Chapter Text
Saiki Kusuo is someone with far, far, far too big of a social circle, especially for someone looking to have none whatsoever.
He can’t seem to help it. Without fail, every time someone new shows up, trouble always follows right behind, and fate likes to twist and bend to get him all wrapped up in their drama - before he knows it, there’s another person following him around like a stupid baby duckling.
His life has felt pretty still lately, aside from the usual chaos brought upon him by his self-proclaimed ‘friends’. All he can do is hope and pray that this streak continues - if some new person came in to disturb his peace, he might just have to go back into high alert mode.
Surely that won’t happen today. It will just be a regular school day, and he’ll get to go home and do all his normal activities, and he will continue to live an average, peaceful life…
"Did you hear there's a new student transferring to our class?" Someone mutters to their friend.
Are you serious.
"We're getting another transfer student," someone else mumbles.
"More transfers? Wow," another murmurs.
"Saiki," Kaidou puts his hand on Saiki's desk. "Did you hear the news about how we’re getting more transfer students because of the new transfer student transferring to our class as a transfer student?"
No, I heard nothing of the sort, Saiki thinks.
He supposes it’s going to have to be one of those days for him. The kind where he tries his hardest to get through it without anything sudden, surprising, or disturbing, but because he was born with the horrid curse of being himself, such a feat is nigh impossible.
“What do you think they’re going to be like?” Kaidou muses.
If they’re anything like the previous ones? Annoying, probably.
Saiki automatically dislikes transfer students, more so than he dislikes the regular students, because they’re very attention-grabbing. This far into the school year, who wouldn’t be intrigued by a shiny new kid showing up and spicing the classroom’s dynamic up? That’s why you’re reading this, right?
Kaidou leans back on Saiki’s desk, bracing himself with both hands. “I wonder if they’ll be a boy or a girl…”
That doesn’t matter. Also, get off.
“I suddenly felt a new aura this morning, you know,” He continues. “After hearing about the transfer, I’m certain it’s coming off of them. I wonder if I knew them in a past life, perhaps back before I learned of The Dark Reunion’s true plans and escaped… gasp, have they come after me?! Are they friend or foe…?”
“Oy, you two,” Nendou saunters over, resting his elbow on top of Saiki’s head. “Did you hear there’s a new student coming to our class? You think they’re gonna be a guy or a girl?”
That doesn’t matter. Also, get off.
“I think they’re the kind of person who may strike fear into even a heart as strong as mine!” Kaidou clutches one side of his face.
“So… a girl?”
“Wha- hey!”
The teacher then calls for everyone to settle down, and Saiki is finally given room to breathe.
“You might not have known this, but there is a student transferring to this very classroom today.”
The room bursts into roaring whispers, as if they were not just talking about that a minute ago.
“Please make your new peer feel welcomed.” The teacher steps aside, and a shadow is cast over the closed door. People wait with bated breath, some even leaning forward in their seats, eager to witness the reveal of this mysterious new student.
But Saiki can already hear their thoughts, so the surprise has been spoiled for him.
The door slides open, creaking against itself. The new kid takes one step forward, and then another.
Smooth, soft, and shiny brownish-pink hair curls out like blooming petals, and inwards like an intricate photo frame to a picturesque face that is round, tinged rouge at the cheeks, and unfathomably adorable. Not so stunning that people would gasp, but those big, sparkly copper-coloured eyes are enough to halt anyone in their tracks. If not because of how beautiful they are, then because of how confusing it is that a boy is this cute.
Of course, all Saiki can see after gazing at him for two seconds is his musculature, and that certainly doesn’t appeal to him. Everyone else seems to be utterly gobsmacked, however.
“Would you care to introduce yourself?”
The boy glances between the teacher and the rest of the class with slightly furrowed brows, the corners of his lips turning downwards before he turns to the blackboard. He writes his name slowly, pausing at each individual stroke and peering behind himself akin to a small, defenseless woodland creature making sure it doesn’t get eaten as it snacks on berries or other things of the sort. The longer this drags on, the more annoying it gets, and the more Saiki is tempted to just stand up and leave.
“M… my name is… um…”
The boy turns to face the rest of the room again, and freezes up. He takes a deep breath in, thinking to himself;
“Jeez… I’ve introduced myself a million times before, but this time is… so different. Still, I think I can do it! Here goes…!”
He breathes out.
