Chapter Text
A groggy moan leaked from Shigeo's lips as he secured his tie around his neck, staring at his reflection in the mirror. It had been a long time since he struggled to sleep through the night, normally he got a full eight hours of sleep and woke well rested but last night he'd been tossing and turning the whole time. His movements slowed to a stop as he looked down at his hands holding his tie, recalling how he'd rubbed Teruki's palm the night before. It was strange how his mind kept on being pulled back to that moment, that brief instant of physical contact the two shared. They'd touched each other before, both friendly shoulder pats and angry punches, but the tenderness of how their fingers rubbed together was completely new.
'Weird,' Shigeo tried to shake the thought from his mind as he finished getting ready for the day.
After buttoning up his blazer and grabbing his bag, he quickly jogged downstairs to grab a banana off the counter for breakfast as he made his way toward the door.
"Don't be late, Shigeo! Your brother's already gone ahead-" Mrs Kageyama called out after him before sighing and leaning up against the kitchen counter. "He's never late…"
Huffing quietly, Shigeo jogged down the street toward Peppercorn High School, the crisp morning air forcing him to be more alert than he was ready for on such little sleep. Luckily, years in the Body Improvement Club had improved his stamina and speed, allowing Shigeo to approach the school which a few minutes to spare before the first bell.
In his class, a few familiar faces already sat there when Shigeo busted through the door.
"Look who finally decided to show up!" Kurata raised her eyebrows, a surprised look on her face.
Inugawa likely said something similar, though his mouth was full of rice from his onigiri so it wasn't clear.
"Don't worry, you're not the only late one," Takenaka rolled his eyes as he jutted a thumb toward Teruki who was leaned over his own desk, panting slightly for air since he had just arrived moments ago as well.
Shigeo's chest burned slightly as he saw Teruki's flushed face and rising chest, a feeling he hadn't recalled experiencing in years. Despite having opened himself to emotions a few years back, he still was a bit emotionally constipated at times so he struggled to understand the source of this emotion.
"H-Hanazawa-kun… you got home safe, right?" Shigeo panted quietly as he settled down in his seat beside Teruki.
Teruki's cheeks were, thankfully, already quite flushed from running so Shigeo couldn't see how much that gentle question affected him.
"Yeah! Y-yeah, I got home just fine, dude. Thanks again for having me over for dinner, we should do it again sometime."
"Sure, I'd like that. M-my mom said she wanted you to come over again soon, too," Shigeo cleared his throat sheepishly as he tugged slightly on his collar.
Kurata's pierced eyebrows raised in interest, a tiny smirk pulling at her lips. Inugawa didn't seem to notice anything as he was too immersed in his onigiri, and Takenaka didn't seem to care much. But Kurata? Oh, she lived for this.
Leaning over, she tapped Takenaka on the shoulder to get his attention, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Dude. Mob and Teru definitely have something going on between them," she whispered, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Kurata, I'm not helping another couple get together. Getting you and Mezato together was humbling enough," Takenaka grumbled with a tired frown, looking out the window.
"Come onnnn, Takenaka. Please? Just look at them~"
A couple seats in front of them, Shigeo and Teruki chuckled quietly as the blond readjusted his colorful hair clips that had almost fell out when he was running, Shigeo smiled softly as he leaned his chin on his palm.
Takenaka groaned quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Maybe I'll help, I don't know how long I'll be able to take that."
Kurata grinned victoriously and clapped her hands a few times before leaning back in her seat just in time for the teacher to come in to begin the class.
As class went on, Shigeo grew bored, he'd already worked ahead in this class so he knew what was being covered. To remedy his boredom, he began to doodle in the margins of his notebook. Shigeo was not an artist by any means, often getting only C's and B's in his art class. However, it was a hobby he enjoyed regardless of his mediocre talent, especially when bored in class.
His pencil scratched quietly against the paper as he began to mindlessly doodle. First came a little cat, then a puppy, and finally he began to sketch out a simple face. Well, that's what he had planned. But before he realized what he was doing, he'd finished drawing a very familiar hairstyle. A wavy wolfcut adorned with colorful hair clips.
