Work Text:
Saiki woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, and he had to force himself to open his eyes. He looked at his ceiling counting the seconds before he knew he should at least take the blanket off his body.
Not that I need it in the first place.
He brought his pyrokinesis and cryokinesis back to the forefront of his mind so he could stop using the blanket. Getting up he allowed himself to look out the window without putting on his glasses immediately. He didn’t mind the green hue that was always over everything, but ever since he went a week without his glasses, he tries to go without them more often.
In moderation of course. Turning someone to stone for 24 hours still isn’t great.
Everything always had to be in moderation since he was a baby. He had just come to accept it as fact now. Even on his birthday, everything had to be in moderation. Well except the amount of sweets he was allowed to have. For this one day in the year, he was allowed to have as many sweets as he wanted. His mother indulged him greatly, and he was always appreciative. Like the year when he turned 10 and had dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. His mom had to figure out how to make dishes from different countries in order to pull it off properly, but he was too happy to think about that.
It was a good birthday. I have no regrets.
He got out of bed and walked to his desk, leaving his glasses on his night stand. It was a nice day for August, considering how hot it could get. He glanced at the time curious as to why it was so quiet.
Oh, it’s 7 in the morning. That would explain it.
Part of him felt like he should go back to bed, but the other larger part of him felt like he should stay up and enjoy the quietness he never got to enjoy.
Well I had the opportunity, up until last Christmas, or was that two years ago? It’s so hard to keep track of time after you’ve spent 6 years resetting it.
He cracked his back and continued to look out the window.
Whatever disaster comes, at least this year it won’t wake me up.
Disaster of course meaning his friends.
I meant what I said.
-
Kokomi woke up slowly. Doing her routine of light yoga, and washing her face, before she sat down in front of her vanity mirror and looked at the date. She nearly screamed when she saw what day it was.
“There’s no way that’s the date!”
Foregoing the rest of her morning routine, she took the stairs two at a time to get to the kitchen. Quickly throwing an egg in a pan to fry it, she began to take out her materials for the day. Container after container of dessert came out of the fridge. For the past week it was the only thing she had been making. She of course left room for other foods, but an outsider looking at her fridge for the past week would have only seen the unmarked containers. Her brother asked what was in them on the second day, and she knew he wouldn’t be happy with the answer, so she simply said: “It’s just for an event that’s happening for someone at my school.” A lie as perfect as she was. Why? Because it was mostly true. It was for an event, the event being a birthday, and it was happening for someone at her school, it just happened to be someone she considered a very good friend. The fact that all of it was only for him was entirely irrelevant.
She finished cooking her egg as she took out the last of the containers. There were 45 containers in total, and perhaps that was an excessive amount of dessert for one person, but she knew this boy fairly well. 45 containers of this dessert, and they would be gone in 5 days. Part of her cried at the idea of 15 hours of work each day for the past 7 days being gone in 5, but she was too happy about the thought of him enjoying it to care. She wanted to start closer to her own birthday, but she knew her friends would never allow that, so she had to make due with the time she had. Even if that meant using the school kitchen to complete her task.
“Okay, now where did I put that whipped cream recipe?” She looked around her now, very cluttered kitchen counter, and found what she was looking for as she took her last bite of egg. “There it is.” She began to get to work on the last thing she needed to do when her brother came downstairs.
“Koko? Is that you? What are you doing up so early?”
Hoping you wouldn’t be up yet. “I always get up this early Makoto. And I’ve told you 100 times that I hate that nickname.”
“Come on, you don’t mean that. And— you’re working on that event for school again aren’t you! Okay, that’s it, I’m calling the school. It’s ridiculous that they’re having my perfect little sister do this much work!”
Ugh, just go away, why don’t you? “That’s not necessary, I promise. This was the last day. I’ll be done after this, and I’ll be done even faster if you leave.”
“But,”
Makoto began to pout, but Kokomi ignored him. “Goodbye Makoto. Thank you for your concern.” She was pushing him out, careful not to touch him with her hands so that she wouldn’t have to wash them again.
