY GOD CHIYO!” Running out the door he heard her tumble slightly as she raced down the stairs.

-

“Okay, yes, thank you. Bye.” Kokomi inhaled deeply and then sighed. Even though she couldn’t directly tell her that she was okay, now someone could pass on the message. 

That’s what else I need to grab, my phone charger.

Walking back upstairs she nearly fainted at seeing Saiki reading the book she had nearly forgotten about.

“No no no no! Saiki do not read that. You don’t want to read that.”

“ I’ve already read the first chapter actually. The pictures are amazing. Do you know the artist?”

“Ah, no, not off the top of my head. But her artbook is somewhere in here. I had to hide it because Maktoto kept trying to-- WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!” Trying to grab the book from his hand she failed miserably. 

“ I’m already invested. I have to see it through.”

“You really don’t.” She tried to swipe it again, and cursed as she fell from him standing.

“ I’m indifferent to most romance books, but this isn’t labeled as one, which is already curious as is.”

“Well that’s because it’s not.” she mumbled to the ground.

He closed it and set it down on her bedside table. “ I want to read it. Unless you really don’t want me to.”

She groaned, eventually rolling onto her back and starfishing on the ground. “You can’t say a word to anyone that I like thrillers and romances like this. I’ll never live it down.”

“You have my word.”

Swinging her legs up and over her head, she was standing. Opening her closet she inspected the other two books she had thrown in there in her haste to get them out of her hands.

“I really don’t think you’re going to like ‘ The Youkai and the Oni’ , but you might like ‘ The Angel and his demonic wolf’ .”

“ I’ll take both anyway.”

“Greeeeaaaat.” She gave him a strained smile.

“ Is there a particular reason you’re so embarrassed about this?”

“Saiki, look me in the eye and tell me what your first thought was when you saw these books on my shelf.”

“. . . No.”

“See!”

He laughed and she smiled.

I don’t know how I’ve gone my whole life without hearing that sound.

He cleared his throat at her thoughts. “ Are you done packing?”

“Almost, I just need to find my sweatpants stash.”

“ What about pajama pants?”

“I thought about that, but I only have 3. I’d like more than 3 pants options.”

“ But otherwise?”

“Yes, I’m ready. Why?”

“ I need to make sure these will fit in the ‘trunk’ of my motorcycle.”

“You mean the place where you put the helmets?”

“ Yeah.”

“Should we have thought about that before we took the cycle here?”

He shrugged. “Probably.” He took her packed sleepover bag and carried it down the stairs.

Chapter Text

The one bag did manage to fit in the back of the motorcycle, but only the one bag.

There’s no way we’re getting all of these into this compartment.

Kokomi came down a few minutes later as he was still debating on if there was any way to use his powers to make it seem like both bags would fit without giving himself away.

“Is it going to work?”

He looked up and glanced at the two other bags she had. If he was being honest, getting everything that she would need for at least a month into 3 bags was impressive, especially considering they were just a little bigger than the average backpack. Even still.

“Legally or logistically?”

“If I don’t know how illegal it is I can plead ignorance.”

“I think this falls into common sense unfortunately, but nice try.”

“Is it seriously that dangerous?” She walked over to him and set the bag that was in her hand on the ground.

“Two people really aren’t supposed to ride on a motorcycle to begin with. If it was just me and a backpack it would be fine, but it’s not.”

“So,” her shoulders slumped and the bag that she hadn’t taken off nearly fell off her shoulders. “We don’t get to ride the cycle back.” she murmured. 

It was safe. I wanted to. But it’s dangerous. We can’t. Don’t be inconsiderate. Don’t push. 

“We’re gonna ride the motorcycle.”

She looked at him hurt and unimpressed. “That’s not funny, Saiki. You just got finished saying it was unsafe. I’m not going to let you do something dangerous just because. . . just because. . .” Because I want to be invisible.

“ It’s not legal. I didn’t say it was dangerous.”

“But you said--”

“You asked me if it would work. I asked you legally or logistically. I never answered if it would.”

“So then,”

“ The only reason it’s a bad idea is because I’ll be farther from the controls, but it’ll be fine.”

Kokomi brightened immediately which only made what he was about to say worse.

“But we won’t be able to go as fast. If we would have to swerve for whatever reason. . .” At the age of 3 he witnessed several motorcycle accidents. Those images never really leave your mind.

She dulled slightly, but still kept a smile on her face. “That’s okay, I understand. Safety first, right?”

Right. Say yes. Agree. He swallowed as she rounded the bike to hop on the back. “ Just because we can’t go fast this time, doesn’t mean we can't get up to 50 kilometers per hour next time.”

She mouthed the words next time and her usual glow returned in full force. “You promise?” She held up her pinkie and he stared at it.

“What?”

“You have to promise.” She outstretched her arm to meet him where he was standing.

“ I get that. Why are you showing me your pinkie?”

Why am I. . . What is he talking about? “For a,” she cleared her throat trying to quell her embarrassment, “for a pinkie promise.”

“You’re embarrassed. ”

“Just!” She shoved her pinkie in front of him again and he gave her a dumbfounded expression. Not his practiced one, genuine confusion.

Her arm fell the longer he stared at her, lost. “You’re not kidding.”

“Was it a joke then?”

“Saiki,” she struggled to get off the bike but once she did she stood in front of him. “Have you never done a pinkie promise?”

"No."

Kokomi flinched like he had just said the most devastating thing in the world. “Did you have a childhood?” it was whispered like he wasn’t supposed to hear it. The words unconsciously slipped from her mouth.

He flinched back like she threatened to take out his limiter. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Why am I upset about this? It doesn’t matter. My childhood doesn’t matter.

Kokomi startled at the question. Shit! “I’m sorry! It’s just,” she brought her arms to her shoulders, “I thought everyone made pinky promises when they were kids.”

“You still haven’t told me what it is. What’s the point of the pinky and its significance to a promise? Do you cut it off if you break it? That’s excessive for children.”

“N-no! It’s just more special than a normal promise! It’s like shaking on it, but for kids. You can say that you’ll promise to do something all the time and then not mean it, but a pinkie promise is a more refined version of that.”

He looked at his own hand in confusion.

“Here,” she took the hand that he was inspecting and curled it into a fist for all except his pinky, “now you curl it around mine like this,” she curled their pinkies together and then looked at him “now you say you pinkie promise.”

He looked at their intertwined pinkies and felt a sense of longing. “I pinky promise.”

Kokomi wanted to ask a million questions about why he sounded so sad to say it, but he pulled away too fast before she could voice any of them. Half formed thoughts died on her tongue.

“ Let’s go, it’s getting late.” He picked up the backpack off the floor and let it rest in front of him.

Kokomi nodded and shifted her own bag so that it was on both shoulders and got back on the bike. Her arms were looser when he started the bike, and they stayed that way the entire way back. True to his word, they went the long way, but she regretted making the suggestion now that he was so tense.

I think I just failed at something really important.

Saiki stiffened further at her thought.

-

When they arrived back at the Saiki residence, the two teens got off the bike in silence.

Come on Kokomi! Say something at least. 

She opened her mouth to voice, anything, but no words left her.

Saiki opened the back of the cycle and grabbed the other bag before putting the helmets in the compartment. Kicking out the kickstand he opened the door to the house and waited for Kokomi to follow.

Noticing he was waiting for her, she rushed to the door only tripping on the first step. When she entered the threshold, Saiki closed the door behind her and then began walking up the stairs. She once again tried to get herself to say anything only to find her voice trapped, afraid to speak and hurt him farther.

“ Do you want them anywhere specific.”

It was a statement, not a question. He was being civil despite clearly not wanting to be around her at the moment. It made her feel even worse. “Anywhere is um, good.”

He nodded curtly and set both bags down near the closet door. Afterwards he skirted around her to the door again.

“W-wait!” She reached out to him, her own bag still on her back. He froze but didn’t turn to face her.

“ I’m going to make lunch. Come down when you’ve finished unpacking.”

“Saiki--”

“ If you need help with something you can come and get me.”

“Please, I want to apolo--” He stiffened and then clenched his fists. 

“Please don’t.”

Her mouth snapped shut as she stared at his back.

“ I’m not,” He clenched his jaw and then untensed his body, “ I don’t want to talk about it. Just forget it, please.”

Kokomi looked at her feet and nodded at the floor. He didn’t seem to care either way what her response was as long as it wasn’t pushing him to talk.

“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” Hesitating for only a moment he left the room and closed the door. 

Kokomi sighed deeply before trudging to her borrowed bed. She let herself fall face first onto the semi-uncomfortable mattress. 

It’s only uncomfortable when compared to his Kokomi, and his is only comfortable because of him .

She attempted to slip off the heavy weight on her back, only to fail because of the awkward angle. Giving a frustrated huff she sat up and tossed the bag across the room. She debated quickly on whether or not that was a good idea, but it was just clothes in that bag. Her urge to go back to wallowing in guilt won out over her urge to see if her clothes and bag were fine. 

She flopped back onto the bed with a groan. 

I can’t believe I messed up so bad. How could I say that? Me?! Yeah let me say “did you have a childhood?” because he’s never made a pinky promise. Are you kidding me? There could be plenty of reasons why he didn’t do it, none of which are your business by the way Kokomi. He has done nothing but be kind and patient with you and this is how you repay that? How inconsiderate can you be? Of all people you should understand what it’s like to not have a typical childhood. 

She turned her head as the lack of oxygen started to get to her.

