The corridor leading to Kusuo's classroom was rather quiet. Or, well, it was as quiet as a corridor could be to a psychic with the ability to hear every single human thought within a 200m radius. But the absence of overlapping spoken conversations did make a difference to Kusuo's perception of-
"Hey, pal!"
Kusuo jumped as a huge arm suddenly settled around his shoulders, rudely interrupting his train of thoughts. He didn't even need to turn around to guess who the intruding limb belonged to, for there was only one person in this entire school whose whereabouts Kusuo could not immediately sense with his telepathy.
Nendou. Why wasn't he in class, already?
"So you're late, huh? Me too!" Nendou laughed, answering Kusuo's unspoken question. They weren't technically late yet, since the first bell had only just rung, but any attempt to make Nendou understand that would likely make them actually late, so Kusuo elected not to address this inaccuracy. "Huh? You look different today, pal,", Nendou added, leaning his ugly mug uncomfortably close to Kusuo's and blinking down at him.
Kusuo recoiled a little at the sudden proximity, but Nendou kept staring at his face for what felt like a millenia. A naive onlooker would probably think that Nendou was either very deep in thought, or closely analyzing something of interest, but Kusuo knew for a fact that he was doing neither. Nendou's mind was as empty as ever.
"Huh, did you change your hair?" Nendou finally exclaimed. "It looks great, pal!"
Kusuo's eyes died a little more. He did not know what made him feel more despair: the sad reality that Nendou had failed at something as simple as correctly placing what had changed on his face even though it was slap-bang in the middle of it, or the fact that he chose to compliment his hair out of all things. Considering Nendou's usual "choices'' in "hairstyle", that somehow came across as more of a diss than anything else.
... Wait.
Kusuo blinked a few times as he took in Nendou's face.
Something was missing.
"You're not wearing glasses," Kusuo thought out loud. Not that Nendou had ever worn any before, but he may very well be the first guy Kusuo had met since this morning's madness that was not wearing these accursed green specs.
"Huh? Of course not. Why would I?"
Kusuo's eyebrows rose slightly. Could Nendou actually be fighting the tyranny of the mainstream entertainment industry by refusing to fall for their obviously profit-oriented eyewear fashion fads?
"Only nerdy nerds wear glasses. I'm not a nerd. Duh," he adds. The modicum of respect that Kusuo almost had for Nendou instantly faded. That will teach him to expect anything requiring functioning brain cells from the school idiot.
"But seriously, pal, what did you do to your hair? Huh? You look so good, today, seriously. Huh? What did you do? Huh? Huh?"
"Let's just go to class," Kusuo ignored Nendou's insistent questioning and removed the unwelcome gorilla arm weighing down on his shoulders as they reached their destination: the door to the classroom of Class 2-∭.
"Saiki left so suddenly after our chat this morning... Where did he go? Is he not coming to class today?"
"Kaidou is wearing glasses! He's sooo dreamy ♥️ Maybe I should ask Saiki where he got his and get the same pair! Speaking of, where is Saiki?"
"Almost all the guys have been wearing glasses since my brother's new show came out... Weird. Also, Saiki isn't here yet? He's usually in at this time..."
"Huh, all the dudes are wearin' glasses, today. What gives? It's usually just Saiki and I filling the boy-with-glasses quota, 'round here. And where's Saiki, anyway?"
"Is everyone, like, cosplaying Kusuo, today? That's so weird. None of these losers can pull it off as well as him, tho ♥️ "
"Peh. Plebes and their poor sense of fashion. How am I to differentiate all these four-eyed peasants, now? It was much easier when there was only one of them. Is he even in this classroom? I can barely tell."
Kusuo stopped just shy of opening the door, hesitant now that he was close enough to clearly hear his classmates' musings. Why were they so suddenly obsessed with his whereabouts? All these thoughts featuring him as a subject matter made it all the more difficult for him to casually walk in...
"Actually, you go in first," he told Nendou, taking a step back. If he used Nendou's huge frame as a shield, maybe he could sneak his way up to his seat somehow unnoticed and have a calm, average day at school. Wishful thinking? Yes, but one could dream.
"Huh? OK" Nendou easily agreed as he opened the dreaded door.
"Oh, there's Sai...ki? Huh? He looks different from earlier..."
"Oh my gosh, Saiki?! I'm supposed to be over my crush for him, but... why is my heart beating so fast?!"
"... Oh wow..."
"Damn, has Saiki always looked this good without glasses? Maybe I should be droppin' mine..."
"Kusuo?! Omg, that glow up ♥️"
"Why did this high fashion model just sit at that four-eyed peasant's desk? Is he lost?"
Kusuo sighed.
Farewell, hope of a normal school day. You were a little angel gone too soon
YOU ARE READING
The Green Lens
Fanfiction'Good grief. What is happening here?' As soon as Kusuo stepped through the entrance of PK Academy, he could not help but notice that most of the student body seemed to have unanimously elected overnight to add green-tinted glasses identical to his o...
