Ch. 1

Kokomi Teruhashi is a perfect pretty girl. That's because she is incredibly beautiful on both the outside, and on the inside. Balanced. A girl as perfect as she could twirl through life on easy mode without a care in the world. One smile could get her discounts on all of her shopping. One strand of silky blue hair swaying in the wind could make jaws drop, and fans form. They would bow at her feet in the streets in front of their wives, their girlfriends, their children. It didn't matter. She was god's favorite angel, heaven made, queenly and lucky. Yes, her life was an easy one.

But that doesn't mean it was always a happy one.

For instance, on one particular morning, way way too early to be awake, Teruhashi found herself in despair. It was her first day of her third (and final) year of high school, and her brain was in overdrive. The night before had started off wonderfully. She had been so excited, her summer homework was completed, her lunch made, her uniform laid out and ready for the morning, and she was in bed before 8 p.m. Eager to begin the next chapter of her school days.

"I wonder if Chiyo and Mera will be in the same class as me again this year? I hope so. And Kaido, Nendou, Aren and Hairo too. Hell, I'm even excited to see Saiki. It feels like we've seen so little of each other over the summer!"

She smiled and nuzzled further into her warm blankets, pressing her suddenly warm cheeks into her pillow.

"And maybe if I'm really lucky... Saiki will be in my class this year too. Maybe we can even sit next to each other this year."

(She was tired of staring at the back of his head.)

It had been around this time when her thoughts took a steep turn downward. That handsome, mysterious, overly serious, pink haired boy did that to her from time to time. Wedged himself into her line of thoughts and stuck, like a piece of gum you can never fully scrape from the bottom of your shoe. When that happened she would toss and turn under her covers, never comfortable, never satisfied, and always wondering. Her dreams that night twisted back and forth, between sweet reunions and cold detachment. Purple eyes behind green lenses, staring at her blankly. They made her nervous.

"Why does he always stare at me like that, instead of the way the other boys look at me? Does he not like me at all? I mean... he must at least think we're friends. Or does he find me annoying... Is he dating that Aiura girl? I don't know what to think!"

How was she supposed to sleep now? The clock on her nightstand blinked 5:30 a.m, her stomach growled and her thoughts churned. There was no chance of her sleeping when she couldn't even tell if Kusuo Saiki wanted to be her friend let alone be her... be her...

No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

That was far too embarrassing to think about right now. What she needed to do was grab some breakfast, get ready for school, and then go for a nice walk through the quiet streets of Hidariwakibara-cho. This early in the morning was always a good time to enjoy peace and quiet before everyone else hit the shops, or began their walks to school and the offu's began. Plus, if she hurried, she wouldn't have to deal with her brother, who had a tendency to not leave her alone (ever) when he was home from work.

So she dressed in her school uniform, twirling once in admiration of her own beauty in front of the mirror before grabbing her bag and heading to the kitchen. Eggs and toast were the easiest thing to make quietly, so as to not wake her brother, and once she had scarfed them down with a glass of orange juice, she was out of the door, and on her way. Already, she was feeling relieved by the fresh morning air hitting her cheeks.

Her feet began leading her towards the park and wooded area slightly out of town. It wasn't her usual walking route, but she felt like nature was the better option as her thoughts from the night before continued to reel through her brain.

"Aiura sure does spend a lot of time around Saiki... maybe they really are dating. Should I keep waiting for him? Trying to hint at him to make some kind of move? Or do I give up? Leave him alone..."

The park was empty, though it was still early. Nearing almost 7:30 now as Teruhashi hummed and hawed, gazing at the flowers planted around the benches and trail entrances.

"What if I baked him some sweets? Saiki loves sweets! I bet he might at least smile at me if I did," her heart skipped a beat, "It's not exactly an offu... but at least it's a start."

She crouched down and ran her fingers over some of the prettier lilac colored flowers in one of the flower beds. She wasn't sure what it was called, but it smelled very sweet. It would probably have made a very nice perfume scent. Smiling softly, she dropped her hand from the petals and reached for another flower, this one much pinker in color. It reminded her of Saiki's hair...

Sighing out loud, Teruhashi clutched her hands together in front of her chest and closed her eyes, "Hey god... I just - I just love him so much. I don't know what to do god. I want to be with him all of the time... I want to tell him everything, everything that's happened, everything I want to happen, and I want to know everything about him too. I don't know why god, but it feels very important to me." A single tear dripped from her eye, sliding down her cheek, "Please god, am I asking too much? Please, just show me the way."

Fortunately, as mentioned before, Teruhashi was God's favorite angel, and he had a very special place in his heart for her cries. Deciding it was time to give her destiny a good push in the right direction, he took matters into his own hands, and smiling down upon her beauty, he blew.

