The Feeling of Being Normal【Saiki x Reader】

Wrong First Impressions

She didn't say a word when she came into the library that afternoon. In fact, she didn't say a word for the first twenty minutes of being there. Y/N just slid into the seat across from me and started reading The Illusion of Normalcy.

I preoccupied myself with a few more books I had picked out. Among them were The Human Mind, Psychology I, and What Is Normal? All easy reads, for me, at least. The silence the germanium ring provided was uncomfortable, but something in me fought against the idea of taking it off. It felt wrong, for some reason, to read her thoughts. As if it would be breaking an unsaid promise.

That's silly, I told myself over and over. What promise? It would do you no harm.

But I never took it off.

As I began committing pages to memory, Y/N pulled me to reality.

"Saiki, do you believe in normal?"

I looked up, frowning a bit. What kind of question was that? Nevertheless, I nodded.

"Hm." Her eyebrows knitted for a moment, then she looked back down at the book, not saying a word.

What?

I stared for a moment or two before grabbing the nearest paper and a pen. 'Why do you ask?'

The paper bumped against her arm. She looked down, read it, and drew in a breath before she spoke:

"I don't. I don't believe in normal." Her eyes were in thought. I could almost hear the wheels in her head turning.

What did that even mean?

My confused look must have prompted her on.

"Normal implies that a lot of people think and do the exact same things. That's what makes it 'normal', the fact that the majority do it. But I don't think anyone ever thinks or does the same thing as someone else."

'Well, it's normal to own a car. It's normal for girls to wear skirts to school. If you think about it, all 'normal' means is 'of the norm'.'

That took a while to write out. Luckily, Y/N was patient. She started humming some song while she waited. It was almost endearing.

When I was finished, I slid it in her direction once again. She took it in her hands. I watched as her eyes wandered over my scrawl in contemplation.

"Hm. I see. Well, you're not wrong...I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree."

And just like that, she went back to her book.

I blinked, not understanding any more than before.

Jeez, blindfold me and leave me to fend for myself, why don't you? I thought, hesitantly going back to my reading. It was such an odd thing to say. I'm still confused. Who "doesn't believe in normal"? She's certainly interesting.

We didn't say anything else after that. It was only when the afternoon light began to bleed a bright orange through the windows that we exchanged a glance and got up from out table, pushing our chairs in and collecting books in our arms.

"I'll write up some notes tonight," Y/N said, startling me a bit. She smiled to herself sheepishly. "Hopefully they'll be good enough to carry us through tomorrow..."

I almost didn't catch what she'd said. I was too focused on her eyes. As she stood up, the setting sun struck them at an angle, turning them almost ethereal. It was a color I didn't think I'd ever seen before. I found myself staring.

I nodded at whatever she'd said, and her smile turned less private and more open. As I made my way to the library door, I thought back to my first impression of her this morning: Normal.

She seemed anything but normal now.