Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When you have supernatural powers, the impossible becomes possible. Or at least that’s what my brother likes to monologue about sometimes. I’ve stopped listening to him whenever he starts his tirades about how awful his powers are, cuz seriously? I would kill for his powers! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

My name is Kuriko Saiki, and I am a regular person.

Now I know what you’re thinking, why do you want to read a story about a regular person? Well, I don’t know either. Maybe just leave and read something else, I don’t care. This story is real, and important to me, but you can go read your weird werewolf smut, I don’t judge.

Life as a normal person is normal. Shocking I know. Annoyingly, my family is anything but normal. My eldest brother, Kusuke, is some freaky genius with so many awards under his belt and contraptions he’s invented that he’s super rich and lives in London, as far away from us as he can. My other older brother, Kusuo, is a psychic. He’s the one I mentioned earlier. He likes to wax poetic about how terrible it is to have these powers, how all he wants is a normal life and blah blah blah. He’s so dull, and I do not care that he can hear me writing all of this, go away Kusuo.

My parents, Kunihara and Kurumi Saiki, are your basic parents. Head over heels for each other to the point that it’s kinda gross, nice to me and my siblings, perfectly polite to other people, whatever. I love my parents, but they can be quite a lot sometimes. I think my brothers agree too.

Before this story I’m about to tell you took place, I was in Paraguay for a few years, because I was bored of Japan and wanted to go somewhere new. Big whoop, not important whatsoever. This is about me coming back home, but I won’t bore you with details of the plane journey or the taxi drive or the weird section where I ended up in Egypt by accident because all of that is boring and I don’t care about it.

As I wandered up to the front door of my family’s house, I wondered what everyone’s reactions would be. Mum and Dad would probably be overjoyed, bringing out gifts and hugs and all that affectionate jazz. Kusuo already knew and probably didn’t care, considering he didn’t offer to oh I don’t know, use his teleportation powers and zap me home for free? Kusuke wouldn’t be there as usual, which was fine by me because he’s weird and I don’t want to spend more time with him than i have to.

I knocked on the front door and waited. It was evening, and my plane had only landed not too long ago, so I was exhausted. The door finally opened, both my parents stood in the doorway.

3,2,1.

“KURIKO!!!!!” they both bellowed and scooped me up into a hug. I returned it just as enthusiastically, since I truly did miss them, and let them usher me inside and bring in my bags. They fussed over me, making sure I had eaten and asking why I suddenly decided to come home without them telling me anything.

In the middle of my explanation, Kusuo teleported into the room. Dad jumped, and told Kusuo to stop teleporting so suddenly, but we both ignored him.

“Hey Ku.” I greeted.

‘Don’t call me that.’ his reply sounded in my head.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I responded.

“Why don’t you guys give each other a hug? You haven’t seen each other in so long, after all!” Mum said in her sing-song voice.

Both Kusuo and I grimaced.

“Listen to your mother, kids, it’s good for siblings to show affection for each other.” Dad attempted to scold us. We both glared at him and he shut up quickly.

“Exactly, your father is right, like he always is!”

“Oh please, I’m nowhere near as right as you, honey!”

“Oh dear, you’re so sweet to me! You’re the sweetest person around!”

You get the idea.

This carried on between them, and they got so distracted neither of them noticed Kusuo teleporting us both upstairs, me to my old room and him to his room.

‘Goodnight, Ku, I missed you.’ I thought to him.

‘Goodnight, Kuriko.’ he projected back. I smiled, and got into bed for a much needed sleep.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days staying home, I spent time with my parents, managed to convince Kusuo to spend time with me, and managed to successfully avoid talking to Kusuke when he called. All in all, it was a really pleasant time for me. Or at least it was, until I decided to go on a walk by myself.

I was walking around town, admiring the quaint little shops dotted in amongst the huge conglomerates, when it happened.

“Hi, Kuriko!”

Who the hell is this, I thought as I turned towards the voice. I came face to face with the most beautiful girl I have ever come across in my life.

Oh, wow.

Blinking myself out of my stupor, I realised I hadn’t actually said anything to her. Silly me, where were my manners?

“Yes, that’s me. Sorry if this sounds rude, but who are you?” I inquired as politely as I could to her. Her face noticeably fell at that, like I had offended her in some way. Weird.

“I’m Teruhashi? Teruhashi Kokomi? We met when the cafe down the street had an all women day…?” she responded.

Internally, I raised my eyebrow and looked at her with my most confused face. Externally, I smiled knowingly and apologised for momentarily forgetting who she was, of course I remembered her, how could I forget?

She seemed content with that, and asked me if I wanted to accompany her to the bakery we were outside of. Now I’m not someone to turn down baked goods, so naturally I said yes and we went in together. It was a cute little place, maybe trying slightly too hard to be charming, but nice all the same.

“How have you been, Kuriko?” Kokomi asked.

“I’ve been fine, I just came home recently.”

“Oh, really? Where were you?” Boy, this girl really knew nothing about me despite claiming we knew each other.

“Paraguay.” I responded as we sat down with our fresh pastries.

“Oh, that’s a lovely place! You know, I’ve always wanted to…”

We sat and talked for about an hour, and I had to admit to myself, she was quite an easy person to get along with. I had no idea how she knew who I was, considering I haven’t been in Japan in years so there’s no way the person she met in the cafe was me, but I wasn’t really concerned with that right then.

“So, how has your family been?” she asked as innocently as she could.

“They’re fine too, it’s been nice seeing them all again.” I replied, taking a bite out of my fifth croissant.

She nodded, then seemed to hesitate. She clearly wanted to say something, but something else was holding her back. I watched her internal struggle for a good thirty seconds before she apparently made up her mind and asked me the question she was thinking.

“How is your brother?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific, I have two of those.” Strangely, she blushed at that.

“Uh-uhm, K-Kusuo?” she stuttered.

Ah. So that’s what this was about.

“Kusuo? He’s alive. Doing okay, I guess. Why do you ask?” I replied.

Somehow, she went even more red than she already was. I bit back a smirk, trying not to show my amusement with the situation. Seriously, other people could be so funny.

She stuttered and babbled her way into attempting to convince me that the two were just friends. And sure, I believed her, because I know my brother, but her feelings for him were written all over her face. Poor girl.

Just as I was pitying her for liking Kusuo of all people, something hit me. “Sorry to interrupt, but you said we met at the cafe down the street, right?” I asked her.

She nodded, and said, “It was an all-women day, and the women that went to it got free dessert.”

That. Prick.

“Of course, I just wanted to verify, my memory isn’t very good is all” I lied, smiling nicely to her. “Anyway, I’ve just noticed the time and I should probably be heading home, I had a really nice time!”

We ended up agreeing to meet again, and exchanged contact information. What can I say, she’s a nice person to talk to.

Walking away from the bakery, I texted Kusuo to ask him to teleport me home. He responded quickly, by telling me he can’t teleport things without touching them, and I groaned. Fine, whatever, I’ll just walk I guess. At least it gave me time to think about exactly what I wanted to say when I interrogated him.

Chapter Text

“Hiii Kuuu~”

‘Stop. You sound like Kusuke.’

Wow. Way to ruin my mood in one fell swoop.

“I’m going to ignore that comment because I have more pressing things to talk with you about, brother mine.” I responded.

Kusuo looked at me like I was an idiot. Obviously I knew that he already knew what I was thinking, I just wanted to be dramatic.

“Why in the fresh hell did you pretend to be me to sneak into a women-only day at a cafe?” I asked.

He stared at me with his usual poker face, before projecting, ‘desserts.’

I rolled my eyes. “Well duh, I’m not an idiot. What I want to know is why you pretended to specifically be me? You could’ve used a completely different name.”

He looked a little blank at that. Good, he deserves to squirm after impersonating me like that. In all honesty, I didn’t care that much, and Kokomi was really nice to hang out with, but Kusuo doesn’t have to know that.

‘You hung out with Teruhashi?’

Oh yeah. I forgot he could do that for a second.

“Yeah, I did, so what?” I responded.

He levelled what was supposed to be a scary glare at me and projected ’Stay away from her. She only brings trouble.’

I raised an eyebrow. “Why is she trouble? What did she do?”

’She’s too popular. That kind of attention is the opposite of what I want.’ was the reply I got.

“Okay, that makes sense, but why do I have to stay away from her?”

Kusuo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Drama queen.

’Because she’s only hanging around you to get to me. She even asked you about me, her motives are obvious. And don’t call me that.’

I stared at my brother for about three seconds before I snapped.

“What the hell, Kusuo? She came up to me because she wanted to catch up with me, not because of you.”

’She still asked you about me.’

“So what?! You don’t have the right to say that she only spoke to me because of you, the whole world doesn’t revolve around you, yknow.”

’I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to.’

Cue incredulous laughter from me.

“Are you kidding me? Are you seriously using the psychic card right now? Is it such a crazy notion that someone actually likes me for me, and not because of my relation to you?”

’Now who’s being the drama queen.’

“Oh my god, Kusuo.”

He shot me a look like I was an idiot, and before I could open my mouth to say something else he interrupted.

’Do I need to remind you that the only reason Teruhashi even knows of your existence is because of me?’

I froze.