“M-M-My n-name is E-Eriku T-Torou, a-and… um… I h-hope w-w-we c-can all g-get along…” The new student starts to turn outstandingly red.
There must be something wrong with this guy, Saiki figures.
Everyone else seems to pick up on that too. People are already making weird faces at him and whispering to their friends; if Eriku happens to become a target of bullying, that certainly won’t be Saiki’s problem. He’s very determined to stay away from this guy - he is not looking for the cast to get any larger than it already is.
“Thank you, Eriku,” the teacher says. “You can take your seat now.”
As Eriku shuffles over to his assigned desk, he launches into an internal monologue expositing his backstory that we are very lucky to listen in on so we can understand him better.
Saiki interjects with something like, what about me? I don’t want to hear this.
And I, the narrator, reply: too bad!
“My name is Eriku Torou, and I’m just a regular teenage boy. But I have a secret… I’m... g-gay!”
Did you just stutter in your internal monologue?
“I used to attend an all-boys school, but when they found out about my sexuality, I got bullied so badly that my family and I had to move away from our old town and come here instead.
“This time, I swear I’ll keep it a secret. I’ll just blend in and maybe make some friends - but hopefully I won’t meet any super cute boys, otherwise I might just fall in love!”
You might be in luck. I certainly wouldn’t describe any of the boys in this school as ‘cute’, Saiki sneaks a glance at Nendou.
Saiki doesn’t care about who anyone else dates - unless they’re trying to court him, it’s not his business whatsoever. He just hopes Eriku doesn’t cause any sort of scene… that would be annoying.
Just before he reaches his chair, Eriku trips over his own feet - he scrambles to grab his desk for support, but that only sends it toppling over with him. Everyone jolts when it crashes against the floor - a few people stand up to help Eriku, who has unfortunately landed face down and ass up, while the rest just watch on in shock.
What did I say? Annoying.
Teruhashi Kokomi - the most perfect, pretty girl in the entire world. Even as an infant, people gasped at her cuteness; it's simply a fact of life that she's superior to everyone else, and always has been.
The people of PK Academy are lucky enough to be blessed with her presence on a daily basis. There is not a single person who isn't charmed by at least one aspect of her, for all aspects of her are utterly perfect.
She was delighted to learn about the new student transferring to Class 2-3 today, because that means she has one more person to make gasp at her; the more, the merrier, always.
After the lesson, Teruhashi approaches the new boy while he's still in his seat.
“You said your name was Eriku, right? I’m Teruhashi Kokomi; it’s very nice to meet you!” She flashes her most endearing, beautiful, and adorable smile at him - which is, of course, just her regular smile.
“Um… i-it’s n-nice to m-m-meet you too, T-Teruhashi!” Eriku peers up at her with a coy smile of his own.
She almost physically recoils from the overwhelming force of such a foul response. Of course, she doesn't, because she's perfect and would never outwardly react that way. Inwardly, though...
“What?! He didn’t gasp at all! Normally, most men would fall over backwards if they breached the EDGE of the RADIUS of my PURE RADIANCE! What’s wrong with this guy? Does he perhaps have trust issues like Saiki does…?”
No, he’s gay, Saiki thinks. He's still sitting there in the classroom; it's just a short break, after all.
“Since you’re new here, do you need someone to show you around?” Teruhashi asks, trying her best to keep her voice steady; she's still shaken to her core from earlier. “I’d be happy to do that for you! I promise you won't be a burden...”
“Wow!” A random boy exclaims. “She’s like an angel!”
“A guardian angel…” Another sighs.
“One protecting a small, defenseless woodland creature to make sure it doesn’t get eaten as it snacks on berries!" One more swoons. "Or other things of the sort!”
Oh, how creative, Saiki lets out a short huff.
“What? A girl as beautiful as her is taking time out of her day for me? I feel so special!”
Teruhashi barely holds back a smirk.
“That must be what he’s thinking, right? Any guy would gasp in pure shock if he got the slightest bit of attention from me!”
“N-no thank you,” Eriku replies, bowing his head in apology.
The whole room is stunned, and many yell out in protest. It’s unbelievable, the audacity of this guy to reject someone like Teruhashi - who does he think he is!?
“Oh, I see,” Teruhashi gently places her hand over her cheek; a cute gesture to mask the way it subtly twitches with rage. “May I ask why?”
“B-because as, um, l-lovely as you seem…" Eriku begins, "I’d rather have a big, strong, handsome guy take me!”
Silence follows.
Someone distantly coughs.
