Chapter 12. First Dates
Technically you could say that their first date was the weekend before this, when Saiki had come over to watch movies in her living room for once.
It had certainly felt like one, as Teruhashi darted around the house making sure it was spotless, despite knowing that Saiki had already seen it dirty before. Makoto had asked her what she was doing, but she had yelled at him to mind his own business and then darted up to her room to get ready. Makoto was leaving at one and Saiki was coming over at 3, so she still had three hours to get ready.
But why didn't she have any cute clothes?
Teruhashi glared into her closet, fisting her hands into the plain t-shirt she always wore when she was cleaning. It hadn't taken her this long to decide on clothes yesterday when she saw Saiki, and they were technically dating then too. Granted she didn't have options yesterday since she had to wear her school uniform, but still. She felt like she was going crazy.
"What does Saiki like, anyway?" She grumbled in her mind, shuffling through her clothes once more, "It's pretty difficult to impress a guy that's never been attracted to people for more than a month! Does he like dresses, or jeans, or maybe stockings? Ugh!" She stomped out of her closet and flung herself into her bed. Saiki probably didn't care what she was wearing, and it wasn't like it actually mattered since she wasn't going to seduce him, or have sex with him so early in their relationship anyway. She wasn't ready to lose her virginity yet, and Saiki was super new to all if this relationship stuff too. They were gonna go slow.
Besides she wanted to be fully in love before she gave herself away like that.
"But I still want him to think I look pretty," She pouted to herself, flipping onto her back so she could stare at her closet upside down. "Think Kokomi, what outfit do you own that makes you feel the prettiest?"
The answer was most of her clothes, but she finally settled on black jeans and a pale pink blouse. Just in time to, because at three exactly as she was setting a steaming bowl of popcorn on her coffee table, a bright blue light lit up her living room, and she turned with a grin to see Saiki standing behind her.
"You're very punctual," She teased, and he smiled sheepishly at her.
It's pretty easy when you can teleport.
They sat next to each other on her larger than life sectional couch. Not really knowing what to do they sat a few inches apart and held hands while the movie started to play. Saiki stroked his thumb gently over the back of her hand and Teruhashi kept glancing over at him, nervous to scoot closer, or snuggle into his side.
You've curled into my side before when we watched movies. His voice startled her and she met his eyes shyly.
"Yeah, but now we're dating. It means something now, and I don't know what I'm doing."
His lips twitched in amusement. Me neither.
Feeling more at ease immediately, Teruhashi slid closer to him, elated when he lifted his arm without her asking, and settled snugly into his side. His heart beat thudded in her ear as the two of them turned back to the tv and tried to focus on the movie.
"Saiki?"
Hmmm?
"This movie sucks."
Saiki glanced down at her and smirked, You're right it does.
Faster than lightening, Saiki had lifted her off of him and moved them both to the opposite corner of the couch. He had one knee in between her legs, one hand braced on the arm of the couch, and one hand firm on her lower back. Teruhashi gasped in surprise at how fast they had moved, before being silenced with his mouth over her own.
They never finished the movie.
But apparently that wasn't their "first date". Despite remembering it rather fondly, Saiki was now very annoyed as his mother fussed over him. Taking his measurements for a new suit, because his father's old one was no longer good enough.
"Your first date with Teruhashi is at a movie premier!? You have to get a new suit, Ku~Chan! Papa's old one isn't glamorous enough!"
But it's not a first date. We're going with her brother.
"What you think that matters?" His crazy mother laughed, "Do you know what happens in a dark movie theater Ku? Little psychic grandbabies could be made, that's what!"
Saiki's cheeks felt warm with embarrassment. I liked you better when you were calmly supporting my feelings. I'm only 17, you're not getting grandchildren yet.
But his mother didn't answer. She just slid her tape measure across his shoulders, and marked down their measurement on her notepad.
Sometime later, when Kurumi had finally finished tailoring a crisp black suit for him, and he had knotted the royal purple tie that she had bought to go with it, Kuniharu decided it was his turn to get involved with his son's love life as well. Stepping into Kusuo's room with a brain full of jealousy, Saiki's dad took a seat on the bed and frowned at his son.
Saiki raised an eyebrow at him. You know, I could tell mom that you're jealous of my 17 year old girlfriend.
Kuniharu gasped dramatically, "How dare you try and make your parents fight, Kusuo, what's wrong with you? After all I do to provide for this family? With all the shoes I have to lick?"
Saiki rolled his eyes and ignored his father, knowing that the man would tell him what he had come in for on his own if he just left him be.
Sure enough a few minutes later Kuniharu revealed his intentions. "Ok, now," He scratched at his chin thoughtfully, "Kusuo, you know that when a man loves a woman, he agrees to marry her and be the papa to her mama right?"
Nope, no, we're not doing this, Saiki glared at his father, but Kuniharu continued.
