Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Honestly, this isn't the most terrible way to die. Teruhashi mused, idly kicking a few pebbles off the side of the cliff. They clattered to the bottom of the forest, slowly falling out of earshot as they neared the ground. Teruhashi giggled lifelessly. A month ago, she wouldn't have been able to kick stones around like that. Being a perfect pretty doll is really different from being a broken doll, huh? 

She peeked over the edge of the cliff, glazed eyes taking in the long fall. She giggled again, an empty sound forced out through dry lips, and straightened. One last chance to be imperfect, I suppose. 

She jumped.

As she fell, she closed her eyes against the forceful winds. Some distant part of her wondered if Imu had felt the same swooping sensation in her stomach when she’d jumped from the very same cliff, just one month before. If Imu had felt fear or pain while plummeting down to her death, or if it had been immediate and painless. She wondered if Imu had regretted it. Regretted Teruhashi. She hoped not. Teruhashi had made up her mind to do this for Imu’s sake, after all. Both for Imu and herself. 

Soon we'll be together again, Imu. Just like I promised that day when they found you here. 

Oh no you don’t. a familiar voice sounded in her mind, and Teruhashi stopped in mid-air.

She stared blankly at the misty forest far beneath her, slowly processing what just happened. Her body was frozen hundreds of metres above the ground, yet she couldn’t feel anyone or anything grabbing her—and even if she did, how could they possibly be holding her up so effortlessly?

…and why had the voice seemed like it originated from inside her head, and not from whoever was behind her? This must be her subconscious conjuring some imaginary situation while her dying body lay lifeless on the ground.

Teruhashi turned emotionlessly to face her imaginary(?) rescuer, and was met with a frustrated-looking Saiki. She blinked. Stared at how he was floating in mid-air. Processed how his hand was outstretched as if he was the one holding her in place, thousands of metres above the unforgiving ground.

Teruhashi blinked again.

She asked, “Are you a hallucination?”

Saiki looked...terrible, in short. Twin eye bags sat underneath his neon green glasses, and he looked pale. Well, paler than usual, anyway. He looked so exhausted that Teruhashi wouldn't have been surprised if he said he was holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. Rubbing his nose bridge with his other non-outstretched hand, Saiki just sighed. How rude.

He flicked his wrist, and Teruhashi was gently moved back to safe ground and softly placed onto the very same cliff she had just jumped off. Saiki followed behind her, landing gracefully beside her as she was put down. Still disoriented and confused, Teruhashi’s sluggard brain inadvertently turned to Saiki’s magical-seeming flying. It reminded her of some American superhero…Superman or something?

Saiki snorted. The sound echoed in her empty mind. Teruhashi tilted her head at a perfect 45˚ angle. Old habits die hard, after all. Especially if you've been perfect all your life. Did I say that out loud? 

Ah, no—well I suppose there’s no hiding it now. I’m a psychic. I have a multitude of powers including telepathy, psychokinesis, teleportation, psychometry, and many others. I tracked you down and stopped your—you in time thanks to these powers. And yes, I am currently using telepathy to communicate with you. Saiki replied, still using that strange…telepathic(?) voice. Teruhashi nodded along, too unfocused to notice how he had stumbled over addressing her suicide attempt. 

How strange, Teruhashi pondered. I've heard of people hallucinating people that they loved dearly before they died, but Saiki is merely an old crush from months ago. Is my brain unable to conjure an image of Imu because she's dead? Funny that my brain decided an exhausted Saiki with superpowers is a better choice of hallucination than the one I loved with all my heart. 

That’s not—ah, whatever. You’ll see soon enough, I guess. Saiki’s voice piped up in her mind again. I hope you’re not too disorientated to be unable to recognise her. She’s been waiting for you, you know. Nearly worried herself sick when she saw how you were doing. 

As Teruhashi’s addled brain pondered sluggishly over how strange this pre-death/post-death hallucination was, Saiki’s hand rested lightly on her shoulder. Too caught up in her thoughts, she barely noticed until their surroundings seemed to almost shift and turned into a normal-looking bedroom. 

With Imu standing in front of her, alive and well.

Chapter Text

Teruhashi blinked. Her brain swam in and out of focus, her limbs too heavy to function, as if she were in a dream or sinking slowly into slime. What in the world…?

Imu slapped her. 

Teruhashi, completely not expecting the slap, jerked to the side and stumbled as her brain abruptly snapped back into reality. She raised a shaky hand to her stinging cheek, confused about what had just happened. 

Suddenly, she was wrapped up in warmth and the familiar scent of Imu and home , and froze, brain struggling to process. 

“How could you just give up like that? The Kokomi I knew wouldn’t have just…ran away a-and jumped off a fucking cliff —” the girl-who-looked-like-Imu-and-smelled-like-Imu wailed as she hugged Teruhashi so tight Teruhashi could barely breathe. 

Teruhashi was frozen. She stared perplexedly at the girl-who-could-not-possibly-be-Imu who was currently sobbing into her shoulder, heart pounding and head filled with static. Imu…? But Imu was dead, her corpse lying at the bottom of that cliff. Teruhashi had seen for herself at Imu’s funeral, after all. This person, who was hugging her right now, couldn’t be Imu. Imu was dead and gone, and Teruhashi…should have been, too. So what was this?

“A-Are you real?” Teruhashi croaked, voice cracking as her perfect teal eyes watered with salty tears. 

Imu sniffed and looked up at her. “Of course I’m real, you idiot!”

Teruhashi released a sob that sounded like her heart was being wrenched out of her chest. She raised her trembling hands up to the sides of Imu’s face, cupping her lover’s cheeks tenderly before leaning in. Imu smiled tearily and met her in the middle with a soft kiss, both of them savouring this precious moment. 

Saiki coughed. Telepathically, but whatever. I’ll leave you two to talk together, then. I’ll be downstairs if anyone needs me, just think my name and I’ll come up. He teleported quietly away, leaving the two to their tearful reunion. 

“I-I thought you—” Teruhashi choked through her crying, delicately holding the girl she loved as if Imu was so fragile she'd shatter and disappear into dust at any moment. 

Imu sniffled and buried her head in Teruhashi’s chest. “I thought so too, but Saiki saved me. He said that his psychic powers made him aware of our relationship, and that when he sensed I was planning to…you know, he followed me to where I was going to j—where I was going to do it, and he stopped me.” She snuggled into Teruhashi’s side, and even though she tried to hide it Teruhashi could tell she was trembling like a leaf. 

Teruhashi hugged Imu a little tighter, her heart aching as she thought of everything Imu had to go through. Alone, no less. She was so useless, so pathetic —Teruhashi cut off that train of thought before it festered into something worse. Now was not the time to spiral. Her girlfriend needed her. 

Imu continued with her voice muffled from where she had tucked her face into Teruhashi’s chest. “He basically talked sense into me, and he let me stay at his place until I felt ready to return to reality. His parents are really nice, they’ve just been going along with it all. He said he’ll take care of everything so that I wouldn’t have to face my friends and family…and you. Not yet, at least.”

Teruhashi closed her eyes, gently patting Imu’s head to encourage her to let everything out. She wished so hard to take all of the pain in Imu’s voice away, for her to just be okay. It hurt her to hear the scars in her lover’s voice, but that was the cost of being a perfect pretty girl, wasn’t it? A cost both Imu and her couldn’t bear. 

“Then, a week ago, he told me that you…you’ve started thinking those thoughts too. He tried to mentally nudge you away from them, but he said it was like you’d completely lost your will to live. Yesterday…he came home looking so pale and worried, even his friends were concerned. He said that you were going to do it today, and…” Imu stopped as her breathing turned ragged and she started sobbing into Teruhashi’s front again. 

Sensing her shaking, Teruhashi buried her face into Imu’s hair and rubbed soothing circles into her back, hoping that it would help somehow. 

“I…I was so fucking scared that I was going to lose you, and this morning, when Saiki left to stop you…I couldn’t stop seeing you, just lying on the ground, lifeless a-and—” Imu choked on her words and fell silent. 

