Note: Okay, so... thanks to my absolutely amazing friend, Aemileth/Purplehood, I might be totally obsessed with this show now. And Kaidou is just the softest bean, how could you not love him? I probably should apologize for being so mean to him with this fic ;-; but listen, protective Saiki is life.
Forced into the backseat of a dark car, sandwiched between two very intimidating hunks of muscle, Kaidou Shun can only form one coherent thought.
He's going to die.
At least Saiki isn't here…
Normally, he'd be walking to school with Saiki, but, this morning, he'd gotten out of the house late.
Small comforts.
"What about the psychic?"
Psychic? What psychic?
Kaidou squirms- even with the heavy bag over his head, he can still discern enough of the conversation.
It's the first time either one of them has said anything since they grabbed him on the way to school.
Why are they talking about a psychic?
"He'll come soon enough." The one on his right grabs his shoulder roughly. "He wouldn't leave this one behind."
What are they talking about?
Before he can contemplate further, the bag is yanked from his head. Kaidou barely has time to suck in his first unobstructed deep breath in… however long it's been since they grabbed him, before a cloth is wound around his eyes and cinched tight.
"Psychic?" he tries. It's a long shot, but maybe he can get them talking. "What psychic? I don't know a psychic." He aims for levity, trying to seem unaffected, but he can't quite hide the way his voice shakes.
A long silence follows this.
He imagines the two men exchanging a look between them and he blushes. Are they wondering how stupid he is? Is he supposed to know what this is about?
(Why does it bother him if these kidnappers doubt his intelligence?)
"Ah, hell!"
This, presumably, comes from the vehicle's driver.
The car swerves abruptly, coming to a halt with a screech of tires and crunch of metal and throwing Kaidou forward. With his hands bound behind his back, he's incapable of catching his fall and he bashes his chin against the seat, stars flashing across his vision.
"What the f-?" the man on his left sputters.
Kaidou works to orient himself, struggling to pick himself up again, when someone grabs his elbow and yanks him up.
"Shit! How the hell did he find us already?"
"Get out of the car. Now."
Kaidou's world grinds to a halt.
Saiki?
Saiki is here?
Before he can wonder at that, he's dragged roughly from the car and held in front of someone, an arm around his throat.
Hostage…
Kaidou swallows thickly.
He's being used as a hostage against Saiki.
Of all people.
Why? What could they possibly want?
"Stop right there, psychic."
Something is jammed under his chin, tipping his head back.
Gun, his panicked brain supplies.
He's at gunpoint.
"You want me to blow his head off?" He presses the gun into the soft space beneath Kaidou's chin, eliciting a soft gasp from his hostage. This is it, isn't it? This is where he dies.
He can't see what Saiki does in response but it must be something compliant, because he can feel his captor relax, easing the pressure of the gun."This might not be according to plan, but we can still make this work for us."
"Saiki…" Kaidou works his jaw, hating the way his voice sounds. He can't stop it from wavering. He can't hide his fear.
He's not strong, no matter how much he pretends to the contrary, but he can protect his friends as best he can.
"You think you can threaten me?"
Kaidou doesn't think he's ever heard Saiki angry before and it shakes him to his core.
Still, as scary as his friend sounds, a gun is far scarier.
Psychic, they had said. Psychic.
(Saiki? A psychic? Since when?)
But a psychic can read minds, right? And that has nothing to do with stopping bullets.
"Saiki," he gasps, praying that his friend will heed him. "You need to run."
The arm around his neck tightens, constricting his ability to breathe and cutting him off.
"I promise you, your friend won't like the consequences if you do run. Neither will you if you actually care about him."
Kaidou isn't liking this either way, but he thinks Saiki getting away safely is the better option.
Run, he thinks, directing his thoughts at Saiki.
(Or at least he hopes that he's projecting his thoughts. He's not entirely sure how this works.)
"Enough. I'm sick of you wasting my time."
The man holding Kaidou cries out, releasing him.
Kaidou staggers forward, heart racing, but manages to keep himself upright. He's breathing hard, half-expecting to be grabbed at any moment, to feel the pressure of a gun barrel at his head once more.
