Trenches

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Good grief, I can never tell what's going to happen when I'm around ____. If I was just paying attention to the path instead of them, I'd have seen the ditch before ____ fell into it.

But Saiki didn't see it coming, and so there you were at the bottom of a ditch. Your thigh strap tore slightly, letting in a few of your abilities. The thoughts of everyone immediately flooded your head, and your pink aura doubled in size. A nearby squirrel took one glance at you, blushed, and immediately scurried off.

"_-____! Are you okay?" Teruhashi called out.

"Are ya hurt?" Nendo yelled.

Kaido began unwinding his bandages at an alarming speed. He intensely knitted his bandages into a long, reinforced strip, very intent on letting you use it as a rope. Isn't that supposed to unleash Kaido's destructive power?

Your face began to grow hot with embarrassment.

"I'm okay, everyone! I can just climb out-" You said, but as soon as you started climbing, rain came pouring down. It rained so hard it could nearly be considered a monsoon. The wind whipped your hair in every direction, pushing you to brace yourself against the muddy wall. Everyone ran for cover under the nearby trees. Saiki himself backed up slightly, went invisible, and observed. If anyone notices he's gone during this commotion, he'll just say he hid in a bush with the blushing squirrel.

You gritted your teeth. This was one of your abilities at work. The embarrassment of falling in front of your new peers caused you to subconsciously summon a storm. And now that you're soaked, still at the bottom of a ditch, you're even more embarrassed. Lightning struck directly next to you, but you were unfazed.

Saiki raised an eyebrow at that behavior, but you didn't notice him since he was invisible. You got an idea.

When the lightning struck, the area of ground that it hit became dry. If you just summon nonstop lightning, you'll have enough dry area to climb out of the ditch! It might look a little weird, though. They'd probably question why you didn't die. You could say you got out before the lightning began to strike, but they'd be suspicious of that as well. They would ask how? You decided to scrap that idea. You remained calm as the water began rising, going over your knees in height at this point.

You got another idea. You used your abilities to smooth over the bottom of the ditch to prevent any absorption of water. That way the ditch fills up like a bowl with cereal. You can float with the rising water until you're able to crawl out, you would just look extremely gross afterward. Would you be embarrassed if they saw you like that? Would that embarrassment cause an even bigger incident?

"I wish this rain would just stop!" came Teruhashi's cry.

This was perfect. The water had already risen just enough so that you'd be able to swim out, and Teruhashi just made the most useful wish out there. Plus, who could be more pure of heart than her? You grinned as you granted the wish, the rain ceasing its torment. You swam out, shook yourself like a dog, and while you shook off the water you used your abilities to make yourself look slightly more presentable. Still wet, but not in complete disarray.

Saiki was suspicious. He heard Teruhashi's cry as well, noticed your reaction that happened conveniently after that, and then the rain stopped. He wondered if you had something to do with it, but no hard evidence.

"Was... was it my rope that saved you, ____?" Kaido asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and averting his eyes. Your aura was still twice its size with your strap torn, so being near you made him feel very flustered. He's adorable! How could you say no?

"Yes, Kaido, your bandages were like magic." You said,  giving a closed eye smile, but when you opened your eyes you noticed his bandage rope clearly dangling from a tree, mocking you.

You knew you couldn't keep staring at it, that would make the others notice. So, you simply separated both of your eyes.

"Hey, she's lookin' at me AND Teruhashi right now," Nendo hollered

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"Hey, she's lookin' at me AND Teruhashi right now," Nendo hollered.

"_-____!? Are you alright??" Kaido panicked, shaking you. You moved your eyes back into place while discreetly using your finger to slide the bandage next to the former ditch, now trench with all the water.

"Oh yeah, I just do that sometimes," was all you could come up with as an excuse.

You all began walking home. Saiki walked a little behind the group, feeling the urge to just observe your movements.

I'm only curious about her because of the future. That's why I'm watching her chatting mindlessly with the others right now. Nothing more.

You laughed at a face Nendo made. Nendo was confused, because he didn't make a face; that's just how he looked. But it was like Saiki was watching you laugh in slow motion.

Saiki did not blink the entire way home.

He was going to blink at the intersection where everyone would part ways, but it turns out that you live in the same direction he does. So now, both of you walking home alone, Saiki felt his eyes begin to dry out. His rehydrated his eyes with his abilities over and over again, staying quiet as he watched you.

You, of course, could just feel Saiki boring holes into the back of your head. You didn't need powers to sense that. You weren't the best at conversation, maybe he was waiting for you to say something? But you wouldn't even know what to say to such a reserved guy like Saiki. You contemplated removing your strap completely to read his mind.

Just as you were about to remove it, you made it home. You turned around to say goodbye to Saiki, but he was already gone. You shrugged and headed inside. Saiki was hiding behind a nearby pillar.

Good grief. ____ lives right next to me.

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 24, 2022 ⏰

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