Chapter Text
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Saiki hated going to school with his germanium ring (or anywhere for that matter), but it was necessary for today so he doesn't get spoiled on the ending of this new thriller series. Yes, the unfortunate case of having been too busy to watch when it premiered yesterday and now he has to watch the rerun.
He feels a case of deja vú.
Either way, though he feels anxious and he can't exactly do his usual "talking", even if he doesn't do it much to begin with anyways, he reassured himself it was just fine and another normal day dealing with school annoyances one through eleven... hopefully where the list would end finally, but the writers seemed to love torturing him.
Wait, who?
Ah, that was weird.
Saiki peeked around suspiciously before he turned the corner into the front gates of PK Academy, glad to see only the nondescript faces of background characters. Nobody to bother him- atleast until his class break, that is.
As he sat in his classroom desk with a relieved sigh resulted from an easy morning, it was immediately destroyed by those dreaded words from his teacher who looked strangely different from last he'd saw her.
Transfer Student.
Another Transfer Student.
Why have they still not killed off the first one? There's too many now, get rid of the pervert first, please!
Saiki schooled how his eyebrows furrowed in exasperation, keeping his usual straight face as he focused ahead at the boy who was complaining but lazily scrawling his name in chalk on the board either way.
Dazai Osamu, written with an oddly professional edge though it was done so half-hearted. The boy himself turned fully to the front, and Saiki noticed all the bandages he was wrapped in.
Right eye, neck and arms. Everywhere on where the body that was visible from under the messily buttoned uniform shirt was, all except for his hands, where the bandages ended wrapped just above his knuckles. And his face of course, minus the one eye and that patch on his left cheek. No care for the jacket that was slung over his shoulders like an afterthought when you realized it was required, a way that Kaidou would sometimes wear his own distressed uniform jacket because he thought it looked cool. (But on him, the reasoning was obvious.)
The bandages themselves did appear medical, but seeing as he can't read any thoughts right now he just had to hope this boy wasn't another Kaidou. There's already a chunnibyou archetype, Saiki doesn't need another! It'd be redundant to his show, and one was bothersome enough damnit.
"Ahem, nobodies illiterate right? Okay, you can read." Dazai crossed his arms and nodded, like he'd gotten an answer though nobody had time to respond. Saiki doubted they would have, anyways.
The boy smiled cheerfully and walked to an empty desk right by the windows around the back. The teacher hadn't even told him where to sit yet, he just picked a seat. The classmate sat infront nervously pointed out how that seat was actually taken by someone who just wasn't here today, but Dazai waved them off and leaned his chin in his palm.
Hm, that was Takahashi's wasn't it? Not that he feels bad for him, but it must suck to have now seemingly lost his second desk after selling his first to Saiko.
Well, Dazai didn't seem to be doing anything so maybe if Saiki strategically avoids any eye contact things will finally work out for him and he can avoid any introductions and further 'friendships'. This guy just reeks of trouble, no mind reading required.
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The Jet Black Wings has a mission, top secret. He must find out if this new variable called "Dazai" is friend or foe.
...Once Aren asks!
He isn't hiding behind the purple-haired boy out of cowardice. He knows no cowardice, it is merely self-preservation! A smart hero knows when to be brave, and when to rely on ally support- and he must be smart to defeat The Dark Reunion!
It's not just because Dazai has eyes that kind of scare him. Or, eye...
(Unfortunately, Aren still has not figured out how to start conversation with someone he has no connections to and has never met before.)
Aren adjusts his glasses and clears his throat as he stops by the desk of the boy staring longingly out the window, Shun shadowing behind him, "...Hey, Banda- Ahem, Dazai, right?"
The brown haired boy turned, then smiled lazily.
"My, my first day and I'm already being hassled by thugs!"
Aren took a step back, then looked between Shun and Dazai with his jaw dropped slightly open.
"Surely you don't think those fake glasses and attempted cover-up of your thuggish greeting hide anything?"