Nothing happens.
"Saiki?" he whispers because the silence that follows everything is deafening.
"Kaidou." Saiki's voice is uncharacteristically gentle. The ropes undo themselves, falling away from his wrists. "Are you okay?"
"Saiki?" With shaky hands, Kaidou reaches up to undo the blindfold, but his fingers feel chunky and uncoordinated.
He can barely get them to work.
Almost of its own accord, the knot behind his head comes undone and he yanks it away from his face, blinking against the sudden onslaught of light.
"It's me," Saiki confirms.
"Saiki, you…" His legs feel unsteady and he wobbles, getting lightheaded.
Oh, crap. He's going to fall.
Isn't that just what he needs to look even more weak in front of his friend?
As if getting kidnapped wasn't enough...
He drops.
He doesn't hit the ground.
Saiki is behind him now, catching him by the arm and guiding him down.
When did he get there? Did he really move that fast?
"You…" He swallows, wrapping his arms around himself.
Saiki lets him go and sits back, watching him.
Impassive as ever.
What is he thinking?
The urge to hide his face from Saiki is near overpowering. He curls in on himself, wrapping his arms around his knees.
"You're psychic?" he finally says.
"That's what you finally ask?"
Kaidou cringes. "Sorry."
"Good grief. What are you apologizing for?"
Kaidou hunches his shoulders and shakes his head. He's not even sure himself.
Beside him, Saiki audibly sighs. Instead of lecturing him, instead of telling him he's disappointed the way Kaidou is expecting, the way his mother would have, Saiki just rests a hand on his shoulder.
It's unexpected- Kaidou doesn't think he's seen Saiki ever make voluntary physical contact with anyone- and… .
"Wait!" Kaidou scrambles forward and upright, regaining his feet, eyes wide.
For once, Saiki actually looks startled, hand still hovering in the air where he'd been making contact with Kaidou only moments before.
He drops his hand back to his side and climbs to his feet.
"You… they said…" He can't figure out where he's supposed to start. It feels like the words might just start spilling out of him. "You're psychic?!"
It's stupid.
Stupid to even be asking after what he's seen, but… he's never exactly been a reliable source, has he? Not even to himself.
He's not sure what he's expecting from Saiki.
For one moment, he imagines Saiki laughing at him for even considering such an absurd concept- nevermind the car, the gun, the ropes, and all the rest of it that just doesn't make sense- or perhaps looking at him in disdain for somehow missing what's been right in front of his face- and he recoils.
That's not the reaction he gets.
"I am." He frowns at the men now lying unconscious in a heap. Whatever he's wrestling with, he doesn't let Kaidou in on it and his face smooths over. "I'm sorry," is what he says instead, catching Kaidou off guard. "I had no idea there was anyone outside of… my family," he hesitates a little at that last bit, but continues, "who knew about my powers."
Without warning, something hysterical bubbles in Kaidou's chest and he sinks to his haunches, hiding his face against his knees. Whatever it is, it spills out of him. A laugh or a sob, he doesn't know.
Saiki is a psychic- a psychic people were willing to kidnap and kill to get their hands on.
He could have died.
They would have killed him.
It's all too much for him to take in.
For an instant, he struggles to remember how to breathe- it's like every time he gasps for air, whatever force is constricting his rib cage only grows tighter.
He grabs at his chest, fingers clutching the material of his shirt, as though he can tear away
A solid hand on his shoulder grounds him.
"You're working yourself up." Saiki's voice interjects, taking up space in his head, somehow reaching him in the midst of the endless fog that's threatening to overwhelm him. "You need to breathe before you pass out."
Reality catches hold of him again, injecting itself to the forefront of his consciousness.
Breathe…
Saiki's hand on his shoulder tightens reassuringly, a reminder of where he is and who he's with.
He takes a shaky breath.
And then another.
Something trickles down the side of his face.
Tears.
He's crying.
Kaidou hastily wipes them away. "I'm not crying," he says quickly. "I'm just…" But words and excuses fail him and he falls silent.
Saiki doesn't leave him.