This is Lotus

This is Saiki

Lotus and Saiki

~The thoughts of others~

Nix 012 - Huh, I wasn't even thinking about how they were similar.

Ultimate re reader - I've got special plans for the Teruhashi/Lotus thing.

Kitaro's Problem - Man Her Family's Scary!

Lotus was on break walking in the hallways of her school. There were only a few other students in the hallway as well. As Lotus made her way down the hall someone new enters coming from around the corner.

"Oh, it's Kitaro-kun."

The short boy was carrying a stack of two boxes, his head barely peeking over the objects in his hand.

"Is he gonna be okay? It doesn't look too heavy for him but he can barely see."

Lotus made her way over to Kitaro going to ask if he needed help but when she was only a few steps away Kitaro tripped.

"Ah!" Kitaro yelped as he fell forward.

Lotus acting quickly ran appearing in front of Kitaro. Using her psychic powers she forced the boxes upright catching them in her left hand holding them as a waitress would do in a restaurant. She used her right arm and caught Kitaro, no psychic powers needed, the boy was pretty light.

"Whoa, you okay there?" Lotus asked

"Yeah," Kitaro groaned. "I'm fine. Thank you for catching me."

"~How embarrassing to fall like that. But Lotus-san caught me. She's so cool.~"

Lotus internally chuckled at Kitaro's thoughts.

She helped the short boy stand right up. "What happened?"

"My pant legs came undone," Kitaro said

"Undone?" Lotus questioned

She looked down seeing Kitaro's pant legs were pretty long the bottoms dragging on the floor.

Kitaro nodded his head. "Yeah. My pant legs are too long. I got the smallest school uniform but it's still too big, and right now my family can't afford the extra cost to get them tailored to my size."

"I see. Is that why you have your shirt sleeves rolled up too?" Lotus asked

"Yeah. The same thing goes for my jacket, too big as well." Kitaro held up his arm to show the sleeves came all the way down to his fingertips. "I tried rolling those up too but I got busted for violating the dress code."

"You got busted for dress code? And yet we have such strange characters running around the school dressed ridiculously."

"Hmmm?" Lotus studied the shorter boy an idea coming to mind. "I know what to do!"

"Huh?" Kitaro stated confused

"Your coming to my house after school." Lotus declared

"Huh?" Kitaro sounded again.

"But first we gotta stop by your place and get all your uniforms," Lotus said

"Huh?" Kitaro repeated for the third time.

"Here we are!" Lotus smiled presenting her home to Kitaro.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to come?" Kitaro asked

"Yes, yes, it's fine," Lotus said

She opened the door to her home allowing Kitaro to enter before she followed.

"Ethan! Violet! Sir Henry! I'm home and I brought a friend!" Lotus called out.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Kitaro quietly spoke as he took off his shoes.

"Hey is anyone home? Ethan? Violet? I got a new friend he-"

"HE!"

Kitaro jumped at the loud angry screech that sounded from upstairs. The short boy felt his nerves quiver as he heard loud pounding footsteps as someone booked it towards the stairway.

A seething Ethan appeared at the top of the stairs glowering.

"Pretty boy!" Ethan yelled charging at Kitaro and Lotus. "What do you think you're doing here with my precious little Lotus!? You've got some guts entering this home!"

Kitaro's body shook terrified, due to the barking Ethan. Was is just Kitaro's imagination or was the older man foaming at the mouth?

Lotus came to Kitaro's rescue as she easily pushed back the seething Ethan, putting distance between him and Kitaro. "Stop you're scaring him. Ethan, Kitaro is a friend of mine. Kitaro, Ethan is-"

Ethan grabbed Lotus wrapping her up in a protective yet crushing hug. "I'm Lotus's big brother. Don't you dare think that you'll lay a single hand on her. I can see it in your big sparkly eyes, the evil plans you have in store. You want to taint my precious little innocent Lotus don't you!"

Lotus sweatdropped in Ethan's arms as Kitaro trembled where he stood.

"~This guy is scary!~" Kitaro thought

"Oh my, what's going on here?" Violet came bounding in the room a bright smile on her face. "Did what I hear was correct? My sweet little Lotus brought home a new friend?" Violet studied Kitaro for a second before she spoke again. "Oh yes. I remember you from Lotus's sports festival video. You're the little Bishōnen."

"B-Bishōnen?" Kitaro sweatdropped

"She's blunt but true," Lotus thought

"Violet!" Ethan shouted turning to his fiance, Lotus still clutched tightly in his overprotective hold. "This evil malicious pretty boy has come to steal away our beloved little Lotus!" Ethan's arms tightened around Lotus.

"I'm gonna pass out if you keep hugging me like this."

Violet just chuckled at the two as Lotus managed to pry herself out of Ethan's tight grip.

"Violet, this is my relatively new friend Kitaro. He's got a problem and I knew how to solve it," Lotus said

"Ah how nice. My little Lotus is so kind," Violet giggled ruffling her sister's hair. She stepped up stopping before Kitaro. She held her hand out giving the short boy a smile. "It's nice to meet you in person Kitaro."

"~She's really nice.~" Kitaro sighed relaxing greatly taking Violet's hand shaking it. "It's nice to meet you too Miss Violet."

"She's acting relatively clam right now."

As the two ended their handshake Violet didn't let go of Kitaro's hand but instead pulled the boy closer to her so they were face to face, mere inches from one another. Kitaro gave a silent yelp as Violet's smile got wider as it felt like the temperature of the room dropped several degrees.

"Don't think just because you're some cute pretty boy I won't have my eyes on you. You're the most dangerous of all the boys." Violet spoke smile still on her face, but a crushing threatening aura surrounded her, signaling that the young woman wasn't messing around.