When he was finally gone, she got back to work on her whipped cream. She was making 5 different kinds, each with its own flavor. Chocolate, Strawberry, plain, Matcha, Carmel.
*”Huh? My favorite flavors? Why do you ask Kokomi?”*
*“Just out of curiosity.”*
*”Hmm, probably Matcha and Caramel. Are you sure there’s no reason?”*
*”I’m sure!”*
*”And what about yours?”*
*”. . . Chocolate. Or strawberry if chocolate isn’t available.”*
*”Interesting. What about the flavors Chiyo said?”*
*”They’re fine. I prefer Caramel though.”
*”And there’s really not a reason for this Kokomi?”*
At the time she smiled and said no. But of course there was a reason, she did everything with purpose. Even going on to ask everyone else’s favorite flavors as well, except for Mera. Though, that was because she was almost positive she would eat anything.
Kokomi laughed to herself as she finished adding the Caramel extract to her third batch of whipped cream.
-
It was . . . quiet.
You don’t have to say that like it’s such a bad thing. This is exactly what I’ve wanted from my birthday’s since I started high school with those nusicenses.
He shifted in his chair uncomfortably as he kept listening to the thoughts around him, waiting for a nuisance to show up in his 200 meter radius.
I am not uncomfortable. I’m just. . . shut up.
He shifted uncomfortably as he waited. Though as he continued to sit, nothing happened. Eventually his mom came upstairs lightly knocking on his door. He opened it telachenetically, grabbing his glasses as he did so.
“Oh! You are awake, I was afraid I was disturbing your slumber.”
He put on his glasses, blinking as he let his eyes adjust to the green hue.
“I’ve been up for a while.”
“Hmm I wonder if it’s because. . . it’s your birthday!” She accented the action by holding a small box in her hands. She made sure to cover it with a lot of stuff so he wouldn’t be able to use his powers to see through the box immediately.
“You’ve gotten more creative this year. How much is actually inside that box?”
“Well every year you always figure out what me and your father are getting for you, either by your telepathy, or by seeing through the box we wrapped it in. So we kept looking for a way to give you a gift that would actually surprise you.”
He gave him mom a small smile, putting it in his own hands to stop his curiosity from getting the better of him.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Kurumi figitied as her son held the box in his hands.
“5. . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.”
“Wait! Don’t open it! I’m here! Don’t open the g. . .ift.” His father was wheezing as he stood in the doorway to his room.
“Honey! I didn’t think you’d get here in time.”
His father wheezed for a few moments longer before standing up straight. “Of course I would, my love. Nothing is more important to me than our children.”
“Oh dear, you know how emotional that makes me.”
Just like every year.
As his parents continued to gush about how much they loved him and the man called his brother.
He’s more tolerable now . . . mostly.
He opened his gift. Taking out cardboard, tissue paper, normal paper, cloth, and even several napkins.
No wonder I couldn't see what the actual gift was.
Finally getting to what he was looking for, his eyes widened. He blinked several times, looking at the ring in his hands.
“Where’d you have them look to find this?”
“What? Kusuo who are you—”
“Haha you’re as astute as always little brother.”
Both of their parents screamed. The brothers remained unfazed, even as they both asked where he came from.
Kusuo raised an eye at his brother. “It’s handmade. Finding the jewel was fairly easy, even if it was slightly expensive. Though you’ll be moving out for college soon enough, so our parents wanted to know if there was something they could give you to stop all that background noise. When I told them there was, they insisted that they get it for you. So I didn’t lead them anywhere. This was all them.”
It’s true my little Ku. It’s the least we could do for you. I’m sorry we didn’t know about it sooner.
Kusuo glanced at his father who was grimacing at the wall. There goes my paycheck for the month. Wait, is he wearing it? Hehe, I mean. “It was nothing son!”
If it wasn’t his birthday he probably would have rolled his eyes at his father, but it was, so he let his anguish slide for the day.
“And this is from me.” Kusuke threw him a long cube. It looked like it was only made out of steel, but Kusuo knew better.
“It’s not a new game or anything. Just a small way for me to test how your powers are growing, that, and a fun way to make you work for your gift.”
