Chapter Text
Metori wouldn’t say that he’s the most perceptive person around, though he now acknowledges that Saiki Kusuo is one of those types of people. He admires this fact, as well, though that’s not all that important at this moment. What is important in this moment, is that Saiki seems to be… for lack of better phrasing, uncomfortable with being referred to as a male. Metori wasn’t entirely sure if his thought was correct, though he’d avoid using any pronouns for the time being when referring to Saiki. It was only respectful.
“Saiki, I have an offer for you. I will take you to Cafe Mami after school and pay for anything you wish to order, so long as you answer just a couple questions I have. For your own comfort, you would be allowed to refuse to answer.” Metori hoped that his offer was sufficient, as he really did just want to know whether or not Saiki had an issue with being referred to as a male, as they seemed okay with it some days but others they did their equivalent of flinching at the usage of male pronouns. Metori also had a few other questions he wanted answered, though he wouldn't push.
“Alright. What time?”
“I was thinking directly after school, if you’re alright with that. If not I can plan for later or even another day if need be.” Metori offered, smiling invitingly at Saiki. He hoped the other would accept, though he really wouldn’t mind if the other needed him to wait for another day.
“Today is fine. I will meet you at the front gate when school lets out.” Saiki nodded before looking down and resuming what they had been doing, which Metori realized was their math homework. Saiki seemed to have a smart idea, using the ten minute break to get some homework done. Metori honestly admired Saiki for it, even if he didn’t say so aloud.
+++
Kusuo waited outside the school, leaning against the front gate as she waited for Saiko to arrive. For once, Kusuo had gone to school on a girl day, though she’d gone in her male form and uniform. Her body and the repeatedly used male pronouns were… uncomfortable, to say the least. Surprisingly, Saiko had noticed her discomfort. She debated coming out to him while she waited.
“Oh there you are, Saiki. Ready to go?” Saiko approached, and Kusuo just nodded, feeling oddly comforted by the fact the other wasn’t even thinking with gendered pronouns for her. It was an oddly comforting concept, even if he didn’t know that she was a she in that moment. She elected to come out to him if he brought it up.
Five minutes later they're seated in Cafe Mami in Kusuo's usual booth, with Saiko across the table with his back to the door.
"So, I wanted to ask you a few things." Saiko started, his hands folded neatly on the table.
"Then ask. I won't necessarily answer but you can still ask things." Kusuo took the coffee jelly Mera offered her as she spoke.
"Well, alright then. There isn't any softer way of asking this but I'm going to presume you prefer things put bluntly." Saiko took a moment to breathe. Kusuo just ate a spoonful of her coffee jelly while she waited for him to spit out whatever he was going to say.
'What are the right words for this? I know Saiki prefers shorter and to the point conversations but just straight out asking that feels like it'd be disrespectful. Oh well, might as well try it.' Saiko finally opened his mouth to speak. "Are you comfortable with your current gender presentation?"
"No." Kusuo answered easily, relaxing slightly into the booth seat as she ate her coffee jelly.
"Oh. Well, do you have any pronouns you'd like to have used?" Saiko asked, eager to know. Kusuo would've been concerned if it hadn't been purely because the guy wanted to be her friend, and on her terms, too. Better than what the rest of the group did, at least.
"Currently my pronouns are she/her, though sometimes they're he/him or even occasionally they/them. It really just depends on the day." Kusuo shrugged.
"Alright. Do you have anything that signifies your pronouns?" Saiko asked, and Kusuo decided that she probably should get something for future reference, just so the people that knew about her gender fluidity but not her psychic powers would have a clear indicator.
"Other than a name for when I'm female presenting, no. I'll get something, though." Saiko nodded along, though he seemed to catch particularly on the name thing.
"You prefer a different name? If you're comfortable with letting me know what it is I'll use it!" Saiko was practically beaming internally, he wasn't used to people trusting him at all, so for Kusuo, no, Kuriko to tell him these things was like a very precious gift.
"I use the name Kuriko when I'm female presenting, Kusuo when I'm male presenting, and either/or when I'm neither." Kuriko ordered a slice of cake, thankful that Saiko was paying.
