If I may make a dabble request, DivAki of course. What if Aki visits Divine in prison (timeskip or not), and offer to heal his scar? Maybe the one nice deed he’ll ever have in his irredemable life? (But the twist, he doesn’t take that offer) 🤔
i decided to set this like immediately after ark cradle (though aki decidedly does NOT tell divine about it because can you imagine if she had to mention yusei to that man). i also posted it on ao3 because i am determined to become the majority of the divine tag lmao
“You came back.” Divine’s voice was raspy, narrowed eyes watching as Aki sat down at the seat across from him. Each time the guards alerted him to a visitor, he knew it had to be her, but he still couldn’t understand why she insisted on coming to see him. Her friends had no idea, she had admitted that much, claiming to them that she was studying alone.
“Of course I did,” She replied simply, leaning forward on her elbows to watch him closely, rolling her eyes as his own darted down to her cleavage for a brief moment. “We won that tournament, remember the one I mentioned about?”
He did remember. Most things the woman before him said were ingrained somewhere deep in his mind, partly because of a long-lingering soft spot for her, but mostly in case he ever did escape from these concrete walls. “Impressive.”
She leant back again, and he watched as she fiddled with the hem of her gloves; she always did this when she had something to say, something she was afraid would gain a negative response. At first, he wondered if this was something to do with Yusei, but what came out of her lips instead startled him.
“Have you ever seen a psychic with healing powers before?”
Divine’s brows furrowed, and he lifted a hand to his chin as he thought, scratching the stubble as if it would jog his memory quicker. “Yes. Once. Why?” Her silence, brown eyes focused on her own hands, answered his own question. Now that…. That was an interesting revelation. A woman who could heal and harm could be very useful.
Aki finally lifted her head, mentally tracing the scar along his face. It had marred what he considered to be perfection, and she surely knew how much he hated it. There was a reason his hair constantly covered it. “…I could try to remove that, if you wanted me to, Divine.”
A promise to bring him back to how things used to be. She even outstretched a hand, palm up waiting (or hoping, given the glimmer in her eyes). It reminded him of how things used to be, Divine offering his hand to pull her away from the darkness of the world around them. It was a promise of protection, a promise to take revenge on anyone who hurt her.
And yet, he had a feeling her promise was one of recovery. She claimed to be in a good place now, with friends and family and a place in a university starting in autumn. He hated it, the woman he had moulded from a young vulnerable girl was slipping through his fingers, with nothing he could feasibly do to stop it.
“You don’t need to do that.” An itch, a temptation to take her hand and tug, pull her back into him until they were intertwined again, unsure where Divine and his ideas ended and her own consciousness began. Instead, he allowed her to rise from her seat, eyes watery with a lingering sense of rejection.
He knew she would be back; she always would come back to him.
notes: we are so back. we are SO back (im sorry about the formatting im on my phone lol)
There was nobody else that Aki wanted to speak to when her head was muddled like this.
read on ao3 | tip me on kofi!
Waking in the dark room with a startle was not uncommon for Aki, laying still as her breathing slowly regulated, heart still pounding; the shadows of her bedroom shifted and moved, and for a brief moment, she wondered if someone else was in the room with her. But when she finally sat up, turning her lamp on, the apparitions disappeared, leaving her completely alone.
But the light wasn’t enough to calm her nerves. No, staying put was only making things worse, the voices from her nightmare taunting her, reminding her that she was alone – it sounded far too familiar, as though it was her father speaking to her through her own psyche.
She finally rose from her spot on the bed, throwing on her dressing gown as she stepped into her slippers. She didn’t want anyone wandering the halls of the building seeing her pyjamas, an old EDEN t-shirt that Divine had handed her ages ago that would cause far too many questions. That would only be made worse by exactly where she was heading.
There was nobody else that Aki wanted to speak to when her head was muddled like this. She wasn’t sure whether he would listen to her anxieties or simply distract her, but it didn’t matter. His presence alone would soothe it, surely.
Still, she grew more nervous the closer she got to his bedroom. It was on the top floor, far above anybody else’s quarters. She supposed it helped to keep his status above everyone else, though that did often leave her wondering why her room was only a few floors below, away from most of the other members.
When she finally made it to his room, her stomach tight and her body trembling, she considered turning the other way and running back to her room, bolting the lock and hiding under the covers until her fears finally subsided or morning came. Instead, the door opened before she even thought to raise her hand to knock.
“Aki?” He raised a brow, leaning on the doorframe as he rubbed his eye. She wasn’t sure how she could have woke him up – she was silent as she crept up – but she did suppose they always did have a strange connection. She sometimes wondered if he felt everything she felt, his own insides twisting in response to her emotions. When she didn’t answer, too caught up her in fears to even begin to speak, he nodded, as if hearing her thoughts himself.