“I’m sorry.” The two words were whispered quietly in the sudden silence. Teruhashi released a heavy sigh, sounding so exhausted that Imu could almost picture the enormous weight on her shoulders. 

“I was a coward. I didn’t want to live in a world without you, so I took the easy way out. I…I shouldn’t have just given up on myself like that. I was wrong about being alone in a world without you, huh? I had Saiki…and so many others that were genuinely worried about me. Even if I didn’t have them…I should’ve continued to live on, for you. I’m sorry,” Teruhashi murmured into Imu’s hair, the blonde strands swimming in and out of her vision as tears leaked from her eyes. 

Imu shook her head vigorously in response. “No, it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. A lesser person who had to deal with everything you did would have given up even sooner. You were so, so strong, okay? You did amazing. I love you.”

Teruhashi went still at those soft, warm, words said with so much love and conviction. She didn’t deserve any of them—any of the care that Imu was watching her so lovingly with. No. I do deserve them. Imu loves me, and that means that I somehow, miraculously, deserve that love. I didn’t trick her into believing that I deserve it. She genuinely thinks that I deserve all of this. 

…and maybe someday I’ll believe that I deserve her love, too. 

Teruhashi sobbed brokenly into Imu’s arms. She’s been so tired. Tired of fighting the insecurities that arose whenever she glanced in the mirror at her exhausted reflection. Tired of the endless hounding from everyone around her, none of which she could trust because they all had ulterior motives, all wanted something from the perfect pretty girl of PK academy. 

Tired of being alone, without the one person who would’ve understood everything she was going through. 

Imu cried softly with her, both of them wrapping their arms so tightly around the other until the two couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended. 

Saiki pushed open the door softly, muffling the quiet creaks of the hinges with a thought. He hid a small smile at the pile of two deeply asleep girls on the wooden floor, contorted in rather uncomfortable-looking positions. Extending a hand, he lifted them gently with his telekinesis and placed the two of them in more comfortable sleeping positions on his bed. 

Half-asleep, Imu stirred slightly as Saiki was covering them in a blanket which he warmed up beforehand with his pyrokinesis. Upon seeing Teruhashi beside her on the bed, Imu groggily snuggled into her girlfriend’s side and returned back to sleep with a murmur of she’s here, she’s safe, you’re okay.

With his secret smile still firmly on his face, Saiki closed his bedroom door and left the two to sleep. I suppose I don’t mind sleeping on the couch again tonight.

Chapter Text

Teruhashi was standing on the edge of that cliff again, except this time Imu was with her. Distantly, she felt herself sobbing, but her brain drifted in and out of focus. She watched herself grab onto Imu. She watched as Imu shook her off with no emotion on her face, like a hollow shell of the Imu she knew. She watched as Imu stepped backwards. 

She felt nothing as her only reason for living walked backwards off of a cliff. 

As if a switch was flipped, the world crashed down around her right at that moment and she snapped back to reality, shaking. She was kneeling on the cliff with salty tears drying on her face and her stinging throat raw from her screaming. Somewhere deep in her heart, she knew this couldn’t be real, because she remembered seeing Imu alive, talking to Imu, falling asleep with Imu in her arms—but still she inched towards the edge, fearful of what she would find. 

Vaguely, she tasted iron on the tip of her tongue and realised she had chewed the inside of her cheek bloody and raw. Even so, she gripped the rocky ground that dug into her palms and dragged herself to the edge, trembling from dread. 

Teruhashi looked down from the cliff shakily, expecting to see something, I don’t know, anything —but before she could get a good look, she felt a shove from behind. 

Teruhashi fell. 

As she plummeted, she turned to see who had pushed her so cruelly from behind her back, eyes wide with fear and confusion. Imu stared back with those soft eyes, wearing that same warm smile that she always reserved for the blue-haired girl, and spoke. 

The winds that assaulted Teruhashi from all fronts and the static screaming in her head blocked out Imu’s words, but she saw them anyway. 

You did this to me, Imu mouthed, her loving gaze morphing into something hateful and filled with spite in a second. Teruhashi just stared blankly back at her, the words ringing in her ears as her mind tore itself into two trying to decide if those five words were the truth —no, they’re a lie—you know they’re true—stop—

No Saiki swooped in to save her this time as she smashed painfully into the rocks below—

Everything disappeared in a second, and the fear and anxiety that had been racing in her head vanished like dust on the wind. She was surrounded by a warm darkness, floating aimlessly. Logically, Teruhashi knew she should be screaming, kicking out, fighting against this strange nothingness that had appeared out of nowhere. She tried to summon the urge to do so, but an odd calmness had settled over her like an especially tight hug. 

She just drifted along quietly, feeling the calmest she had in a while.

Back in the much more real world, Saiki released a sharp sigh and leaned backwards from where he had been kneeling. Imu mirrored him, albeit with tears still dripping from her lashes. 

“She’s okay now?” Imu asked, more to reassure herself than as an actual question, but Saiki still responded with a nod. Just a nightmare. Don’t worry, I left her consciousness in a safe and warm place, he added, rubbing the bridge of his nose with another tired sigh. With any luck, she’ll stay there for the rest of the night, but I don’t mind staying up if you’re that worried. 

Imu squeaked as Saiki saw right through her quiet deliberation on how to politely ask him to keep an eye on Teruhashi until morning. Seems like I’m still not used to his telepathy…   

With that settled, the blonde turned her attention back to Teruhashi, who was now sleeping peacefully with her head on Imu’s lap. Her calm appearance was a far cry from the screaming and kicking which had woken Imu just moments before, and her somehow still-perfect appearance didn’t help either. Or maybe I’m just biased because I love her, Imu thought idly, staring down at her only reason to keep on living. 

She doesn’t deserve any of this. She doesn’t deserve to be haunted by nightmares, or to scream and fight against some unimaginable force in the middle of the night. She did nothing wrong. 

Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s because I was too greedy—who was I to think that I deserved someone as wonderful and angelic as Kokomi—

That’s not true. A soft voice cut through Imu’s spiralling and she jumped, straightening from where she had started to curl into herself. She met Saiki’s eyes, distorted slightly by his neon green glasses, and shrunk away from his sharp gaze. Feels like he can see right through me—oh right, he can… Imu sighed, but it was cut off by the voice that rang in her head, clear as day and steady as ever. 

We’ve been over this. You did nothing wrong. You were scared, you were burdened and you were suffering. Take your own advice. A lesser person who had to deal with everything you did would have given up even sooner. Heck, even I probably would’ve given up quicker than you.

And what happened in the past doesn’t matter. What matters is the choices you make from there, and what lies ahead. Live for her, if you can’t live for yourself just yet. 

Imu looked down, tips of her ears heating up. That’s right, she’d just told Kokomi that it wasn’t her fault…so why couldn’t she do the same for herself? What a pathetic failu—

“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to hit you.”

Imu was startled out of her thoughts— oh, I was spiralling again —and her eyes clashed straight into a bright blue gaze. Kokomi was sitting up, staring at her with a determined expression. 

“I mean it. I’ll hit you. I still owe you a slap from when you hit me this afternoon,” Kokomi continued, her tone serious and unfaltering. Saiki, the sneaky bastard , teleported away silently and left them alone. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. You two needed to talk everything out sooner or later, he snarked from downstairs like a coward , and Imu mentally flipped him off while shifting uncomfortably under Kokomi’s unwavering stare. 

“Hey, c’mon, look at me. I’m not angry, I promise. Please, Imu?” Kokomi brushed a strand of Imu’s hair away, and rested her palm gently on Imu’s cheek. Imu looked up to see sparkling cerulean eyes watching her, with a soft warmth in their gaze that made Imu crumble. 

A vague sense of deja vu settled over Imu as she broke down just as Kokomi had hours before, while Kokomi pulled her into a tight embrace and murmured quiet words of reassurance into her hair. Imu cried brokenly, and tried to fight weakly against Kokomi’s hold because dammit, I’m—

Communication, please. Don’t make me connect your brains with telepathy again, I’m tired. A dry voice rang in her mind, and she grumbled vaguely at it but dutifully heeded its advice. 