"Okay, so your name is Kuriko right now then?" Saiko asked, just wanting to confirm. Kuriko nodded as Mera brought over one of the ordered cakes.
"Oh, and Mera?" Kuriko said as the brown haired girl started to walk away.
"Yeah Saiki?" Mera responded, pausing.
"I'll buy one of those lemon cakes for you if you promise not to tell anyone about what I just said. I trust you, I just don't want any of our schoolmates finding out." Mera nodded, motivated strongly by the offer of food as a bribe. Unsurprisingly, Mera had had no intentions to tell anyone, but Kuriko just wanted to make sure she'd keep it a secret.
"Anyways. Anything else you wanted to ask?"
"Oh, yes actually. What did you mean by it wasn't their first time, when you were talking about the Kokominz a few days ago." Saiko was nervous about what Kuriko's response would be.
"Oh, it's just that they've done it to me before, as well as a few other people. Any male-presenting human not part of the Teruhashi Fanclub that interacts with her too often ends up kidnapped and 'purged', or touched on the face by a hand that hasn't been washed or touched any liquid at all in quite literal years." Kuriko paused to have a bite of her cake before continuing. "I'm honestly more concerned about the sanitary implications and possible complications of that hand touching someone than anything the Kokominz have threatened me with."
'What the fuck. What the absolute fuck. What kind of person does that? Why??' Kuriko silently agrees with Saiko's thoughts. The Kokominz are in no way sane when it comes to Teruhashi. "I'm sorry, they haven't washed it? In years?"
"It hasn't even touched air. The bandages are so old by now that they've crusted over and I'm quite certain the one connected to the hand can no longer fully use it." Kuriko took another bite of cake. "What is more concerning to me is the reason for it. They shook hands with Teruhashi at the opening ceremony on their first day and their hand hasn't touched anything other than those bandages since."
"That… that is insane." Saiko stopped talking, and Kuriko knew it was because he was processing this newfound knowledge.
Kuriko finished her cake in silence while Saiko thought over what she just explained to him. She didn't order another, opting to stop eating sweets for the time being and leave once Saiko realized, though she did order the cake she’d promised for Mera with her own money, quietly telling her to have it on her break.
"Oh! You're done? Do you want to leave?" Saiko asked when he finally noticed. Kuriko nodded, and they walked outside. "So, anywhere in particular you want to go then? Or should I drop you off at your house?"
"House. I just want to change, I was already planning to go shopping this afternoon." Kuriko sat in the car, silently ignoring the mental cheering of Saiko.
"Of course. You heard the lady, get to driving." Saiko turned his attention from Kuriko just to snap the second sentence at the driver, who immediately began driving in the direction of Kuriko's house.
A few minutes later, Kuriko was being welcomed home by her mother as Saiko stood in the door, uncertain of if he should follow the pink haired girl inside her house.
"Oh, Ku, did you bring a friend over?" Kurumi asked upon noticing Saiko standing in the doorway. 'Oh my sweet baby is finally willing to bring her friends over! I'm so proud of you Kuriko!!'
"Oh- hello. I am Saiko Metori, it is nice to meet you." Saiko seemed awkward in this situation. 'Is this her sister? Her cousin? Her mother? She looks very young I can't tell- I should've read up on Kuriko's family before coming here-' and Kuriko is tired of this mess of thoughts.
"I'll be back down in a bit, Mum. I'm going upstairs to change, then I'm going shopping with Saiko." Kuriko hugged her mother before heading upstairs to change.
"Okay honey! Your friend and I will be in the kitchen!" Kurumi yells to her, and Kuriko sighs at her mother's thoughts. 'I need to know how many friends my baby has, and just who they all are! I want to get to know all your friends, not just the ones that come over to drag you out of the house.’
Kuriko just rolls her eyes as she looks through her cardigans to find one to wear over her white, knee length dress. Eventually she settles on the pastel purple one, and as her body finally finishes changing, she slips both things on overtop her white bike shorts.
She also switched out her usual glasses for her round clear pair, as well as her coffee jelly earrings for a pair of pearl earrings her grandmother had insisted she have. Kuriko briefly ponders which shoes she should wear before shrugging and grabbing her white platform Mary Janes to put on at the door.
