Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Seeing things isn't fun.
Sure, you can see a sunset, but you can also see the worst thing you can think of. You can see your fears. You can see blood. You can see death.
maybe it isn't always the best, but sometimes you talk to someone, and then they offer a hug, only for you to realize they were never there in the first place. It's odd. You can hear them no problem. Interact, and have full on conversations with someone who doesn't even exist. And when nobody's around, you swear you could hear whispers of something in your ear. Like late at night when you're trying to sleep. Or in the middle of a test, making you look up and see who's whispering.
When you told your parents, they took you to a doctor, and after so many tests, you were admitted to a mental hospital. From there, you were more properly looked into. The diagnosis was a single word.
Schizophrenia.
From there, they took you to be medicated, and situated with a therapist. There you told her about the bullying, and harassment from others because of what all you were going through.
And that's where we pick up the story, a week after you were medicated, and they were still observing you to make sure the medicines worked. They had told you this; it would only keep the symptoms at a lesser level. You'd still be going through it all. However, knowing that you'd be able to live a semi-normal life was reassuring, to a certain extent.
"So y/n, any hallucinations?"
"Well yes, but way less than normal. I could tell they weren't there this time. Does that mean the medication's working?" She nods.
"When you hallucinate, your level of awareness lessens. But when you're medicated and hallucinating, you're still mostly lucid, and knowing that the things you see and hear aren't really there can make it a lot easier to deal with." It was your turn to nod this time. "No harmful thoughts?"
"None. Just paranoid ones."
"How so?"
"I just.. It's hard to explain, but if I had to try, I'd say it always feels like I'm being watched."
"In a way, you are here, but only because we need to survey you and make sure you're reacting properly to the pills." She cleared her throat before speaking again. "Do you think you'd be able to keep up with the meds?"
"Yeah. With some reminders, I think I'd be able to take them every day."
"Good." A small smile.
"When can I go home?" You said sadly.
"Soon, I think. Once the doctors confirm you are indeed on the right medication, they'll start to fill out your discharge paperwork. You'll have one final session with me, and then you'll be on your way."
"How long?"
"I'd say, given how you're reacting now, another week or two at most." A smile graced your face. It was the best news you'd gotten since getting here.

Sure enough, a week and a half later, you were finally discharged from the hospital. Your parents decided you needed a fresh start and were transferring you to PK Acadamy. A new start after all that went on was a blessing.
Now all that's left was to walk in.

Chapter Text

There I stood in front of my new school, trying to keep it together. No hallucinations yet today, but there's bound to be some. I took my headphones off my head, powering the Bluetooth off. I took a deep breath, and walked in. Nobody paid me any mind so far, which I appreciated. I didn't need to try and stutter over all my words right now.
I was quick to change my shoes out at my locker and heading to my new class. Maybe if I'm early enough, the teacher won't notice me? Let's hope so.
Unfortunately for me, I got lost. Yeah, already. That's what happens when you have no sense of direction. By the time I got to my class, it had already started. I internally groaned but knocked anyways. "Come in!" I did so. "Ah, you must be the new student. Got lost?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Well, go ahead and introduce yourself. Just know, I won't tolerate this lateness in the future." I nod and write my name on the board.
"I'm y/n l/n. I don't care if you use my first or last name. Please take care of me." I said with a small bow.
"Does anyone have any questions for her?" I hoped nobody did.
Unfortunately, God was not on my side. 'Great, just great. Can I go home now?' I thought to myself. I pointed to a boy with blue hair.
"Did dark reunion send you?" The class groaned, and I just raised an eyebrow.
"Dark what now?" The class started laughing a little, and the boy blushed in embarrassment. He meekly put his head down and covered it with his bandaged hands. "Okay.. That was weird." I said, mostly to myself. I felt bad that the class was laughing at him, but what am I supposed to do? Only a few people weren't laughing. A girl with a hairband, a boy with purple hair, and a boy with green glasses. Must be his friends. I know what it's like to be treated like that though, so I was likely going to talk to him later.
For now, I pointed to the girl with a headband. "What school did you go to?"
"S/n." (School name) Another hand, this was the purple haired guy.
"Do you plan to join any clubs?"
"Maybe. I haven't decided yet." I was actually thinking of joining the music club if this school had one. I was pretty good at the guitar when you got down to it. Not bad on vocals either. But beside the point, I was still only considering it.
"Well with that, we should leave any more questions for break. Y/n, please take the empty seat by teruhashi. Teruhashi, raise your hand please." A very pretty girl raised her hand, and I shrugged. She smiled at me, and I just nodded. She's likely popular with the boys, and some girls, kind of the opposite of what I want to be. Also known as, unknown. It's not that I don't want friends, I just want to keep things to myself for the most part and- wait, has the teacher always had a clown nose?
I stared intently, trying to figure out what was going on. Glancing around the room, nobody else seemed to notice it- shit. Already? I've been awake for like, two hours! Why am I already seeing things?
I internally sighed, and just pulled out a journal to try and take notes, but the room was starting to whisper again. This is just what I needed today.

Once break came up, I was first out of the room, for two reasons. The first is that the whispers were starting to get worse, so I need to calm down and take my anxiety pills, (These ones made for when I need them) and second, I didn't want to be around all those people trying to get to know me.
I locked myself in a stall for a few minutes, just taking deep breaths. I fished out my pills from my bag, and a bottle of water. Once I felt a bit calmer, I popped a pill in my mouth, and downed it with some water. I gave it one more minute, before walking out of the stall, and to the cafeteria for lunch.
I was about to sit at an empty table, when I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little at the contact and looked up. It was a guy with a butt chin, and weird hair style. "Hery bud! Wanna sit with me and my pals?" I think it over for a minute. 'Well, I do need friends...'
"Sure?" It came out more like a question than anything.
"Great!" He led me over to a table with the guys from earlier. I smiled a little to be polite. 'He may look like a thug, but his friends aren't... I think.' I was a little cautious sitting down, but the group seemed happy with me being there, spare the guy with pink hair, who just looked annoyed. "That there's my little buddy, buddy and pal!" He said, pointing to each person. Was he going to tell me their names, or what?
"Aren kuboyasu, nice to meet you." I nodded. The blue haired kid next.
"I am known as the Jet Blackwings, bow before my pow-"
"His name's Kaido Shun! I don't know why he keeps calling himself that." The boy visibly deflated. I patted his shoulder. He smiled a little at that. I looked at the guy with pink hair.
"Saiki." He must not be much of a talker. I can respect that.
"And I'm nendo riki!"
"Well, you all probably remember my name from this morning, so it's nice to meet you guys." I wasn't fully relaxed around them yet, but it's fine. I'm always a little jumpy around new people.
"So, y/n, you mentioned thinking about joining a club. Can we ask which club?" Kuboyasu asked.
"I was going to see if this school had any sort of music club. If not, I guess I'll see what to do from there."
"I don't think there is." I sighed a little. I bit the inside of my cheek and thought for a second. What else would I be interested in joining?
"I guess I'll see what there is then."
"Saiki and I are in the occult club! Maybe you can join that!"
"Maybe.. I'm not that into occult things." 'I already see enough of that stuff on a regular basis anyways, but they don't need to know that.'
I pulled out my bento and started eating. In-between bites, I found that kuboyaso, kaido and I shared an interest in motorcycles. That's what we were talking about now in fact. "I don't know a lot about the machines under the hood, but I still think they're really cool." I admitted. "I'd love to show up to a gig or something with my guitar and play like nobody's there."
"Well, what's stopping you?"
"Stage fright." I chuckled. "That, and I don't have a license yet."
"Shun and I are planning on getting them this summer actually. Wanna join?"
"I'll talk with my parents. I'm getting a summer job, and I might be able to save enough for the classes. But buying one is another story."
"Girl pal, you're gonna have to show us how to play sometime!" I knew what he was talking about.
"I'll consider it." I already knew I'd more than likely play for them just to work on being in front of an audience. I want to join or form a band one day, so my stage fright is something I'm going to have to get over. Saiki didn't really say anything. He didn't seem interested in the conversation. I'm not going to be the one who roped him in. If he wanted in on the conversation, he'd join on his own.
Nendo looked like he was about to pull him into the conversation though, when the bell rang, signaling the end of break.
The rest of the day passed without much going on. A few splatters of blood on the wall here and there, a few whispers now and then, but nothing I couldn't deal with.
By the end of the day, I went home, exhausted. I was about to head home, when I heard nendo's voice.
"Hey girlie! We're gonna get some ramen! Wanna come with?"
"Sorry, I don't have any money on me today. Maybe tomorrow?" He looked like a kicked puppy, which was odd because of his face. Sighing, I gave in. "Fine, but you're paying. I really don't have any cash on me." He smiled and cheered.
"Great! let's go get some ramen!" He pulled me over to the rest of the guys, and with that, we were off.

Chapter Text

We walked there from the school, but it took a while cause Nendou and Kaido, (I think those are their names at least) kept getting us lost, and then arguing about it. I stayed silent and tried not to focus on the voices in my head.
'Just go home!'
'Stay and see it through!'
'Shut up, both of you!' I thought back. They ignored me and kept arguing in my head. It's not something I can tune out without music, and considering I'm with people right now, that would be rude. I let out a soft sigh, and just followed the guys, reading the signs every now and then. Then one caught my eye. "Hey, isn't that the shop you're looking for?" I said, pointing to it.
They stopped and looked. 'Tenketsu Ramen.'
"See little buddy! I told you we were going the right way!"
"Shut up! You're the one who walked past it in the first place!" I was fighting not to roll my eyes. It looked like saiki just wanted to go home. 'I don't blame him for looking like he doesn't want to be here. I'd rather be at home too.' I thought to myself. Kuboyasu just smiled at kaido. The two were talking about something, 'black reunion? Or was it dark reunion? I can't remember, but I think it was one of those things... I wonder if he's like me?' I shrugged it off. Fantasy is an escapism, and that might be all it is for him. For me though, it's a danger. I almost slit my wrist once cause I had a delusion that a crab was in it... Don't ask. These things don't always make sense. I shuddered a little at the memory. It was when I was still semi lucid without the meds, but things were starting to get really bad. I managed to stop myself by saying 'why would a crab be in my blood in the first place?' Questioning things helped me get a grip on reality again. That doesn't really work anymore. Now it's things that make no sense, with no way out. Like an endless maze.
"Hey girlie, what are ya thinking about?" My head snapped up. I hadn't even realized I had zoned out in the first place. We were sitting down, and we had menus in front of us.
"Nothing important. Just letting my thoughts wonder."
"Wonder about what?"
"Nothing that would catch your intrest. Just chords and music." I lied like it was a second nature. I used to have to lie a lot about my health and all that, before it got to the point where I couldn't help it anymore. That's probably why it got so bad in the first place, but too late to care about it now. The group seemed to believe it, other than saiki, but I ignored him. If he wanted to call me out, he would. But why would he know I was lying in the first place?
We got our food, and while chatter at our table was lively, I did my best to stay out of it as much as possible. I didn't want to slip into something- wait, was that a worm?
I blinked a few times, and looked again. Just noodles. God, I'm seeing things again. But when I looked up and tuned into the conversation, it was about pets. How we got here, I have no idea. Kuboyasu was the one talking. "So, I just got a pet snake! I have no idea what to call him yet though."
"William snakespeare." Me and kaido said at the same time. We looked at each other, and I started giggling like a lunatic. I swear I saw saiki crack a small smile at it, and Kuboyasu was facepalming. Nendou was all but choking on his food. Kuboyasu muttered something to himself.
"I'm not naming him that." Once we calmed down, I spoke.
"Name him after someone that means a lot to you. Like someone you admire. Little cheesy, I know, but it's the only serious thing that came to my mind." He thought it over for a minute, before nodding.
"I know what I'm gonna name him!" I smiled at that. "Vincent Coll, the mad dog! But I'm just gonna call him mad dog for short."
"I have no idea who that is, but sounds cool." I gave a thumbs up to him, and he smiled. Kaido glanced over, and his smile grew, and I think I saw a bit of pink on his face? Oh ho! I sense a crush here. I might interfere with this later, but right now, until I have confirmation, I won't do anything.
Nendou held up his end of our deal, and paid for my food today, which I was grateful for. "I'll remember my wallet next time. I need to get back in the habit of carrying it with me."
"You're not in the habit of carrying something like that?"
"I was, but I was somewhere where I didn't need it. I was there for a while, so I fell out of the habit. I've got to get used to it again." I said to kaido, who shrugged.

One by one, we parted ways until it was me and kaido left. "So, what's dark reunion?" I asked.
"Wait, you actually want to know?"
"Yeah, sure!"
"You're not going to make fun of me for it?"
"Why would I? I've been in your situation." He looked at me, and I knew I fucked up. "I mean, I've been bullied for believing in fantasy and all that too, so-"
"It's not a fantasy!" He started walking faster, but I kept pace since I was slightly taller than him. I grabbed his bandage covered wrist and gave a soft smile.
"Kaido, I know what it's like to be trapped in your mind. I'm not trying to make fun of you. But if these things keep happening, maybe seek help?" He was quiet. "Can I ask what you have? I know you're trying, but you're not entirely there."
"Chuunibyou. I'm trying to get out of it, but its hard. If you're like me, you know how hard it is to get out of them." I nod. "What about you?"
"Schizophrenia. I have a lot of different ones, but I just got out of a mental hospital. Medicated now, but things are still hazy."
"That sounds like it sucks."
"It does." We started walking again. "But I manage." We were silent the rest of the way to my house. He didn't live too far from me. I waved goodbye, and Sighed closing the door.
It was a long day.

