Chapter Text
Like the sea of thoughts that constantly fled through his mind, Saiki never paid much attention to the little things in life. On occasion, he noticed the chirping of birds in the morning, or the laughter of children playing in parks as he walked to school, but those were only small exceptions. He certainly didn't spend all his time fussing over what could just as well be forgotten. If that was the case, Saiki figured he'd lose what little sanity he had left. His powers were enough to make any person want to spend every passing second inside, and he did just that. Or at least, Saiki tried to.
Today was one of those days his friends refused to let him. Despite sensing the influx of Kaidou's inner thoughts, Saiki peeked his head through the curtains of his window to find, unsurprisingly, his scrawny friend standing outside and shivering in a cotton trench coat. His scarf was dragging at least a foot behind his heels and was leaving a parted trail in the snow. With added perturbation, Saiki also took notice of Nendou, or more accurately, nuisance number one. Nuisance number one was an overgrown toddler who was now shouting his name exuberantly, and waving his arms around in Saiki's front lawn like he had been swallowed into a rave pit.
"Saiki!" The exclamation drew out in its usual manner. Saiki swept the light out of his room and bent behind the window sill. He resolved to stay hidden until both Nendou and Kaidou had cleared out completely, but the universe, it seemed, had other plans.
"Oh, Hello Mrs. Saiki's Mom! Have you seen my buddy?" Nendou trumpeted. Saiki's eyes narrowed, the view of his room closing to a sliver.
"Nendou!" Kaidou scolded, "I'm sorry Mrs. Saiki. We were only wondering if your son was home as we had plans to def- I mean appreciate this fine weather we're having."
Saiki kicked himself quietly for not forming a sound barrier between his friends and the house. He could have spent the rest of his afternoon relaxing and watching TV dramas, geranium ring fitted snugly onto his index finger. But one careless mistake had obliterated such plans. At the same time Saiki heard his Mom squeal childishly, his eyes had nearly reached the back of his head. There was no getting out of this now.
Half an hour later, Saiki found himself trudging alongside his so-called friends in the snow, not even caring to ask where they were heading. He instead directed his focus on managing an indescript layer of warmth around his body, keeping the flurry of heat beneath his clothes. It was overly cautious, but going the extra measure was a much better way to spend his time than listening to Kaidou and Nendou bicker endlessly. He barely budged when Kaidou was sent flying into his side during a shoving match, and kept walking when the other went tumbling to the ground, unraveling like a ball of yarn.
Nendou was skipping ahead, bouncing on the balls of his feet like he'd just won a prize at the fair. Kaidou did catch up at some point, launching himself onto Nendou's back and wrapping both skinny arms around his neck, where after his figure flailed chaotically from side to side. Saiki was reminded of a kindergartner riding a mechanical bull. The tussle went on until Nendou eventually settled on tossing the weaker counterpart over his shoulder and Kaidou couldn’t do anything except pummel at his broad back.
"Help me Saiki!" he panted, out of breath "Nendou's been brainwashed by Dark Reunion. Don't let him bring me to their evil fortress!"
Saiki sighed, feeling somewhat pitiful over the match up.
To reiterate, Saiki didn't pay attention to the little things. However, it wasn't entirely implausible that, all along, a patch of ice had been sitting under the thin sheet of snow they were trodding on, and it wasn't completely unfeasible that it just so happened to appear right under Nendou's right foot. The timing, nevertheless, was suspiciously convenient. Nendou's body had hit the ground with a thud.
Kaidou was clutching onto the fabric of Saiki's coat in an instant, quivering breaths tingling at the back of his neck. Strangely enough, he didn't find the sensation unpleasant.
"No fair! If I hadn't slipped, then I wouldn't have fell. You didn't win that one." Nendou relayed indignantly.
The remainder of the trip was mostly silent and Kaidou refused to leave Saiki's side, red eyes flitting watchfully to Nendou's painfully shaved head. After tuning into Kaidou's thoughts, Saiki finally identified their journey's end. That came with its own drawbacks. Along with the visualization of a familiar, rickety shed came the echoing of Kaidou's lasting grievances.