“I mean honestly,” she muttered, “he’s clearly got enough going on with fighting with his parents for the first time ever and taking care of a classmate he knows, how much? Oh that’s right, absolutely nothing about.”

She rolled on her back as tears began forming in her eyes. “You have to make this up to him. But how? Hey Saiki, sorry I said something so rude. Let’s pretend that never happened, okay?”

She brought her hands to her face and groaned. “Yeah, that's perfect Kokomi. Great job for the perfect pretty girl.”

Her stomach rolled at the term and she sat up quickly grabbing the trash can by the bed, thankful that it was there. She dry heaved 3 times, but did not actually throw up. She evened her breathing and slowly set the trash can where it had been before. 

“He says he doesn’t want to talk about it, but I should still apologize. Stepping on a mine and then acting like you didn’t blow up just because there wasn’t any noise isn’t a good idea. This is clearly a sensitive topic and I need to go about solving it gently.” She glanced at the two bags that were near the door. “After I do as he said.”

She crawled off the edge of the bed and walked over to the closet to begin unpacking her things. 

-

Saiki honestly had no idea what he was going to make for lunch, he just didn’t want to be near Kokomi any longer. There were plenty of things that he could make of course, as long as it didn’t involve eggs, but he was. . . Well he was tired. 

His exhaustion felt bone deep as unfocused eyes stared at the open refrigerator. He closed the door with barely enough force to shut it and then just sat there. 

A static was buzzing around in his brain, similar to when he was reading someone’s thoughts but like he was hearing them from a closed door below them. It was muffled and wrong. If he truly listened he could probably hear them, but he didn’t feel the need. 

The noise didn’t go away even as the most present thoughts did.

Walking over to the stove he turned it on and then stared at it too.

He needed to do something with it now that it was on.

What should I do with it? He stared at the burner like it would provide him with all the answers he needed. The burner did not respond.

He watched as the flames danced. Eventually he brought his hand up and began manipulating the flames with his powers. He pushed them one way, and then the other, and then he pushed his finger towards the flame. It’s not as if he would be burned, it would just be hot.

His finger inched closer to the flame.

There was a reason he didn’t do this on a regular basis though. Why was it again?

His finger was mere centimeters from the open flame. He could already feel the warmth on his finger tip.

Does it matter ? His eyes unfocused again as his finger touched the flame. Unfurling his hand he let his entire hand rest hovering in the air in the center of the fire. 

He turned his hand over and looked at his palm.

My glove burned. He frowned but didn’t take his hand away even as the latex continued to burn.

“Saiki I--” Kokomi’s eyes shot up at the smell of something burning and rushed over to him when she saw where his hand was. “Saiki!” 

He startled out of his daze and pulled his hand away from the flame.

“Are you okay? Oh my gosh, your hand was so close to the flame.” She reached across him to pull at his wrist. She inspected his hand gingerly in the event that any burns had happened. She sighed in relief when there were no burns to be found. She looked up at him eyes wide with worry and already red rimmed with previous tears. “Burning alive is one of the most painful ways to go.”

“What?”

Kokomi’s eyes widened as she realized she once again made a mistake. “I thought. . .” She pulled away from him and brought her hands to her chest. 

The fire danced in her eyes as the two teens stood in the stiff silence. 

Saiki caught himself after an indeterminable amount of time had passed and he cleared his throat. He turned off the stove to dissuade any and all temptation. 

“ Did you finish unpacking? ”

Kokomi nodded slowly, the words being heard but not understood. 

“ That’s good. I haven’t,” he looked at the stove and the empty countertops, “ I couldn’t figure out lunch.” 

She nodded again, eyes not having moved from where the open flame once was.

“ If you have any--”

“It was stupid.” She murmured. 

He didn’t respond.

“You said to drop it and I wanted to, but it was stupid.”

It’s not like it wasn’t a fair question. As the words were about to enter her brain she spoke again.

“I didn’t do it until high school.”

He stared at her.

“It’s not weird. To not have done it I mean.” She finally made eye contact with him. “I’m sorry I made it seem that way.”

A heavy weight was taken off his shoulders as another one replaced it. “ It’s fine.”

“It’s not. But thank you for lying.” She whispered.

He was stunned and tried desperately to find an appropriate response.

“If it’s not too much trouble I wouldn’t mind onigiri.” She turned on her heel and walked back towards the foyer. 

When she was definitely gone, he heard the door to her room close, he looked at his hand.

What just happened?

His hand gave no response.

-

When Kokomi returned again the atmosphere was much more palatable. She breathed easy as she watched the boy form the rice into a triangle and place it to the side. His sleeves were rolled up and the form he was using to knead the rice into shape reminded her of a professional chef.  

“Can I help?”

At the sound of her voice he turned his head to look at her. “ I’m almost done, but you can get any sauce you might want from the fridge.”

“Okay.” She walked into the fridge and looked at her options before deciding against anything. Given her stomach still seemed to be on a hair trigger, she wasn’t willing to play roulette on keeping anything down. It would be a miracle if she’s able to make it through lunch at all.

“Do you want anything?”

“We don’t have any ketchup, so no.”

Kokomi felt something old in her die at the boy’s words. “I think I heard you wrong.”

Saiki smirked but schooled his face before she could see it. “ I said we don’t have any ketchup, so I’m good.” He finished kneading the last bit and pulled another plate down to divide the onigiri between the two of them.

“You’re messing with me.” She closed the fridge. “You have to be.”

“ I’m not.”

“You are. There’s no way you’re not.”

Saiki sat down at the table and set the girl's plate across from him. “ I only eat onigiri with ketchup.”

Now it wasn’t as if Kokomi hadn’t heard of anyone eating onigiri with ketchup, but she didn’t think she knew anybody that was like that.

She shook her head, taking her seat across from him. “No.”

“ No?”

“No.”

She grabbed a rice ball and set it on her plate.

“ You don’t think I eat my onigiri with ketchup?”  

Saiki did eat his rice balls with soy sauce most often, but the habit of eating them with ketchup cropped up when he found out how much his brother hated it.

That makes 4. Stop it.

Once he found out that his brother did have such a visceral reaction to it, he would interchangeably use ketchup as well. He preferred to do it when ham was a component, but would eat it that way for the traditional version too.

“Exactly.”

“ The next time we have ketchup I’ll have to show you then.”

She stopped nibbling on her rice ball and the look of disgust she gave him was enough to make him choke.

He coughed furiously into his arm as he tried to fight back laughing. When the coughing fit subsided he looked at her.

“ Are you going to ask if I’m okay?”

“Sinners deserve to perish.”

He smirked at her. “ Does it bother you that much?”

“More than I’m letting on. I think I threw up 3 times in my mouth just thinking about it.”

He bit his tongue to stop his laugh.

A small smirk of her own was forming. “Definite red flag behavior.”

He was pinching his hand under the table to keep himself from smiling.

“Worse than the chunibyos who break character the second a cool kid talks to them.”

He coughed in an attempt to hide his laugh.

“I think at that point you should just admit that your favorite seasoning is salt.”

He couldn’t help his laughter at the out of pocket insult. 

Kokomi was beaming at his laughter and couldn’t help but join in too.

When he calmed down he scooted back towards the table and grabbed another piece of onigiri.

“ Given your unwarranted hatred,”

“Completely justified.”

He smiled.  “I’ll be sure to avoid doing it in front of you. ”

“Thank you, my stomach and eyes appreciate not showing me such an appalling sight.”

There’s no way she doesn’t have an unusual food combination. I wonder . . . “So you eat completely normal foods?”

“Absolutely.”

“ You have nothing that someone would judge you for eating?”

“No. I happen to have--” her mind caught on an unusual habit she had and stuttered to continue her sentence. “Ahem. I happen to have--”

“ You hesitated.”

“You misheard me.”

“ What is it?” He leaned in as her eyes darted everywhere but him.

“Nothing.”

He stood and went to the cupboard to grab some seaweed. “ In case the onigiri gets too much.”

She stared at the food like it was the most offensive food in the world.

“I’m allergic.”

“You’ve eaten it in the cafeteria several times.”

“It wasn’t seaweed.”

“ Yumeahara said she would have to try the brand you were eating because she’d never had it before.”

“We weren’t talking about seaweed.”

“The brand only makes seaweed.” Checkmate.

Think! For no reason do you have to admit this. “So it was seaweed. What about it?”

“Why are you defensive about it?” Checkmate.

UGH! “It’s a lot of empty calories.” She was grinding her teeth.

“ You wouldn’t recommend something you don’t eat yourself.”

“How do you know that?”

Damn. “A hunch.”

“Sure.”

“ Not that you have to eat it.”

“Of course not.”

“ But since you so decisively said you didn’t want it, I’ll put it back.”

“It’s fine.”

She reached for the package and opened it, grabbing a piece of the seaweed and chewing on it. Saiki grabbed the last rice ball and put it on his plate, watching her.

“ Do you want anything to go with it?”

“No thank you.”

It was silent as Saiki watched her eat. The longer the silence went on, the more nervous she became.

She could hear the sound of the crunching seaweed between her teeth. The crinkling of the package everytime she went to grab another piece. How parched her throat was and how dry the seaweed itself was. She longed for the relief of something to cut back on the saltiness.

“ We have water if you want some.”

“That would be great, thank you.” 

Saiki stood and grabbed her a cup before standing in the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“ Making myself some tea,” he crossed his arms, “ I like something sweet with my salty foods.”

She held her breath as he desperately tried to keep her face neutral. “Salty and sweet,” her voice was pitched high from holding her breath, “yep. Great combo.”

