Work Text:
It was finally vacation for Saiki Kusuo, who made an effort to not have any plans over the break. He wanted to enjoy some alone downtime.
Unfortunately for him, his mother disagreed.
“Go outside, Ku! Meet up with your friends!”
Saiki listed all the people he deemed friends, then assessed his roster.
There was Nendou, who was undoubtedly out of the choices. Too unpredictable.
Kaidou? Hanging out with Kaidou has a high chance of including Nendou—that eliminated the Jet-Black Wings. Besides, he would be dealing with the “dark reunion,” Saiki recalled; he knew Kaidou pertained to summer classes.
Kuboyasu was a choice. Saiki wasn't sure what was there for them both to do… they obviously had conflicting interests, and Saiki didn't want to spend the day with Kuboyasu awkwardly figuring out what they could do together.
Yumehara? With Teruhashi.
Teruhashi? Kokomins.
Toritsuka? Ghosts.
You? Busy…?
Saiki was well aware that you transferred schools by the next school year—if his memory was correct, it was because your parents wanted you to be able to help out with the family café over the summer, the café that was closer to your home.
Ah.
Saiki finally had plans.
You and Saiki weren’t the closest duo out of the friend group. You two have been classmates since the first year of high school, but have only started interacting in the second.
From those interactions, Saiki found you to be quite predictable, but, as it is with most humans, your actions aren't formulaic.
For his trip to your family's café, he decided to bring his anti-telepathy ring. He wasn't wearing it on his way to the café. Once Saiki lined up, however…
“Welcome! Oh, Saiki! What a surprise! What would you like to order?”
Your voice startles him. Were you too loud? Too energetic? Are you even overthinking the interaction?
Saiki would not know.
“What would you recommend?”
You answer his question. With that, Saiki's perception of you is affirmed with your drink recommendation. He responds, “I'll have that, and one serving of coffee jelly.”
You smile at him, tell the total of his order, and, “I’ll sit with you once I serve your drinks.”
You are sitting across Saiki. He still has the ring on, so he can't read your thoughts. He wonders how you'll start the conversation; you certainly look like you're looking for topics.
Saiki is a bit impatient.
“Are you on vacation as well?” “How are the others?”
Oh! You both spoke at the same time. You laugh at this. “Nevermind, I'll answer your question.”
Ah, you're still considerate.
“Unfortunately, no. I still have classes next week—”
Thus, begins your rant about your horrible classmates and the amount of deadlines in classes you two no longer shared. You still made it a point to explain each individual you were talking about though.
Saiki eats his coffee jelly while you talk. A smile settles on his lips once he puts down the cup it was served in.
“Oh! Right! We're supposed to be catching up and I ended up unloading on you so suddenly…”
Before you could continue, Saiki cuts you off, “It's fine. I don't mind.”
He'd rather be hearing your irritated thoughts alone than deal with that from hundreds of other people—at least he cares about you.
“Besides,” Saiki continues, “I don't have much to say about the others; they're still the same. Kaidou’s taking summer classes, Nendou is doing whatever, same thing with Kuboyasu—”
His words are interrupted when you laugh at his statement, which catches Saiki off guard. He hasn't heard you laugh in a long time. Some part of him wonders about the warm feeling in his chest when he hears it again—unadmittedly, the feeling has lingered since you sat down with him.
You're smiling at Saiki. He wonders what you'll say next. Perhaps you'll say that—
“I miss you guys.”
Figures. “We all miss you too.”
Some more than others—but that was an afterthought not to be said out loud.
You ask Saiki how he's liking his order. To this, Saiki nods and replies, “The coffee jelly was really delicious. I also like your recommendation.”
“Yay! Will I be seeing you more often?” Before Saiki could answer, you gleefully add, “You can bring the others as well! I'll let you know when I'm finally free from school.”
Saiki nods. As he finishes his drink, he wonders about taking off the ring now.
“I think I'll stay for a little while after I'm finished.”
This time, it is you who is caught off guard. You quickly cover it up with a smile.
“Thank you, Saiki. I needed this.” It's so nice to finally talk to someone who listens.
Saiki puts the ring on again. If he's going to listen to you, he’ll listen fully.