Part Three


Chapter Twenty-Three

You can probably guess how that whole interaction went. Makoto was a pervert, like usual, who demanded I stay away from Teruhashi, then teared up when Teruhashi tore into him and told him to mind his own business. The two bickered back and forth, and Makoto asked if they were having another lover's quarrel, and it took everything I had not to move or speak or glare.

Okay, I glared, but in my defense, the whole Purple-hair incident was still forefront in my mind. I kept my eyes mostly on Teruhashi, reading her mood and expression, but she didn't seem upset by her brother. Well, not any more than she usually was when he acted like an annoying perverted ass.

Which is always.

Yare, yare.

Things escalated when Makoto realized Teruhashi and I would be staying together in the honeymoon suite, and he whined about how he'd reserved it for him and his "Darling Kokomi" not "that damned four-eyes."

Teruhashi wasn't at all upset when I stole her brother's key and tossed him into the hall. She actually thanked me for it. Of course, her pervert brother's interruption meant that whatever crazy, psychotic episode I'd been caught up in was thankfully broken. Teruhashi's tried to start it up again, but I reminded her we have an early day tomorrow.

Hopefully, it will be infinitely less troublesome than today.

Yare, yare.


Existential Crisis

Kusuo shifted, still half-asleep and growing increasingly annoyed by the glaring sun cutting across his face. Had he forgotten to shut his blinds last night?

"Saiki-kun?"

Teruhashi?

"Saiki-kun, you need to hurry up or we'll be late."

Ugh, Teruhashi. Let me sleep

Wait. What was Teruhashi doing in his bedroom?

Kusuo's eyes snapped open, taking in everything and nothing at once until his surroundings solidified into something tenable. He was laying on the (extremely uncomfortable) sitting room couch in a tastefully but sterilely furnished hotel suite for reasons he couldn't quite remember. Blinking, Kusuo pushed himself up, stifling a groan when his back and sides gave a disapproving twinge, and looked around the rest of the room. Yuuta was sitting on one of the barstools with a glass of milk in both hands as he watched Kusuo with a curious expression.

Oh, Kusuo thought, remembering where he was and why. Right.

"Good morning, Saiki-kun." Teruhashi glowed as she bounced into view on the other side of the kitchen bar. She wore a blue and white striped apron with the hotel's logo across the breast over whatever outfit she'd picked for the day, and her hair was up in a high ponytail, so it was out of the way while she cooked. She set a bowl of rice topped with a fried egg in front of Yuuta followed by another bowl of lightly steaming miso soup.

"Eat it carefully, Yuu-chan. It's hot."

"Yes, Peach-T Girl!" Yuuta set his glass of milk on the counter with both hands and reached for his bowl and chopsticks before Teruhashi cleared her throat. He froze and glanced up warily. Teruhashi quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Yuu-chan?"

"Um…? Oh!" Yuuta slapped his palms together and bowed deeply. "Thank you for the food!"

Teruhashi brough her fist to her lips in a futile attempt to hide a smile that transformed her whole face from breath-taking to mind-numbing. And it wasn't just her smile either, this whole situation had Kusuo's brain short-circuiting in a way he didn't know how to reset. Everything was so simply and deceptively domestic that Kusuo couldn't help but wonder if this is what his life could look like ten years from now.

A sudden hunger swept through him as Kusuo stared; a hunger that had nothing to do with food as the imagining swept him away to a time when Teruhashi was feeding their son an ordinary breakfast on an ordinary morning. A time when that unscripted smile was her ordinary expression. When climbing out of bed to kiss her cheek and rest his chin on her shoulder and wrap his arms around her waist was the most natural and ordinary thing in the world.

"Offu…"

"Hm?" Teruhashi looked up, her smile softened as their eyes met but the unfiltered joy remained the same. "Did you say something, Saiki-kun?"

The sound of his last name drew Kusuo up short for reasons he couldn't discern. For some insanity induced reason, he expected her to call him Papa…

A chill seized Kusuo as a shudder ran through him from head to toe and back again. Had he just compared himself and Teruhashi to his insane, love-doped parents?

Yare, yare! He shuddered again. What is happening to me?

"Saiki-kun?"

"Gah!" Kusuo flinched back when Teruhashi's face suddenly appeared in front of his. He still wasn't used to being snuck up on. Teruhashi, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice as she stood to his left, hands on her knees, and leaned forward so she could peer at him with a concerned frown.

"You're not getting sick, are you?" She spoke softly, her eyes fliting to Yuuta for a moment as if to make sure he couldn't hear before focusing back on Kusuo. "Yuu-chan would be disappointed if you couldn't come to the park with us, but if you need to stay—"

"I'm fine, Teruhashi."