He’s right. The only reason Kokomi even knows who I am is because he pretended to be me. He used my image for his own personal benefit, caused a whole lot of fuss for me, and expected me to just, what, sit back and take it?

What an asshole.

I told him as such, and he responded by-

Did that dick just teleport away from me?!

I screamed in frustration and stomped to my own room. Seriously, the nerve of him sometimes. Kokomi asked me if I wanted to eat with her, we had a very pleasant conversation, she wants to meet up again in the future, what part of that screams “I’m only using you to get to your brother mwahahahhaha!”

Okay maybe some of it could, but she genuinely seemed interested in getting to know me better. And yes, she did ask about Kusuo, but only after we’d been sat there for an hour already talking about other things.

Maybe Kusuo was right. Maybe she was just using me to get to him, I wouldn’t know, I can’t read minds like him. What I absolutely refuse to accept is anyone pushing me into the background like he did. The world doesn’t belong to Saiki Kusuo.

~~~

Three hours and a Kusuo-less dinner later, I was laying on my bed definitely not sulking.

Had I gone a bit too far in the argument? Maybe. Did I regret it? A little bit. Do I think that excused what Kusuo said to me? Not one bit. I would apologise when he did.

While my thoughts were swirling around my head, I heard my phone ping. I grabbed it and held it over my face, confused as to what it would be, when I saw a notification from one Teruhashi Kokomi.

QueenTeruKoko: Hi Kuriko! It was really nice catching up with you today! I was just wondering if you wanted to join me and a few friends at the fair tomorrow? We’ll be there around 3pm if you’re free! :)

Wow. I will never not be amazed at how a person can be so nice to a person she’s met only once (twice? does Kusuo’s time as me count?).

I thought it over. The fair did sound fun, and it would be nice to see Kokomi again and meet her friends as well before school started up. Plus, it would annoy Kusuo. All I saw was four reason why I should say yes.

TheBestSaiki: of course, i would love to! ill see you guys there o7

QueenTeruKoko: Awesome! See you there <3

I grinned. As much as this action was done 25% out of spite, the other 75% of me was actually looking forward to it. Weird, since usually my actions are way more spiteful.

Anyway, I had plans that were simultaneously fun for me and horrible for Kusuo. What a perfect turnaround!

Chapter Text

Bright lights. Loud noises. Screaming Children. Where am I, you may ask?

The fair, obviously. It was literally brought up last chapter.

And now Kusuo’s telling me that was rude. Like he can talk.

Anyway, I was stood at the entrance waiting for Kokomi and her friends, pondering my existence as I always do. I had just gotten to the best part, where I question my true purpose in this world, when I heard a familiar voice call out.

“Kuriko!”

I looked over and waved so the group could see me. They came over and Kokomi hugged me while I stood awkwardly. Then she turned to her left, and introduced me to her friends.

“This is Yumehara Chiyo! She was actually at the cafe when we originally met, but I thought you might not remember her.” Kokomi told me.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Kuriko!” Chiyo said, beaming at me. I smiled back the best I could, and said something along the lines of “you too!”

Then there was Mera Chisato, who was too engulfed in the ice cream she was shoving halfway down her throat.

Then there was Rifuta Imu, a cute blonde girl a year younger than the others. She was charming, and seemed slightly too into Kokomi for it to just be friendship, but whatever.

And then finally there was-

Oh my god.

“Chiyopipi, gimme your phone!”

“What? Why, you’re literally holding yours!”

“I saw someone trying to steal it in about 5 seconds, now give!”

Chiyo handed her phone over just as some rando reached over to pluck it out of her hand.

“Wow, you’re so talented Mikoto!”

“Yeah, and don’t you forget it Chiyopipi!”

The goddess in front of me finally looked my way.

“Hey, I’m Mikoto! You’re Kuriko, cool!”

I swallowed and made direct eye contact with her. “Yep, that’s me, for sure. Hahaha.” Oh god I sound like an idiot don’t I. The first cute girl I’ve seen in months and I’m acting like a fool. Typical.

Cute girl whistled. “Wow, your aura sure is something, girl!”

I blinked. My aura? What is she talking about?

Noticing my confusion, she elaborated, “I’m a psychic, though don’t tell anyone I told you that, he’d kill me if he knew,” she laughed.

How are people supposed to react to psychics again? I should be shocked right? Yeah, let’s go with that.

“No way, you’re a psychic! That’s so cool!” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic but even I could tell it was a little fake. Whoops, forgot to change my facial expression. Resting bitch face doesn’t go well with compliments.

“Yep, and your aura is crazy. It’s all purple and got loads of insects in it, I’ve never seen one like it!”

Huh. So she really can see auras. I wonder what else she can do.

“Well, let’s get going!” Kokomi said, leading the way into the fairgrounds.

As we walked, I noticed a lot of people looking at us. It was weird. Especially the grown men ogling a group of teenage girls. I glanced at Kokomi, and she seemed fine, and so did the other girls, so I brushed it off for now. I’ll ask later.

“So, Kuriko, Kokomi says you’re gonna transfer to our school after the summer? Are you excited?” Chiyo asked me.

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess. I haven’t been in school in a while though, so I don’t really know what to expect.”

Imu gasped. “You haven’t been in school? Why not?”

“Now, now, Imu, Kuriko doesn’t have to answer that question if she doesn’t want to.” Kokomi said with obvious curiosity in her eyes.

I rolled my eyes, “It’s fine, I don’t mind. I’ve been living in Paraguay for the past few years, so I didn’t really have much opportunity for education.”

Imu nodded, looking a mix between awed and pitiful, Chiyo looked slightly surprised but mostly looked happy, Kokomi looked satisfied with me answering, and Mikoto looked absolutely gorgeous-

I mean, looked intrigued.

“Ooo, Paraguay, eh? I remember helping a guy catch his big break there. What were you doing out there?”

Tensing slightly, I replied, “Oh, you know, Paraguay things.” She doesn’t need to know why.

For some reason she laughed at my response. Then, she flung an arm over my shoulders and said “You’re hilarious! Come on, Kuripopi, let’s go find a photo booth!” And with that, she dragged me away while the rest of the group followed.

Kuripopi. I never thought a nickname could make me so happy.

~~~

One photo booth, five prize booths, three food stands and a rollercoaster later, and Imu was throwing up into a trash can. Apparently eating your weight in candied apples and then going on a rollercoaster is bad. Who would’ve thought.

Kokomi ended up taking her home, apologising for her and for having to leave early. We all assured her it was fine, but I felt like she didn’t believe us.

Chisato realised she was late for her 7th job (what the hell), and Chiyo caught a ride home with her. Which just left me and Mikoto, aka the most gorgeous person I’ve ever laid my eyes on.

This is going to be interesting.

“Kuripopi, follow me!” She grabbed my wrist and started pulling me through the crowd over to… the ferris wheel apparently.

She stood in front of the entrance with her hands on her hips, reminiscent of a Wonder Woman pose. It was then I noticed properly the little stickers on her face, a pink star and moon. They really complemented her eyes.

During this revelation she had managed to successfully get us a seat on the ferris wheel, and we were slowly going up.

She was chattering away about nothing in particular, and I couldn’t help notice more about her. Her yellowey-green hair, her piercings, the virgo clip in her hair, everything. I stared at her slightly too long, however, because she noticed.

Thankfully, she just thought I was staring at the hair clip.

“This is the symbol for the virgo star sign, it’s my sign so I keep it on me constantly for good luck, and it’s never failed me yet! Whats your star sign Kuripopi?”

“I’m a scorpio.”

She gasped. “That’s perfect! Virgos and scorpios go together really well, we’re destined to be friends, girl!”

Yeah. Friends.

I nodded along, not really understanding what she was saying about our star signs. I’m not really into that stuff, but if she is then I’ll listen to her. We eventually got off the ferris wheel and slowly made our way back to the entrance, Mikoto talking and me injecting my own opinion every now and then.

In the middle of her sentence, I heard Kusuo’s voice in my head.

’It’s late. Come home.’

I raised an eyebrow. It was 5pm, which sure is late, but Kusuo telling me what to do? No thank you.

’I can see you pulling a face. Aiura’s not gonna be impressed you’re ignoring her.’

I thought back, I bet your stupid cross eyed face looks ridiculous, and refocused on Mikoto.

We reached the entrance of the fairground, and Mikoto grinned before giving me a hug.

I stood still for about three seconds and then awkwardly put my hands on her shoulder blades. Hugging isn’t really my thing, okay?

She pulled back, still grinning, and said “gimme your phone, I’ll give you my username and we can chat.” I handed her my phone, unlocked, and she tapped away at it for about fifteen seconds and handed it back to me with a new chat opened with the user ‘gyarugyurl’.

“See ya Monday, Kuripopi!” She exclaimed before turning and walking away, sending a wave behind her.

I turned and walked in the opposite direction, definitely not smiling softly.

Chapter Text

I stood staring at myself in the mirror on Monday morning. The uniform is okay, I suppose, but that’s not what I was focusing on. I haven’t been to school for a while, and I could feel the familiar pricks of a certain feeling in the edges of my mind. I shook my head, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and repeated the phrases I learnt to help.

I am safe.

I can do this.

People care about me.