"This is important son, you have a girlfriend now, and you need to know where to buy condoms, and how to properly use them, and do you know if Teruhashi is on birth control, or-" An army of socks, bed sheets, and pillows had lifted themselves into the air, surrounding Kuniharu, who gulped nervously at the look in his son's eyes. "Kusuo, you need to be nicer to daddy, he's just trying to teach you what all fathers teach their sons and," The army moved closer, "Kusuo you need to know this! Look, I brought in a condom and a banana-"
The army swooped down from the air and Kuniharu screamed as he began to get pummeled by the linens. "Nooooo! Stop it!" He made a few halfhearted, feeble attempts to bat some of the socks out of the air, but they only rose and hit him in the face harder the next second. "This is gross Kusuo! Don't you ever do your laundry?" A pillow whacked him in the face so hard his glasses got flung off his face and smashed on the floor.
"Not my glasses! Kusuo, now I can't see, how am I supposed to love mama tonight while you're on your date?"
Saiki stiffened, Leave now.
Kuniharu lifted into the air and was thrown out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. He huffed, squinting to see as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled his way downstairs. "Oh mama! It looks like you'll have to take care of me tonight while Saiki's gone, because I can't see."
"Oh no," Kumuri called back seductively from the living room, "But if you can't see then I can take advantage of you all night long."
Saiki teleported to Teruhashi's house before his parents could get any grosser. Landing in her room, as he didn't know where else in the house her brother might be, he sat on her bed awkwardly. He had been in her room before, but not while they were technically dating.
Jeez, does every little thing feel weird when you start dating someone? He wondered to himself, adjusting his tie slightly. I guess I better let her know I'm here. Teruhashi?
"Saiki!? Jesus, you scared me," Teruhashi's voice laughed in his head. "Where are you so close to my house anyway?"
I'm actually in your room. My parents were about to have sex with me in the house so I teleported. Sorry, I know I'm early but I'll just teleport to the front of your house later or something. Where are you?
"Uhm," Teruhashi chuckled nervously, "About that..."
There was a thud in the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom, and Saiki realized that water was running from the shower. He went red immediately. Uh, you don't happen to have the clothes you'll be changing into in there with you, do you?
"Nope," She sighed, "It's ok. I left the dress out on my bed. If you just walk in and hang it over the door we'll be good."
Saiki's blood felt way too hot. Had he lost control of his pyrokinesis? Teruhashi's room wasn't on fire, so that probably wasn't it. He coughed, You want me to go into the bathroom?
He could almost hear her rolling her eyes, "I'm behind a curtain stupid. Just don't be creepy with your x-ray vision and we'll be fine ok? Besides its either that or you go home and listen to your parents have sex."
Or I could just teleport to a faraway island and come back when you're dressed, Saiki glanced behind him, noticing the dress she would be wearing for the premier, for the first time. It was a royal purple shade, just like his tie. He figured his mother must have called her and verified a color before she went out to buy it for him. He picked up the dress, it was silk making it cool and soft to the touch, but with little lace flowers on the skirt that felt a bit rougher under his fingertips.
"You could do that to, but you better hurry up and decide because I am almost done washing my hair." Teruhashi called out, "But can you please tell me before you decide, so I don't step out of the shower? Thanks."
Saiki glanced up from the dress in his hands towards the bathroom door, watching the steam trail out from underneath. Fine. I'm bringing the dress in. Stay where you are. He could hear her soft little laugh coming from the bathroom out loud as he walked over to the door and pulled it open, immediately getting hit in the face with a cloud of steam. Do you normally try and melt your skin off in all of your showers?
"Yes, actually," Teruhashi responded to him out loud, startling him enough to glance over at the shower, "It's more relaxing that way."
She was hidden away by the curtain, but she was right there. Wet and naked. Fuck, Saiki closed his eyes tight, and shook his head. He had seen her naked before. He had seen her naked plenty of times before he had fixed his x-ray vision. Why did this feel so different? Why did he want to see her now?
"Saiki?" Her voice startled him again and he noticed that the water had been shut off. "I know you're still in the room. Are you freaking out?"
A little, He smiled. Saiki didn't really understand why Teruhashi knew him so well, but she did, and that comforted him immensely. Give me five seconds and then you can come out.
She huffed a little, "As long as you didn't turn off your glasses, that's fine."
Chuckling to himself, Saiki hung her dress over a little hook on her door that was supposed to be used for a bathrobe and then made his way back into her bedroom, shutting the bathroom door behind him. You're good.
"Thank god for that," Teruhashi teased him, "I'm gonna be a little bit. You can watch TV if you want. The remote is on my nightstand."
Sure, Saiki did as she said. Flicking through the channels on her small bedroom TV, until he found a game show that he liked, and focusing his attention on that.
After awhile Teruhashi stepped out of the bathroom, looking stunning in her dress and her blow dried curls. She smiled at him sweetly when he turned to look at her but then disappeared into her closet to find some underwear and a pair of shoes. Once she was fully dressed and had applied her lip gloss, "That's right world! The perfect pretty girl doesn't wear any extra make up. This is all natural." She joined him on the bed, both of them laying on their stomach with their feet in the air as they watched the ending of the game show.
