pretty

            Now for someone Saiki was fond of. Really, more than fond of. Saiki turned in his seat to face the final person entering the classroom. They were a pure ray of sunshine with a smile to match, and Saiki found himself far more willing to put up with his bothers so long as they were there.

            (Y/N): Saiki’s significant other, his favorite person, angel, amazing cook/confectioner, wears germanium earrings that mean he can’t hear their thoughts, ray of sunshine, the only person Saiki is ever excited to be around, protects Saiki from bugs and bothers, etc. (Saiki could go on for a while)

            “Hello, (Y/N),” said Saiki.

            Thankfully, as he turned to address (Y/N), the rest of the Saiki K cast meandered away, having gotten their time in the spotlight.

            “So, have you recovered from your party?” asked (Y/N). They grinned and laughed. “I know crowds aren’t your thing.”

            “It wasn’t as terrible as it could have been,” said Saiki. You were there. And that was the day they had admitted they liked one another and decided to start dating.

            (Y/N) just smiled at Saiki. They didn’t need him to say that he was glad they had been present; they could read him well enough. He was their boyfriend, after all. (Saiki was their boyfriend. Boyfriend! (Y/N) still couldn’t believe it and was positively giddy)

            “Well, it’s not like you’ll have to deal with another party for a while,” said (Y/N). “And I’ll keep your actual birthday more low-key.”

            Saiki deadpanned. He doubted that. He never had luck with these things; he knew he’d end up with a giant party where all his bothers (friends) followed him.

            “I’ll make sure you get coffee jelly, at least,” said (Y/N).

            Saiki perked up again. He could always count on (Y/N) to think of something for him.

            (Y/N) chuckled at his instant reaction. He was a total sucker for sweets, and they knew it.

            Saiki looked at them as they laughed, and his heart softened. He really didn’t deserve them.

            “I’m going to Café Mami after school,” said Saiki. “They have a promotion.”

            “For coffee jelly?” said (Y/N). Saiki nodded. “I’ll go with you.” Saiki mentioning it was his way of asking them to go.

            And, hey, (Y/N) wasn’t going to say no to a date with their boyfriend.

            I still can’t believe it.

l

            Saiki and (Y/N) both let out a pleased hum as they took a bit of their coffee jellies. Café Mami was delicious as always, and since they already went their together before they were dating, it wasn’t strange for them to still be seen together, just the two of them.

            Together, Saiki and (Y/N) had decided to keep their relationship lowkey. First, none of their friends were…calm, for lack of a better word (others would include: discreet, normal, not-embarrassing). Second, some of the people they knew would make some problems (see Teruhashi and her crush on Saiki while being friends with (Y/N)). Third, Saiki and (Y/N) didn’t really care about people knowing their business. It didn’t feel necessary.

            So, for now, they weren’t going around announcing to people that they were dating. But that was alright. Saiki and (Y/N) had each other. That was all they needed.

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l

            Saiki sighed as he got up to leave class. Everyone had been bothering him today. Even minor characters like Amp and Kusuke had made an appearance. The cameos were off the charts, and Saiki knew that meant trouble, so he wanted to escape.

            Additionally, though, people had been acting strangely around him. His friends (bothers) weren’t hanging around quite as closely as normal and avoiding being around him. Ordinarily, that would be a good thing, but…

            “Hey, pal, let’s go home together. The runt says we should talk about tomorrow,” said Nendou.

            “Wha—?!” Kuboyasu stared at Nendou in alarm.

            “You idiot!” said Kaidou. “What are you doing?! That’s not what we planned.”

            “Huh? But it’s my pal’s—”

            “Shut up! Let’s go,” said Kaidou, dragging Nendou towards the door.

            “Come on, you guys,” said (Y/N), ushering them away. “Bye, Kusuo! See you tomorrow!”

            Saiki sighed. With his telepathy, he knew exactly what was going on, and despite his current respite from their bothersome schemes, it was just going to come around and become an even bigger problem for him in the long run.

Yare yare.

l

            “Nendou made me nervous,” said Kaidou as he looked out the window with the group by his side.

