Bouncing Back | Saiki K. [𑁍]

chappie 23

"oohh.." you whined within you as you twirled a strand of hair around your finger. "tough spot, [ name ]. tough spot."

other than kusuo's powers, your feelings towards him had become a new source of anxiety for him. he, as a psychic is aware that human emotion can change in a blink of an eye. it was almost unbelievable that he got himself worrying for someone who he once swatted away like a bug.

"i'm really sorry.." you randomly stated. hands over your face as countless muffled murmurs can be heard from you. "i know you said that i shouldn't be sorry, but you know i can't help myself!"

"it's consent you're worried about, right?" kusuo asked, crossing his arms. "it's fine. it's my fault for provoking you out of nowhere and doubting your feelings."

"i'm off the hook?" you asked, hand on your chest as you turned ot kusuo in disbelief.

"you always were," kusuo responded. "what are you doing here, by the way?"

"ah..i was going to buy a gift for your parents-y'know.." you said, rubbing your arm with your free hand as you gave off a sly shrug. "since i'll be..celebrating christmas with you guys."

kusuo nodded. "i heard." he said. "i hope you aren't too uncomfortable celebrating with us because i'm there."

"no. i'm not. heck, i should be the one asking you if you're okay with me being there." you said, letting out an awkward laugh as you shift your gaze in different directions.

"you're fine." kusuo said, slipping his hand inside the pocket of his coat.

it has been a while since you got to talk to kusuo about certain things. talking to him was like writing your genuine feelings down on a piece of paper and receiving comfort and assurance every so often. although he doesn't respond much, he still made you feel like talking about your thoughts is something to be normalised.

thirty minutes has passed and you and kusuo were still stucked on the elevator.

time was ticking but you couldn't even tell.

"how's your ankle now?" kusuo asked.

you stomped your supposed to be injured ankle, not reacting before looking at kusuo with a wide grin. "they don't hurt anymore." you said, moving your foot around. "it feels like i wasn't injured to begin with."

"do you still practice?" kusuo once again, asked.

you smiled, taking a seat on the opposite side of kusuo as you pulled your legs up to your chest, enveloping them with your arms. "mrs saiki caught me practicing near a court a month ago. at night." you said. "i didn't know she knew about my injured ankle. so i was startled when she suddenly scolded me for pushing myself to my limit."

you tilted your head back as you recalled the memory. "she sounded so concern. she said that she was hurt seeing me hurt." you said, your brows raising. "i felt overwhelmed, of course. was i really worthy to be cared for?..i didn't wanna disappoint mrs. saiki. so i stopped my night practices."

kusuo can tell that you really appreciated mrs. saiki for everything she had done.

he had always wondered why his own mother grew fond of you. but now that he had this conversation with you, he can finally know why.

"..that's nice." kusuo responded. there wasn't much to say, really. if there were, he had the feeling that it's mrs. saiki who's suppose to say it.

since kusuo ended the conversation to just that, you two fell in silence.

and when an awkward and silence atmosphere is surrounding you, you can't seem to help but wander your eyes around your current position. it looks weird from other people's perspective, buy it does lessen the tension.

however, this time around, you can't seem to help but shoot a glance at kusuo every so often. to be more specific, you can't seem to help glancing at his eyes then to his lips.

your eyes were stuck to those two certain parts. whenever you do, the event of suddenly kissing kusuo out of nowhere begins to play in your head-making your cheeks grow rather warm.

kusuo, of course, can see what goes through your head and is wondering why you have to think about the kissing incident now out of all moments. but he was calm enough to keep his composure up and not look messed up like you are, right now.

"oh-oh my, they sure are taking their time." you randomly commented, fanning yourself with your hand after finally feeling the intense heat your cheeks are giving you. "GOD! [ NAME ]! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!! SAIKI MIGHT HATE YOU MORE."

kusuo draws imaginary circles on the elevator's matt with his index finger. his small smile that formed when he saw you get all flustered twisting into a frown when he heard that certain thought of yours.

"I..never.."

"hey-o-oh-saiki what are you-"

one hand on your knee, kusuo raises a finger, slyly moving it to the direction of the elevator's camera-turning it off.

"hated you."

cheeks flushing red at the feeling of his warm lips against yours, your eyes widened in pure shock-not only in shock. it was sudden and yet you felt how warm and soft his kiss is.

it was drowning you and you wanted to kiss back. so bad.

"this is wrong!!" you screamed in your thoughts.

the sudden realisation struck you as you found your hands pushing kusuo away from you; also aggressively parting away from the kiss. which made you immediately regret it.

"i-i'm sorry-it's just that-" you covered your mouth, face painted all red, butterflies swarming all over insideyour stomach. "a-are you okay?! i didnt mean to-it's just that-"

the faint sounds of people outside the elevator began to enter your hearing range. gladness hovering your worries up as you heard the elevator door open.

the repairers jumped at the sight of the elevator door opening as well. they haven't even done that much work, there was no way the elevator can work all so suddenly.

"i-i-" you stammered, standing up from your sitting position. without hesitation, you stood up and took off. "I'M SORRY!!"

kusuo furrows his brows, looking down as he let out a heavy sigh.

"are you okay?" one of the repairers asked as they helped kusuo up from his kneeling position.

"it's better to double check to make sure," kusuo said. "it's not fix, yet."

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12/10/20