Chapter Text

It was a cold winters day now, and it was snowing. I only joined the school a few weeks ago, and I'm starting to feel the temperature really drop. The only one who knows my mental state is Kaido, and we're becoming good friends. I even got confirmation that he did in fact, like kuboyasu.
Anyways, I'm betting off track. Since it was really cold, I was wearing two pairs of fleece lined tights, and a winter coat. A beanie for my favorite musical sat on my head, keeping my ears warm. In my hands was a cup of coffee. Kaido was yelling about the cold, and I laughed. "Why didn't you think to being a coat?"
"I didn't think it would be this cold!" I nudged him.
"My guy, it literally said today was likely to be the coldest day of the season so far! You got to pay attention to these things!"
"Today sure is colder than usual."
"Total understatement! This is freak weather! An ice age!" I sipped the last of my coffee.
"That's why I have heat backs strapped to my uniform!" I rolled my eyes.
"Oh don't be such a big baby." I fished out a green and white sweater from my school bag that I planned to change into once I got to school. "If you're that cold, put on my sweater. We're pretty much the same size. It should fit fine."
"I- Fine!" He grabbed it and put it on, and I laughed a little. Not because it didn't fir or anything, but because it's funny to see a guy in girls' clothing. Even if it is just a sweater. Although I have to admit, he pulled it off pretty well.
"Hurry up, the heater will be on in the classroom!"
"Okay."

When we got there, the heater was broken. "Finally we're here! It's so- Not warm?! What is it? A freezer in here!?"
"Hey shun." A pile of jackets said.
"Who the hell are you?!" Kuboyasu popped his head out.
"it's me."
"Oh, hi Aren!" He smiled a little, and It could have just been the cold, but I think he blushed a little.
"This absolutely sucks, look at that!" There was a note on the black board.
"What?" You've got to be kidding me!"
"It's totally busted. It's been blowing out cold air!"
"Then turn it off!"
"It's connected to the other classrooms so we can't turn it off!"
"We can't have a class like this!" I looked around the room. Everyone looked miserable, cause apparently, nobody knows how to prepare for cold weather around here. Some people looked fine, like saiki, who looked like he couldn't care either way. But the rest looked like they wanted to go home. 'Must be nice to like the cold. Here I am with like, three layers of clothes to keep me warm.' Kaido was curled up in a little ball.
"It's so cold."
"Dude, you're wearing my sweater, don't stretch it out!" I half yelled at him. It was my favorite sweater, so I'd prefer if he didn't ruin it.
"You should go warm up by the heater."
"There's a heater?!"
"Look, there's a heater right over there." He went over, talking about how warm it was, when he suddenly screamed.
"Hairo?!" I snickered.
"Kaido! isn't it a little cold today? How about we do some squats? It'll warm us up!"
"I'm good."
"Really? I'm a little tired too. I could use a break."
"How long has he been at that?"
"About twenty minutes."
"No wonder." I mutter to myself.
"Hairo! Why are you quitting now?"
"Don't give up!"
"Keep going!"
"Thanks everybody! Thank you all!"
'He's going to go until he passes out, isn't he?' People were begging nendou for heart packs, even offering to pay for them. Some people were asking me for my coat, but I declined. "If you wanted to be warm, you would have brought one from home." I told them. I just took my seat, and took out a book, ignoring the world around me until class started. There was a lot of commotion going on about the heat packs, and people trying to stay warm. Some people were huddled together in corners, and I rolled my eyes. 'If it weren't for that comedian coming in today, I think a lot of people would just skip.' I looked back at my friends, and they were being idiots. I snapped a picture to laugh at and look at later.

Later, a window broke, and people were panicking about the cold air. That's when the comedian guy finally arrived. He gave his coat and scarf to a classmate, and calmed people down. But it started to get pretty warm in the classroom.
I scratched at my skin. Something about this didn't feel right. It's probably my mind messing with me though, so I ignored it. Although, I wish the guys stand-up routine was better. It wasn't anything to write home about.

After, I was just happy to be at home, curled up in my bed. It was freezing. I just curled up with my plushies and blankets and went to sleep.

Chapter Text

"Is Saiko absent today? I hate to bother you saiki, but could you, take these worksheets to saiko's house?" Saiki agreed, and nendou had the bright idea of tagging along. So here we all were, following saiki to some rich guy's hose who I had never heard of in my life.

"Unbelievable, why do I have to help that stuck up rich kid?'

"You know the teacher only really asked for saiki, right? You didn't have to come." He glanced at kaido, and quickly turned away, slightly pink in the face. Oh? 

"And miss an opportunity to hang out with friends? Hell no." I raised an eyebrow. 'Someone's got a crush! I've got to get these two together sometime.' 

"Besides, he's a troublesome bastard. I don't trust him alone with saiki for one minute."

"I've never met him, so I wouldn't know. Is he really as stuck up as they say?" I asked saiki, who nodded. 

"Yeah. He is." I think that's pretty much the first time he's talked to me. 

"Is it true there's a good ramen restaurant around here?"

"Maybe?" 'Why did he even come along? I mean, I get it was his idea, but does he even know what we're here for?' 

"We're finally here! Would you take a look at that! Now that's a rich person's house." We stood in front of a mansion, that was around the size of the psyche ward I called my home just a couple of months ago. 

"It's huge!" The boys said together. I shrugged. 

"That is one huge ramen shop!"

"Yeah, it's pretty big. Must be a pain to maintain though." Saiki cracked a small smile at that. We didn't even knock before the metal gates opened, before some guy with grey hair and a gold hoop in his right ear opened the door, with about twenty bodyguards behind him. He laughed, and I recoiled. 'What's so funny about us showing up to his house?' 

"What are you doing here? Did you come to borrow some money, you poor bastards." I grit my teeth but kept a passive face. 

"Saiko!"

"You skipped school! So, we came to deliver these worksheets."

"Just take them so we can go." I said, taking the papers from saiki, and shoving them into his arms. He looked surprised when my hand brushed with his. 

"By the way, weren't you supposed to be in Dubai?" He handed the papers to a bodyguard behind him. He glanced me over, and smirked. Creep. 'Was he checking me out? what a perv!' 

"I just flew back on my private jet this afternoon." 

"I didn't hear anything about you flying back!"

"Kuboyasu, calm down. he isn't your friend, so why would he tell you?" He looked at me and smiled. 

"Yeah, you're right! We aren't friends! So why should I care?" 

"Oh! This must be the transfer student's house! This place is awesome! You should invite us in!" He looked at us all and smiled. I don't like his smile. He chuckled once. 

"Okay, what the heck! It's the only time you losers would have contact with this world." There were a lot of sports cars, statues, and green grass. I wasn't impressed. Like I said before, it must be a pain in the ass to maintain all of this! I get that he has a bunch of workers, but still. And what's with the sports cars and rich people? Unless you're going racing, there's no need for all this stuff! 

"Awesome! The place you live in is awesome!" Of course, nendou's impressed. 

"Really? It's not all that great." Saiko looked stunned. "I mean, sure it's big, but the parking garage at the pachinko parlor in our neighborhood is bigger. After seeing that, everything just seems rather small. Even this statue looks a bit cheap if you look at it closely." 

"It doesn't, but okay. But keeping all this is line must be a pain on the workers. By the time the gardeners reach one side of the lawn, the other side is a jungle all over again." Kuboyasu was rubbing the statue. 

"It's worth 100 million yen." Kuboyasu flinched and removed his hand. 

"Oh, god! Really? One hundred million, got it. That sounds about right. About the same number of bacteria on a toothbrush. They say it's about 100 million, so it's not such a big deal." I deadpanned. What was with him and trying to one up this guy? I get the fact that he thinks he's better than us, but one day he's going to be in need of help and guess what? He'll have no friends to help. I say just let karma take its course, and it'll bite him in the ass one day. 

Saiko looked over to us. Kaido was saying 'holy' a lot, but me and saiki just looked bored. I just wanted to go home and practice my rifts. He smiled that creepy smile of his at us. "What? What's so holy?" 

"Those!" Kaido pointed at the statues. I knew what he was thinking. He was a huge nerd on the inside of course. He's probably thinking by video game logic. 

"Ah, those statues over there? My father hired French Stonemasons to make-"

"Where's the power switch?" 

"What?" 

"They can move, can't they?" He said excitedly. I called it. 

"What?" 

"At first, you make us think they're just normal statues, but then when we walk by, the boss attacks!" 

"What?" I was really trying not to laugh. I was actively biting my tongue to keep a straight face. 

"Come on, show me how they move!" 

"They don't move!" 

"What the hell? They're just normal statues." Kaido was disappointed. 

"Let's go check out the inside. It's a pretty long walk to the lobby." 

"You have to do this every day? Must be tough." When I looked over, Saiko looked to be on fire. I blinked a couple times, but it didn't go away. The others weren't reacting to it though, so I shrugged it off as another hallucination. 

"Wow, the inside is incredible!" 

"It's okay." 

"What's with these weird paintings hanging everywhere? These are expensive too, right?" 

"Poor people like you don't understand their value, so I'll tell you! All these furnishings together are worth about 700 billion yen! By the way, that painting is worth 2.3 billion." He looked smug, and I rolled my eyes. I just wanted to leave. 

"700 billion yen? Well compared to Funassyi's economic effect, it's not that big of a deal."

"If you rearrange these paintings, a secret door will appear, right?"

"Something like this is 2.3 billion?"

"You can't go around touching whatever you want!"

"You're a bit stingy, aren't you?" He looked furious. He sat down, and clapped his hands. A person came up to him. 

"Bring him in." 

"Yes sir." 

A tiger. 

A fucking tiger, and he owns it like it's nothing. Makes me sick... But at the same time, it's a lifelong dream of mine to pet one. 

"Do you idiots own a pet? I'll show you mine. This is my pet hanatora."

"Wow! it's a tiger!" I approached cautiously, while Saiko was trying not to lose it at my friends dumb questions and comparisons. To my surprise, he nuzzled right up to me. I smiled. 

"Who's a good kitty! Aww, you're so cute! Such a good boy!" He rolled over and I pet his belly, and he even gave me kisses! I just about melted. "You need a kitty toothbrush." I chuckled. "Such a big boy! I bet you get treated really nice here! Fed lots of nice meats too!" As he continued to show things off, I was playing games with Hanatora. Kuboyasu was right, he is just like a big house cat. Still got to watch out for those claws though. 

I looked up when kaido put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it's getting late, we should go." I looked at the clock. It was past four thirty, and my parents were gonna get worried. I gave Hana one last pet goodbye, before walking out. 

"So, we lost you to a tiger, huh?" Kuboyasu asked. 

"It's been a lifelong dream of mine to actually pet one. Of course, you lost me to the tiger! And he's a very good boy." He laughed, but not in a mocking way. 

"I should have known you'd be the animal loving type." I shrug. Nendou was talking about ramen with saiki and kaido. 

When I got home, I plugged in my amp, and started to play my favorite song after warming up with some rifts. 

A few days later, Saiko came up to us at school- wait, why is he not wearing the school uniform? "Rejoyce, you penniless wretches, I'm going to show you around my estate. 

"Who the hell wants to see that shit?"

"We were just there anyways." 

"Where's your uniform?" I asked. He ignored me. 

"We can't be bothered with today. 

"Sorry, but participation is compulsory." I turned around to see saiki in front of a bunch of bodyguards, who were blocking us from leaving. "You poor bastards don't have the right to refuse. It will only take thirty minutes, so get a move on." I groaned. I didn't sleep well last night, and just wanted to take a nap. I was operating on two monster energy drinks, and half a breakfast burrito. I didn't have time to pack a lunch today. 'I swear, if I don't get some more caffeine in me, I'm just gonna go pass out in his living room and tell him to go fuck himself.' 

When we got there, it was like looking at a totally different house! He had remodeled the entire thing to have an amusement park? It was pretty cool actually! But I yawned anyways, cause of my exhaustion. "Wait, there was an amusement park here before?"

"No, there wasn't." I said tiredly. 

"This is..." Kuboyasu looked up. "Wow, crappy name." I laughed a little at that. I didn't have the mental energy to put on a mask or something, so If I start hallucinating, I'm fucking done for. 

"You came here before; this is my house." 

"It's totally different!" 

"Even you guys remodel your rooms sometimes, right?"

"This is not the same thing."

"Not the same thing at all."

"You went this far just to impress us? What kind of idiot are you? An amusement park? We're not kids, that's not going to impress us, right shun?" Nendou seemed eager to get on the rides though. So did kaido. I chuckled and leaned on the person closest to me. That person happened to be saiki. 'I'm probrably annoying him, but I'm too tired to care. Has it been thirty minutes yet?' I thought to myself as I rubbed my eyes. 

"Don't be fooled by his childish ploys, you're just going to encourage him!" 

"Childish?! Give me a break, I'm not into this at all!"

"My father passed away before I was born. Nobody ever took me to a place like this. I finally have my chance to play." 

"Ya'll have fun. I'm going home." I muttered to myself, as saiki pushed me off him. As soon as he made contact with my face, he froze. 

"No, you're not. It's only been twenty minutes." Saiko said, as he grabbed my arm, quite forcefully might I add. I groaned.

"Fine." 

"Now, shall we go inside?" He scanned his hand, which I know wasn't there before, and when it pulled away, I thought I saw blood on it. I was about to say something, when it disappeared. 

"Act disinterested no matter what."

"Yeah." The computer said something I didn't care to catch, and the gates opened. 

"What I cool futuristic entrance!"

"Can you let go of my arm now?"

"Why would I? You'd try to leave." I gritted my teeth. 

"Let go."

"No."

"I wasn't asking." Before he could say anything, I punched him in the nose, hearing the satisfying snap of the cartilage. He let go to grip his nose with both hands, and I huffed. "When a lady tells you to do something, you do it." I swung my leg and kicked him in the knees. He looked like he was gonna cry. "Jackass. The only reason I'm staying for the rest of the time required here, is cause my friends are here. Got that?" He started to cry, and his bodyguards came up to him. Kyboyasu gave me a high five as we went in. 

"I didn't know you had that in you!"

"I have three older brothers. You learn a thing or two when you're the youngest, and the only girl." Thing is two of them are moved out, the oldest being happily married and expecting a child, and the other one's away at collage, so I don't see them every day. I yawned again. "Man, I could really go for a coffee." 

Saiko walked in front of us, being dramatic and limping a bit from his kick to the knee. Please, I don't hit that hard. At most he probably has a small bruise forming. 

We got into the house and found a manga and game room. I looked in the cooler and grabbed an iced coffee. I needed to wake up a bit more. 

"What is this place! You have an arcade in your house?!"