            “He almost ruined our plan,” said Hairo, shaking his head.

            “You almost ruined it, too, Chiyo,” warned Teruhashi.

            “I let my guard down. I’ll be more careful,” said Yumehara.

            “So where’s Nendou?” asked Kuboyasu.

            “I sent him home. With his brain, he can’t keep up with this plan,” said Kaidou.

            “That’s for the best,” said Hairo.

            “We’ve been preparing this for a week,” said Kaidou gravely. “We can’t afford to fail.” He unraveled the plans. The top read “Operation: Surprise Birthday Party for Kusuo Saiki.” “We can’t afford to fail. Now, let’s start the strategy meeting…for Operation Surprise Saiki, which is taking place tomorrow!”

            (Y/N) shook their head and chuckled. They had tried to intercede, but at this point, they were going to let the plan go through. They’re all put too much work into it.

            “Tomorrow, after school, Aren and I will lure Saiki to the location of the party, which is my house,” said Kaidou. “We won’t talk about his birthday at all. When we get to my house, I’ll go get something to drink, Aren will take him to the room. When the time seems right, Aren will set off a cracker. That’ll be the signal to say, ‘Happy Birthday!’ Then, I’ll bring out the birthday cake, and the surprise will be a big success. I wonder what the look on his face will be…”

            Poor Kusuo. (Y/N) smiled to themself. Hopefully he’ll remember they all have good intentions. I mean, even if his birthday is actually in August…

            Outside the door, Saiki sighed as everyone went on and on about their excitement and the gifts they prepared. At this point, he couldn’t tell them they had the wrong day. Not when Kaidou read aloud his proclamation of friendship. Not when (Y/N) was involved and so happy (even if he did wonder why they hadn’t corrected everyone about his birthday).

            A little smile appeared on Saiki’s face. Yare yare. So troublesome, and yet he was willing to put up with them. For some reason, anyway.

l

            “Saiki went home?!” cried Kaidou.

            “Yeah,” said Kuboyasu grimly.

            “I warned you, he likes to leave school as soon as possible,” chuckled (Y/N).

            “What do we need to do now?” said Kaidou.

            “Do we put a stop to it?” wondered Kuboyasu.

            “Not after all this time. Time for plan beta!” said Kaidou.

            “We have a plan beta?” wondered (Y/N).

            Sure enough, the entire group—Yumehara, Mera, Kaidou, Kuboyasu, (Y/N), Hairo, and Teruhashi—was soon crouching around the corner from Saiki’s house.

            “I’ll explain again,” said Kaidou. “First, we ring Saiki’s doorbell. When he comes out, we all pull the crackers. The Emotional Saiki Plan.”

            “What if someone else answers?” asked Kuboyasu.

            “We will explain it and make them let us in,” said Kaidou. “Let’s go!”

            The group headed towards the door and rang the doorbell. (Y/N) smiled and shook their head. Whoever opened the door, they knew Saiki had a trick up his sleeve. Going along with something so steeped in emotions was not Saiki’s way.

            The door swung open, and Saiki stood there.

            “Surprise!” called everyone, cracking the crackers.

            Saiki’s eyes widened in surprise, and he smiled. “What? What is this?”

            “Today’s your birthday, right?” said Teruhashi brightly.

            “Yes, but…”

            Aha. (Y/N) giggled behind their hand. That wasn’t Saiki. It was Mr. Saiki since today was his birthday.

            “We came to celebrate your birthday!” said Hairo.

            “Wow, really?!” said Mr. Saiki, beaming from Saiki’s face. It was odd to see it, but (Y/N) at least could see through it. “You know my birthday?”

            “Of course, Saiki,” said Kaidou.

            “ ‘Saiki?’ ” repeated Mr. Saiki, still happy.

            “Hey, pal!” Nendou walked up. “I heard it’s your birthday!” He held up a watermelon.

            “Nendou, you came, too?” said Mr. Saiki.

            “He managed it,” said Kaidou, nodding.

            “Come on in, all of you,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “Thanks, Saiki!” said Yumehara, heading it.

            Wow, no one has noticed how differently “Kusuo” is acting, thought (Y/N).