Another person utters a hushed, "what?"
Good grief. What happened to it being a secret, Eriku?
Eriku gasps, clamping a hand over his mouth about a few minutes too late.
"Oh nooo!!!" He cries internally. "I just spilled my secret in front of all these people! Uwaaah, I'm such a helpless klutz!"
That's more than just being a klutz, that's some serious lack of thought about the words coming out your mouth, Saiki turns away from the scene.
Eriku runs out of the room. Saiki can tell he’s heading for the bathroom - he’s not going to do anything though, because if he got involved with a guy like that, people might think they’re friends, and that would come with a whole bunch of other things that he just doesn’t want.
Saiki did not miss living like this. At all.
The word about Eriku being gay spreads around pretty quickly after that, and surely enough, he starts getting picked on. People stare at him and give him strange looks, they whisper about him to their friends when he passes by, and they write crude things on his desk.
It’s pretty bad. Yet, Eriku keeps coming to school.
Saiki glances his way as they’re both changing their shoes at their respective lockers. Eriku lets out a heavy sigh as more dirt and rocks tumble from his locker - it was common for the other students to shove stuff like that in there, just to cause him trouble.
“I wish I could leave, but moving here was so costly,” Eriku thinks, smacking the sole of his shoe to shake the leftover crud out. “There’s no way we could move again so soon. If only I wasn’t so careless...!”
Before class, Saiki is subjected to the sight of Eriku sulking at his desk with his head lowered, and everyone who sits near him keeps their distance.
“He looks lonely,” Kaidou comments.
Nendou grunts in agreement. “We could go talk to him if you wanna.”
Nope. No way. Stay away from him.
“I’m not sure. People might get the wrong idea about me!”
Yes, that’s right. They all think you’re gay, Kaidou.
“I dunno, I just wanna help him out,” Nendou scratches his chin. “He said he wanted a big, strong guy to show him around, right? I’m exactly that.”
“He also said handsome,” Kaidou retorts. “Unless he likes gorillas, I don’t think he’ll take you up on that offer.”
“Why’s it a competition? You want him to like you or something?”
Kaidou splutters. “NO! You know I’m not like that!!”
Nendou barks out a laugh.
If Saiki weren’t so occupied with keeping a low profile, he might have been inclined to give Eriku some company himself. After all, he thoroughly understands the struggle of facing judgement for something you can’t control about yourself. He can’t be too upset at his friends for wanting to go up to him - it might make him respect them a little more, actually.
However, it seems some people feel things aside from pity or contempt for Eriku, and Toritsuka proves as much when he runs up to Saiki in the hallway during their lunch break and forcefully drags him into the boy’s bathroom.
“So, Saiki,” Toritsuka leans against the edge of a sink. “You’re classmates with the new transfer, right?”
What do you want with him? Saiki asks.
“Well, I heard these rumours that he’s into guys, so the other day I went to check if that was true by making some moves on him, you know?” Toritsuka wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “But he totally turned me down, saying I wasn’t ‘dominant’ enough! He has no idea how dominating I really am!”
No, you’re kind of pathetic.
“Psh! That’s just what you think. I’m gonna prove that I can really dominate him!”
Why are you dedicating yourself to that? Do you swing that way?
“Ew, no way!” He gags. “I’m not into guys at all; I actually hate them, but Eriku is so much like a girl, he basically might as well be one, so this doesn’t count as gay or whatever. Not that I’m into him, I just want him to be into me.”
He’s still a boy, though…
“Who caaares? Make him fall for me, Saiki!”
Saiki doesn’t want that at all. If he helps Toritsuka with this (which, why would he ever?) then there’s a chance his plan will work, meaning Eriku and Toritsuka become a thing, meaning Eriku is part of Saiki’s social circle.
But, on the other hand, involving Toritsuka with Eriku could affect his reputation to the point he’d stop showing up to school, which would be a total dream come true… ah, to live a Toritsuka-free life…
Alright, Saiki answers, what do you want me to do?
“I dunno, use your powers or something,” Toritsuka shrugs. “Can you figure out what he means by ‘dominant’?”
Saiki rolls his eyes before crossing them. Maybe his clairvoyance can help in this situation.
He finds Eriku sitting with Yumehara in the courtyard, enjoying their lunches together. They seem to be getting along well, which makes Saiki grimace. Weird attracts weird, he supposes.
“So, Eriku, you’ve been here for about a week, right?” Yumehara asks, kicking her legs. “Have you made any friends yet?”
