OBLINE, KUSUO SAIKI.

✶. fifty yen short.

Ψ . . . SAIKI HAD NOT PLANNED ON going to school today. His insides felt like they were filled with helium, and the thought of going to school had made him inexplicably nervous.

He only went because it would be too much of a hassle to explain why he couldn't go. He sat down at his desk like usual, only looking up when a head of white hair passed through the door frame. After that, he turned himself invisible, and drifted to the back of the class because all of the worried glances he gave Gojo would also have been a hassle to explain.

Saiki had never seen Gojo tired before. Most days, their well of energy seemed limitless. But Gojo was quiet today, barely speaking to anyone even when they came up to their desk. They rubbed their eyes beneath their glasses when they thought no one was looking.

It tugged on something in Saiki's chest to see Gojo at anything but their best. If the Six Eyes were like the sky, today they were grey and overcast. Saiki hadn't said what he'd wanted to at the aquarium. It felt like they had left things on an odd note.

So at lunch, Saiki went out to the school gates and told Gojo to meet him. And now he had no idea where they were going.

Saiki hadn't realized how quiet it was between the two of them without Gojo's chatter. He was keenly aware of the space between them as they walked, the way their steps fell into sync. Whatever Gojo was thinking about, Saiki could feel it even if he couldn't hear it.

When they came across a bench, Saiki told Gojo, Wait here.

They sat down and smiled slightly up at him. "What are you planning?"

Saiki had no idea. I'll be back, he said, and walked the short distance to the convenience store across the street. Maybe Gojo needed something sweet. It couldn't hurt.

Three cake rolls found their way into Saiki's basket. He went to the register, where a brown-haired girl was speaking to the store clerk.

"I'm short fifty yen?" the girl was saying. She rooted around in her pockets, then scratched her head when she came up empty. She looked over her shoulder.

"Mister! Do you mind if I borrow fifty yen?"

Saiki blinked at her.

"For the cigarettes," she said, jerking her thumb toward the counter. "I'll pay you back, promise. I just don't have any change."

The beauty mark beneath her right eye seemed vaguely familiar. Saiki found himself taking a fifty yen coin from his wallet and handing it to the girl.

"Thank you!" she said. The store clerk eyed her dubiously.

"Aren't you a little young for cigarettes?"

"I've been smoking them for years," she said. She stepped off to the side with her cigarettes, watching with a tilted head as Saiki paid for the cake rolls.

"I actually don't have anything to pay you back with," she said sheepishly when Saiki was finished. "But my friend is waiting outside. He can pay you."

When Saiki followed her out of the convenience store, no one was there.

"Well this is embarrassing," she said, scratching the back of her neck. "He was just here, I swear. He must have gone off somewhere."

"Shoko, get it!" someone yelled. A dark blur of something streamed past Saiki and the girl, disappearing around the corner before anyone could get a look.

"What happened?" Shoko peered at the person who was hurrying towards them. He was tall, his dark hair pulled back and long bangs falling over the side of his face.