Kuriko finally heads downstairs, her ruffled sock clad feet silent on the well polished hardwood floors. She briefly checks using clairvoyance to see who is where in the house, silently noting that her father is home and chatting with Saiko in the dining room.
"We can go now." Kuriko says as she walks into the living room, shoes in hand. Saiko stands up from where he'd been sitting at the table before actually looking at Kuriko's outfit, and promptly swallows down the 'offu' that momentarily threatened to escape him.
"Oh, well. You look very nice, Kuriko. Have fun shopping!" Kuniharu says, and Kuriko ignores him in favor of going to hug her mother before they leave.
"Aw, Ku you look so pretty in that!" Kurumi hugs her daughter, beaming all the while as she admires the outfit Kuriko picked out. "Oh, I can't wait to see what you bring back! Have fun, and remember to let us know if you'll be out late!" Kurumi calls as Kuriko and Saiko put their shoes on.
Saiko seems flustered, but Kuriko doesn't feel like focusing her telepathy enough to properly know why. 'If it's important it'll come up later', she thinks as she grabs her messenger bag and they leave the house.
+++
"Oh! Hi Kuriko, I didn't know you were back in the country." Teruhashi sounded genuinely surprised to see Kuriko, though Metori wasn't sure why, nor did he have a clue what she was talking about. He decided to ask Kuriko about it when Teruhashi left.
"Hello, Kokomi." Kuriko said, and Metori was slightly surprised at the casual use of the blue haired goddess' first name. But Kuriko had said they weren't friends, hadn't she? Metori didn't know, but he had a feeling there was some kind of miscommunication going on.
"Oh, that dress looks so good on you! Are you shopping by yourself?" Metori wondered if he should go over to Kuriko or if she'd want to keep talking to Teruhashi. He frowned as he continued walking along the shelves. He'd never been to a mall before, but Kuriko had insisted, so he'd gone with her.
"No, I'm here with a friend." Hearing that brought an odd fluttery feeling to Metori's chest. To think, Kuriko Saiki considered him her friend.
"Oh? Well where is she? I hope she won't mind if I join you two shopping!" Metori frowned as he stopped walking, bending slightly at the waist to look at a bracelet on one of the lower shelves.
"Actually I'm here with a guy. He's over in the jewelry section." Metori heard Teruhashi gasp at the correction, especially given that Kuriko's voice was so flat when she said it. Metori briefly wondered about the implications that sentence could have before waving off the thought as he picked up the bracelet.
It was quite simple, though he'd noticed Kuriko preferred simpler things when it came to fashion. In both of the times he'd seen Kuriko, or Kusuo, dress in an outfit of their own choosing, it usually had an overall theme or color, such as Kuriko's current purple and white ensemble.
"Wait, you brought a guy to go shopping with you? Is it your brother or one of his friends?" Teruhashi gasped before continuing, "oh my god, are you on a date?!"
Metori blinked, in mild shock at the assumption. Can't a guy and a girl just go shopping together and have it be platonic? He frowned as he stood up, deciding he'd show the bracelet to Kuriko to get her opinion before buying it for her. He liked giving gifts to his friends, though he usually checked with the person to ensure that they liked and or wanted it before getting it. He'd learned from his mistakes with Teruhashi, he promises.
"I'm neither with my brother nor am I on a date." Metori could practically hear the slight scowl in Kuriko's voice. He didn't particularly mind that his new friend wasn't all that expressive, since he knew that desserts, or even just sweets in general worked well to get a reaction out of the pink haired teen.
"Then who did you bring with you?" Teruhashi asked, and Metori picked up a pair of pink star earrings before he could stop himself. He didn't really wear any other than the one gold hoop, but he'd been thinking about getting some new earrings anyway and the stars distinctly reminded him of his new friend's hair color.
"Like I said, I brought my friend." Kuriko seemed a little annoyed, now, but the fact that she thought of Metori as her friend was nice nonetheless. He momentarily wondered if it would be weird for him to buy a pair of earrings just because they were the same color as his new friend's hair before shrugging and deciding that he'd get them anyway.