I'm so embarrassed. I'm supposed to be stronger than an average mortal, but Nendou overpowers me without even having to try. I looked pathetic in front of Saiki...
Aiming to separate himself from the wearisome entourage, Saiki hastened forward. He tried not to think about the way Kaidou's distress weakened his drive to do so. Listening in would only subject both of them to unease.
He can’t even stand to be next to me.
Saiki peered back to see his eccentric friend wrapping a once dragging scarf tightly around his neck, making sure the garment kept away from the snow.
While trekking down a less populated street and turning into the frostbit shores of the forest, Saiki observed as said scarf slithered stealthily back to the ground – It wasn't that he wanted to notice these things, but there was nothing he could do to stop it, Saiki emphasized – When they weaved through wintry trails and snow-capped trees, he was forced to watch as Kaidou took notice of his mishap and started to fumble with another knot.
The guy had clearly never tied a scarf on his own. It was most likely a product of his overbearing mother. Saiki reluctantly observed him grow more and more impatient as he scrabbled to no avail at the cloth and, purely out of his own frustration, Saiki went to raise his hand before he could even think to resist. A second too late, however, Kaidou had ripped the cloth off entirely and stuffed it into his bag.
Nendou finally started babbling again, much to Saiki's relief… He didn’t know what possessed him to raise his arm.
Kaidou was beginning to shiver, which only added salt to the wound, and caused a terribly cumbersome urge to face palm. He refrained against it and Nendou began vividly describing a Christmas themed manga he'd read over a decade ago. It sounded suspiciously like a movie that came out last year.
At a very long last, they arrived at Kaidou’s abandoned hovel. Seeing something entirely different, Kaidou insisted on calling it headquarters for the Jet Black Wings. It looked damp and decrepit, a vibe that contrasted profoundly with his own childlike excitement. His livelier counterpart rushed inside and Saiki followed grudgingly in pursuit. He really didn't understand these kinds of fantasies. To Kaidou, this crumbling shack was a secret base hidden from the Dark Reunion. To Saiki, it was just an old hut that smelled faintly of mildew and looked one strong gust of wind away from collapsing. Even so, Kaidou's eyes sparkled with such earnest enthusiasm that pointing out the obvious felt unnecessary.
"You know, my house is a lot bigger than this. We could have just walked there." Nendou bragged offhandedly. The doorway was too small for him to walk through normally, and he'd taken to pulling off a wooden board in order to make space. Kaidou shrieked, scandalized.
"Nendou, you idiot! Just bend down. You're destroying the door!"
Nendou, casually holding the nail-ridden plank, appeared bewildered. "What door? You mean the little hole you guys climbed through?"
"It was a door!" Kaidou retorted, ripping the plank away and trying uselessly to attach it back onto the wall. "And it wasn't small, you're just big."
"Yeah, whatever runt." Nendou replied, barely listening. He was already shaking a battered television, apparently under the impression it would turn on if jostled. "Why does this TV only have one channel?".
Saiki scanned the area for something to do while Kaidou and Nendou fought. Fortunately, a manga collection was sitting near the corner. He made his way over before they had a chance to engage him. Healthy Warriors? Since when did Kaidou have such good taste? Discarding his gloves, Saiki split the paperback spine and flipped to the last page, intending to read for the next ten minutes or so. Or at least until those idiots calmed down. At some point, the shouting and squabbling did die down, though Saiki couldn’t bother to tear himself away.
"Aren't your hands cold?" Kaidou's round eyes were suddenly peering at him. Saiki became abruptly aware of his bare hands, visibly unscathed by the blistering cold. He hadn't been thinking when he picked up the manga, too intrigued by its issue to fuss over his powers. Those damned small things… It seemed he took too long to answer, as Kaidou was already moving on, sparing Saiki the trouble.
