This is Lotus

This is Saiki

~Thoughts of others~

It's A Date! - More Than Two is a Crowd!

It was finally time. Lotus was so nervous, it wasn't the most nervous she had ever been, but it definitely made the top of the list.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror taking in her outfit.

Since this was a date Lotus wanted to look nice but didn't want to be overly dressed. With the help of Ethan and Violet, Lotus had decided on a nice semi-casual dress.

Her dress had lace short sleeves and the skirt of the garment flared out going to her knees. The dress had a modest neckline with a nice pressed collar. Her shoes were floral patterned wedge heeled sandals with straps that tied around her ankles into a bow.

Lotus turned around. "How do I lo….?"

She sweatdropped at the sight before her. Ethan and Violet were standing before Lotus, crying their eyes out. Of course, both of them had hand-embroidered handkerchiefs in their hands, to dab away their tears.

"L-Lotus you're going on your first date!" Violet cried

"You're growing up so fast!" Ethan cried

"Next thing you know she'll be moving out!" Violet cried

"Then she'll have her own family!" Ethan cried

"With cute little pink-haired children running around!" Violet said

Lotus sweatdropped even more. "It's a date, not a wedding."

*DING DONG*

"Saved by the doorbell."

"There's Saiki. Don't wanna keep him waiting," Lotus said quickly exiting the room.

She made her way downstairs to the front door and opened it. Of course, it was Saiki standing on the other side.

"Hi Saiki," Lotus greeted

It wasn't that often that Lotus saw Saiki not in his uniform. The male psychic was dressed in a white button-down shirt along with some blue slacks, with a light jacket thrown over.

"He looks nice."

It took a brief moment for Lotus's own thoughts to sink in, and her cheeks started to heat up with a light blush.

"Am I blushing? Oh, gosh am I blushing?!"

"What are they doing?"

Lotus looked over her shoulder and saw both Ethan and Violet staring at the two rather intently from the living room window. The engaged couple not making any attempt to hide.

"Let's go!" Lotus said

Lotus and Saiki walked down the street. The boy took note of how Lotus avoided all eye contact and was just acting all out of character.

Lotus herself had noticed her own awkwardness, and it was killing her. She walked close to Saiki, her hands occasionally brushing his. She wasn't sure if that was a sign to hold his hand, and even if Saiki would be okay with that.

Saiki mentally sighed and took the initiative grabbing Lotus's hand.

"If you want to hold my hand, just do it."

Lotus flushed, "O-Oh okay!"

"Get a grip! Gah! This is so hard! I've always been pretty confident in myself, but I've never been in a situation like this before. Okay, Lotus get it together. Even though it's a date, you've hung out with Saiki tons of times before. Don't let newly discovered feelings make things awkward. This is just like how we hung out before, making it a date just makes it more special and cherished in our memories! Other than that...it's just a normal fun outing with Saiki!"

Lotus steeled herself swallowing her nervousness. Saiki felt Lotus move her hand, and she adjusted their hold so their fingers were intertwined. He looked at Lotus, and she gave him one of her usual bright smiles.

"She's back to normal."

Saiki and Lotus continued their way down the street with a much calmer atmosphere around the two. As they entered the part of the city dedicated to shopping the sidewalk was soon crowded with people.

"Alright we just need to go down three more blocks take a right turn and we should be there," Lotus said

Lotus and Saiki came to a crosswalk, joining the large number of people who were waiting to safely cross the street.

"~Is that Saiki?~"

Both Lotus and Saiki freeze up when the thoughts of none other than Teruhashi enters their minds. The girl stood a couple of feet away amongst the crowd of people. From her spot, she could only see Saiki, as Lotus was luckily being blocked by a man standing behind her.

"~It is Saiki, and he's all alone. I better go say hello, after all seeing me will definitely brighten up his day.~"

Lotus and Saiki looked at one another, and they didn't need telepathy to know what the other was thinking.

They could not let Teruhashi see them together.

"If she sees us-"

"-she'll never leave us alone."