"Can I meet him at least?" Teruhashi asked, pleading. "I just want to get to know you better, we rarely get to hang out, what with you studying abroad."
Now Metori was just plain out confused. How was a miscommunication that big not cleared up? Was it on purpose? Was Kuriko not out to the others at school? It'd make sense, since she didn't like attention, and inevitably coming out publicly tended to draw attention.
"Good grief, fine, you can meet him." Kuriko conceded with a sigh. Metori paused before looking into the aisle he’d left Kuriko in, silently noting the sudden clinginess of Teruhashi upon the pink haired girl. Teruhashi may be pretty, but that didn’t give her the right to be in Kuriko’s personal space. Not even Metori would do that, no matter who he was with.
“Kuriko, I found an acceptable bracelet, even amongst the poor quality items in this store.” Kuriko looked at him with a level gaze, just slightly glaring, though Metori had a feeling it wasn’t aimed at him.
“Oh, Saiko.” Teruhashi seemed to be a bit less radiant at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here with Kuriko of course, it’s not like I would ever shop at these sorts of places on my own without good reason.” He scoffed before turning back to Kuriko, holding out the charm bracelet. “Anyway, I found this bracelet, would you want it?”
Kuriko bent her neck slightly, taking his hand to get a better look at the bracelet. Teruhashi seemed surprised at the casual touching, and even Metori hadn’t been expecting the typically quiet and distant pinkette to suddenly take his hand. He let her, though, glad that she’d felt comfortable enough in their friendship to initiate any type of touch.
“I would.” Her voice was soft as she looked over the silver clasp bracelet, with its white pearls well polished and perfectly round. He nodded, swallowing as she stood upright again and carefully removed her arm from Teruhashi’s grip. Teruhashi seemed to not notice it, though she did narrow her eyes at Saiko. They had only gotten along briefly since he’d started getting closer with Kuriko, which had been when the pink haired teen had been kidnapped by Teruhashi’s so called fanclub.
“So, Saiko. When did you meet Kuriko?” Teruhashi asked after a minute of tense silence on her end.
“I’ve known her for quite a while, why do you ask?” He raised an eyebrow skeptically, looking her up and down briefly. He noted that she wasn’t quite as pretty as Kuriko, when he compared the two, though that might have been because he preferred Kuriko’s simple style to Teruhashi’s complex and somewhat clashing clothing style.
“I was just worried, after all, the way that you interacted with me when we met wasn’t very nice,” she paused before turning towards Kuriko. “Did you know he tried getting your family sent all the way to Siberia because I didn’t want to date him?”
“Yes, I did. He’s better now. He’s significantly less of a pest than he was then, at least.” Kuriko seemed almost, dare he say, fond when she spoke of how much of a prat he’d been when they’d first met, before he’d even thought of getting to know her. He swallowed, looking away.
“Oh.” She didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. “Well, I’m glad you know.”
The group fell into a tense silence, though Kuriko didn’t seem all that bothered as she returned to perusing the clothing options. The other two decided to have a chat elsewhere, leaving Kuriko to browse.
“When did you actually meet her?” Teruhashi demanded after they were out of earshot, on the other end of the store. “And what do you intend to do with her? I know for a fact you aren’t the type to leave a pretty girl like Kuriko as just being your friend.”
“One, rude, and two, I have no intentions to make any sorts of- of moves on Kuriko. That would just be disrespectful to our friendship.” Metori scoffed, scowling at the seemingly furious blue haired girl. Now that he saw her like this, he didn’t feel like she was all that perfect anymore. Or at least not in his opinion. She was still quite nice, but he’d rather not be getting ordered around because he wanted to spend time with his friend only to be accused of preying on her.
“I don’t believe that for a second, but I’m going to trust you for now.” Teruhashi frowned, looking away. “Besides, I need something from you anyways. Since the… accident, with her brother being taken by the Kokominz,” that explained a lot, Metori would have to ask about it later with Kuriko though, “I’ve been worried that they’d do something like that again. I know they’d probably leave him alone if I told them to but I can’t help but worry! Can you make sure the Kokominz aren’t bothering him anymore? Maybe, I dunno, throw some money around or something? Anything, please.”