A strong, ominous wind suddenly began blowing through the park. Startled by the sheer force of it, Teruhashi's balance was thrown off, and she tumbled to the ground by the base of the flower bed she had been kneeling at. When the wind died down, (seemingly seconds later) she righted herself, rising to her feet and straightening out her skirt. Her eyes landed on a path trail she had never seen before. Confused, she glanced around the rest of the park. There were supposed to be seven small pathways, each of them looping through the forest and back around to the park in their own relaxing way. But now, when she counted them again, there were definitely eight. Not only that, but the flowers that marked the entrance at this trail were all roses! Beautiful pink, red and blue roses, blooming perfectly in their lush green bushels.

Curiosity got the better of her, and Teruhashi, deciding there was still plenty of time before school started, headed off down the path. Though she was quite sad she didn't have her camera on her, the roses that lined the path were even more beautiful as she got further and further from the park. 20 minutes went by and Teruhashi was feeling much happier, though the path was somewhat steep and upward, the burn in her calves took up much of her focus, and the flowers took up the rest.

Of course, that was until the crashes began.

"Is that a demolition crew?" She thought to herself as the bangs got louder and louder as she approached, "Maybe this pathway leads to a new subdivision or something." She could see an opening ahead, lined slightly with trees instead of more flowers and dirt, "Well, I guess I am about to find out."

The path ended with several thick trees blocking off a clearing that was drastically different than the park she had just came from. This clearing was barren, nothing around except several very large boulders and rubble. There wasn't even grass! It was like her pathway was from a whole other world, and she didn't even belong wherever it was that she was. Frowning in confusion, Teruhashi made to step around the tree blocking her way so she could enter the clearing and look around, when something insanely fast and bright pink whipped by her, and towards the boulders.

"S-Saiki?"

There he was. Kusuo Saiki, the man she loved. The man plaguing her thoughts. There he was, in the center of this clearing. But wait... how did he move so blindingly fast? And where were his odd hair pins she never saw him without? And was that a silver ring on his finger!?

Teruhashi couldn't believe her eyes. Saiki, here, all alone. God must have heard her prayers after all. She would have been crazy happy if she wasn't so darn confused. She had always known Saiki was athletic, but had he always been so fast that he blurred to the naked eye? Had he always been so strong that he could lift a boulder the size of a house with one hand and play catch, with himself, with said boulder? Was he always so talented that he could then pulverize the boulder into rubble with his bare hands as if it were nothing at all?

She couldn't take her eyes off of him, he was amazing, and terrifying. Was it him somehow making the rubble float and piece themselves back together so the boulder became whole once more? How was that even possible? Was he a wizard? A psychic? A superhero? Teruhashi was trying, but for the life of her she could not figure out what was going on.

But she kept watching. She watched him pause in the center of the clearing. He looked a little out of breath and dirty, but no more so than someone who had just spent hours in their garden on a hot sunny day. She wasn't even sure if he had broken a sweat... And then suddenly, the earth beneath her feet began to rumble.

"Huh?" Teruhashi grabbed onto the tree that was blocking her from Saiki's view to keep her balance and looked around her fearfully. "Is this the part where the alien overlords come to fight to the death?"

The earth rumbled again, she looked back to Saiki, only to find him crouched down now, both of his palms flat against the ground in the center of the clearing. The ground around him had begun to crack and an orange light was streaming through it. Intense heat washed over Teruhashi in a wave and the cause hit her like a ton of bricks. "Volcano."

Was he actually a superhero? Stopping an eruption to save his town? That was... that was so cool! Teruhashi could feel her heart beating harder in her chest, she gripped the tree harder, watching intensely as Saiki tried to hold the ground together where the lava was pushing to break through. He was amazing, but more and more ground was crumbling away, and smoke was beginning to rise in thick black curls, blocking Saiki from her sight briefly. His face looked pained.

"No," She breathed out, feeling the ground rumble again, stronger this time, "No! Saiki, stop! You'll die!" She didn't care that she wasn't supposed to see him like this, she didn't care that she wasn't as strong as him, she couldn't let him do this! She couldn't watch him die. But he clearly wasn't hearing her over the eruption, so with all the strength and the courage she could find in her body, Teruhashi let go of the tree she was holding onto for support and rushed forward. "SAIKI!"

Or at least that's what she had tried to do. What actually happened was that as she took her first step forward the volcano shook once more. Her whole world took a sudden sharp right incline and she tumbled, bouncing off one of the other trees and falling backwards, rolling down the hill she had so tirelessly climbed, until she was lying face first in the soft grass, at the park where she had began.

The ground wasn't shaking anymore. There was no intense heat and she couldn't smell smoke, but there was certainly a commotion all around her. She could hear several voices shouting around her, could feel people running closer. Were they running towards the earth quakes? She should warn them about the eruption.

"Miss are you alright?"

"Woah, look at that beautiful girl..."