Aren groaned, holding his head in a hand. Shun feels a little bad, it's the second time he's been seen right through now after that blonde boy who never stopped talking.
Dazai just laughed to himself, and Shun mustered up all his courage and bravado, "He's not anymore!"
He immediately shrunk back at the scrutinizing narrow of that dark eye.
"I um- I mean... He's not about that life anymore... so um... I would... appreciate it if... you uah, didn't talk about my friend like... Eep!"
Shun slid behind Aren's shoulder again.
Dazai blinked a couple times then went back to an easy smile, "Hehe, of course."
Shun gulped, but eased at the acceptance. Thought he might pass out from fear for a second there. He cleared his throat, standing straight again by Aren's side instead of behind him. Then, he raised his hand to his eye and struck a really cool pose.
"Tell me, what nefarious purpose do those bandages serve?!"
"Oh, that." Dazai's smiling expression went a little blank, then he lifted the ones over his eye, "I have a stye."
Aren recoiled slightly at his side. Dazai shrugged and the bandages fell back into place, "Yeah, I went and rubbed my eye with dirty hands."
He could have sworn he just heard Saiki's repulsed voice saying to wash his hands... anyway, he just paused then brought a curled finger to his lips with a concerned furrow of his brows.
"Ahh, Are the others covering up another big injury..?"
Dazai raised a hand over his covered side with a sharper grin, other lifted in a half-opened position "No, this is in order to keep my power under wraps."
Shun perked up, unable to hold the excited grin. No, no, focus!
He hardened his expression and went back into his hunched position, hand over his own uncovered eye in a similiar fashion, "The Jet Black Wings meets another! But do you fight against the Dark Reunion?!"
Dazai didn't seem bothered, instead easily falling into the exact same pose, though sat in his desk still. "Fellow comrade!"
Shun hasn't felt his heart beat in excitement like this since Alphonse Calcifer Raiden! How he missed those good times, saving the world with another!
(Aren was nice, though. Plus, he's really strong without any powers needed- like that western hero, Batman! Too bad Saiki still won't show his powers, it's cool that he wants to remain hidden in the shadows though.)
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Saiki waited very patiently. Even though he was curious about the brunettes' thoughts, he refrained.
But the moment he took off his ring in his room, he heard his mother downstairs.
Oh dear, that show was quite scary. I hope nothing bad like a stalker in the walls would ever happen to us.
Oh wow.
Saiki has no ring today. But he wishes he would, because Dazai's thoughts were almost as bad as Akechi's. Though in the other's case it was too many thoughts all at once giving Saiki a headache, Dazai was... so blank. Like staring a puzzle box and trying to figure out the depth of it's contents, but it will not reply because it does not talk.
And the few times where he wasn't having Saiki speaking creepy metaphors in description, the weirdo was just wistfully thinking about hanging himself from random places that caught his eye or thinking irritatedly about a... dog named Chuuya?
He must have left that dog behind and moved or something, because he sure was thinking about how boring it was not being able to pester it anymore so often that it did pester somebody. That somebody being Saiki.
He did wonder if Dazai was being genuine yesterday (when he totally wasn't spying on what was happening during break). He didn't wish to have to get rid of another person trying to take advantage of gullible old Kaidou, and he was partially right about Dazai secretly laughing about the chunnibyou act he was playing up in his head, but he more just seemed entertained than malicious so Saiki left it at that.
He wanted to eat lunch alone today outside, but before he could make his grand escape annoyances one and two came to harass him. And now he's ended up sat in the cafeteria, Nendou poking his ribs with his elbow as Dazai made exaggerated poses along with Kaidou and Kuboyasu just smiling a bit strained to Kaidou's other side. He can't say he doesn't feel bad for the guy, he can hear his constant complaints about "being happy for Shun, but this is getting annoying."
He instead focuses on his food, sneakily exchanging his pork cutlet for a few coffee jellies when nobody was looking. If he has to deal with this, he can atleast get a jelly out of it.
