Thinking

That one time...

What was it again? Memories faded so fast, but he was never one to remember things well. No, that was Akechi. He remembered anything and everything always; the time of day he went out for coffee jelly.

The time of day he went out for coffee jelly, for God's sake.

A stalker. Dedicated, at the very least.

But that was irrelevant.

He... They were at school. Recess.

Stupid Takashi. People who created misfortune and inconvenience for others without good reason had a special kind of hatred reserved for them, courtesy of Saiki. Akechi could blab on and on for a long time, but he wasn't as annoying as everyone made him out to be. It was unfair and unjust the way Takashi picked on him relentlessly.

His art project... Yeah, that was it.

Takashi ruined his art project for no reason. He wasn't even talking to him at the moment.

Mind your own business.

It was a nice little house. He thinks the roof was red, but it was too long to recall.

The paper was wrinkled; he remembered that much. Wrinkled and dirty. They had to ask the teacher for more, which he reluctantly gave them.

Akechi did most of the work. Saiki was never great at arts and crafts. To this day, he didn't know why he stuck around to "help". He could've played on the swings, at least staying out of his way. And even he didn't mention anything about his presence, even when he built the walls as Saiki sat on the floor next to him.

Akechi was blathering on about something.

Something...

He. Clicked. His. Tongue. In. Thought.

And... There it was.

Bugs.

Horrible, terrible, disgusting bugs.

But it was okay, because he wasn't being graphic.

********************

"... Y'know Kusuo-kun, the camel cricket is considered a pest, but it's actually harmless. I've seen some behind the school."

'... It is?'

"Yeah! I know you don't like them, but maybe you'd be a little less scared if you knew they couldn't hurt you."

'I'm not scared.'

Akechi laughed as he spread glue on the edge of the cardstock.

"That's okay Kusuo-kun, your secret's safe with me!"

Saiki smiled.

"Can you pass me the scissors?"

Saiki grabbed the scissors from next to him and placed them in Akechi's hand.

"Thank you!" said Akechi, smiling brightly. "Y'know, the camel cricket isn't even a cricket. They don't have wings, so you can't tell an adult from an immature one. And they can't hear, since they can't chirp like crickets can. Crickets communicate by singing, and camel crickets..."

********************

Odd. Strange. Annoying.

But really, he wasn't.

That's what everyone said, but they were quick to assume. Saiki knew how people thought; the inner workings of their minds, but they didn't even know themselves.