Work Text:
It would only take seconds for Saiki to assemble the cheap, pressboard bookshelf for his and Aiura’s new apartment. He discarded the directions and set to work snapping pieces into place with the power of his mind, rather than of tools. Then he realized he had a piece on backwards. And was there a connector piece missing?
Good grief, he cursed, as he restored the shelf to its original, unassembled state. Pride wounded, he grabbed the instruction manual. So that’s what his problem was… He’d used an A piece where he should have used a J piece.
When he concentrates like that, he looks just like his dad! Ew, Aiura thought, amusing herself with a DIY project of her own–putting contact paper on all of the shelves in the kitchen cabinets.
“Please don’t compare me to my dad,” Saiki requested.
“Oops,” Aiura said, realizing that she’d been caught. “But you really do look like him sometimes.”
Saiki shook his head. He always felt like he took after his mom’s side of the family more. But maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.
“It’s okay,” she said, setting her roll of contact paper and scissors down and crossing the room. She caressed his cheek. “I’ve got a shitty dad too.”
He shrugged. “He’s not completely shitty.”
“Neither is mine. But he’s still shitty.” Aiura sat with her legs crossed in front of him on the floor, handing him pieces from the pile as he pointed, like he couldn’t just grab them with telekinesis. You don’t have to like the guy, you know?
It was true, Saiki didn’t really like his dad. He was whiny, irresponsible, irrational, jealous, petty, and resentful. And even though he wasn’t much of a father to Saiki, he still took advantage of his powers, making him teleport him to work or restore him, even when it was just a stubbed toe. At the same time, Saiki couldn’t really blame him. Both of his sons outgrew him before they finished elementary school and made him feel useless and emasculated. It wasn’t their fault, though. Kusuke was a genius and Kusuo was a psychic.
His mom would have probably been just as pathetic as his dad if it weren’t for her totally clueless, airhead personality. She probably never stopped to think about the fact that her sons barely needed her. So she mothered them anyway. His dad wasn’t so oblivious, but he could have at least pretended.
“I didn’t really need him, anyway,” Saiki concluded.
“I’m totes doing fine without my old man, too,” Aiura said. “I mean, like, thanks to you, really. Who needs a dad when I have you to take care of me?” She beamed at him, her eyes crinkling at the edges. He was sure she didn’t mean it. Not totally, anyway. She wished her dad was in her life, but he wasn’t. Busy with work and women. Her parents split when she was in her third year of high school, but she was used to never seeing him by that point anyway. Her parents had agreed to let her move away from home in her second year to attend PK Academy. Neither were the hands on type, but for her dad, she was out of sight and out of mind.
If Saiki were in a more sadistic mood, he would accuse her of liking him because of her daddy issues. Instead, he decided to be grateful. Even if his dad resented him, he was still around. He was always begging Saiki to come home and visit, to let him come around and visit him. Saiki always thought there was an ulterior motive, something his dad wanted from him. But that wasn’t always true. Somewhere deep inside, his dad loved him, in his own feeble way.
“I’m sorry about your parents,” Saiki said eventually, putting the final peg into the final slot to correctly assemble the bookshelf. “My dad sucks, but he’s never forgotten about me.” Saiki had more thoughts on the matter, but didn’t want to say anything more, to avoid hurting her feelings. We have opposite problems. Your parents can take care of you, but choose not to. My dad desperately wanted to take care of me, but didn’t know how.
“Yeah, that’s true. And he likes me, so he can’t be all bad, right?” Aiura nudged Saiki with her elbow. She was right. Even though his dad had been on team Teruhashi while he was in high school, once he found out that Saiki was with Aiura, he was just glad that he’d found someone at all. He supported their relationship, was over the moon that Saiki had someone that knew his secret and still cared for him. His dad, perhaps more than anyone, knew how difficult it could be to accept him.
“Whatever,” Saiki decided. “Family is not everything.” He quickly put the bookshelf in its place and sorted all of their books onto it. They mostly belonged to Saiki, but Aiura had a few shoujo manga volumes that she swore up and down that she hadn’t looked at since middle school. He knew she liked to re-read them, though.
“You’re my family now,” Aiura said, her face turning pink, embarrassed by her sentimentality.
Saiki nodded. “Okay,” he said, his own face feeling warm. It should be obvious, but saying it outloud felt so real. They were living together. They bought furniture together. They were planning their future together. They were a family, even just the two of them.
“And you are everything… to me.” Aiura watched as the final book flew, as if by magic, onto the shelf.
Saiki tugged her by the shoulder to his side, initiating physical affection in a rare display.
She leaned her head onto his shoulder.
Once they got things set up, Saiki decided he would call his parents and invite them over. Now that Saiki didn’t live at home anymore, his dad didn’t need to try to be a caretaker. Maybe this could be the chance for them to have a bond, one that wasn’t sullied by his dad’s insecurities and inferiority complex?
And Aiura could probably use a few more family members. Even if they weren’t the most capable, at least they were present.
“Thank you,” Saiki said.
“What for?” Aiura asked, leaning away to look at him with a puzzled expression. She didn’t even realize all the ways she helped him, all the new perspectives she showed him.
But he gave a simpler answer. “For being my family.”