Chapter Text
Saiki thought he was going to have a normal day—until he heard the doorbell.
His mom went to get the door. Curious, he decided to see who was on the other side too.
Worst mistake of the year.
He eternally questioned everything as he saw Nendou and Y/N standing at the door.
They were both…
Wearing summer clothes.
Great. Just what he needed.
Y/N looked excited, while Nendou… was just Nendou.
So this is where Saiki lives… huh? y/n thought while looking around.
'Oh wow,' Saiki deadpanned.
Nendou didn’t seem to notice Saiki’s internal conflict—as usual. The guy has no thoughts, for fuck’s sake.
“Hey, buddy! Ready for the beach?” Nendou asked, flashing that usual goofy smile.
Y/N nodded along, clearly excited as well.
“I was walking by and saw the last name ‘Saiki’ on the mailbox, so I figured this must be where ol’ Kusuo lives!” Nendou said. For someone with barely any brain cells, Saiki was surprised he figured it out.
Kurumi looked horrified by the giant man standing at her door.
“K-Kusuo, is that your friend?”
'Yeah, she’s horrified', Saiki thought.
Y/N seemed to notice her discomfort and looked like she wanted to say something to help.
“He’s not my friend,” Saiki answered, helpfully.
He looked at Y/N then and continued,
“Neither is she.”
Y/N didn’t seem offended. She had already expected that answer from Saiki—she just wanted to hurry to the beach.
“Oh dear, my little boy finally has a friend! Oh, I’m so happy!” Kurumi suddenly burst into tears. This confused Y/N, but she didn’t question it.
Everyone here has their quirks, I guess, Y/N thought.
Saiki spared her a quick glance before turning back to his mother.
Then Nendou decided to speak again. “Sorry, girlie-girl, but me and him ain’t friends—”
“WHAT?” Kurumi asked, confused. Y/N looked at Nendou, equally puzzled.
Nendou suddenly started sparkling, smiling even wider.
“WE’RE BEST BUDDIES!”
This caused Saiki’s mom to cry even harder.
“Seriously, Nendou, stop. You’re making her cry more,” Y/N said, clearly worried. Saiki appreciated the sentiment.
Saiki’s mom turned to Y/N and asked,
“Are you his friend too?”
She must be his mom, Y/N thought.
Before Saiki could reply, Y/N answered with a cheeky grin,
“Yes, ma’am. I am.”
“Oh, what a polite girl! Saiki, I didn’t know you had any girl friends at all! Oh my, I could die happy now that he has any friends!”
Saiki was offended by the assumption that he couldn’t have friends—he just didn’t want any.
Nendou didn’t seem to notice any of it.
“I never knew you had a sister, pal!” he said, smiling at Saiki.
“Oh dear, he thinks I’m young enough to be Ku’s sister…”
“How many times are you going to make her cry?” Saiki asked, clearly annoyed. Y/N stepped beside him and patted his shoulder, earning a side glance from him.
“Wait, what?! I didn’t know you were Saiki’s mom!” Nendou said, genuinely surprised.
“Guilty as charged! What brought you guys here?” she asked sweetly, clearly on cloud nine thinking about Saiki’s social life.
“We want Saiki to come with us to the beach!” Nendou announced proudly, pointing to himself with that same goofy grin.
“Ah! That sounds like so much fun,” Kurumi replied, thrilled that her son was finally doing activities with his friends.
“Uh, yeah, I’m not going." Saiki replied dryly.
Y/N wanted to speak—to try and persuade him. She expected him to say no, but she still wanted to try. Before she could, though, Kurumi suddenly looked at Saiki in a way only a mother could look.
Even Y/N got chills just looking at her.
“Your best buddies went out of their way to ask you in person. You’re going to the beach, Kusuo.”
Even Saiki looked flabbergasted and couldn’t say anything more than a—
“Oh dear.”
And thus, this is how they ended up here…
At the beach.
'And that’s how someone like me ended up in a place like this,' Saiki thought, annoyed.
He looked over at the water and saw Nendou mocking Kaidou.
“Come on, Kaidou! You afraid of the water?” he teased, standing ankle-deep in it, pointing smugly and laughing.
'Why did Kaidou come too?' Saiki thought.
Kaidou, on the other hand, looked horrified—like he was staring down his own death. He was sweating and glancing around frantically.
“N-No! That’s not true! I know how to swim, jerk! I’m not afraid of the waterrrrr—”
“At least turn on the waterworks,” Saiki added offhandedly.
Y/N shot him a look at that. Honestly, he could be nicer to their friends. Even if they were... them.
Y/N turned her attention back to Kaidou, trying to encourage him to get into the water. She watched as he tried to put a leg in, visibly shaking. Determined to prove Nendou wrong, he took a step—
—and tripped.
“Drowning in inch-deep water isn’t easy,” Saiki said with a cold, utterly uninterested look.
Y/N looked flabbergasted. How is that even possible? she thought. Even if he fell, he could just… stand up?
She glanced at Saiki, who was sitting under the big white-and-red umbrella, staring at Kaidou like this was the most normal thing in the world. He met her eyes and just shrugged.
She felt her eye twitch. But honestly, what could she do about his rudeness?
She was just about to go help Kaidou when—
“I’LL SAVE YOUUUU!”
Y/N took a step back, startled. Okay, what the hell? She hadn’t expected to see Hairo here—
Okay no, wait. Scratch that. He was definitely volunteering as a lifeguard. Of course.
Saiki glanced at her, 'she catches on fast.' They both turned back—just in time to be flashed.
“I know that butt,” Saiki said, watching Kaidou be carried out of inch-deep water by Hairo.
Y/N nodded. “We all know that butt very well.”
Nendou beamed. “Hey, it’s Hairo!”