Teruhashi seeing Lotus and Saiki on a date would just cause a myriad of problems. First off Teruhashi would, without a doubt, figure out a way to smuggle her way into the two psychic's date. Also, the girl pestered the two enough as it is, if she thought they were dating the girl would go full force trying her best to outshine Lotus in any way to make Saiki notice her more. It would be troublesome to them both, she would never leave the two alone.

Teruhashi started to make her way through the crowd towards Saiki, people moving and parting ways for the pretty girl.

"She's closing in." Lotus sweated as she saw Teruhashi's blue hair bob through the throngs of people. "It's like one of those shark movies where the fin sticks out atop the water as the beast below heads towards its prey."

"~Since he can't see me with his back turned, I'll just walk up behind him. He'll turn around and be so shocked and blinded by my beauty, I'll definitely get an 'Oh wow' from him!~" Teruhashi thought

"Think again."

Lotus looked up at the crosswalk sign and saw they still had at least 10 seconds before the light would change, plenty of time for Teruhashi to reach them

"Saiki, do you have any ideas, because I'm drawing a blank. All I can think of is teleportation but there are too many people around. It'd raise some questions if two teenagers just suddenly vanished."

"Right, so I'll just go with this."

Teruhashi snickered to herself as she closed in on Saiki.

"~Got you!~" She gave a closed-eyed smile placing a hand on Saiki's shoulder.

"Oh, Saiki, what a surprise running into you here," Teruhashi said

"Huh?"

"Saiki" turned around facing Teruhashi.

"Oh wow."

"~Ha! I knew it. Saiki finally-Who the heck is this guy?!~"

Teruhashi's eye went wide and her jaw dropped seeing a guy who was most definitely not Saiki.

The light changed giving the pedestrians the go. Lotus and Saiki, hand in hand, quickly made their way across the street, Teruhashi stuck on the other side by the random guy she had greeted.

"Saiki, you were right, hypnosis is one of your most underrated powers. You never cease to amaze me."

Saiki felt the corners of his mouth twitch a bit, a smile wanting to come to.

The duo made it three blocks and were about to make their right turn when Lotus let out a small startled gasp. Saiki was about to telepathically ask her what was up, but she quickly wrapped her arms around his and pulled him back into a side street alley. Saiki was confused and his eyes widened a fraction as he was softly pushed against the wall of the alley, Lotus pressed against him, the two chest to chest.

*DOKI DOKI DOKI*

Lotus paid no mind to Saiki, as she glanced outwards to the main street. Saiki did his best to ignore his beating heart and studied Lotus's face. Seeing how her focus was somewhere else he turned his attention in the same direction and he quickly figured out why Lotus had pulled them into the alley. Someone walked by the entryway briefly pausing.

"Huh? I could've sworn I saw my buddies." Nendou wore a confused expression as he scratches the back of his head. "Oh well, time to get some ramen!"

The duo stayed still as Nendou walked off.

"That was a close one."

Lotus let out a sigh before looking back to Saiki, that is when she became hyper-aware of the position the two were in. She was leaning against Saiki, her hands on his chest, their faces not too far apart. Lotus felt her cheeks get hot, and she stepped back pulling away from Saiki.

"S-Sorry about that! I didn't mean to get so close!" Lotus said

Saiki stood up from the wall, he peeked out the alleyway to make sure Nendou was gone. When the coast was clear he turned back to Lotus, grabbed her hand intertwining their fingers, and left the alleyway with Lotus in tow.

"We finally made it."

"Who knew just trying to get to one restaurant would be such an endeavor."

Saiki and Lotus were just down the street of the dessert place, which was located in a multilevel restaurant.

As they headed towards the building a girl ran by them, then another, then three more. Lotus raised a confused brow as to what was going on that is until two women exclaimed something rather loudly.

"Hurry up! We don't wanna miss anything!"

"I can't believe they're filming a new Mugami Tooru movie next door!"

Once again Lotus and Saiki froze.