"You like Healthy Warriors too? I never would have guessed! Mama- I mean Mother always said it was better for my 'growing mind' than the stuff I wanted." Kaidou was stammering faintly, most likely due to his inability to retain much heat... He had such a diminutive build; Saiki would have been surprised if he had actually managed to acclimate to the freezing weather. For the briefest moment, he considered helping out a little, but admonished himself right away. There was no need to be so soft. It's not like Kaidou couldn't take care of himself.
So where had Nendou gone exactly? He was supposed to be keeping him distracted.
Investing himself back into his comic, Saiki shrugged off any remaining concern but, for whatever reason, it was harder to concentrate with the boy hovering over him. All the words and drawings started merging into one another. This wouldn't do.
Saiki leveled a pointed look upward, catching Kaidou by surprise.
"Sorry! Just curious." Kaidou fumbled out, and then clarified, "Nendou went to take a piss, so I'm bored".
Of course he did. Feeling as if he had no other choice, Saiki shifted aside, lowering Healthy Warriors on his lap.
"Won't he get lost?" Saiki remarked, finally breaking his streak of silence.
Kaidou blinked. Dropping down onto the couch beside Saiki, he responded hesitantly, "Maybe if he turned blind instead of dumb".
Saiki mused to himself. In a way, those could be argued to be the same thing. Instead of replying, he moved the manga to where Kaidou could see it and let him read along, knowing Nendou would be back any moment now to disturb the peace. He could feel Kaidou struggling to keep still as shudders wracked his small frame and, without meaning to, Saiki picked up on his stream of thoughts.
...Shouldn't have taken off my scarf... so cold...
Good grief, how was he supposed to read Healthy Warriors if this was all that reached him? There wasn’t any other option now. Ignoring Kaidou's distress caused a lot more trouble than it was worth so he’d just have to take matters into his own hands.
If not for the fact that expanding his ability would surely tip Kaidou off, he can admit he would have done it. But Kaidou happened to be one of his sharper friends, and causing him to regenerate heat might lead him down a slippery slope that was all too familiar with Saiki. In this unlucky twist of fate, he would call for desperate measures.
Kaidou turned to look at him quizzically as he let down the manga for the second time that waning afternoon, and placed it neatly on an armrest. Now, readers be warned, Saiki did not pay attention to the little things: But, if simply pulling the neglected scarf from Kaidou's bag and wrapping it around the others neck could stop those incessant shivers, then so be the connotation.
Kaidou's breath hitched. And what for? Once the ends were pulled snug and the scarf had been secured in place, Saiki returned back to Healthy Warriors. Nothing to see here.
Almost as if on cue, Nendou came bursting through the entrance to join them. "Did my favorite buddies miss me?" He bantered obnoxiously while sauntering over to ruffle both Saiki and Kaidou's hair. Kaidou didn't say anything at first but didn't stay silent for long once Nendou began jabbering over the games he wanted to play.
"We can't play Mario Kart without a Nintendo!" Kaidou groused.
"Then what can we play?"
Oh boy, here it comes.
"The Jet Black Wings' Lair isn't for playing"
"You call this birdhouse a lair? What's it for anyway?"
"Plotting against Dark Reunion!"
Saiki plugged his ears wordlessly, deeply scorned by the fact he couldn't use his hands for reading manga anymore. His friends continued to bicker until the sun came far too close to the horizon for them to stay.
Withdrawing from the lair, they found that the sky was bleeding orange and red hues, and the view became even more impressive once they emerged from the forest. Nendou was the first to pivot directions and waved coolly as he walked off towards a street Saiki was positive didn't belong to him. Kaidou, the last to go, startled rather dramatically at some point in their excursion and uprooted a flimsy watch from the bottom of his bag. Someone must have broken curfew, Saiki surmised as he watched the other dash off into the, quite literal, sunset.
It wasn't exactly worth mentioning just who tucked a loosening scarf back into position as Kaidou went. After all, that was such a little thing.