But just as he raised his spoonful to his mouth with a happy grin, he pauses and his face falls as he hears something he is not supposed to hear with his limiters in.
German.
And then he hears a few absent thoughts from what he recognized easily as some first-years about 'those weird foreign exchange students.'
What is this? There isn't supposed to be another. He's supposed to get two episodes atleast of exposition and backstory setup for the transfer student, not two more immediately after! Are those guys rushing his script? What about his budget?
Who stole his budget?!
Saiki droops as Nendou asks him if he has constipation all of a sudden, and the two dreaded new faces make their presence known in the lunch line as if on queue.
"The Prinzessin cannot ingest such things of ill-repute! They shall mess with the currents of fate coursing through mine body, and thus shall chaos ensue when her is thrown inbalance!"
A blonde, eyepatched girl with a very, very heavily modified uniform that now includes fishnets leggings and under-sleeves, aswell as black lace sown into where the crisp edges should have been on the jacket and shirt, was raising her nose at the food being served. The lady working behind the counter seemed very confused, and very unamused.
"What mein Fräulein means to say, is she cannot eat dairy."
The lunch lady turned to the dark-haired and dark-skinned boy with many feathered accessories and a similarly modified uniform to appear a purple-black overall.
"Yeah, sure. No cheese."
The girl coughed into her hand, "Ahem! I... may not eat such things out of naught but pure preference! The Prinzessin is not one to be limited by such things as... lactose intolerance..."
The boy patted her shoulder sympathetically, causing her to loose all composure and look down with an embarrassed blush, jerking her shoulder up to shove him away as the lunch lady served the food.
Saiki just looks back down at his coffee jelly and takes a bite.
...He shouldn't worry himself about this. This must be a Kaidou special feature, because suddenly everybody around him has eighth-grader syndrome. Atleast it hasn't infected Nendou.
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Shun feels a strange respect for this pair. They have somehow gotten away with uniforms more modified than his!
He whispers over to Aren to invite them to sit, because they seemed to be wandering around looking for a seat by themselves after that little commotion.
Aren calls over, and Shun waves with a smile. Dazai joins in cheerfully and just so as easily, calling even louder than Aren did and causing more than a few heads to turn.
The short girl seemed a bit embarrassed, then composed herself as her and her friend made their way over.
"The Prinzessin Prinzessin der Verurteilung Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort heeds thine call! Speak, servants of the Verurteilung name; what dark plights of thine abysses might your Prinzessin shine light upon, what droughts might she provide for?"
"What mein Fräulein means to say is hello, what is it?"
Shun blinked. Her Japanese was good, but it was fancy and formal even for a foreigner who might've learned from textbooks. Though, he was forced to study enough to understand it, even if it was quite embellished and drawn out. Probably.
He cleared his throat, at a slight loss for words.
"Here, here. Just sit with us, princess and dear knight" Dazai grinned up at them, patting the open seat next to him.
She looked a bit taken aback, briefly smiling with a certain genuineness, then schooled her expression into a haughty one as she crossed her arms and sat down, "What good foresights, to discern the true value of your Prinzessin! Very well, she shall bestow upon her servants the gift of her presence and aide; as such with a trade for thine graces in her own time for need, thou shall all be shining stars under the Verurteilung rule!"
"What mein-"
Dazai turned over, taking her hand between his two own and shaking it. "Don't worry princess, we want to be friends too."
She looked flustered for a moment, then cleared her throat again, "Aha! So you do understand. Then fate does indeed bring kindred spirits together, such is the whims of the guiding stars allowing thou to seek out Fischl!"
Dazai leaned his chin in his palm again, and Shun looked over with a happy smile of his own. "I am The Jet Black Wings! ...Or, as my birth mother in this life has named me, Kaidou Shun!"
"Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung of the outer realm Immernachtreich, and her kin, the night-bringing raven. Answering the call of destiny, we have descended upon this land!"