"Did they just say they were filming a Tooru movie next door?"

The pink-haired duo slowly turned around and saw throngs of girls and women crowding around a tall building. The area had been blocked off and there was security personnel stationed around to prevent any rabid fans from entering. Dozens of the girls in the crowd sported Tooru gear, a good handful were even holding signs. Mugami Tooru, also known as Makoto Teruhashi was nearby.

Lotus paled, "He is filming a movie next door."

"Hurry."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Lotus and Saiki rushed down the sidewalk making their way inside the restaurant. Just as they entered the doors someone caught a glimpse of the girl's pink hair disappearing inside.

"Wow, this place is amazing," Lotus said

The restaurant had four floors and an open roof. The first floor and the roof were an open lounging area, a place for people to wait for reservations or just to have drinks and be sociable.

The second floor was for casual dining, the third floor was fine dining, and the fourth floor was a dessert lounge. And that is where Saiki and Lotus would be eating. The two teens hop on an escalator heading up to the fourth floor.

When they reached their floor they were instantly greeted by the wonderful scent of decadent sweets. After showing a waiter their reservation Lotus and Saiki were led to a small booth with a round table.

"It smells like we stepped into a chocolate factory or something." Lotus looked at Saiki. "But I bet you're wondering if they have coffee jelly."

Saiki looked at Lotus, and she giggled not needing to read his mind to know that's exactly what he was thinking.

"No need to wonder any longer Saiki, they do. I checked," Lotus said

Saiki glanced away from Lotus adjusting his glasses. A young man walked over to their table, greeting the two with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Ibuki. I shall be your waiter for this evening. Here are your menus, today's special dessert of the day is a dark chocolate fudge crêpe cake, perfect for two." Ibuki smiled seeing the two a wink. "A great choice for couples."

"Oh-Uh were not…" Lotus said

"Oh, my bad. I was under the impression that you two were on a date," Ibuki apologized

"We are."

"Well we are on a date, but it's...a first," Lotus said

Ibuki blinked before he smiled, "Ah I see! Well, I hope you two the best."

"~This guy better keep her. I'd kill to have a girlfriend that pretty.~"

Lotus just held her smile, it wasn't Ibuki's fault she could hear his thoughts, plus it's not like he said anything wrong. Compared to the other thoughts of guys she's heard, Ibuki's was refreshing.

Ibuki gave them their menus along with some water and left them alone to decide on what they wanted to order.

Lotus and Saiki opened their menus going over the desserts that the restaurant offered.

"Let's see...I don't think I've ever seen so many sweets on one menu. I can't decide, what do you think Saiki?" Lotus asked

"Get the cheesecake first."

Lotus hummed to herself smiling, "That is a good choice. I do love cheesecake."

"~Where is she?! Where is she!? Where is she?!~"

The loud shouting of someone's thoughts made Saiki and Lotus look up from their menus.

Lotus frowned, "Are. You. Kidding. Me."

"Seriously? How troublesome."

Standing at the entrance of the restaurant was none other than superstar Makoto.

"What in the world is he doing here?!"

Makoto was talking to one of the waiters talking very animatedly towards the worker.

"Mr. Tooru, what do we owe the pleasure? Has the filming next door taken a pause?"

"I'm looking for a woman. She's got pink hair. I was informed that she came in here," Makoto said

"Did he just walk off the film set?"

"And followed us into the restaurant?"

The waiter actually let Makoto in and was leading him through the restaurant, towards Saiki and Lotus's table. Lotus ducked down under the table hiding and Saiki followed, using the tablecloth as a cover.

Makoto and the waiter reached the table, and the waiter was a tad confused not seeing the pink-haired teens.

"Hmm...That's odd they were both just here."

"I'm sorry, but did you say both?" Makoto asked

"Yes, the young lady you're looking for was on a date."

"~A date?! Who-Who dares to even look at my wife!~" Makoto thought

Putting on a strained smile Makoto looked at the waiter.

