°Benignity°
-kindness or tolerance toward others
Being called to the faculty room can only mean three things. First, they have to give you something, like an item you have dropped unknowingly or a form you will have to fill up. Second, they want to praise you for your greatness. And lastly, you have done something stupid and they're out to deliver a justified punishment.
When I had heard my name called to go to the teachers' office, I knew exactly what I'm going to receive. A praise, of course – for freeing my beloved frog friend through the second floor window during biology. If not, then it probably means I dropped my lucky rock named Bob.
"Due to your little stunt with Nendou in the science lab during biology, the teachers have come up with a punishment appropriate for the both of you." As I was standing proudly in front of a man in either his early thirties or late twenties, the confidence I was bringing suddenly went down the drain as this certain teacher had broke off the news.
"Ha?" My mouth hung agape from his statement, confused on why they would consider such a good deed punishable. Oh right, frogs don't fly.
"You heard me, (L/N)." He stated sternly, crossing his legs as he was seated on a cheap-looking office chair. "As for your punishment, you have to clean the science lab after class. And, don't you dare mess with the chemicals."
"Only me?" I pointed a finger towards myself. The biology teacher nodded in response, affirming the question. "What about Nendou? Hey, just so you know, if one of us goes down, so does the other!"
"Lower your voice." The middle-aged male scolded, displeased by my loud whining. "I'll have you know that Nendou has finished his punishment last week. Now, it's your turn Ms. (L/N)."
"But, Kusuo's part of our group as well." I continued my protests. Honestly, I was just looking for any diversion there is to avoid this so-called punishment. "All for one, one for all. That's our motto!"
"Nice try, but we all know Saiki isn't in cahoots with both you and Nendou." The teacher retorted, pointing a finger in my position. "Now, accept your punishment and get to work in the science lab."
With a dissatisfied scowl, I spun my heels and headed outside the room. Shutting the door close louder than I should have, I grumbled profanities under my breath.
"(Y/N)!"
"Stupid adults..."
~~~~~
The door slamming with a loud thud, heavy footsteps followed, sounding more like stomps instead of normal steps. It was clear that a certain (h/c)-haired girl was not happy with the turn of events of the day by the way what seemed to be a permanent frown was pasted on her lips.
Her gaze wandered off outside the window, the view of students happily leaving school reflecting on her gleaming (e/c) orbs with a shrill of envy. She could be one of those people as well, if it weren't for that toffee-nosed man.
"Let's just get this crap over with." Sighing, she grabbed the handle of the metal broom box, containing the necessary cleaning materials. As she reached out to grab a mop, her hands came in contact with something rather soft and something definitely not slender enough to be labelled as a mop.
Peeking up, she realized that it was a person's face she had grabbed. To be precise, it was none other than Saiki Kusuo's pale cheeks.
"Holy water! Kusu-"
Cutting her off, the pink-haired male had grabbed her arm and pulled the (h/c)-haired girl inside the cramped box with him before shutting it close. Before (Y/N) could even shout 'rape' Kusuo had already clutched a hand over her mouth, preventing her to talk. The former shot the pink-haired male a glare instead as it would seem futile to speak.
The psychic didn't pay any heed to the harmless glare, just so you know, looks cannot kill. His attention seemed focused through the small cracks of box. Due to curiosity, (Y/N) did the same. She felt her eyes dulling as the science laboratory door slid open to reveal as certain shining blue-haired female.
Oh...
The perfect teenaged girl glanced around the room, seeming to be in a search for something, someone. Inside the broom box, on the other hand, (Y/N) was itching to step on Kusuo's foot. So, that's exactly what she did. To her disappointment, the strawberry-haired boy didn't even react with a single flinch, unfazed by her attack.
'That's strange. I could have sworn somebody has entered the lab.' As Kusuo heard the long-haired girl's thoughts, he tightened his hold on (Y/N), fearing she might do something stupid just before Teruhashi could even leave. 'Saiki-kun seemed to be headed this way. Perhaps he directly made his way towards the exit.'
To both of (Y/N) and Kusuo's relief, Teruhashi had finally left the room, closing the door with little to no sound. As her fleeting footsteps finally died down, Kusuo didn't hesitate to push (Y/N) out of the locker rudely before steeping out.
Stumbling before steadying herself, she shot Kusuo a grimace who returned it with an indifferent stare. "You could have just asked, you know."
"What are you even doing here?" Instead of sending any rejoinder to her statement, Kusuo questioned (Y/N), cocking an eyebrow towards the girl.
"That doesn't matter." She scoffed before purposely hitting her shoulders on his arm, making her way to the broom box to get the goddamn mop. "I never knew you're the type to hide when their crush is around."