She wasn't convinced if the slight pucker of her full, pink lips was anything to go by. How had Kusuo never noticed before how expressive Teruhashi could be with just her mouth? Her perfectly shaped, petal pink mouth that seemed to shine. Was she wearing lip-gloss? Or had she licked her lips again?

"Kusuo…" Teruhashi's warm, minty breath brushed across his lips, her scent invaded his nose, her deep indigo eyes filled his vision, her perfectly peachy skin felt like velvet beneath his fingertips as they brushed across her cheek, along her jaw, over her ear, then finally delved into her loosely tied ponytail to pull her forward to find out how she would taste on his tongue…

"Kokomi!" A sudden pounding on the door jerked Kusuo and Teruhashi apart. They sat there for a long moment, wide-eyed and panting, before the pounding came again. "Kokomi, let me in! Kokomi! It's morning, and I've brought you the most delicious breakfast! Kokomi? Kokomi! Are you in there? Are you awake? …Is that damned four-eyes doing something to you?! Kokomiiiii!"

The pounding intensified, but it was all so distant, like a dream, that it seemed to filter into Kusuo's ears and brain without making any sense.

"Sorry," Teruhashi breathed, her chest still heaving as if she'd just run a marathon at full sprint. "I…that's my brother. I should let him in…"

Kusuo nodded numbly, though there was an irrational part of him that wanted to reach out, grab her wrist, and pull her back down to finish what they'd started.

Every other part of Kusuo was suitably horrified that thought. By everything that had just happened, truth told. Why was this happening to him? Was it Teruhashi's Territory? Was it finally drawing him in? But after all these years of nothing, why now?

"Oh, Kokomi-darling!" Makoto leaped into the room the moment Teruhashi opened the door to engulf her in a bone crushing hug as he rubbed their cheeks together. "Don't you just look perfect as ever?"

"B-brother." Teruhashi's hand pushed uselessly at Makoto's arms. "You're squishing me."

There was a hint of panic in Teruhashi's voice, and Kusuo's spine went ramrod straight as he realized what must be going through her head. Teeth clenched, Kusuo jumped to his feet with every intention of ripping Makoto away from his sister and tossing him back out the door.

No, forget the door. I'll throw him out the damned window.

"Don't you touch Peach-T Girl, you villain!"

Kusuo's eyes darted to the stool where Yuuta had been siting, but he was gone. A frantic glance around the room found the green-haired boy darting toward Makoto and Teruhashi with a dark scowl and teary eyes. Everyone watched Yuuta in confusion, but there was no time for anyone to react when the little boy came to a sudden halt, drew back his foot, and kicked Makoto in the shin.

Makoto wailed and dropped to one knee, clutching his leg, but there was barely time to register what had just happened before Yuuta was pounding at Makoto's head and shoulders with his little fists. "Don't touch her! Don't you ever touch her again!"

"Yuu-chan!" Teruhashi grasped for Yuuta's flailing fists, one of them nearly catching her in the face. Realizing the fun was over, Kusuo hurried over to stop Yuuta before he accidently hurt Teruhashi. "Yuu-chan, it's okay! I'm fine! I promise!"

Yuuta blubbered through his sobs, unable to form a coherent word as Teruhashi's imploring tone failed to get through to him. She reached for him again, this time grabbing one of his little shoulders to spin him around. Yuuta reacted on instinct, his fist swinging toward her. Kusuo dropped to his knees at the boy's side and grabbed his wrist mere centimeters before he connected with Teruhashi's face.

"Yuuta," Kusuo said, his voice making the boy freeze. "Calm down."

A tremor went through Yuuta's little body before he turned to look up at Kusuo. He had tears and snot lining his face, and his lower lip was trembling. A distressed moan broke through his frozen throat, then morphed to a keening wail as he threw himself into Kusuo's arms and sobbed. Kusuo held Yuuta tight and stroked his uncharacteristically uncovered hair. He shot a questioning glance at Teruhashi, but she didn't notice. She was staring at Yuuta with an expression of empathetic heartbreak so potent she looked like she would cry herself.

Yare, yare.

Kusuo stood and shifted Yuuta to one arm so he could hold out his other hand to Teruhashi. She looked up at him, her expression unchanging, before she sniffled once and placed her palm in his. He pulled her to her feet and was surprised when she fell forward into his chest. She clutched Yuuta with one arm while the other snaked around Kusuo's back and clutched his pajama shirt with a tight fist. She was trembling now too, and he could tell she was trying hard not to cry as she buried her face in the juncture of Yuuta's side and Kusuo's chest.

