Sugary Sweet

I'm sorry

~Key~

"A sentence with quotation marks means someone is talking."

A sentence in italics means someone's thoughts.

A sound effect will be in bold

'A sentence with a single quotation mark means Saiki is reading someone's thoughts'

"Alright, class settle down!" The teacher said as she walked into the noisy classroom. Students hurriedly rushed to their seats and quieted down as they awaited their teacher's next words. Hanabi paused her music and pulled the earbuds out of her ears. She turned her attention from the seemingly boring window to the teacher standing in front of the podium.

"For this week's lesson, we will be working on a project. You will have to pick a famous person in history and talk about their accomplishments and why they are remembered." The whole glass groaned at the thought of doing a stupid and useless project. "Quiet. For this project, you'll be working in pairs and I'll be assigning them." Oh, that's just great, Hanabi sarcastically thought. As long as it's not Saiki I'll be fine.

"Listen up for your names, I will not be repeating myself," the teacher sternly said as he grabbed a piece of paper off the podium."

Hanabi listened intently as her classmates got their names called. She anxiously played with her fingers until her name was finally called. "Hanabi you will be paired up with...," he trailed off, scanning the list of students.

Please don't be Saiki. Please don't be Saiki. Please don't be Saiki, she prayed as she crossed her fingers.

"Saiki." You've got to be shitting me. Hanabi let her head smack down on her desk creating a small 'bam' sound.

Saiki hesitantly looked over at Hanabi. Her body was slouched and her head rested on the cold wooden desk. Saiki sighed to himself and rested his chin on his hand. Maybe I'll be able to tell her what actually happened but considering how we left things off I highly doubt she'll give me a chance. Still, I have to clear things up.

~--------------------------------------------~

The final bell rang and the class erupted in chatter. Everyone including Hanabi began packing up their stuff, desperately wanting to escape from this hell hole.

Hanabi finished packing her stuff and glanced over at Saiki who just began packing his belongings into his bag. It's better to just get this project out of the way. You can do this! She silently encouraged herself as she got up from her chair. She walked and stood in front of Saiki's desk, making him look up and lock eyes with her. For a moment Hanabi felt like the whole world disappeared and it was just the two of them gazing at each other. Her heart pounded as she stared into his mesmerizing magenta eyes hidden behind his glasses. She shook herself out of her trance and cleared her throat.

"Listen, I want to get this done as soon as possible so let's start working on it today." Oh, that was good! Really assertive! "...please," she couldn't help but let slip out. Oh god, now you ruined it.

"Okay," Saiki simply responded.

"Your house or mine?"

"Whichever."

My house would be better but if my dad and brother found out I had a guy over they'd kill me. "Okay let's go to yours then..."

Saiki nodded and Hanabi began walking out of the classroom, leaving Saiki behind. Good grief. Saiki hurriedly shoved his stuff in his bag and stood up from his chair. He walked out of the classroom and quickly caught up with Hanabi.

Damn my short legs. The walk to Saiki's house was awkward and tense. The only sound heard was the birds chirping and the distant sounds of people's conversations.

Saiki opened the door to the house and walked in, Hanabi following suit. Saiki closed the door behind him and began taking off his shoes. Hanabi was about to take off her shoes when she was tackled with a hug.

"It's so nice to see you again Hanabi!" Kurumi's cheery voice rang through her ears. Hanabi giggled and hugged her back.

"It's nice to see you too." Kurumi let go of the hug and gave her a warm smile before looking at Saiki. "You didn't tell me she was coming over. I could've prepared her favorite food," she said slightly pouting.

"We got an assigned project today so I didn't have time to tell you," he stated nonchalantly.

"Well how lucky is it for the two of you to be partners? Love must be on your side!"

Hanabi blushed and flailed her hands around. "U-uh please don't say that."

"Mom that's embarrassing," Saiki said with a slight blush dusted on his cheeks.

Kurumi laughed and gently patted Hanabi's shoulder. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine..." Hanabi mumbled out.

"We're going to get started now," Saiki said as glanced back at Hanabi, motioning his head upstairs.

"Okay! Make sure to keep the door open!"

Hanabi's blush darkened and she stumbled slightly as she fumbled with her shoes. She steadied herself and followed Saiki upstairs and into his room. Saiki closed the door behind Hanabi despite what his mom told him. He walked towards his desk sat down on chair and Hanabi just awkwardly stood there.

Saiki looked at Hanabi and tilted his head. "You can sit on the bed," he said, motioning his hand towards the bed.

"R-right..." Hanabi awkwardly sat down on his bed and placed her bag beside her. They silently sat there, the atmosphere around them growing more awkward and tense. I think this is the most uncomfortable I've felt in my entire life...

Hanabi coughed, breaking the stiff silence. "So for our person, I was thinking of keeping it simple and just going with Einstein. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing over at Hanabi.

"Okay well I guess you can write about his accomplishments and I'll write about why he's remembered..." she trailed off.

Saiki kept his gaze on her. He watched as she slightly fiddled with the hem of her shirt and bit her lip. "Okay."

Hanabi took her notebook and pencil out of the bag and opened it to a clean fresh page. Although she already knew what she needed to know, she googled Einstein's name to gather some sources. She focused her attention on her notebook and phone and began writing.