“U-um, n-no… you’re t-the only p-person who’s t–talked to m-me w-willingly,” Eriku tucks his hair behind his ear.
She giggles. “Count me as one, then!”
“H-huh?” He peers up at her. “Y-you m-mean that?”
“Yeah! We can talk about anything you like, like school or hobbies… or crushes?”
Eriku’s eyes widen, his cheeks reddening.
Of course that’s Yumehara’s end goal.
“C-Crushes… b-but girls don’t r-really t-talk about stuff like t-that with… b-boys…”
“Aww, don’t worry about that, Eriku! You’re basically a girl, so I’m okay with discussing that stuff with you.”
He’s still a boy, Saiki thinks.
“You’re sure?” Eriku asks.
Yumehara enthusiastically nods. “Are you interested in anyone yet? Any boys you’ve found cute?”
Eriku looks down, fidgeting with his hands in his lap. “N-not r-really…”
“Really? Not a single one?!”
“I h-haven’t s-s-seen a-anyone that’s m-my type, is all…”
“Oh? What is your type, then?”
“Are you supposed to be doing something? You’ve just been making weird faces,” Toritsuka interjects.
Saiki sticks his hand out. Shut up, we’re getting to the good part.
“W-well, I r-r-really l-like guys that are t-taller than me,” Eriku begins. “And when they’re r-really strong…”
Yumehara nods, her smile growing into a grin as she begins imagining the kind of guy Eriku describes.
“And I mean really strong. He has to have muscles that rival a dinosaur - and he needs to use them pretty often, like he needs to fight as often as a gangster does. Screw that, he has to be a gangster!”
“...Uh.”
“And he needs to have dark hair, and be hairy all over… maybe he has a really scary hunch to him, and hands that are bigger than my head! They should be able to wrap around my wrist four times - oh, and he should have joints that let him do that.”
“Uhhh…?”
The image Yumehara had in her head of a handsome, mysterious guy quickly shifts into that of a gorilla.
“I-I’ve had a few crushes in the past, b-but I’ve n-never q-quite found my d-dream g-guy…”
No wonder, Saiki thinks. That kind of guy only exists in fiction.
“I’m holding out hope, though!” Eriku beams. “What about you? What’s your type?”
“Oh… well… you know… more or less the same…”
Alright, that’s enough.
Saiki rubs his eyes once he’s done using his clairvoyance, since crossing them for a long time started to hurt. However, when Toritsuka starts speaking, he needs to rub away the oncoming headache too.
“Soooo, what’d you learn? What’d you get? Tell me, tell me!”
You have no chance.
“What?!” Toritsuka yelps. “What do you mean by that?!”
He’s into guys that are bigger than him.
Toritsuka looks down at himself, scrutinizing his own size. “I guess I’m pretty tall… taller than most of the guys at this school, for sure.”
But he also likes the aggressive gangster types.
“Pshh, that’s easy! I’ll just channel the spirit of a yakuza member.”
And what about the hands? He likes big hands.
Toritsuka shoots a quizzical look at Saiki before holding up his hands, examining them closely.
Bigger than that.
Toritsuka squints his eyes, trying to envision it.
Still gotta be bigger.
The boy blanches. “His standards are insane! I’m never gonna make him fall for me! Oh, Eriku…!”
Are you sure you’re not in love with him?
“Yes, I’m sure,” Toritsuka scowls at Saiki. “You know what? Just for that comment, I’m gonna really try and become his type so he might think I’m dominating and like me!”
You’re not helping your case.
“Whatever! I’m going off to train now~!” He starts bounding off.
Good luck with that.
Toritsuka halts. “Actually, I meant that you were gonna help me. Can you use your psychic powers and transform me or something?”
No. I don’t like you enough to be your wingman.
“Pleeeeease?”
It’s not like I owe you anything.
“Ugh! You’re the meanest, Saiki… I guess I’ll just have to go about it the old-fashioned way!”
Toritsuka races off, leaving Saiki by his lonesome; just how he likes it.
That appears to be a problem that solved itself.
Like most times of day, cleaning time is quite bothersome for Saiki, since that’s the time in which all the students are free to roam the school, bound to no responsibilities except for sweeping up a bit. But where others take this time to start fooling around with their friends, Saiki tends to do the bare minimum before swiftly leaving the school premises.