"She sort of appeared as if from nowhere."

Teruhashi rolled over onto her back. Above her were the faces of at least 15 older men, all staring at her with concerned and curious faces. Why weren't they more concerned about the earth shaking!? What about the smoke? "Why aren't you running?"

One of the men raised a brow at her, "Why would we run from such an angel?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "No, why aren't you running from the eruption?"

The men glanced at each other in confusion before one of them spoke up, "Miss... did you hurt your head?"

"Ok, i seriously don't have time for this." Teruhashi sighed and pushed herself up into a sitting position, forcing the men to back up off her slightly. Ignoring them as best as she could, she carefully got back up to her feet and turned to head back up the rose pathway, (Maybe Saiki really did stop the eruption) only... it wasn't there. She blinked several times. "Wasn't... where are the roses?"

She pushed past the men, rushing over to where the path should be, panic setting in quickly. "No, no, no, no, no. It should be here! Saiki!? Saiki, are you ok!?" She pushed through some of the trees, moving away vines and bushes to try and find the dirt path. The group of men that had gathered around stared at her... was she crazy?

"Um..." One of the men stepped forward and carefully reached out to stop Teruhashi from digging up any more bushes, "Are you lost miss? Did you get separated from your friend?"

Teruhashi whirled around, eyes a little crazy and tears threatening to spill over. "Don't touch-!" She began to shout, but then she saw the concerned expressions on the men's faces. A perfect pretty girl would never yell at these nice men that were only concerned for her well being. "I..." She took a deep breath, and then another. She wasn't going to be any help for Saiki like this, she had to use her own skills. "Ok then... time for some Angel Tears." She closed her eyes, pushing the tears past her lids and letting them slide down her cheeks in wet streams, before opening them again, "Yes... My friend Saiki. He's somewhere up the hill, and I think he's really hurt. Would you please help me find him?"

The men's faces were bright red, but they leaped into action for her immediately.

"Of course! We'll hunt through this whole forest to find your friend, don't you worry!"

"Yes, please miss, don't tire yourself out on this, leave it it us!"

"Please miss, go have a seat and rest on one of the benches, we will find your friend in no time!"

And so Teruhashi found herself sat comfortably on the park bench closest to the fountain. One of the men had fetched her a blanket and another had bought her a drink to enjoy before they had all taken off into the woods, shouting Saiki's name. She was still worried about Saiki, of course, but she was also tired and sore from her fall. So she sat, wondering if he was really ok, wondering what she would say to his mother if he wasn't, wondering what she would say to the guys if he wasn't... But no, of course he was ok. He was probably just a little burned and very tired. The men would find him. They would find him.

Hours ticked by. Every now and then one of the search party members would come out and tell her there was no sign of anyone in a specific part of the wood, and she would tell him again that they should be looking for a dirt path, up a hill, lined with roses. The man would usually mumble something about not seeing any of that either before Teruhashi sniffled and he would stammer and then rush back into the wood. She found herself eating her prepared school lunch in the park, on her bench, staring blankly at the water in the fountain. There was no sign of Saiki.

The sun was starting to get low in the sky, and the men were standing before her bench, tired and dirty, panting like dogs in desperate need of water. "We're sorry Teruhashi, we failed you!" They chanted to her in unison, bowing low in shame. She could only stare. "We tried to find your friend, we swear we did! But we looked everywhere and he is not in the forest. Maybe he went home, or something?"

She knew they were just trying to help, but she was so angry at them. Saiki was probably dead. Sacrificed to save them all and no one would ever know or believe her if she tried to explain what she saw. She was so angry... why couldn't they have brought him back to her?

"..." She tried to thank the men. She really did, but her shoulders had started to shake, and large wet tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her voice kept catching in her throat every time she tried to speak or breathe properly, so she buried her face in her hands instead, and she cried. Loud, heaving, wet sobs that wracked her body and hurt her lungs. The men began to panic, wanting to console her and not knowing what to do. But there was nothing they could do. Saiki was dead. Saiki was dead and there was nothing anyone could do.

Time slipped by. She wasn't sure how much, but one of the men must have gone into her bag and taken out her phone to call her emergency contact (her brother), because suddenly there he was. Makoto was a wreck when he finally managed to push his way past the crowd gathered around her, screaming at them to get away from his baby sister. She wanted to tell him to go away, or at least to not be so rude to the nice men that had been helping her all day, but her voice hadn't come back yet. So when he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to a limo waiting at the entrance of the park, she just let him, trying to take comfort in his familiarity.

He consoled her, attempting to hold and cuddle her the whole ride home in the back of the limo, but that was pushing it so she kicked him hard in his stomach, and curled into a ball next to the window, ignoring his whining.

"Kokomi... always so mean to your big brother..."

"Shut up."

