Nuisance No. 1 || PLATONIC Reader x Saiki Kusuo || i have a levels 🧍‍♀️

Trust issues

I hear a knock on the front door and groan. Is he serious? What, is he gonna shout at me? Cuss again? Honestly, I never expected that from him. Maybe I did go a bit too far. But as I walk out of the kitchen, I feel my anger bubbling back up.

Just in case, I focus my mind for a second, stopping to shut my eyes and push out any lingering presences I might be able to feel — which I didn't, for once.

Back to thinking my own thoughts then.

What's his problem? He's telling me he has trust issues with the one person he's "decided to trust"? How does that even remotely make any sense? Damnit, whatever! I'll just see what he wants.

I unlock the door, flinging it open. "What?"
And he's standing there, looking equally as pissed as if his reasoning isn't THE most illogical thing I've ever heard.

"You blocked me?" He scowls, waving his phone at me.
"Yeah, I'm mad at you." I frown back.
"Well, I'm sorry!" The little shit scoffs. "I didn't realise you were so sensitive—"

Oh, fuck this, I'm closing the door. Well, no, I guess not—

He puts his entire body in the way and I almost squish him with the door. "What the hell are you doing?" I start yelling at him but he shouts over me.

"Okay! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, can I just talk to you?" He shoves off of the door frame, pushing the door open with his back as he does and frowning again. "Are you trying to kill me?" Adjusting his now-skewed glasses, he glares at me.
"You're not gonna die from a door, are you? I mean, yeah, you're skinny as hell, but really?" I snap back.

Saiki gives a drawn-out sigh, his arms dropping to his sides as he turns to face me. "Listen, can you just let me in? I just want to talk with you, without us getting irritated at each other so easily."
I fold my arms, standing off to the side a little. "Fine, come in. But I'm still mad with you."
"What?!" He frowns, folding his arms back at me. "You're the one who keeps insulting me and bombarding me with your snark at any given moment, and on top of that, you're being secretive about why you're helping me. Why should you be the one who's 'mad'?" The Pinkette replies, waving one of his hands around incredulously.
"Do you want me to shut this door in your face again?" I narrow my eyes, reaching one of my hands out to the side of my front door in preparation.
"I could rip the door off of its hinges if you like." He mutters back. Woooow. Real mature.
"Absolute psycho." Muttering, I step aside and gesture for him to come in, which he does — albeit with an untrusting sideways-glance at me.

I watch him walk in, and he starts looking around, not with any particular expression on his face. He stuffs his hands into his pockets and I pause, glancing at the front door then back at him before sighing and closing it again.
Walking past him, I make my way into the living room. "Come on, then." I grumble, and he follows me in, standing awkwardly at the entrance as I take a seat before following suit on the opposite side of the room.

Saiki glances up at me a couple times, staying sat upright and sighing twice before folding his arms. "Listen, I'm sorry we don't get on, but can you really blame me for not trusting you?" He breaks the silence, and I roll my eyes so hard I'm bloody surprised it didn't make some sort of noise.
"Oh, let me see, you keep pushing into my mind to read my thoughts, follow me around, stand outside my room to use your telepathy on me, and you're the one who doesn't trust me?" I drawl, crossing my legs.

Sighing again, he runs a hand over his face, lifting his glasses up for a second before adjusting them on his nose again. "It's— it's not easy for me to accept that I can't just... 'read you like a book', if you will. Yes, I know it's a 'breach of privacy' for you, and it took me a while to understand that until recently. But my whole life I've been able to hear everything about everyone. Their intentions, thoughts, opinions and anything else they think or feel. So can you please just try to understand how weird it was when you came in and... there was nothing? At least, not until I actively tried to listen?" He seems to relax a little, and I stay quiet, thinking.

Okay. I guess it makes sense. If someone's used to never having to worry about what the world thinks of them, then I guess it's a bit startling to have someone so secretive pop into your life. Maybe he feels like — in a way — he's had control over every situation he's come to be in so far, and I'm a wildcard. Honestly, I feel the same, somewhat. I get anxious about what everyone else is thinking about me, and I know that's a normal reaction to my situation (being "the new girl") but the fact I have some extent of control over it with my voluntary-telepathy was  and is comforting. I didn't worry nearly as much as the average Joe would on my first day.

But still, I've got the emotional intelligence to switch it off when I feel like I should, because I know it's a breach of privacy to invade someone's thoughts — so why can't he apply the same logic to pushing into my mind, just because it doesn't come naturally to him to be able to read it?

Glancing back at him, I can see he's waiting for a response, and for once he's not trying to reach out and get one actively. "Alright, yeah, I get it. But I told you over and over before that I don't like it. So what, the first thing you think is I'm trying to screw you over? Maybe I just don't want you prodding around in my head."
Frowning, he looks at the floor. "But that's what I don't get. I basically hear and see into everyone's mind, it's not like I'm going to judge you on anything I find — so I assumed you were hiding something from me."

At that moment, something clicks, and I lean forward. "So you thought I was using you for something, right? That's what you said earlier, isn't it?"
He nods, and I narrow my eyes. "Oh, really? And you're not projecting or anything, are you? Because I'm quite happy to just be a friend who helps out without wanting whatever the hell you think it is I want in return." Saiki freezes, still staring at the ground. I carry on. "It's called being selfless."

I stare at him. Wow, great. So he was just planning on using me to get whatever help he wanted and then avoid me like the rest of the people he refers to as "Nuisances".
"Sometimes you really remind me of Teruhashi." The sentence comes out so bitterly it's as if I spat the words out like a bad taste.

I didn't mean that to come out that harshly... but I guess the damage is done. Saiki's face is... damn, I feel bad, now. He looks hurt.

A moment of silence passes, before he gives me a withering look. "What's that supposed to mean?"