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“A movie night?” Kuboyasu questioned, leaning on the desk next to Saiki’s. On the other side was Kaido, who nodded seriously.
“To put it simply, yes, but truthfully, this is a meeting to discuss ways to battle the Dark Reunion,” Kaido explained, a shadow falling over his face. “I’ve gathered many old tapes that show people battling demons and other creatures of the abyss. Watching them would help improve our battle tactics.” He lifted his bandaged hand towards his face, a pained look taking over him. “But something is coming. I can sense a sinister energy in the air, likely the work of the Dark Reunion. Any moment now they can—”
“What are you guys talking about?” Nendou said, pulling a screech from Kaido. “Oh? Are you okay, little man?”
“What the hell, Nendou?” Kaido screamed. “You can’t just sneak up on people like that!”
“Pssh, didn’t you sense me?”
“I’m having an off day,” Kaido retorted, giving him a blank look. “Anyway,” he turned back to Kuboyasu and Saiki, “if you have any movies of value, you could bring them along. We need all the knowledge we can get.”
“I got a movie!” Nendou said excitedly. “It’s supposed to be really good, but I don’t want to spoil it for you guys now.”
“Does it have anything to do with demons and ungodly creatures?”
Nendou mulled it over for a minute. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
“Fine,” Kaido sighed heavily, “you can bring it.” Glaring, he added, “It better be up to standards. I’m not wasting my time on any brain dead movies.”
“How about you, Saiki, do you want to come?” Kuboyasu asked as the two bickered over their movie tastes. “It sounds like a good time.”
‘For Kaido, maybe,’ he replied with a slight frown. His eyes went unfocused as he debated his choices. ‘Well,’ he started, pausing for a moment before continuing, ‘I guess I could spare some time. Are you coming?’
Kuboyasu smiled, eyes narrowing into happy crescents. It was always nice to see Saiki being more open to hanging out. After giving him the coffee-flavored treats a few weeks ago, he seemed to warm up to him a bit more, especially when he kept bringing them when he was able to. Whenever he initiated a conversation, Saiki would participate actively, responding with witty remarks laced with dry humor or merely listening, attention fully on him. It was a bit jarring, considering Saiki’s track record for avoiding small talk.
“Of course I am,” Kuboyasu said. “Shun’s pretty excited about it, so I’m definitely going.”
Before Saiki could say anything else, another nuisance made itself known. “What are you peasants going on about now?”
They all turned heads toward the newcomer. “Saiko!”
“It’s none of your business,” Kuboyasu growled, facing Saiko with a fierce glare. Saiko merely rolled his eyes and gave him an unimpressed look.
“We’re having a movie night at the little man’s house,” Nendou said, grinning. “Do you want to come?”
“Nendou! You can’t just invite him like that,” Kaido said in a hushed voice, gaze flitting between him and Saiko nervously.
“What? Why not?”
“A movie night?” Saiko scoffed. “I doubt it’ll be any good with your tiny screens and poorly furnished rooms.”
“We didn’t ask for your opinion,” Kuboyasu shot back, a sneer beginning to form on his face. “Besides, what matters more is the company you’re with, not how fancy the house is.”
Kaido nodded in agreement while Nendou just looked on in confusion. Saiko glared at Kuboyasu, frustration rolling off him in waves. Stupid punk, think you’re better than me? Well, I’ll show you the power of a Saiko.
Saiko harrumphed. “I guess it can’t be helped. You,” he pointed at Kaido, “you’re hosting your movie night at my house. You’ll see the difference between a mediocre on and how a Saiko does it.”
The nerve of the guy. Kuboyasu glared at his retreating back before turning to Kaido. “You okay with this, Shun? I could beat up his bodyguards for you if they try anything.”
“N-No, that’s okay,” Kaido said timidly. “I mean, it probably won’t be so bad, right?”
Right. Saiki doubted it, but as long as Saiko didn’t try anything funny, he was fine with this turn of events. He remembers the room made of sweets in his mansion and his mind began to wander. It’d be great if Saiko offered some again, even if it’s in the guise of flaunting his riches.