Eriku doesn’t seem to be having fun either. Every so often, he’ll let out a deep, sorrowful sigh as he tries to clean up the many rude names written on his desk, but the marker is so stubborn that in the ten minutes he’s been trying, the ink has only become a little streaky.
He looks up at his peers. His arm, previously scrubbing his sponge in broad circles, slows to a halt, and he sighs once more.
“Nobody’s even asking me if I need help… how am I ever gonna clean this up? I’ll need an angel to take mercy on me if I want any chance of leaving early…!”
Out of nowhere, Teruhashi approaches him.
“Are you having trouble, Eriku?” She asks.
The boy flinches, and has to gather himself before replying. “Um, h-hello, Teruhashi. Yes, this m-mess isn’t r-really easy to c-clean up… w-why?”
“Eriku must be the kind of boy who needs to get to know a girl before he can fall for her,” Teruhashi thinks. “No matter - I’m so kind and friendly, he’ll surely warm up to me in an instant! Once we get close, maybe then he’ll start to gasp!”
“I was just wondering if you’d like help,” She says aloud.
“Huh? Y-you’d r-really h-h-help m-me?”
“Of course! Here,” She begins to wipe over his desk with a cleaning rag of her own.
Everyone drops what they’re doing to look, as does Saiki.
This could potentially be a good thing. If Teruhashi maintains this fixation on Eriku, that’s taking her attention away from Saiki. Maybe she’ll forget about him altogether and continue pursuing the other guy infinitely, then that’s once again taking two burdens off Saiki’s shoulders.
“No way… she’s hanging out with the new transfer?” A girl whispers to her friend. “But he’s kinda weird…”
“Well, he can’t be that bad if Teruhashi is giving him her time.”
“You’re right. Maybe we should help him out, too!”
The pair of friends stride over and offer their help as well. Eriku splutters out meaningless noises, but eventually he nods.
It doesn’t end there. Upon seeing Teruhashi getting friendly with the new boy, every single girl in the room is inclined to help - because if Teruhashi likes him, he must truly be likable!
Eriku can’t help but smile as he watches them put in the effort to clean his desk. “T-thanks, everyone! I r-really a-appreciate your h-help…”
“Yes!” Teruhashi grins to herself. “Aren’t I amazing, Eriku? I’m the reason everyone is flocking towards you. Nobody else would pay any attention to a freakshow like you if not for me!”
I wouldn’t be your friend if you thought about me like that, Saiki thinks.
“So, Eriku, what do you do for fun?” One girl asks.
“U-um, I l-like to r-read... I suppose..." Eriku replies.
“Really? What kind of books do you read?”
“M-mainly, uh, r-romance n-novels…” He tucks his hair behind his ear, his cheeks turning pink.
The group squeals at that, jumping around while they enthuse about just how much they have in common with Eriku, and how they have no clue why they’ve been ignoring him all this time. Saiki finds it rather shallow.
“Hey, Eriku, do you wanna hang out with us after this? We were thinking of checking out this new pop-up cafe downtown!” A different girl offers.
Eriku blushes. “Wow… d-do you m-mean that? I’d love t-to…”
The girls continue their excited chatter. When Teruhashi puts her hand on his shoulder and smiles, Eriku can only return the gesture, too ecstatic for words. Everything seems perfect.
Then the classroom door slides open, and Toritsuka is standing there in an absolutely ridiculous getup.
He clip-clops over in his absurdly tall geta, attempting to lift a hand to adjust his crooked sunglasses, but failing on account of the foam hands he dons on both sides, and the inflatable muscle suit restricting the range of his arm.
“Hey, you! The wimpish, twiggy boy!” He points at Eriku with one of said hands.
“W-w-wimpish? T-t-t-t-t-twiggy?!” Eriku’s blush intensifies.
He walks into the group, and all the girls jump away from him like he’s diseased. Might as well be.
Toritsuka strides over and slams Eriku into the wall - really, he shoves him against it, and Eriku lets out a pained whimper. For some reason, getting pushed makes him blush even more, however that’s possible.
“You remember me, don’t you?” Toritsuka growls.
Eriku silently nods.
“So, what do you think now? How’s this for ‘dominating’?”
“He’s so different all of a sudden!” Eriku thinks. “I’m kind of into it...”
Do either of you have any dignity? Saiki wonders.
“Why are you hanging around all these people anyway, huh?” Toritsuka tosses his hair back.
“W-Well… w-we’re all… f-friends…”
The artificially taller boy scoffs. “What do you need them for when you have me? You’re all mine, Eriku.”