            “You seem to be enjoying yourself, (Y/N),” said Teruhashi curiously. “You keep smiling and laughing.”

            “I’m just having a really good time,” chuckled (Y/N).

            It’s still going? thought Saiki. He had thought this would end quickly.

            “Thank you all so much,” said Mr. Saiki. “I would never have expected Kusuo’s friends to celebrate my birthday. I’m deeply moved.”

            (Y/N) coughed at the mention of “Kusuo’s friends,” but luckily, no one seemed to notice.

            “You’re our friend,” said Mera.

            “Happy birthday,” said Hairo.

            “Yes, Saiki!” said Kaidou. “By the way, Saiki, are your parents here?”

            “My parents don’t live with us,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “Whoa, really?” said Hairo.

            “My mother lives in the family home, and my father is no longer with us,” said Mr. Saiki.

            He’s walking right into trouble with that one, thought (Y/N). They decided to step in. “Oh, yeah, he’s traveling for work right now.”

            I’m glad someone has worked it out and is helping.

            “What? No, he’s—”

            “Come upstairs,” said Saiki directly to his father’s mind.

            “Huh? Is that Kusuo?” wondered Mr. Saiki.

            “Kusuo?” repeated Kuboyasu.

            “I need to head upstairs for a moment,” said Mr. Saiki awkwardly, leaving the room.

            Alright, I’ll hold down the fort. I wonder what Saiki’ll do now. Have his dad continue the party or end it or…actually come down himself? (Y/N) hoped he would. Even if it wasn’t his birthday, they wanted to spend some time with him and give him the present. All of his friends did.

            Upstairs, Saiki explained the situation to his father, who nodded.

            “Oh, I see. That’s what I thought. I thought it was strange,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “You were totally into it,” said Saiki.

            “The surprise is over, so you want to switch places?” said Mr. Saiki.

            “No. Keep going,” said Saiki, giving a thumbs up.

            “You want me to keep going?!” exclaimed Mr. Saiki.

            “It’s not my birthday. I can’t pretend it is,” said Saiki, pushing his father back down the stairs.

            “I’m not you, Kusuo. I can’t pretend that I am. I think (L/N) already figured it out,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “They did. They’re observant. But they won’t say anything,” said Saiki. “I’m counting on you.” I can’t respond to their kindness.

            Pretend to be Kusuo, thought Mr. Saiki, standing before the door. He opened it. “Yare yare. Sorry for the wait. Yare yare.”

            I don’t say yare yare that much.

            “We’re sorry for interrupting your birthday while your father is away,” said Kaidou.

            “Oh, it’s fine. He’s coming back today,” said Mr. Saiki quickly.

            He’s really not like Kusuo at all, thought (Y/N).

            “And why’d you used the term ‘not with us?’ ” said Kuboyasu. “That sounds like he’s dead.”

            “You shouldn’t talk about your dad that way,” said Hairo, shaking his head.

            “M-My apologies,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “Well, anyway,” said Teruhashi, trying to break in.

            “Look, we finished the cake!” said Yumehara brightly, holding up the box.

            “It turned out great,” said Teruhashi.

            “Especially the face,” agreed Yumehara.

            They took the cake out and put it on the table. It was all smooshed and melted.

            “Oh, no,” the girls said, deflating.

            Oh dear, thought (Y/N) sympathetically. It’s so hard to shape cakes and keep them looking good.

            They should have gotten (Y/N) to help them.

            “It got smashed in the transit,” said Teruhashi in disappointment.

            “But you made it with lots of love, so that’s what matters,” said (Y/N).

            “What?! Love?! No, no! It’s just friendship! A friendship birthday cake! Besides, Chiyo made it with me! We put a ton of work in together!” rambled Teruhashi in a panic.

            “We’ll make another,” said Yumehara, looking at Mr. Saiki. “I swear, it looked perfect!”

            There’s no choice.

            “Wow, look! The cake is reforming!” said Hairo, staring at the cake.

            “The sponge cake is rebounding,” said Kuboyasu.