“Sorry,” She mumbled, fingers digging into the fabric of her dressing gown as she dipped her head. Still, he hummed in response, not sounding frustrated as much as tired. He stepped aside, and she understood, making her way into his room to sit herself on the end of his bed. It was so much more comfortable than her own mattress, but she couldn’t complain too much, not when he often allowed her to nap in here while he was in board meetings.
“Bad dream?” He sat beside her, those hazel eyes watching her from his peripheral vision. When she nodded, he frowned. “Want to talk about it?”
In truth, she didn’t recall the fine details, but she guessed it was better to at least tell him the overarching theme: “It was about my parents, that’s all. I don’t remember much else.”
She was relieved that he didn’t press, considering she had no other explanation to give. Instead, he shifted to lay at the head of the bed, patting the space beside him. She was quick to shed the dressing gown before scrambling to follow him, leaning against soft pillows with a sigh.
“You can stay here for the night,” He spoke surprisingly softly, offering an arm to her as he got himself comfortable again. Divine had never offered her something like this, typically calming her down before walking her back to her room. She felt her cheeks redden at the thought of it, the implications floating around her head as she settled, her head on his shoulder.
“Thank you, Divine.” She mumbled, smiling up at him when he glanced down, though she was pretty sure her expression was still laced with nerves. He gave his best attempt at a smile back, closer to a smirk but warming to her heart all the same.
“You’re welcome.” He moved briefly to switch the light out, pulling Aki closer. “You really like that shirt, hm?” She hadn’t expected him to even notice. A squeak in response, hiding her face in his pyjamas. He seemed endeared by her reaction, chuckling quietly. “It’s okay. I gave it to you because you liked it.”
It was true, though she mostly liked it because it was his. She had a feeling he knew that and was grateful that he didn’t mention it. “It’s cosy…” It was her best attempt at a reply, yawning a moment after, exhaustion finally catching up to her. Divine yawned immediately after; she vaguely recalled being told people yawned contagiously when closer to someone. She never knew if it was true, but she chose to believe it all the same.
“Get some rest, my love.”
She couldn’t remember falling asleep, but it had to have happened. When her eyes opened, sunlight was streaming through a gap in the curtains, and (to her surprise) Divine was still there, arm still around her waist as he absently scrolled through the news on his phone. Deciding she was too happy here to even begin getting ready for the day, she allowed herself to drift back off, the heat radiating from his body comforting her.
full disclosure though- i used to really like satosai, but then i grew as a person and part of that is realizing satosai is painful amounts of overrated and mid (im joking obviously, though i do truthfully dislike it, no shade to you if you do. plus i still look at ship content of it sometimes because it’s there in mass amounts and they’re cute sometimes). also some satosai fans are so annoyingggg (you know the ones) and will go after other saiki ships and be like “anyways satosai better” and i do genuinely think you’re annoying and should get off of my page if you do that.
E - kuboyasu x teruhashi. it goes in E tier for “Eh?” because i do not get it
i have nothing to say about them, to the point that it’s not even funny. this is like, a very sober crackship to me. im sure someone who does really like this ship could sell me on it but it hasn’t happened yet. i see this ship around sometimes and just get so confused. i do not see the chemistry
D - kubosai. even more confusing than the last one in some ways but i kind of see the charm of it.
again though, nothing much to say. they work aesthetically, like—the bones of a good ship are here, but there’s no meat to tear into. in their canon/close to canon versions i cannot see it at all (probably because i like other ships with both of them a lot more), but in a good fic or au i do very much indulge in the BAMF x BAMF content. yeah idk what else to say, they’re so low on here because i just do not think about them as a romantic pairing or seek it out. i don’t know why it’s so popular (unless there’s some solo chapter with them as a duo that ive never seen)
C - imuteru, hii x satou, and makoku (with one u). yeah, I know, C tier for “Contreversial Take” i suppose.
OK LET ME EXPLAIN OFFICER-
imuteru used to be higher up on the list, but then terusai took over my body and soul, and i just can’t really see them together anymore. whenever i think of imuteru i think of unrequited imuteru on imu’s end and that makes me sad :( for some reason this same effect didn’t happen with teruchiyo or mikoteru but that might be that those two have other ships with the characters aswell idk
satou x hii would be further up because i do really like them together and i think the whole luck balancing thing is super cute, i just don’t think about them enough to put them higher. yes, your boos are understandable, and your tomato throwing. someday i’ll decide to read a fic about them and it’ll probably become B tier idk
.. ok now you REALLY HAVE TO HEAR ME OUT. makoto x kusuo could be so funny. this is a true crackship, and one laced with the absolutely most fatal drug cocktail you’ve ever seen. in a world where makoto isn’t literally a walking incest joke and is just a protective and pretty idiot it slaps so hard. kokomi would hate it, kuusuke would hate it, his parents would be questioning how kusuo managed to bag a famous actor without mind control. it is utter chaos and so so much better for it. i think they should be more popular and it’s probably my worst saiki k take. still, putting them any higher is basically saiki k fandom sacrilege atp so.