I’m okay.

Reopening my eyes, I looked back in the mirror and stared at my reflection resolutely. The phrases and deep breaths never take it away completely, but they’re grounding at least. Then I noticed Kusuo stood in my doorway, staring at me with his usual frown on his face.

I ignored him and started packing my school bag. Whatever he’s here for, I don’t care. I’ve coped this long without him, I don’t need his help.

’Kuriko.

“What do you want.”

Silence.

I sighed loudly and turned and looked at him. “Spit it out, Kusuo.”

’You were right.’

What.

“What?”

’Teruhashi may like me, but she also wants to be your friend. I have nothing to do with that.’

Is he…

…apologising?

’Yes.’

I stopped gawking at him and thought it through. Kusuo apologising is rare, but not impossible. Maybe he’s changed more since last time.

“Thank you, Kusuo. I’m also sorry if I went a bit far, but I meant every word.” I replied.

Kusuo smiled slightly, like he expected that, and told me to hurry up.

He left my doorway to his own room and I smiled. Kusuo may be an ass sometimes, but he’s a good person.

Mostly.

~~~

I stood at the front door, pulling my shoes on and waiting for my dad to realise he was late. Kusuo was stood next to me, apparently also waiting for that same revelation. Honestly, Dad is so scatterbrained it’s a miracle me and my brothers are actual functioning human beings. Maybe we get it from Mum, who kno-

“AHHH!! I’m late!!!”

There it is.

Apparently that was our cue to leave as well, because Kusuo immediately opened the door and stepped outside just as Dad was begging to be teleported to his work.

After closing the door in his face, me and Kusuo walked down the path where four people stood loitering. I eyed them up, wondering who these people were and why they were stood outside our house, when the unthinkable happened.

“Hey buddy! You wanna go get ramen?”

Woah. Buddy? Kusuo has friends?!

Miracles do happen.

“Nendou, seriously, we’re about to go to school! We can’t get ramen!” a short blue haired boy yelled.

“Yeah, dumbass, surely you know that?” a guy with purple hair and fake glasses said.

Just as the bickering started, it stopped when the oaf that mentioned ramen noticed me.

“Woah, girl buddy!”

The other two whipped their heads around and finally noticed me too. The one with blue hair went bright red and started spluttering something strange, and the purple haired one just looked at me in astonishment.

Kusuo rolled his eyes and projected, ’This is my sister.’

“Cool! Girl Saiki, wanna go get ramen?” Seriously what is this guy’s obsession with ramen?

’Don’t question it.’

Well okay then.

The purple haired one recovered next, and actually introduced their little group.

“Hey, I’m Kuboyasu, this is Kaidou, and this ramen-obsessed idiot is Nendou. Nice to meet you, Saiki!” He smiled and bowed at me, and the others seemed to remember their manners and bowed, Kaidou mumbling a greeting.

I bowed back, and then we were off, headed to the school.

Now, on this boring walk, let me tell you what I noticed about these guys.

First, Kusuo seems wary of the big one, Nendou. I wondered why for about 0.5 seconds before it was shown to me that this man is an idiot. So stupid, in fact, that I doubt Kusuo can read his mind. What a fascinating specimen.

Secondly, Kuboyasu seems to be hiding something. Some dark past, or something. Whatever it is, I don’t care.

Thirdly, Kaidou is rather childish. A chunnibyou, actually. He went on about ‘The Dark Reunion’ and ‘The Jet Black Wings’, and it was interesting to see what his imagination had cooked up. Though, I have a feeling there’s more to him than meets the eye if the bandages he wears around his arms have anything to say.

Fourthly, Kaidou and Kuboyasu are incredibly close. They use each other’s first names, and walk side by side very close to the other. Something is definitely happening between them.

And finally, Kusuo cares about them. It may not be obvious to everyone, but I’ve had plenty of time learning how to read my brother, and as much as he ignores them or tells them to shut up, he does care.

Oh look, we’re at the school.

We walked through the gates, where a gym teacher was stood yelling at all the students who weren’t following the dress code. We walked past him fine despite Nendou and Kaidou’s obvious dress code violations, and we neared the entrance when we all heard bone cracking.

I glanced behind me, and the teacher was staring at me open-mouthed, his neck twisted in a way that showed he just whipped his head around. What the hell is his problem?

I turned back around, set to just ignore him for now and question it later, when I glanced at Kusuo and found he was looking back at the teacher too, with an odd expression.

Stepping next to him, I thought at him, ’What’s that about?’

He looked at me with the same odd expression, and projected, ’I’ll explain later.’ Then he walked into the shoe locker.

We all changed our shoes, Kaidou, Nendou and Kuboyasu still arguing, and walked through the hallways to our classes. I was in the year below Kusuo, so me and him paired off from the other three and he walked me to my class.

Walking into the room, the teacher greeted me and made me stand in front of the whole class. I kept my breathing as even as possible, introduced myself quickly and sat down immediately. To be honest, school was a little boring. Nobody really cared about me, and they mostly ignored me. The people that did try and talk to me got quickly intimidated by my face. I seriously need to work on this RBF.

Classes were uneventful. I went through the morning, and it was finally lunch. Since I hadn’t made any friends in my own class, I figured I’d just go sit with Kusuo and his friends.

I walked into the cafeteria and looked around. Ah, there he is. Kinda hard to miss the bright pink hair and hair clips.

I made my way to the table he was sat on, and realised there were a lot more people sat there than just the three I met this morning. My stomach dropped slightly, and I could feel my pulse slightly raising. Great.

“Hey Kuriko!”

I glanced at the voice and saw Kokomi waving me over, smiling. She was sat at the table Kusuo was sat at. I walked over, and she scooted over to make room for me at the table, and then she introduced me to the others that I hadn’t met yet.

There was Hairo, who was in the middle of a very homoerotic arm wrestle with Nendou, but still had time to shoot me a smile and a nice greeting. Next was Saiko, a rich prick with an undercut that called me a pleb. I don’t like him.

The girls seemed happy to see me again, and quickly struck up a conversation with me about how I was finding school so far. Well, Kokomi and Chiyo were, Mera was shoving her (and Kaidou’s) lunch in her mouth.

It was quite nice, actually. I listened to the conversations the group had with each other, not really saying anything. I wondered how Kusuo managed to get a group of friends like this. These people clearly all care about each other, and are quite hilarious to be around. They managed to crack a smile out of me a couple times, in fact. Sure, there were a lot of them, but I found I could manage.

Imu came up to say hi to me and drool over Kokomi, which was fine I suppose. However, another person showed up to the table that was very… overwhelming.

“Hey, gorgeous. I’m Toritsuka Reita, but you can just call me yours. Now tell me, what colour panties are you wearing?” A guy with purple hair winked at me, one hand on his hip and the other under his chin. Everyone went silent.

I could tell Kusuo was glaring daggers at him, but I wanted to handle this myself.

I looked him dead in the eyes, and said in my most bored voice, “You have something in your hair.”

He blinked, reaching up to his hair and I kicked Kusuo under the table, thinking at him to close his eyes.

The pervert grabbed something from his hair and saw the biggest spider in Japan looking up at him from his hand.

He screeched like a little girl and threw the spider onto the table, running away at top speed.

I scooped up the spider and cupped it in my hands. What a wimp.

I stood and walked over to the open window and gently placed the spider outside, quietly thanking it for its help. It wiggled its body at me in what seemed like a ‘you’re welcome’ and crawled away.

Sitting back down, I took another bite of food as everyone stared at me. Kusuo looked constipated, and I had to hold in a snort at that. Before anyone could start reacting, though, another person came up to the table, one who I never imagined I would see again.

“Kuriko! Kusuo never told me you were coming home! Though, I did figure it out, since last week when I saw him he seemed tense and when I asked, he said nothing was happening so obviously I knew something was up, and from there I figured out from his clothes that-“

“Hey, Touma.” I interrupted him. “Kusuo also didn’t tell me you were here.” I shot a small glare at Kusuo which he ignored.

Touma smiled, nodding, and opened his mouth again. “Yes, Kusuo tends to keep information to himself, doesn’t he? Like him being a psychic! I had to figure that out myself, actually!”

I snorted. Good old Touma, being stupid as always. He seemed to realise what he had said just as Kusuo made the yellow bat materialise. I cackled as Kusuo thwacked all of his friends with it, including Touma, and only calmed down when they all came to. Thankfully, when pervert-boy ran out of the cafeteria he made such a fuss everyone else in the room followed him out, which was probably Kusuo’s fault but I’m taking some of the credit.

“Anyway, it’s good to see you doing better, Kuriko! I’m glad you’re here,” Touma said. He looked like he was about to carry on, but instead he shut his mouth, glanced at Kusuo, and walked away.

Lunch ended with Kusuo’s friends having a healthy fear of me due to the spider incident, and afternoon classes passed by again, also uneventfully. I was surprised that the day had gone quite nicely, in the end. I was prepared for the worst, but apparently I didn’t need to be. Kusuo’s friends welcomed me into the group easily, and I had been added to their friend group chat, which was making my notifications erupt. I didn’t really mind, though. I haven’t had friends in a while.