As night fell, they all met up in front of Saiko’s mansion. Despite appearing serious and disinterested, Saiki could see they were all excited for the night. He watched in mild amusement as their charade started to crack once they were led inside, with Saiko presenting his cozy theater room, a smug grin plastered on his face. Kaido and Nendou both looked around with child-like excitement in their eyes.
“Woah, this is awesome!” Nendou exclaimed and fell onto the couch full of pillows and blankets.
“Of course it is,” Saiko said, taking a seat on a throne-like chair beside the couch. “What else would you expect from me?” Damn right they should be impressed. I spend a lot of money installing that stupidly large screen and designing this entire room.
“Wow,” Kuboyasu said, previous apprehension now gone as he stared at the ‘stupidly large screen.’ “This is almost the same size as the ones in the movie theater.”
Which reminds me, Saiki thought, watching Kaido dump a bunch of DVDs on the floor, I need to make sure I don’t get spoiled by any of them. I don’t want a repeat of my last experience in a movie theater.
Nendou loomed over Kaido and his pile, scanning over it with a serious expression. “That’s a lot of movies, chibi. Are we gonna watch all of them?”
“Yes, we have to if we want to defeat the Dark Reunion,” Kaido replied fervently.
“I don’t think we can watch all of those in one night, Shun,” Kuboyasu said, squatting down next to him. “I brought some movies too.”
With that, the excitement of being in Saiko’s theater room quickly disappeared as the three started arguing about what movie to watch first.
Good grief, here it comes. Saiki laid his head on his palm and watched them argue from his perch on the corner of the couch, their thoughts too jumbled together for him to catch any spoilers, luckily enough. From what he could see, Kaido’s movies were all fantasy, while Kuboyasu had a mix of action and historical ones. Nendou only had one movie, but Saiki couldn’t see what it was about since the cover had been removed from its case. He could sense Saiko’s disdain from the corner of the room, but he remained silent. With no signs of the argument abating, Saiki sighed and decided to eat the coffee jelly Saiko had stashed in the mini fridge for all of them.
(It was absolutely heavenly and Saiki felt his own disdain towards Saiko lessen a little bit as a result.)
He had already gone through three coffee jellies when Nendou let out a shout. “I don’t care what you say! I’m putting in the movie I brought.”
“Idiot, you can’t do that! We all decided to take a vote,” Kaido scolded.
“Maa, just let him,” Kuboyasu said, leaning back on the couch next to Saiki’s legs. “We’ve been arguing for almost an hour.”
‘Smartest thing you’ve said all day,’ Saiki said, taking another bite of coffee jelly. Kuboyasu tilted his head up and stared at him. Saiki maintained eye contact as he continued eating.
Kuboyasu grinned. “How many of those have you eaten?”
‘Three,’ Saiki replied, unbothered. ‘Did you want some?’
“Nah,” he said, pushing himself off the floor and onto the space beside Saiki, “I would have given you my share anyway.”
Kuboyasu gazed at him fondly and Saiki quickly looked away, using his powers to fend off the rising blush on his cheeks.
‘How generous of you,’ Saiki quipped and chewed on his spoon lightly. He watched Nendou put on the movie with the help of Saiko’s butler, willing his nerves to calm down before he accidentally bites the spoon in half. Kuboyasu huffed out a small laugh and pulled a blanket over them, settling further into the soft couch. Discreetly, Saiki put on his Germanium ring.
“Oi Nendou, what’s your movie about anyway?” Kaido said, ripping open a bag of chips as Nendou plopped down beside him. “All you said was that it was really good and had a lot of action in it.”
“I already told you, it’s a surprise,” Nendou said smugly.
The lights dimmed and the two quieted down, shoveling down their snacks as the movie started. Saiki was tempted to fall asleep within the first few minutes. The introductory scenes were so boring and stale that his hopes of this being a decent movie instantly plummeted.
Ah well, this is Nendou we’re talking about. Saiki glanced to the side and saw that they were all fairly invested in the movie. Or maybe it’s just me. Hm. He shook his head and tried to watch the movie again.