He scoffed. “As if I hadn’t already done that. Kusuo is perfectly safe, and if anything like that happens again the perpetrator will be sent so far from civilization that they won’t be found.”
“Wait, really? And what do you mean Kusuo? I didn’t know you were that close with him.” She narrows her eyes at him.
“Of course I’m close with Kusuo, he and Kuriko are incredibly close with one another, after all.” Metori is going to have to play along with this, this ruse or whatever it is. He didn’t particularly mind it, but he would need to ask Kuriko about it later. “Why, if you didn’t know that I feel like you’re the one unfit to be calling Kuriko by name.”
“I-! You-! Ugh!” She seemed about to stomp her foot before huffing and stalking off.
Metori patted himself on the back for a job well done before turning around to go back to Kuriko before jumping back in shock at finding the pink haired teen standing behind him, an eyebrow raised as she looked down at him. Kuriko is already taller than he is, and her shoes only add to that. It made for an uncomfortably impressive intimidation tactic. Though, due to the clunkiness of the shoes as well as the hardwood flooring of the shop, he was shocked he hadn’t heard her coming.
“I have a feeling you have questions.” Kuriko began, before motioning towards the front of the store, at the counter. “Let’s pay for what we’re getting and then find somewhere to sit down and I’ll answer what I want to.”
Metori nodded, swallowing as he followed behind her. He insisted on paying for her clothing, even though she had her own card. After he’d paid for her things as well as the two things of jewelry he’d grabbed, he gave her the bracelet before sliding the earrings into his pocket and heading off with her to find a nice, decently quiet cafe so they could chat.
Kuriko ends up being the one to find a place. The coffee shop is small and relatively empty, which is fair, given the time. She tells him to pick a table, handing him her shopping bags before heading up to the counter to order. It wouldn't surprise him if she'd noticed his favorite drink and ordered it for him, she was incredibly perceptive.
A few minutes later and the pink haired teen sits down, passes him a cappuccino, and starts eating the strawberry cheesecake she'd ordered for herself.
"So, uhm." Metori pauses. 'How do I ask this? Is there any kind of thing I should say beforehand?? Would it be rude to just ask upfront why Teruhashi thinks Kuriko is her own sister???' "So, what's up with the sibling-thing you've got going on?"
"Teruhashi, as well as Mera and Yumehara, met me on a day I was out like this at a cafe when Mera seemingly mistook me, in my girls PK Academy uniform, for one of the other two she was meant to be meeting up with. They proceeded to force themselves into my company and at the end of the cafe meeting they were under the impression that I was my own sister. The… misunderstanding was only formed due to the fact I'd still had my school bag with me, and one of them knocked it over and proceeded to go through the spilled schoolbooks." Kuriko continued eating her cake as Metori thought over that information.
"So they did the same thing that the men did with you, except genders were essentially the only thing changed?" Metori frowned. Kuriko rolled her eyes.
"Not really, the guys didn't start off by getting to know me by demanding I tell them who I was, in Yumehara's general words, 'crushing on'. At some point it devolved into Teruhashi pretending I was my male self in an attempt to practice confessing her 'love' for me." Kuriko paused to sip at her own drink, a caramel macchiato from what the order taped to the cup said.
"In truth, I don't think she is in love with me. What she is, is fixating on the fact that I do not instantly say 'offu', and swoon over her when she enters a room. She likely feels that it is a requirement to retaining her image as the perfect pretty girl."
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Metori asked, only to be silenced by Kuriko lifting her index finger as she sipped her drink.
"It isn't that I've thought about it, it's that she doesn't hold any actual interest in anyone, as I've noticed. Anything beyond a platonic relationship with a man makes her uncomfortable, even in theory." Kuriko takes another bite of her cake and swallows before continuing. "The reason she likely feels that she has to have a crush is the common misconception that everyone experiences romantic and or sexual attraction."
"Wow. That's kinda fucked up." Metori blinks. "So like, how sure are you on this?"