“ Of course I’m sure you wouldn’t enjoy anything--”

“Why are you so good at that?”

He was genuinely caught off guard by her exasperated tone. 

“ Good at what?”

“Baiting me into opening up about myself! It’s not fair.” She ran her hands through her hair before looking for something to tie it back with, only becoming more frustrated when she didn’t find anything. 

He walked away from the stove to let the tea boil on its own. “ Does it bother you?” He said it slowly, unsure if he was walking into the danger zone again.

She sighed looking up at the ceiling. “It bothers me because I can never seem to win against you.”

He stared at her.

“Like,” she swallowed and looked at him again, “It always feels like we’re playing mental chess. Sometimes I feel like I’m so close to winning, and then suddenly you’ll pull a crazy move that only pros know about and you’ll win the game.” She tilts her head resting it on her closed fist. “It’d be annoying if it wasn’t so fun.” She gave him a soft smile and his shoulders relaxed at her words.

“ I feel like there’s more.”

Her smile shifted to a grimace as he broke eye contact. “But it scares me.” she whispered. “I’ve never. . .” She brought her hands to her shoulders and hugged herself. 

Saiki stood and walked back over to the teapot as it began to whistle. He watched as the steam disperse in the air. 

“ I know the feeling.”

“It’s going to sound crazy,” she murmured, “but I feel like we’re more similar to each other than either of us know.”

“It’s not.” his voice was weak.

“What did you say?”

“ Nothing.”

He probably thinks I’m insane. Of course we’re not similar. You have copious amounts of trauma Kokomi and he has two loving parents and a house that feels like a home. 

He pinched his nose as the static began returning in full force again, the pressure behind his eyes building into pain. He ripped off a paper towel from the island counter behind him without turning to do so. 

“ I’m not sure I can say anything about that yet.”

Kokomi went quiet at the sound of his voice, but began fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater. 

“ I still don’t know you very well.”

It was harder than he thought it would be to maneuver everything with one hand, but he managed. 

Kokomi looked at her empty plate, flecks of seaweed still on it. “I guess you’re right.” 

A heaviness took root in the center of her chest as she felt a distance begin to grow.

No no no. I was doing so good. It grew wider the longer she looked at her plate. He didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just the truth, Kokomi. Relax. She closed her eyes as she tried to focus on her breathing. He wants stuff to do with you. He doesn’t think you’re a burden. He hasn’t judged you for anything. Relax. She was hyperventilating. The distance between the kitchen and the dining room was huge. He didn’t have to do any of this Kokomi. He wanted to do this. He doesn’t even know you. She looked at his face and became paralyzed at the sight. It was just a giant eye, watching her.

She kicked out from the table gluing herself to the wall. The room was spinning and everything was getting farther away. She was being separated from a home she didn’t belong in. The house was rejecting her.

He wants you here. He wants you here. He wants you here. He said it himself. You’re not a burden. Stop it. Stop spiraling. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe!

She was choking on each breath of air she tried to take.

Why is this so hard for you! Why do you keep letting this happen?! Why are you such a fucking failure ?!

She slid down the wall as she tried to hold herself. 

Why do you--

She stiffened as she felt pressure all around her, warm and comforting, completely different than the cold hold she had on herself. It got tighter until she could feel each inhale and quick exhale. She could hear the sound of a heartbeat and lungs hyperventilating faster than hers right in front of her. 

Her breathing slowed as she felt herself shift from the hard floor into the soft embrace. 

It’s a hug. She undid her arms from around herself and wrapped them around the body. 

The room stopped spinning and the objects were no longer pushing away from her.

“. . . ght . . . ere. . . I’m right. . . . I’m right here.”

She closed her eyes as she listened to the boy's steadying heart rate.

“I’m right here.”

Saiki was still shaking, afraid she still couldn’t hear him. Nobody warned him that simply talking to her wouldn’t always be enough. That grabbing onto her wrists to ground her wouldn’t necessarily pull her out of the darkness. 

How was he supposed to do this? How?

Chapter Text

Kokomi had completely relaxed after sitting in his lap with his arms around her for 10 minutes. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even.

I should. . . I should let go. His hands started shaking again at the thought. Hugging her had clearly calmed her down, but now he wasn’t sure if it was for his benefit as well. Even if it was hard to ignore the fact that he still had a bloody nose. It seemed determined to make itself known.

“Saiki?” He looked down at her. Deep blue eyes were turbulent with fear and other unknown emotions. “I’m um, sorry.”

His gut reaction was to tell her not to apologize, but it was hard when he was still freaking out himself. All of his senses were dulled except touch and he was making the most of it.

“I hope I didn’t scare you too much. My panic attacks get pretty bad,” she laughed but stopped when he didn’t respond, “not funny,” she mumbled, “sorry.”

“I was scared because I didn’t know how to help you. You couldn’t hear me, and you weren’t responding to my touch either. You were physically here but. . .”

Kokomi sighed. “High levels of dissociation and panic,” she sounded exhausted at the mere thought of explaining further, “it’s my favorite pastime.”

“You’re being sarcastic?”

“I’m mostly trying to get you to ignore what just happened.” She played with his collar. “But I don’t think it’s working.”

“ No. Sorry.”

She hummed. “Yeah, I had a feeling.”

The silence returned as the two of them sat in each other's embrace.

“ Teruhashi.”

“Please don’t make me talk about it.”

He clenched his jaw. 

“I know you feel like that’s the best course of action, but it’s not. If I start thinking about this one, then I’ll think about the other ones, and then I’ll have an anxiety attack and--”

“ Breathe.” He stressed, squeezing her again.

She took a deep inhale and then exhaled softly. 

“ I don’t want to make you talk about it. . .”

“But. . .?”

“I was terrified.” She tried to look up at him hearing the wobble in his voice, but he covered her eyes. “ I felt useless. I couldn’t do anything. I need to know what to do if this ever happens again.”

I keep forgetting he’s the same age as me. He just feels so much older. More mature.

“ I’m not as put together about all of this as you might think.”

“Hugging me is good.” she whispered. “Hugging me in most all situations is good.”

“When is it not good?”

“If I feel like I’m being caged in, or if I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“ What should I do then?”

“Splash water on me. Or yell at me if water isn’t easily accessible.”

“ Okay. I can do that. I can do the hugging. And the water. I don’t know if I can do the yelling.”

“That’s okay. The hugging is more than enough. Being with me is more than enough. I promise.”

-

After 20 minutes of sitting on the floor in each other's embrace, Saiki was forced to excuse himself. He had started licking at the blood that was coming from his nose to keep it from dripping. 

Not that I should have a bloody nose in the first place. 

He opened the bathroom door and had to resist the urge to slam it shut. He glared at himself in the mirror.

Why does this keep happening anyway?

His face looked like he had just lost a fight given his red eyes and his bloody nose. The only thing missing was a black eye.

I thought it was the static, but if it was, I should have gotten a bloody nose earlier. I thought it was Kokomi’s thoughts, but I don’t get them every time she thinks. Is it when she starts to panic? But I don’t get them every time she has an anxiety or panic attack. What’s the connection?

He stared at himself in the mirror and then groaned. 

At this rate the halfwit is going to have to come and help me figure out the overlapping instances. I’m getting sick of seeing my own blood.

He took his glasses off and splashed his face with water several times. The only saving grace seemed to be that the bloody nose had stopped. 

When he looked at himself again, purple irises stared back at him. The blood was gone even if his nose did feel stuffy and the only way anyone would be able to tell that something was amiss was how exhausted he looked. 

He closed his eyes and dragged his hands over his face. 

I am a good person. He looked at himself in the mirror. I am a good person . He didn’t believe it.

Putting on his glasses he snuck into his room to replace the glove that burned and then headed back downstairs. 

Everything was perfectly normal about his appearance, save for the crack that was growing larger on his limiter.

-

He came down to see her in front of the stove with the kettle on the burner. She turned when she heard him come into the kitchen. 

“ What are you doing?”

“I was going to--” the pot on the stove whistled and she moved it off the burner to pour it into a mug she set aside. He watched as she poured the water over the tea bag and then placed a plate over top of it. She turned back to him. “I was going to finish making your tea.” Her hand was shaking slightly.

He walked over to meet her. “ You didn’t have to do that.”

“I felt bad.” She played with the string of the bag. “I wanted to fix the problem I created. I can make you tea.”

He stared at the cup. “ I didn’t really want tea.”

She looked at him with puppy eyes. “You didn’t?”

“ I was just making it to try and get you to admit the weird flavor combination you had. I didn’t necessarily want any.”

She looked at the cup taking the plate off to watch the steam. “Oh. . .”

“ But you made it, so I’ll drink it.”

She shook her head reaching for the cup. “No, you don’t have to.”

“ It’s fine,” he grabbed it before she could. “ I don’t mind.”

“You were just being silly and I took you seriously. I’ll drink it.”

“I want to drink it.”

Their matching surprised expressions confused both of them.

“Why do you look surprised by what you just said?”

“ I’m not.” He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the milk with the cup still in hand, throwing away the tea bag as he did.

“But you looked shocked.”

“ I was just shocked you picked out my favorite tea.” He poured in the milk and then grabbed a spoon to stir it with.

“I did?”

“No.”

She pouted and crossed her arms.

“ This is a good brand though.” He opened a cabinet and grabbed the sugar.

“I have it at my house, I drink it a lot when I get stressed. Well, one of the specific teas from the brand I mean.”

He nodded, pouring in the sugar. “ I figured. It’d be hard to drink a brand.”