"From retro, all the way to the latest machines! And they're all set up so you can play any of them for free!" I sipped my drink. Only thing I was interested in was leaving. And maybe whooping saiko's sorry butt if he touched me again. 

"That's not all, there's a manga cafe over there! A solid selection too! And a free drink bar! Something everyone's always wanted!"

"It totally feels like a secret base! Foosball, darts, and pinball, all from American movies! And the exposed concrete is super cool! There's a hammock!" 

"Has it been thirty minutes yet?" I asked saiki. 

"Almost." 

"They can good off all they want, I'm too tired to care."

'I'm going home and grabbing another energy drink and seeing about my homework. I've been procrastinating on that.' The other two were going on about how cool it all was, and kuboyasu was going crazy over the bikes, while kaido was going ballistic over the moving statues. Don't get me wrong, I think they're really cool too, but I'm just too exausted to show that I think it's cool. Saiki got swept away by the sweets, and I left. 

"Where are you going? We have tons of stuff you'd like!" He guestured to a bunch of girly stuff. I rolled my eyes. 

"I like the boy's things that they're going crazy over, but I'm too tired to get in on the chaos. Maybe some other time." I turned, and stopped. "And for the record, I'm a blackbelt in jujitsu, and my brothers are striped black in Taiquan do. Touch me again, and I'll personally make sure you're sent to the hospital with a shattered skeleton." 

"I'll sue you if you do that-"

"I'm a lady, dragged in an unfamiliar place, with a man I barely know. You're lucky I don't sick the cops on you for kidnapping us. Even with bribes, the evidence isn't in your favor for a lawsuit from my parents. My oldest brother is a lawyer, so don't even think about it." He gulped. I glared, and he backed away. 

When I walked out, I saw poor nendou stuck in the door. "You okay?"

"No. This isn't fun at all." I helped him out, and he went inside to join the others. "Where you going girlie?" 

"I'm going home. I'm just tired. Go have fun with the others." I waved goodbye and headed home. 

As soon as I got there, I took off my shoes and tossed my bra somewhere to be found later. I passed out on the sofa, not caring I was still in my school uniform. 

I passed out as soon as I hit the pillow. 

Chapter Text

Another school day during the winter, and a massive snow warning this morning. My dad was working shoveling the snow off the driveway, while I was getting the last few things I needed for school ready. I was dressed for the weather outside but had a few layers I could take off if I needed to. I was about to head out the door, when my mom stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?"
"School? Like I do every day?" I was confused.
"Sweetie, school's closed today." I was silent for a second.
"Oh."
"Yeah. 'Oh'."
I heard a knock on my door, and I opened it to see kaido and nendou there. "Hey guys! What are you doing here? School's closed today."
"We're going to saiki's house to play in the snow! You gotta come with us girlie!" I laughed a bit.
"Alright, alright. I just found out about the school being closed though, so come on in while I go change." Nendou cheered, and kaido just nodded happily. "Mom! My friends are gonna be inside for a few minutes while I change!"
"Okay hon!" I walked up the stairs while my mom nervously talked to my friends. Probably because of their appearances.

Headed back down with my snow clothes on, I saw my mom had relaxed around them, and was happily talking with both of them. "Let's go!"
"Wait! Do you have fake blood?"
"No, why?"
"We play this game where we fake our deaths in the snow, and then be all dramatic about it. It's really funny. You should join us!" I smiled awkwardly. Then I ran back upstairs. I know my oldest brother had some fake knives somewhere... There! I found one!
I ran back down, and showed them the trick knife, complete with fake blood painted on to make it look like it had been used. "Will this work? It's an old toy my oldest brother had left over."
"It's perfect! Come on! Let's go to pal's house!"
"Be back later mom!" I waved goodbye as I walked out with my friends right beside me.

Kaido had a sign that said 'let's build a snowman!' on it, as nendou got some snow to make snowballs. He threw it at what I assume is saiki's window, and he opened it. Good timing too, nendou was about to throw a second one. I was making a snow angel as fresh snow fell on my face. I was smiling widely in the snow, enjoying the feeling. I stood up, and waved to saiki, happy to see him. He was quiet, but he was pretty nice from what I know of him. 'He looks bored. Maybe he has nothing to do? Well, I'm sure if he has something better to do, he'll leave.'

He came down to join us after a few minutes, and we all smiled. "Amazing! Now this is what I call freakish weather!"
"We have the day off school, right? We should build a snowman!" I grabbed saiki's arm.
"Come on! It'll be fun! I haven't done this since I was a kid, so let's enjoy ourselves!" He pushed me off him and closed the door. He came back a few minutes later dressed for the snow.

We made it to an empty lot, where kaido gushed about how amazing it was. "Okay! I'm going first!" I pushed kaido face first into the snow and laughed like a lunatic (Which I guess technically I am) and nendou dove in behind him. He then yelled out.
"Are you okay?! What happened!"
"I'm alright. But there was a dog turd where I fell." I laughed and pulled a wipe out of my purse.
"Here. Be more careful." He wiped down his face and smiled like nothing had happened. With that, Kaido now pushed me into the snow, and I fell face first into it.
"Ha! That's payback for pushing me!" I turned over and laughed again.
"Fair!"

We were working on the snowman as saiki watched. Maybe he had a migraine? Those can be pretty bad. Or he just doesn't want to join us. Either way, he stood back and watched like a disappointed parent. "Hey saiki! Come help us!" I called out, and he looked at me, a little alarmed. 'what was that about?' I questioned in my mind, but he said nothing. I shrugged and went back to focusing on the base of the snowman. and when I looked up, he had an even bigger ball of snow! "Woah! How's you do that so fast?" I asked in amazement.
"Woah saiki! You made that yourself?"
"That one's bigger, we should put it on the bottom!"
"You did a really good job in making that!" I nodded in agreement. The three of us lifted the ball, (Well nendou and I did, Kaido was trying and failing to help) and we managed to get it on top with a little bit of struggle. From there, we all went around to find things for the snowman. Saiki found some icicles for the arms, and I found some rocks for the face. "Those are perfect! Our snowman is complete!"
"Guys, get in, I'll get a photo!" I said, pulling out my phone. The three of them got in, and I stood back, taking it. Nendou went on about how beautiful it was.
"Well, we already finished the snowman. Next up is you-know-what!" Saiki looked confused.
"We're going to have to do you-know-what, the location is perfect with this weather!" Nendou faked a heart attack and fell to the ground. I smiled, and saiki looked mortified.
"On snow days-"
"You have to play the snowy wilderness disaster game! You can play dead next!"
"Leave it to me. I even brought some fake blood!"
"You asked me if I had some, but you had it all along?"
"I wanted to see if we had any more to bring."
"Well, no matter! I have the trick knife still!"
"Alright! Let's continue!" Kaido did hos whole skit, and saiki looked up to the sky like he was looking at the camera in the office.
"I'm going home." Was all he said before he left.

Chapter Text

I had noticed all the blushing and the quick glances from kaido to kuboyasu, and vice versa. I was sick of it. Don't get me wrong, the whole puppy love thing is cute at first, but it gets old after a while. Even nendou was starting to pick up on it, which was really saying something. I went up to him about it, and saw him talking to hairo. "Hey, nendou, can I borrow you for a minute?"
"Oh? Hey! What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you about something. It's kind of important."
"I see. I'm not interested in that way."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"You? You were going to confess, right?" I looked at him long and hard, before speaking again.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Besides, I've got hairo here!"
"Dude, I'm talking about something completely different regarding two of our friends. What the actual fuck are you on about?" Hairo looked a little pale. Unusual for him. Nendou was silent.
"Ohhhh, you were talking about how pipsqueak and pal like one another!"
"Way to announce it to the whole world." I smirked. "So you and hairo, huh?" Nendou went red. "It's fine, I won't tell. Good for you two. Now anyways, back to kaido and kuboyasu..."
"I wanna help! If it will make our classmates happy, I'm all for it!" I smiled.
"Perfect! Cause I've got a feeling it's all hands on deck."

Step one was to go to kaido and see if he needed help. I knew he did, but the best step of being a matchmaker is to make sure at least one party knows what's going on, or else it will all go to shit. I approached him on his own, just the two of us. "Kaido! Wait up!" He paused, and grinned at me.
"Y/n! Walking home together as usual?"
"You know it!" While we walked, we talked normally for a few minutes, until I felt we were far enough away to talk to him about it. "So, I know how you have a crush on kuboyasu." He blushed. "I want to help you two get together. Or at least help you admit your feelings to him."
"I can't! What if it ruins everything?"
"Kaido, if he's really your friend, he isn't going to care that you like him, even if he doesn't like you back. Sure, it'll be awkward at first, but you two will overcome it and things will go back like nothing happened. He cares about you one way or another, and telling hin how you feel isn't going to ruin it. And if it does, that means he isn't a true friend. You get me?" He nods, a little teary eyed.
"Yeah! You're right! Let's do this!" I nod.
"Just so you know, I'm not the only one trying to help you. Nendou and Hairo will be helping too."
"You told them?!"
"Chill, they already knew. I was just asking for some extra hands." He groaned like his life was over. I smiled like I did nothing wrong.

The next day, I got us all together, and we went over possible ideas. "You could always flirt with him?"
"Nendou, you're terrible at flirting."
"He's not!"
"No, he really is. Besides, most people are put off by his face." Kaido said. "But beside the point, I don't even know the first thing about flirting."
"Honestly? Other than cheesy pick-up lines, I don't either." I admitted. "So, it looks like flirting's out." We all nodded. "Love letters?"
"He'd know it was me by the handwriting."
"Okay then." I thought for a second. "What's one thing you both like to do? or a private place you two like to hang out at?"
"We sometimes hang out at a fort we made."
"Any good at baking?"
"None."
"I am!"
"I know nendou."
"I can teach him!"
"Maybe some other time." He spoke.
"But you haven't tried my tuna fish crepes."
"And if this works, you can make a bunch for a celebratory meal." He seemed happy with that. "Anyways, maybe this weekend, you can talk to him there, tell him what you think of him?" He thought it over.
"Yeah. Yeah! That might just work!" He seemed a little more excited about that then he did other ideas. This was going to go great!

Chapter Text

"The 31st Hidariwakibara-cho clean up competition is about to start." I was bored already, but somehow dragged in by the boys.
"So many people here to pick up trash." Saiki commented.
"You didn't know?"
"I moved here in middle school."
"And I moved here like five months ago."
"The cleanup competition is a big event here. You try to collect as much garbage within a time limit. Each type of trash is worth points."
"A tsushinoko is worth a lot."
"It's a great event for everyone."
"The winning team wins one million yen."
"That sounds more like what someone would do all this for."
"Wouldn't it be faster to hire professionals?"
"And cheaper too."
"Yes there's a prize, but everyone wants to clean up the city!" Kaido laughed.
"Everyone is here for the money you fool!"
"Hey, I'm trash, how many points for me?" I said giggling.
"Don't say that."
"Why not." I whined, and got serious looks from everyone except nendou who laughed with me.
"Nendou, don't encourage her!"
"Oh come on, it was a little funny." Still serious looks.
"Are... Are you okay?"
"Nope! Not in the slightest!" I had come to the conclusion that I could trust these people with my secret. Not today, of course, but soon. I'd tell them the truth.
"What's the matter here?"
"Huh? You're the previous garbage champion, hiroshi gomi!"
"Appropriately named." I muttered to myself. I saw saiki nod from beside me.
"Oh, you know who I am?"
"You hauled an abandoned truck in the last five minutes last year! It was a miraculous comeback victory!" Some victory that was. The man laughed.
"I remember that. Oh, you there." He said looking at Kaido.
"While some may be after the money, there are other volunteers who are here to genuinely help. Let's do our best for the one mill-" He coughed, correcting himself, but I noticed the slip up, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. "I mean, the cleanup competition!"

An announcer spoke through a megaphone. "What a turnout! Starting this year, any large trash over five kilos will only score up to 25 points." I noticed the guy from earlier look like he had just been punched in the gut. "The 31st clean up competition, start!" Some party poppers went off, and made a little bit of litter some people cleaned up instantly.
"I'll get the trash from the party poppers!"
"Wait, nendou! The streamers and comfetti are hard to pick up, and they aren't worth many points. You have to be selective when picking up trash!" I sighed, picking up the confetti already.
"Alright. we got a total of five points. Now what?" I was ignored.
"It's a battle of wits!"
"It's a trash clean up..."
"I guess it's time for this!" Hiro said, pulling out a broom with an odd pose.
"It's a broom!"
"What? No, I thought it was a snake!" I said, sarcastically, while Saiki questioned the pose.
"You are partially right." A shady man said coming up to us.
"Who are you?"
"You were right to bring a broom, but that's not how you use it."
"What do you mean?" Is this man I clown in disguise? According to my brain? Yes.
And I hate clowns.
"This competition brings in points based on what you bring. That's why I'm choosing this." He said holding up a cigarette butt. I grabbed the broom, ready to beat the clown. Hiro was discussing what they were worth, while I raised the broom above my head.
"Get! Away! From! Us! You! Creepy! Clown! Bitch!" I swung the broom at him with every word.
"Well I was gonna offer to team up, but now I'm not. Screw you.' He clicked his tongue. "Crazy girl." I wacked him again with the broom.
"I may be crazy, but at least I'm no creep! Scram!" He went off.
"Y/n! Why did you do that?!" I was about to answer when Hiro did for me.
"Cause we don't need him! We came here to clean, and that's what we're gonna do! We'll pick up trash with pride!"
"Okay, pop off I guess."

Saiki and I spent a lot of time collecting it together. "So saiki, you don't like others that much, do you?"
"Not particularly. They annoy me if anything."
"Fair enough. People do tend to be pretty crazy, and this is coming from someone who's..." I stopped myself. "Anyways, do you want to split up, cover more ground? I know I tend to get annoying to be around, so I figured-"
"No thanks."
"Huh?"
"I said no. You're pretty much the only person at this point in time that I don't find irritating." I smiled, blushing a tiny bit.
"Thanks. Now let's kick that creepy clown's ass!" I swear I saw a small smile on his face as I said that. "You should smile more. It looks good on you." He paused.
"I'll think about it. Now let's get going."

