𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚

You, who, as you grew up, became more shy about visiting the Saiki residence and gradually started spending less time with his family.

You, who, when asked to call him for dinner, hesitate to call his name out loud.

You, who finally gather enough courage to make a plan to woo him, but lose confidence when consulting a well-known psychic.

"My crystal ball's a little blurry since you won't tell me who your crush is, but from what I'm seeing here.." she pauses, rotating the ball in whichever direction and murmuring to herself. You felt your shoulder grow heavier and heavier as she spent more time muttering. Finally—after what seemed like a century—she pushes away the crystal ball with a shrug and a sigh, "He's a simple guy, doesn't like being bothered at all. It'd be very hard to win him over." You already knew that, you just wished someone would tell you otherwise..

You, who mulls over whether she should try or to just leave him alone.

You, whose visits were already few and far between, stopped completely when you decided to keep a distance between the two of you to keep yourself from doing something stupid—like confessing.

You, who, one day, were surprised when asked by Saiki to walk back home together.

"How come you've stopped coming home? Mom misses you, she keeps asking about you to your parents," he speaks up, breaking the awkward silence—though you're pretty sure the silence was only awkward to you, this guy thrives in silence. Forced to answer, you fake an air of apologetic nonchalance as you shrug. "Coincidence. I was sick the last time we were all supposed to have dinner at your house." If your life were a game show, there'd be a big, glowing, red cross right above your head right now. He takes a few seconds before answering, as if weighing the truth to your word—you were always a nervous liar—"And the other times?" "Busy," you supply fast. Too fast, in fact. Busted. "Make sure not to be busy tomorrow, we're going to your house." Growing up with Saiki made you very well-acquainted with the little changes in his tone. To others, what he said might've just come across as a nice little reminder; to you, it sounded like a sulking huff. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he misses you, too.

You, who, the next day for dinner, go downstairs with the biggest smile on your face to greet Saiki and his family.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ Naghahanap pa ng maaya, pagkat sadyang wala kang magawa. (You're looking for someone to invite, 'cause you've got nothing else to do.)

"There's a small pop-up café event thing happening next week, and I want to go," you start, kicking softly from the ground to give you a boost on your swing.

Saiki looks up from the bench he's sitting on, "Then, go."

"But I have no one to go with," you shrug, "Maybe I should ask Kaido, or maybe Hairo—he doesn't seem like the type, but maybe he'll be up for it."

You would have asked Saiki, but you know he doesn't like being bothered on weekends—he says those are his 'free days.'

"I think Aren would go if I asked, Aiura too." You listed off mindlessly, completely oblivious to the exasperated stare from your friend.

"That's a pretty long list," he clicks his tongue, stopping you from continuing.

He wonders where he is on it—if he even is on it.

You nod, continuing to swing, "Yeah, but I'll probably ask Aiura, she's a lot of fun to be around."

And he's not, hm?

He stands up from the bench, not caring whether it was too random or abrupt, "I'll get going," he says, before adding a sharp, near-bitter comment, "Have fun next week."

So what if he's acting petty? Anybody would be if the person they liked was looking for somebody (else!) to invite out whilst in front of you.

It's just plain rude..

⊹ ࣪ ˖ What are you waiting for? Call my number, knock on my door—nandito lang ako. (What are you waiting for? Call my number, knock on my door—I'm right here just for you.)

It's the day before the event did you finally gather enough common sense to come to him.

whyen: saiki.

whyen: saikiiiiii!!!!!

whyen: KUSUO 😡

Saiki Kusuo: what?

whyen: are you free tmrw?

HAH! He knew it, you'd come crawling back.

Saiki Kusuo: why?

whyen: answer my question first

Saiki Kusuo: well then, no

Saiki Kusuo: im not free tomorrow

whyen: ngiiiii

whyen: really? I was going to ask you to come with me tmrw

Saiki Kusuo: what happened to that list of yours?

whyen: they all fell through, since it's school vacay everyone's all busy with their own plans 💔

Saiki Kusuo: i dont appreciate being the back-up

whyen: would you say yes if i told you, you were my first choice?

Saiki Kusuo: oh but i wasnt

whyen: oh but you were!

whyen: i just didnt wanna ask you cause you didnt like being bothered on the weekends

Always so mindful of others.

Saiki Kusuo: ok

whyen: okay what?

Saiki Kusuo: ok, i'll go

whyen: AHHHHH, TYSM!!!!!

whyen: youre my favorite now 🔥🔥🔥

Only just now? Oh, how his heart weeps.

—

"Ooh! Look, they have coffee jelly on their menu too!"

So, what? He came here for you, he was far too busy noticing how you dressed up for this to even care. If he wanted coffee jelly, he would've gone to Café Mami.

"Uh-huh.."

He decides to quit staring at you and bring his attention to the menu. Ultimately, he'd have a coffee jelly, but that's just habit.

Before he can even speak to voice what he wants, you've already beaten him to it. "Let's get a coffee jelly—just one though, so we can eat more of the other things." You mumble through the complimentary bread your server brought out earlier.

A small smile makes it to his mouth.

"Okay," he nods. After that, he lets go of the menu and let's your order the rest of what the two of you are going to eat.

"I'm gonna get the macarons," you decide out loud—as if he needed a spoken narration of your thoughts.

"Maybe a crepe too, you'd help me eat one of those, right? I've heard the crepes they serve are massive!"

It was food after food, and by the time a server came up to your table, you had already decided to get two drinks, a pasta meal, and more sweet treats that he could think of (all for sharing, of course).

"Will that be all?" The server asked after you'd listed off the things you wanted, you gave her a nod and a simple yes, and she repeated it to confirm.

As the food rolled in, he could see the regret forming in your face and thoughts in real time.

"Maybe we got too much, Saiki." You say with a certain disbelief in how the table was filling far too quickly.

We? He mused, this was all you.

"We could always just take out the rest we don't finish." He offered.

"Oh, right—we shouldn't touch a few things so we could bring them home. I'm sure your mom would like that strawberry cheesecake."

She would, of course, you'd know that.

The two of you dug in what he could only describe as complete understanding, you'd make conversation when needed and stay completely silent the next, just to appreciate what the two of you were eating.

By the time you two felt full, you still had a few untouched sweets to bring home to each of your families.

"I'm done," you sigh, shaking your head lethargically—food coma. He merely slumps back into his seat in agreement.

Right as you were about to reach into your purse to grab your wallet, he stops you, "My treat."

"What, really? I was the one who invited you, though. "

"Yeah, you've earned it." Plus, how else was he going to keep his spot as your favorite?

You look at him with an upturned eyebrow, "What'd I do to earn it?"

"That's a secret."

—

"Thank you for coming!" He heard the staff greet out just as the slightly swinging door finally closed behind him for good, along with the muffled chime of a bell from the inside.

"That was really good!" You exclaim, "Café Mami's coffee jelly's better though, but the rest of what we ate was really good!"

He let out a chuckle at your repetitive review of the place. Maybe you should make your own blog—tell people if something is really good—he'd tune in.

"Did you have fun?" You ask him, your body unconsciously leaning in towards him as you bring your gaze up to him. "I know I did."

"It was okay." He shrugged casually, basically shrugging off his truth—he had a lot of fun today.

Seeing the orange tint in the skies, he decides to walk you back home, and thinks of how different today would've been if you hadn't asked him out.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ Kung sino-sino pang tinatawagan mo nandito lang naman ako. (You keep on calling other people, but I'm just right here.)