Work Text:
Gladsome
/ˈɡladsəm/
adjective
filled with, marked by, or causing pleasure.
"the display of a flag announced the gladsome tidings"
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“Saiki-san..!” Toritsuka had been following him around the school for at least a few minutes. It was easy to ignore the boy – no one would try and get Saiki’s attention on his behalf. If he wasn’t in such a crowded hallway, he’d probably just turn invisible so that the medium seemed even crazier than people thought he was.
He wasn’t sure what exactly Toritsuka wanted, as he generally avoided the boy’s thoughts when he could. Saiki instead chose to focus on the thoughts of his other schoolmates, things about who likes who, and what people think of a new show, stuff like that.
He did have to admit that Toritsuka had improved since the reveal of Saiki’s powers. His current theory is that the mixture of (another) near death experience, and having more than two people actually believe in his powers contributed to the situation. Still, he wasn’t someone Saiki particularly wanted to be seen with.
It pained Saiki to admit that he didn’t completely hate the boy. They had a weird understanding, a sort of connection that had formed the day they met (or in Toritsuka’s case, even before that). It was the mutual suffering; having to hear and see things no one else could, never fully being able to explain them or prove their existence entirely. Sure, people believed Saiki, and by extension, Toritsuka. But there would always be skeptics, a nagging voice in the back of someone’s head, wondering if it was all real. He supposed that was part of why the medium had been so eager to meet him, though it was mostly a desire to become more powerful.
Toritsuka had, unfortunately, been the first psychic Saiki ever met. Even after Aiura had transferred, there was still something that made them stand out. Aiura’s predictions could be proven – eventually, they would happen.
Saiki was annoyed that he was even entertaining this line of thought. Really, is doing that bare minimum worth so much? All he had done was not try to peep up girls skirts.
An arm being slung around his shoulders jolted him out of his thoughts, and he turned towards the source of his annoyance. His scowl didn’t deter the boy at all, in fact, his smile seemed to grow.
“Finally! Man, I thought I’d be chasing you all day… Maybe you should get your hearing checked.”
“My ears are fine,” He was about to walk away so he could once more be alone with his thoughts, but a small bag in Toritsuka’s hand caught his attention. “What’s that?”
Of course, by this time he already knew.
“It’s for you! I got it on my way here, it looked like a new brand. Have you tried it yet?” He held the bag towards Saiki, who took it excitedly.
It was a new brand, and Saiki had not tried it yet. He eyes the food excitedly, already planning to teleport away so he could eat it in peace. But Toritsuka’s arm was still around him, and pushing him off in the hallway would only cause a scene. Plus, then he’d just start whining – and he’d probably still be looking for Saiki, because coffee jelly was immediately a sign of either bribery or an apology. He couldn’t figure out what it was from Toritsuka’s thoughts, none of them related to anything he would usually want. Instead, he just seemed weirdly focused on Saiki’s face.
‘He really only makes that face when coffee jelly is involved… Too bad! It’s funny. I wouldn’t mind..’
“What do you want?” He asked, cutting off whatever it was that Toritsuka was thinking about and fully willing to at least consider one of the medium’s favors. Saiki was very susceptible to bribery, something his friends knew quite well. Nothing too bad of course, but if he just needed something that could be done quickly and without harm…
“Huh?”
“Tell me quickly so I can go enjoy this in peace,” Saiki frowned at the confused expression on Toritsuka’s face.
“I’m not asking for anything, Saiki-san, it’s a gift!” He laughed, patting Saiki’s shoulder lightly with the arm still draped across him. Why he hadn’t moved already, the psychic wasn’t sure. But he had other things to worry about.
“If you did something illegal, it’ll be better for you if you tell me now.”
“I’m being serious!” He threw his arms up, and Saiki caught himself almost shivering at the loss of contact. It was winter, you know? Warmth and all that. A few people turned to stare, but once they saw it was just Toritsuka, they quickly lost interest.
‘Nothing new there…’
‘Is he friends with Saiki? Weird.’
‘First Nendo, now Toritsuka? Man, maybe Saiki is secretly a creep.’
Saiki raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t find any thoughts that contradicted the boy’s statement… just years of behavior that would suggest otherwise. Toritsuka sighed, deflating slightly. It was always slightly amusing to see him like this, though Saiki didn’t find it as gladsome as usual.
“...It’s a thank you, I guess.” He said, looking away. Silence on Saiki’s end told him he needed to elaborate further, though he was pretty sure the psychic already knew what he meant. “For saving my life a few times. And all the other stuff you do, like when I asked you to cut out those pages of my magazine!”
“Wait, I did what?”
“Bad example!” Toritsuka said quickly, flailing his arms in front of Saiki’s face as if that would actually distract him. “My point is,” He stopped his fumbling, the abashed look from before returning, “You put up with a lot of stuff, and it’s probably at least a little my fault sometimes.”
“...”
“Most of the time.” He amended, rubbing the back of his neck. A flood of images and unpleasant memories flashed through the medium’s mind, but neither of them felt like talking about that. He was trying to do something nice, goddammit! “So… thank you. For everything.”
It was far from immaculately worded, but that had never been Toritsuka’s strong suit. Instead, Saiki focused on the sincerity of it all. The medium’s face was flushed slightly, this clearly wasn’t his favorite thing to be doing. But he didn’t pick up any regret from the boy, and there wasn’t a single thought in his head to suggest the gift was for any reason other than the one he gave.
Saiki smiled slightly. For once, Toritsuka’s words matched his eyes.