Panic quickened Kusuo's heartbeat as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do with two hysterical people clinging to him and crying. Well, almost crying in Teruhashi's case. He knew Teruhashi's actions were likely driven by her idiot brother reminding her not only of what happened on the train yesterday but also of what almost happened. As for Yuuta…well, he seemed to have been more shaken by the event than he'd let on the night before. Maybe he'd been too tired last night for it to sink in, maybe he'd had a nightmare while Kusuo and Teruhashi slept, but whatever the case, Yuuta was purging a whole slew of negative emotions.

"Teruhashi," Kusuo said when her tremors finally faded away. "Are you okay?"

Teruhashi nodded, but she didn't pull her face away from his chest.

"Do you want me to make him leave?"

There was a moment's hesitation before Teruhashi shook her head just once.

Well, damn.

"Will you be okay if I leave you out here while I get Yuuta ready for the park? I'll leave the door open."

Teruhashi stiffened for a brief second before relaxing again. She nodded.

"Teruhashi."

She shifted just enough to peek up at him with her big, indigo eyes.

"I can't leave unless you let me go."

"Right." Teruhashi pulled back with a half-hearted giggle. "Sorry, Saiki-kun."

Kusuo frowned at the name, but there wasn't time to talk about the two times she'd slipped right now. Besides, he had no idea what to say about it anyway. Did he like hearing her call him Kusuo? Yes, he was pretty sure he did, which is why he really should stop her from saying it. And yet…

Teruhashi let Kusuo go but went up on her toes to press a kiss to Yuuta's forehead, her lips nearly brushing Kusuo's collarbone as she did so. "Thank you for saving me, Yuu-chan. You're my hero."

No longer sobbing, Yuuta managed a watery smile for Teruhashi before Kusuo gave her one last look—almost a glare—and said, "Call me if you need me."

Teruhashi nodded with a small smile. "Yes, Saiki-kun."

"Excuse me," Makoto said from the door. "But will someone tell me what the hell is going on? Who is that little brat, and why did he just attack me?"

"I'll be happy to tell you everything, big brother." Teruhashi's smile took on a dangerous edge as she turned. "But don't you ever call Yuu-chan a brat again."

Makoto went pale as his pupils shrunk with fear, and he raised an obliging hand. "Yes, ma'am!"

Certain she would be fine for a few minutes—and he was only a door away if she wasn't—Kusuo reluctantly left the siblings alone to get himself and Yuuta ready for the day.

Ten minutes later, Yuuta was still sniffling as Kusuo finished readying the bath. He turned to the boy with a sympathetic frown and dropped his hand on Yuuta's green hair.

"Yuuta, Teruhashi is fine."

"I-I know." Yuuta buffed away the last of his tears with the backs of his hands. "I'm s-sorry for being such a baby, Cyborg Cider-man #2. I don't even know why I was so scared! Peach-T Girl just sounded so upset and that guy wouldn't let her go and…and…"

"Yeah." Kusuo went down on his knees and nudged Yuuta's face up with the crook of his finger. "I understand. I felt the same way."

Yuuta's eyes widened. "You d-did?"

"Yeah. Arms up."

Yuuta raised his arms high above his head, and Kusuo snickered.

"Not that high, Yuuta." Kusuo adjusted Yuuta's arms so they were held out to his sides and unzipped the boy's footie pajamas. Once Yuuta was taken care of, Kusuo undressed as well and the two quickly washed up with buckets of warm water before settling into the over-sized tub for a brief soak. The warm water would help clear Yuuta's sinuses and hopefully loosen Kusuo's tightly wound muscles. It wasn't just from the last few days either, though they had certainly contributed the most to his stress.

He'd been feeling disconcerted since he gave up his powers back in March, and his run-in with Dark Reunion a week ago had only made things worse. Now, he didn't just feel disconcerted and disoriented, he felt incapable and helpless. How was he supposed to protect Yuuta from Dark Reunion if he could barely protect Teruhashi from some random pervert on a train?

"Hey, Cyborg Cider-man #2?"

"Hm?"

"You love Peach-T Girl, right?"

Kusuo jolted up, sloshing water over the rim of the tub as his whole body heated up. If he'd still had his psychic powers, he would have boiled it into steam in a second.

"Wh-what? Why would you—? What?"

Yuuta shrugged, hugging the floating disk provided by the hotel for children as he slowly kicked his way from one end of the enormous tub to the next. "That's what Cyborg Ramune always says on your show, even if you always deny it. But you're always there to protect Peach-T Girl, right? And isn't that what you do when you love someone?"

Kusuo gaped at Yuuta, who didn't seem to notice. "I—people—can protect other people without loving them. The police don't love everyone they protect; they're just doing their jobs."

