' LETS TALK MORE. '
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All Saiki had wanted was to get his power stabilizers fixed. He wanted the job to be quick and easy so he could burry back home. That's all he wanted. However, it was clear to Saiki that nothing ever went his way.
Since his parents were so scatter-brained, it took almost two hours after getting off the plane to meet with his brother. And even after getting his stabilizers fixed, his brother sent the older two on a date. So now he was stuck listening to Kusuke's mindless rambles.
'His inferiority complex gets more worse every time I see him.'
To speed up the process, Saiki teleported them both. Instead of being outside, they were now inside a hotel room.
"Wow! Teleportation is really such an amazing thing," Kusuke noted.
'Hold on. I must be hearing things.' Kusuo looked around the room, his brother watching with a smirk.
"Ah, that's right. They're in the room right next to us."
In the other room, Kaidou and Nendo were talking together. To their side, Asher was peacefully sleeping, unbothered by anything around him.
"Hey buddy, look! It looks like the drawings that would be in manga."
"Weren't we brought here for some kind of surprise?" Kaidou ignored Nendo. "What if this was a trap set by the Dark Reunion?!"
"What they hell are they doing here!?" Kusuo 'shouted' at Kusuke.
"Oh, I called them before you arrived. 'Kusuo's coming to London, why don't you come and surprise him?' I sent them plane tickets and everything!"
"Oh, come on! They would never call for something that obvious—"
'Actually, they totally would.' Saiki facepalmed.
"Alright, so why'd you bring them here?"
"Play a game with me, Kusuo." He smiled to his younger brother, sitting on the edge of a bed. "A game of tag across the city of London!"
"Uhhh..."
"I lost at rock-paper-scissors, so I'll be it. You'll have three hours. As long as you don't leave London, you can take any kind of transportation. What do you think? Sounds fun?'
"What's the point? London's as big as 23 wards in Japan combined."
"You're gonna take those three with you, so you can't use your power as freely—"
"No way," he deadpanned.
"Did I mention that if you win, I'll treat you to any sweet they offer in the afternoon?"
That was an immediate switch for Saiki. "Okay. Tag starts now." Saiki rushed out of the room and over to the next room over.
"Hey, buddy!!" Nendo shouted.
"Surprised to see us?"
Asher shot up from the couch after the commotion, looking around the room quickly. "Huh? What?"
"Enough of that, lets just go."
"Hey, guys!" Kusuke popped his head in. "We're gonna play tag now!"
"Huh..?"
The blond tried to explain as quickly as possibly what they would be doing, and the rules they were limited to. Asher was still trying to fully wake himself up, so he hardly heard anything that was said. Kusuo had to grab him by the wrist and pull him out of the room because of how dazed he had been. When he snapped out of it, they were already walking outside.
"What's going on?" Asher questioned groggily.
"Yeah, Saiki. I don't get it."
"Sorry for dragging you into this, but shut up and go with it. Something very important is at stake." The pinkette didn't even bother looking up from the map in his hands.
"I'm used to being chased by the Dark Reunion. Tag is nothing to me!"
"Yeah! People don't call me 'Nen, the tag champ' for nothin'!"
'He's probably betting on dessert or somethin'. These morons have no idea.'
'You know me too well.'
They had been walking around for half an hour, and nothing had happened. Saiki was almost blindly leading them from street to street, passing by several civilians on the way.
"So we're playing tag, and the boundaries are London?" Asher recapped. He was much more focused now. "Isn't that unfair for your brother?"
They walked towards the subway, but it was gated shut. Supposedly, it was shut down. Asher heard Saiki click his tongue and walk back up the stairs, the rest following.
'Oh no, he's getting angry.'
'No, just a little annoyed.'
They also attempted taxis and buses, but there was no use. The roads were filled with traffic.
"What should we do!?" Kaidou shouted.
Saiki stopped walking, the four of the stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. Suddenly, Saiki's eyes went cross-eyed in an uncomfortable-looking manner.
"Holy fuck— Saiki? Are you okay!?"
The pinkette disregarded their concern, guiding them to rental bikes instead. They all grabbed their own, cycling down different sidewalks and alleyways. They hadn't got that far before Kaidou collapsed.
"Maybe.. we should take.. a break," Kaidou spoke between breaths.
A break did sound nice. Possibly they would have some time to chit-chat. Maybe he would be able to speak to Saiki... But those plans were immediately canceled. Kusuke came flying from above them, crashing down on them with another bike.
"Seriously!?"
"He has gone batshit! Can we win against a guy like him!?"
• ——— •
They could. Since Kusuo was such a smart, amazing guy, they ended up the winners of the crazy game of tag. If Asher were to be honest, he had loads of fun. He was concerned for all of their well-being from time to time, but besides that, he felt exhilarated.
