𝗢𝗢𝗚𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗────── k. aren x original character

𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫

"oh, kusuo? what's going on?"

with her tennis bag on her back, kotoe stepped down the stairs only to find their father crying on the floor.

there's always something going on in the saiki household each morning.

"this fool is complaining about how he would be late for his job instead of getting there," kusuo's shoulders visibly relaxed when he saw her. "and he's asking me to teleport him there."

kotoe scrunched her nose. she glanced at their father who was practically begging on his knees for kusou to help him.

"i'll be going then," kotoe turned away to walk out the door, and kusou, promptly ignoring their father, followed her.

"kusuo!" he groaned, hand reaching out to him before giving out.

"good grief," kusuo sighed as he shut the door behind him, "thanks for that, kotoe."

"mhm," she shook her head. "he's always relying on you, sheesh."

they both turned to make their way to school, soft wind of spring is slowly blowing against their faces and kotoe hugged her jacket closer to her body.

"he's never going to make it in the real world like that," she commented out of nowhere.

kusuo raised an eyebrow, "well, if you think about it, he is an adult."

"still," kotoe grumbled, "even mom never does anything like that."

"he needs to more responsible," he agreed. "even when cheering for you in your matches, h—"

"yo, pals!"

at the familiar voice calling out to them, kotoe and kusuo shivered.

"oh my," she muttered under her breath. they both stopped on their tracks to see nendou and kaidou catching up behind them. kusuo held the same expression of slight inconvenience in his face.

"ah, kotoe-san!"

everyone had turned to call her "kotoe-san" instead of "saiki-san"; to avoid confusion with kusuo, she supposed.

"kaidou-kun," she bowed her head, wondering why they keep on hanging out around kusuo when he stressed countless times that they weren't, and will never be, friends. "nendou-kun too, good morning."

"kusuo," she sheepishly turned to her brother as they were approaching them. "i'm just gonna go ahead," she flashed him a fake smile, "you go and hang out with your friends, 'kay?"

"i can see through your smile," kusuo slanted his eyes before sighing, tilting his head to let her know she could go ahead.

kotoe grinned, "thanks—see you in class!"

"ah—" a hint of disappointment rang through kaidou's short sigh, "we didn't even get the chance to talk to kotoe-san."

'at this rate, i'll never get to know her more!' he thought, which kusuo could hear clearly, with sadness laced all over it.