Saiki turned around in his chair and took out his notebook, placing it on the desk in front of him. He opened to a new page and began writing his side of the information.

They silently worked like this until Hanabi finished with her side. She glanced over at Saiki who had his back turned to her as scribbled in his notebook. Why'd you had to be such a jerk? I can't believe I got myself fooled by someone like you...but is it bad that I don't regret the moments we shared? I liked the little moments we shared, it made me feel special but I guess it was just one-sided. Hanabi remembered the moments they shared: the first time they held hands together, that one time he helped her when she was sick, the date they had, and the time they almost kissed. As she remembered these things she couldn't help but feel the tears start welling up in her eyes ready to spill any second. She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of thoughts but that only made things worse. She started imaging Saiki and Teruhashi on their date. In her mind, they were having the time of their lives. They were holding hands, laughing, and having an overall romantic experience. That was the final straw. Hanabi couldn't keep the tears from falling. The tears streamed down her face and fell on her clenched fists. She sniffled and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes but no avail.

Saiki heard a small sniffling and he turned around. Once he turned around his heart shattered into a million pieces. He watched as Hanabi tried to wipe the tears from her now red and puffy eyes. "Hanabi..." he said softly, making her jump slightly.

Hanabi turned her back towards Saiki. "This is so stupid," she mumbled.

Saiki got up from his chair and sat down next to Hanabi. "Can I tell you what happened? Please?" His soft voice made Hanabi weak to the point where her thoughts became jumbled. She slowly turned her face to face him. When she looked at his face he looked sad and almost vulnerable.

"I don't want to hear your excuses," she said, her voice faintly cracking.

"I just want to tell you the truth." His eyes looked at her pleadingly. "Please."

Hanabi wiped her tears and turned her body to face him. She slowly nodded and waited for him to begin.

"I didn't agree to that 'date'" he said as he air quoted. "Teruhashi called my mom and my mom agreed for me. I didn't want to go but I knew my mom wouldn't take no for an answer so I went but it meant absolutely nothing to me. Throughout the whole day, I was just wishing I was with somebody else..."

"Then why did you lie to me? You could've just told me this from the start."

"That was a shitty move on my part. I know I never should've lied to you but I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea," he sighed and looked into Hanabi's grey eyes. "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. I never wanted this to happen."

Hanabi was speechless. Her face was a blushing mess as she stared back into his magenta eyes. His eyes and his words were so hypnotizing it left her in a trance. I believe him...

After a couple of seconds of them just staring into each other's eyes, Hanabi began giggling. Her small giggles turned into full-on laughter. She clutched her sides and bent forwards.

Saiki was confused as he watched her laugh but it honestly didn't matter to him at the moment. He felt happy that he was able to see her beautiful smile again. He felt at ease as he heard her laughter play into his ear like a soft and heartwarming melody.

Hanabi wiped the stray tears from her eyes and took some breaths to calm herself down. She looked at Saiki who had a soft smile on his face as he gazed at her. Hanabi's eyes were wide as she blushed. "You smiled..."

"Huh?"

"I think that's the first time I've seen you genuinely smile." She stared at him shocked. "It's...nice."

Doki Doki.

Now it was Saiki's turn to blush at her words. Saiki averted his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "Aw, are you embarrassed?" She teasingly said.

"N-no. Why would I be embarrassed," he stuttered.

Hanabi giggled and pointed her finger in his face. "You just stuttered! C'mon don't try to hide it," she said, playfully nudging his side.

"Whatever," was all he can think of possibly saying. After his face cooled down, he glanced at Hanabi who gave him a sweet smile. God how I've missed that smile. "Does this mean we're good?" He asked.

"You're all forgiven Saiki," she said, giving him a thumbs up.

Saiki frowned and Hanabi tilted her head confused. "What's wrong?"

"Call me Kusuo."

Hanabi smiled warmly. "Kusuo~," she said in a sweet sing-songy voice.

Doki Doki.

Saiki stood up from the bed and sat down in his chair. "I should finish my work," he said as an excuse. He hid his face in his hands. His face was bright red and his heart was beating rapidly. I forgot how sweet my name sounded in her voice. How can she make my name sound so angelic? Her voice makes my name sound sugary sweet to the point that I could get addicted to it.

Hanabi giggled to herself and grabbed her notebook. She read it over and looked for typos and mistakes, making sure that it was perfect. As the two of them worked, the tense and awkward atmosphere was now filled with a comfortable and warm silence.

~--------------------------------------------~

"...and that's our presentation on Albert Einstein," Hanabi said, finishing the presentation. The classroom clapped and cheered, making Hanabi blush. Hanabi glanced over at Saiki who was standing next to her and gave him a thumbs up in which he returned.

"Thank you that was great. You may now take your seats," the teacher said.

Hanabi and Saiki sat down at their desks and waited for the next pair to go up and present. It's been a week since Hanabi forgave Saiki and everything went back to normal. Well—almost everything.

Teruhashi couldn't help but be jealous over the fact that Hanabi was chosen as Saiki's partner for the project. Not only that, but she also started to notice how Hanabi acted around which made her think, "does Hanabi like Saiki too?"