“How interesting! Well we’ll leave you to it honey, but before we leave. Is there anything you want for breakfast?”
Kusuo was examining the box at lightning speeds, making sure his brother was truly telling the truth.
“A crepe with strawberries, kiwis and blueberries.” He opened his mini fridge and put the different fruits in his mother’s hands.
“Okay!” His mother and father left, as his brother sat on his bed, crossing one leg over the other.
“I’m going to time you wherever you’re ready. You can’t just brute force it by the way, there’s a puzzle right under the steel.”
Saiki glared at his brother.
“You need to learn power control little brother.” You and I both know that, even if you don’t like it.
He ground his teeth, but accepted the terms of his brother’s “gift”.
“Oh, and put your ring on please. I don’t want my thoughts of how to open your gift disrupt you.”
He did as he was told and put on the ring. In seconds it was silent. He began to break the steel, careful not to break the rest of the box. He had to resist just melting the box, because ultimately he knew his brother was right.
Never say that again and it’ll be too soon.
Even knowing that about his brother’s words, it didn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow. It took him 3 minutes to open the box, and he ended up just cracking it like an egg in the end. The decision seemed to make his brother laugh.
Not the intention.
Getting to the puzzle was the hard part, solving it took him less than thirty seconds. At most. When the wooden puzzle fell off the box, he was left looking at a container that typically held glasses.
“You’ve definitely gotten better at controlling your strength. That’s good. Hm? The box? Yes, it’s glasses.” Kusuke was writing something in a small journal.
“Why?”
He paused in his writings to look at him. “Kusuo, you’ve been wearing green glasses for the past 17 years. Longer as we both know, but that’s beside the point.”
“Are they for my powers?”
“Do you want glasses for your powers?”
Kusuo remained silent. “Should you change your mind about your x-ray vision, let me know. I have glasses that will take it away. And I’m still working on contacts that will prevent your petrification powers permanently. It’s an inconvenience for everyone really.” Closing his journal, Kusuke stood and waved his hand, turning his back on his brother. “Anyway, I’ll be taking my leave now. I have a press conference to get to in France, and I won’t make you teleport halfway across the world on your birthday. Well,” Not this year anyway.
Kusuo frowned as he imagined the smirk he was wearing.
“Bye little brother.”
When Kusuke was gone, Kusuo relaxed into his chair.
Good grief, he’s still such a pain.
He opened the glasses case, and admired the glasses. They were vastly different from his green ones. More “modern” he supposed. He looked at them from all angles, subconsciously making sure there were no hidden cameras or anything on them.
I guess they’re just normal glasses.
He tapped his leg. Instead of having green lenses, the rims were green. Similar to his old glasses though, the rims didn’t extend all the way around the lenses. They were only around the top, before the bottom turned to just a lens. The lenses were also round, as supposed to angular like his old glasses.
Not sure I’m a fan of the green frames.
Picking the glasses up all the way out of the box, he saw a note slipped into the included glass cloth cleaner.
If you don’t like the color, just apply heat.
~Kusuke
Cocky bastard.
Applying a slight bit of heat, the glasses went from green to brown, adding more turned them black. He sighed as he took off his old ones and put on the new ones. He walked to the bathroom to look at his own reflection. It was odd to see purple eyes staring back at him, even when he had glasses on.
If these give me more attention, I’m going to throw them away.
-
It took her 3 hours to finish topping all the desserts with the whipped cream, and then putting them in their appropriate boxes. She’d be exhausted if she wasn’t so excited to give the boy her gift. As far as the rest of her friends knew his birthday was in may, though the boy had revealed that was a lie this year. He said that he felt bad lying about it, they were trying to celebrate him after all. They all forgave him, but everyone except her actually changed the calendar to match the proper date. She reminded them the day before yesterday to make sure they got the boy a gift, but she knew they all would need more time to gather proper gifts. Or at least proper in their eyes. Perhaps it was wrong of her to do that intentionally, but she wasn’t sure she cared exactly.