She smiled. “I could figure it out.”

“ I suppose I should say that you probably shouldn’t. It can’t be healthy.”

She eyed the amount of sugar he was putting in and then glanced back at him. His eyes were focused solely on her. “Why do you think it can’t be healthy?”

“ Think about how many people own a brand. Gross.”

“You make it sound like I would be eating people.”

“ A brand is just people at the end of the day. Or more accurately a person when you really think about it.”

She eyed his sugar amount again. “None of the brands I eat use human meat.”

“ Are you sure? Do you know what all the ingredients in your food are?”

“No but,” she grabbed his hand, “I do know using human meat sounds bad and illegal.”

“ But do you know it’s illegal?”

“Yes.”

He hummed, eyeing his wrist. “ The amount of sugar I put in my tea bothers you?”

“I thought you had gotten distracted.”

“ I was almost done. I’m actually using less than usual because I don’t know how much we have.”

“The cup is almost full of sugar!”

“ I like to get it a third of the way full with sugar.”

She balked at him. “That is so so so much.”

He shrugged, pouring more sugar in. “I like it that way.”

Good to know I guess. When it comes to sweets, he likes enough to kill a man.

-

As he drank his tea, he tried to come up with what to do in the meantime. There was a lot of time between now and when either of his parents would be getting home.

“What are we going to do now?” He glanced at her from where he was zoning out.

“ I’m not sure. I thought getting your clothes would take longer.”

“I don’t have a lot.”

“ Of clothes?”

“Yeah. Most of the time when I try to go shopping, people ambush me trying to get me to be a model for their store, so I have to go shopping with someone to prevent that from happening and up until recently I didn’t have anyone.”

He sipped on the last of his tea, eyeing her nervous hand gesture. “ You could call her, you know.”

“Call who? Chiyo? No. It’s fine.”

He stayed quiet.

“Do you think I should call her? I mean, do you think she would mind? What if she’s upset with me? No, it’s just, no. It’s not a good idea. She has my number, she can call me. She always calls me.”

He put his cup in the sink.

“Plus I already called her and her mom said she was busy. I’m sure she’ll call me when she has the time.”

He smoothed out the wrinkles on his shirt.

“I mean, she would, right? This is Chiyo we’re talking about.”

We is a strong word.

“Of course she would. I don’t even know what I’m talking about.”

“ It might help if you had your phone on you.”

“No. I mean, it’s charging, so I can’t. I mean I could, but it’d be really hot and it would die fast, so no. I can’t. Not right now. We should talk about something else.”

“ She asked about you.”

“She did?! When?”

“ Friday. She ambushed me on the way home from the hospital.”

Hospital. . .?

“She accused me of doing something to you.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “ It’s fine. But she was worried, so I think she would look forward to your call. Just so she can hear it herself that you’re okay. ”

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I’ll think about it. I don’t even know what I would say. ‘Hey Chiyo, sorry I ghosted you for a few days, I’ve had a very traumatizing time as of late and have felt miserable! But don’t worry, I’m still bad, just less.’ I’m sure that will go over great .”

“ Your level of sarcasm almost beats mine.”

She let out a weak laugh. “That’s what you took away from that?”

“ I won’t lie and say any conversation you’re going to have with her is going to be easy, but I think it’s something that you need to consider. I think she was going to stab me if I didn’t give her an answer she wanted to hear.”

“I feel like this applies in more ways than one. . .” she mumbled.

“ We’re not talking about my mom.” He pushed off from the counter they were leaning on and headed towards the foyer.

“I didn’t mention Mrs. Kurumi.”

You might as well have. He opened his room and glanced around it to try and find something to do.

“I’m not trying to make you do anything, especially since you’ve been so gentle with me--”

“That should be the end of the sentence. There should be no but.”

He went to his father’s office resisting the urge to knock down one of his figurines.

“I was just going to say that I think you might feel better if you do.”

“ I feel fine excusing the lack of sleep.” His eyes landed on an origami dragon and he stalked to the desk opening one of the drawers with more force than necessary.

Kokomi lingered by the door unsure if she was allowed into the room. “Well even better than you currently do. Maybe better than fine.”

“ I always feel fine,” he opened another drawer looking for the paper, “ It’s my constant state of being.” Opening the third drawer, he finally found the paper and left his father’s room. He made sure to rearrange all the things in his drawers before leaving.

“If it’s a constant state, then I think that means contentment.”

He sat down on the floor of his room and pulled out his small table from under his bed. “ Contentment would imply happiness somewhere in there.”

He put the papers on the desk and then stood up to grab a book off his shelf. Kokomi caught a glimpse of the title before he slammed it on the desk. 

She was very proud of herself for only flinching slightly at the volume and the aggression of the action.

“So you’re never happy?”

“ I didn’t say that.” He flipped through the book and found a step by step guide on how to make a rose.

“But--”

He crumpled the paper in his hands upon getting to the third step. “ Teruhashi, I do not want to talk about this. Either respect that, or don’t, but I’m not talking about it anymore.”

Her shoulders fell at the crudeness in his tone, but she nodded.

He sighed, falling backwards. 

“Sor--”

“ No.”

He pressed his palms into his eyes as he tried to reign in his anger. He wasn’t mad at her and it wouldn’t help anyone if he lashed out at her. 

What is wrong with me? I’m supposed to have a better handle on my emotions than this.

He stayed on the ground until he heard the soft sound of paper being folded. When he took his palms away from his eyes, he saw her folding his crumpled paper.

“I won’t make you talk about it. I won’t try to make you talk about anything you don’t want to anymore. It’s only fair I extend the same courtesy to you that you are to me. Talking when you’re not ready to only makes matters worse; trust me, I know better than anyone. But I do want to make it clear that I’ll be here for you when you’re ready. Okay?”

He watched as she silently finished folding the last part to get the origami rose. She gave the rose a small smile before looking at him and blushing when she realized he was staring. 

“It’s just nice to have someone to talk to that won’t judge you, if you know what I mean.” She twisted the paper to try and give her something to do other than looking at him. “Not that you have to exclusively talk to me of course, I’m just making the offer.”

He gave her a tiny smile that she didn’t see.

“I’m going to stop talking now.”

After a beat he sat up and grabbed a piece of origami paper for himself. “ Thank you. I appreciate it.”

She relaxed upon hearing his response.

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

They started out with roses, but it didn’t stay that way for long. The book had plenty of origami creations for them to try and both of them were determined to see how many they could make. Lilies, roses, cherry blossoms, dogs, cats, dragons, swords, shields, hats, boats, cranes, horses, and even frogs began to cover the floor around them.

“Ah,” Kokomi looked at where her hand came away empty where origami paper had once been, “I guess we used it all.”

“So we have.”

For the first time since moving on from roses, Kokomi looked at her surroundings. 

“I’m sorry, it seems your ground has been mysteriously covered in paper creations.”

“Mysteriously?”

“Yeah. You kept boasting about how many more creations you were making than me, so this is your fault.”

He crossed his arms and stared at her.

Her lips quivered as she tried to keep the smirk off her face.

“You should really try to keep your room cleaner, I mean, you can’t even stand in here.” She tried to stand and origami creations went flying off her lap. “I’m kind of surprised you would live like this Saiki, it doesn’t seem like you. Are you feeling alright?”

He slowly blinked at her and he watched her nearly choke on her laugh in her attempts to keep it back.

“I know some really good cleaning tips I can offer you if you want.”

“ You have cleaning tips for this hyper specific situation of having too many origami creations?"

She swallowed, took a deep breath, and nodded. “It’s a very comprehensive book.”

“No.”

She broke down into laughter at his unchanging face and the complete lack of belief in his tone. A hand came to her mouth to muffle her laughter as she tried to control her breathing.

“Is it that funny?”

“I just wasn’t expecting you to just say ‘no’ and nothing else. I was doing so good too.”

“You really weren’t.”

She threw a crane at him offended and he easily dogged.

“ You missed. ”

“You moved!”

“ Sounds like a you problem.”

“You can do better?”

He picked up one of his cranes and threw it, even though she moved at the last second, it still hit her.

“Okay, I don’t know how you did that, but I still would have hit you.”

“ You wouldn’t have.”

“Fine then. How about a game of tag.”

“ What are we, five?”

“It’s alright if you’re too afraid to go up against me.”

He ignored how his eye twitched.

Because it didn’t .

“ It’s an immature way to settle a petty argu--”

“Bwak.”

“A petty--”

“Bwak bwak.” 

His hands clenched on the table and he closed his eyes.

“ It’s an immature way to settle a petty argument.”

“Bwak bwak bwak.”

“Acting like a chicken will not goad me into playing tag with you.”

She brought her hands to her chest, made eye contact with him, and began moving her arms up and down like a chicken.

“Cluck cluck.”

“ Really? I didn’t expect such behavior from you.” He tapped his fingers on the table, his knee bouncing.

“I’m sorry chicken, I’m afraid I can’t understand you.”

“ Funny.”

“I can try to speak your language but I’m afraid I shall never succeed. A pity all animals wish to speak to me, but many will never be able to.”

“ That doesn’t work because you were acting like the chicken.”

“And yet you keep answering me.”

He heaved a sigh and stood, origami creations falling off his lap as well. He kicked a path through the paper to the door, managing to not damage any of the origami.

He tapped his foot as he waited for her to join him in the hallway.

“Hm? What are we doing Saiki? I thought you said that tag was immature and not a good way to solve a petty argument?”