Soon enough, there were only ten minutes left. Kaido was carrying so little, it seemed as if he was coming back from getting groceries, and not picking up trash for the past two hours. We were all tired, but I didn't mind it much, since that just means I'll sleep better tonight. "This is tough!"
"We're about 300 points behind first place. But we have over 500 points worth of garbage here. We can win of all of these get counted!" The creepy clown man laughed.
"We'll see about that."
"You!"
"What do you want! We're not teaming up with you!"
"Do I need to beat your ass again?"
"Teaming up? That offer is off the table. I don't need you now." The guy who won last year came out from the corner.
"It can't be! Why Gomi?"
"I have a gambling addiction."
"Hey, look, everyone here is trash!" I joked.
"Not the time y/n!"
"You guys don't appreciate my humor."
"Do you know what these are?" Two bags of ciggie butts.
"Impossible!"
"That's right! These are all cigarette butts! This is a kilo of diamonds!"
"So, we're calling cigarette butts diamonds now?" My thoughts exactly saiki, my thoughts exactly.
"Ten grams of cigarette butts is ten points. so two kilos is worth 2000 points!"
"Oh no."
"You wasted your time!" They laughed maniacally.
Then their bags caught on fire.
"Their bags caught on fire!"
"We still have a chance to win!"
We still came second to a family who got a dead tsuchinoko. Lucky them!
The boys looked devastated though.

Chapter Text

"Hey, y/n! Want to come see my hamster?" Is this some sort of joke?
"You... have a hamster?"
"Yeah? Why do you say it like the most surprising thing in the world?" I shrug.
"Just seems a little out of character for you in a way."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind. Anyways, you want me to come see it?"
"Yeah, I want you to meet her! She's so cute, and Hiro's already met her. He says its the same one Saiki's been trying to find a home for. It wasn't a good fit for him, but he's happy to see the two of us getting along." He said this with a smile and a little blush thinking about his boyfriend. I chuckled.
"Sure. I'll send a text to my parents so they don't worry." I said, pulling out my phone.
"Huh? What, you got overprotective parents or something?"
"Heh, try family altogether. Three older brothers, my mom, and my dad, and my parents are talking about getting rottweilers to guard the house."
"That's a big family. I've always wanted one. But why so many brothers?"
"Oh, my dad just really wanted a little girl. So they had kids until they had one. Had I been a boy though, I still think it would have been my mom's last pregnancy. I don't think my family could support more than four kids." I said while shooting the text off to my parents.
"But you think they can support four kids and dogs?"
"Well, my brothers are all moved out, remember? The oldest is married and expecting his first child next month, the middle one lives with his girlfriend and their cat, the third lives at his collage campus."
"Oh! I forgot."
"Anyways, let's get going!"

"Mom! I brought a friend home!" No response. "Huh, she must not be home. Oh well!" He grabbed my wrist, but not too hard. "Let's go meet riki jr number 2!"
"You named a female hamster after yourself?"
"Yeah, I thought she was a boy until a few days ago. But I don't feel like changing the name, so oh well!" I chuckled, shaking my head slightly. He opened the door to his room, which was surprisingly clean. On a small table was a hamster cage with a yellow and orange hamster running around in the weel. I smiled. "Now be calm, hamsters are shy creatures who like calmer environments. hence why I've only been brining people to meet her one at a time." I nod. We sit down by the cage, and I make no sudden movements. The little gal sees him and comes right up to him, chittering happily.
"She seems to really like you. But I have to ask why number 2 is in her name."
"Oh, cause I named her after the first hamster I had as a kid. He died of old age about three years ago, and I couldn't bring myself to replace him. But saiki was looking for a home for this little gal, and I couldn't say no, since everyone else was a bad fit." He smiled softly. "Brings back so many good memories." I looked at him in awe, before smiling.
"She's really cute. I never had pets growing up, since I already had a lot of siblings, so we couldn't afford one until recently. But my mom talks a lot about the farm dog she had as a kid."
"Farm dog?"
"Oh yeah, my mom grew up in a small village, and her and her six other siblings lived on a farm. They had chickens and a rooster, a horse, and a dog. Their neighours also had a dog, and so my mom's dog was often pregnant. She would hunt for food and teach her pups how to hunt, and nip at the other animals heels to get them in line when everyone got home. Made them all greet them too. She always seems so happy to talk about her."
"How many litters of puppies did she have?"
"They couldn't afford to get her spayed, but they tried to keep her locked up when she went into heat. But she still had about seven or eight litters despite their best efforts." We spent the next couple hours playing with Riki jr. number 2, and talking about my mom's old dog, and nendou's old hamster. It was surprisingly, so relaxing. Nendou's a really good friend to have. I was a little sad when I had to leave, but it was getting late, and my parents would get worried if I wasn't home soon. So I bid him goodbye and went home with a smile on my face.

Chapter Text

I was with teruhashi and the other girls from my class today. I figured I could try to make better friends with them, since I don't see them a lot. Teruhashi and I were talking about dogs, since despite her having a cat, she very much prefers dogs. "If you ever want to come over once we get the puppies, I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind."
"Ah, I don't want to intrude."
"That's nice of you, but I don't have a whole lot of friends. Sure I have a few people at the dojo to talk with, and the guys in class, but female friends? Hardly any. I'm more than sure my parents wouldn't mind at all."
"I see. Well then, I'd love to come over l/n!"
"My mom says she found a couple of pups at a foster and is going to get them home next weekend. They're still a little young, and need their shots and all that, but she's in love with them. She would have gotten the mom too, but she was already adopted."
"Aww, that's so cute! Do you know-"
"Teruhashi!" Kaido yelled out, turning the corner.
"Hmm? Can I help you boys?"
"Saiko says he'll take Saiki, Nendou, aren and I on a trip with him, but you have to go too. Can you come?" She gasped.
"I'll go!"
"Really? It's with saiko, and it's a sleepover."
"But everyone is coming right? It'll be fun! Yay! I'm so excited!"
"Ooh! Can I come too? I'd love to get out of the house for the weekend."
"Do you not have plans?" I shook my head.
"The only thing I would have to do is go to the dojo and work out."
"Oh yeah! I forgot you do that." I chuckled.
"Well, when you're the youngest of four siblings who are all super protective of you, you learn these to ease their minds." I told kyboyasu.
"Hey, Kaido! What are you talking about?"
"Good timing! Are you two free this weekend?"
"What?"
"We're going on saiko's boat. Do you want to come? It's overnight, so it would be weird if just two girls come, so I thought I'd invite you two since you're close with teruhashi. What about it?"
"Yeah sure! What about you l/n?"
"Ah, I'm pretty close with the boys, so they already invited me."
"Really?"
"Well when you get down to it, I'm more of a tomboy."
"Ah, I see! I'll go!"
"What about you mera?"
"I'll have some!"
"Some what?"
"Are you sure it's okay we go too?"
"He said we could bring whoever we wanted."
"I plan on asking Hairo too."
"What? Can my little brothers and sisters come too? I have three of them!"
"Mera, that's a little too much."

We all walked to class togehter as the bell rang. :"We met your condition."
"Like you promised, let us come with you."
"There are a lot of you, but you did well. I'll give you losers a weekend you'll never forget." 'Okay, I know he;s not calling me a loser. I've won about four jujitsu awards, and I'm the first runner up for the female jujitsu nationals.' I thought to myself. 'Was his hair always that white?' I then immediately questioned. 'Did I take my meds? Shit I can't remember. I'll just be sure to pack them tonight. The group cheered.
"Nine people all together!"
"It's too bad hairo can't come. I know nendou was looking forward to that." I teased, and he blushed a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw kyboyasu and kaido holding hands. 'looks like they finally got together. Good for them.'
"We're gonna have so much fun! Right saiki?" He didn't answer. I don't think he likes teruhashi that much, but hey, you can't win them all.
"Saiki? You are coming, right?" I asked, and he nodded. "Great!" I placed my hand on his shoulder, and turned to face the group.
"Okay, everyone's here. Let's choose when to meet up!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Some guy with green hair asked.
"This doesn't concern you." Saiko snapped. Geez, couldn't have been even a little nicer to the guy?

We met up at the docks, all in casual clothes. I had on a pair of ripped jeans and a crop top that was covered by a zip up hoodie. With converse on my feet, and my meds in my pocket, I felt confident that tonight was going to go well. "I can't believe we have to leave at night."
"Saiko's island is far away. If we don't leave tonight, we won't make it."
"Besides, it's nice to cruise at night. i think... I've never been on a boat before, and now I'm just rambling... I'm gonna shut up now." The group chuckled at my nonsense.
"We have to sleep on the ship, right?"
"Hey, what are you doing? Get on!"
"Where is he?" I looked up.
"Guys."
"Right here!"
"It's huge!" Saiko laughed.
"Impressed? Only my family could own something of this size!"
"You don't need a private ship this big."
"Agreed. Think he's compensating for something?" Kuboyasu laughed, Kaido snickered, Saiki looked unimpressed, the girls were blushing and nendou was confused.
"Compensating? For what?"
"Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything."
"The inside shows I'm not compensating for anything! It's got a theater, a pool in the gym, and an orange grove." Yeah, he's definitely compensating.
"Wow! But do you need an orange grove?"
"Come on in, it's amazing!"
"Where do we get on?" We started to load up, but saiki was lagging behind.
"Saiki? Come on! Let's go!" I said with a smile. He looked nervous. "Are you scared of the ocean?" He shook his head. I walked down and grabbed his hand. "Hey, there's nothing to be scared of. Let's go! If something goes wrong, which I'm sure it won't, we'll make it out alive. Okay?" I gave it a little squeeze.
"How do you do it?"
"How do I do what?"
"Hide it all?" I paled. "You may be able to fool the others, but not me. You're suffering from something. It makes you scared. How do you hide the fear?" I sigh, and take my pill bottle out from my pocket.
"Because I'm always drugged out of my mind." I show him the bottle.
"Aripiprazole?"
"Also known as abilify. They're antipsychotics used to treat my brain from a disorder that makes me see things."
"You're a schizophrenic, huh?" I nod, putting the bottle back in my pocket. "I'm sorry?"
"Come on, let's just get on the ship. If I can live seeing monsters, you can handle a little sea water." I chuckle and pull him along.
"I'm still not sure about this."
"Then you should have just said you don't want to go! It's too late now!"
"That was an option?"
"Of course, it was!" I said, halfway dragging him onto the ship.

"Awesome!" Kaido yelled out excitedly. "Awesome! what is this?"
"It's extremely gorgeous!"
"Are we really on a ship?" Even I had to admit, this was pretty impressive. Almost makes me feel bad for beating saiko up that one time... Almost.
"Poor people are easily excited." This is why I still don't feel bad for breaking his nose that once. "Just wait for what you'll see next."
"It's like a luxury hotel!" Teruhashi seemed to be deep in thought of some sort.
"This could turn out to be a fine cruise." Kaido said excitedly.

Two minutes later he looked like he was going to throw up. "Kaido? What's wrong? Are you sick?"
"I think he gets sea sick." I said nonchalantly. "If you knew that though, why would you get on the ship?"
"Cause I wanted to spend time with my friends." I smiled, knowing the hidden meaning behind his words, and kuboyasu seemed to know them too.
"That's cute and all, but we'd rather you not being sick everywhere so we can all enjoy ourselves." Yumehara was already running off to find him some medicine, and mera to find him some food. Although, I think she was just getting the food for herself to be honest.
"Oh, please do!" Kuboyasu seemed worried about his boyfriend, holding onto him gently.
When Yumehara couldn't find any, she sat with him as he lay down in a bed, while Kuboyasu decided to take a look around himself.

Next thing I know, I'm waking up on some sand. "Huh? Where are we?" I looked around to see nothing but the ocean. I looked behind me. "Saiki? What happened?" He pointed to the shore, and I saw wreckage of the ship. "What?! I..." I looked over to him, and sat next to him. I hesitantly patted him on the back. "I'm sorry. I'm the one who made you get on the ship, and now look at us." I chuckled sadly. "I'm so sorry saiki."
"It's not your fault."
"I know, but I still feel bad. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."
He put his hand on my head. "Nah. I feel like the others would have forced me along anyways." I chuckled, a little happier this time.
"Yeah, you're right. I think they would." I looked around. "Am I the last one up?"
"Yeah. The others all freaked out. You're the only one to stay calm."
"Huh." I thought about it. "Well, freaking out won't solve anything. That's the first thing they taught me at the phych ward after putting me on my meds." I felt my pocket, but they weren't there. I didn't expect them to be after a shipwreck, but it still made me nervous. "Saiki?"
"Yeah?"
"If I start to freak out over something that's not there, I want you or Kaido to calm me down. He's the only other one who knows of my condition." He nods.
"Alright then."
"Thanks." We joined the others on a log. Teruhashi was glaring at me, but as soon as my eyes met hers, she stopped. 'What was that about?' I thought to myself.

"Alright, here's what happened. The ship went down, and we drifted to a deserted island. Let's just wait until help comes. That's all." For everyone's sake, including my own, I hope it comes soon. We all nodded and said okay, but Kaido started to freak out.
"No, that's too vague. There's no time for that! We're stranded on a deserted island! You know it's bad when you see this kind of thing!"
"What?"
"What thing?"
"Besides, this island is pretty small. It's the size of our school yard. We won't be able to find food! What can we do? It's a matter of time before it looks like this!"
'Why was saiki's name crossed off?'
"Shun, you didn't see it?"
"What?"
"That's the pantry from the ship. Miraculously, this all drifted here with us. As far as I know, mera ate all of it on the ship, but we have plenty of water, so don't worry."
"And we can always spear fish if we really need to." I pitch in.
"Only amatures drink while eating." I roll my eyes.
"We're lucky that there's the pantry."
"Yes, it's a Mirical!"
"But it's going to run out! If we don't find help soon-"
"Help will come." We all turned to saiko. "It's not like we drifted here on a raft. Right now they're using the ship's tracking device to locate where the ship sank and are searching for us. I don't know where we are, but I know it can't be too far. Plus, the son of the world's leading financial conglomerate is here. I'm a world treasure! A giant search team is out there looking for me now. You should thank me." I roll my eyes, and resist to pummel this guy.
"So what? You're saying we shouldn't worry?"
"That's right little guy! SO let's go swimming!"
"That's a little too carefree!"
"I'm in." I say, taking off my jacket and about to take off my crop top. Nobody else was doing those things though. "What? Swimming sounds like a great way to distract ourselves fromteh current situation. and I for one don't feel like being stuck in wet clothes!"
"Why did we sink anyways? I can't remember anything." I took my top off leaving me in a bra and jeans. I looked behind me at saiki.
"You coming?" He shook his head.
"Put your shirt back on."
"Fine." Kuboyasu was explaining how saiki got sea sick, and teruhashi took one of his clips off, and suddenly everything went to shit.