The meek boy paled backing away from Violet. "~I was wrong she's the scary one!~"

"Ah, there's the real Violet."

Ethan grumbled as he hemmed Kitaro's pants. "I'm just letting you know pretty boy that I'm only doing this because my darling little Lotus asked. Make one move on her and I won't hesitate to prod you with one of my needles."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Kitaro stuttered

"That's the fifth threat he's made so far."

Off in the corner of the room sitting on a chair was Violet, giving an intimidating smile. When Ethan was done with the measurements and pinning Lotus led Kitaro out of the room, trying to get the poor boy out of the tense atmosphere.

"Make sure whatever room you go into that the door stays open!" Violet called out.

Lotus looked at Kitaro as the boy went both pale and red, from fear and embarrassment.

Kitaro and Lotus decided on the living room, there was no way Lotus was bringing Kitaro into her room. Knowing her family if Kitaro stepped within six feet of her door Ethan and Violet would pounce. So she decided if they were going to be alone that the best place would be the living room. Well, the two weren't really alone, Helios sat in the background holding his claymore over his shoulder a piercing gaze focused on Kitaro's back. Lotus was thankful that Kitaro couldn't see the spirit or he'd probably run for the hills.

"Sorry about them they get out of hand real easy," Lotus apologized to Kitaro.

"No, it's fine. It just shows that they really love you," Kitaro said

"~Even though they're terrifying.~"

Lotus set down a tray of tea and some snacks she had prepared.

"Wow, this is really good," Kitaro said after taking a bite.

"Thanks, it's just something I put together real quick. Hey, maybe one day you can come over for a real meal, I do all the cooking and I promise you won't be disappointed," Lotus said

"~Whoa, she cooks too. Lotus-san has so many talents, she's so cool!~" Kitaro thought

"Haha, if he keeps praising me like this my ego might get out of hand."

"I can't really cook and my mother is so busy we typically don't have anything but simple meals. She also doesn't have any extra time to pack lunches for me and my siblings." Kitaro got a panicked look on his face. "N-Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, I know she works really hard and I'm thankful for what she's done."

Kitaro cast his gaze down. "~I really wish I could help someway. Maybe if I could cook like this my mother could have some nice meals after she gets home from work and then she wouldn't have to worry about me and my sibling's meals either.~"

Lotus got a soft smile on her face at Kitaro's thoughts. "Kitaro, you're a really thoughtful kind guy. You don't give yourself enough credit, the way you care for your mothers wellbeing….your cool too."

"If you'd like Kitaro, I could teach you how to cook," Lotus offered

"R-Really?" Kitaro asked eyes wide.

"Of course." Lotus gave Kitaro a bright smile. "I'll make sure to teach you everything I know and you make sure to share your new delicious knowledge with your family."

Lotus's smile was indeed infectious because Kitaro gave a beaming one of his own back to Lotus. "Thank you Lotus-san."

"Ah," Lotus sounded remembering something. "There's one more person I'd like to introduce you to."

"O-Oh okay," Kitaro stuttered nervously once again thinking about his earlier encounters with Lotus's family members.

Lotus got up from the table going to grab a certain blue someone from her room.

"~Please don't let them be scary too!~"

Lotus quickly returned hands behind her back a smile on her face. "Here we are." She held up her furry blue companion. "This is Sir Henry."

"Oh, you have a pet," Kitaro said

"Yes, he's a ferret. I rescued him after some punks were terrorizing him in an alleyway," Lotus said

"~She rescued him? Wow, she just keeps getting cooler!~"

Lotus chuckled inwardly. "Here would you like to pet him?"

"Can I? He won't bite will he?" Kitaro asked

"Not unless he feels threatened. If you're nervous just hold your hand out," Lotus said

"Okay." Kitaro did so putting his hand out palm up.

Lotus moved Sir Henry closer to Kitaro and the ferret stretched his paw out, but instead of putting it on top of Kitaro's open hand his paw landed on the boy's forehead.

"~Your ranking is far below my own. I am your superior.~"

"Haha, I think he likes me," Kitaro smiled

Lotus awkwardly chuckled sweatdropping. "Yeeeaaahhh."

"Alright, how do they feel?" Lotus asked

Kitaro stepped out from behind a curtain wearing his new tailored uniform. "It's perfect! Amazing I haven't had a uniform fit this well in years."

Lotus smiled turning to a pouting Ethan. "You hear that Ethan. Amazing work as always."

Ethan turned his pouting gaze to Kitaro. "I don't need pretty boy to praise me," Ethan then jumped at Lotus hugging her, "as long as I get praises from my sweet little Lotus and lovely Violet, I can face anything in the world."

Kitaro awkwardly chuckled sweatdropping as he watched the two. Lotus managed to pry herself out of Ethan's arms and turned to Kitaro.

"Ethan got two sets done, so you can have those for now. He should be able to get the rest done by the end week since he doesn't have any major projects right now. Right, Ethan?" Lotus said

Ethan nodded his head. "Yup."

"Thank you so much." Kitaro reached into his school bag pulling out his wallet. "I don't have much but-!"

Kitaro yelped as Ethan grabbed his hand forcing Kitaro to close his wallet.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Ethan asked his question coming out as threatening.

"Uh-I-I-w-was," Kitaro stuttered clearly scared not knowing what he did to provoke Ethan this time.

"Whether I like it or not you're a friend of my precious little Lotus and no friend of her's is gonna pay me," Ethan said

Kitaro calmed down at those words feeling a bit less nervous.

"Ya big softie," Lotus giggled

"~He's kind….but still pretty scary.~"