Chapter Text
“Come on! The more you drag your feet, the more time it will take to get there and you don't seem like you even want to be here–”
I don’t , Saiki interrupted.
Akechi let out a huff of a laugh.
“So–”,he dragged the word,”Kusuo, you should hurry up if you want to get over with this.”
Saiki sighed as he picked up the pace, not too much that it seemed he was interested in wherever it was they were walking to.
Akechi sneaked a glance over to the taller boy yet just that small glance felt like it was going to dig holes into the side of the psychic’s face. Saiki, as usual, had no idea what he was thinking. The blonde’s head being filled to the brim with millions of thoughts that were hard to keep up with so he eventually gave up on ever figuring it out.
The two continued to walk to their destination like that, in silence. Or, as much silence as Saiki can be granted. While the psychic would never admit this out loud, it was kind of…peaceful.
“I like you.”
No.
Akechi confesses to Saiki again. He occasionally does this, springs this info at him out of nowhere. It’s tiring.
He doesn't even understand why Akechi is doing this, maybe some psychological trick he found online? He doesn’t care, but it’s starting to get annoying.
“—honestly, it was stupid but apparently it’s considered good writing. I’m not even that into main stream stuff anyways—”
Akechi, why do you always say the same thing?
“Hm? That I like you? Well, just like anyone else, I want the person I like to know that I like them! Why else?”
Don’t you get tired of this act.
“It’s not an act, Kusuo, and it hurts my feelings that you would even assume that. Do I not seem genuine enough? How peculiar, I’ve been studying on how I can make it clearer that I have feelings for you–”
Stop.
Saiki puts a hand to his head, feeling the throbbing headache coming. Perhaps, it’s already there.
Let’s just stop talking about this.
Akechi takes a moment to formulate a response which he never does, since he is usually so quick with his tongue.
“Ok.”
A one-word answer. How strange for the blonde, though Saiki wasn’t about to complain.
They continue on their walk that Akechi had called Saiki to come with him on. Had his mother not been the one to open the door, he would not have to be here right now.
They continue to walk in silence, however it was not as comfortable as before. For Saiki, at the very least. He couldn’t really tell if Akechi felt the same as the boy did not show it.
“Look! There it is.”
The place Akechi pointed towards was a virtual reality center.
These aren’t things Saiki would consider he’d enjoy, the colors and sounds throw him off. It triggers him so he tends to stay away from virtual reality.
— Besides, why would I even want to try out virtual reality when I can do just about anything with my psychic powers. This is stupid.
However, as they crossed the street to enter into the building, Akechi walks more to the right. There, next to the V.R. center, was a PaintNSip place.
Oh. I didn’t see that. The tackiness of the V.R. center seemed to hide the painting place because, you know. The shithole is pretty tacky.
As Akechi holds the door open for Saiki to go in, the taller boy looks around the place.
It was a pretty small area with stools and easels holding up canvases while palettes and brushes sit by each other in a picture perfect manner.
Akechi takes a seat on one of the stools in the back and gestures to the one next to him at Saiki.
The two sit as they listen to the indie music and chattering of the painting class. The instructor has started with some ideas for painting so the two boys pick up their brushes, ready to start bringing their visions to life.
In all honesty, the psychic had to admit that this was a nice way to spend the evening. He cracks a small smile and turns to Akechi, ready to make a half-hearted insult when he notices that the boy was just sitting there.
He just sat there, staring at the canvas which was covered in a few strokes.
Akechi?
It seems that the blonde’s thoughts were louder (honestly, when are they not?) than him.
Akechi?
Saiki tries to telepathically communicate more louder, he could just talk but that’s too much trouble to go through.
It was no use, however it didn’t really matter as a few minutes later Akechi seemed to have snapped out whatever trance he was in and continue his artpiece.
Strange.
The both continue with what they were doing, with the same thing happening from time to time. Akechi would start on his piece and drift off which would cause him to stop painting. Saiki tried grabbing his attention the first few times but gave up seeing as it wasn’t like the boy was in any real danger.
By the time they finished, the place was soon to close and the sun was already setting.
While Saiki could have painted a masterpiece rivaling DaVinci himself, he decided to just do a simple painting of a cat. Looking at it now, he notices that there are some similarities between the painting and Anp.
Ugh. It’s even infecting my mind now.
When Saiki looked over to see Akechi’s finished product, he noticed that it looked like it was still in the process of being completed.
“Guess I ran out of time, huh?”
Now that the taller boy wasn’t focused on getting the painting done, he’s noticed that Akechi was uncharacteristically quiet the whole time. Even his sentence was quite short.
Akechi, are you okay?
It wasn’t like he cared or was worried but it was starting to get strange.
“Hm? Yes, of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”
You’ve been really quiet this whole time. Was —Saiki hesitated— there something bothering you?
The younger boy stared at him with saucer eyes, as usual, but this time it seemed to freak Saiki out. As if the shorter one was the one who could hear his thoughts.
“Hm. So I guess you can’t, huh. Well! It was nothing, I guess I’m just a bit hurt by how you so easily brush away my feelings but don’t question it when it comes to girls. I know that homophobia is pretty common but I thought a psychic, such as yourself, would be above that. Oh! That’s not to say that I am insulting you, I do understand that you are still human but you have to understand that it does hurt when you act as if you care so little about–”
Akechi, please. Shut up. You’re giving me a headache.
Saiki could notice that Akechi was getting riled up, which wasn’t usually like him.
“Sorry. I—” the boy stopped himself as if to consider what he was going to say next”—Sorry.”
Saiki sighed. It’s not like I don’t acknowledge them —
“But you don’t. Or rather it feels like it—”, Akechi silenced himself. The other was staring daggers at him.
Don’t interrupt me. It’s not that I don’t acknowledge them but romantic feelings can be a hassle, especially in a friendship. I would rather us not have to deal with that, especially us.
“You know, Kusuo, that’s the first time you’ve ever called me your friend.”
Saiki would be lying if he said he didn’t notice the way Akechi lit up and yet melted all the same. Love was truly something scary.
Love? Since when did I think Akechi loved me? It’s just some silly joke.
“Come on, Kusuo, I’ll walk you home. Hey, did you notice the music that was playing through the place’s speakers. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any of the songs playing which was a big shock to me seeing as most of those kinds of places would usually play mainstream indie music. I even heard a few English ones. I’m very bad at English, I’m actually failing. But, that’s okay! It’s not like I’m planning on moving abroad, though I am sure being fluent in English would help me with job seeking. Well, it’s not like I have to worry about that now. I wonder what…”
It was sort of nice to hear Akechi like his normal self again. Usually, it would be annoying to hear Akechi’s words and thoughts overlap with one another, especially when they were outside. However, it was sort of calming. It was a sort of rhythm, you could say? Saiki couldn’t really explain it,
but I guess the chatterbox is starting to grow on me, huh.