B - nendou x saiko, mikosai (+mikoteru and teruchiyo which weren’t on the tierlist for some reason), kaisai, and yumekai. now we’re getting somewhere. i quite like all of these.
nendou x saiko is just very fun to me. idiot for idiot but it’s in the romcom rich guy who doesn’t know shit meets guy who doesn’t know shit either. silly x tries to be serious but can’t really pull it off. i think they can both mutually make each others lives better + their interactions in canon were great. i wish they were more popular
oh boy mikosai!! oh boy, mikosai… mikosai is the first sight of my polyship i like to call “psychicshipping” which is where i ship all of the PK psychickers together romantically as a weird kind of OT4. i have so much to say on mikosai and a lot of thoughts about them, and i do genuinely like them as a pairing a lot, BUT. it ranks lower than the other psychicships because the fandom put a bad taste in my mouth with it. often, i see a lot of people hating on terusai in favor of mikosai or saying that mikosai is somehow more valid and im like “?”. it often feels like mikosai is the het saiki ship for teruhashi haters, which SUCKS because i do see the vision. like, THIS:
this is great, yk? they look good together and the dynamic is great, but the way the fandom treats and characterizes them is not even close to how they should be, at least to me it’s not. this image sums up my feelings on them pretty well:
closing thoughts: i should be the only one allowed to ship mikosai because only i understand them NEXT
mikoteru + teruchiyo bonus round because i like them too and they deserve to be here: these ships are both great in my professional opinion, but their paragraphs get combined because i don’t have a lot of vested interest in them specifically despite really liking them. I think teruhashi’s problems could all be fixed if she had at least one girlfriend (preferably more) and that is my only thoughts really. i get very happy when i see people making ship content for either of these, please make more yuri content with teruhashi now thank you !!
kaisai!! this was the first saiki k ship i read a fic for and the first ship i enjoyed. it’s very nostalgic to me because of that. to me they give “greasy gamer who could be blown over by a ghost of wind boyfriend who likes getting himself into trouble x stoic but secretly sweet boyfriend who subtly protects him” which is a rare and overlooked dynamic i think, and something you can’t really get from kubokai. kubokai might still be better but that doesn’t mean kaidou doesn’t have two hands now does it? closing thoughts: i think they’re very cute and need more people to see that, romantically or platonically.
yumekai. i think they should’ve been canon in the end idc idc. i might like other ships with these two more but that does not mean i won’t acknowledge how much i like them. they are honestly one of the best het ships in the entire fandom and need more recognition!! they can be angsty mutual pinning. they can be toothrottingly fluffy. they can be so infuriatingly stupid (they are always stupid but shush). they can be the incarnation of young love. they can and should grow old together. the only reason they aren’t higher up is because, like i said before, i like other ships with either of them so much already so there’s not enough room in my heart for them 😞
A - mikosuka (plus aikechi and torikechi bonus rounds that will both be getting their own paragraphs this time), saikechi, torisai, kubokai, and nendou x hairo. OH YEAH BABYY! all of these are solid and the fandom hasn’t ruined them, in fact all of the stuff ive seen of them slaps. 10/10
mikosuka. please be more popular aaa!! the only reason it’s not is because of how much toritsuka got done dirty in canon for the “pervert character” trope- and how much the fandom just despises him. they’re hilarious in a “married couple who do nothing but fight all the time but everyone can tell they love each other anyways” way to me, not to mention how they’re also a part of psychicshipping. i do think they work better as part of a polycule with saiki to center them, but i saw a post about how aiura could’ve been mistaken and toritsuka might’ve actually been hinted as her soulmate and it’s been a majority of my thoughts since. i think they should get married after a long journey of selfdiscovery for them both where at the end of it they decide they both like life better with each other. i think they should stay in a “will they won’t they” like idiot love interests in a bad but popular tv show forever. i live laugh love mikosuka. i think they both deserve better (mostly aiura but toritsuka too in some ways). closing thoughts: brain running wild all the time 24/7 for these guys forever and ever.