“ I’m supposed to be the one comforting you, not the other way around!” Imu pushed the words out through clenched teeth, but Kokomi was unfazed. 

“You deserve to be comforted too, dummy. We both do. Now sit still and let me cuddle you ,” she spoke into her lover’s hair, stubbornly holding Imu in a hug even as the blonde fought to escape from it. She gently ran her fingers through Imu’s hair, humming the tune of a song she distantly recalled, and held her until the struggling slowly faded into sobbing. 

They sat there for a while, one rocking back and forth while humming a quiet tune and the other clutching the back of the former’s shirt and crying her heart out. The world seemed to have quieted down around them, and even the shining moon watched silently from the sky as the soft sobs and gentle humming slowly faded away to silence.

Chapter Text

It’s been two weeks since Teruhashi threw herself off a cliff. Two weeks since Saiki flew in like Walmart Superman ( hey, watch it, who’s the one who’s sacrificing his room for you? ) and brought her here. Two weeks since she reunited with—her breath, her meaning, her life—her Imu. 

Honestly, it still felt like one huge fever dream. 

Teruhashi stared as Imu idly tapped on her phone, the incessant meowing from her phone implying that she was watching cat videos. She watched, entranced by her girlfriend’s beauty, by how her silky golden hair caught the afternoon sunlight at just the right angle, by how her dark green eyes shone like scattered sea glass, by how her pink lips were curled upwards in a smile and parted slightly—

“What is it, Koko?”

Teruhashi startled so badly she nearly fell off the edge of the bed from which she was staring at Imu. She sputtered a flustered, “N-nothing!” before flushing entirely red. Imu just smiled teasingly in response, as if she had Saiki’s telepathy and had heard all of Teruhashi’s mental pining. Man, Teruhashi was really so lucky to have such a gorgeous, kind, amazing, talented, adorable girlfriend…

I’m going out to buy coffee jelly so I can maintain my sanity, Saiki’s voice filtered through her melting goo pile of a brain. Both of you, if you’re going to pine for each other so loudly, at least do it verbally so it’s worth my suffering. The front door clicked shut as his mental voice finished speaking, leaving the two of them frozen on his bed. 

“Ah—it seems I’ve been caught by our mutual telepathic friend,” Imu chuckled and put down her phone. Teruhashi blinked. Imu…had been thinking about her too? Wasn’t she watching cat videos just a second ago?

As if sensing her confusion, Imu grinned and confessed, “I stopped paying attention to my phone fifteen minutes ago. My girlfriend is just too darn pretty for me to not stare!” To prove her point, Imu pushed herself up and carefully made her way to the foot of the bed, where Teruhashi was laying. 

Settling down beside her, Imu leaned forward until their noses were nearly touching. “See?” she whispered, “Too. Darn. Pretty.”

Teruhashi could physically feel the steam escaping from her ears. She opened her mouth to—say what? She didn’t even know how to process what just happened. 

So, her brain naturally resorted to short-circuiting. Teruhashi felt herself flush to the roots of her hair, and the back of her neck burned with embarrassment. Imu caught on immediately, and grinned playfully. “Hey now, who was the one who was being all smooth just a few days ago? What, can’t handle a little compliment from your amazing girlfriend?” she teased, giggling softly. 

Teruhashi mumbled something under her breath, face still burning like her sense of dignity had been during the last minute. Imu blinked, tilting her head to the side. “I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say, Koko?”

“I…it’s because it’s you that’s complimenting me,” Teruhashi muttered, downcast eyes resulting in her long, blue lashes casting perfect shadows over her face. “That’s why I’m flustered.”

Just like that, and suddenly Imu’s traitorous heart was racing in her chest. She felt a blush creeping onto her face and valiantly fought it back down with an obviously fake cough. Imu tried to scramble backwards as discreetly as possible because—god, she’s an idiot, what made her think being so close to Koko’s face wouldn’t give her a literal heart attack? She was so down bad for her that it wasn’t even deniable at this point. Teruhashi knew damn well what she was doing, didn’t she?

Teruhashi did, in fact, know damn well what she was doing. With another shy glance at Imu, she fluttered her impeccable eyelashes to emphasise her shimmering eyes. “You just caught me off guard for a moment there, Imu-chan. P-please don’t tease me like that!” she pouted, cheeks slightly pink with just the right amount of blushing to make Imu’s heart start erratically beating again. 

Teruhashi knew she had won their little contest-game the second Imu buried her flaming face in her hands. Just to rub it in, she leaned forward until Imu could feel her breath tickling her ear and whispered, “Don’t hide your adorable blush, I want to see what I’m doing to you.”

Imu’s breath caught in her throat and she squeaked, scrambling backwards until her back hit the wall. Teruhashi contemplated for a second following after her girlfriend and trapping her against the wall—hey, a perfect girl could have her fantasies—but settled on teasing Imu for her scarlet cheeks. 

“You’re so mean,” Imu sulked, but couldn’t hold back her smile at seeing Teruhashi so bright and happy. If it meant that she could watch her girlfriend practically glow from joy forever, she’d happily suffer from nosebleeds and heart attacks from her for the rest of her life. 

I’m home. The sound of Saiki’s voice in their heads barely alarmed them due to their familiarity with his telepathy after two weeks. Come downstairs, I got some pastries for you two. 

Teruhashi gasped in delight. “You think he got them from that one really good pastry shop? The one with the egg tarts?”

Imu giggled, “You and those egg tarts. I swear that at this point it’s an entire obsession.” Teruhashi poked her in the forehead in retaliation, and Imu responded by sticking out her tongue playfully. 

Hey, hurry up, or my dad’s going to steal all the food. Saiki’s cool voice warned them. Teruhashi and Imu near-threw themselves off the bed and shot through the door to go downstairs before Mr Saiki’s keen senses for detecting food beat them to it.

Teruhashi skidded into the kitchen first, but followed immediately after by a laughing Imu who nearly bowled her over. Only Saiki’s telekinesis stopped the both of them from ending up in a giggling pile on the floor. 

Come on, the pastries are getting cold and I’m not going to heat it up for you again. He pointed towards the box on the table from where he sat, enjoying his coffee jelly as always. 

Imu plodded towards the offered box, followed closely by Teruhashi. It was, in fact, that specific pastry shop that Teruhashi had been craving since the first time Saiki got it for them. The egg tarts were snatched up by the blue-haired girl instantly, and Imu happily took the remaining croissants which were still warm and crispy. The two of them sat down opposite Saiki, who was still shamelessly devouring his seemingly endless cups of coffee jelly.

When she was on her third croissant, Imu noticed that Saiki had polished off his last coffee jelly and was sitting patiently, as if waiting for them to finish. Licking the crumbs off her lips, she straightened and cocked her head at him curiously, knowing he could read her thoughts. 

Ah, don’t mind me. I can wait. I think your girlfriend would prefer to take her time with her egg tarts, after all. He tilted his head gratefully at her as he projected a reply. Assured that it wasn’t anything urgent, Imu turned to look at Teruhashi. 

The breath was sucked from her lungs. 

Teruhashi looked…otherworldly. The sunlight streamed through the downstairs window, catching her fingers at just the right angle as she held up a glistening egg tart. A soft breeze from the open window floated past her, fluttering her hair in a truly ethereal manner. The moment seemed to freeze in time, and distantly Imu was reminded of an ancient Greek goddess. 

The said girl was currently enjoying her tart with a content smile secure on her face. At first glance, she seemed to be eating daintily, but someone who knew her would know she was devouring the pastry at a much higher speed than she usually eats. 

Imu suddenly realised that she had been slowly smiling. Her girlfriend, sensing her stare, finished the tart and looked questioningly at her while licking crumbs off her fingers. Imu shook her head lightly. It’s nothing. 

Right, now that both of you are done with your food, let’s get to what I called you both down to talk about. Saiki said, leaning backwards with an audible sigh. 

