They made small argument until later in the evening. Their bickering came to a close when Saiki quickly raised his hand as his eyes trailed off to the side.
"My parents are on their way home. Do you want to go upstairs?"
"No, it's fine. I really should greet them."
He grunted. "Suit yourself."
They waited with nervous anticipation, staring down the door as if there were PSIA operatives ready to burst through it. Soon, Teruhashi heard some shuffling outside. She saw Saiki's brow knit and his eyes roll before he extended his arm forward palm up, followed closely by the door's deadbolt unlocking. Kuniharu-san stumbled through the door, just barely catching himself before he faceplanted into the floor. Kurumi-san followed closely behind as Kuniharu-san levied a stern look at his son, who answered with a smug grin.
Over the past few months, Teruhashi had gotten more and more comfortable with referring to them by their first names, per their request. That didn't mean she would drop the -san, though, she wasn't a perfect pretty girl for nothing.
"Oh, Kokomi-chan!" Kurumi-san exclaimed during a polite bow. "I'm so glad you're here still! I thought we'd miss you!"
"I guess Kusuo had other plans," Kuniharu-san said, shooting a knowing grin at Saiki-kun.
"Stop being annoying."
Kuniharu-san sauntered up to Saiki-kun and slapped his hand on his son's shoulder. "Girlfriends get special privilege after all."
Saiki-kun shot his father a death glare.
"I don't know what I said. I just thought you two were together already from how much you see each other," Kuniharu-san replied, holding his hands up defensively and grinning smugly.
"Honey, don't be mean to Papa when we have guests. It's not very proper." Her expression had changed from a cheerful smile to a polite grin, but Teruhashi could feel a terrifying, evil aura surging out from her as her face seemed to transform into that of an oni. Who really was this woman?
"Tch," Saiki-kun scoffed.
"Kusuo, why not cut me a bit of slack for misinterpreting. I'm only human after all," Kuniharu-san tutted before turning to Teruhashi.
"Please forgive him, Kokomi-chan. My son sometimes gets a little too caught up to control his temper," Kuniharu-san said as Saiki-kun folded his arms across his chest.
Why was he upset at the thought of me being his girlfriend?
Saiki-kun glanced at her sad expression, reacting with a pained flutter of his brow. His expression softened and he sighed heavily. "She's not my girlfriend. She's just a good friend."
Teruhashi's gaze drooped and her brow fluttered. She, Kokomi Teruhashi, friendzoned? The romantic tension was obvious to both of them, but it still stung to hear.
Teruhashi looked up as an evil aura permeated the room, enveloping it in a cold, dark realm of shadow that swallowed up even the faintest vestiges of light.
"Kusuo Saiki, I am going to make dinner now. Take Kokomi-chan upstairs. If there is not a smile on her face when she comes back down, I will bar you from eating coffee jelly in this house until further notice." Kurumi-san took on the full appearance of an oni bearing the armor of a samurai wielding the characteristic spiked club. All trembled at the sight as they exhaled the fog of a chilled breath from the lightless abyss by which they had been swallowed.
"Come on," Saiki said tersely as he nodded his head toward the stairs, only visible by the glimmer of blood red stars layered over it. Teruhashi swallowed and hustled up the stairs behind Saiki-kun. The infinite void persisted until the door to Saiki-kun's room, which still bore its normal appearance. As Saiki-kun opened the door, the light inside of it flashed brilliantly, causing her to cover her eyes. She quickly stepped in behind Saiki and shut the door.
"Has Kurumi-san always been this terrifying?" Teruhashi asked, her chest heaving.
"Not this bad," Saiki said, as he attempted to to smooth his palpable shiver.
They both hung their heads, the gravity of their situation having become too much to bear.
Teruhashi could offer no coherent thoughts. The only sound that occupied her mind was the hammer of her heart and the only feeling a lump in her throat.
"Look, we both agreed earlier that the relationship that we have is-" he sucked in a breath- "special. I wish there were a different word between friend and partner."
"No, you're just awful at admitting things. Like I said, I don't want to force you to do anything-"
"No. God has already set the path. I can't fight it at this point," Saiki said with a sigh.
"That's the worst confession I've ever heard."
"It's not a confession."
"Then what is it?"
Saiki shifted uncomfortably.
"You're… special to me too."
Her expression softened and small smile crossed her lips, but was quickly replaced by a coquettish grin. "See, was that so hard?" she said, bowing forward and shooting him a smug side-eye.
He scowled at her. "You're already making me regret this."