"What makes you say that?" The pink-haired boy inquired, folding his arms across his chest.
"Let's just say that I know your secret without the need of you directly telling me." With a smug smirk, she replied, holding the long handle of the mop with both of her hands. "I could use it to blackmail you, just so you know, like making you clean the science lab in my stead perhaps."
"It doesn't matter, since you've obviously gotten it wrong, idiot." Kusuo remarked, rolling his eyes upon hearing the (h/c)-haired girl's absurd claim. Just where did she even get the idea to begin with. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a show to catch at home."
Before Kusuo could reach the doorway, (Y/N) dashed her way in front of the taller male's profile, blocking his way with the mop. Kusuo frowned before trailing his gaze outside the window – from his view, it seemed that majority of the students of PK had already left school.
"Move it." He stated sternly.
"Oh, no. Since you're here, help me with cleaning the science lab." (Y/N) pressed, using the edge of the mop to poke Kusuo's abdomen. "Consider it as payment for not making it hard for you when you had to hide from that chick."
"You stepped on my foot while we were inside."
"Well, it failed to make you scream so that doesn't count as making it difficult for you." (Y/N) retorted, her reasoning as irrational as her being.
"Irrelevant." Kusuo attempted to brush past the girl, but being the persistent one she is, the (h/c)-haired girl gripped the back of his shirt tightly, preventing him to take any step further to his annoyance.
Good grief...
"(Y/N)."
"Come on, Kusuo." (Y/N) started to whine like a child, before an idea came up to her mind. "Alright, then. We'll settle this with rock-paper-scissors. If I win, you'll have to help me clean. If you win, I'll treat you to whatever you want later as long as it's not worth more than a thousand yen."
It made the pink-head pause and ponder for a while. If he wins, he could make (Y/N) buy him a thousand yen worth of coffee jelly. It doesn't sound too bad. If he loses on the other hand, he will have to assist (Y/N) in cleaning the 300 square feet room. Both results however, would result to him missing the show.
Whatever, that show isn't that great anyways.
After a few minutes of contemplating, Kusuo nodded. Delighted by his decision, the (h/c) haired smiled before releasing her hold on his shirt. To the psychic's discontentment, the girl's tight grip resulted to wrinkles on his clothe, making his appearance quite unkempt.
With one of their hands each curled to a fist, they pressed their knuckles close to each other.
"Just so you know, I'm throwing scissors." (Y/N) suddenly declared, startling Kusuo slightly.
Hah?
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
(Y/N) sighed as she saw the result of the game, retracting down her hands. Twisting her body to walk towards the broom box, she took a spare mop before throwing it towards Kusuo's direction.
"You just can't trust me, can you?" She commented before stepping back to where she was a few minutes ago, taking her own mop. "I told you I'd throw scissors. What made you throw paper?"
Kusuo pursed his lips upon hearing so, falling silent. Turning his heels to face away from (Y/N), he started mopping the tiled floor.
He could have won easily if (Y/N) wasn't an idiot like Nendou. It somehow hurt his pride to lose in a game of rock-paper-scissors when he remained unbeatable in the game during his kindergarten days. Let's just say that Kusuo's making an exception.
~~~~~
By the time Kusuo and (Y/N) had finished cleaning the laboratory, the sky was already painted with warm shades of red and orange, the sun starting to set. It was quite a beautiful scenery to see honestly, especially from both of the teens point of view on the second floor. Unfortunately, none of them took the time to appreciate the aesthetic scene since they were too keen on leaving school.
The moment they exited the school gate, (Y/N) and Kusuo had immediately went their separate ways, none of them bothering to even say any sort of bidding before going to different directions. Most stories would write it with the boy walking the girl home, as cliché as it is. However, we have to take in the fact that the both of them aren't that close, as what Kusuo would say of course.
As the pink-haired male reached his bedroom, he brought his hand to flick the light switch on, illuminating the dim room. As Kusuo sighed jadedly from helping (Y/N) clean the school's lab, he dropped his bag on the soft mattress of his bed. Admittedly, it wasn't like the job was too tiring for Kusuo – it was more on troublesome.
It was disappointing.
Tugging on the zipper of his school bag, Kusuo unzipped the bag to start his scheduled homework. Just as he was about to take the textbook out from his bag, a folded piece of paper had caught his eye – to be precise, it was a thousand yen note.
Curious, Kusuo unfolded the bill. Seeing that a white piece of paper with the note, the strawberry-haired male unconsciously let the corners of his thin lips to tug up to a small smile. It was rather uncharacteristic for him.
After all, only one word was scribbled messily on the clean piece of paper. Despite of that fact, the gesture was thoughtful.
Thanks
"How cliché can you get, idiot."