We need to talk about telling the others.

Chapter Text

We need to talk about telling the others.

The silence that followed seemed heavy and loud. It hung over the suddenly sombre atmosphere that had taken over the three of them, pressing down on the two girls like the weight of the world. It slithered around their necks, choking the two and preventing them from even getting a single word out. 

Imu couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her head. It clutched her mind in a vice-like grip, squeezing it tightly until she felt it might just explode in a shower of red over the kitchen. 

— hey, come back to me, it’s okay, you’re here, you’re safe, the words cut through the fog that had been clouding her thoughts, reassuring and clear. The last few minutes slammed back into Imu, and she felt like throwing up. Without realising, she and Teruhashi had somehow started clinging onto each other for dear life, their nails leaving half-moon marks in each other’s forearms. 

“No,” the word slipped out before she could think, raspy and harsh. Please, no, not yet, not when we’re still a mess far from the perfect girls we were—

I know it seems sudden, but you know we have to tell them eventually. Saiki’s telepathic voice somehow seemed softer, calmer, and it just barely kept her from bolting up the stairs. You don’t have to deal with the fallout. Just tell them, and then we can leave. They deserve to know. He continued, eyes strangely gentle behind his neon green glasses. 

Despite the barbed fear strangling her, Imu found herself considering it. What Saiki said was true, after all. They couldn’t hide in Saiki’s bedroom for the rest of their lives. They couldn’t stay here forever. Everyone else would find out sooner or later, one way or another. It would either happen on their terms, or spiral entirely out of their control. 

And, Saiki added, so quiet that she could barely catch it, If it goes wrong, I’ll wipe their memories. 

A snort from her left startled Imu out of her thoughts. Surprised, Imu turned to see her girlfriend sniggering gracelessly. She couldn’t explain what was so funny in that moment. One second she was shivering and terrified, the next she was clutching her stomach and giggling like Teruhashi’s laughter had been contagious. The two girls cackled until tears were collecting at the edges of their eyes and they couldn’t breathe, shaking with mirth against the table. 

Saiki watched them just completely lose it for the next few minutes in clear bewilderment, but there was a note of relief in his fond look as well. 

After collecting themselves with difficulty, they cleared their throats and focused back on Saiki, who had been waiting patiently opposite them for the last ten minutes. Teruhashi clutched Imu’s hand lightly, drawing Imu to look at her. 

Do you trust me? Teruhashi’s eyes seemed to asked, shimmering cerulean. She was also steadfastly ignoring the murmured grumble of I don’t get how you guys are using telepathy from Saiki. Imu looked into her eyes, with that soft hint of fear but still brave just for her. She would trust Teruhashi with her life. 

Teruhashi seemed to have understood that, because she turned back to Saiki and told him, “Let’s do it.” 

Saiki smiled, his eyes softening. I’m proud of you two. They stared back at him. Had she ever seen Saiki smile before…? Imu nearly sobbed from the realisation. Saiki smiled at them. Saiki was proud of them. 

Careful, you might just force me to wipe your memories instead. Saiki grumbled, using telekinesis to push his chair out so he could walk away from the pair who were currently staring up at him with bright, starry eyes. They could clearly see the tips of his ears burning bright red as he made his hasty escape, though. Saiki was embarrassed. An indignant shut up ringing clearly in their heads sent the two of them into another bout of giggling.

That night, the girls were together on Saiki’s bed again. He’d insisted that they take it no matter how much they argued to let him have it. In the end, he’d dumped them unceremoniously onto the bed using telekinesis and then silenced their mental and verbal complaints by throwing his pillows at them. It worked better than expected, and he retreated back downstairs to the couch. 

Imu cuddled closer to Teru, her thoughts buzzing despite her body feeling like it was filled with molten lead. She trusted her girlfriend—of course she did—but somehow she still felt unsettled and anxious about telling their friends. They heard the news of them jumping off that damn cliff. They went to their funerals. They grieved for them. 

How would they react when they found out?

Chapter Text

Imu and Teruhashi were woken up in the morning by hushed whispers outside of Saiki’s bedroom door. Yawning and blinking away the sleepiness, they quietly exchanged a glance and raised themselves onto their feet from the bed. Slowly, they made their way over to the door and pressed their ears against the door, Teruhashi above Imu thanks to her greater height. 

"Do you think they're awake?” A quiet whisper from the corridor. “Maybe we should let them sleep.”

“You heard them yesterday in the kitchen, so they should be going to visit their friends today. What if we don’t get to talk to them before they leave?” the response came, muffled as if someone’s hand was covering their mouth in an attempt to be quiet. 

Imu glanced at Teruhashi, and saw her already looking back at Imu. They shared a glance and nodded in agreement before shifting back from the door. Teruhashi stepped forward, not a hair out of place despite still evidently having just woken up, and turned the door knob with a bright smile on her face. 

“Good morning, Mr and Mrs Saiki!” she greeted cheerily, and Imu followed along with a polite smile and nod. The two parents jumped slightly from where they had clearly been engaged in a fierce whispered discussion outside the door, and quickly tried to shuffle into a normal stance while returning their greetings. 

“Ah, what a coincidence seeing you two here!” Saiki’s father scrambled to say, which left the other three staring at him blankly. The silent “we live here with you” hung uncomfortably in midair until the awkwardness was broken by Saiki’s mother declaring with a strained smile, “Well, since we’re here, why don’t we go down to the kitchen together for some breakfast?”

Imu and Teruhashi exchanged more glances— do you wanna go, well I don’t think we can reject them, yeah but they’re clearly up to something, they’re literally Saiki’s parents what are they gonna do— before coming to a mutual agreement. With the same amicable smile, Teruhashi agreed with a simple, “That would be lovely, thank you!”

The group plodded down to the kitchen in silence. Once the kitchen came into view, Imu and Teruhashi took in with surprise the sight of the table being laden with freshly-cooked breakfast foods such as pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. 

“We cooked them for you, since we thought you might need the energy for today,” Saiki’s father offered nervously, while his mother hovered beside him with a matching unsure smile. Sensing their confusion, he added, “Since you were planning to confront your friends…right?”

He was promptly elbowed harshly by Saiki’s mother, who hissed something to him before smiling at the girls and clarifying, “Ignore him! We just thought you might like some home-cooked food as breakfast after all the shock and thinking yesterday. Like Ku-chan said, you can take as long as you need to decide how or when to talk to your friends!”

Imu was rendered speechless. She had to hold back tears and hide the burning at the back of her throat for fear of worrying Saiki’s mother, and instinctively she reached for Teruhashi’s hand so she could slot her trembling fingers between her girlfriend’s. Teruhashi squeezed her hand softly and smiled at her as if reading her mind. She turned to Saiki’s mother with a much more genuine smile than the ones before and thanked her softly. Saiki’s mother reassured them that it was no problem at all, for them to please eat and rest as much as they’d like and insisted that they sit down and dig in. 

With a trepidatious glance at Saiki’s father, who was still doubled over in pain—was he crying? —Imu and Teruhashi sat down at the table and started eating. Imu nearly broke down sobbing at the delicious taste of the warm food in her mouth and the thought that all this food had been cooked by the two parents for them, just because they had been worried. Without sparing a thought for decorum, she took a second serving after finishing the first and ate ravenously, barely noticing when Saiki’s parents sat down and joined them. 

When Imu finally couldn’t bear the thought of eating another pancake, she slumped back in her seat and sighed in satisfaction. Teruhashi was in a similar state, leaning against the back of her seat with her head tipped back and a blissful expression. Almost instinctively, their hands sought each other out and they laced them together, small smiles on their faces. 

“So…” Saiki’s father piped up softly albeit suddenly, drawing their attention. “We wanted to apologise a bit for the past two weeks. We know we haven’t exactly been present, because we didn’t know if you two would have appreciated our company. That’s why we thought it would be best to let you heal at your own pace without our interference.”