The sun had set fully when they pulled into their driveway. Makoto leaped from the car, practically before it had even stopped, and rushed to open her door for her, offering his hand to help her out. "Come Kokomi, I'll take you to bed and we can cuddle up together and you can tell your big brother all of your problems-"

"No." Teruhashi stepped out of the car, ignoring his hand, "Leave me alone, Makoto."

Her brother clutched at his chest as if she had shot him through the heart, "Kokomi! Don't say such things, you know it is I who loves you the most in this entire world-"

"Please just stop." Teruhashi sighed and unlocked the front door, "I don't want to put up with this tonight."

"Hmph," Makoto crossed his arms and pouted, but followed her into the house without any arguments. He kicked off his shoes quickly and immediately headed off towards the kitchen. "Will you at least tell me why you didn't go to school at all for your first day of second year?"

Teruhashi kicked off her shoes more slowly, "Third year."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Kokomi. You're a smart girl, but not skip a whole year smart." Makoto laughed merrily, "Anyway, your teacher called the house so I know it's second year. You're in class three this year, by the way."

Feeling like her whole body was suddenly frozen in the doorway, Teruhashi stared down at her feet. A very weird feeling was starting to wash over her, "But... didn't I just complete my second year exams?"

"Uh yeah," Makoto called from what sounded like their living room now, "This will be your fourth year doing your second year of high school, just like everyone else."

Her brain hurt. What was going on? Did she go back in time? Did she lose her memory, hit her head? Was Saiki actually super powered, and dead? Was she going crazy? She didn't have any of the answers.

"I have to go," She whispered, to no one in particular as she pushed her feet back into her shoes. Her brother was rambling about some movie he was going to star in next, so she left her bag in the porch and then took off. Out of the house and back down the street. Just one answer. She just needed one answer, and then maybe she could even get some sleep tonight. Just one...

She knew the way by heart at this point, having attended a few Christmas', some cooking lessons and a few birthday parties there through the last several years. It was no more than a 30 minute walk, so with her running like this, passing both Kaido's and Nendou's houses in a blur, she made it in 15. The Saiki household.

There were lights on... "Oh thank god." She really didn't want to wake them up. Pressing her thumb into their doorbell, Teruhashi held it there, panting slightly as she caught her breath. She could see shadows moving in one of the windows, someone was coming towards the door. "Oh..." She released the doorbell, "Please..."

The door swung open, and there, standing in the yellowish light from inside, wearing a turtleneck sweater and a green apron... was Mrs. Saiki. Saiki's mom.

"Oh! Teruhashi! What are you doing here so late at night?" Mrs Saiki rushed over to the gate, smiling as brightly and cheerful as ever, "You know its a school night right?"

Teruhashi smiled politely, "I'm so sorry to disturb you, I was just wondering if Saiki was home?"

Mrs Saiki beamed even brighter at her, "Of course Ku-chan is home! He's always home!" She turned her head and called over her shoulder loudly, "Ku-chaaan~! You have a guest!"

Her heart was thudding incredibly fast. He was here? He was alive? Maybe she really was just crazy and all that had happened today was just some crazy dream, that had felt so incredibly real -

The light from inside the house dimmed a bit and Teruhashi looked up, her breath catching in her throat. There he was... pink hair, green lenses, hair pins... he was all here. Saiki eyed her with his usual seriously bored expression as he began to walk over to the gate where his mother was still talking to her, though Teruhashi wasn't really sure what she was saying. She could feel tears welling in her eyes again, and there was definitely a lump in her throat.

Teruhashi.

His voice! Suddenly unable to hold back the tears, Teruhashi shook her head and lunged forward. A look of shock widened Saiki's eyes as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward so they were both bent over the top of the gate in a tight and awkward embrace neither of them were fully prepared for. Mrs Saiki mumbled something and then retreated quickly back into the house, leaving them alone.

Teruhashi... Saiki's voice whispered after a minute of her clutching onto him and crying, are you ok?

She nodded and laughed wetly into his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I just had a really weird day and it's just so good to see you. I missed you."

He didn't say anything and she wished he would hug her back, even if he wrapped one arm around her instead of leaving both stiffly at his sides like he was doing. "Oh... I'm probably making him uncomfortable... I guess this can wait till the morning. As long as he's alive."

She pulled away from him, almost laughing at the stiff and ruffled look he was giving her. "Sorry, I promise not to do that again. I'll see you tomorrow at school, Saiki."

He nodded at her and watched stoically as she made her way back down the street, towards her house. At the end of the street she turned, smiling when she saw he was still there, watching her. She waved and he lifted his hand to wave back, she noticed a glint of silver on his hand. It was the ring from before.

Her smile faded as Saiki turned and walked back into his house. That ring... so it was real? Then that means... that means that Saiki...

Boy was this about to be the start of an interesting school year.