After the game, he was gathered at a table with Nendo and Kaidou, while Saiki sat at a table with his parents. He didn't like the small separation, but he'd have to use all of his willpower to be a bit more patient.
"Ahh, so that's what happened," Saiki's father chuckled.
"Well, the two of them have been competitive since they were young."
'Their both so different from their parents,' Asher noticed as he eyed the Saiki family.
"Oh! Ku, dear! You didn't tell us about that other friend of yours!" The mother looked to Asher, waving kindly to him.
"Because there was no point."
'Ouch.'
"Come on, Kusuo! Introduce your friend!" His father said.
"No."
"Kusuo. Listen to your father." The dark haired woman formed a dark aura, making everyone in the building shiver. Asher was scared to approach them. Though, he didn't want to anger a lady like her, and was already at Kusuo's side.
'That is a woman you don't want to fuck with.'
"His name's Morteli Asher. He transferred to the school a while ago."
The brunette gave a small wave. "Hi."
Saiki's father looked at him hesitantly. 'He looks intimidating... Is that a tattoo!?'
On the other hand, his mother was much more optimistic about Asher. 'Aww, he must be shy! So cute!'
"You're so sweet for coming to visit our Ku! You must be close with him, despite transferring late."
Asher shrugged, looking down to Saiki as he finished his cup of jelly. "I guess you can say that... he's an oddity."
'What's that supposed to mean?'
The three of them, which was more like two since Saiki's father was too nervous to say much, of them talked for a while more before they left. Nendo and Kaidou knocked out a long time ago, both of them hogging the two beds that were in the shared hotel room. That left the couch for Asher.
'Those fuckers.'
Saiki was going to leave the room without a word, but Asher quickly caught him. "Don't leave yet."
The other sighed. "Why? I'm tired."
The brunette looked off to the side. "I wanted to hang out with you."
"We did."
"But like... for longer. With just the two of us."
'Ah, damn. I'm being weird. I shouldn't have worded it like that, he might take it the wrong way. Or maybe I'm overthinking it? Maybe I'm being weird..!?'
'Why freak out if it's not a big deal?'
"Whatever."
"Seriously?"
"Don't make me regret it."
Asher dragged him to the couch, the two of them sitting comfortably. Asher had his body spready across two cushions, while Saiki was neatly sat in the other corner.
"I thought I'd regret stepping on that plane, but today wasn't too bad."
"Eh."
"You don't think so?" Asher lulled his head to the side so he was lazily looking at Saiki. "I mean, no offense, but your brother is, um... a bit crazy. But that was an intense game. I didn't think you were so clever."
"What does that mean?"
"Well... I dunno, at first I thought you were a 'I act smart, but secretly I don't know shit' type of person," Asher muttered. "I'm bad at judging people."
Saiki's face was completely null of emotion. "I can tell."
Asher shrugged in response.
"But, I do know that you seem like a hot-headed idiot that was no concept of common sense, or curtesy."
"Huh? How so?"
Saiki began to count on his fingers. "You asked me to come over to help you unpack, you invited me to that cafe with those idiots knowing I wouldn't like it, you spam my phone wile you're in class, you thought I left the school entirely, you came all the way out to London just for me– if you give me more time, I can give you more examples."
Asher's cheeks were red. That was the most he's ever heard Saiki speak, and it was all to slander him. He clicked his tongue, "I had valid reasons for all of those situations."
"You have no reason to be here."
"I do. I came here for you."
"You would've saw me when I came back."
The taller male shrugged once more. "I didn't want to wait that long."
"You're all brainless."
"Untrue!"
They went silent. Neither of them were sure how to progress the conversation. Asher was thinking to himself, while Saiki listened.
'He's so curt. Maybe I should've stayed home. This was a bit too irrational... but I did want to see him. Shit, he's making me act like a fool.'
'I'm sure you were one before we met.'
"Saiki."
The pinkette hummed.
"You know you're, like, pretty badass. And you might say some ignorant things, but you aren't entirely dumb. Basically, really bothersome."
"That was very contradicting."
"Ugh." He tussled with his hair. "I'm just glad I met you, as corny as it is. I used to be judged quickly based from my looks, or my brash attitude. It's... cool?"
Saiki shrugged. "Your looks aren't too great, anyway."
"Fuck you," he laughed, giving the smaller male a small shove. "Ah.. can't you stay a while longer? I can't remember the last time I've had a genuine conversation like this..."
"What's in it for me?"
"C'mon, man." Asher groaned. "... I'll owe you coffee jelly."
"Deal."
That night, the two of them talked until they were resting against each other. Though it was rather uncomfortable, the warmth that they radiated made it feel a bit better.
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