            Thank you, Kusuo, thought (Y/N). They knew he’d save his friends’ feelings after they worked so hard for him even if misguided).

            “Wow, this is amazing,” said Mr. Saiki, looking at the Saiki-shaped cake. “It looks delicious.”

            That is something Kusuo would say, thought (Y/N), grinning.

            “Just wait, you’ll really be moved!” said Mera.

            “We have a surprise for you,” said Kuboyasu. “A video letter—”

            Mera held up the camera, and Nendou’s face hit it. It fell to the ground, broken.

            “Oh,” said (Y/N), disappointed since Mera and Kuboyasu had worked hard on it.

            “Oh, no, that’s no good,” said Mr. Saiki.

            “Sorry, Saiki.” Kuboyasu took off his glasses. “Go on. Hit me. Everyone, hit me.”

            “Kuboyasu, there’s really no need for that,” said (Y/N) quickly. “It was an accident.”

            Yare yare.

            “Hey, look! It’s working,” said Kaidou, staring at the TV screen as it displayed the video letter.

            “It’s fixed,” said Hairo in happy amazement.

            “Alright!” said Kaidou. “Raise a glass and let’s start the feast.”

            “Cheers!” Everyone lifted their glasses.

            The party was in full swing. (Y/N) hung back since they felt awkward interacting with their crush’s father in such a context (also, they were disappointed Saiki himself wasn’t there), but everyone was having a great time. Some people armed wrestled, they joked, they laughed, and they bonded with one another—already a tight-knit friend group getting closer.

            Upstairs, Saiki sat and psychically monitored the party so that his dad didn’t screw anything up for his reputation or give away his psychic abilities.

            “Oh, there you are,” said Mr. Saiki, popping his face upstairs. “Your dad’s a star!”

            “Good for you.”

            “Well, you want to switch soon?” said Mr. Saiki.

            “No thanks. Hurry back now,” said Saiki. “I would only be a buzzkill.”

            “So what?”

            Saiki looked up at his dad in slight surprise.

            “Go on, Kusuo,” said Mr. Saiki. “You must feel some gratitude toward them. You didn’t want to hurt their feelings, so you asked me to cover for you. But that’s not right. They all came here for you, Kusuo. Even if you do hurt their feelings, you should go to them.” He turned and walked away.

            Saiki paused and watched him go. “Who are you to lecture me?” He stood.

            “I’m your father!” exclaimed Mr. Saiki.

            Saiki glanced at the stairs and walked down. He paused outside of the living room. Now, how do I get rid of them?

            “That was a huge success,” said Kaidou.

            “Saiki seemed really happy about everything,” agreed Teruhashi.

            “(Y/N), you didn’t give him his present,” said Yumehara.

            “I’ll give it to him later,” said (Y/N), smiling.

            “He seemed very energetic. He must have really liked all of this,” said Hairo.

            “Yes, but something didn’t seem quite right,” said Nendou.

            “That’s true. It’s like the walls around him are stronger than ever,” said Kaidou.

            “Maybe he was trying to hard to go along with us,” said Kuboyasu.

            “Oh, no, that’s terrible,” said Yumehara.

            “He should just be himself,” said Hairo.

            (Y/N) nodded. “We accept him how he is.” For who he really is.

            Yare yare. You’re the ones who are acting strange. Saiki opened the door.

            “Hey, pal, what took you so long?” Nendou grinned at him.

            “Saiki!” The group beamed at him.

            “Yare yare.” Saiki shook his head and sat down.

            He watched as everyone eagerly chatted and joked, leaving him a little more alone—not wanting him to “put up his walls again.”

            “Do you want a piece of cake?” said (Y/N), sitting down beside him and lifting a plate.

            “Yes,” said Saiki, instantly taking it and taking a bite.

            (Y/N) leaned in, smiled, and whispered, “Welcome to the party, Kusuo.”

            Saiki looked at them and nodded. Ah, well. He could avoid them all tomorrow. He supposed this wasn’t terrible.

l

            “Why didn’t you tell them it wasn’t my birthday?” asked Saiki. He floated the plates he was cleaning to (Y/N), who set them in the drying rack. “You know when my birthday is.” It wasn’t accusatory, just a plain question.