~~~

gyarugyurl: yo kuripopi, where r u

TheBestSaiki: waiting for kusuo outside

gyarugyurl: cool wait ther

I put my phone back in my pocket and crossed my arms. I had no idea what Kusuo was doing, but it was clearly important enough to make me have to wait for him outside the school gates. I looked at the sky, my thoughts rolling around my head. Before I could get distracted by them, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hey Kuripopi!” Mikoto grinned at me.

“Hey, Mikoto.” I replied, stony faced as usual.

“Sooo, how’s your first day been, eh?” she asked.

I shrugged and looked back at the sky. “It’s been fine. I was surprised at how many friends Ku has, though.”

She cackled, and responded, “Yeah, it’s crazy. But yknow, he’s pretty cool. People are just drawn to him.” She said that last remark waving one of her hands around, her bangles clanking together. I laughed through my nose, nodding.

“What drew you to him, then?” I asked.

She perked up even more at that, and rummaged around in her school bag until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a very bedazzled crystal ball, and said, “This thing told me my soulmate was in this school, and that he has pink hair, his initials are S.K., and he has special powers. I met Saiki, and BAM! Soulmate spotted.” She said proudly, putting her ball back in her bag.

Oh.

“So you like him?”

“Yeah, he’s great. Though, I’ve gotta say, after we met we got closer naturally, which clearly proves we’re soulmates. It’s meant to be, Kuripopi!” She exclaimed.

I nodded. “That’s great, Mikoto.”

She grinned, and jumped into an explanation about how soulmates work that I half listened to.

So she likes Kusuo. It makes sense, I guess. She was completely right when she said people were drawn to him. And besides, my attraction to her was just that. Attraction. If she wants to date Kusuo, then so be it. I’m good at squashing down emotions I don’t want, so this was fine.

Completely fine.

Chapter Text

It’s a few months later, well into winter, and I had a massive problem.

Remember how I said my attraction to Mikoto was just that? And that I could squash down any feelings I didn’t want?

Yeah. I caught feelings.

And they hadn’t gone away.

It’s not my fault, at least not completely. She’s just so amazing. We had gotten quite a lot closer over the few months, and I was fully integrated into both Kusuo’s friend group and Mikoto’s life. We hung out most weekends, and spent time together at school. And every time we hung out, my feelings for her grew. And every time my feelings grew, I felt more and more helpless.

I hated it. Not being in control of my feelings was awful. Do people feel like this regularly? It’s terrible.

Anyway, after a few months of this, I guess Kusuo got fed up with my thoughts.

I was sat at my desk in my room, going over the homework I had been given, when I heard a knock on my door. I told the person to come in, and in walked Kusuo.

‘Kuriko, we need to talk.’

I turned around in my swivel chair and looked at him.

“About what?”

‘Aiura.’

I sighed and looked at the ceiling. “I know what you’re gonna say, and I don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry you’ve got to suffer listening to my thoughts, but it’s not my fault I feel like this.”

‘I know.’

I whipped my head back down and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

‘Aiura is a very talented psychic. Her predictions are always correct. Which means there’s no way she’s incorrect about her soulmate.’

“Yeah, I know. You’re her soulmate, whatever.” I pouted responded elegantly.

‘She’s also an idiot that jumps to conclusions.’

I paused.

“What do you mean?”

’She assumed I was her soulmate because I was the only person that fit her criteria. But you and I both know that I’m not the only person that fits it.’

“Look, Ku, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but-“

’Just trust me.’

I shut my mouth and thought it over. He clearly had a plan to make Mikoto actually think over her prediction. And maybe there was a chance I was her soulmate.

“Fine, what do you want to do?”

~~~

I hate Kusuo.

So much.

I sat across from Mikoto at lunch, preparing to put my plan into motion. Except this plan was bullshit and I hated it. No way I can do this.

Kusuo was sat next to me, pointedly ignoring my hatred towards him in that moment. Then he apparently decided to take the reins in his plan as I was being “unreliable” and “pouty”.

“Hey Mikoto, can you read my fortune again?” Chiyo asked with stars in her eyes.

Mikoto grinned, and my stomach twisted.

“Sure thing, Chiyopipi, gimme your hand.”

The group at the table watched as Mikoto did a whole array of odd things, and finally sat down again and concluded that Chiyo would fall in love with the man of her dreams and he would love her back just as fiercely.

Chiyo glanced at Kaidou when Mikoto said that. Poor girl.

“Why’d you ask, anyways, Chiyopipi? It’s the same as last time.” Mikoto asked.

“Oh, I don’t know, I just suddenly had the idea and I felt like I absolutely had to ask.” Chiyo responded easily.

I side eyed Kusuo. Stop manipulating your friend’s thoughts, Ku I thought at him.

“Oh, Mikoto, you haven’t read Kuriko’s fortune yet!” Kokomi piped up.

Mikoto turned her gaze on me and I froze.

She grabbed my hand and yanked it towards her face and traced the lines on my hand.

I could only imagine how flustered I looked. God, having feelings for people is embarrassing.

Mikoto let go of my hand, threw some rice at the wall, ripped up one of Saiko’s 1000¥ bills (which he spluttered at, shocked beyond his comprehension), and placed the ripped up note on the table. She inspected the money and the rice, before turning back to me.

“You’ll fall for a guy that seems to like someone else, but you shouldn’t give up. You have a long future ahead of you with this guy, even if he doesn’t realise it yet. Oh hang on, something’s changing- oh…” she trailed off, a look of surprise on her face.

“What is it, Aiura?” Kuboyasu asked.

Mikoto looked me dead in the eyes. “It’s a woman.”

I didn’t react. Because, uh, duh? I’m a lesbian, obviously my soulmate’s a woman.

I could feel everyone’s gazes on me, though. It was a little unsettling. Hairo, Saiko, Kaidou and Kuboyasu were looking at me warily, probably not knowing what reaction to expect. None of them were entirely out, so I can see why they were worried about my potential reaction.

Kokomi and Chiyo stared at me long and hard. Chiyo looked almost sad for me, like she couldn’t fathom someone not having a man in their life. Kokomi was staring at me like I had three heads or something.

At least Nendou and Mera didn’t care, she was stealing everyone’s food and he was picking his nose.

I stared right back at Mikoto, and responded, “Obviously. I’m a lesbian.”

I could practically feel the relief rolling off the other queer kids. Kaidou shot me a smile, which I was grateful for. Chiyo looked even more flabbergasted, and Kokomi looked shocked, but not in a “I hate your kind” kind of way. More in a “you actually said that out loud?!” kind of way. Interesting.

Mikoto swallowed and waved one of her hands in the air. “Yeah, of course, so you’re gonna fall for a woman that likes someone else but she actually doesn’t.” The tension at the table released slightly and Mikoto started drawling on about ways to make my soulmate realise and whatever.

I’m eternally grateful. She was surprised by my admission, but cared about me enough to dispel the obvious tension at the table from the only straight people. Well, maybe straight. Chiyo is, sure, but I was starting to get a little suspicious of Kokomi.

Anyway, after that, the day went just as smoothly as it had gone before. The end of the day arrived, everything was fine, blah blah blah. I’m not gonna bore you with useless details.

~~~

xXJetBlackWingsXx has added you to queer kids unite

xXJetBlackWingsXx: hey kuriko, i hope you don’t mind i added you here :)

TheBestSaiki: it’s fine, kaidou. i’m guessing this is a chat for queer kids, right?

blondie_cutie: you got that right!

TheBestSaiki: i knew you were gay imu, i knew it

blondie_cutie: yeah, i’ve given up on being subtle :3

TheBestSaiki: so who else is here?

xXJetBlackWingsXx: weve got me, aren, imu, chisato, metori, riki, kineshi and kusuo!

mulletman: hey saiki!

TheBestSaiki: nah you can all call me kuriko

PUSHYOURSELF: HEY KURIKO!!

TheBestSaiki: hey kineshi

im-hungry: does anyone have any food

TheBestSaiki: i’ve got some rice cakes if you want them

im-hungry: you’re my best friend now

ramenluvr: hey girl buddy! wanna go get ramen

im-hungry: i’ll get ramen with you riki

ramenluvr: ok!

blondie_cutie: has everyone greeted kuriko??

mulletman: everyone but kusuo

blondie_cutie: @OnlyHereForCoffeJelly say hi to kuriko!!

xXJetBlackWingsXx: yeah kusuo come say hi

mulletman: yeah kusuo

PUSHYOURSELF: YEAH KUSUO!!!

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Good fucking grief do you people ever shut up.

im-hungry: you should know by now the answer is no

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Why are we even talking in this chat when we have a perfectly good other one.

xXJetBlackWingsXx: cuz us queer kids have to stick together!! kokomi, chiyo and mikoto are straight so we have to have a separate queer chat, you know this kusuo!

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Yes. Straight.

blondie_cutie: it’s such a shame kokomi’s straight, pining over a straight girl feels so belittling sometimes :(

mulletman: it’s okay, Imu! you’ll find someone else one day :)

blondie_cutie: yeah but this is Teruhashi Kokomi we’re talking about

mulletman: okay fair

xXJetBlackWingsXx: she is a goddess among humans

im-hungry: the most beautiful, amazing woman in existence

ramenluvr: yeah shes beautufl

TheBestSaiki: i have to agree

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Degenerates, the lot of you.