"Krk-!" Shigeo coughed on his own spit when he discovered what he'd drawn, his pale cheeks warming.
'Hanazawa?!' Shigeo covered his mouth as he stared at the page.
"You good, dude?" A familar voice whispered softly in the quiet class, Teruki's blue eyes wide with confused concern over Shigeo's sudden cough.
Frantically, Shigeo's hand slapped down onto his notebook, shielding the drawing from the muse.
"Y-yup, fine, I'm good!" Shigeo stage-whispered, a nervous smile on his face.
Teruki stared at the black haired boy for a few moments, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Letting out a quiet chuckle, he nodded and turned back to face the teacher at the front of the class, focusing on the lecture once more.
Sighing in relief, Shigeo lifted his hand ever so slightly to peek at what he'd drawn.
'Why's he in my head so much today?' Shigeo cursed himself as he quickly worked to erase the doodle of his best friend before trying his best to focus on the lesson instead of Teruki.
Finally, lunch rolled around and the students of Class 3-C had the room to themselves to eat.
"Mmff, agh, so hungry!" Inugawa mumbled between bites of his nigiri.
Takenaka groaned, "Dude, you're gonna choke, stop talking with your mouth full."
Standing up from his desk, Shigeo took his wallet from his bag and pocketed it before heading toward the classroom door.
"Yo, Kageyama! Where you off to? Kurata was about to tell us about the last ghost her and Serizawa exorcised, apparently it could control the pipes in the building like a spider's legs!" Teruki grinned mischievously as he sat on the top of his desk with a leg crossed over his lap, holding a slice of tekka maki in his chopsticks.
"Ah, just getting something from the vending machine, I forgot my lunch," Shigeo chuckled as he made his way out the door, "I'll be back in a minute."
"Hanazawa forgot his lunch too but has no problem stealing mine," Kurata grumbled bitterly as she watched the blond steal some of her maki sushi.
Humming quietly to himself, Shigeo made his way down to one of the vending machines on the lower floor. After a few moments of debate, he bought some kappa maki. The refreshing sushi was packaged in a simple clear plastic container and came with a few soy sauce packets and some gari.
Pleased with his selection, he started to make his way back to class, taking his time to postpone dealing with the chaos he was sure awaited him. However, it seemed chaos sought him out today, instead.
"ACK-!"
As soon as Shigeo turned the corner to walk up the stairs, his forehead collided with another, making him drop his sushi with a small clatter.
"Oww… I'm sorry- Hanazawa?" Shigeo's eyes widened in surprise to see a familiar blond rubbing his forehead.
"Ow- oh! Kageyama, there you are! Kurata told me to come find you, she said she couldn't wait any longer to tell her story. I-I tried to tell her you'd only been like a minute, but she insisted for some reason," Teruki smiled sheepishly, his cheeks warming to a similar pink that bloomed on his forehead from the impact. "Oh, you dropped your food."
Leaning down at the same time, the two grabbed for the container, their fingers sliding over one another before they could realize it.
For a split second, the world around them went blank, just the feeling of their skin against one another existed. However, shock and embarrassment took over, making both boys recoil in alarm. Their faces glowed red as they froze up for a moment before awkwardly taking a few steps away from each other.
'What the hell was that?!?!' Both Shigeo and Teruki screeched internally.
"So-sorry," Teruki squeaked out, looking away as he fiddled with one of his pink hair clips.
"No, no, no! I-it's fine, you were just trying to help," Shigeo frantically shook his head, quickly picking up the box of sushi that luckily was undamaged.
A few moments of silence passed between the two, unlike the comfortable silence they felt the night before, this time it was unbearably tense. The air felt like they were deep underwater, the suffocating tension making their chests ache. Eventually, Teruki let out an uncomfortable chuckle and scooted to the side of the stairway so Shigeo could walk upstairs as well.
"Come- come on, I'm sure Kurata's about ready to rip our heads off if we take much longer," Teruki smiled sheepishly.
Once school was over, Kurata smacked her palms on the top of her desk to get the attention of her friends.
"Boys! How do you feel about going to karaoke?" She grinned, barely masking the mischievous glint in her eye.