Imu blinked in surprise, the tears she’d worked hard to suppress just now welling up again and leaving her words stuck in her throat. Before she or her girlfriend could respond, Saiki’s mother continued her husband’s words smoothly, as if they’d rehearsed this countless times before. 

“We wanted to tell you properly today that our home will always be open to the both of you, both before and after you decide to break the news to your friends and family. You can stay for as long as you like and afterwards come over as frequently as you like,” she assured kindly, before adding, “You’re family now, both of you. We love you both very much and will always be here to help, okay?”

Imu let out a soft sniffle and nodded vigorously, while Teruhashi managed to give more composed “thank you”s for both of them, completely sincere and free of any lingering cautiousness. Imu couldn’t help but feel like they didn’t deserve that kindness from Saiki’s parents. How could they still be so kind even after all they’d done? Disrupting the family’s daily lives, occupying a space in their home, depleting their food supplies…how could they still hold so much genuine love and concern in their eyes for the two girls?

As if sensing they were a little overwhelmed, Saiki’s parents deftly stacked the dishes on the table and brought them to the sink with a reassurance that the two didn’t have to clean them, instead encouraging Imu and Teruhashi to rest and think over their future confrontations. 

Once the two adults disappeared into their room, Imu squeezed her and Teruhashi’s interlaced hand and turned to press her forehead into her girlfriend’s shoulder. She didn’t try to hold back her tears, instead letting her shuddering sobs wrack her body with tremors. Teruhashi shifted so that Imu was leaning more into her and tucked Imu’s head under her chin, rubbing circles into Imu’s back. She let herself cry softly into Imu’s soft blonde hair, burying her nose in the familiar scent. 

The two girls held each other for another few minutes, both relishing in the other’s company, until they both felt calm enough to break apart. Imu pulled two pieces of tissue paper from a nearby tissue box, before passing one to Teruhashi and using the other to mop up her tears and blow her nose. They leaned on each other as they cleaned themselves up and breathed deeply, checking over both themselves and the other until they felt both looked enough like they hadn’t been crying. 

As if on cue, Saiki stepped into the kitchen with a soft good morning , and before Imu and Teruhashi could apologise for not letting him have breakfast, he assured them quickly, My parents gave me a plate and let me eat in my room so they could talk to you. Don’t worry about it. 

They both smiled at his assurance and Imu stood from the table, stretching with a yawn. “Well, big day ahead for us,” she grinned, pulling Teruhashi up and slinging an arm over her shoulders. 

Reading their minds, Saiki tilted his head as he asked, are you sure?  

“Yeah, we are,” Teruhashi smiled, interlocking her fingers with Imu’s again and continuing confidently, “We’re going to tell our friends today, as many as we can manage.”

Kaido awoke with a groan, surrounded by the comforting warmth of a pair of arms around him. He yawned sleepily, dragging himself out of bed and dodging the other’s lazily grabbing arms and murmured complaints. 

Half-awake, he walked to the bathroom and grabbed the toothbrush he’d brought here over a week ago, squeezing a generous amount of toothpaste onto it before wetting it and jamming it unceremoniously into his mouth. As he brushed his teeth, he felt a familiar weight embracing him from behind and a face pressing into his fluffy hair like a lost newborn puppy. 

“Good morning, Aren,” Kaido smiled, and his boyfriend responded with a grunt, burying himself into Kaido’s smaller frame. He grabbed the other toothbrush in the cup and squeezed toothpaste onto it before wetting it and pressing it into Aren’s hand. 

“Mm…’at’s ’e wrong way ’o do it,” he murmured, sleepily stumbling over his t’s and Kaido giggled with a mouth full of toothpaste as he rinsed his toothbrush. He placed his hands over Aren’s own, which were hanging loosely at either side of the two of them, and tilted his head back to tease, “Why don’t you brush your teeth before arguing how you should rinse your toothbrush before putting toothpaste on it?”

Aren only whined in response, but obediently raised his hand to sloppily brush his teeth. Kaido smiled again and turned on the tap to rinse his mouth and gargle, the series of movements already a habit from the weeks he’d spent at Aren’s house. 

After Imu’s suicide and Teruhashi’s following one a month later, his parents had agreed to letting him stay at his boyfriend’s house for as long as he needed, although he hadn’t told them about dating Aren yet. Though, the knowing glint in their eyes when he’d asked if he could stay over made him feel like he hadn’t been as subtle as he’d hoped the past half a month he and Aren had been dating. His mother had even sat him down a while ago to tell him that hypothetically, if he was dating someone, she wouldn’t mind as long as he could keep his grades up. 

His sister had eyed him boredly when he came out to her and scoffed, “Are you going to tell me something else I already knew or can I go back to studying for my finals?” His brother had caught him holding hands with Aren once when Aren had come over, and blinked before exclaiming, “As expected of my brother! The great Jet-Black Wings will only court the strongest and the best!” Kaido had to muffle Toki and made him promise to never tell a soul. 

He had to admit he did kind of miss his family, as troublesome as they could be. The first few days after Imu’s death, he had managed to brave through his grief with just their help. Even though he hadn’t talked to her much, she had spent time with all of them by Teruhashi’s side and he would confidently say he had considered one of his close friends. 

A month later, Teruhashi jumped off the same cliff, and Kaido had nearly lost himself. He threw himself almost entirely into his delusions of being the dark, confident and badass Jet-Black Wings who couldn’t be hurt or sad. Everyday, he immersed himself further and further into his imagination and recoiled further and further away from reality until Aren had to pull him aside and talk sense into him. They argued for what was probably the first time throughout their entire friendship. 

The kiss was something sudden, just a desperate plea from Aren to drag Kaido back to reality, and it worked. It was just as effective splashing cold water on Kaido and then throwing the entire bucket at him. It gave him a reason to stay in reality, and anchored him when he tried to hide in his own mind. 

They’ve been healing. Aren had been hurt just as much as he had been, but they had each other the second time around. It helped, having someone to talk him through the nightmares and anxiety attacks. He didn’t wear his red bandages or call himself the Jet-Black Wings anymore. He was just Kaido Shun, Aren’s boyfriend, and he was learning to grow into the role. 

Suddenly, the sound of Aren’s doorbell jerked Kaido out of his thoughts. He looked at Aren, who had just finished rinsing his mouth and was looking back at him. 

“I’m not expecting anyone,” Aren said warily. He’d come clean to Kaido about his past as a delinquent during a particularly bad episode, so Kaido knew how he still had many enemies from his past days of trouble. 

They made their way to the door, Aren armed with a baseball bat and instinctively shielding Kaido with his own body. Whoever was outside had only pressed the doorbell once, and there was no sound Kaido could hear through the door. Had they left?

Then came a series of polite knocking, making them both jump. Kaido didn’t know how knocking could sound polite, but whoever this was managed to do it. He tilted his head towards the door in a silent question, and Aren nodded in response. 

Aren opened the door cautiously, holding his bat out of sight behind himself. Kaido peeked out from behind, careful to stay hidden behind his boyfriend. 

Teruhashi and Imu were standing outside.

Chapter Text

Teruhashi and Imu clutched each other’s hands like a lifeline keeping them afloat as they waited anxiously for Kaido and Aren to answer the door. Saiki had dropped them off at Aren’s house with a heads-up that both boys were currently staying together and wished them good luck before teleporting away to give them privacy. 

Teruhashi wondered nervously if their friends would be angry, or sad, or happy, or a mixture of all three. She wondered how her and Imu’s suicides had impacted Kaido and Aren, and was hit with a pang of guilt at the thought that their friends had essentially thought they were dead for a little over a month. Did they even deserve to face their friends knowing what they did and the impacts it had?

Just then, the door opened inwards slowly as if the occupants were wary of whoever was outside, cutting off Teruhashi’s thoughts. She caught a glimpse of bushy blue hair before it was shielded entirely by a familiar figure—Aren. His purple eyes were full of suspicion but widened upon seeing them, and kept widening until they were the size of dinner plates. 