"But…" Yuuta drifted to a stop, his nose and forehead scrunched together in thought. "But if you love someone, then you want to protect them more than other people, right? You get scared if someone tries to hurt them, and you promise to always save them, no matter what, right Cyborg Cider-man #2?"

"I…I guess that's probably true."

Yuuta nodded, his expression shifting to one of firm understanding. "I thought so."

A heavy, awkward silence permeated the room until Kusuo decided they'd indulged long enough and shuffled Yuuta out of the bath. Kusuo was drying Yuuta off, a towel tied around his own waist, when he finally spoke again.

"Why did you ask?"

"Hm?" Yuuta looked up, grinning innocently. "Ask what?"

Kusuo's brow twitched. Did you really forget already? Yare, yare. How can kids be so carefree?

"All that stuff about Teruhashi and…love?"

"Oh!" Yuuta's eyes widened, and he shot a quick look around the empty bathroom before waving Kusuo down as if to impart the secret of the universe. Kusuo leaned forward despite himself.

"It's because I love her."

Kusuo's heart leapt in his chest, but Yuuta wasn't done yet. He looked up at Kusuo, his eyes sparkling with hearts and stars.

"She's cool and funny and nice and warm, and she smells really good too! She always smiles like a doll and her eyes are reeeeeaaally big!" Yuuta circled his fingers around his eyes before dropping his hands.

"She gives good hugs, and she tells good stories and cooks yummy food—even better than Mommy or Grandma Kumi! She teaches me maths and kanji and doesn't laugh when I tell her I wanna grow up to be just like you, Cyborg Cider-man #2! Mommy and Daddy always laugh, but Peach-T Girl never does. She says that's a-a…" Yuuta's nose wrinkled, "re-speckle-able goal because you're so great, and she's right because you are, but she is too, right, Cyborg Cider-man #2?"

"Y-yeah." Kusuo had no idea how else to respond because he was too busy having an existential crisis over the fact that he agreed with Yuuta on every single one of those things. The hell?

"Right." Yuuta nodded firmly and crossed his little arms over his bare chest. "And that's why I'm gonna protect her, Cyborg Cider-man #2. Just like you."

"Dry your hair," Kusuo said, dropping a towel over Yuuta's head so he could use the distraction to escape. "I'll get our clothes."

"Yes, sir, Cyborg Cider-man #2!"

Kusuo stumbled into the bedroom, barely remembering that the doors were still wide open so Teruhashi would know that he could hear her if she needed him. The low murmur of her and Makoto's voices drifted into the bedroom, letting him know they were both in or near the kitchen, and he slipped across the room to the dresser Teruhashi had unpacked their clothes into the night before. He pulled open the drawer dedicated to Yuuta and selected a folded outfit Teruhashi had pieced together last night so Kusuo wouldn't have to worry about finding something matching for Yuuta to wear.

Kusuo wasn't a terrible dresser by any means, but he did prefer it when his choices were easier. He knew she knew that about him—it had come up once during the months she'd invaded his home and privacy—but it still surprised him when he opened his own drawer to find his clothing arranged similarly to Yuuta's. She'd even stacked his socks atop the outfit they would coordinate with the best.

It was all disgustingly domestic.

So why do I feel all…floaty? Kusuo scowled at himself and hurried back to the bathroom. Yare, yare. This trip better end soon or I'll completely lose what's left of my mind.

Kusuo helped Yuuta dress first as the boy absently hummed through the Cyborg Sentai theme song. Naturally, Teruhashi had arranged Yuuta's outfits so Kusuo would grab the shirt with Cyborg Cider-man #2's picture plastered across the front. It was a shirt Teruhashi had designed herself and given to Yuuta for his birthday, so instead of the usual Anime-style Cider-man, this one had a picture of Cider-man Kusuo soda-kicking L-Ginger at the amusement park the three had visited a few years back. Yuuta adored the thing, of course, and all his friends had been wildly jealous that Yuuta got to have a shirt with the real Cyborg Cider-man's picture on it. Yuuta's utter joy was the only thing that kept Kusuo's scolding of Teruhashi down to a disapproving scowl.

"I'll go watch Peach-T Girl while you get dressed, okay, Cyborg Cider-man #2?" Again, Yuuta looked around before propping his hand beside his mouth and leaning into faux whisper. "I really don't trust that shady guy."

Kusuo snickered and ruffled Yuuta's nearly dry hair. "Yeah. You go protect her, Cyborg-mini."

Yuuta beamed at Kusuo then hurried out the bathroom door leaving Kusuo to dress in an oppressive silence that left him no other option but to think.