“ It’s a good way to release energy and it will kill some time. I’m humoring you.”

He’s cute when he’s frustrated. “Okay.”

He cleared his throat as he looked around his area. “ How do you even do this indoors?”

“You’ve never played tag indoors?”

“ I’m not a fan of physical things. Or exercise.”

“Well I'm not sure I believe that.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You tugged that table that was underneath your bed out with your foot. It took a bit more effort than hitting it with my foot to even budge it. You also carried two of my bags downstairs and then here. It’s not like those weren’t heavy, but you didn’t even break a sweat. And your motorcycle. That’s probably the heaviest thing and you were moving it around like it was nothing. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about how you exercise, but I don’t believe you don’t do it.”

Has she been observing my every move?

Ah! Kokomi, that's creepy. People don’t just say things like that. He probably thinks I’m watching his every move. Backtrack backtrack!

“I personally workout in secret at my house.”

He blinked at her.

“Anyway, tag is super easy to play indoors. All you have to do is set the boundaries in which you can play, the safe zone, and where you can’t go. Oh, also what constitutes fair game for being tagged. No face obviously or, um, the no no zones.” She fiddled with her hands as she started thinking about where she didn’t want to be touched. “Or feet.” She clenched her hands to the point where she could feel the sting of nails in her palms. “Or butt.” She whispered.

“ Your shoulders, back or arm are the only places I plan on tagging you.”

She visibly relaxed at his words and she nodded. “Okay well, that leaves places we can’t go.”

“ You have a good enough judgment to make that call.”

“Okay, the safe zone will be the guest room then.”

“ What stipulates winning?”

“Well, how about I win if you don’t tag me before the time ends, we’ll say 25 minutes, and you win if you tag me. If your parents get home before you can tag me, it’s a draw.”

He rolled his eyes and frowned, but nodded.

“Good, so we’ll start when the clock hits 2:16.”

“ Are you sure you want to do this?”

She rolled her eyes herself mimicking him and popped out her hip, crossing her arms as she did. “Are you that confident that you’re going to win?”

“ Yes, but that’s not why I’m asking.”

“Why are you asking then?”

“Are you really okay with the idea of me chasing you?” His voice was quiet but firm as he stared her down. She got shivers and quickly looked away.

“It’s fine.”

“ Teruhashi.”

“It is! I mean, no, okay, in a general sense I would not be okay with this idea. It would freak me out and I would probably have an anxiety attack at the mere thought of it, but I hadn’t even thought about it until you brought it up. It’s different with you. I know you won’t do anything and I know you probably aren’t even. . . thinking about anything like that. You seemed offended and angry I was even specifying that far about where you could and couldn’t touch me, so I just have to hope that you wouldn’t do anything to me. Not that I inherently think you would of course, it’s just a thought in the back of my mind at all times. I’m talking way too much. I’m sorry. It’s just you made me think about it and now that I am thinking about it so many boys when I was in middle school got away with so much shit and I just--”

He hugged her. He didn’t breathe. His eyes were squeezed shut and he hoped, he hoped for the first time in a very long time that his executive decision to reach out to someone without them reaching out to him was the right choice. 

Kokomi froze at the sudden embrace. He wasn’t doing anything more than hugging her. He wasn’t shushing her and telling her it was okay like she was a child, which would have probably made her violent. He wasn’t offering any words of wisdom to let her anger go. He was holding her. He was just holding her. A bit awkwardly at that. If it was anyone else, she would have guessed they were hugging her because she looked like she was about to cry and felt she needed comfort, but he was different. 

She wouldn’t say he had an aversion to touch, he clearly didn’t hate it since Nendou touched him so much and he only ever said the words “get off of me” without ever following through, but it was more like he was scared. 

Somewhat subconsciously she found herself returning the hug. He jolted and she pulled back before trying again. 

He feels more like a skittish cat than a teenager.

He finished enclosing her in the hug and she looked up at him as best she could through her bangs.

It wasn’t that he was hugging her because he thought she needed comfort, but he was hugging her because he didn’t know what else to do.

But that wasn’t quite right either.

She glanced to the side and saw him flexing his arms with more ferocity than he was using to hug her.

Is he. . . angry?

“ I’m . . . those boys shouldn’t have gotten away with what they did and I’m sure they got away with more than most. It’s annoying and you have every right to be angry or frustrated or even apathetic. We can talk about all the terrible things they did instead of playing tag if you want, but they shouldn’t get to make you upset now. ”

Her eyes widened as she played with his sweater vest.

“ They’re stupid. Middle Schoolers more than most. I’m not even sure they’re human.”

She giggled.

“ But letting them taint the things you once enjoyed means they continue to get away with it.”

“You’re saying I should forgive their childish actions and move on?”

“ Hell no. Enjoy tag and every time you play remember how those boys tried to take this from you and be extra happy that they failed, because they’re probably going to end up in dead-end jobs in a shitty apartment overworked and underpaid while you thrive.”

“Shouldn’t I forgive them?”

“ Do you want to?”

“No.”

“ There’s your answer.”

“But shouldn’t I?”

“ No.”

She pulled away from him and his hands flew back to his sides. 

“Do you really believe that some people shouldn’t be forgiven?”

“ Most people are vile creatures that only serve themselves. You learned that at a young age and it’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth. There’s no need to forgive a creature that only ever intended to harm you.”

“You make it sound like humans are all evil.”

“ I try very hard to believe they’re not.” But most of them are.

“I think most humans are good. I think humans are inherently good.”

She searched his face to see any trace of agreement. A small part of her heart broke when she found none.

“ Do you still want to play tag? ”

She swallowed dryly, squeezed her eyes shut and then schooled her expression. That box was one she wasn’t sure she was ready to open.

“Yes.

-

“ Why do we keep waiting for an even number?”

“Because it’s nicer.”

“ Starting at 2:22 isn’t nice. It’s annoying. That means the game ends at 2:47.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Things don’t start at those numbers.”

“I always do things on numbers like that.”

“It’s inconvenient.”

“Then when would you have us start, oh master of time.”

“At a sensible time like 2:25.”

“I don’t see how that’s sensible.”

“Good grief. Whatever. Go.”

“Ah!”

She scrambled as he closed his eyes and began counting to ten in his head.

This feels more like hide and seek than tag and it’s irrelevant anyway, I can find her in an instant. She lost the game before she even began.

He tapped his fingers against his leg as he tried to figure out how to go about tagging her. He crossed his arms and started walking down the steps. 

It’s not like there’s that many places to hide and even if there was it wouldn’t matter. Though I suppose she’s not trying to hide. She’s trying to dodge me.

He stood in the foyer and looked around the living room.

He tapped his fingers on his crossed arms as he stepped into the living room and idly looked over the couch.

It’s more about making sure she doesn’t freak out when I chase her. The last thing I want is for her to have an anxiety attack.

He stalked towards the kitchen.

Even though she said she’s ready, I’m not sure I believe her.

He dragged a chair out from the table with his foot to make his approach known to her.

At this point it doesn’t matter. I have her cornered either--

His neck cracked at the force with which he turned his head. They locked eyes from where she had been hiding under the couch cushions. She threw them in his path and bolted towards the stairs. He shifted and tried to run cursing internally at the lack of friction from his socks.

He only slipped once before chasing after her up the stairs taking them two at a time. 

He heard her surprised yelp as she fell to the floor to doge his hand.

What is wrong with her?

She tucked herself into a ball and rolled down the hallway until she unfolded midway and stood with a flourish.

I don’t know whether to applaud or chase after her.

She turned around to face him and then ducked into the guest room.

He clicked his tongue as he walked towards the open door. He then walked to the end of the hallway.

“ 10. . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5. . .”

She popped out of the guest room and then slid into his. Before he could even make it to her she was racing back towards the stairs again.

“Don’t step on any of the origami!” She threw them in the air and he skidded to a stop as they landed in front of him. “I’ll cry if you crush one.” He hurriedly kicked them out of his way with as little force as possible and made his way down the stairs again, taking them 3 at a time now. 

He glared when he saw her cowering on the other end of the dining table. “ That was a dirty trick .”

“It’s actually called using the environment to your advanTAGE!” She pushed the table away from herself when he tried to reach across the table to tag her. “That was close.”

“ Get out from the other side of the table and I’ll show you close.”

“I didn’t know you were so competitive.”

“ I didn’t know you were a cheater. ”

She brought a hand to her chest and gasped. “How dare you! I’m not cheating at all.”

He rolled his eyes.

“I’m not. I think I’m just better at tag than you.”

He lunged over the table and she went bone limp as she fell to the floor and then rolled under it. 

“ What is wrong with you?!” He growled twisted until he heard his back crack and then pushed off the table sending it into the island counter.

“That’s the wrong question,” she looked back at him from where she was racing towards the yard, “it’s what isn’t wrong with me.” Had he slid open the door with as much force as she did, the glass would have shattered.

He stalked towards the yard and closed the door behind him. 

“ You’re trapped. ”

She backed away from him. “That’s one way of thinking about it.”

“That’s the only way to think about it.” It’s not like you have powers to get out of this situation. “Game over.” He took a step forward.

She hit the wall and looked behind herself briefly. “Very retro.”

“ What would you say?”  And another.

“Well if I thought what you’re thinking, I would probably say ‘I win’ instead of game over, but that’s just me. It doesn’t matter anyway because you haven’t won and it’s not game over.”

“ What exactly do you plan on doing? Scaling the wall?”