TheBestSaiki: aww, you’re really gonna talk to your own little sister like that ku?

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Yes.
OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: You’re a demon.

TheBestSaiki: and you’re autistic

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: So are you??

TheBestSaiki: yeah but i’m cool about it

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Sure.

TheBestSaiki: OI

xXJetBlackWingsXx: LMAOOO
xXJetBlackWingsXx: i love ur guys dynamic

TheBestSaiki: thanks xoxo gossip girl

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Kuriko it’s dinner

TheBestSaiki: oh rlly what we having

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Wouldn’t you like to know weather boy.

TheBestSaiki: YOU BITCH
TheBestSaiki: YOU CANT USE WHAT I TAUGHT YOU AGAINST ME LIKE THIS

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: I just did.

TheBestSaiki: go fuck yourself

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: No thanks I’m asexual

TheBestSaiki: YOU MOTHERFUCKER

blondie_cutie: HAHAHWJIDIDKKD

xXJetBlackWingsXx: LMAOOOO

mulletman: LMAO HAHAHA

TheBestSaiki: >:(

Chapter Text

Mikoto was avoiding me.

I had no idea why she was, we were close friends and talked every day, in person and in texts, so why was she suddenly doing everything in her power to avoid me?

I noticed it first at lunch on Monday, when she didn’t say a single word to me the entire time and left as quickly as possible. I was suspicious, but I was more worried about her well-being then thinking it had anything to do with me.

Then she didn’t answer my messages. She left me on read, and I was getting increasingly more concerned about her. People don’t usually do this, right?

Tuesday followed the same pattern. She didn’t answer any messages, didn’t talk to me at lunch, and avoided me afterwards. It was starting to get frustrating.

It was Wednesday when she actually did something, but it wasn’t even towards me.

I was in my brother’s classroom, attempting to steal some of his food and failing, when she burst through the door, purple-haired pervert in tow. She froze so suddenly when she saw me pervert guy slammed into her back, and then they started yelling at each other.

“Hey guys, you good?” Aren called out to them.

Mikoto whipped her head around, smiled widely and nodded, then turned back to pervert guy and said something to him I didn’t catch.

The rest of our friend group was also stood around Kusuo’s desk, and were all watching this very strange interaction. A few of them were snickering to themselves. I wasn’t.

Finally, Mikoto straightened up, turned around, and marched up to Kusuo’s desk. Pervert followed her, his hands in his pockets, and so did Touma.

“Kusuo, we need you, it’s very. Urgent.” She hissed out at him. I could tell she was thinking something at him.

Kusuo simply arched an eyebrow at her, projecting so everyone else could hear, ‘Class is about to start. I don’t have time for this.’

One of her eyes started twitching, and she looked like she was about three seconds away from attempting to throttle Kusuo.

“It’s definitely important, Saiki, even the ghosts agree.” Pervert piped up.

Mikoto nodded furiously, gesturing at him. “See? Even the ghosts think it’s important, so come on.” She said the last word slightly strained, as she had clamped down on Kusuo’s arm and was attempting to drag him out of his seat.

Kusuo rolled his eyes and followed. She didn’t let go of his arm.

Kokomi clearly noticed that, too, as she was staring at the pair slightly forlornly.

“What was that about?” Shun asked aloud, to nobody in particular.

Before anyone could share any theories, the teacher clapped for the class’s attention, and I left to go back to my own classroom.

~~~

On my way back to my classroom, I finally found out why that gym teacher had looked at me weird back in chapter 5.

I was walking through the hallways, watching a group of insects wage war on each other, when we quite literally bumped into each other at a corner.

He was holding a few sheets of paper, and they scattered to the floor. It felt very cliche, if i I’m being honest. He apologised quickly, like he would to any student, but did a double take when he actually looked at me.

He straightened up.

I remained where I was stood. “Are you okay, Sir?” I asked.

He looked at me even weirder this time. “Yes, I’m alright. Sorry I bumped into you, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”

I shrugged. “We didn’t see each other, it’s normal.”

He nodded, and gave me another weird look. It was a mix of confusion, wariness, and maybe a little relief? What was going on?

“Sir? Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked again, wanting to ask directly why he was looking at me like that but not wanting to be rude from the get-go.

He nodded and made to move past me and I huffed.

“My apologies if this is rude, but why are you looking at me like that?” I asked firmly.

The teacher looked at me like I had just asked what colour the sky was.

“Because, you’re the student that confessed to me and I rejected a few months ago, yet you’re acting like this is the first time we’ve met.” He finally said.

I pulled a face. What the fuck? Who would confess to a teacher of all people? And why in god’s name would he think it was-

You have got to be kidding me.

“No, that wasn’t me. It was my cousin, we look like twins.” I half-lied.

Relief washed over his face, and he smiled at me. “Good, I was worried I would have to turn you down again. I’ll explain to your teacher why you’re late, who do you have?”

I told him the name and class, and then we went our separate ways. He was nice, I suppose. As nice as gym teachers can be. And it’s completely understandable why he seemed so uncomfortable around me, what with the confession that was apparently me. Speaking of which.

What the fuck, Kusuo?!

‘Oops.’

Seriously, why the fuck did you confess your undying love to a teacher as me? Literally what the hell?!

‘Relax. Some kids were trying to prank him, I stepped in.’

Okay, I’m gonna need a way more detailed explanation than that bullshit.

‘Later, Kineshi is aggressively encouraging the class to work harder, I’ll get a speech yelled in my face if I don’t pay attention.’

I rolled my eyes, but dropped the subject. I had managed to steer the situation away from myself and onto some made up cousin, so I guess it wasn’t a crazy deal. Still, it would be great if Kusuo could at least tell me about all the times he pretended to be me. That would be great.

~~~

Kusuo, Shun, Aren, Riki and I were walking home from school, as per usual. It was quite pleasant today, actually, as Shun had some leftover ramen from his lunch and had given it to Riki, so we weren’t asked about ramen every minute.

We were walking up our street, when Kusuo stopped walking. His face twisted into something sour, and Shun and Aren looked at him in concern. He looked at me.

‘Kusuke’s home.’

My stomach dropped to my feet.

Fuck.

Kusuo turned to the others, and projected at them all, ‘Go home. I just remembered Kuriko and I had an errand to do.’

Shun and Aren nodded in understanding, smiling. “Oh, right, you just suddenly stopped and we were worried, but that makes sense!” Shun said.

Riki wrapped his arms around Kusuo, and I snorted at his facial expression. “Bye buddy, I’ll miss you,” Riki said, acting like Kusuo was going to war.

“Chill out, Riki, it’s not like he’s going to war or something.” Aren said, grinning at his friend’s antics.

Huh. Great minds, I guess.

He finally let go of Kusuo, and the group left. Riki walked on slightly ahead of the other two, whistling something to himself very pitchily. Aren slipped his hand into Shun’s. I smiled. Took them long enough.

Once they were out of sight, Kusuo put his hand on my shoulder and suddenly we were at the local park. He let go, and sat on the swing set he had teleported us in front of. I sat on the one next to him.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to see him again.” I said aloud.

Kusuo nodded.

We sat there in silence for an hour.

I gently swung myself back and forth, finding comfort in the repetitiveness. Eventually, I was swinging myself as high as I could get, and wanted to go higher. I shut my eyes and lost myself in the feeling, when I felt myself getting pushed higher. I opened one eye and looked down at my brother as I swung back, he was sitting in the same position that he had been for the past hour. I smiled, closed my eyes properly, and let him push me with his powers.

Another twenty minutes, and I felt marginally better. Kusuo stopped pushing me, and I dragged my feet against the ground to fully stop myself swinging.

He stood up and held out his hand. I grabbed it and he teleported us into my bedroom.

‘I’ll keep him out of here.’ Kusuo projected, and I hugged him.

I’m not one for hugs, neither is Kusuo, but I needed it this time. And he knew that.

I stepped back and he lingered for about a second, then walked out of my room, shutting the door gently behind him.

I flopped onto my bed. Why did he have to be here? Why now?

Straining my ears, I listened to the conversation I could somewhat hear coming from downstairs. I could hear my parents talking. I could hear Kusuke talking.

I clenched my fists, grabbed my headphones and blasted GRANRODEO directly into my ears.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Kuriko!”

I grimaced. What did Toritsuka want with me this time?

“Saiki. What do you want?”

He visibly paused and pulled a weird face. He dismissed whatever thoughts were in his head and sat down next to me on the bench I was on. Without permission, might I add.

“So, Saiki, how you been?” He asked.

I sighed and glared at him. “What. Do. You. Want.”

He put his hands up in a sign of surrender and grinned nervously. “Woah, hey, chill out. I just wanna know why big boobs is acting so weird, thought you’d be the one to ask.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. It didn’t seem like he was lying. Still, couldn’t he just ask Mikoto herself? Or even my brother, considering Toritsuka knew he was psychic?

Asking as such, he simply shrugged. “She’s being stingy and not telling, and Kusuo was too busy with something else to ask.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but we’re not exactly on speaking terms right now.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just wanna know why.”

“You’ll be the first one I tell when I find out.”

His eyes sparkled. “Really?”