Luckily for him, things were beginning to pick up pace, but on the other hand…
“What the hell?” Kuboyasu bursts out as the lead actress screams at the sight before her. Spindly legs break through a large egg, revealing an alien creature with several beady eyes and twitching antennae.
Saiki instantly stiffened, overcome with disgust and fear. He felt his skin crawl as more aliens appeared on screen, screeching and chasing people all over the city. They looked like regular bugs only oversized. He pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Damn it Nendou. His ire increased at the sound of him laughing his head off, apparently finding the aliens funny-looking. There was nothing funny about this. If an alien invasion were to occur with these kinds of creatures, he would probably teleport to another country and wait it out. Let Nendou and some other idiots deal with them.
He removed his Germanium ring without a second thought, deciding that looking into his friends’ minds was much better than watching this hell of a movie.
Saiko, at the very least, appeared equally grossed out, wondering if this is what poor people enjoyed in their free time. Surprisingly, Kaido didn’t seem too bothered. His mind was racing with ideas on how to counter an alien invasion, if the Dark Reunion were to resort to that kind of thing.
Well, there’s the other idiot, Saiki thought wryly. He and Nendou should team up when the time comes.
Beside him, Kuboyasu was critiquing the fight scenes, morbidly intrigued with the guts and gore of it, to Saiki’s horror. Yes, this clearly warranted a nap. Saiki refused to watch any longer or else he’d teleport home at the slightest chance he got.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, a loud screech filled the room and an alien creature lunged at the camera, right towards his face. Oh shit. Saiki barely managed to stop an explosion from happening and grabbed Kuboyasu’s arm without thought, closing his eyes tightly as he concentrated on controlling his instinctive reaction.
Kuboyasu shifted his attention from the movie when he felt a weight on his arm. Hmm? What was that— His eyes widened in surprise when he turned to see Saiki’s frozen form, face scrunched up as he held his arm in a death grip.
“Saiki?” he whispered, shaking him a little. “Hey, you alright?” What the hell happened? Is he sick? Well, he did eat three of those coffee jellies. But he doesn’t look hurt, so probably not that. Fuck. Maybe he’s scared of the movie?
Before he could reach a conclusion, Saiki retracted his hand. ‘Sorry,’ he murmured, face quickly smoothing over as he moved away from Kuboyasu. ‘It startled me a little.’
“S’alright,” Kuboyasu murmured back, face still pinched with worry. “Are you sure you’re okay though?”
‘I’m fine,’ Saiki said, a bit annoyed. ‘I just...don’t like bugs.’
Bugs? Kuboyasu looked to where Saiki was glaring and connected the dots. Oh. He glanced back at Saiki and saw him tense, clearly trying to be brave when all he wanted was to get the hell out of dodge. So he was scared after all.
Kuboyasu’s protectiveness surged at how small Saiki looked, all curled up in the corner of the couch. He glanced back and forth from the movie to his lap, trying to look unaffected as he watched with a grimace on his face. Who knew his uptight, little friend was scared of bugs of all things? He clenched his fists to stop himself from grabbing Saiki and shielding him from the movie with a crushing hug. I swear to you, Saiki, from now on, I’ll fight any bug that comes your way.
He saw him wince when the movie gave another close up of the aliens and moved before he could reconsider his actions. Quietly, he lifted his arm and carefully wrapped it around the shorter teen, pulling him closer to his side. He felt his face warm when he saw Saiki glance at him from the corner of his eye, but he resolutely looked ahead, not offering an explanation to his actions.
Which wasn’t needed since Saiki took one look into his mind and internally groaned. Is he serious? Saiki rubbed his face, another blush threatening to take over. Idiot. He shifted a little in his seat and made himself comfortable, laying his head on Kuboyasu’s chest. How do I have a crush on such an impulsive yet charming idiot?
Said idiot stiffened at the initiated contact, eyes wide and glued to the screen. Holy shit. I thought I was gonna get chewed out for this.
Saiki smirked, vindicated by Kuboyasu’s internal panic. He closed his eyes and minutely relaxed, tuning out the movie as best as he could. Although in hindsight, he should have moved away before anyone noticed. Being woken to Kaido’s starry-eyed gaze and Saiko’s assessing look was more attention than he’d like.