She gave him one of her “innocent” smiles and then tilted her head sweetly. “Why Saiki, I would never. A lady doesn’t scale a wall.” Her eyes gave a malicious twinkle. “But did I ever tell you I did gymnastics?”

She rushed towards a corner, spidermonkied herself to the wall, and then pulled herself up the rest of the way until she was on top of it.

“It happens to make me very flexible.”

He looked up at her from where he was on the ground.

“I win.” She balanced on the wall as she began walking on it. 

He rolled his shoulders and cracked his wrists. “ I’d move.”

There’s no way he can get up here.

She started following the path of the wall towards the roof.

He took one, two, three steps away from the wall, and then ran towards it at not even half his top speed and scaled it into two steps. 

What the hell?!

She scampered towards the roof and when she was sure she had her footing, she began racing over the top of it.

“ Is this how all your games go? ”

“No! Usually the other person loses once I get on the roof!”

“ I’m not like other people.”

“Clearly!” She called back distressed and then stopped where she was running from, dangled herself off the edge of the roof and disappeared. He rushed to where she had been moments before and looked at the pavement to see her body. He relaxed when he didn’t see anything. Looking under the roof, he found his room and he ducked inside. 

“ You have this planned out way too far.”

She was panting just outside the guest bedroom and stepped in when she saw him walking towards her.

“Would you believe me if I said I’m making this up as I go?”

“ Yes. 1. . .”

“Seriously? I’m clearly out of breath.”

“ 2, that’s a you problem, 3 . . .”

“We were on the roof!”

“ 4, and who took us up there? 5. . .”

“I didn’t think you would follow.”

“ 6, I’m a very sore loser. 7 . . .”

“You’re the younger sibling, of course you are.”

“ 8, I resent that. . 9,”

“Don’t, all younger siblings are.” She made a break for the opposite end of the hallway and then held onto the wall. When he made his way towards her she pushed off the wall and skidded under his legs.

He grit his teeth. “ Don’t you think this is taking this too far?”

“I don’t like to lose either.” He watched her jump on the banister as he made a grab for her arm, but she slid down fast enough that she ended up out of reach. 

Using one arm, he vaulted over the banister and landed in a crouch on the floor.

She scoffed. “And you said that I was taking things too far.”

“ The time’s almost up and I’m sweating now. This needs to end.”

“Are you finally taking me seriou--” Arms landing firmly on the back of the couch, his legs went up and over as he angled himself to land on the coffee table. Kokomi gasped as midway through his complete ignorance of her words he began moving and scrambled to get out of his way.

Not looking where she was going she hit her leg on the table and was about to trip. Saiki reached out to grab her arm from where he was still bracing himself from his vault when the door opened. Kokomi twisted herself at the last second to land on the couch instead of the floor and Saiki got off the table. 

“I’m home! I’m yelling because I want to make sure everyone hears me!” 

“ Stop yelling. We’re right here.” He didn’t take his eyes off the girl that was quickly trying to position herself into a normal sitting arrangement on the couch.

“Oh, sorry. Why are you so grumpy? Well, more so than usual.”

“ I’m not.”

The older man made his way into the living room after taking off his shoes and suit jacket. 

“Hold on,” Kuniharu leaned in towards his son, “are you sweating?”

“ Shut up.”

“Shutting up.”

Kuniharu turned swiftly and made his way towards the kitchen table. 

Huh, is the table out of place? Eh, it’s fine.

When Kuniharu was officially out of sight range, Kokomi beamed at him. She was sweating and panting somewhat too. 

“It’s a draw.” She mouthed and he rolled his head and eyes as he walked over to her.

“ I was about to win.”

She made room for him to sit down next to her. He looked at the closeness to her of the spot she had made and took it without thinking too hard.

“Thank you by the way.” She whispered.

“ For?”

“You were going to grab me when you thought I was going to fall. I appreciate that.”

How did she even see that? “How did you even see that? Your back was too me.”

“I felt the warmth from your hand.”

“ That’s not a thing.”

“It is.”

“ Okay.”

“You don’t believe me?” She leaned forward so that they could make eye contact.

“ I wouldn’t say that.”

“What do I need to do for you to believe me?”

“ Prove it.”

“Turn to me.”

He blinked at her.

“Cross your legs and turn to face me.”

He glanced over her head towards his father and then back to her.

He’s focused enough to not look over here and get any weird ideas. It’s fine.

He did as she asked and put his hands to his side.

Kokomi reached forward and grabbed his right hand and held it up. She mimicked him. 

“Now focus on my hand.”

“ They’re not touching.”

“I know, that’s the point. Just try and see if you can feel the heat from my hand.”

He wasn’t sure if he had the power, but if he tried hard enough he was pretty confident that he would be able to see it. 

“Sometimes it helps to close your eyes.” the whisper of her voice got even quieter.

He was about to rebuff the idea of closing his eyes to “feel the warmth of her hand” but he stopped himself when he saw how she was shying away from him.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

He focused on his hand and tried to feel the space around it. He counted for a full minute, but felt nothing.

He opened his eyes and shook his head. “ I don’t feel anything.”

“Here,” with no further warning, she brought the same hand that had been hovering in the air in front of his to his face. He froze and he felt the fingers on his left hand twitch. Trying his best to not let her see how much he was freaking out, he closed his eyes again and focused. As best he could.

I’m focusing fine.

His heart was racing. He didn’t like having his eyes closed when people were so close to him. He didn’t know what they were going to do and now even more so. His mind reading was so unpredictable with her he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to read what she was going to do before she did it.

Focus on her hand. She wouldn’t just say this out of nowhere. She’s probably telling the truth, just dig in her thoughts a little and learn how to fake it.

“I’m going to move my hand a little closer, okay?”

He gave one nod of his head and held his breath. His eyes had been squeezed tightly and his face was scrunched, but then everything fell. There was a warmth on his right cheek. Nothing was on it, but it was there.

“Can you feel it now?”

He opened his eyes, nodding as he did.

“I’m not surprised that you didn’t know about it until now. You’re hot.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Not in that way!” Her whisper yell edged closer to her normal voice. “Not that I’m calling you unattractive of course, I simply meant that you physically are hot.”

His face didn’t change.

“No, I mean your body.”

Her hands flew to her hair. 

“Your body temperature is hot! You’re warm at all times!”

“Who’s warm at all times?”

Kokomi felt true embarrassment for the first time in many years. Her hands melted from her hair to her face as she folded over herself.

“ No one. Go back to work.”

“You’re clearly talking about someone.”

“ Your hearing must be going out in your old age.”

“I’m not even in my late forties!”

“ I didn’t ask to begin with.”

“You were insinuating that I’m old!”

“ You are old. You just said you were in your forties.”

“That’s not old.”

“ Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“I sleep at night just fine!”

“ Because you’re old. Old people always sleep well at night.”

“If you’re going to be mean I’m just going to go back to working!”

“You weren’t a part of this conversation to begin with.”

He heard grumbles of something about when he was younger, but tuned them out when he looked back at his classmate. 

“Nothing you say will ever be as embarrassing as the man I have to call me father.”

“You shouldn’t be so mean to your dad.” Her voice was muffled from where it came from underneath her body.

“ I promise you I should be meaner.”

She looked up at him. “You don’t seem all that bothered by what I said.”

“ I don’t really care about looks. ” Kokomi frowned. He sighed. “ I can’t really, it’s, there’s this thing that certain people have where they can’t recognize faces. It’s more than just a bad memory. It’s a condition. I have a form of that.” Because of my powers. “So beauty and handsomeness is irrelevant.” Kokomi seemed to consider his words deeply. “ I also have poor body regulation which is why I’m ‘hot’.” He smirked. “ Though I appreciate the compliment.”

“I knew you were going to say something about it!”

He turned his head towards the tv as he found he couldn’t help but laugh.

Chapter Text

Kuniharu heard it, even from where he was at the dining table. Since Kusuo didn’t immediately kick him out, he was hoping that meant he could stay, not that his work was as important as hearing his son at this very moment. 

A laugh.

What an impossible thing for his son. He knew he was capable of it of course. When he was younger, even if he was a little odd, he still did it. Usually prompted by him doing something, as his sons would say, “idiotic”, resulting in them laughing at his expense, or from the tv shows he would watch. After he turned 8 his laughter stopped almost completely. Kuniharu guessed it was because of his powers of petrification, but he didn’t know for sure. All he knew is that one day his son stopped laughing. It broke his heart that he didn’t know how to help. It was shortly after the laughter stopped that the apathetic, easily annoyed, and “unbothered” Kusuo was born. The one who wanted nothing more than to be normal.

Kuniharu had to restrain himself from whipping his head up to look in his son's direction, not wanting to give away that he heard him. If he acknowledges it, who knows when the next time he hears it will be. He’s tempted to tell his wife when she gets home, but decides against it as he realizes that would only add fuel to the quiet feud going on between them. He wished his sons took after the dramatics of him and their mother. It would make it easier for petty fights to end. 

He sighed. I guess that’s the problem. It’s only a petty fight to me and Kurumi.

Kusuo looked up at his father and the man jolted as their gazes met. Any trace of laughter gone from the younger boy’s face.

Ignore that Kusuo, it's not relevant. Really!

Kusuo continued to glare at him even as he turned his head back to the girl in front of him. She seemed to be talking about something or another with more animation than he’d seen from her in days, but it wasn’t enough to distract Kusuo. 

Oh dear.

-

Kokomi hit his knee several times as he tried to get himself to stop laughing.

“Stop laughing!” she whisper-yelled, “you’re being mean!”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Then why won’t you look at me?”