"I think we're far beyond regret at this point."
He crossed his arms and pouted, turning his face away from her. But when he met her gaze again, his facial features softened as he gave her that heart-warming look that she always pined for. Wait, was that his eyes glowing, or a… shimmer? What in the world was he thinking right now?
"You're pretty good."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"No comment."
She huffed angrily. It was to be expected, she supposed. This relationship burn was the slowest of the century because of his constant need to obfuscate his feelings and intentions. Then again, he probably did not even understand them in the first place.
It was more than apparent that he was not willing to give an inch, so they changed subjects to various small talk until Saiki perked up.
"Dinner's ready."
She nodded politely and followed him downstairs.
"Good evening, Kokomi-chan!"
"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Saiki!" she greeted them with a warm smile, finding the table set with 4 portions of tempura shrimp, tentsuyu sauce, and grilled vegetables. Kurumi-san had gotten in the habit of making very hearty meals when she was over, having picked up on Kokomi's bittersweet relationship with food.
"It looks like you and Ku-chan are on better terms now!" Kurumi-san observed, returning her warm smile.
"Thank you for being so understanding of our son being a bit of a buzzkill…" Kuniharu-san grinned smugly at Saiki-kun, who returned a dour scowl.
"Oh, don't worry about it! We made sure we cleared up some misunderstandings, so things are fine now!" Teruhashi said with a dismissive hand wave and a cute chuckle.
"Please, join us!" Kurumi-san gestured toward the table.
Teruhashi smiled brightly and sat in her chair, closely followed by Saiki-kun.
"So, did you two become official up there?" Kuniharu-san raised his eyebrow suggestively. Saiki-kun seemed deep in thought; she could only imagine he was thinking about how to answer without provoking Kurumi-san.
"No, but we're just… taking things slowly is all. We both have things we need to figure out." Teruhashi said anxiously, bowing her head and fidgeting with the hem of her dress. That was the best she could do given the time constraints. Saiki-kun did say that she could think romantic thoughts about him, so she couldn't imagine that he'd hate that she tried to bail him out.
"Thanks." She nearly gasped when she heard that.
The parents nodded, catching the trepidation in her voice and responding in kind. They more than understood how their son was and recognized that they needed to let the two of them be for the time being.
"How was today?" Kurumi-san broke the heavy silence.
"It was great! Saiki-kun bought a dessert buffet and of course everything in it was amazing!" Teruhashi exclaimed, fondly remembering sharing a "meal" with her best friend.
-kun was an honorific used for familiarity, almost akin to a pet name. She had become accustomed to using it in front of his parents after they had urged, "You need a way to separate us all. This is getting a little too confusing." All of them knew that was a ruse. Perhaps it was fate that they had inadvertently stumbled upon her pet name for him.
"That's my boy! He sometimes isn't as much of a buzzkill so I'm glad he showed you a good time!" Kuniharu-san responded proudly, though Teruhashi detected more than a hint of condescension directed at Saiki-kun.
"I'm not your boy," Saiki-kun responded tersely.
"I made you, so you should show me more respect!"
"Nothing about you is respectable."
"Papa! We have a guest!" Kurumi-san laughed.
Kuniharu-san's jokes were often cheesy and sometimes crass, but he was much more endearing than Saiki-kun made him out to be. He felt... not exactly like a father figure, but part of a family she could come to when things got tough at home. Kurumi-san was similar, always considering her needs and making her feel welcome in their home. They were quite strange, but she had grown very fond of them. They had become a second family for her, a home she could come to in case things got too complicated outside.
The way the Saikis fought, the way they loved their son, the way they loved her... it didn't exactly feel normal, but it felt like something she could more than get used to.
The 4 of them chattered on. Kuniharu-san tried to regale her with his stories that she was pretty sure were extremely embellished if not outright made up, Kurumi-san continued to fail at picking up on social cues, and Saiki-kun reacted to their antics in a way that practically screamed "Yare Yare, what a pain" even if he never said it aloud. Unfortunately, their good time had to come to an end.
Teuhashi put her utensils down as she finished her dinner. "Thank you for the food, Kurumi-san, it was amazing as always! Unfortunately, it is late though; I should be getting home. I've been gone a long time, and my brother will be worried," Teruhashi said politely, but with a palpable undertone of sadness.
The parents glanced at each other. "We understand, Kokomi-chan. Papa and I just wish you could stay longer," Kurumi-san said wistfully with Kuniharu-san nodding in assent.
"Just make sure you two get some alone time, alright?" Kuniharu-san said suggestively.