Eriku’s face is as red as the state of Wyoming.
“Is he with Toritsuka?” One girl murmurs.
“Ew… I hate that guy!”
“Yeah, he’s a worse pervert than Eriku. But I guess if they know each other, they must be equally bad.”
“Can’t believe we asked him to hang out with us!”
“W-wait, I-I don’t k-know him t-that well-” Eriku tries to defend himself, but Toritsuka clamps a giant foam hand over his mouth.
“That’s right! He and I are an inseparable duo!” He puts his arm around the other.
The girls make a collective noise of disgust before dispersing, leaving Eriku standing alone at his desk, half-cleaned, with no one but the foul spirit medium to accompany him.
“O-oh…” Eriku droops.
The boy sniffles, and he lifts his hand to wipe the tears beading at the corners of his eyes. Toritsuka just stares, dumbly blinking until he decides to clear his throat.
“Soooo… you got anywhere to be after this?”
“I-I’m s-sorry, I h-have to g-go,” Eriku pulls away from him, rushing out of the room.
“Wha- hey, where are you going?!” Toritsuka moves to run after him, but Saiki steps in front of him.
I tried to stop you, you know.
“Psh! Get off my back, Saiki - I still have a chance!”
With that, he exits too.
Only love could make someone that stupid, Saiki thinks.
“Man, that was weird,” Nendou comes up behind him, picking his ear.
“Yeah,” Kaidou turns to Saiki. “Hey, you wanna walk with us?”
Anything that will get me out of here.
The trio slide the door shut behind them as they leave, but even as Saiki walks away, he can hear the thoughts of his classmates loud and clear in his head.
“Damn that Eriku… tricking all those girls into trusting him, including Teruhashi! Especially after he treated her like DIRT the other day!”
“Who does he think he is? He’s a nobody, and a creep, and a fraud!”
“He’s got something bad coming for him, that’s for sure…”
And none of it is Saiki’s business.
Saiki keeps himself out of whatever silly discussion Nendou and Kaidou are having as the three of them change their shoes at their respective lockers. Perhaps if he just stays as still and silent as possible, they might forget he’s even there and go on to get ramen by themselves.
Unfortunately, that plan is foiled shortly after it’s concocted, as a violent shiver wracks Saiki’s whole body when he senses Eriku coming over.
“Oh, hey, that’s the gay guy,” Nendou points him out, earning a sharp jab in the side from Kaidou.
“Don’t call him that! He has a name, you know!”
“A-are y-you t-talking about m-me…?” Eriku asks them.
“No!” Kaidou squeaks.
“Yeah,” Nendou says. “Hey, what was up with you and that weirdo earlier? You an item or something?”
“If they are, you shouldn’t call that guy a weirdo,” Kaidou interjects.
“N-no, I h-hardly k-know him… h-he w-was j-just c-coming on t-to me, I-I guess."
Nendou laughs. “He looked so dumb! Did it work?”
“W-well…!”
Meanwhile, Saiki is panicking. What should be a short-lived interaction is quickly spiralling into a full-blown conversation. At this point, they’ll be standing here with Eriku long enough to get acquainted with him!
This is a disaster. He needs to get them back on track ASAP.
Saiki reminds Nendou of their plans to eat out, and how they should probably get going before a long line builds up.
“Oh yeah!” Nendou turns away from Eriku. “We’ll head out once you change your shoes, since you haven’t done that yet.”
In the split second Nendou is blinking, Saiki swaps his indoor shoes for his outdoor ones.
“Eh…” Nendou glances back at the other boy. “Sorry, looks like we gotta go. See ya later, pretty boy!”
“G-goodb-bye,” Eriku bows his head to hide his pink face.
“Did he just call me a pretty boy?!” He thinks. “How could a big, scary guy like him bring himself to say that? Hehe, I must be special…”
Don’t think about Nendou like that, it makes me feel sick, Saiki internally comments, adjusting his school bag on his shoulder and turning to leave.
“Why are you in such a rush today?” Kaidou asks Saiki. He’s spared the need to answer, but he’s not quick to celebrate, because they’re interrupted by new arrivals to the scene.
“Hey, Eriku!” An opposing trio of boys saunter up to the timid boy.
“U-um, h-hi, do y-you need s-something?” Eriku steps back as the presumed leader gets too close for comfort.
“I need you to get out of the way,” he nudges Eriku to the side.