"If I am wrong, may God strike me down." Kuriko says calmly, and the formerly dreary grey skies Metori can see through the mall skylight are suddenly cloudless. Metori briefly thinks that the weather suddenly changing is a questionable thing before dismissing it.
"Good to know then- wait. How long have you known about Teruhashi's feelings for you?" Metori is genuinely curious, if the pink haired teen can get that much information on Teruhashi's feelings when the blue haired girl never seems to talk about them, he wonders just when did the other recognize the girl's sudden interest.
"Since before you and I had met. Actually, since before you'd even first seen her. She's been after me for," Kuriko paused, seemingly doing mental calculations. "Close to a year now actually." Kuriko took another bite of her cake.
"And you haven't tried to stop her?" Metori asked, curious but hesitant. He didn't want to come off as rude, especially about this sort of topic.
"Of course I have. She just hasn’t understood the fact that I am not interested.” Kuriko took another bite of her cake. “It isn’t my fault she doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘no’.”
"Oh." Metori stopped, his mind briefly flashing back to when he had done something similar, though on a much larger and more expensive scale, to Teruhashi. ‘I should apologize properly to her. And maybe tell her to stop bothering Saiki when they don’t want her around.’
“So, anything else?” Kuriko asked after finishing off her cake.
“I don’t think so.” Metori replied. “Would you like to get back to shopping?” He offered, hoping that he hadn’t ruined his hopefully first outing with his friend.
“Yes. We still haven’t gotten the main thing we came for, after all.” Kuriko led the way out, and Metori just smiled widely as he followed behind her.
-
“Are you sure, Shun? ‘Cause Saiki doesn’t seem like the type to go to those sorts of stores-” Kuboyasu said, and Kuriko let out a quiet huff.
“Of course I am, Aren! I saw him, I swear I did! Nobody else has that bright pink hair, other than his sister. Either way, it’s a Saiki, so we have to say hi!” Kaidou was excited, and Kuriko allowed herself to glare at a poorly made necklace that lacked the knots between the pearls.
“Put it back, poor quality and likely fake.” Kuriko said quietly to Saiko, who nodded and put it back on the shelf as they continued looking around the jewelry store.
“If you want more jewelry, I wouldn’t be opposed to going to another location. The quality of the things here are… disappointing.” Saiko suggested, and Kuriko shook her head. She didn’t really mind the poor quality, but since she babysat occasionally regardless of her gender or outfit, she’d prefer not to have jewelry that scattered all over the place if it broke.
“Oh hey Saiki!- and Saiko.” Kaidou had been excited until halfway through the sentence, to which his expression dropped. He was essentially glaring, for all that a glare on Kaidou wasn’t scary in the slightest.
“Kaidou, Kuboyasu.” Saiko said coldly, and Kuriko rolled her eyes, grateful that she’d been turned away from the interaction. She didn’t feel like dealing with this, and she was already tired of talking so much, even using her telepathy and mind control.
“Saiko, Saiki.” Kuboyasu said, tense with distrust as he glanced between the ‘sister’ of his classmate and the supposed dickwad that was Saiko Metori, according to Kuboyasu’s thoughts. Kuriko just continued perusing the jewelry, ignoring the tense atmosphere around her.
“I didn’t think someone like you would ever go to a mall like this, man!” Kuboyasu was blatantly tense, though his acting was pretty convincing if you didn’t have psychic powers. If Kuriko weren’t stuck in the middle of teen males posturing, she’d appreciate the skill and effort the purple haired former punk put into being on the straight and narrow.
“Well, usually I wouldn’t, but Kuriko here insisted.” Saiko seemed smug as he said her name, Kuboyasu twitched, and Kaidou probably hurt someone’s ears with his confused scream.
“Wait, you're here with her?!” Kaidou was in his typical overdramatic shocked half-step back pose, and Kuriko wanted to leave now. Almost half the store’s current visitors were looking their way and glaring, or at the least were wondering what was happening.
“Of course I am, we’re friends.” Saiko noticed the sudden attention on them, and glanced at Kuriko, who’d managed to discreetly make it halfway across the small subsection of the store designated for bracelets. He momentarily admired her escape skills before turning back towards the other two, and Kuriko zoned them out as she debated just leaving the store entirely and never coming back.