“He doesn’t like that many people hanging out with him at once anyway.” Rubbing her hands off on her apron, she started the trek up the stairs to get dressed. It took another hour before she felt like a presentable human being, not that she ever truly felt the need to be “perfect” around him. Did she still want him to say “oh wow” to her? Of course. But now it was more of a joke to herself than anything. She went back downstairs and gathered the ribbon needed to wrap all the boxes together. The stack was almost as tall as her, and as wide as her too. Deciding she would never make it to her destination with a stack that tall, she restacked the boxes so the 4 rested on the bottom, and one was on top. On top of that she put her note. Her note. . .
Wait. Peeking at the inside of the card, she saw it was blank.
Crap! Running back upstairs she found a pen and sat down to write.
.
.
.
An hour later she had nothing. She let her head fall to the table.
“Come on Kokomi, you’re 95% sure you know how he feels, just keep your card light.” Finally writing words in the once empty card, she made her way back down the stairs.
And even if he hates the coffee jelly, she paused to laugh, at the very least you have your back up. Being content with her decision, she picked up the box suitcase, and walked out the door.
-
Saiki was bored.
I am not. I’m simply understimulated as a result of usually being on edge.
Saiki was understimulated because no one had come by to see him. He didn’t realize how boring—
Understimulating.
Understimulating his life could be without everyone else in his life making their presences known. Even his brother, who he had fully expected to be an ordeal, was calm.
This is all too easy. What’s the deal?
After waiting another hour, he finally decided to go back downstairs.
“Hi Ku. What have you been up to?”
Nothing. He frowned. What’s wrong with me? This is what I’ve always wanted. . . right? “Just relaxing.”
She smiled. “That sounds nice.”
He eyed his mom’s purse. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Hm? Oh, my purse. Yes, you wanted a pork cutlet bowl for dinner right?” He nodded. “We don’t have the right ingredients.”
“I can go get them.”
Kurumi waved one finger at him. “Absolutely not! It’s your birthday, you should be able to just relax if that’s all you want to do today. Me and your father are more than capable of doing some shopping.” He didn’t pout because pouting would imply that he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to leave the house.
I’m not disappointed. Just surprised. “If you’re sure.”
“We are. We’ll be back in a while. I already made you some lunch, it’s in the fridge. There’s enough for you and some friends if anyone comes over while we’re gone.”
Seeing how quiet it’s been, I doubt anyone is coming. “Okay.”
Kurumi gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then went out the door. His father came down the stairs, checking he had everything he needed before stopping to look at him.
“I don’t suppose you were able to convince your mother to let you go instead?”
He shook his head. His father sighed. “Okay. Well, we’ll be back. Don’t burn the house down.”
“One time. And I fixed it.”
His father stared at him. “I won’t make any promises if that’s what you’re waiting for. If I see a bug, I will take whatever means necessary to get rid of it.”
“Do. Not. Burn. The. House. Down.”
He rolled his eyes, and then nodded. “Thank you. We’ll be back.”
And just like that, he was completely alone. He sat on the couch and flipped idly through the channels.
I can’t imagine this is entertaining for any of us. Is there a point to this?
He continued to contemplate—
I’m not contemplating, I’m directly asking you.
Until he heard a knock on the door.
Wait, heard? He looked down at his hand to find he was still wearing the ring. He was going to take it off, but the knocking got more persistent, so he got up to answer it. Upon doing so he was met with pink.
“Hi Kurumi, I was wondering if,” the holder shifted the boxes so they rested behind them. “I could— Shit.”
He smirked at the blue headed girl's word choice.
“You came all this way to go to the bathroom? Seems a bit unorthodox.”
Slowly a blush crept up her neck, until her whole face was red. “I did not come all the way here to use the bathroom, no. But if you’re offering, I’ll keep you to that next time.”
He rolled his eyes, attempting to take the boxes from her, she stepped down one step. “No! I mean. Wait, this is not how this was supposed to go.” What is wrong with you! Calm down. So what if you weren’t expecting Saiki to be the one to open the door. Just relax, you know Saiki. She took a deep breath to collect herself. “Are your parents home?” Her blush was now only resting on her cheeks.
“No. They’re out shopping.”