The quiet boy next to her with a deep voice nodded, "I am Oz. We come from Germany on foreign studies exchange. We are both very glad to meet you all."
Fischl smacked his arm lightly, likely embarrassed about him including her in being happy to meet them.
"Dazai!" He raised his free hand in a peace sign, hitting his fingers together a few times in accentuating.
Shun turned, happily slinging an arm around Aren, "This is Kuboyasu!" Then, pointing to Saiki who was eating coffee jelly with an absently happy smile and Nendou who was similarly absent for an entirely different reason, "And that's Saiki and Nendou!"
"All shall be remembered and recorded in one's dark tome of prophecies! Rejoice, servants, for your benevolent Prinzessin shall allow indulgence in all!"
She laughed with a dramatic flair and flick of her wrist.
"What mein Fräulein means to say is she will remember and appreciate this day for many years to come, and hopes she may reciprocate it."
"O-Ozvaldo Hrafnavins!"
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The day was calmer now as the classroom buzzed in its final break before last class and dismissal.
"Aa-ah! What a beautiful tree branch! Perfect to hang off of!"
Dazai's eyes lit up as he stood to press his palms and face against the glass. Fischl and Oz had somehow managed to sneak down to the second-years floor, and now there was a small group in the corner crowding the bandaged boy's desk and classroom window.
Saiki wasn't complaining then, but now he very much was as Dazai was dragged away from the window with a lazy smile and they now were crowded around his desk.
"Saiki! Help me decipher this!"
Shun pushed his homework paper onto Saiki's desk, which was already overrun with drawings of pentagrams and similiar edgy symbols. It caused Fischl to push hers to the side of it aswell,
"Ah-! Servant, your Prinzessin requests your timely assistance aswell! These cryptic prophetic symbols are an immediate threat to her highness, Prinzessin der Verurteilung Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort and thus must be swiftly persecuted!"
Oz quietly placed his on top, and Dazai followed in slipping his over ontop aswell from behind Saiki's back. He quite literally weaseled through the space from under Saiki's arm and his chest from behind to place his homework sheet on Saiki's desk.
Good grief.
If his luck was any worse, all of the other annoyances would pop up again just to waste his break time again.
...And just like that, barreling in comes Hairo with a volleyball in arm, followed by Nendou.
"Saiki! Come on, we have time for a game!"
No, they don't. How was he so sweaty and out of breath? Did he seriously manipulate time to somehow stretch their break time into allowing a game already?
"Come on, buddy!"
Kaidou raised his homework sheet back to Saiki's face, "Focus Saiki! We must solve this urgently, no time for play!"
He just doesn't want to be told off by his mom for not doing his homework, huh?
"Saikii~... can't I just take yours and put my name on it?" Dazai reached his arms around Saiki's neck, hanging off from his back with an exaggerated whine.
Gah, no you lazy weirdo! And don't touch with those hands, he doesn't trust them not to still be dirty! He's had enough of people who don't wash their hands with the Kokomins, thank you!
"Homework is not everything! You must become more motivated, Kaidou!" Hairo clenched his fist determinedly, and Kaidou looked away awkwardly.
"Ah- hah... I am... much stronger than this, gym... stuff..."
Dazai grinned, speaking from where he was still, annoyingly so, hanging off of Saiki, "Really? Can you kill a man with your bare hands?"
Kaidou raised a hand over his face, "If I unleash my true power, it may be the cause for true calamity!"
Dazai grinned dopeily, clapping. Fischl crossed her arms, "The Prinzessin cannot simply allow a calamity to befall the servants and common folk under the Verurteilung name!"
"That is why, these binds of mine must not be undone! For The Jet Black Wings is an executer of justice, on a path of revenge to the evil Dark Reunion who plot to destroy all mankind!"
Fischl nodded approvingly, and Oz followed in suit after a light elbowing.
Ah... since when did Saiki's show become a LARP?
Hey, wait a minute. There's no image.
Shoot. This isn't his show.
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