She felt a slight pressure on her shoulder as she was whisked back to her room, leaving his parents in the kitchen.
Papa sighed heavily. "You know, dear, I've noticed something about those kids in the past few months," he said.
"What's that, dear?"
"There's just an odd... heaviness about them."
Mama nodded. "There's very little passion in anything they do. It's as if just getting through the day takes all their energy," she finished his thought.
"It's easy for us to understand Kusuo since he spends so much effort trying to put on a "normal" costume that just doesn't fit."
"It seems similar for Kokomi-chan, too."
"Even outside of the tension of their situation?"
"Yes."
"How do you know that?" Papa said.
"Call it mother's intuition." Mama giggled.
Papa shrugged. "Well, I hope they work it out, whatever it is."
"You need to stop being such a tsundere, too," Mama teased.
Papa only replied with a low chuckle.
A whisper of wind punctuated their arrival into Teruhashi's room.
"Yare yare, he's such a pain," Saiki rolled his eyes.
Teruhashi merely nodded, casting her eyes down as a furious blush overtook her face.
Saiki swallowed. "I have something else to tell you." She jumped when she sensed the trepidation in his voice.
"Aiura came to talk to me the other day. She… kissed me." The color drained from her face.
Teruhashi's eyes went wide, and her heart skipped a beat. "W-w-why?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but she did ask me to 'apologize in advance' to you."
Teruhashi nodded slowly. "I think I might know."
"Hm?"
"It was a goodbye kiss."
"That was the impression I got too; I just didn't know how to say it. I think there was a bit more to it."
She pressed her fingers together. "D-d-did she kiss you on the lips?" she stammered meekly, the crimson returning to her cheeks.
"No. Just the cheek."
Teruhashi wiped her brow and sighed.
"Why is that what you're concerned about?"
"N-n-no particular r-r-reason."
I want to be his first...
She slapped her hand over her mouth.
"I already told you it was fine," he said, though it seemed he was trying to reassure himself just as much as her.
"T-thank you for telling me," she said as her irregular breaths slowed.
He nodded.
"What made you think it was a goodbye kiss?"
"I had a conversation with her after you left my birthday party." Her face dropped. "It wasn't a very happy one. I would like to keep it to myself; it was very personal."
"I understand."
His posture straightened. "I should probably get going soon. It's almost been 3 minutes."
She gave him a small nod that was closely followed by his vanishing act.
His habit of abruptly broaching difficult topics was not good for her heart.
Saiki arrived in his room, heaving a relieved sigh that he got through that interaction without making her hate him. He had never been successful at that before anyway, so he wondered why he worried about it.
The part of Aiura's farewell that he had not revealed to Teruhashi knocked on the door to his mind. Given tonight's events, perhaps it was time to start evaluating whether Teruhashi fit the criteria.
He really did enjoy doing things with her. His life had been better for every moment she was involved in it even before she discovered his powers. He had, in part, expected that the challenge he sought would come the same way a certain caped baldy expected it; someone who could overpower him, someone who could beat him at his own game. Somehow, she defied those expectations while still being able to warp the world to her will in her own way.
Over the past few months, she ended up becoming so much more than just a challenge for him after. She was spunky, kind, and earnest; all things that he was not. But she had a bad attitude and cynicism to match his. Her relentless pursuit of perfection aggravated him sometimes (read: a lot), but she wouldn't be who she was without it. She made him a better person.
Is that what Aiura meant by "complementing each other?"
Seeing her grow and let down her walls made him feel… proud? All he knew was that her successes were his in many ways, and he knew she reciprocated his sentiment. Her laughter and that genuine smile put him at ease in a way he didn't really understand, and it felt rewarding to ensure that they stuck around.
He supposed that he wanted to support her more than others as well, otherwise he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of making sure that pest didn't get in the way of both of her birthday celebrations. He did feel a little bad that the pest's arm got broken, though. This time he'd take about 40% of the blame.
Is that what Aiura meant by "their happiness matters more than yours?"
He wasn't sure, and that scared him. What was that "leap of faith" then? There was a certain meaning he had assigned it when he asked, but as their conversation went on, he became less sure. Is that what a partner was? Someone you wanted to be around all the time?
Can I ever be normal with her around?
A question he had asked himself many times. Neither of them were normal, but his powers weakening showed that she had made a larger impact than he had thought possible. Why had she been able to lower his powers instead of the solitude he thought he wanted? A question he still had no answer to.
He forced down those ponderous questions. Doing was more important than thinking.