Work Text:
Even if Saiki wasn’t the best friend out there, the other students of PK Academy were pretty good. On his birthday, even though it was summer break, classmates stopped by his house to drop off trinkets and treats, letting him know that he wasn’t forgotten. Some gifts were more appreciated than others. The fake shurikens from Kaidou, for instance, didn’t really resonate with him. Neither did Kuboyasu’s brass knuckles or Hairo’s old dumbbell set or Nendou’s cutoff shorts (“You know, buddy, ‘cuz the weather’s so hot). Okay, so maybe they actually weren’t that considerate. Still, it was nice that they thought of him, even if their ideas of good gifts were a little skewed.
The girls brought better things. Teruhashi made him a cake; Yumehara brought a package of lemon candies. Mera, well… She was poor, so she made him a card out of old grocery bags. It was environmentally conscious, though, which Saiki appreciated.
Saiki ate the cake with gusto. Fruit and cream cakes were never his favorite, but it was high quality, so of course he enjoyed it. It was gone before dinner time. After dinner, Saiki sucked on five of Yumehara’s lemon candies, which were the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Sucking on a sixth one, he stared at his bedroom ceiling, reflecting on the day he turned eighteen, wondering if next year, he’d have new college friends to give him strange gifts. He juggled the dumbbells over his head with telekinesis as he considered whether he’d miss these people then.
At that moment, the doorbell buzzed, and, jarred from his musings, Saiki immediately knew who it was. He was a little surprised by the visit, but he really shouldn’t have been.
He teleported to the base of the stairs and opened the door to greet Aiura, who was waiting with a bag in her hands. “Sorry I’m so late,” she said without extending a proper greeting. She handed over the bag. “I had work today, but I baked these for you last night and wanted to deliver them while they were still fresh.”
“What time did you bake them?” Saiki asked, looking into the bag at what appeared to be a dozen chocolate and toffee chip cookies.
Aiura tapped her chin. “IDK, like six?”
Saiki held his hand out to the bag and restored them to that state twenty four hours ago. Still hot and fresh from the oven.
“Whoa!” Aiura said. I can actually feel, like, the heat comin’ off of it!
“This is great,” Saiki said, his mouth already watering. He wanted to say goodbye before he had to wipe up his drool.
He’s totes in love. Today with the cookies, maybe tomorrow with me. Hehe~! “Okay, well I’ll leave you to eat them,” Aiura said. “Happy birthday! Bye-bye!”
Saiki held his hand up in a lazy wave, not taking his eyes off the cookies for a second. He closed the door without sparing Aiura another glance, then sprinted up the stairs, bounding three or four steps at a time. He locked himself in his room like a young man might do with a dirty magazine. But these cookies were like pornography to him. The smell coming off of the bag was downright indecent.
He ate the first cookie and the indulgence was core-rocking. It was so rich, so sultry, so debauched. I’ll have just one more, he decided.
What seemed like mere seconds passed, and the only remnant of the dozen cookies that remained was a small smudge of chocolate on Saiki’s upper lip. He had become a vacuum, sucking the cookies down with just enough care to taste them. But they were gone, now, and he felt this pang of sadness ripple through him. If only he had savored them. But of course, cookies are best when hot and fresh. He loped down the stairs and drowned his disappointment with a cold glass of milk, the end-of-birthday blues settling into his spirit.
The next day, he slept in. Upon waking, he felt as though he were coming out of a coma, the sugar he’d ingested the day before having caused him to crash hard. He scrubbed his eyes and surveyed the clock. It was after noon already. The thought of missing half the day honestly made him smile.
His solitude and that morning grogginess both faded quickly as the doorbell rang once again. Good grief, what’s she doing here again? he thought, recognizing Aiura’s distinct thought voice.
Hope he’s home! He’s gonna be, like, so surprised. LOLZ.
Without bothering to change out of his pajamas, Saiki once again teleported to the base of the stairs and opened the door.
Aiura thrust another bag toward him. “Happy Birthday part two!” she exclaimed.
Saiki looked into the bag and saw another dozen cookies. He looked back up. Is this deja vu?
“I totes saw a vision of you horfing down those cookies I made for you and getting all sad about it. LOL. So I made you another batch this morning. Awesome, yeah?”
“Yeah. Awesome,” Saiki said in awe, this time looking between the bag of cookies and Aiura’s face. He was never one to care about looks, but at that moment, he could swear that Aiura was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. He knew it was just his sugar-addiction talking, but still. He felt it. And he remembered what she’d thought last night…
Well, he wasn’t quite in love with her, but this could definitely justify a step in that direction.