I couldn't take my medicine since it was gone, and I told kaido what happened. "I'm not an expert, but surely there must be something you can do to stop hallucinating?"
"No, there's nothing. My meds don't even fully stop me from hallucinating. It just calms it down. Instead of seeing bloodthirsty monsters, I just see clown noses or blood on walls. Occasionally eyes too. But most of it is the delusions and paranoia. Even now it's startig to kick in."
"Huh?! IS there anything I can do to help?"
"Just find ways to keep me distracted if it looks like it's getting too bad, okay?"
"I meant to ask..." Saiki said, coming up to us. "Why dop you hide it?" I sighed. I knew this was coming.
"Because at my old school, before the mental hospital and medications and the transfer, I was bullied for it. I was always talking to myself, and I didn't even know it. So people would bully me a lot." I sighed. "Anyways, we should probrably talk with the others.."
"I think you should tell them."
"Huh?"
"I'm with kaido on this. It would be best to tell them, so they can help if we aren't around."
"I... Fine. I'll tell them tonight."

During the fire we had that night to cook what little food we had, I decided to just go for it. "I'm schizophrenic."
A mix of reactions. Kuboyasu and nendou were confused, teruhashi seemed worried, saiko laughed, and yumehara screamed. "What?!"
"Yeah... I'm saying this now because my meds were washed away in the ocean during the wreck."
"What all does that mean?" Kyboyasu asked. "I mean, I know it's a mental disease, and it can be bad, but I've never really heard more than that." I sighed.
"Basically, I hallucinate a lot. I have voices in my head. Full on people. I hear and see things that aren't there. I'm usually very paranoid. I used to talk to myself a lot because my hallucinations were my only friends. But even then, there were a lot of scary things I saw. And I would get episodes where I thought I was someone else. I just... I wanted to tell you guys since I lost my meds, in case something happened and I started to slip into an episode."
"Explains a lot, crazy girl. Why else would you attack me that once?'
"Because you didn't let go when I asked, and that counts as assault, you dumbass. Not to mention you were checking me out before, and it was creepy."
"I would do no much thing."
"But you did." Kuboyasu said. "I would have said something, but y/n seemed to handle it fine by herself." He hummfed, and turned away.
"Well, we'll do our best to keep you stable."
"Yeah. No problem girlie!"
"I... Thanks guys. And good luck. I have a feeling you'll need it."

Boy was I right.

Chapter Text

A day passed, and I've been able to keep myself from going too crazy. I did freak out about a 'snake' but it only lasted a few minutes. But still, it had been a day and nobody came. I was sitting next to Kaido, who was sitting like a kid, and being mopey. "It's all over. Help isn't coming. The world has abandoned us. We're going to have to live the rest of our lives on this island. But we won't be able to live in a place like this." He pulled out a marker and started to draw on his face. Where did he even get that? "Soon we will run out of food and things will get desperate. We'll start killing each other!" I smacked him.
"Get a grip!"
"That's ironic coming from you."
"I'm not entirely crazy yet, so just let me speak. Help will come. It's not your job to go batshit on us Kaido! You're supposed to keep me from going batshit crazy, not do it yourself! Now stop being a pessimistic little bitch and grow a pair!" I yelled at him, before taking a deep breath. I was panting slightly from my outburst and the group was looking at me.
"Y/n..."
"I'm going for a walk." I said, standing now. "I need to calm down." I walked away, hearing the group muttering.
'They're talking about you' a voice in my head said.
'they're scared of you.' another said.
'Why do they care?'
'You're crazy.' The voices continued to whisper things to me, and I shuddered. I could almost feel their breath in my ears. The voices were a lot and starting to get to be too much. I sat down against a tree in the woods, and felt my eyes start to sting. I choked on a sob and let the tears flow.

I don't know how long I was crying, when I heard a voice. A different voice this time. "Hey." I looked up to see Saiki there, crouched down in front of me. "Are you okay?" I shook my head and opened my arms. "I'm not-"
"Please... I need to ground myself." He sighed, and complied, letting me hug him, I just sat there, sobbing into his sweater, and let myself get it all out. He patted my back, trying to comfort me. I can tell he doesn't know what he's doing, but he's trying and that's what counts. Right now, my mind is a jumbled mess, and I need to calm down. Let go.

I don't know how long we're there for, but eventually I stop, and I see we've shifted so he's sitting with me in his lap. I sniff a couple times and wipe away the stray tears. I pull away, but he holds on. "Saiki?"
"It's alright. You can stay here for a bit." I sigh happily and wrap my arms back around him. 'He's nice when he wants to be. It's nice to have a friend like him.' I pull away again, and he lets me this time. "The group has decided to build a raft. We got some saws. Do you want to help us?" I shook my head.
"I'd rather not help with the cutting of trees. We need food, right?" He shook his head.
"A lot of stuff from the pantry floated to shore. We've got enough." I stand up, and offer him my hand, which he takes.
"Alright then. I guess I will help cut down the trees. But make sure I don't hurt myself. I get a little... uh... bad when I get off my meds for too long." I told him, and he nodded.
"Noted." He said, and with that, we were back to the group. We saw them cutting down trees, and they smiled when they saw us.
"Hey! You two lovebirds have fun in the forest?" Kuboyasu teased. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Geez, way to phrase a mental breakdown." I said, and he paused.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry. I guess saiki helped you with that, huh?" I nodded. I looked over to him, and noticed his cheeks were a bit pink, and I thought about it. 'I guess I wouldn't mind dating if it was with him, but let's not rush into things.' I thought to myself. I looked around.
"Hey, there's no more saws, are there?"
"No, we ran out. Kaido's actually using a pocketknife." I hummed.
"Kaido, how about you and I work to get some fibers from the trees? We can weave those together to make rope to tie things." He looked at me and nodded.
"Sure. But how do we do that?" I looked over at the pile of logs and grabbed the pocketknife from him. "Huh- hey!"
"Come on! Let's go find some milkweed or thorny vines. We'll need a lot." He nods and follows.

We grab a lot, but it's not enough. "It's a good start, but we need three times as much as we have."
"What?! That much?!"
"Yeah. Twisting the plant fibers together shortens it a lot. We've got to get a lot more. But we can take a break and bring what we have back to the others. We should get some water and a little bit of food. We'll be at this for the rest of the day, and maybe about half the day tomorrow." He nods, sighing.
"Alright. Let's get going." I smiled softly. We're going to get off this island. And I'm going to get my meds back. As much as I'm enjoying this trip, I think I'd have a lot more fun when I wasn't seeing blood every five minutes.

Chapter Text

When we got back, Kaido started collecting plastic bottles, and I noticed the other girls were out. "Hye, where's yumehara and teruhashi?"
"Oh, shortly after you and shun left, they decided to look for vines or other things to help make rope." I shrug and hand Kaido back the knife.
"Huh?" Why are you giving this back to me? You're better off with it."
"Please. I don't trust myself with it while off my meds." He seemed to understand what I was saying and took it from me.
"Yeah, let's keep you from doing that. Especially here, we don't have any first aid things." I give a soft smile. Nendou and kuboyasu were talking about racing how fast they could cut down some trees, when the girls came back.
"Kaido, we brought back some vines we can use!"
"Great! Put them over there, and y/n will help make it into a sturdier rope."
"What's with the plastic bottles?"
"They're water bottles. Look, if we use these, we'll need fewer logs, right?"
"Wow! What a great idea Kaido! You're a genius!" Anyone could have thought of that, but I think she's a little love blind. It's pretty clear he's not interested in her... Or girls in general. But he got excited talking about the raft, and pulled out a rough diagram he drew... He's not the best at that, but he tried.
"I drew a diagram too! It makes it easier to understand, right?"
"Well... You drew a lot of plastic bottles."
"That's Mera's face." He said, and the girls deadpanned.
"What?"
"It looks like it will take a while. I wish we had more people helping." I knew exactly who he was talking about, and the others knew it too.
Saiko.
That selfish prick hasn't done a single thing to help us since we got stranded here. Hell, he even laughed about my mental state! Talk about a privileged bitch! We all went to look at him, and he looked rough. He was staring at a crab and reached for it. "What are you doing?" Kaido said, and Saiko shrieked.
"I knew you were hungry after all." I spoke.
"What are you bums talking about? I'm not hungry at all!"
"Bullshit."
"You just tried to eat that crab."
"No I didn't!"
"But we saw-"
"No you didn't!"
"Stop being a big baby." I spoke. "If you're hungry, pull that stick out of your ass, and eat something that won't give you food poisoning!" I yelled at him, smacking him a little for good measure.
"Stop hitting me you wretch!"
"Oh, I know you didn't just call me a wretch!" I grabbed him by the ear. "You want to call me names? You'd better be ready for a damn fight!" I reeled back, and he screamed.
"NO! I'm sorry! You're not a wretch, please don't hurt me!" I let go and huffed.
"If you ever feel like getting off your ass, we're building a raft, and would all appreciate the help." I spoke and turned to leave. I needed to collect things for it.

As the day went on, Mera was finally helping us, and damn that girl is a beast! She even beat nendou at cutting down trees! I was helping Kaido, yumehara, teruhashi and saiki with the bottles, as Kaido demonstrated how to tape them together. I was situated with teruhashi and saiki, and noticed she was staring at him.
'does she like him? That's a shame. I don't think he's into her like that. Oh well, better for me! I mean- wait what?!' Doing my best to brush that thought aside, I continued to help them work.

By the time it was nightfall, we had a lot done, which kuboyasu commented on. "We did a lot in one day!"
"Awesome! It's actually starting to look like a raft! We should be able to finish it tomorrow, don't you think?"
"Yes. Anyway, it's getting dark now. That's enough for today."
"Good idea. I can barely lift my arms." Kuboyasu said. "Man I would love a bath."
"I'm beat!" I noticed saiki lagging behind.
"Aren't you coming with?" I asked him, and he shook his head. "Oh, alright then. I'll see you in the morning?" He nods. With that, I turn to leave, my heart starting to quicken at the short conversation, if you can even call it that.

As we were around the campfire, kaido and kuboyasu disappeared together, likely to make out or something, and I didn't bother following. I don't want to see that. Instead, I found my mind wondering to Saiki. He was cold at first, and I get that he doesn't like people, but I can't help but wonder. Do I like him? It's too early to be able to tell for sure, but I wouldn't put it past myself. He could be really kind and considerate when he wanted to be. Maybe I should get to know him more first. One on one. Yeah, that would be a good idea. And he said it himself that I don't annoy him as much as the others. I guess I'll see if he's interested in hanging out somewhere together. And after a few minutes, they came back with slightly swollen lips. The girls where somewhere else, and nendou had just left to use the bushes. But soon after, we heard a rustling, and looked up. "That was quick nendou- Saiko?! Why are you here?! Are you ready to eat now? Eat up then! Nendo is just-"
"Don't get the wrong idea peons. I came to return these." He threw down four bags of cabbage jiro. "I'm not so starving that I need your pity."
"What?"
"I found these in four different spots." I think pretty much everyone but me, saiki, nendo and saiko himself pitched in to get him to eat. Kuboyasu and Kaido shared a look. "I don't need your help."
"Stop being so stubborn! You're saying you'd rather die?!"
"No, but you're right, I am being stubborn."
"What?"
"The boat you were on was in maintenance. But I stubbornly chose that ship. That's why this happened! You want me to abandon my principles when things get tough for me?! That's not how metori saiko does things!"
"In maintenance?"
"Yes, that's what caused the accident."
"So, you feel responsible. Big deal." I said, standing up. "Guess what? While it is your mistake, I don't think anyone here fully blames you. Not even me. Sure, you're a a jackass, but you did at least try to show us a good time! And guess what? The past is the past, and there's nothing you can do about it. So grow a pair, and stop acting like such a debby downer! It doesn't matter what mistakes you make in your life. What matters is how you learn from them, and what you do to make up for them in your life! Cause guess what? We're all human, and mistakes are how we learn." He stared at me, a look of awe in his eyes. "Now are you ready to eat and help us with the raft? Or are you going to sit on your ass feeling sorry for yourself for god knows how long?" He turned to leave.
"Fine. We won't bring it up again."
"Good."
"We're going to force it down your throat instead!" Kuboyasu jumped at him, and I laughed like a maniac.
"What are you doing?! Stop it!"
"Ramen's done!" I cheered, and patted next to me.
"Come, enjoy the show."
"You're too weak from hunger." Nendou handed me a cup of noodles which I started to eat.
"When we get back, I'm making a five-course dinner. You'd better make sure everyone here comes to that."
"Sure thing girlie!"
"You're not the only one feeling responsible! We're the ones who planned this trip!"
"It's our responcibility to get everyone home safely! Y/n's right, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and just help us fix it! Or do you want to see who can be more stubborn!"
"Then beg me to eat!"
"Oh you won't be begging, cause if you don't eat willingly, I'm going to shove this cup of noodles down your throat!" I glared at him, and his red nose. Wait, shit, that's a fucking clown nose. Again. I hate this.
"Please eat!" Kaido and kuboyasu begged together. Nendou handed him a cup of noodles.
"Here you go."
"This is instant ramen?"
"You've never had it before?"
"It's really good!"
"In a pinch." Nendou looked at me. "What? I'm just saying, I can make better."
"You're going to have to prove that to me."
"Well it's a good thing I already plan on making a huge meal for all of us when we get off this damn island. Eating nothing but junk food like this isn't good for you. That reminds me, nobody here has any allergies, do they?" Nobody spoke up. "Alright then. I just have to check with the girls tonight then." I finished up my noodles and stood up. "Well boys, thanks for the food, but I should head on over to the girl's camp."
"Have a good night y/n!"
"Night y/n!"
"Bye pleb."
"Night girlie!"
"Saiko, do I have to break your clown nose again to teach you to not call me that?"
"I..."
"Answer me."
"No! No, you don't. Goodnight y/n."
"Thank you. I'll see you all in the morning." And with that, I was off to the girl's camp.