“What the fuck,” Aren blurted out, before slapping a hand over his mouth and stumbling back. The words had been blunt and rough, and both girls had flinched at the harsh delivery. He stared at the two as if they were ghosts—which, technically, they were. His response seemed to be the cue for Kaido to squeeze around the taller boy to see who was outside. 

Upon seeing them, Kaido just froze and his mouth dropped open. He stared at them unblinkingly, but was jerked out of his stupor by a loud clatter. The baseball bat Aren had been holding had clattered to the ground loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. The former delinquent was shaking, and Teruhashi realised with a note of horror that it was from fear. 

Aren opened his mouth as if to say something, ask something, and Teruhashi braced herself for the expected barrage of demands and questions. However, Aren snapped his mouth shut just as quickly and dipped his head into Kaido’s fluffy hair, blindly clutching at the smaller boy’s hand and squeezing it once. As if it was some secret code they had, Kaido just squeezed back and smiled up at him before gently pushing him away from the door. In response, Aren murmured something that might have been “thanks” before turning tail and disappearing into the house. 

“Sorry, Aren…needs a moment,” Kaido explained apologetically. “We, uh, weren’t expecting…”

He trailed off at the end of his sentence awkwardly, gesturing a little helplessly at the two of them. Then, at the guilty looks on their faces, he rushed to clarify, “Not that you aren’t welcome! Go ahead and come in…?” The last part of his sentence lilted upwards as if it were a question, betraying his anxiety. The two girls hesitated, before sharing a glance and nodding. Holding each other’s hands, they stepped into the house. 

Kaido led them into Aren’s bedroom, urging them to both sit down. “Make yourself comfortable,” he insisted with a warm smile before disappearing into the kitchen with a promise of snacks and cold drinks.

Teruhashi and Imu looked around the room curiously. The most notable piece of furniture—if it could even be called that—was the gambling machine shoved away in a corner. Above it was a dartboard littered with stray darts alongside some holes in the wall next to it, alluding to a disastrous session of dart-throwing. In an adjacent corner was a bookshelf brimming with books from various genres, some titles that Teruhashi was familiar with but others that originated from before she was born. Otherwise, the room looked cosy and lived-in, strewn with stray pieces of clothing and some comics. The blanket on the futon was ruffled as if the two occupants had just woken up—two occupants, Teruhashi had guessed from the presence of only a single futon on the floor. 

Just then, Kaido returned, carefully balancing four cokes and a plate of biscuits. Cautiously, he put down the food and beverage on the table in the middle of the room. Following him, the girls sat down at the table, squeezing together along one edge of it so they could keep holding hands underneath. 

“So.”

Kaido tilted his head carefully at the girls sitting opposite him, considering them much like a chihuahua considers a particularly squeaky toy. “I won’t wake up from this to find that it’s another one of those dreams and cry for an hour, will I?”

Teruhashi held back a wince. Under the table, Imu’s hand twitched in hers. 

“It’s a bit of a long story,” she started, absentmindedly lacing her fingers more tightly with Imu’s. Kaido’s eyes had an intense sort of focus to them, and Teruhashi felt pinned beneath them as he turned to give her his full attention. 

“Well, it’s a good thing we have a whole day to catch up, then.”

Teruhashi turned at the same time that Kaido did to see Kuboyasu standing in the doorway, arms crossed with a lazy grin. Perfunctory with a hint of discomfort, she silently noted and instinctively shifted so she was just a little closer to Kuboyasu than Imu. Kaido had fewer reservations and stood up with a much more genuine smile. Gently, he tugged the other boy’s hand and pulled him to the table until they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder much like the two girls were. 

“Sorry,” Kuboyasu smiled, this time more sincere than the expression he’d worn when entering the room. “I just…needed a little space. It’s a bit overwhelming when…”

He gestured to them awkwardly, evidently trying to find a way to address the whole situation with tact. 

“...two of your closest friends who committed suicide suddenly shows up at your door?” Imu finished for him, weary smile fixed on her face. “Like Kokomi said, it’s a long story. But we’ll tell it to you, with as much detail as we can.”

Chapter Text

In the end, the story didn’t take too long to tell. Teruhashi and Imu went slowly, pausing whenever they needed a breather or because they got choked up. Kaido and Kuboyasu listened attentively, never showing much reaction outside of shifting to hold each other’s hand when they brought up their suicide attempts. 

They talked and talked, as honest and sincere as they could be. With every word, it felt like something unravelled in their chest until they could breathe again. Saiki had permitted them to tell their friends about his powers —I’d planned to anyway, originally. But then everything happened and…I just could never bring it up— so that there wasn’t a single shred of deceit or secrecy in their spiel. 

When they finished, the silence hung thick and heavy like sludge over the room. 

A sniff broke the silence soon after, and Teruhashi looked up to see that Kaido was crying freely. Droplets of tears rolled down his cheeks as the small boy sobbed, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip in a futile attempt to silence his crying. 

Before either of the girls could react, Kuboyasu was already wrapping his arms around Kaido in a secure embrace, murmuring reassurances into his hair. Kaido leaned into the Kuboyasu’s touch like the most natural thing in the world, burying his face into the taller boy’s shirt and rapidly wetting it with his tears. 

Teruhashi herself felt shaken from reliving the past month or so, and she could feel Imu’s hand trembling imperceptibly in hers. She gave it a reassuring squeeze, and felt the other girl squeeze back comfortingly. 

Kaido sniffed loudly, drawing Teruhashi’s attention once again. With a familiar shine of determination in his eyes, he drew away from Kuboyasu and stood up to walk over to Teruhashi and Imu. With another great sniff, he stopped before them and Teruhashi braced for—a slap, maybe, or barbed insults and yelling. She shifted closer to Imu as Kaido knelt down before them, expecting anger and grief concentrated into one burning ball of hatred. 

Instead, he enveloped them in a warm and tight hug as he cried softly. Both girls froze in surprise but quickly melted into the embrace, lifting their arms to wrap them around the smaller boy. 

Kuboyasu was rubbing at his eyes with his glasses askew on his forehead when they finally released one another, presumably having collected himself in the last few minutes. Gaze sharpening, he straightened his back so he was sitting up. The two girls unconsciously followed suit, sensing a shift in the atmosphere. 

“So…Saiki has superpowers,” he starts uncertainly in a poorly veiled attempt to change the topic. Silently, Teruhashi gave him credit for his awkward but sincere way of trying to distract them so they felt a little better. She gratefully took the offer to move away from the heavy atmosphere and grinned lightly. 

“Yeah. Telekinesis, telepathy, time manipulation, the works. He said it’d be fine for us to tell you about them, since he meant to tell you anyway.”

She paused for a second, wondering how much she could say to them on Saiki’s behalf—but then another voice chimed in, this time in their heads instead of out loud. 

I really am sorry about keeping this from you two for so long. 

The two boys flinched in tandem, but still withheld their panic as they recognised that voice in a heartbeat. Kaido glanced up in a hopelessly confused manner, sweeping his gaze over the entire ceiling as if searching for divine intervention while Kuboyasu snapped his head to the corner of the room behind him as if Saiki had snuck in and hid there. At this, Teruhashi lifted a hand to cover her smile that was awfully inappropriate for this situation, catching Imu’s affectionate side-glance at her as she did. 

Quietly at the back of her mind, she thought, of course Saiki was sneakily keeping an eye on us the whole time to make sure we’re okay.  

No comment, Saiki groused, widening the smile on Teruhashi’s face. Anyway…

Heads up , he broadcasted, seemingly into everyone’s heads as they all startled and studied the room. It was the only warning they received before Saiki popped into existence. Kaido and Kuboyasu yelped in sync while Teruhashi and Imu only smiled in greeting. 

The room was silent for a second before Kaido and Kuboyasu burst into a flurry of exclamations and questions, their focus now solely on Saiki. Without being noticed by either of them, Teruhashi stood up and gently tugged Imu with her to a separate room to give the boys some privacy. 

Once they were alone, Teruhashi finally let the last bit of anxiety and stress melt from her tense shoulders. As if reading her mind, Imu squeezed her hand and lifted herself onto her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on her cheek. 