aikechi. i hadn’t really thought about them before making contact with @/no-psi-nan’s posts about them but now my eyes are OPENED!! honestly before that i just saw them in the polypsychiccule as connected via their mutual love for saiki but not with each other directly, but now they are so much more than that to me. he’s the right amount of calm to nicely contrast her passionate fire in a way that the other two just aren’t. they are the pinacle of competent 4 competent while still being idiots in their own ways. aiura shows a picture of him to someone and says “this is my loser pissboy husband. i love him so much”
torikechi. i started liking them in a similar way that i started liking aikechi but the vibes with them are so very different than aikechi. compared to toritsuka, akechi is the cool one and that is crazy 2 me. really really dumb x only a little bit dumb but extremely unhinged in other ways. akechi can finally talk at someone who and be halfway listened to without annoying the other person because of toritsuka being used to ghosts randomly appearing to talk to him all the time and he is ecstatic. toritsuka is just happy to be here and also very confused tbh.
saikechi. what’s there not to like about saikechi tbh. a lot of canon backing and the childhood friends trope? peak. the potential that this ship has for angst and hurt/comfort is sososo good gahhh!! akechi being torn up about saiki leaving and saiki feeling guilty. saiki thinking that he’s done something horrible and not expecting forgiveness, but receiving it anyway :((( aaaaa!!! “you really shouldn’t forgive me. you should hate me” x “i already forgave you, and how could i ever hate you when i love you so much?”. like??? hello??? they make me cry. they make me so happy. they can help each other heal and become better. they could even make each other worse if you play your cards right (you’d be evil for it tho). closing thoughts: screaming crying shaking sobbing throwing up clawing the ground and punching my pillow because of how much i care about them
torisai. they are so funny lmao. also they complete the psychicshipping love square
(^the psychicshipping love square. pink line between names means those two characters are dating, in love, married, etc.) so ofc i love them. as mentioned, i think they’re very funny (a common trait of a lot of the ships i like) and i think saiki could fix him (/j). not much to say since they are my head empty ship but yeah i like me some torisai
kubokai. do i even need to explain?? like torisai there’s not much i really feel i need to say about them but like. who doesn’t like kubokai? these two could not go an episode without doing something gay and we love them for that. not to mention the piles upon piles of content for them. closing thoughts: ofc i like kubokai, who doesn’t like kubokai?
nendou x hairo. HELL YEAH BABYY!! <- my reaction when i see a post about them. underrated as hell, just like how these two are as characters. they’re my sillies. the silliest gay couple ever. aso shuichi agrees trust me. also that chapter where they got mistaken for a couple was so fucking funny. it’s a shame like no one knows about it since it’s basically softcore in some parts so it didn’t get animated
S - terusai and aichiyo. MY FAVS! i eat breathe and live on this. i have a current pintrest board of these ships because i love them so much.
aichiyo. give me more aichiyo content, NOW. aichiyo is seriously my favorite aiura ship, and i look it up on this godforsaken website, and you know what i find? LIKE THREE POSTS. THREE. THATS BASICALLY NOTHINGGG. and there’s not really a lot of fics ive found about them either (if you have recommendations i want them. please). that episode where they interacted was so gay it outshined nearly everything else. like- they’re so in love!! *shakes you* listen to me damnit!! they love each other!! they’re just so adorable i don’t know what you want me to say. look at them LOOK AT THEMMMM
(^made by @/wowneh_toon on twitter) closing thoughts: they make me feral
terusai (ending with this one instead of going in order because they are my number one favs out of any saiki k ship to have ever been concocted). AAAAAHH!!!!!! I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCHH!!!! terusai is the kind of ship that grows on you the longer you’re a fan of the show, and now it’s my straight up comfort ship. anyone who disagrees is WRONG this whole fandom is WRONG and im not afraid to say that. if you don’t like them at least queerplatonically i think your takes are immature and stupid and im blocking you. terusai is perfect for a fluffy future au where teruhashi is the breadwinner and saiki is her housewife. infinity/10 best romance ever written no complaints. there’s so many terusai moments and chapters (remember when teruhashi was about to confess to him as kuriko and he was blushing???like??? how could anyone see that shit and still think he genuinely hates her… i know i sound so mean here but idc im so so tired of this fandom and the absolute DISRESPECT terusai goes through on a daily basis) thank you aso shuichi for gifting the world with teruhashi and terusai. closing thoughts: i love them and if you don’t i do NOT want to hear about it. id fight the whole fandom over them if i had to im not kidding.
phew that was a lot of writing. i hope you enjoyed my ramblings because all of these came from deep within my heart. also my opinions are all cosmic truths so if you disagree then i guess we’ll just have to both live with you being wrong 🤷