That doesn’t mean anything Kokomi. Get your head out of the gutter. So what, you can be completely alone with your crush. Not a big deal.
She began to walk back down the steps. “So you didn’t need anything?” She could hear the confusion in his voice. Had she not been holding the boxes, she would have slapped herself in the face. “No I did! I don’t know why I started walking away from you. That was silly of me.” She laughed, but both teenagers knew it was fake. Saiki quietly moved out of the way to show she was allowed in.
Taking a minute to slip off her shoes, she maneuvered the boxes to look at him. “Can we go to your room?” Her voice came out smaller than she would have liked.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but obliged. Once again he tried to take the boxes from her, and once again she shifted them just out of his reach. He shook his head, rolling his eyes as he did.
Saiki allowed Teruhashi to enter his room first, if only because he hoped she might finally set the boxes down. He couldn’t fathom why she had so many. Instead of setting them down somewhere though, she just stood in the middle of his room. He closed his door and walked to the center of his room too.
“Are you standing in front of me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay good.” She took a deep breath. “Happy birthday!” She pushed the boxes towards him, and he took them, making sure not to jostle them.
“You wouldn’t let me take the boxes this whole time, just so you could push them in my arms at this point?”
She smiled. “Yes! It’s always nice to hear the words ‘happy birthday’ while getting a birthday gift.”
He hummed, setting them on the desk. “Can I open them?”
“Like. . . right now? In front of me?”
“You don’t want me to read the card in front of you.”
“No! I mean, you can totally read it.”
He turned around to smirk at her. “Did you write something personal?”
Her blush began to grow again. Does he do this on purpose? He’s insufferable. “Just, read the card.” She wasn’t looking at him anymore.
Deciding to let her off easy he turned back towards the desk and picked up the card. He wasn’t quite sure when talking with her, and more accurately teasing her, became so easy. But he liked it.
I do not.
He liked it a lot.
I’m ignoring you. He flipped the card open with one hand, leaning on his desk. It read:
-
A gift that’s just like you. Bitter at first, but sweet if you take the time to appreciate it. And very addicting once you start eating. Happy birthday Kusuo.
~Kokomi
He blushed.
I have complete control over my body at times. I am not blushing.
He cleared his throat to distract himself from the warmth that was blooming in his chest.
Kokomi walked up next to him. “Since you’ve read the card, I’m guessing you can guess what the gift is.”
He blinked. He hadn’t even thought of what the gift could be, too distracted by the possible underlying sentiment of the second part of the birthday card. He pulled at the ribbon robotically, a smile breaking over his features.
“It’s all coffee jelly.”
He looked at her, genuine surprise on his face. “All of it?” How long did that take? It takes 4 hours for the gelatin to set in coffee jelly. Who am I kidding, she probably bought all of this.
She gave a slightly tired laugh. “It took a lot longer than I thought it was. But it was worth it to see you smile like a 5 year old just now. Each is a different flavor by the way, well, each has another flavor added to it. You’ll probably only be able to tell in the whipped cream.”
“Where were you able to buy all of this?”
Kokomi cocked her head in confusion. “I made all of it.”
“Oh— I mean.” Get a grip.
. . . He totally almost said Oh wow. He really did almost say it. I’m positive. She smirked, trying to get in his face. “Does that make you happy?”
He turned his neck so she wouldn’t see the blush on his cheeks and face.
Not. Blushing. “Coffee jelly is my favorite dessert. Of course I’m happy.” He bluffed.
“Are you going to try any?”
I want to, but I don’t trust myself not to do something stupid.
Kokomi, seeming to sense that she was winning their quiet battle, opened the box for him. “I made 5 boxes because you have 5 letters in your name. K U S U O.” She spelt, grabbing a container from the tin foil lined box. “He-” As Kokomi looked at him, she found herself blushing again. Not only was there a prominent blush on the boy's cheeks and ears, his eyes were also incredibly soft. It was not a sight she was prepared for.
Don’t do anything Kokomi. If you give in now, you’ll never get him to say “Oh wow.” But he just looks so handsome! UGH! “Here!” Her voice was high, and her legs wobbled like the jelly she had in her hands. Thankfully he ended her plight by taking the container from her. Opening it, he took a bite, and she watched all the tension slip from his body. He let out a small groan and she had to pinch herself to make sure she didn’t laugh.