            “They made the whole plan before they even told me,” said (Y/N), shrugging. “At that point they’d put so much work into it that I couldn’t help but let it keep going.” They chuckled and nudged him. “Besides, that’s the exact same reason you let it go on.”

            “No, I just couldn’t convince them not to,” said Saiki.

            “Uh-huh,” said (Y/N), rolling their eyes with a laugh. “You know I see through you by now.”

            “See through me?”

            “Yep,” chirped (Y/N), grinning.

            Saiki looked at them, nearly asked them a question, and then stopped.

            “Oh, Kusuo, before I forget, I got you a gift,” said (Y/N), heading back into the living room.

            Saiki followed. “But it isn’t my birthday.”

            “I decided I might as well get into the spirit of things,” said (Y/N) brightly. They held up the present. “Tada! Open it up.”

            Saiki curiously opened the box and found a book(?) inside. He glanced up. This wasn’t a sweet or something themed on a sweet like (Y/N)’s usual gifts.

            “Look inside,” said (Y/N), grinning.

            Saiki lifted the album out and opened it. He stared. It was a photo. Of Café Mami. He turned the page. Now there was a photo of the sports festival, him running his race. Christmas with his friends. The beach. Okinawa. Karoake. London. Him having…fun. His friends with him. People celebrating, smiling.

            “I know you’re not big on being with people, but I know I really loved—liked having these moments with you,” said (Y/N). They smiled sheepishly. “So I guess this was partly a gift for me, but I, uh, I hope you can see these moments as fondly as I do.”

            Saiki looked between the photos and (Y/N). No. He wasn’t an extrovert. He didn’t seek others out. He found most incidents bothers. But…

            But.

            But in every one of these memories, there was something Saiki did like. Yes, he was…fond of his friends. This was the only moment he’d admit that. However, more importantly to Saiki, (Y/N) was in every one of those memories. They didn’t feature in any of the photos, but he knew they were behind the camera with a smile on their face. That was the reason Saiki instantly loved the photos. They held (Y/N)’s joy.

            And that was the reason Saiki loved them.

            “I love it, (Y/N),” said Saiki.

            (Y/N) beamed. “I’m glad.”

            “…I love it because you made it,” said Saiki. “You always put so much heart into what you make.”

            (Y/N) blushed. “Thanks, Kusuo.”

            “Even when I’m ungrateful, you’re still so kind,” said Saiki, stepping forward.

            (Y/N) looked at Saiki. “We’ve talked about this before, Kusuo, I don’t care that you’re not into words of affection. That doesn’t matter to me.”

            “It does. It does to me. Because you deserve to know that you’re a good friend and that I…I value you.” Saiki swallowed. This was it. “I like you, (Y/N).”

            (Y/N) started as they heard Saiki speak without telepathy. “You—You what?”

            “I like you,” repeated Saiki. “As…as more than a friend.”

            “You do?” A smile spread across (Y/N)’s face. “Really?”

            Saiki nodded jerkily.

            “Oh, Kusuo. I like you, too,” said (Y/N). They let out a joyful laugh. “I really, really like you, Kusuo. I have feelings for you.”

            “I do, too,” said Saiki. “I didn’t phrase it right.”

            “You phrased it just right,” said (Y/N), stepping up and taking Saiki’s hand daringly. They cleared their throat. “Can I-Can I kiss you, Kusuo?”

            Saiki looked at them, and he found that the idea of affection with them was as appealing as ever. He nodded and held their hand tighter.

            Saiki and (Y/N) leaned, hesitant, unsure of themselves, but perfectly comfortable with one another. They were willing to try something new with the person they loved.

            Their lips touched, and Saiki and (Y/N) pulled back for a moment. But the separation lasted for but a second as they leaned back in, kissing once more, more confidently, more eagerly.

            When they finally separated, (Y/N) and Saiki were both pink, and (Y/N) let out a little laugh at the rush of joy. Saiki felt their hand in his and gazed at the beautiful smile he had fallen for. There was only one thing he could say.

            “Oh, wow.”

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