"Thank you. Maybe they both needed to use the restroom. I'll just wait here for them," Makoto said

When the waiter walked away, Makoto dropped his smile. He took a seat at the table, and angrily crossed his arms, waiting for Lotus and her date to return.

Makoto would wait for hours not knowing that Lotus and Saiki were long gone. He only left due to his manager finding him and practically dragging him back to the film set.

"Well that was a bust," Lotus sighed out

"What a waste."

Lotus and Saiki managed to escape Makoto, using the tablecloth as a cover to teleport their way out of the restaurant.

"What kind of first date this has turned out to be." Lotus crossed her arms. "No, I'm not gonna let this turn out this way."

She turned to Saiki.

"Saiki, I'm gonna need you to grab a large blanket, one you wouldn't mind if it got a little dirty. Then in one hour meet me at my house," Lotus said

"What are you doing?"

Lotus smiled, "You'll see…"

About an hour later Saiki and Lotus were sitting in a secluded area of a park atop a small hill. Before them was the lovely view of a serene lake, with the sun setting on the horizon. The two were sitting on a blue blanket that had been spread out on the grass. Laid out on the blanket were various dessert dishes from several different places.

"Well…It's not a fancy dessert buffet, but at least the view is great!" Lotus smiled as she looked from the skyline to Saiki.

"Yeah," Saiki agreed

Lotus gave a small giggle looking back to the sunset, unaware that Saiki kept his eyes forward, facing Lotus.

"Oh!" Lotus smiled digging into the bag she had brought. "I got these. My Dad saw them when he and my mother were in France." She pulled out two small boxes. "Ta-da!"

Saiki read the cover of the boxes and saw that they were portable video game systems, with a game included. One was pink and the other was green.

"The pink one is mine and the green one is for you. I also got this new game to play. It is in French but it thought that wouldn't be a problem with your powers, but that means no spoilers."

"You...got me a game console?"

"Yeah. I noticed you didn't have one of the portable ones. I was getting one too, so I thought why not get you one as well, so we could play PvP and Co-op games together. If you're worried about the cost don't worry about it. It's a gift," Lotus handed the green console over to Saiki, "But you buy the next game okay." She smiled, giving Saiki a wink.

*DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI*

Saiki took the console as he felt his heartbeat.

"Now let's eat junk food and play video games!" Lotus cheered

Saiki gazed at Lotus and smiled. He wouldn't mind spending days like this. It was definitely things like this that made him fall for her.

After playing games and eating baked goods till the sun had long set, Lotus and Saiki finally packed up and teleported home, with Lotus's arm hooked in Saiki's. They arrived in front of Lotus's house.

"Uhm…" Lotus turned facing Saiki.

Saiki stared at Lotus, she kept her sights to the left, avoiding eye contact with him. It was a pain having people's constant thoughts rampantly run through his mind, and he found it calming to be around Lotus, the one person's thoughts he couldn't read. But now in this very moment, that's all he wanted to do.

"What is she thinking? Why isn't she making eye contact?"

"Saiki...I…"

Lotus moved, she had to be quick lest she loses all confidence for this moment. Her hands gently landed on Saiki's shoulders as she knelt in close. Saiki's eyes widened as he felt something soft yet warm gently press against his cheek.

Lotus pulled away from Saiki, her face now mimicking the color of a fresh ripe apple.

"Saiki, even though things didn't go as planned I had a really good time. I hope you did too and that we can go out together again!"

Lotus's words came out so fast if it had been anyone but Saiki who had heard them they'd have missed it. The teen swiftly pivoted on her heels and started to quickly make her way to her front door. She was just reaching for the doorknob when she heard Saiki.

"Goodnight Lotus."

Lotus's eyes went wide and she froze. The girl stood still for a moment or two before she turned around, but Saiki was gone. Lotus continued to stare at the empty spot where Saiki once stood, as she slowly brought a hand up to her chest placing it over her heart. Her flushed face had died down a bit, but the apple of her cheeks were still glowing.

"Just now...Did Saiki...use his real voice?"