The next day he was bossing all of us around, saying he was our 'supervisor.' Not what we were hoping for when we asked him to help us, but honestly, what did we expect? "By the way," Saiko asked. "Who will ride the raft?"
"What? All of us will."
"Why does everyone need to go?" Oh boy, here we go.
"What?!" Nendo was filled with rage. "Are you saying you want to leave someone behind?!"
"Calm down Nendo!" He tossed poor kaido off him. "You've got to be kidding me! How could you even say that?! We all worked hard together to get this far!" He said with tears in his eyes.
"That's not what I meant." He said, prying Nendou's hand off his collar. "The people on the raft can send help back once they're rescued. And what happens if help reaches the island first while we're all on the raft? Leaving a group in both places ensures our odds."
"I get it! You're smart!"
"You're right, we don't need everyone to go."
"I wonder why we thought we all had to go."
"We just need someone to call for help."
"Great thinking!"
"How did you not figure it out?"
"I don't go. No, I mean, I don't want to go." I said, tripping up my words. I can already feel the negative symptoms coming on. "Words hard. No go." I say, frustrated. 'Goddamn, why now?! Ooh, is that a butterfly?' I think to myself, staring off into space. My meds are completely worn off, and all my symptoms are showing. I don't know how long I was staring at what I thought was a butterfly, but I jolt when I hear a clap. "Huh?" I'm looking around, not knowing what's going on.
"Y/n? Can you hear me?" Saiki's the one talking to me. I'm looking at him blankly. I nod. "The others are getting lunch. Let's go."
"No hunger."
"Y/n?"
"What are we doing? I'm bored." He drags me over, and I just stare off into space, and into the shadow creatures in the woods. "Saiki, have those shadowy figures always been there?"
"No."
"Huh. Weird. Hello shadow creatures!" I yell at them, waving my free arm. I hear him sigh and he sits me down. He shoves a bit of food in my hand, and I absent-mindedly eat it. "What's with the clowns?"
"Great, she's completely lost it."
"She did warn us that she was a schizophrenic. We should have expected her to lose her grip sooner or later." I look over at them, a blank look in my eyes. I tear up a bit, knowing they're whispering about me. The whispers get louder, and I cover my ears. It doesn't help. I start to sob a little, and they look at me.
"What's wrong?" Saiki asks.
"Voices! Why are the voices so loud!" I cry out, actively crying at this point. Saiki sighs, and pulls me into his lap, and rubs my back, trying to soothe me. I just cry until I fall asleep in his arms.

Chapter Text

Y/n was sleeping now as the group continued with their lunches. "Okay, I guess whispering is a no go when Girlie's off her meds."
"Oh, you don't say?" Kaido said sarcastically.
"I'm just saying! She really needs those meds, so her going on the raft is a no go." The rest of the group nodded.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is her freaking out on the open sea and going overboard, or worse, flipping the raft or breaking it."
"Yeah, for all of our safety, we should have at least two people stay back with her to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."
"I guess I'll stay with her." Saiki eventually said. He would have to go with the plan B after all and make sure that they all got found tomorrow morning.
"Well that's one person."
"I'll stay too. Buddy's gonna need someone who can restrain her if she gets violent."
"Wait, you think she will?" Kaido asked, concerned.
"Nah, but just in case. None of us have seen her without her meds, so we don't know what will happen. She could try to off herself or hurt others. Nendou staying is a great idea, since he's more than strong enough to help her if something bad does happen to her or others." Kuboyasu said. Saiki was secretly glad that he was going with plan B, since the group was right. Anything could happen, and y/n wouldn't be in control of her actions. Not to mention he was also glad the group was taking it seriously. Even Saiko was after the comment that she might end up killing herself while off her meds, not aware of what was happening.
"When we get off this island, I'll make sure she gets her medicine refilled, personally, and cover any hospital charges she may cause to herself or others."
"Wow Saiko. That's so generous of you."
"It's my fault we're in this situation anyways. She may not like me, but it's the least I can do to apologize for bringing her along."
"Are you still on that? It's fine. She came here willingly. But I'm sure she'd be happy for you to cover her medicine costs this once."
"She's stubborn though, so only once." Saiki chimed in. Anyone could see she was a determined young woman any way to Sunday. Fighting an illness like that, and still having the strength to ignore her hallucinations, smile, and make other people happy, all while perusing a dream of music. She was headstrong and clever, along with goal driven. 'I have to say, that is sort of cool.' Saiki thought to himself, thinking about all that she was fighting and still doing.
"So that's three people who won't be on the raft. We should figure out who wants to be on the raft."
"Does anyone want to be on the raft?" Nobody raised their hands. "Not surprising."
"The rest of us men should probably go, with the exception of course of Saiki and Nendou, since they've already volunteered to stay back with y/n. I can't say I mind going."
"So the rest of the guys should go to make it fair, right? That's six people left behind."
"I still feel that's too many people on the raft. Weight might be an issue."
"We can test it before we go off. After all, there's only going to be three of us on there." Kuboyasu said. "If there's an issue, we can see who should stay back again based on weight."
"That's a smart idea."
"Actually, I forgot to mention I want to be on the raft too." Mera said.
'How come?"
"I've caused you all so much trouble here, so I want to give back in some way."
"Oh... Okay." Kaido cleared his throat. "So that's four people on the raft. Yeah, weight may become an issue is anyone else wants to be on there."
"Maybe you should stay behind kaido?"
"Why me?" Yumehara had a look of 'oh crap' on her face, along with a heavy blush. Kaido wanted to roll his eyes and kiss Aren to make a point, since he wasn't as oblivious as people tend to think about him. He knows fully well she has a crush on him, especially after his boyfriend pointed it out to him, and he voice how he was suspicious of it, but didn't want to assume. They agreed to keep their relationship to themselves with close friends knowing of course, but yumehara was a bit of a blabbermouth. They couldn't risk telling her and being exposed like that to the whole school.
"Why? Well..." She was clearly panicking. "Well, you're weak like a girl, and you get seasick, you probably won't be of any use on the raft."
'Low blow Yumehara. That had to hurt him.' Kaido actually had a few tears on his face hearing all that, upset that someone would call him weak to his face.
"I'm getting on the raft."
"Why?"
"Shut up, idiot, I'll go."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you! I just really- oh fine I'll get on it too!"
"Shh. You'll wake up y/n." Teruhashi said. "She's still recovering from that breakdown, so she needs her sleep."
"I guess we'll go with that then."
"With testing the weight of course."
"Obviously."
"With that, we'll finish the raft by tonight." Kuboyasu turned to Teruhashi and yumehara. "Would you two mind looking after y/n while she sleeps? And try to keep her calm if she wakes up."
"How do we do that?"
"Just makes sure she doesn't freak out too much and keep her away from anything dangerous. If something happens, come and get one of us, got it?"
"Got it." The two lead Saiki to their campsite and made a makeshift bed for her, which Saiki laid her down on.
"Wow Saiki! You're a lot stronger than you let on!"
"I guess." He said, setting her down. "Before she fell asleep, she was seeing shadowy figures, so just keep her away from those if she starts to see them again."
"Understood. Now go help the others." Teruhashi said, not knowing how much longer she could stand to see Saiki with another girl in his grasp. As he walked away, Yumehara looked to her.
"What are you going to do? I think Saiki likes her."
"I know. I guess I'll have to move on from him. As much as I want to, I can't force him to like me, that's just weird and cruel." Teruhashi pulled her knees to her chest and sighed. "It's gonna suck so much though. He's the first person I've felt this way for that's an actual person ya know?"
"Huh?"
"I read a lot, and I tend to gain small girl crushes on the female leads sometimes." She admitted. Yumehara looked at her.
"Kokomi, are you sure those aren't just crushes?"
"... I'm not sure anymore. I think I need to do some thinking and soul searching for a while before I know for sure. Maybe one day I'll find out."
"I think you should experiment a little too. You've liked guys in the past, maybe it's time you tried something new."
"If this is you asking me out-"
"No! Far from it. I've already made the conclusion I'm straight as can be, but still and ally. I'm saying maybe you should find a girl you'd be okay trying new things with." She sighed.
"I'll think about it Chiyo. I'll think about it." The girls hugged, and Teruhashi started to cry a bit.
"It's okay to let it out. The guys aren't around, and y/n, even if she was awake is great at keeping secrets. Just let yourself feel for a few minutes." And that's what she did.

Chapter Text

As y/n woke up, she saw Teruhashi with puffy eyes, and Yumehara comforting her. "Are you okay?"
"Oh good, you're up!" Yumehara said, hearing her voice. "How do you feel?"
"Better. More lucid. But Teruhashi, is something wrong?" She hesitated to tell her. "Whatever it is, I'm not going to say anything, especially not to the boys. It's not my place to say anything on your behalf."
"It's silly, don't worry about it."
"If it made you cry, then it's clearly something to worry about." Teruhashi sighed.
"Fine. I like Saiki..."
"I'm sensing there's a 'but' in there, right?" She nodded, sniffling, and wiping a few tears that were going down her face again. Y/n hugged her gently. "Takle your time. Well, not too much time, I don't know when this will act up again, but if it's going to take you a while to say, just tell me later."
"No, it's fine. I just need to collect myself a little." A few deep breaths. "I like Saiki, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me."
"... Do you want me to be honest?"
"Know what? I'm already crying. Sure."
"I don't think he likes anyone like that. At least, not right now. Hell, I think he barely tolerates us at times."
"Really?"
"Call it a hunch, but he always looks bored around everyone. maybe he's just not a big people person. If he develops something for someone later, great. If not, that's fine too. And I'm glad you can admit to yourself he may not be interested."
"Why's that?" Teruhashi was on the verge of full-blown sobbing again.
"Teruhashi, don't get me wrong, you're a gorgeous girl, but everyone has a type. I'm not saying to change yourself for him, no person is worth that, but it's good you can admit you're just not his type. Maybe he likes more athletic people, or nerdier, book-smart people, or maybe just straight up dorks. maybe he likes guys for all you know -not saying he does for sure, just saying it could be true- or maybe he doesn't like anyone like that. But no matter, you're strong enough to admit you're not what he's looking for in a partner, and you're letting it go. My advice, get over him, but still be his friend, since if you're able to be friends with someone you once liked or even loved, you can do pretty much anything after that." Both girls looked at her in awe. "What?"
"You're surprisingly good at this stuff."
"Well, I've been through my own fair share of failed crushes and relationships. You get a feel for them after the third failed crush and know how to help others after the first failed relationship." It was silent for a few seconds.
"What happened to the first relationship?"
"I admitted to him I was schizophrenic, and he told the whole school. The whole school soon started to bully me for seeing things and pretending to be my hallucinations. Then he dumped me in front of everyone." Y/n rolled her eyes. "He was a jackass, and I hope to never see him again." Y/n said this, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, it's getting late. We should see how everyone else is doing on the raft, and see if they need any help."
"Sure!"
"You two go on ahead. I need a second to collect myself." Teruhashi said, to which the girls nodded and left, leaving the blue-haired girl alone for a while.

It was dark when the group finished the raft. As everyone celebrated, y/n couldn't help but feel upset she wasn't of more help. 'It's like they think I'm dangerous. I just wanted to help.' She silently sighed, her mood going unnoticed by almost everyone.
Except Saiki.
'Yada, yada, she needs to understand everyone here cares about her well-being. If she got hurt, I'm not really in a position to rewind her injuries, and it's not like we have a first aid kit either. Hopefully, once she gets back on her meds for a few days, she'll be back to normal.' He noticed her masking how she felt, and his usual passive face turned into a small frown. 'Why's she fronting that she's fine? She's clearly not' He thought to himself. He turned his head slightly to take a look at her, but quickly got annoyed with his powers as his x-ray vision started to come into play. But He did see something.
Scar tissue. Lining up her non-dominant arm. Some were deeper than others, but they all looked faded. Nobody had noticed since they almost blended in with her skin, the only visible buts being bumps that could be easily overlooked. But he saw deep scars on her thighs that if you looked closely, just nicked an artery. 'How would she get scars like that? Did she... She did...' He felt pale and a little sick realizing what she had done to herself. 'Yada, yada. If she can't take care of herself, I guess I'll have to do that instead. She's not too bad compared to everyone else. In fact, she's pretty cool.'
Nobody noticed Saiki's slightly grim expression, or the fact y/n was debating hiding away from everyone with something sharp. They were all too busy talking about how they'd get off the island in the morning. Kaido was making some weird speech about everyone working together, but that wasn't important. Saiki wasn't listening, and y/n was only half paying attention. 'I need to get her off this island before she hurts herself- or worse. Come on kaido, wrap it up so you all go to bed. I have work to do.'
Soon enough, an argument broke out, and people left to go eat. The other girls brought y/n with them to their camp. Soon enough, everyone was asleep, and saiki picked up a saw. 'Now then. I have my own work to finish tonight.'