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” 

Teruhashi shut her eyes with a smile and slumped against the wall behind her, still gripping her girlfriend’s hand. The warmth in Kaido’s hug and Kuboyasu’s words echoed within her chest, filling her up inside with relief. The lingering thoughts at the back of her head threatened to sweep her away in a tsunami of overthinking— what if they’re mad at us and just hiding it? What if they think differently of us? What if they decide they don’t want to be our friends any longer? What if—

In a visual world of darkness, Teruhashi narrowed her focus until it centered on where her hand was connected to Imu’s. The feeling of her girlfriend’s hand in hers grounded her as she let herself sink into the blind warmth of it, feeling her breathing slow and her thoughts melt into nothingness. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it wasn’t so hard.”

Saiki, Aren and Kaido talked for a long, long time afterwards. 

Teruhashi and Imu took the time to themselves gratefully, using it as a break before they confronted the subsequent friends—though they did have to resist the temptation of eavesdropping. The boys spoke in low voices such that the conversation filtered through the closed door sounded only like a flurry of murmurs. Whatever they were discussing, Teruhashi could tell all three of them took it seriously and forced herself and her curiosity to leave them be. 

Instead, Imu and her talked quite a bit. It was as if confessing everything to Aren and Kaido had opened some floodgates deep inside them and suddenly they both found themselves with words spilling from their lips. Throughout it all, the only constant Teruhashi could recall was that their hands remained firmly grasped in each other’s between her and Imu. Whenever she ran the risk of drifting away from reality, it acted like a homing beacon for her to focus back on reality. 

To be honest, Teruhashi didn’t even remember much of what they talked about. Rather than a coherent conversation, it was more like they both said whatever came to the front of their minds first. Even so, she didn’t feel at all worried about what she could have said. The only person she trusted more than herself in the entire world was Imu, after all. 

When the boys finally emerged from the room, looking no worse for wear, Teruhashi felt ready to seek out the next friend to confess to. As she gripped her girlfriend’s hand, she felt something settle in her chest, filling warm and snug inside her ribcage and wrapping around her beating heart. She didn’t think anything could stop her ever again. 

All five of them walked to Aren’s door in a group. Holding on to both Imu’s hand and Saiki, Teruhashi bade farewell to Aren and Kaido and promised to keep in contact. One glance at the looks in Aren and Kaido’s eyes told Teruhashi what she knew—things wouldn’t be that simple. Both her and Imu, though unintentionally, had dealt their friends a great deal of hurt. It wasn’t something that could be just brushed over in an afternoon. She knew that it was going to take a long time of honest and open communication before they could even begin to work through and past what had happened. 

Despite the daunting task all of that posed, Teruhashi found, to her surprise, that she wasn’t at all scared of embarking on it. Raising her head high, she vowed to face whatever came her way head-on as they teleported away to Nendo’s house.

Chapter Text

When Teruhashi opened her eyes again, she was standing beside a set of train tracks with Imu and Saiki. 

Before she could open her mouth to express her confusion, Saiki’s voice was already ringing clearly in her head. 

We’re a short walk from Nendo’s house. I thought this would be a good chance for a quick break before we dive back into it, since this is all…a lot. If you’d like, we can take it slow in between each confrontation, but it’s still entirely up to you and how you feel. 

Teruhashi couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face like a streak of bright colour against a grey background. She didn’t think she could even begin to verbally express the overwhelming rush of gratitude that packed her mind until it was full to bursting. Though, by Saiki’s suddenly reddening ears and the way he instinctively reached his hand up to push his glasses further up his nose, she knew that he sensed it. 

Teruhashi set off towards Nendo’s house silently, Imu’s hand in hers as they walked towards their next hurdle. Saiki fell into step with them as easily as breathing, keeping pace with them even with their occasionally stuttering footsteps. They were nervous, after all. It was unavoidable, even with the security of having Saiki beside them and the knowledge that their first confrontation had gone as smoothly as they could’ve hoped for. 

As they near their destination and Nendo’s house comes into view, Teruhashi couldn’t help but think that every new step felt like sinking into wet sand and laboriously pulling her foot back out. Distantly, she felt the dark and muddled fog of panic begin to settle over her thoughts. But this time, she just squeezed Imu’s hand and shook her head as if to physically dispel the negative feelings. 

They approached Nendo’s door. Taking in a deep breath, Teruhashi raised her hand to knock on the door, three hesitant but sharp taps against the wooden surface. The sounds rang clear in the ensuing silence. 

Footsteps thudded towards the door after a few seconds, the heavy gait unmistakably Nendo’s. What was surprising, however, was the second set of footsteps, out-of-sync and nowhere near as heavy but still just as determined. A parent? Teruhashi wondered, eyes sliding to the side to consult Saiki. 

Saiki only tilted his head in the direction of the door with a reserved sort of expression, as if saying “go ahead”. It seems you’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone, he offered, like Teruhashi and Imu would get what he meant. He dodged their accusatory and helpless stares by teleporting away, leaving them alone on Nendo’s doorstep. 

They instantly got what he meant when the door was opened, revealing both Nendo and Hairo. 

“You—,” Hairo reacted instantly, his arms flailing about his sides as he tried and failed to find an appropriate gesture to convey what he wanted to say. Nendo stood next to him, blinking down at them like a spaced-out panda. 

“Aren’t you both supposed to be dead?” Nendo asked straightforwardly, never having been one for pleasantries or beating around the bush. Teruhashi couldn’t stop the involuntary flinch at the harsh-sounding accusation. Imu didn’t react outwardly, but Teruhashi read the pain in her eyes regardless. 

Nendo promptly received an elbow in the sternum from Hairo, who miraculously seemed to possess more decorum of the two. Nendo squinted down at the redhead with a glare of mixed betrayal and confusion, before returning the favour with a jab in Hairo’s side. The shorter boy looked ready to retaliate, but one glance at the two girls seemed to drain the fight out of him instantly. 

“Come in!” he invited, beckoning the two of them inside as he turned back into the house. As if subconsciously, he grabbed Nendo’s hand and led all three of them to presumably Nendo’s bedroom. Slipping off their shoes at the entrance, there was not much else for Teruhashi and Imu to do other than follow. 

They trailed behind Hairo silently, who was still tugging at Nendo’s hand as they walked through the house’s hallways. His familiarity with the house’s layout, as well as the fact that it was him who invited them into Nendo’s house and not Nendo himself, did not go unnoticed by either girl. 

They met each other’s gaze behind the two boys’ backs. Imu cocked her head to the side. Are they? Teruhashi subtly gave half a shrug. God knows. Imu’s eyes darted to the boys’ linked hands and back to Teruhashi before she gave a gentle headshake. Drop it? Teruhashi agreed with a nod and they mutually dropped the silent conversation. 

“Here,” Hairo stopped in front of a door, just as the girls ended their conversation and looked away from each other. It was partially closed, so he pushed it open and continued leading Nendo by the hand into the room. The girls followed in after. 

They sat down around a table. Only when all four of them were settled did Hairo drop Nendo’s hand, neither of them acknowledging the act the whole while—like it was a habit. Hairo somehow seemed entirely unflappable in this situation where two of his dead friends had turned up at his door, with the only deviation from the norm being his serious and unsmiling expression. 

Teruhashi's hands fisted in her lap, crumpling the fabric of her clothes. She didn’t even know how to begin broaching the topic that hung heavy in the air around them. However, Nendo effortlessly did it for her, pointing out the elephant in the room that was weighing down on all of them. 

“Shouldn’t you be dead?” Nendo fearlessly stated, oblivious to the atmosphere as always. Like a reflex, Imu’s hand reached out, searching for Teruhashi’s own before slotting their palms together. She squeezed silently, long and meaningful, as her fingers clutched securely around Teruhashi’s. 