He stopped breathing so he could find a better answer than the snarky remark he had at the ready, but couldn’t find one before she started jumping to her own conclusions. 

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she paused in the barrage on his knee, “ after all, my hotness clearly is unpleasant for you.”

With how quickly the blood rushed to her cheeks he felt as if he should worry about her fainting, but she recovered fast enough to start hitting him again.

“I can’t even say anything because you’ll use that against me! But if I say nothing at all you’ll use that against me too!”

“You’re making it sound like I enjoy teasing you.”

I guess that’s the problem. It’s only a petty fight to me and Kurumi.

Saiki looked up and over the antics in front of him to glare at his father.

Ignore that Kusuo, it’s not relevant. Really! 

“Well?”

He brought his head back to eye level with Kokomi even if his eyes remained above her head.

“Well what?”

Oh dear.

“Do you admit that you like teasing me and that’s why you’re doing it right now?”

“Why would I admit to a blatant and obvious lie? That’s ridiculous.”

“How is it a lie!? You’re still doing it right now.” She threw her hands up which fully brought him back to the conversation.

“I’m not teasing you. I’m pointing out your flawed logic and you’re getting offended. That’s completely different from teasing. I don’t tease anyone. I have no reason to.”

She pulled on her hair. “Your deflection is scary.”

“I’d hardly call this deflection.”

She huffed and crossed her arms. 

“I would.”

He looked back up to his father who flinched with the action. “ This isn’t deflection. This is hardly a distraction. You’ll know when I’m deflecting. ”

Kokomi furrowed her eyebrows, the boxes she had started filing away about the boy becoming increasingly fuller.

What does that mean? Why will I know when he’s deflecting? Does he plan on deflecting?

“What time is it?”

She shook her head and looked at the clock. “Oh, it’s 3.”

“We should eat.” he looked back at her, “ I’ll make us lunch.”

“Oh, um, okay. Do you want help?”

“No. My dad will help me.”

Kokomi looked behind her to the man in question just in time to see him shiver.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure. You can go pick out something for us to watch since you seem determined to make me watch those movies.”

“Your vendetta against Studio Ghibli ends today.”

“You’re not helping my belief that the fans of these movies are all in a not so secret cult.”

Kokomi stood and for the first time in days naturally got her glow back as she brushed off her pants of non-existent dirt. “Oh it’s definitely a cult,” she walked all the way to the foyer before speaking again, “but at least it’s a fun one.”

Saiki’s eye’s snapped back to his father once the girl was gone. Kuniharu visibly gulped.

-

“We’re making napolitan.”

Kuniharu flinched at the voice that was now being directed towards him.

“Er, um, yes. Okay. I can do that. Do you have a recipe I can--”

"I’ll tell you what to do.”

“Right. . .” Kuniharu fiddled with his hands standing near the counter as he waited for instructions or possible violence.

“Do you plan on making her physically sick too or are you going to wash your hands?”

Kuniharu snapped his head up from where he started looking at the floor and rushed over to the sink. Washing his hands quickly he awaited his son's next request.

“Get the bell peppers and the onion out and chop them.”

“Will do.” He got the cutting board and one of their sharper knives out after he pulled out the required vegetables. “You know, this is only my second time making this dish. I mean I’ve had it several times, but I never really got around to making it.”

Kusuo didn’t look up from where he was prepping the noodles. 

Kuniharu continued, unbothered by his son's lack of response. “It can turn out really bad really fast so I’m glad you know what you’re doing.”

Kusuo walked to the fridge and got out beef, sausage, and mushrooms. 

“Or at least that’s what I heard from one of the guys at work. One of them was helping this kid work on a food manga and the kid would practice making all the recipes himself. Turns out he wanted to pursue culinary arts if the whole manga thing didn’t work out.”

He unpackaged the beef and got his own knife out.

“It’s always good to have a backup plan son, you never know what might happen in this--”

“Cut the mushrooms.”

Kuniharu jumped away from the cutting board as the mushrooms were thrown at him. He looked back to his son and frowned. 

“This dish is a prime example of why it’s good to always be prepared.”

“Cutting mushrooms is silent.”

The brown haired man shivered at the ice in his son's words. 

“Half the fun of cooking is talking while you work.” He muttered.

The knife in the psychic’s hand bent to the indents his fingers were making. “ We can talk.”

Kuniharu took the opportunity with hope. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you wanna talk about?”

“What did you mean by what you thought about earlier.”

Kuniharu froze with the knife hovering in midair about to slice through another mushroom. He cleared his throat and waved his hand as if shooing a fly. “Like I tried to tell you earlier, it’s not important. Don’t think anything of it.”

“Your brain filter is as pathetic as your spine.”

The man frowned. “Well that’s not fair Kusuo, I work very hard all day and--”

“It’s a simple question.”  The beef was getting chopped into thinner slices. Each time the knife hit the cutting board Kuniharu jumped. “There should be no reason you can’t give me an answer.”

“Well,” chop, “It’s just,” chop, “if you would,” chop, “could you stop with the cutting!”

The final chop did break the cutting board and while meat went flying, not a single piece landed on the floor. 

Rubbing at his temples, Kuniharu took a deep breath and sighed, “Kusuo, look. I’m in a rock and a hard place here. Either I tell you and have your mom hate me and in all likelihood lock me out of the house for a month, or I side with her and have you give me the silent treatment. It’s a lose-lose!”

“I’m not giving you the silent treatment.”

“Well you might as well be!” Flinging his hands from his sides proved to be the wrong choice as his knuckles hit the hard wooden cabinets. “Ow! Dammit all.” When he opened his eyes to examine his hand, he found his knife mere inches from where it would have landed on his foot, yet it was hovering in the air. It slowly floated back up and onto the counter. 

Kuniharu looked in the direction of his son expecting to find him turned away, only to see hidden purple eyes staring right at him.

“Thank you.” He mumbled. 

Kusuo took his finger and dragged it across the cutting board, melting the two holes back together.

“When did you--”

“I’m not asking you to side with me, I’m asking for an explanation. There is a difference .”

There was a beat of silence before father and son both returned to their work on lunch. After a full five minutes, father spoke. 

“We just felt as though your anger was getting the better of you, that’s why we haven’t explained anything further. Your mom planned to tell you everything after you calmed down some.”

“I’m calm now.”

The inclination was to roll his eyes and go around in circles with his youngest as he tried to get him to listen to reason, but upon further inspection, it seemed he was telling the truth.

“You are.” He breathed.

“You sound surprised.”

“You usually simmer in your anger for a lot longer than this.”

“It’s making Teruhashi anxious.”

Kuniharu paused as he did his best to quickly digest the minimal information given to him about the girl’s wellbeing. He set his knife down and closed the distance between the two of them.

“It's. . . very big of you to do that.”

A raised eyebrow and an unimpressed look was closer to the territory he was used to.

He smiled. “It is! I’m serious. A lot of people see other’s suffering and ignore it in favor of their own feelings and emotions, but you’re not. You’re putting Kokomi first.”

Eyes were rolled as beef and sausage were thrown on the stove, not that he was aware it was on, in a frying pan to cook.

“I’m not putting her first. There’s just no reason to keep doing this when it’s not getting me anywhere.”

“Well look at that, you’re finally coming out of your stubbornness.”

His fake disgusted face was also one he was accustomed to. He almost missed what his son said as he was so full of pride.

“The proud father is not a good look on you. It makes you look even more idiotic.”

The smile dropped as he frowned. “Wha-idi, are you serious? I don’t look idiotic! And for your information I’m always proud of you, so there.”

“Congratulations, you’re a decent father, do you want an award?”

“Decent? What do you mean decent? There are plenty of father’s who would never admit they're proud of their children until they were on their deathbed.”

“Part of the reason men die sooner than women.”

Kuniharu crossed his arms and made his way back to the table. 

“I would have loved my father to tell me he was proud of me,” he mumbled, “I thought it was supposed to be cool.”

“It’s hard to pretend I can’t hear you when you’re not even whispering.”

“I was trying to make sure you heard me!”

“I always hear you, that’s kind of the problem.”

“And that’s why you’re not at school!”

Kuniharu slapped his hands over his mouth and shut his eyes. Kurumi is going to kill me.

He waited for the tension that captured his heart without stopping it, the ice that could sneak into a room like a shadow, or pots and pans to go flying everywhere as his son tried to express his explosive anger.

Only the sizzling of meat was heard.

He opened one eye to gauge the destruction in the room and found none. He looked behind him to see if Kokomi was around, which would bring his son’s anger down to the point where it would be almost non-existent, but he didn’t see even a single blue hair.

“Did. . . did you not hear me?” He covered his head with his arms and curled into the fetal position on his chair.

“I did. ”

Slowly, he unfurled himself. “You’re not. . . mad?” 

“I told you I was calm.”

“I thought that was a facade.”

“Being angry is exhausting. I’m tired enough as it is.”

Though he didn’t have gray hairs, each interaction with his son these past few days felt like he would start growing them. Deciding to ignore his cowardice, he looked at his son’s back. 

His shoulders were drooped and looked too heavy to be on a 16 year old boy. His back was arched in a way that suggested he was slouching, something he couldn't recall ever happening. His hair was a mess that suggested he hadn’t been able to do his regular maintenance in days. And most concerning of all, he was using his hands to cook. While it could be because Kokomi could come down at any moment, Kuniharu was willing to bet he was too exhausted to have accidents with his strength like usual. 

You really are tired.

“Thank you for stating the obvious.” He turned around long enough to glare at him before going back to the pan.

