Working just to see you

4. "I love you"

"Hey Saiki!!"

He sighed, 'Oh great'. His "friends + psychickers" came to visit him and hang out there since they "never could". (Him only , once again ignoring Toritsuka.)

"Come take a break with us! I'm sure Toritsuka could cover for you!" Aren said, everyone else quickly agreeing.

"WHAT?? no way! How about he covers for me? Or we both take a break! it's only us in here anyways!" Toritsuka yelled, slamming his hand on the counter while pointing at Saiki. receiving death glares from Aiura, he changed his mind rather quickly. 'good thing he's scared of her'

Although after 15 minutes of uno, scramble, and other various boring games they had in the shop, they were tempted to leave.

But Teruhashi, Chiyo (and Imu, secretly) weren't satisfied yet, so they decided on one last game. "Let's play the 'I love you' game!" 'Good god.'

"It's simple, when it's your turn, you'll spin this spoon. whoever the head lands on, you tell them I love you! if they get embarrassed or react in any way, they lose. Got it? It's simple!" They all agreed. Saiki was surprised they weren't very reluctant. Although he just assumed everyone was willing to play to get the chance to hear Teruhashi say "I love you".

"Ah, what a fun game! It's a nice spin-off of the western game Spin the Bottle! See what I did there? Spin off, like-"Akechi rambled. "OK, WE GET IT!! let's just start." Kaidou screamed. Nendou raising his hand, volunteered. "I can go first!", he proclaimed, spinning the spoon.

Everyone mentally groaned, hoping it wouldn't land on them. Slowing down, it landed on Hairo. They all laughed, and were curious to see how this played out.

As they faced each other, Nendou made an ugly face. Saiki assumed it was supposed to be a jokingly attractive one, but it just turned out horrendous. "I love you" Nendou said, still keeping the face. Hairo nervously laughed, and they all (excluding Saiki) chuckled and pointed that he was out.

"Let's go clockwise from Hairo! So now it's Saiki's turn!" Teruhashi said enthusiastically. oh. He had forgotten he was a part of this, but if he declined now he would have to go back to work, and he didn't want that.

His eyes darted around, and he noticed a small empty gap between Aiura and Aren. 'Perfect!' He could just land the spoon there, so he wouldn't have to do this. Saiki spun the spoon, keeping his plan in motion. But when the head landed exactly where he wanted it to, Toritsuka had the absolute perfect timing and came out from the back. between the space.

"Saiki-san! Where's the-" everyone was looking at him, then back at Saiki. "hm?"

"Well, it did land on him!" Hairo chuckled. "But he's not even playing! don't do this to Saiki!" Aiura cried. He sighed. Was he really going to do this? Standing up, he headed towards him.

☕︎︎☕︎︎☕︎︎

"Toritsuka."

They were now facing each other, with only the counter separating them. "I love you."

It was weird. Even though Saiki was supposed to feel weirded out by this, he didn't. It felt natural, as if he truly meant it.

'wow.' He had never noticed it before, but Toritsuka had pretty eyes. And they were staring right back at him. Why was he thinking this though? He felt that strange, fuzzy feeling again.

Toritsuka's face was red, with his mouth slightly open.

"Woah what the hell?! Why did that seem so real?" Aiura gasped "Toritsuka you.. lost?" Kaidou said, with an unsure look on his face. Everyone laughed this off, and continued with the game. Teruhashi's mouth was agape.

Saiki, still standing at the counter in front of Toritsuka, took off his ring and projected a message only both of them could hear.

'Are you ok? Sorry about that, we were playing a game'. Saiki gave Toritsuka's hand, resting on the countertop, a little squeeze.

'Ah, yeah I-I'm fine.' He stuttered, barely managing to even think. His face was still a bright red.

'you look like a tomato, stupid.' 'HEY!' Saiki slipped his ring on while laughing a little at this. He could get so flustered over something as small as this? Why was he so flustered anyways? 'cute.' He thought, sitting back down.

...

...wait, what?