"Everyone have their food and compass?"
"Yeah!"
"Lets go then!"
"We'll see each other again." Kaido said, hugging kuboyasu.
"Of course we will. Huh?" He looked up. "Have you always been so dirty saiki?"
"It's been four days on a deserted island. Surely it's not surprising that he's covered in dirt." Y/n said. "Man, once I get home, I'm getting my meds and taking a nice long bath." She said.
"Alright, lets see if this raft floats." Kuboyasu got on it, and gave peace signs. "Woah, it's super stable!" Wait, have those rescue people always been there?
"We found nine castaways."
"It matches our report. Rescue them all."
"Huh?"
"Do you remember your name?" He had gotten on the wrong raft. Y/n couldn't help but laugh, especially as kuboyasu freaked out.
"What? What the hell is this?! Who are you people?!"
"What is this?"
"We've rescued them. Nobody is injured, but they're confused."
"We're saved?"
"get on the boat!"
"It looks like it."
"Is anyone injured?"
'How did they find us? Even I can't transport a whole island. Not unless I break it down into smaller pieces. It's not the same island as before, but a replica I made. I'm not stupid. I realized not everyone might get on the raft, especially with y/n being off her meds. That's why I was simultaneously making this replica. The building of the raft was good cover. I could move both trees and earth day and night. It made it harder for them to notice any missing trees. I just had to bring everyone here after they fell asleep.'
Y/n was relieved she could go home and see her family again. No doubt they were worried sick about her. She hugged the person closest to her and started to cry out of happiness. Well, the person next to her just happened to be saiki, who started to panic. 'Why's my heart racing? And why do I suddenly feel hot? Shit, if I cool myself down she'll notice. What do I do?' He thought to himself, but he couldn't keep a small smile off his face.
"Hey you two, let's go home. They want us all to get on that boat. Let's go!" before saiki could walk away, y/n grabbed his hand and dragged him along onto the boat. 'Good grief. I'll just teleport when nobody's looking, I guess.'

Chapter Text

Y/n was back at her home, on a call with teruhashi, since they all became a lot closer after the whole thing happened that y/n dubbed 'thew island incident'. It was Saturday when they were rescued, and y/n had only been back on her meds for a day. "When do you think you'll be coming back to school y/n-chan?" The bluenette asked over the phone. "Everyone from the island is worried, even Saiki."
"Huh? How can you tell?"
"He's just... how do I put this? He's frownier than normal, and is interacting with us even less. I asked him straight up, and he nodded a little."
"When was this? School doesn't start until tomorrow."
"Remember, we all walked with you to your house after the hospital to make sure you got home and took your meds safely. I asked him after that. But anyways, are you going to be at school tomorrow?" Y/n shook her head even if the blue haired girl couldn't see it.
"No, I don't think so. I was off my meds for four days, I need a couple days to adjust back to them. Then I need to see my psychiatrist and get evaluated, make sure I didn't harm myself while off them- I didn't by the way before you ask, I made sure while still lucid the boys would monitor me and keep me away from sharp objects, which they did an amazing job of doing- but all that's gonna take about three or so days kokomi. I might be out of school for up to a week, but surely no longer than that. It all depends what she deems okay."
"Who, your doctor?"
"Yeah. And my parents aren't exactly pushing me to go back before I'm ready. My brothers even came home to help keep tabs on me." Y/n sighed. "Well, two of them left already with Chris's wife being pregnant, but Luke and his fiancée Kari are staying until tomorrow morning. Taka is super worried tho, and he's been fussing over me ever since I got home."
"How come two of your brothers have more American names?"
"Dad's from America. He liked the names Chris and Luke, and my mom agreed to them. But she was the one to name Taka since he was a c-section, and dad was passed out in a corner from seeing his wife's insides on her outsides. But anyways, Taka decided to come back from his college's dorms for a bit to help take care of me."
"That's nice of him. My brother's just being as creepy as always. Even more so, going over how my 'purity' won't be tainted again. I'm having to lock my door just to keep him out." I could almost hear her shudder.
"If he were my brother, I'd have reported his creepy behavior to the cops already."
"I tried that. He managed to weasel his way out of it though." I grimaced.
"Well, no matter. It's getting late. Good luck with your brother, and school tomorrow. Be sure to tell the others I'm okay, just taking a bit of time away."
"I will. Goodnight!"
"Night kokomi!" She hung up as I flopped back onto my bed, plugging in my phone and drifting off almost immediately.

"He's here!" I heard voices call out as I walked into class. "Saiki! We heard you got stranded on a deserted island!"
"Were you okay?"
"We were worried!"
"How did you find food there?"
"Teruhashi was there too, right? Right? Right?"
'Good grief. We survived four days on a deserted island, and I thought everything was over. But what was waiting for me was far from peaceful. The story about nine missing high school kids attracted attention, and the media was clamoring to get a big scoop. Thankfully, Saiko was able to pressure the media into dropping the story before names were revealed. But we couldn't escape the rumors at school.' I thought to myself as I walked to my desk. I looked around and saw y/n wasn't here yet. 'She must be a little late. But who spread the rumors? It was a traumatizing experience for us? Who the hell is reliving it for glory?'
"Without food, we lost hope. That's when I suggested we build a raft, and by a miracle, nine saws washed to shore." Lies. It was seven and a pocketknife.
"For real?" Well at least I found the culprit. 'They say gossip only lasts for 75 days, but I can't wait that long. And if word gets out about y/n and her meds, things might not look so good for her either... Wait, why do I care about if things will be okay for her? Well, to be fair, she is the most honest out of everyone I interact with, and I guess she's pretty cool too. Definitely the least annoying, but that doesn't say too much. At least she respects my boundaries.'
"Saiki, you were scared and painted your face?"
'Yeah, I need to do something.'

People were crowding around a board with a school-made copy of the whole story, adding fuel to the fire. But right now, I didn't bother with it, and instead went to teruhashi. She smiled kindly at me, and I heard her thoughts. 'Now that I'm trying to get over him, it feels a bit awkward interacting with him. But he's a nice enough guy, so maybe he won't say anything. And y/n's right, if I can get over him, I can do anything!'
'So y/n convinced teruhashi to get over me. If I could thank her for that, I would.'
"Do you know where y/n is? I haven't seen her today." Her eyes turned apologetic.
'Aww, that's so sweet of him to ask after her!'
"Because of the whole thing, She's taking some time off." She lowered her voice. "Taking some time to readjust to her meds and see her doctor specifically." I heard her say, and she spoke normally again. "She'll be back by next week at the latest. She's not sure exactly how long she'll be out for, but she said she'll definitely be back by Monday." She said with a smile. I bow a little in thanks. 'I hope Kaido-kun doesn't slip about her diagnosis. She said she wanted to keep that under wraps so she wouldn't be bullied again.' She thought to herself as I begin to walk away. For some reason, hearing that some people bullied y/n made my blood boil. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of people bullying y/n.
'That's something to deal with later though. Right now, I have this mess to clean up. mainly, this ridiculous newspaper.' I thought to myself. 'Give me a break. I need to do something, and fast. I only have a matter of days until y/n is back. I'd rather not have her cry on me again. For some reason, it made my chest ache.'
"Excuse me."
"Hmm?"
"Aren't you kusuo Saiki? I'm Manako Jouten, a member of the newspaper club. Could we talk about your experience on the deserted island?"
'Newspaper club? So she's the one who wrote this ridiculous article? I have nothing to say. In fact, I'd like you to kill the story.' I walked away, nendou following me like he always does.

The next day, there was another article. This one's headline was 'two castaways ignored our requests.' With an obvious backshot of me and nendou. Now people were speculating that nendou and I were more than friends, and I had to convince Hairo that he's not cheating on him, and it was just a bunch of dirt.
"Please, how do I know for sure? If you like anyone, tell me now, and I'll believe it, but if you can't, I won't know who I can trust." He was desperate, almost crying behind the school with me while nendou tried to comfort him.
'Like? I don't... Wait.' As soon as I thought of me liking anyone, y/n's smiling face popped into my head before I could stop it, making my face heat up again.
"Saiki..."
"I like y/n." I blurted, actually talking for once instead of using telepathy. My heart was racing, and my palms were clammy. Is this what anxiety felt like?
"I told you, there's nothing going on between us Hairo. Just platonic friendship!" He chuckled. "As you can see, buddy doesn't swing that way, or if he does, he's interested in a girl anyways." Hairo sniffled, his tears stopping.
"I'm sorry Saiki. I guess I'm always quick to believe rumors is all." Hairo apologized. I just shrugged. People can be so trusting. But the thing I said... I never thought it'd be true. But I think... I think it is. But since I've never been in love before, I'd have to question it some more. But this opened my eyes as to why I care about her so much.

Chapter Text

‘Good grief. This is a total pain. Even if Saiko was able to kill the official news story, it seems that’s not enough to kill the newpaper club’s interest in us, and publishing fake stories about us. At least any mention of y/n is brief af best. They’re such a pain.’ I thought to myself as they approached me again.
“This is your own fault. The pen is mightier than the sword- ever heard that saying? Speech is more powerful than any force, especially in this day and age.”
‘Does it really apply here?’
“The most powerful entity of the school isn’t the karate or judo club. It’s the newspaper club!” Manako declared. “Now, tell me everything!”
‘Certainly a pain. If she’s going to follow me around everywhere and write fake news, it would just be better to talk to her. I’ve got nothing about this situation to hide.’ I had thought to myself. What a fool I was.

“That’s a weak story.” She said as I finished recounting my experience.
“What?”
“I can’t make an article from that. It would be over in three lines. Kaido’s story was better.”
“That’s because he was lying.”
“Anything is fine if it’s interesting.”
“Then you shouldn’t be a reporter.”
“Fine, just hand them over then.” She said like I knew what she was talking about.
“Hand what over?”
“Pictures of Kokomi teruhashi changing. You were with her for four days after all.”
“Are you stupid?” I asked her.
“What? You didn’t take any? No way, you must have one!”
“Nobody even had a camera. Not even a phone.”
“How could you miss that? You’re telling me you don’t even have a photo of her while pooping?” She stood up in outrage.
“Again, are you stupid?”
“Are you kidding me right now? Why didn’t you take any?”
“Why would I? Cut it out, would you?” We were trying not to call attention to things like that.
“You’re a failure as a journalist!”
“What about you?”
“I would have taken the shot.” Perv.
“Are you stupid too?” Manako sat back down.
“So disappointing. You can go.” Finally. What a joke. I hope this club gets shut down. With that thought, I left.

The next day’s school headline was about Teruhashi’s island nudes.
To say I was unimpressed was an understatement. Unimpressed, and furious. Now they’ve done it. Boys were asking if it was me who took the pictures, and I was wanting to kill the poor excuse of a newspaper club. Right as they were yelling at me, teruhashi showed up, thankfully saving me. “Stop it.”
“Teruhashi!”
“Saiki wouldn’t do that. The newspaper is a lie.”
“But they said there was photos.”
“There can’t be. Cause I didn’t.”
“What? You didn’t?”
“It was four days, you would have had to-”
“I didn’t.”
“Even you have to-”
“I didn’t.”
“She didn’t!”
“Teruhashi isn’t like normal people!”
“Yes! Of course teruhashi wouldn’t!” Once the boys cleared out, teruhashi took a picture of the article, laughing.
“What are you doing?”
“Y/n may not be in school, but she wants updates. She’d get a real kick out of fake news like this. Especially since no one had a camera. Not to mention, all our phones were lost in the sea, or damaged beyond repair from the saltwater.” Her phone pinged, and I read the text she showed me, which was laughing emoji’s.
“I can’t believe ppl are actually believing that! LSDKJbh LIKE FR WE HAD NOTHING TO TAKE THEM WITH ASL;JKN” Followed by several more laughing emojis.
“You two text?”
“Quite a lot. She’s actually quite fun to text. You should contact her sometime. She’d be happy to chat with you outside of school.” She walked away without another word.
‘I’ll keep that in mind. But, now that my name is cleared, I need to deal with these pests.’ I thought to myself, looking at the fake news still on the wall.

“Ahahahaha! Perfect! Just great! Nice buzz! The whole school is talking about that article. Although, kokomi teruhashi managed to quell quite a bit. Just wait until tomorrow's article! I always suspected that girl has another side to her. I won’t waste this chance.”
“Are you really doing this?”
“I can’t back down now.” Maniko squated over a poop toy, acting as if she was actively taking a dump. “Now, take it!”
“Will this really fool anyone? The poop is a toy.”
“We’ll blur it in the photo. I even got a wig and an outfit. You just need to composite the background from a forest girl photo. Then you have a photo of teruhashi pooping. Now, take the photo! Be a real journalist!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Now tomorrow's paper will- Ah!” She exclaimed as her wig fell off. “Wait, my wig fell off!”
“Get it together.”

The next day was quite the buzz with the truth of the newspaper club coming out. “Is this for real?”
“I can’t believe her.”
“Listen to all that buzz.” Maniko said happily.
“The newspaper club is the worst!”
“Huh?” She was confused now, and went to the article.
“They photographed themselves pooping in their room?”
“They’re perverts!”
“What… What is… What is this?” I watched from the back of the crowd as the shock and realization of what happened to them settled in. “What the hell is this?!”
‘Well this is what real journalism looks like.’
The newspaper club disbanded the next day, and rumor has it, both of them transferred immediately, too afraid to show their faces around the school. Good. No more hassle from them then.

Y/n was indeed back by monday, and was talking to Yumehara and teruhashi about what happened while she was gone. “Really? They accidentally exposed themselves like that?” She sounded skeptical.
“Here, we took some pictures of the article. Take a look!” She was silent as she read through it.
“I still think someone tampered with it.” I tensed. “I mean, come on! I bet saiki was upset about the slander, took some pictures when they didn’t see and stayed up writing the article. Maybe he replaced the real one before anyone saw it. I wouldn’t put it past him since they were slandering not only him, but his friends.” I relaxed in my seat as she said this.
“Really? You think so?”
“Look at what the article says, Kokomi. It’s specifically calling them out on it all! If it wasn’t someone on the outside trying to discredit them, they were super negligent, which doesn’t make any sense in the slightest. Think about it.”
“Yeah, now that I think about it…”
“It would make sense if someone did that when you think about it some more. But how?”
“No clue. But frankly, that’s not my business. What I want to know is if Hiro’s okay.”
“Well he did cry a bit seeing the article trying to claim nendou and saiki were lovers.”
“Oh no! I hope he’s-” The door opened and Nendou and Hiro were holding hands. “Oh. He’s fine then.” The class was silent as eyes looked at them. Both blushed a bit, but didn’t let go. Kaido cheered with Aren, breaking the silence, y/n joining in and hugging them.
“Ah! You two decided to go public after that?”
“We talked about it last week, and decided it was time.”
“Congrats guys!” Kuboyasu said, patting both of them on the shoulder. I gave a thumbs up from my desk, but gave it no major attention. Kaido was thinking about going public with Kuboyasu, but was smiling at his friends, giving nendou a fist bump. The girls were shocked.
“How long has that been going on?!” Yumehara asked, shocked, but a little happy for them. She was mostly just surprised.
“A while now. Four or five months I think.”
“Sounds about right.”
“Y/n, you knew about this?” Teruhashi asked.
“Only for a couple months. It wasn’t my place to say anything, so I didn’t.”
“I see. Congratulations guys. I hope you find a lot of happiness together.” She said to them. The other guys in class seemed a bit uncomfortable, but they let it be since the couple seemed more interested in one another rather than other guys, so they just ignored it.
And life went on.