I stared at him deadpan.

“Right, sarcasm. Of course.” He huffed, and kicked a nearby stone away. A beetle meandered near his foot, which he noticed and flinched. Grimacing, he lifted his foot to crush the beetle, and I shoved him off the bench.

“Hey, what the fuck?!” He screeched.

Ignoring him, I bent down and picked up the beetle. “Sorry this idiot tried to crush you.”

The beetle wiggled its antennae, and I snorted.

“Yeah, I know, he’s annoying as hell.”

Toritsuka watched me have a conversation with this beetle from his place on the ground for about thirty seconds before he scrambled back up and gaped at me.

I looked him dead in the eyes and glared. “What.”

“You’re talking to that bug.”

“Beetle, and yes. Problem?”

He pointed at it. “It looks like you can hear it taking back to you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I can talk to insects, Kusuo isn’t the only one in the family with psychic powers, now leave me alone.” I turned my body away from him and placed the beetle back onto the grass, watching it crawl away.

Apparently not getting the message, Toritsuka stayed where he was, looking at me with a goldfish expression, his eyes wide and mouth open.

“No fucking way,” he said finally, then stood up and near-sprinted away from me. Weird.

Oh well, I have better things to do than think about purple haired perverts and their doings. Like lying in bed listening to sad music and loathing my existence. Gods, that sounded good.

~~~

I was not lying in my bed listening to sad music and loathing my existence. I was, in fact, sat in a random quarry somewhere in the world watching Kusuo throw rocks against each other. Apparently he does this occasionally, just brush up on the strength of his powers so he knows his capabilities or something. I didn’t care about the specifics, I just didn’t want to be home. Kusuke was still there.

People probably shouldn’t have favourite siblings, but I did. Kusuo was a good big brother, even if he was an ass sometimes. But Kusuke? He had never been a good person at any point in his life. Not when he was born, not when he was a kid, not when he won a Nobel Peace Prize for whatever stupid science thing he did, and certainly not when he-

A crash jolted me out of my train of thought. I glanced up, and Kusuo was looking at me. I looked back at my homework balancing on my knees, pretending that I had been doing it the whole time. A futile attempt, obviously, but that didn’t stop me from trying. Maybe Kusuo would get the message that I didn’t want to talk about it.

Apparently my brother is an idiot, because he asked me if I wanted to talk anyway, despite hearing me think about how much I didn’t want to. Seriously, I have enough going on, what with Mikoto avoiding me like the plague, why can’t I just be left alone?”

‘She won’t ignore you forever.’

“Comforting.”

Kusuo rolled his eyes and threw another boulder directly into the air, waiting until it crashed down on him. He remained where he was, unscathed, as the boulder cracked around his shoulders and landed in rubble around him.

‘Give her time. It’ll be worth it.’

I sighed. “Can’t you just tell me what she’s thinking?”

He shook his head. ‘Not my place.’

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, and I picked up my pen that had been squashed under a rock fragment. It was scratched, but still usable.

“I just want her to talk to me. Is that too much to ask?” I mumbled.

Another crash, more debris, and a shrug from Kusuo. ‘You could talk to her first.’

“You think I haven’t tried that? Seriously, Ku, are you that stupid?” I spat back, still not looking up.

I watched his feet enter my field of vision, and refused to move my gaze from my homework.

‘She’s had a big realisation and doesn’t know how to process it. That’s why she’s avoiding you. And that’s all I’ll tell you.’ I heard in my mind.

I furiously scribbled down numbers and calculations on my worksheet, not replying to Kusuo. He huffed, and I had a pretty good inkling he had rolled his eyes at me. I felt a hand on my head, and our surroundings changed.

‘I know she’s hurt you, and I’m on your side, but you two seriously need to talk.’

I heard him walk away, and the click of the door shutting. I finally lifted my head, shoved my homework off my lap and stood up.

Where did Kusuo get off, telling me what to do? It’s my life, I can do what I want. And if that meant ignoring Mikoto right back, then that’s what I would do. If she wanted to treat me like that, fine. Whatever. But if she thought I would be waiting on her on my hands and knees she had another thing coming. Like an insect infestation maybe.

I just wished she would tell me why she was doing it. If she didn’t want to be my friend anymore, why didn’t she just tell me outright? It would be better than this weird limbo we were in. It would hurt, sure, but I would get over it. Pushing me away without any explanation though? Absolutely not. Nobody pushes me to the sidelines. Not anymore.

Speaking of which.

“My darling little sister, are you in here?”

I froze.

Kusuke knocked on the door twice, accompanying his sing-song tone. Met with silence, he knocked again, his tone sharper. “Kuriko, I know you’re in there. I just want to talk, dear sister.” He started twisting the door knob, and I finally moved.

I dashed to my window and flung it open, sitting on the sill and swinging a leg over. Resting my arm on the window frame, I shut my eyes and focused. I could hear a light buzzing, which steadily grew. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw a huge hoard of flies, ready to whisk me away.

I jumped onto the flies, settling into a more comfortable position. They zipped me away, and I soared through the sky just as Kusuke opened my bedroom door.

I inhaled deeply.

“Thank you, all of you.” I whispered to the flies. They seemed happy enough to keep carrying me, and I didn’t particularly want to stop, so we flew on and on.

Flying was always so freeing. I used to do it in Paraguay, whenever I had the opportunity. They put locks on the windows eventually, though.

Wind whipping my hair this way and that, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Unsurprisingly, I had messages from the main group chat.

ramenluvr: any1 wanna get ramen

moneybags: Good God shut up.

PUSHYOURSELF: I WILL GO WITH YOU RIKI <3

ramenluvr: thx <3

chiyoxo: aww i love male friendships

im-hungry: yeah. friendship.

xXJetBlackWingsXx: guys i’m bored

chiyoxo: oh my god we should all have a sleepover!!

goddess: yes! that’s a wonderful idea, chiyo!

chiyoxo: heh, thanks koko

xXJetBlackWingsXx: heck yeah!

mulletman: when?

goddess: tomorrow night maybe?

chiyoxo: yeah that’s good for me

xXJetBlackWingsXx: wait where are we gonna go

goddess: i have an idea
goddess: @moneybags can we use your house please?

moneybags: Fine.

mulletman: wow, you really didn’t put up much of a fight there

moneybags: I can if you want.

mulletman: bring it, rich bitch

xXJetBlackWingsXx: okayyyyyyyyy let’s take a breather

chiyoxo: thanks for letting us use your house metori!

im-hungry: hey saikis you guys coming

chiyoxo: omg we should totally invite mikoto and the others

goddess: yes absolutely that would be so fun

chiyoxo: SOMEONE ADD EM HERE

mulletman: my question is why weren’t they here anyway

chiyoxo: good question aren

goddess has added 3 users

goddess: hey guys, wanna join us for a sleepover at metori’s house tomorrow night?

gyarugyurl: fuck yeah bitch

teruhashistan: DONT CALL QUEEN TERUHASHI A BITCH YOU SLAG

gyarugyurl: calm your fucking tits reita

terhuashistan: NOT UNTIL YOU APOLOGISE

gyarugyurl: geez im sorry

pissbaby: A sleepover sounds excellent! Did you know the term sleepover dates back to 1935c, from the phrase sleep-over, which originally meant to sleep late or oversleep!

chiyoxo: i understand why they weren’t added before

gyarugyurl: OI

xXJetBlackWingsXx: @OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly @TheBestSaiki you guys coming?

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: No.

goddess: oh come on kusuo, it’ll be fun!!

mulletman: yeah, it wouldnt be the same without you guys anyway

PUSHYOURSELF: YES KUSUO, BREAK OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND JOIN US!!!!!!!!!!

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: No.

I snorted at my brother’s messages. Sure, Mikoto being added to the group chat made my chest constrict and my hands get sweaty, but I was trying to find a distraction to that, okay?

I thought about it though. Kusuo seemed insistent that Mikoto and I talked, and this would be the perfect opportunity. And if I needed to leave Kusuo could get me out of there easily. In all honesty, it sounded doable.

So I threw Kusuo under the bus.

TheBestSaiki: i’m telling mum <3

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Don’t you dare.

TheBestSaiki: oops already done it

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: I fucking hate you.

TheBestSaiki: :P

mulletman: so you guys are coming then?

OnlyHereForCoffeeJelly: Yes.

goddess: awesome!!! it’ll be great to see you there kusuo!!!
goddess: and you too, obviously,
kuriko
goddess: haha

TheBestSaiki: it’ll be good to see you too kokomi

chiyoxo: omg the nickname girls will all be there

teruhashistan: nickname girls?

chiyoxo: yeah, the nicknames mikoto calls us
chiyoxo: chiyopipi, terukoko, chisapoyo, kuripopi

teruhashistan: wow big boobs, i’m hurt i didn’t get a nickname

gyarugyurl: ull get a nickname wen u stop calling me that

xXJetBlackWingsXx: okay queers let’s do this

mulletman: FUCK YEAH

xXJetBlackWingsXx: HECK YEAH

And with that, I shut my phone off. I brushed my hand over the flies below me, gentle so as to not harm their wings.

Tomorrow night would be interesting.

Chapter Text

Saiko Metori’s house was enormous.

Expected, I knew he was rich, but it was still quite overwhelming. A new, massive place where I had to spend the night? My personal hell. I had agreed to this, however, and as anxious as the idea made me I was looking forward to spending time with my friends.