“What’s the point, though?” The other guy’s friend butts in. “He’s still here, and he’s already seen us, so…”
“Yeah. Besides, maybe it’s more fun this way,” the third steps up and dumps a handful of dirt on Eriku’s head.
The three of them burst out laughing as Eriku tries to shake the muck out of his hair. He shrinks back against the lockers behind him as if he wants nothing more than to melt into them.
“Why did you… do that?” Eriku asks, not daring to raise his voice above a whisper.
“Why?” The first guy grabs Eriku by the collar, causing a loud clang as he slams his body against the metal. “Because you make it too easy.”
His friend spares a glance in the direction of the other trio of boys. “What are you all standing around for? Gonna join in or what?”
Kaidou takes a step back, mumbling something about how he doesn’t want to get into trouble - and Saiki could very easily total all these guys with a flick of the wrist, but that would not be the safest or smartest choice to make, so his only option is to follow in Kaidou’s footsteps.
The other guy scoffs. “Suit yourselves.”
He lifts his free hand, now curled into a fist. He pulls his arm back, and Eriku’s face screws up, his shoulders scrunch, like being smaller will stop him from getting struck.
Saiki braces himself, too.
Was this the right decision?
He isn’t left to stew in the idea for long, since it’s over before it even begins. All three boys, toppled over like dominoes, writhing on the floor, groaning and whinging about the pain.
Eriku collapses to his knees, quivering like the aftershocks of an earthquake. He looks up to meet the gaze of his saviour, and what he finds is Nendou is looking back at him.
“You alright?” He asks.
Eriku lets out a breath that unwinds all the tension in his body. “Yeah. Th… thank you.”
Saiki and Kaidou are frozen in place, staring at the pile of people Nendou managed to cause in a single swift moment - the former’s brows furrow a tad.
It’s a reckless thing to do. Saiki never would have done that himself, even if he wanted to, but Nendou isn’t exactly known for thinking before acting. It’s just like him to blindly jump into a fight without considering how it could get him hurt. Saiki saw him lose his footing.
Saiki lowers the hand he had lifted, no longer needing to use his telekinesis to keep the bullies held down. He didn’t want to get involved, but he didn’t want to watch two innocent guys get ganged up on, either.
“You r-really d-didn’t have t-to do that, y-you know…” Eriku says.
“Someone’s gotta defend the weaklings,” Nendou shrugs.
“Don’t call him that, you moron!” Kaidou shoves him; he doesn’t budge.
Eriku only giggles. He makes an attempt to stand, but his legs are still weak, and he stumbles directly into Nendou’s arms.
“Woah there,” Nendou pats him on the back. “Watch your step, pretty boy.”
Eriku’s face goes red as he thinks, “He called me pretty again… and a weakling, too! Kyaaah!”
Why are those on the same level for you?
“This guy is so strong… he fought for me! Plus, he’s pretty hairy, and his hands are huge. I think I’m falling for him…”
Saiki nearly throws up in his mouth.
“S-sorry, I d-don’t t-think I e-ever g-got your n-name,” Eriku says.
“Nendou Riki. You’re, um, uh, er, Oguchi, right?”
That’s not even close. You wanna date a guy who can’t remember your name?
Eriku blinks. “Yes, that’s right.”
Now you’re confident…
“Cool! Wanna get ramen with us?” Nendou asks, slinging just one arm around Eriku’s shoulder.
“I-If t-that’s okay with y-your f-friends!”
Kaidou clears his throat. “I suppose I can expand the protective shield to fit four instead of three, but it may be costly… Saiki?”
The pain in Saiki’s heart is equivalent to being impaled on a thousand knives at once.
Is this really how things have turned out? Is it just inevitable that he invites Eriku into his life, no matter what? This is his curse. His nadir. He is Sisyphus, and his boulder is several weirdos dead set on involving themselves with him, tangentially or otherwise. He wishes God would strike him down where he stands, and then, when he rises to Heaven, he can blast God to bits with his laser eyes for inciting all this buffoonery.
But Saiki doesn’t want to be rude, so he just gives an indifferent shrug.
“Alright! Come on, Oguchi!” Nendou grabs Eriku by the sleeve, and the four of them begin their journey to their usual ramen shop.
Maybe it’ll be fine. It’s just one new guy. As long as no one else shows up, Saiki can tolerate this new development in his life. (Wink wink.)
What was that for?
Nothing. (Wink wink.)