“I’m sorry for not trusting you, but can you blame me? I mean, it’s hard to get a good read on you sometimes.”

“You’re my father, that seems like it should be an easy job.”

“Being a parent is hard, Kusuo, you’ll understand if you ever have children.”

“Do you have a point?”

“I’m getting there! I’m just trying to say it’s hard to tell right from wrong sometimes. Maybe we all should have come to a compromise sooner, but we were just worried. You had a temper tantrum just the other day! You haven’t done that in years.”

Kusuo didn’t respond.

“But we can talk about it now, me and your mother were clearly in the wrong when we thought you were blowing things out of proportion.”

All of the meat fell into the pot with the noodles in one giant plop. Water splattered everywhere. But just as fast as it happened, all the meat returned to the pan and was placed back on the stove. The giant pot was moved to the sink so the noodles could be drained. 

“It really all seems to be a big misunderstanding. Your mother thought you were purposefully ignoring her because you had caught wind of us saying that Kokomi would be staying with us for a while and you were trying to take your friend’s side,” he didn’t interrupt, “but that’s not the case at all!” 

Kusuo placed the pot back onto the stovetop and the meat went in with the noodles. The vegetables followed.

“You were just being you! Stone faced and pretending not to care about anything. Really, now that I’m thinking about it, it makes so much more sense that you didn’t actually care to begin with! This whole fight is silly.”

Kusuo stayed staring at the pot.

“I guess I was right when I said it was a petty argument. We should have trusted you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“We thought you might get angry or something.”

“That doesn’t seem like a problem?”

“You’ve always had anger management issues! That’s probably our fault.”

“So you were going to be upset that I was angry?”

“You don’t know how to control and handle your anger in a mature and responsible way. We just didn’t want anything to happen.”

“Like me hurting Kokomi.”

“Yes.” His heart stopped. “No. Kusuo no. That’s not what I--” Kuniharu looked up to see that he was talking to an empty room.

Chapter Text

He teleported somewhat involuntarily. He had the awareness to not teleport to his room, but not enough to not teleport at all. He couldn’t be in the same room as his father anymore. It wasn’t like he said anything that wasn’t true. Everyone had the capacity for harm, him more than most. That’s likely all his father meant when he said that he was afraid he would hurt Kokomi in a fit of anger. And wasn’t it true? Hadn’t he already hurt her emotionally several times by his unchecked emotions?

His body slumped down next to the bathroom door. He was shaking from what he could tell.

Were his parents right? Was he really just unregulated emotions in human form? Was he that untrustworthy?

He clutched at his chest and the floor to forcibly keep himself connected to his body.

That couldn’t be right. He was around people all the time. His parents had to have at least a modicum of trust in him, why let him attend a public school otherwise?

His breath was coming out ragged.

He had to reason with himself. He was being irrational. He wouldn’t hurt someone, his dad knew that. His dad said he was confident he would never hurt him. That had to mean something didn’t it?

He clutched at his hair and frowned.

It’s just a stupid nightmare you’ve had since you were 8. It’s not a premonition. Calm down. He’s an idiot anyway. What does he know?

Using the wall for support, he stood on shaky legs and crossed the short distance to his room.

You’re overreacting. Stop it. You’re fine.

He opened the door and forced his face into neutrality.

“Okay, you’re here. Good. I’ve been debating for the. . . however long it’s taken you to cook whatever it is we’re having,” The food. I didn’t finish. It’s fine. I’ll say it’s simmering. “But I can’t decide what to introduce you to first. I’m currently between Whisper of the heart or Howl’s Moving Castle. I don’t know if you’ll like Howl’s because of the creatures that are in it, but it’s a good introduction to the weirder side of Ghibli films.”  She paused to look up at his ceiling in thought. He didn’t even get static. “I guess I should say the more fantastical side? That feels more accurate, because I don’t think it’s fair to say weird. You’ll see. It’ll make sense when you watch them. By the way when I say all, I mean the ones that became cult classics, and I know you already think that everyone who loves Ghibli films is in a cult, but they really are good.”

She ran her hands in through her hair as she continued to look at the movies laid before her.

“Oh my gosh, wait, I just realized this won’t work unless you have a dvd player. I mean I assume you do given all the movies on your bottom shelf, but if you don’t we can go back to my house and--” 

He watched in real time the way her face morphed from mild frustration, to shock, to confusion, to empathy. She stood slowly, and walked over to him.

“Did something happen?”

He tried to use his telepathy to project that he was fine, but found a mental block he didn’t put in place. He cleared his throat and nodded.

Kokomi frowned, worry lines growing larger. “Are you sure?” She whispered.

He nodded again. She shouldn’t be able to tell that anything’s wrong.

She bit her lip and reached out to touch his face before hesitating and pulling away. “But you’re crying.”

He jolted at her words.

What?

He wiped a hand over his face and found it came back wet. He did it again, and again, and again. Each time garnering the same results. 

This is nothing to cry over. Honestly, what’s wrong with me? I’m being ridiculous. This is nothing worth crying over.

“Saiki?”

Pull yourself together.

“Saiki, you can talk to me. Or we can sit in silence, but I want to help.”

Look what you’ve done. You’re worrying her with your nonsense. It’s not like he called you a

He tightened his fists at his sides.

I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I would never hurt anyone.

Static starts growing around the edges of his vision. He can feel his heartbeat quickening as the world goes silent, save for his heavy breathing.

I would never hurt her. I wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“If I ever see you around here again, I’ll break every bone in your body. If I ever hear you think about doing what you did today to someone else, I’ll rearrange your organs. And if I ever hear you think about her again,” He forced him to look at the girl who was slumped against the wall, bangs obscuring her face from view. “ I’ll break off all your limbs. Rearrange your organs. Rip out your tongue, and then feed the rest of you to my cat. And I’ll make sure you feel every part of it.” 

He dashed the short distance to the bathroom and threw up. He tried to throw up the memories resurfacing of the man he nearly killed days ago. 

He hadn’t felt a thing in the moment. If anything, the only reason he didn’t kill him is because he thought it would be too much work.

He threw up again, entire face in the bowl.

He had thought about killing a man in cold blood and was only bothered by the amount of blood that could possibly get on him. He got joy in hurting him.

He dry heaved, and then threw up again.

I am a monster.

He was able to calm his stomach long enough to see shaking hands. He turned to find Kokomi standing next to him, eyes fearful and worried.

He heaved again.

-

He had stopped throwing up around 15 minutes ago to her relief, but they hadn’t moved from the bathroom. She got up briefly to get water and give it to him, but the cup was left sitting on the floor next to his legs. She rolled her hands over themselves and tried to think of something to say.

“Saiki?” No reaction. “Um, throwing up makes you dehydrated, so you should really try and drink some water if you can.” No response. “It should be lukewarm by now, it shouldn’t hurt to go down.” A large part of her worried she should check for a pulse. 

Every time she was moment away from reaching out to check his neck, he would visibly breathe and her anxiety would once again be momentarily stated.

Okay. Clearly this isn’t an anxiety or panic attack. There would have been more of a lead up if it was. She frowned. Though the lead up could have happened and I didn’t see it? But what would cause him to have such a violent reaction? More importantly, such a lack of re action now? She waved a hand in front of his face where it was laying on the bowl of the toilet. 

“Saiki? Should I splash water on you? I feel like you’d hate that though. . .” she trailed off quietly. 

After another 5 minutes of silence she shifted her position. “We can stay in here. It’s a little cold though, I’m going to get a blanket,” she stood and gripped the sink to ignore the pins and needles, “and get you a pillow.”

As promised, she returned with a pillow for his head and two blankets. 

“I don’t know if you’re cold, you always seem to be warm, but I think anyone would get cold if they lean on cold surfaces for long enough.” She gently draped the blanket over his shoulders. “Hopefully this will keep you a little warmer.” Fearful, but determined, she made a motion to lift his head. She was surprised to find it easier than she anticipated. She closed the lid, placed the pillow on top, and placed his head back on top of it. “There, hopefully that will be more comfortable.”

She stepped back away from him until her back hit the wall and then sat down in the same spot as before. 

I guess now I’ll just wait.

-

In a way his vision felt like trying to adjust a camera lens to get a clear picture. Fuzzy, clear, fuzzy again, clearer, and then solidly clear. 

He was in the bathroom. That was immediately clear by the tile floors, toilet paper, and the too bright LED lights. 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sat up from where he was laying. 

The second thing he noticed was the pillow supporting his head and the blanket around his body. Both the pillow and the blanket were from the guest bedroom. At least he was pretty sure they were from the guest bedroom. 

Scanning the room slowly, his eyes landed on his last observation. The girl leaning against the wall. 

Her head was down and all her hair was swept to one side as she lightly dozed. He assumed she was dozing anyway. He doubted the position she was currently in was all that comfortable. 

He moved his hand so that he could stand and was met with the feeling of glass on his fingers. He looked at what he touched and saw a glass of water on the floor. He stared at it until he felt his eyes begin to water again and wiped the stray tears away. He drank it in one go and resumed his attempt to stand. Once he was upright he looked at himself in the mirror. Had he been connected to his body in any way that mattered, he likely would have jumped back by what he saw. But he wasn’t. 

The sunken eyes, pale complexion with a sweaty sheen, skewed hair sticking up and stuck to his forehead, all did little to phase him.

He tipped down his glasses for long enough to see the color of his eyes. Unsurprisingly, they were still red at the edges and the vibrant purple of his irises seemed dull now.