Damn it, this is really good.
“Is it good?” She was baiting him. He knew that’s what she was doing. Even still.
“God yes.”
She hadn’t been expecting such an honest answer, but it made all the work worth it. She stepped back away from the desk to allow him to enjoy his dessert in peace. When he finished 3 containers he stopped. Though at this point she wasn’t paying attention, she was too busy fiddling with something in her pocket.
“Kokomi?”
“Hm?” She looked up at him, her face content.
“Is there something in your pocket?”
She hesitated, but nodded. “It’s the other part of your gift. . . but I wasn’t sure if I should give it to you. I know you won’t like it as much as the coffee jelly.”
“Can I see it?”
Well you’ve made it this far. With more care than necessary, she pulled out the object from her pocket, still making sure to keep it hidden with her hand. “Can you come here?”
Doing as told, Kusuo walked until he was right in front of her. He then waited for further instruction.
“Can I see your hand?”
He raised an eyebrow at her, but did as he was told. Taking her time she put a bracelet on his wrist. Out of habit Saiki inspected it, expecting to find something off with it. Instead all he found was a thick bracelet. It was pink like his hair, purple like his eyes, green like his glasses, and blue. Kokomi then proceeded to take out a similar bracelet, hers consisting of a blue to match her eyes, a blue to match her hair, a yellow to match the glow that was always around her, and pink.
“They um, they match. It’s silly, but I wanted a way to relax after making all that coffee jelly, so I thought of making friendship bracelets. Then it turned into something else you could have once you finished all your coffee jelly. I know it’s dumb, so you don’t have to wear it, but yeah.”
He didn’t know what compelled him, but he ended up reaching for the bracelet in her hand.
“Can I put yours on you?” I mean honestly, what’s gotten into me?
She nodded, blush returning once again. Putting a friendship bracelet on her like it’s a big deal or something. He took her hand, spreading the string out so it would fit. It’s just a bracelet, homemade coffee jelly, and a thoughtful card. He continued to hold her hand for a moment more before letting it fall away. So what if this all took a lot of thought, so what if I like being around her? So what if I like her snarky personality, and the way she knows when to call someone out on their bullshit. She looked back up at him, blue eyes searching purple ones. None of that matters. She’s just a nuisance. Nothing more. She just wants me to say oh wow. She doesn’t even know what love is. She just feels entitled to have everyone love her. Bringing his hand lightly under her chin he leaned down to her height. She thinks God loves her. That has nothing to do with me. Nothing at all. She rose to her tiptoes to meet him. Nothing at all. Their faces were centimeters away from each other. But. . . Her eyes began to flutter close. His heart was beating so loud he was sure she could hear it. But. . . He could feel her breath on his face.
“Kusuo! Where are you? Didn’t you hear us calling,” His father opened the door, and the teens separated to different parts of the room. “You. Oh wow. I mean, hi Kokomi. This is a nice surprise.” Kuniharu flinched, feeling his son’s sharp eyes on him. “But um, I’ll be going. Kokomi, you're welcome to stay for dinner.” Quickly leaving he closed the door with a *slam*.
Silence.
“I should go.” She stood from where she had taken a seat on his bed.
He wanted to tell her to stay, but the words got caught in his throat. Instead he just clenched his fists.
There was a knock on his door and then his mother popped her head in. “Kokomi! You are here. Kuniharu said you were, but I wasn’t sure. You’ll stay for dinner right? Kusuo got a video game not too long ago, I think it’s two players, but me and my husband aren’t the best at video games.”
“Ah, I was going to—” Kurumi didn’t let her finish.
“Great! I’ll bring up some lunch in a second.” And then she closed the door.
Silence. Saiki took off his ring.
We almost kissed. We almost kissed. We almost—
He put his ring back on.
We did not. It may have seemed like that, but that’s not what happened. I was just making sure there was nothing on her face. The fact our lips got so close didn’t mean anything. Don’t get it twisted.
. . .