Kusuo and I walked up to the huge front door, bags over our shoulders. Kusuo flicked his gaze to the doorbell, and an almost deafening fanfare started from it. I put my hands over my ears, cursing quietly. The door was finally opened by a butler, who showed us to where everyone else was.

“Buddy!” Riki yelled, immediately getting up and scooping Kusuo into a hug. I snorted and side stepped around them to get into the room. Everyone was already here, laughing at Riki’s display of affection and my brother’s disgusted expression.

“Kuriko! Look at this gorgeous hairpin my mum bought me!” Chiyo called, waving me over excitedly. I walked over and sat down between her and Kokomi, not flinching when Chiyo’s pink phone was thrust into my face.

It was a beautiful hair pin, but I wasn’t focusing on it. I nodded along as Chiyo enthusiastically told me all about it, definitely looking at the hair pin and definitely not the girl across from me.

I wasn’t looking at her freshly-dyed hair that she must have got done yesterday. I wasn’t looking at her long press-on nails, some of them missing from her fingers. I wasn’t looking at her casual clothes, just an oversized t-shirt and some pyjama trousers. I wasn’t looking at her olive green eyes, surrounded by her natural lashes instead of the false ones she liked to wear. I wasn’t looking at her makeup-less face, just as beautiful as when she did her gyaru looks.

Not at all. I was looking at Chiyo’s hairpin. Her new pink hairpin that would look gorgeous in Mikoto’s hair-

So maybe I was a little distracted. Can you blame me? If you were sat opposite the most breathtaking girl you’d ever seen, you’d be distracted too. Sure, I was sat next to Kokomi, but it was different. Kokomi was a goddess, untouchable, pure, nice to a failt. If Kokomi was a goddess, Mikoto was a siren, dangling every good thing I valued in a person and luring me deeper and deeper into a sea of olive, until I inevitably drowned in the undercurrents.

‘Good god you’re cringe.’

Shut up Kusuo. Let me be a pining lesbian in peace.

‘Not if I have to endure that the whole night.’

I rolled my eyes and poked my tongue out at him. It’s not my fault Mikoto is the only thing I can focus on right now. It’s not my fault she’s so enchanting. It’s not my fault her laugh makes goosebumps rise along my skin. It’s not my fault that-

Kusuo glared at me and I stopped my train of thought. Just in time, too, since Shun announced we should all play truth or dare. Perfect, this game was a walk in the park.

Shun started, daring Metori to eat some store-bought sushi pieces, which he spent ten whole minutes gagging on before he managed to gulp it down in one. Metori dared Riki to arm wrestle Kineshi. It was a stalemate, that ended with the pair just holding hands regularly for the rest of the night. Riki dared Kusuo to eat some ramen, which he happily did. Kusuo dared Touma to not say sentences more than three words at a time, which he immediately lost and had to do a forfeit.

The forfeit was sitting in the lap of the person on your right, which unfortunately for Touma was Toritsuka. Chiyo snorted so hard her drink shot out of her nose, and she coughed harshly as everyone laughed and Shun whacked her on the back.

Chiyo got the next turn, since she ‘nearly died’ as she claimed. When she got what she wanted, she grinned wickedly and turned to me.

“Kuriko! Truth or dare~” she asked, mock-innocently.

“Truth,” I responded easily. I knew about Chiyo’s ridiculous dares, I didn’t want to risk it.

It turned out I should have risked it, since her maturity level regressed a few years and she asked me a question I hadn’t been asked since middle school.

“Do you have a crush on anybody?”

I stopped breathing. Shit, this was terrible. I could lie, I suppose, but that wasn’t in the spirit of the game. Besides, I think regardless of how well I lied, she wouldn’t believe me. According to Kusuo, I had been acting very heartbroken recently. I couldn’t see it, but maybe everyone else could. So, building up all the courage I could, I answered her question truthfully.

“Yes.” I answered, stony faced.

She squealed, and immediately invaded my personal space. “Who is it?!” She yelled in my face.

I leaned back slightly, accidentally knocking into Kokomi who had also leant into me in her eagerness to find out. “I’d rather not say.” Was all I said.

“Oh come on Kuriko!” Shun whined, also in the group closely surrounding me.

Even those not actively getting in my face seemed curious. My gaze flicked over all of them quickly, and they were all looking at me, curiosity painted over all their faces.

Mikoto was looking too.

I looked back at Chiyo and shook my head. “You can only ask one truth at a time.”

Everyone groaned good-naturedly, and Chiyo, Kokomi and Shun moved away from me. I exhaled quietly, my lungs feeling too shallow for the air I needed. Oh well. If I had a panic attack, Kusuo could get me out of there.

“Aren, truth or dare?” I asked.

He smirked, declared “dare!” and sat waiting for my next sentence.

“Let Mera paint your nails.”

The colour drained from Aren’s face as everyone laughed, Mera included. She held up a stray nail polish bottle and wiggled her fingers menacingly at Aren, and he visibly shuddered. Not because he cared about having painted nails, mind you. No, it was because Mera was famously bad at it. So bad, in fact, the last time she had painted someone’s nails, Kokomi had ended up with nail polish in her hair.

The game went on as Mera messily smeared polish on Aren’s hands. Aren asked Kineshi who his gay awakening was (Yoshihiro Takayama, a wrestler), Kineshi dared Toritsuka to do one hundred pushups (“I’ll be nice and give you 100, it’s barely any!), and once Toritsuka stopped dry heaving he turned on Mikoto.

“Truth or dare, big boobs.” He wheezed.

“Dare, momma didn’t raise a pussy,” she claimed smugly.

Toritsuka’s mouth twisted into an evil smile, rivalling even the worst anime villain’s smile. Mikoto seemed to catch onto what he was thinking, her eyes widening and a terrified expression crossing her beautiful features.

“I dare you to hold hands with Kuriko for the rest of the game.”

Not as bad as it could have been. However, I now wanted to commit homicide towards a certain purple-haired freak. I settled on having a tiny fly buzz around him for the rest of the evening.

Mikoto looked constipated. Her and Toritsuka were locked in a staring contest of some sort, before she clearly gave in and shuffled on her knees over to me. Chiyo moved up, and Mikoto sat down on my right. She held out her hand without looking at me, and I placed mine in hers.

Toritsuka whooped, whacking Touma on the shoulder in his glee. Touma giggled too. I glared at both of them, scaring them both enough to stop laughing.

The game moved on and I felt like I was dying. Her hand fit perfectly in mine. It was smooth, clearly moisturised routinely, with many rings decorating her slender fingers. She also had lines of eyeliner on her hands, a habit she had whenever her eyeliner pen decided to not work for a second. Her palm was warm against my own cold hand, and for the first time in my life I felt insecure about my hands. They were boring, a little scarred from that one time Kusuo accidentally sent a knife flying in my direction after he saw a bug.

I was overthinking. I doubt Mikoto was even thinking about it, she was probably just thinking about how much she wanted to let go. How much she wanted to get away from me. How much she hated me.

The game ended, and she wrenched her hand out of mine like she had been burned. She shuffled quickly back over to her old spot, and immediately dove into a conversation with Toritsuka.

My chest hurt. It felt like someone was squeezing my aorta, restricting the blood flow to my body. I shouldn’t have gone to the sleepover. I knew she would be there, I had told myself it was okay, and it wasn’t. She was pushing me away, just like mum and dad did. She hated me, just like Kusuke did.

I felt bile claw its way up my throat, and I stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me as the memories reared their ugly heads.

Chapter Text

Three years ago

Pain.

It hurts so much.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

It’s too much.

I can’t.

I can’t.

I can’t-

I gasped, heaving air into my lungs. My throat was raw, my eyes were swollen and my cheeks were soaked from tears. My hands were shaking violently, and I could hear my parents yelling something. What they were yelling I didn’t know, I just knew I couldn’t breathe.

I felt someone grab my arm and pull, and I was on the floor. Someone was holding me down. I struggled back, thrashing and kicking and screaming. I heard Kusuke’s voice telling me to stop. I heard him bark orders at someone.

The pressure got off me and was replaced with something else. I was being dragged away. Still kicking and screaming. I whacked my head on a doorframe (how did that get there?) and my mind went quiet.

The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Kusuke, grinning down at me like a shark.

~~~

The first thing I was aware of was pain. My brain felt like it was actively trying to murder me. I cracked an eye open and it just made it all worse. I groaned in pain.

Which was apparently the wrong thing to do, since a random person was prying my eyes open and shining a light into them. I batted their hand away and sat up.

My eyes adjusted and I froze. I was in… a hospital room? What? The doctor, I realised they were a doctor, smiled kindly at me.

“Sorry to wake you so abruptly, Kuriko.” They said, holding my glasses out to me.

I put them on and looked at the doctor. She looked relatively young, only a couple grey hairs poking through her plaited hair. I looked around the room properly. Sure, it was a hospital room, but it felt different. The doctor clearly could see what I was thinking, and answered questions I hadn’t even verbalised yet.