“It’s a long story,” Imu started, her back ramrod straight as if acting confident could grant her some courage. Teruhashi followed her lead, casting her gaze straight at her two friends. She wasn’t going to run away again. They’d made it this far. The least she could do was see it through—her friends deserved a proper explanation. 

They told the story together again, though it came easier that time around. It was strange how sharing the whole tale twice in a day, and so close to each other, eased the weight on her heart whenever she talked about it. Teruhashi almost felt like she was telling someone else’s story, with how the pain was distant and dull like a half-healed bruise. 

She almost expected Hairo to interrupt at certain parts, or Nendo to blurt out another comment, but they both remained quiet until the two of them were done. Right before they finished, Teruhashi glanced down and noticed that at some point the two boys had begun to hold hands again. Whenever one of them fidgeted like they wanted to speak up, the other would squeeze his hand and he would quiet down. She supposed that solved that mystery. 

When they did finish, it was accompanied by a tremendous sniff from Hairo. He was crying openly, which would be an act of vulnerability on anyone else but on him just seemed incredibly manly. Still sobbing, he blubbered, “My comrades! You have managed to best death itself and return victorious!”

Teruhashi squinted at him. “Well…it’s more thanks to Saiki, but I appreciate it. Also are you just going to focus on that instead of. Like. The fact that Saiki has psychic powers.”

Hairo steamrolled directly over her words like he hadn’t heard them, still crying while saying more affirmative words. 

Nendo just seemed immensely confused. It was written all over his face and woven into his voice when he opened his mouth to utter, “Huh?”

Hairo tugged at the boy’s hand, which was still clasped in his own, and whispered a promise to explain everything to him properly later. Except he still hadn’t perfected the skill of whispering so both girls could hear what he said loud and clear, though they mutually elected to politely act like they hadn’t heard. 

“You are both so strong, ” Hairo sniffed again, sobbing in a manly manner into the back of his fist. “Such valiant warriors, unflappable and unfailing even in the face of the greatest battle of all…” 

He dissolved into another sob at the end, seemingly overcome by emotion. Slowly, Nendo began to thump his back in a way that looked like it should hurt, but which Hairo’s above-average defence seemed to just negate entirely. Through his tears that just became thicker over time, he slurred more intelligible words that were no doubt more admiring words of praise. 

It wasn’t that Teruhashi was unused to praise. Clearly, from her way of living and character, she was loaded with compliments on a daily—perhaps even hourly—basis. It was just that she had been cut off from that supply of praise lately, which should have made her miss its presence, but in fact just made her realise that none of it had been truly genuine. None of it had been about her true self and what she actually was like beneath the perfect girl facade. 

So being laden with a never-ending stream of compliments like this, especially after she confessed to what was essentially the worst sin she had committed in her entire life up until now…it was overwhelming, but not necessarily in a bad way. Subconsciously, she felt her ears flush as Hairo continued with his barrage of positive words. 

She sneaked a glance out from the corner of her eye, trying to glimpse if Imu was facing the same predicament she was. Surely the other girl shared the sentiment and was equally flustered. 

Imu was even more flushed than Teruhashi, from the tips of her ears to where her collarbones half-disappeared beneath her clothes. The hand that wasn’t holding Teruhashi’s was flipped such that its palm was facing outwards and the back of it was pressed to her mouth. When Teruhashi blinked and squinted, she spied the tinge of red to Imu’s fingers. 

All in all, the sight conjured up certain notions in Teruhashi’s mind that she banished as soon as they appeared. She squeezed Imu’s hand to draw her attention and tried to help her girlfriend cool down a little by smiling encouragingly at her. Imu, evidently well-aware of how her face was currently aflame, made a helpless sort of face but returned an appreciative look regardless. 

Hairo seemed to finally run out of breath—Teruhashi swore that stream of praise went on for far too long than a human should be able to achieve, seriously, how crazy was this guy’s lung capacity?—and the two girls both snatched this opportunity to cut him off. 

“That’s lovely of you, Hairo,” Teruhashi began at the same time as Imu rushing to say, “Thank you, Hairo!”

As if they had gained telepathy through the sheer combined desire to stop Hairo from continuing, they added in unison, “But I think Saiki has something to say!”

In her head, Teruhashi clearly heard the startled grumble of what the hell, did you really just push all the responsibility onto me . 

It was followed by Saiki teleporting into the room. Somehow, Hairo was entirely unaffected by this. Nendou just perked up in the way he always did whenever Saiki showed up and rumbled, “Hey, partner, you’re here!”

Like last time, Teruhashi and Imu excused themselves from the room politely, backing out of a conversation they knew they weren’t privy to. This time, they made sure to shut the door behind them firmly since both Hairo and Nendou had considerably loud voices. After they were separated from the boys, Teruhashi leaned against the wall behind her with a sigh. Imu sank to the floor beside her, sitting with her socked feet in front of her. 

Half-muffled, the sounds of yelling—or, well, in the case of Nendou and Hairo, it was just their normal volume—leaked through the wall Teruhashi was leaning against. She swore she could even feel the vibrations travelling through the surface and shuddering through the floor, to the point she felt the ground shake ever-so-slightly. 

Imu looked up at her with a half-smile like a secret shared between just the two of them. “We should go outside.”

Teruhashi agreed. At this rate, not only were they going to overhear the entire conversation and its details, the next-door neighbours might just get an insider’s scoop of their personal life too. She set off towards where she remembered the door was, knowing Imu would follow after her. 

They closed the front door after them, slipping on their shoes in the process. As the door slipped shut, Teruhashi leaned against the outside of the house in a manner not unlike how she was previously in the corridor. Imu joined her this time, leaning against the wall next to her. 

They just…stayed there in silence, for a bit. Teruhashi shut her eyes, listening to the rustle of the leaves in the wind and the occasional bark of a dog or distant chatter of neighbours. It was peaceful in a way she hadn’t really felt since this day started, worrying about confessing to one friend and the next. Imu seemed to share the sentiment, for the next time Teruhashi opened her eyes, her girlfriend was quiet and listening to their surroundings, too. 

When the door swung open again, Saiki was standing there. Nendo and Hairo stood behind him, sending him off. The other two seemed to have explained the situation to Nendo in detail, given the lack of confusion on his face. As Saiki stepped towards the girls, Nendo and Hairo waved at him and even made sure to lean past him to wave at Teruhashi and Imu, an act they returned with a smile. 

“Let’s get ramen together next time!” Nendo shouted. Beside him, Hairo wore a boisterous smile as he yelled, “I love you both! I’m really glad you’re alive! Please don’t die again!”

Let’s go before the neighbours get concerned, Saiki groused, but the slight upward curve to his lips betrayed his absolute tsundere tendencies. And don’t call me a tsundere.

They teleported back to Saiki’s house, waving goodbye the whole while. In one breath and the next, they were standing in the genkan of Saiki’s house again. 

“Ahh, that was tiring,” Imu sighed, slipping off her shoes. Teruhashi trailed her further into the house, seeking food. 

“What shall we have for lunch?” Imu asked, opening the fridge. Teruhashi peeked over her shoulder, curious. 

Aren’t you two getting way too comfortable in this house? Saiki complained even as he shamelessly joined them in studying the contents of the fridge. 

“Welcome back!” Saiki’s mother emerged, her warm smile like a balm on the two girls’ exhaustion. “I kept some leftovers from my lunch, let me just heat them up for you in a jiffy.”

“You’re an angel, Mrs. Saiki,” Imu praised, sitting down obediently at the table. Saiki rolled his eyes at her from where he was already grabbing cutlery and Teruhashi was helping get the leftovers out from the fridge. 

Saiki and Teruhashi were quickly shooed to the table by Saiki’s mother, who told them to just sit down and rest, you two look like you’re going to keel over from tiredness! Teruhashi pulled out the chair next to Imu and practically melted into it, glad to finally be able to relax. 

“It’s been a long day, huh?” Imu whispered to her, giggling at the way Teruhashi grunted none-too-gracefully in response. 

With the clink of plates in the background and the warmth of her girlfriend next to her, she shut her eyes and thought, ah, I’m home.