A few minutes later and Saiko finally made his way to her, the other two no longer with him purely because Kaidou had seen a necklace he liked in a case across the store. Kuriko silently thanked God, even if the bastard almost never did anything in her favor.
"They're terrible, I can't believe you put up with them as often as you do." Saiko declared, sneering in the direction of the other two teens. Kuriko just rolled her eyes as she continued to look at the jewelry available.
"I haven't found anything I particularly like, and this is the only reasonably priced jewelry shop nearby." Kuriko finally complained, and Saiko huffed slightly.
"If you're worried about the costs I don't mind paying for whatever it is that you want." Saiko said, and Kuriko wide-eyed him skeptically as she focused on his thought process. 'I want her to be comfortable, both around me and in general. She deserves to be properly respected. My friends deserve to feel comfortable, no matter what anyone else thinks.'
'Well that's good to know.' Kuriko thought to herself. "Fine. There’s one other place, I just don't go as often since their products are pricey.”
“Just tell the driver the address and we can go wherever you wish.” Saiko said, smiling sweetly at her, unknowing of the sudden attention their conversation had drawn.
Kuriko just nodded, already walking out of the store as she pointedly ignored the screaming minds of Kuboyasu and Kaidou, both of who were panicking over the fact that Saiko Metori was leaving, alone, with the younger sister of their pink haired classmate. She’d deal with them when she had to, she didn’t want to just yet.
They didn’t even make it to the car before Kaidou and Kuboyasu were in front of them, insistent on joining them. Saiko glanced at Kuriko, who just stared into the distance in resignation. She just hoped they could get away with ditching the pair somewhere along the way, and hopefully avoid any more interruptions.
-
Aren continued rambling about a yakuza movie he’d watched with Shun as they walked to where Saiko’s car was supposedly parked, keeping an eye on the rich bastard. Acting as calm as he could, Aren slowly slotted himself between Saiko and Saiki, determined to keep the little sister of one of his first goodie-goodie friends out of the grasp of the corrupt asshole that was Saiko Metori. ‘Tch, calling a girl by her first name and using informal language on their first meeting? What a douchebag.’
“So, how did you two meet?” Shun finally piped in during a lull in conversation, and Aren paused. He hadn’t actually thought to ask, so he was glad Shun was there to ask for him.
“Kusuo introduced us.” Saiko said, glaring at the former punk blocking him from his prey. “How did you two meet Kuriko?”
“Oh, we met her through Teruhashi!” Aren piped in, grinning, though it was more baring of teeth than a smile because how dare this bastard use either of the Saiki siblings first names.
“Metori.” Aren flinched momentarily, looking at the girl in their midst for the first time since leaving the main building of the mall. “I want to go home.”
“Alright. Do you want me to give you a ride or would you prefer to walk? Are you alright with these two going with us to your house? If you don’t want them here I can have some of my bodyguards take them away for the time being.” Saiko’s smugness was nearly tangible by the end of his offer, and Aren found himself dumbfounded at the genuineness of the grey-haired teen.
“I want to go home. I’m tired.” She repeated, and it took Aren a moment to realize the girl might have been uncomfortable with all of the attention on her, if she was anything like her brother. He slowed his pace, allowing for the pink haired girl to rejoin the grey-haired boy, mentally noting that they seemed surprisingly comfortable around each other considering the fact Aren had never seen them interact.
Aren slowed to a stop, Shun joining him as the purple haired teen just observed the two before him. Neither Saiki had ever been all that emotive unless they were eating sweets, and that didn’t change at all with Saiko’s presence. It was the same way with talking. The Saiki siblings didn’t talk much, but Saiko seemed content enough to carry the conversation on his own, letting the younger yet taller teen chime in as she wanted to, something Aren hadn’t noticed.
He decided to let them be, though he swore to himself that if Saiko did anything that either Saiki didn’t like, he’d beat that rich bastard black and blue, no matter the fact that he was on the straight and narrow path now. If someone fucked with Aren Kuboyasu’s friends, they’d be meeting Aren Kuboyasu’s fists in the same way thugs actively sought to challenge.