Stop it. I can see what you’re thinking. It was not a kiss. I’m not in denial. Stop it.
“Um,” Saiki looked back towards the girl in his room. “Are you okay?”
He furrowed his brows. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She pointed to his hands. “You’re breaking pencils.”
He looked down at his hands, and stopped himself from breaking what seemed to be the 5th pencil.
“Let’s play that game.”
She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. Is he. . .?
-
The rest of the night went by smoothly. Neither teen brought up the totally not almost kiss, instead choosing to be competitive. The game was a co-op rip off of a popular plumber and his brother. They were supposed to work together to get to the goal each time, but they refused, choosing to try and get to the toadstool first. When Kurumi came back up with lunch, they paused. Etiquette was thrown out the window as they both attempted to finish first to get back to the game. Eventually Kokomi started to try and mess with his controller to stop him from beating her. He took to standing to use his height to his advantage. She stood on his bed and then jumped on his back. Refusing to acknowledge the added weight, he simply bent forward causing her to latch her legs around his middle. It wasn’t until Kurumi came back up stating it was time for dinner that the two of them realized how long they had been playing. And how childish they had been the entire time. Kokomi also realized once Saiki stood back up all the way, how far from the ground she was.
She pouted. “Why are you tall?”
“I’m not that tall.” He set the controller on his desk, grabbing Kokomi’s as well.
“If I were to just hold onto you by my arms my feet would not touch the ground. You’ve grown.”
Have I? I guess it would make sense. “I think you’re just short.”
She made an offended gasp and then hit him on the shoulder. “I’m average height for Japan thank you!”
“Which is short.”
She kicked him in the back of the legs, he ignored her and walked towards the bathroom.
“Can you stop walking so I can get down?”
“It’s not that far, just let go.”
She shifted on his body, but did not let go. He rolled his eyes, bending backwards to let her easily touch the ground.
She mumbled “You’re so flexible, what the hell?” Finally feeling safe, she let go. Landing with a thud.
After fighting over who would get to wash their hands first, the two finally made it down the stairs.
Kurumi and Kuniharu smiled as they watched their youngest come down the stairs, still playfully bickering with his “friend.” They hoped he would realize his own feelings sooner or later, but they couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present for him.
“There you both are, let's eat!” Kurumi chipred.
-
After the dinner, Kusuo offered to walk Kokomi home. It was more so that he wouldn’t have to stay home with his parents, he had a nagging suspicion that they were going to be annoying.
When they were almost at her house, Kokomi broke the comfortable silence between them. “Did you have fun?”
“Considering how much you tried to cheat, no.”
She laughed, and Kusuo definitely didn’t smile at the sound of it. “You just don’t know how to lose.”
“I never lost. You’re the sore loser here.”
She bumped into him, and he let himself be pushed. He drifted back to her side once he felt she wouldn’t bump him again. Glancing at the hand that wasn’t in a pocket he slipped off his ring.
I wish this didn’t have to end. I love hanging out with him like this.
So do I.
Had his arm not been intertwined with the girl, he probably would have stopped walking. But he didn’t have time to unpack that. All too soon they were at the Teruhashi residence. Kokomi was about to say something when they reached the door, but it swung open all too fast.
“Kokomi! Where have you been? You’ve been gone all day.” Makoto tried to hug her, but she held him at arms distance.
Ugh, no. Not now. “Makoto, please go back inside.”
“But I—” Looking next to his sister, Makoto's expression turned dark. “You!”
Saiki simply blinked.
“What on Earth are you doing with my Kokomi! You don’t even deserve to hang out with her, you four eyed freak.”
Fuck this. ‘Go along with it okay?’ Kokomi looked at him confused, but quickly turned embarrassed.
Turning her so her back was towards her brother, Saiki lifted her face and kissed her. Glaring at Makoto and flipping him off at the same time. Kokomi almost fell to her knees, but forced herself to stay upright as he pulled away.
“Bye Kokomi, I’ll see you at school.”
She gave a dazed nod. Makoto screamed.
This doesn’t mean I’m in love by the way. I simply did what was necessary because I saw a bug.