Hairo, now carrying Kaidou bridal-style, looked over at the familiar voice and smiled.
“Oh hey, Nendou! Saiki! Y/N!”
Y/N nodded in acknowledgment.
“You getting some sun too?” Nendou asked.
“Actually, I volunteered as a lifeguard.”
Yeah, we kinda expected that one, Y/N thought with a small smile. He’s so kind.
Saiki had to agree—Hairo was a pretty decent guy.
Suddenly, they heard screaming. All three turned their heads at once—but before they could react, Hairo was already sprinting toward the sound.
“I’LL SAVE YOUUUU!”
Huh, Y/N thought.
“Can’t believe he does that job for free in this heat,” Nendou said. Then he turned to Saiki and Y/N. “So, when are you guys gonna get in the water?”
Y/N looked thoughtful for a second, then opened her mouth. “Well—”
“Just forget I’m here,” Saiki interrupted, suddenly reading a book.
Where did he even get that?
“You guys are no fun. I don’t wanna go swim in the ocean all by myself,” Nendou added, dramatically.
Then he turned around and put on his shades like he was in a music video.
Y/N looked a little guilty... but then again, she hadn’t even gotten to finish her sentence, so—whatever.
“So, to the ladies,” he declared.
Okay, what? Y/N looked at him like he just announced he was going to auction off her entire family.
“That sounds ridiculous,” Saiki added from beside her. He really loved giving commentary, didn’t he? Maybe he should get a job doing that, Y/N thought.
Saiki read Y/N’s thoughts and glanced at her.
'Huh, maybe I should. I’d be able to keep imbeciles out of trouble for a few seconds longer,' he thought.
Y/N turned her gaze to Nendou’s back, just in time to hear—
“With a face like that, you don’t have a chance!” Kaidou blurted. Y/N was honestly surprised by how fast he recovered.
She wanted to add something too, but Saiki beat her to it. Again.
“Why don’t you try walking on water instead? You’ll have better odds at that.”
Y/N almost agreed. Honestly, Nendou was a kind guy—but he didn’t stand a chance with the girls from their school. She doubted that was going to change just because he had his shades on.
She ended up just shaking her head. She didn’t want to be rude to Nendou, after all.
Nendou shook his finger like he was about to deliver the most profound wisdom of the century.
“My looks don’t matter. It’s about attitude!” he said confidently, giving them a huge thumbs-up.
Y/N had to admire his high spirits. Really.
She watched as he walked around asking random girls if they wanted to hang out. Saiki watched too, sitting beside her. They observed him going from girl to girl—getting rejected every single time. From the looks on the girls' faces, the responses seemed pretty brutal. Y/N couldn’t quite hear them, but still…
Saiki watched him chase poor girls around the beach. 'Honestly, what is he thinking?'
He was just about to stand up and go grab a floaty to get in the water—mainly to avoid being seen with Nendou—when Y/N suddenly said:
“Wanna get ice cream?”
This is just too embarrassing to look at, she thought.
He nodded immediately.
'Thank you, you kind person, he thought, genuinely.
They stood up and walked toward the snack stand, both trying to distance themselves from the scene and the person causing the scene.
Well—Saiki was. Y/N just didn’t want to watch Nendou embarrass himself anymore. She figured she’d buy him an ice cream later to cheer him up.
She smiled a little at the thought, while Saiki glanced at her with his usual deadpan expression.
'At least her heart is in the right place'
--
While they were in line to get ice cream, Saiki thought to himself that he needed a moment alone. He would’ve loved to get ice cream, sure—but he could also feel a headache coming on. He needed a break.
He glanced at Y/N and said, “I need to go to the bathroom.”
She didn’t look up, too busy browsing all the snack options.
“Sure. What do you want? I can get it for you, no problem.”
Honestly, Saiki found Y/N tolerable. More tolerable than the others he hung out with—and this was one of the reasons why.
He looked at the menu and spotted their special.
He was about to tell her, but she must have noticed him staring.
“Okay, got it. You can go now,” she said, smiling as she turned back to the menu.
He gave a short nod and left.
---
By the time Y/N returned with four ice creams, the wait had been way longer than expected—and apparently, a lot had happened.
First of all, one of the women Nendou had been hitting on earlier was now apologizing to him.
Y/N blinked.
Wait, what?
She looked at Kaidou and Saiki curiously, but they just shrugged.
Rude, she thought. Still, she handed everyone their ice creams.
Saiki actually looked happy about it.
He really does love sweets, huh? She smile.
Kaidou started talking about how he was glad Nendou didn’t ask for the woman’s phone number after saving her, while Nendou insisted that he was just trying to be “a gentleman” or something like that.
What the hell did I miss? Y/N wondered.
They all started walking, ready to leave the area.
Damn.
'Nendou did end up with a secret admirer', Saiki thought, glancing back—then immediately forgot about it the moment he took another bite of his ice cream.
They all walked back home.
Y/N was deep in thought, not even noticing what was going on around her.
When they arrived at Saiki’s house, Nendou, Kaidou, and Y/N all said their goodbyes.
“Maybe we’ll see each other again soon?” she offered with a small smile.
“No need. I’ll see you guys at the start of the new school term,” Saiki replied—then promptly shut the door in their faces.
He glanced behind him to make sure his mother wasn’t watching.
'Good grief.'
Y/N had expected that reaction. Even if it was rude… well, it was Saiki. Not much she could do about his personality at this point.
She looked over at Nendou and Kaidou. They didn’t seem surprised by his behavior either.
“Aw, he’ll miss us,” Kaidou said as he turned to head home.
Nendou followed and added, “Yeah, my buddy’s such a softie.”
Y/N looked at them both, shook her head with a small laugh, and followed after them.