Chapter Text

I was walking into the school, when in the corner of my eye, I saw a tan girl with blonde hair. Her uniform was messy, and cleavage was showing, but I can’t say she looks bad. She’s actually kind of pretty if I was honest. Plus, the uniform top seemed to be in a larger size, and she still had trouble fitting it. It must be painful having a chest that big. She was telling off our gym teacher when I came close. “You’re pissing me off. You’d better get out of the way, or else you’ll meet a tragic fate.” I was hurrying to not be in his way, not wanting to meet whatever warning she was talking about.
Our gym teacher wasn't so lucky, as he got splashed with water from an oncoming car.
I giggled, and looked back at the girl, who was walking my way. She seemed really interesting, so maybe I should introduce myself. I did hear my class was getting a new girl today after all, so this might be her. “Uh, hi! You just be the new girl. I’m l/n y/n!” She hummed, and looked over at me.
“OMG you’re adorable! I’m Auria Mikoto! Hey, are you in class 2-B? I need to find it.”
“Actually, yeah I am. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

When I opened the door, the guys were all standing at attention at their seats, and the girls and saiki were sitting. They all looked at me, and groaned. “Ah, it’s just y/n.” I felt a stab go through my heart. What does that mean?! I get they were expecting Auria, but that’s not a reason to act like I can’t hear you!”
“Hey, what was that supposed to mean?” She said from behind me. Everyone’s eyes snapped to hers. “That wasn’t a nice thing to say about your classmate. And come on! Look at her, she’s adorable!” She squeezed my face, making me giggle.
“Ah, Mikoto-san, don’t worry about it. You should introduce yourself to the class. I need to go to my seat.” I bowed to our teacher. “I apologize for being a little late. I lost track of time.” She sighed.
“Just go to your desk l/n.” I nodded, heading to my desk as Auria wrote her name on the board.
“I’m Mikoto Auria, but just call me Miko.” She had told me that in the halls, but I defaulted to calling her ‘mikoto-san’ since I almost immediately forgot. Oops! “My hobbies are fortune-telling and decorating nails.” I nod. I can get behind that.
“Fortune telling? I’m into that too!”
“Really? Fortune-telling is awesome, right? What’s your name?”
“I’m Chiyo yumehara. I can show you this fortune teller who’s really good-”
“Chiyol, I think she is the fortune teller.” I say, giggling a little.
“Exactly. Thanks a bunch chiyopipi.”
“You already gave me a nickname?” I think those two are gonna become really good friends.
“N/n is right, I’m a fortune teller myself!” I smiled. Glancing over to saiki, he had a bored look on his face. As the others went on about how cool it was that she did fortunes, I nudged him a bit to get his attention.
“Not a fan of fortune telling?”
“Not really, no.”
“Fair enough. Everyone has their own things they like and don’t like. I’m not that big on it myself, but I’ve always found it interesting at least. Truth be told, I think it’s cool. I don’t take it very seriously. But its fun at least.” He shrugged, and made eye contact with me, making me feel a little warm in the face.
“What’s so interesting about it? It’s never right.”
“That’s what makes it fun for me. It’s something to laugh at in a way when they’re wrong. But I’m not going to laugh about it to their faces, ya know?” I go to the fortune teller every now and then with Chiyo and Kokomi, and while I never really believe my fortunes, I do find them fun to receive. “And if they’re right, I tend to smile since something had a positive outcome, you know?” He shrugged, and went back to his own business. ‘Why did I get all blushy when he looked at me?’ I thought to myself. ‘Maybe I am developing a small crush on him after all.’
“Man, she sure is popular. Maybe I’ll get my fortune read, myself.”
“Well I have zero interest in this.” I shrugged.
“I’m gonna get mine done, but just for fun. I never take them too seriously.”
“Chiyopipi, what do you want to know about your future?”
“Well… How about my career?” She wasn’t fooling anyone with that. She wanted to know her luck with boys. Namely, one bisexual albino next to me.
“Oh, come on, you want to know about boys, right?”
“How did you…” I pat her shoulder.
“You weren’t fooling anyone with that Chiyo… Sorry.” She sighed.
“Yeah, I want to know.” Miko left for a minute, qand came back with ink, a bucket of water, and an eraser. I raised an eyebrow. What was she about to do?
“Let’s give this a shot!”
“A bucket and ink? And an eraser? What are you gonna…”
“Shut up.” She cleared the area, and spun the bucket around really fast, and I looked at her in shock. She added the eraser shavings and stared into it. “Your compatibility is two percent. And it says he’s already taken by another guy. Nice try, but better luck next time.” My jaw dropped as Chiyo ran out crying, before laughing in disbelief. “N/n, I take it you know who she likes?” I nod.”What would you say about this?”
“Unorthodox, but you’re right. Her crush is dating a guy. Not my secret to tell who though, since I’m not about to out anyone.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of her. “Your turn! What do you want?”
“I have no idea. Surprise me.” I said truthfully. Miko hummed.
“I’ll do your crush too.” She did the same thing, and looked into the bucket. “Ninety percent! There’s a good chance he likes you too, but I’d give it more time. Your feelings are still new to you, and with your mental state, it’d be best to give it a while to make sure what you’re feeling is real and not just the voices.” I froze.
“Uh… voices?” I try to play off with a laugh.
“Yeah. From your schizophrenia. Did you not know?” I sit there, still as a statue as whispers start to emerge from the class around me. I caught some words from the people next to me.
“Crazy…”
“Insane…”
“Hospital…”
“No… No, don't send me back there! Please!” I put my hands over my ears and curled up into a ball, rockling myself on the chair.
“That wasn’t yours to share.” Saiki said. I felt a hand on my shoulder. “There’s a good reason for it too.”
“Oh god, I’m so sorry! I thought people already knew!” She grabbed my hands gently, pulling them away from my ears. “I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t my thing to talk about.” I sniffled, on the verge of tears, grabbing my bag and running out of the classroom to the nearest water fountain. I popped an anxiety pill in my mouth and downed it with water, taking deep breaths to calm down. I heard footsteps, and turned to see saiki. “How is it?”
“Well, people still like her, but they aren’t calling you crazy anymore.” He said plainly. “Teruhashi told them off for judging you, and you know almost everyone here would go to war for her.” I sniffled some more. “Are you feeling better?”
“I… I’m so sorry, but can I hug you? I just… I need some contact right now.” He sighed, and pulled me in.
“The things I do for you.” He muttered, a fond tone to his voice. I sniffled some more, taking in the smell of coffee and the strawberry body wash he used, wrapping my arms around him.
“Thank you saiki.”

When I felt better, we both returned to class, and everyone was staring at me expectantly. “What?”
“Are you really… you know?”
“Schizophrenic? Yeah, so what?” I said, my tongue becoming sharp as I spoke. “I don’t want one word of any of it from any of you. I don’t want to talk about it after this class. Not now, not ever. I didn’t ask for this shit in my brain, I didn’t ask for you guys to look at me like I’ll go psycho on you. I’ve got my damn meds, I’m sane enough to be out of the hospital, I’m fine. Now if you plan on asking about it, I suggest you all fuck off and die.” I glared at everyone else in the class. Everyone except my friends. “Are we clear?”
“Yes ma’am.” I smile, going back to my usual demeanor, and sitting at my desk. “Miko, I’m not mad at you this time for this, but only cause you’re new and didn’t know that only a few people knew. But I don’t like to talk about it when I don’t need to, so let’s agree to never talk about this again, alright?” She sighed in relief and gave me a smile.
“Agreed. Again, I’m sorry.”
“Forgiven.”

As the day went on, miko told us why she transferred here. “She’s here. My Mrs, right!”
“Huh?”
“Oh, I’m a ball of bisexual energy. Turns out my soulmate is a girl! But all I know is her initials; S.M.”

Chapter Text

I went home early, not bothering to stay after class to socialize. My near anxiety attack took a lot out of me. My mom was surprised about me being home so early, since usually I go get food with my friends. “Honey?” I walked past her, silent. I think she knew something was wrong, but also could tell I didn’t want to talk about it. Pavlov, one of our new rottie puppies, followed me up to my room, and snuggled up next to me as I plopped on my bed. He whined, putting a paw on my back, begging me for pets. I ignored him at first, not wanting to take my bad mood out on him, but he dug his little claws into my back, making me yelp in pain.
“Ow! Pav, what-” He whined again as I sat up, and nosed my blankets. I sighed, knowing what it was he was wanting. I climbed under my sheets, lifting them up to let him in, and he curled up against my stomach, huffing. I smiled, ever so slightly, scratching his ears. “You win. Snuggles it is then.” I lay back down, pulling the three month old puppy closer to me, sighing. Tomorrow might be better. It has to be, right?

When I arrived at school the next day, I was near shaking from anxiety. Would words get out anyways? Would people stare and whisper? Would someone claim I was a danger to myself or them? What if-
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked to see saiki. “Good grief, I can feel your anxiety from 5 meters away. Calm yourself.” He told me. I looked into his eyes, before quickly looking away. He’s right, nothing would happen… Maybe. Taking a deep breath, I did my best to let go of my anxiety without my meds, which I don’t really want to take in front of a bunch of people. They might end up getting the wrong idea if I take a pill in front of everyone, prescription or not. Last thing I want is a teacher to see and send a note to my family, insisting I’m abusing pills.
“N/n!” Miko called out, seeing me. “I heard about this cute little cafe in town. Want to go? My treat!”
“Miko, are you trying to apologize again?”
“What?” She said, just a little too high pitched. “Okay, yeah. Can you blame me? I still feel awful. Plus, I wanna be friends with you and chiyopipi, but she’s busy today. I don’t really know the other girls in class really well yet, and you’re really easy to talk to.” She admitted. “So, what do ya say? I’ll pay!” I sighed, a small smile on my face.
“Alright, sure. We can go after school.”
“Yay!” She pulled me close in a bone-crushing hug. “I can’t wait!” She pulled away, heading off to class, while I glanced back at saiki.
“She sure is something, huh?” What she said yesterday stuck in my head though. Is it possible saiki likes me? I mean, it’d make sense since he’s always seeking me out, and letting me touch him. From what I’ve seen, he isn’t a very touchy-feely person.
“Saiki!” I heard Nendou call out. “Girlie!” I smiled and waved.
“Hey nendou. What’s up?”
“Wanna get ramen after school today?” I had a feeling he’d ask.
“Not today, sorry. Miko just asked me if I wanted to go to a cafe with her today. But I’ll go with you guys tomorrow for sure!” I promised. He looked like a kicked puppy, but I didn’t budge. “Nendou, I can’t do both. Surely you understand that?”
“It’s just been a while since you joined us.”
“I didn’t join for one day,l and all of a sudden it’s like I haven’t been with you guys for a week!” I giggled. “I promise you I’ll join you guys tomorrow. Deal?”
“Deal!” He headed off to class, and I shook my head with a smile on my face.
“Ah, to be as simple-minded as nendou. I’m a little jealous.”
“How come?” Saiki asked. I turned to him.
“Isn’t it obvious? I wouldn’t have to deal with my little problem if I was of a simpler mind.”
“I think you’d still have them, and then freak out about them even more.” He said blankly. I shrug.
“Maybe, but it’s a nice thought.” I say. “Anyways, come on. We need to get to class before we’re late, right?” He nods, and follows me to class, where we sit in our seats, and I strike up a conversation with Teruhashi. “How’s your day going so far?”
“I mean, I can’t complain. Especially since my brother’s out of the house right now. In fact, he’s in Okinawa again filming for his new movie.” She said, her eyes sparkling.
“Oh! I know, we should gather the rest of the girls and have a girls night at yours. If you and your parents are okay with it, that is? I don’t want to overstep, but my house might be a little much with two puppies, and having you, me, chiyo, mehara, and Miko might be a little crowded at my place-”
“Y/n, it’s fine. I’d love to have a girls night with our friends. I’ll talk with my parents and we can all see when we’re free.” She assured me.
“Awesome! Be sure to let me know. If they say no, or if you change your mind about having all of us over, let me know. I don’t want to overstep anything.” Teruhashi seemed touched by this.
“I’ll be sure to tell you what they say. But maybe keep it between us for now, just in case?”
“Of course.” I assure her with a smile. We cut our conversation off there as our teacher walks in, and class begins.

Arriving at the cafe Miko wanted to try, we’re greeted by a hostess with light pink hair. Her brown eyebrows allude to her hair being colored, rather than it being natural, but no matter, it still looked amazing on her. “Welcome! Table for two?”
“Yes ma’am.” She chuckled.
“Oh, no need for that, I’m still in high school! Anyways, right this way.” We followed her, and I caught Miko glancing at her adoringly. As she seated us, I cleared my throat.
“Pardon me for asking, but do you go to PK Academy?"
“I do, in fact. I’m in class 2 year 2. I think I’ve seen you before.” She said to me. “You’re in class 3 year 2, right?”
“Yep! Y/n l/n. And this is Auria Mikoto, but my class just calls her Miko.”
“It’s nice to meet you two. I’m Sakura Mori. Anyways, I’ll let you two decide what you want, and I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
“Sure thing kura!” Of course, Miko had already given her a nickname.
The pink haired girl giggled and walked away. I looked to Miko, a small smirk on my face. She looked smitten.
“Before we leave, you’d better ask for her number Miko.”
“Already planned on it n/n.”