"Kokomi! Are you ready? Your stupid friend should be here any minute!" Makoto called from down the hall and Teruhashi jumped, slapping Saiki on the shoulder.
"There is no way he's not gonna barge into my room! You gotta go, go, go!" She slapped him again for good measure and Saiki laughed at her panic.
I'm going, He winked at her and then disappeared in a flash, right as her bedroom door swung open to reveal her older brother.
"You're watching TV!? Kokomi, you need to get downstairs" Their doorbell rang, "Oh great, and there's that stupid four eyes, why did you have to invite him to one of the most important days of my life?" The older Teruhashi pouted at his sister, but she just laughed at him.
"You've had 12 other movie premiers, this is not the most important day of your life."
Makoto grumbled, "Well, it could have been, you don't know."
The two of them headed downstairs to open the door, revealing Teruhashi's pink haired date, looking handsome in a suit with a tie that matched the color of her dress. Makoto didn't like that either, he himself had chosen a navy blue tie to match his hair, but now he wished he had chosen a royal purple one as well.
You look stunning, Teruhashi, The pink haired asshole smiled at his sister and offered her his arm, which Kokomi accepted with a huge grin of her own.
"Thank you Saiki, you look really handsome as well," She laughed and the two of them headed towards the limo that was waiting for the three of them in their driveway.
Makoto wondered if he had time to run to his room and change his tie, but he thought better of it when he saw that four eyed loser lean over and kiss his precious sister on her cheek. Furious, he stormed forward and climbed into the limo after them, glaring at them the entire ride to the theater.
The premier felt a little weird for Saiki. Not only was he wearing his geranium ring, so he couldn't talk to Teruhashi, even though she could talk to him, but there was press and cameras everywhere. He was lucky that Teruhashi hated the press, and had no wishes to follow in her brother's footsteps and become a movie star. Because of that, Makoto had paid a theater employee to let them in the back where his sister wouldn't be photographed. All three of them knew that if even one picture of Teruhashi made it into a magazine, she would be getting non-stop calls from movie producers.
So it became kind of like a job. They wore hats and sunglasses to hide their face, sat in the very back of the movie theater, away from the rest of the cast and the producers, and Makoto paid yet another employee to bring them each a popcorn and a soda. He and Saiki kept look out until the lights went down to make sure no one was taking pictures of them.
It was tiring, but Saiki didn't particularly want his face in the magazines either, so it was worth it. He just vowed silently to himself that he would never go to another one of Makoto's premiers for as long as he lived. No matter what Teruhashi bribed him with.
Makoto had tried to sit in between the two of them, but Teruhashi stabbed her heel into his foot, until he allowed her to sit in the middle. Once the older male had tearfully relented, Saiki and Teruhashi held hands, and from time to time she would write out a sentence on his palm. Though he didn't always pick up exactly what she was saying, he had made out "I'm glad you're here," "You look cute tonight," and a single heart that she traced out slowly, so he was sure to know what it was. It made him feel warm inside, and he smiled to himself in the darkness and squeezed her hand a little tighter.
When the movie was over Makoto didn't have a choice of not showing his face with the rest of the cast and director, so the theater employee from before shuffled Teruhashi and Saiki out the back, where they waited in the limo for Makoto to return. It was there that Teruhashi leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips, "I really like you."
Saiki pulled off his geranium ring, I really like you too. They had time for two more quick kisses before they had to pull apart and smile in different directions for the car ride back to Saiki's home. Makoto remained furious at the two of them right up until they dropped the other boy home, and his dear Kokomi wished him a goodnight,
"I don't know what you see in him, Kokomi. He's not deserving of you at all," Makoto pouted and his little sister glared at him.
"I like him a lot big brother, that's all that should matter to you," She huffed, and wouldn't speak to him the rest of the way home.
Saiki traced the lines of the heart she had drawn into his palm before going to sleep that night. Smiling in the dark, he wondered why he had been so against this feeling before, and then slept soundly through the night.
And yet still, Teruhashi didn't consider either of those their first date.
To her, their first date was simple. It wasn't formal, or over the top like a lot of first dates tended to be. It was just her and Saiki, at Saiki's favorite cafe. They sat in the same booth, and he draped his arm over her shoulder casually as they sipped their drinks and people watched through the window.
Saiki was amusing her by telling her some of the deep dark "secrets" the people passing by were thinking, and she kept snorting into her coffee. She loved his dry humor and sarcastic irony. He ordered two coffee jelly's, and he paid for both without asking her. It felt sweet, and romantic in a soft, gentle way. It felt more like them.
Later, when he walked her home and there wasn't a soul around to see them, a daisy plucked itself from the ground and whizzed through the air to hover in front of her. She had smiled and tucked it securely behind her ear for safe keeping. Saiki kissed her cheek at the door, whispering a goodnight in her mind before taking off towards his own house, and she rummaged in the kitchen cabinets to find a vase.
When she went to bed that night she was all smiles, the daisy placed safely on her night stand. She closed her eyes, and dreamt sweet dreams the entire night.