“You’re in a hospital room in Japan’s best hospital. You had a pretty severe breakdown, and it was advised you were taken here. Now, how are you feeling?”

I blinked at her like a lizard, one eye at a time. A breakdown? I didn’t remember that happening…

“My head hurts.”

The doctor nodded, her smile turning sympathetic. “Yes, you have a concussion, your head is going to feel weird for a few days.”

Oh. That made sense. That was why my head felt weird as well as the pain. That was also why my stomach was churning so badly. The doctor held out a bucket to me, and I emptied the contents of my stomach into it.

“My name is Doctor Yoshiko, it’s nice to meet you Kuriko,” she smiled at me. Her smile was nice, but it was starting to get a little unnerving. “Do you feel up to chatting for a bit?”

I nodded, regretting that choice immediately as it sent another wave of nausea through me.

“What happened?” I croaked.

Dr Yoshiko passed me a glass of water as she spoke. “From what I’ve been told, you had an autistic meltdown. You’re aware you have autism, yes?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good, well autistic meltdowns are pretty common for autistic people, some more so than others, but yours was particularly bad.”

I sipped the water thoughtfully. I’ve had breakdowns and meltdowns before, but I’ve never completely dissociated from them before like I clearly did this time. Whatever kind of breakdown it was, it was bad. Bad enough for me to need to be in hospital.

Speaking of which.

“Why am I in hospital?”

“Well, you’re here so we can treat your concussion, but you won’t be here for too much longer.”

I smiled a little at that. I could go home and things would go back to normal-

“You’ll be going to a mental institution in Paraguay.”

What.

“What?”

Dr Yoshiko nodded, looking at me slightly forlornly. “Dr Kusuke said it would be the best thing for you to go there and be treated.”

Dr Kusuke. That motherfucker.

“I’m not going to a mental hospital if it was just my autism.”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry, but Dr Kusuke has the authority around here. Personally, I don’t like the decision, but if Dr Kusuke says you need to then that’s where you’re going.”

I slumped back on the bed. Of fucking course. Kusuke had always hated me, said I was a pathetic disappointment of a sister. He was a genius, Kusuo was an almighty psychic, and what did I have? The ability to talk to insects? That’s nothing.

It never helped that I was a girl. Kusuke was a misogynist through and through, and hated me for something I couldn’t control. He loathed my very existence, believing I brought down the family name and more importantly his reputation. So it made perfect sense that he would take the first opportunity presented to him to get rid of me. Like it mattered, he lived in London now, he never saw me. Still, I had learnt years ago to never question Kusuke’s logic.

As angry as the situation made me, I realised there wasn’t a way out. My parents, while stopping our childhood fights, usually took his side in things. If their precious eldest son said this was best, then it was what would happen. Fuck, if he said it was best to toss me into the ocean, they’d probably do it with only a minute of hesitation.

Of course, I could go to Kusuo. But again, as powerful as he was, something like this was difficult to deal with. Kusuke had eyes everywhere, he would know if something strayed from his plan. And again, our parents would push and push and push. There was nothing Kusuo could do either.

Dr Yoshiko brought me back to the room in the worst way possible.

“Dr Kusuke, hello!” She said, that stupid smile still on her face.

“Hello, Dr Yoshiko! If I could have a moment alone with my darling little sister, I would be so grateful,” he smiled, voice like silk.

Dr Yoshiko nodded, and left the room easily. She shut the door behind her and I was trapped.

“I assume she told you what I intend to do.”

I nodded.

“And I also assume you realise there’s no way out.”

Another nod.

“Good girl. Accept your fate and it’ll make it so much easier to deal with.”

My stomach churned again, and I could feel the bile rise up my throat a second time. I contemplated throwing the bucket aside and puking directly on Kusuke’s shoes, but that was probably a bad idea. Whatever.

Kusuke watched me throw up with a sickening smile. “If I have my way, which I will, you’ll never see our family again!” He cheered.

I spat into the bucket and glared at him. “You won’t get away with it forever.”

“Oh, Kuriko, that’s where you’re wrong. I own the medical field everywhere.”

I rolled my eyes. Big-headed prick.

“None of them want you. Not mum, not dad, and not Kusuo. They all hate you, and will continue to do so for the rest of your miserable life. So, if I were you, I’d take advantage of the mental institution and find a way to cut it short.” With that, he opened the door and whisked out of the room with a dramatic flourish.

I pressed my face into my hands. They were shaking from anger that I couldn’t expel. That asshole had no right to do this. What did I ever do to him? What was the point of this? Why did he hate me so much? Why, why, why?!

‘You know why.’

I sniffled. I hadn’t even realised I had started crying.

‘He hates everyone beneath him. For you to exist is an affront to his entire belief system.’

“He doesn’t have to be so cruel about it.”

The bed dipped near me and I peeked out from between my fingers. Kusuo was wrinkling his nose at the bucket next to me. I nearly laughed at the image, my brain tired and wired at the same time.

“What’s wrong with me, Ku?”

He sighed. ‘Nothing. Nothing at all.’

“Then stop him.”

‘I can’t.’

“Kusuo-“

‘He kept our parents in the dark about this all for a reason. They don’t understand autism, they don’t understand how it works and what helps and what doesn’t. They’re just going to blindly follow whatever Kusuke says because of his fancy degrees.’

I lifted my head and glared at the wall opposite me. I knew all of that. I already thought it all through. I already rationalised it.

So why did it still hurt to hear?

‘What happened was just a breakdown. Kusuke has been purposefully stressing you out and ripping you down until your mental health was bad enough that something like this would happen. Sure, technically it was an autistic meltdown, but that wasn’t why it started.’

“So there’s no proper reason to institutionalise me then?”

He shook his head. ‘Not a good enough one.’

Great. Just great. No actual reason to send me away, Kusuke just wanted me to suffer. Amazing. Fantastic even.

‘I’m sorry.’

“I don’t want your pity.”

‘Sympathy and pity are two different things.’

I turned away from him, putting my back to him. “Whatever.” I muttered. I didn’t really want to see anyone I was related to that second. I wanted anything but, in fact.

Kusuo sighed and stood up. ‘Feel whatever emotions you want, you’re justified to. Just don’t get lost in your head. You wouldn’t want to prove Kusuke right.’

He teleported away just as Dr Yoshiko came back into the room. I scowled at her. Fuck her, fuck Kusuke, fuck everything. If Kusuke wanted to break me I’d prove he couldn’t. I would keep on going out of pure spite, and nothing would be able to stop me.

~~~

The mental hospital was an experience. Other patients mostly steered clear of me, since I had the signature Saiki Scowl™ down to a T. The doctors and nurses also seemed relatively intimidated by me, but not by much. I mostly stayed in my room, ignoring everyone else and only emerging at mealtimes and the occasional group therapy session. I didn’t even need to be there. I was fine. Sure, my mental health wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad enough to warrant this place. Still, I couldn’t let Kusuke win.

So I behaved. Mostly. I’d escape sometimes, asking the flies in Paraguay to whisk me away, but I always came back. I listened to the ones in charge, I stayed out of fights, I never put up a fuss. It was still a difficult stay, some of the other patients making it so, but I managed.

What I focused on instead was my emotions. Shocking, I know. I never wanted someone to treat me like this again, sidelining me in my own life. Being downright abusive. Kusuke would never hold this kind of power over me again, and nobody else would even come close. Nobody would get to push me away again.

Kusuo visited me once a month. During the night, of course, so nobody knew. Our parents would be none the wiser, and the night nurses would just think I was talking to myself or something. I didn’t care what they thought.

It was nice, though. Most of the time we wouldn’t even speak, just sit next to each other in silence. Sometimes he’d bring a board game and we’d play in silence. Only the random ones though, playing strategy games with Kusuo is just asking to have your ass handed to you.

On the visits we would talk, he would tell me about his school drama. He was headed to PK Academy next year, and he was actually looking forward to it. All Kusuo wanted was normalcy, and I supposed I could relate in some way. A normal life would be great compared to the train wreck Kusuke caused mine to be.

His visits dwindled eventually. I guess that’s why I wasn’t as nice as I could’ve been when I saw him again. Oh well.

I was discharged from the hospital after six months inside. Regardless of what Kusuke said, if I was well enough to discharge they had to do it. They couldn’t keep a well (ish) person in there, especially when they needed the space for other people. So, I was thrown out onto the streets. Just where I always wanted to be.

It was difficult at first. Then Kusuo showed up, got insanely angry, and made sure I had a place to stay and food to eat. I moved in with a family of four, a husband and wife and their two children. Apparently they owed Kusuo a favour (which he still won’t explain to me) so they were happy to take me in for as long as needed. They were good to me.

Just over two years passed. Two years living in Paraguay, hiding from Kusuke. I was fed up. I wanted to go back home. As bad as my relationship was with my parents, a part of me still missed them. Maybe I was a masochist, wanting to go back to the people that had hurt me, but I still wanted it. I missed them a lot. I missed my mother’s hugs, and her warm smiles. I missed my dad’s goofiness.

So I decided to come home.

I said goodbye to the family that took me in, promising to visit whenever I could, and booked a plane home. It would either be the best or worst decision of my life, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect.

Whatever. I wouldn’t let anything hold me down again.