Chapter Text
As usual, Saiki had learned on the first day of his third year that while the scales never tipped in his favour, it forever would for a certain someone.
"Teruhashi looks as stunning as ever today! I can't believe I get to be in her class again!"-- is what Saiki kept hearing as he sulked in his seat.
He couldn’t escape it, no matter how hard he tried. Teruhashi Kokomi was in his class again, and to no surprise, the entire room was buzzing with excitement in knowing that she existed in the same space as them. He didn’t need to turn his head to know that all eyes were on her, basking in her radiance, her grace, her perfection. Not.
But as the day rolled on, and as he got a good look at her features up close, he'd slipped up.
Teruhashi was, objectively speaking, a conventionally attractive girl. That much was obvious, and Saiki couldn’t deny it. Her skin was flawless, almost unnaturally so, like porcelain crafted by a master artisan. The smoothness of her complexion had an almost surreal quality, as if she were airbrushed in real life, which made him wonder just how much effort she put into maintaining it, or if it was attributed to her exceptional genetics.
Her hair, a shade of blue that somehow managed to look as deep as the ocean, fell in perfect waves around her shoulders, catching the light in a way that accentuated its silky texture. It was clear that every strand was meticulously cared for, a testament to her commitment to her image.
Her eyes, though—those were what caught him off guard. They were a bright, almost ethereal blue, the kind that one might expect to find in a doll rather than a real person. But beneath that striking colour was something else, something he hadn’t noticed before. There was a depth to them, a hint of something genuine, hidden behind layers of practiced expressions. For a moment, Saiki thought he saw a flicker of something real, something vulnerable. It was faint, so faint that he could have dismissed it as a trick of the light. But it was there, and it lingered in his mind longer than he cared to admit.
Her lips were another point of interest, though he didn’t dwell on them for long. They were always curved into that same perfect smile, the one that made everyone around her melt. But Saiki couldn’t help but notice the way they pressed together slightly. There wasn't any hint of a strain that would appear when the grin was manufactured. No, she was relaxed, and the slight dimple that was imprinted near her cheek meant that this one was wholly genuine.
Interesting.
Even her posture was worth noting. She always carried herself with a grace that seemed effortless, yet Saiki knew better. Every movement, every tilt of her head, every flutter of her eyelashes was calculated, designed to maintain the image of perfection that everyone expected of her. But there were moments, brief as they were, like this one, when her shoulders would relax, or her chin would dip slightly, betraying a hint of fatigue or frustration. It was in those moments that she seemed most real, most human.
Saiki processed all of this in a matter-of-factly, as he did with everything.
There was nothing special about his observations; it was just data, just information that his mind cataloged and stored away. But there was something else, something that tugged at the edges of his thoughts, something he wasn’t entirely comfortable acknowledging. Because beneath all the analysis, all the rationalization, there was a part of him that couldn’t help but… admire her.
It was faint, almost imperceptible, like a whisper at the back of his mind. He could easily ignore it, and he did. After all, there was no reason for him to be drawn to her. She was a problem, a complication he didn’t need.
But then…
He'd never spun his head so fast in his life. Had his powers still been with him, the velocity and force would have left the neighborhood in ruins.
Teruhashi had caught him staring.
Her eyes met his, and for a split second, the world seemed to freeze.
Saiki’s heart skipped a beat—not out of any romantic fluttering, of course, but out of sheer panic. He could feel the blood rushing to his face, heat creeping up his neck. This was bad. This was really bad.
She’s going to think I’m interested in her, he thought, desperately trying to come up with a plausible reason for why he’d been staring at her. She’ll use this against me, somehow. She’ll turn this into some kind of advantage in her weird, twisted game.
"Uh, Saiki? Is there something on my face?" While it was clear she tried to hide it, her face was flushed and her voice was paper-thin.
Saiki quickly looked away, his mind racing. “No, sorry...” he muttered, his tone as flat as he could manage. “Just… spacing out.”
Inside, he cursed even more. It sounded just like an excuse an ordinary joe would use to cover his tracks.
Good grief.
Now she was going to think he was interested in her, and that could only lead to trouble. Her fans would never let him live it down, she might start paying even more attention to him, trying to win him over or, even worse, manipulate him into helping her in some way. Saiki gritted his teeth. This was bad. Really bad. He couldn’t afford to let his guard down around her again.