Takenaka rolled his eyes yet reluctantly nodded, even with his earplugs in he could tell what Kurata was cooking up in her mind.
"Sure, sounds fun! I finally memorized TWICE's newest song so I'm ready to blow you suckers away," Inugawa boasted pridefully.
Looking up from his notebook, Teruki eagerly nodded, quickly putting his supplies into his backpack.
"So, Kageyama? Wanna go to karaoke and be blessed with my angelic singing voice?" Teruki smirked, surprising himself with his sudden boldness.
"Uhhh…" Shigeo's voice trailed off as he thought back to the incident at lunch, "N-nah, I've got somewhere I need to go so I'll pass today. Maybe tomorrow?"
Disappointed groans droned out of his friends' mouths, but he knew they'd all respect his decision.
"Don't worry, we'll send videos so it'll be like you're there with us, kay?" Teruki beamed, flicking his hair away from his face as he stood from his desk.
All Shigeo could muster was a quiet chuckle and a thumbs up as he quickly grabbed his bag and hurried out the classroom door. Kurata raised her eyebrows suspiciously at his hasty retreat, already planning on interrogating Teruki at karaoke.
The feelings that swirled around in Shigeo's chest felt perplexing but familiar, a sensation he hadn't felt since middle school. The unsettled feeling in his stomach, the way it was hard for him to breathe, how he was overly aware of every sensation.
'They might not be the most help in the world, but I'm not sure who else to go to right now…" Shigeo thought to himself as he walked off campus and into a familiar part of town.
The Spirits and Such Consultation Office hadn't changed a bit since his middle school days, the office building might've been cheap and a bit rundown but it was most certainly cherished by the couple who owned it.
"Shigeo, it's you! You look a bit stressed, are you alright?" Serizawa instantly started fretting at the sight of the tense teenager walking into the office.
"Mob's here? How you doin', kiddo?" Reigen poked his head around the corner before strolling up beside Serizawa, settling a hand on the taller man's hip.
Reigen and Serizawa had gotten married the previous year, to nobody's surprise. It had been a beautiful ceremony and Shigeo even got to be Reigen's best man. While the two occasionally were a bit of a mess, aside from his own parents Shigeo considered them to be one of the healthiest couples he knew.
"I'm… a bit confused. I thought maybe you two could help?" Shigeo looked away sheepishly, his neck warming under the weight of the two men's concerned looks.
Shigeo settled down in an armchair while Reigen and Serizawa sat across from him on the couch.
"Alright, what's up? It's been a while since we've seen you like this," Reigen leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"Must be important…" Serizawa sweated, worried that the worst might spill from Shigeo's mouth.
A few moments of uncertain silence passed as Shigeo carefully thought over his words, his black bangs falling over his eyes.
"Does loving a guy feel the same as loving a girl?"
The question hung in the air, the implications hard to ignore.
Reigen and Serizawa's eyes darted to each other, their mouths barely agape as they practically spoke telepathically. Shigeo squirmed nervously in his seat, the silence making him feel even more conflicted about having asked the question.
'Ughhhhh, oh god, should I not have said anything? I mean, I know they wouldn't judge me but this is still so uncomfortable,' Shigeo groaned mentally.
"Shigeo…" Serizawa began, "do you think you have a crush on a guy?"
For a few seconds, the teenager found himself unable to speak. Partially because of how embarrassed he was, but also because he was unsure of his answer.
"Maybe? I don't know…-"
"Who?" Reigen suddenly interjected, there was a serious look on his face but the glint in his eye betrayed his interest in the whole ordeal.
Serizawa's eyes widened as his husband instantly began to poke and prod the boy about his possible feelings. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten how easily excitable his partner could be.
"I-I'm still not sure if I actually like him that way or not! But, um… it's Hana…" Shigeo's voice tapered off to a murmur, mumbling the last part under his breath.
"Who?" Both Reigen and Serizawa couldn't help but be intrigued now, the pair leaning forward, one with a cautious look and the other with barely restrained excitement.
"H-Hanazawa, okay?! Jeez, you guys are pushy…" Shigeo huffed, his cheeks a bright pink as he stared down at his lap.
Once again, a silence passed between the three, though this one wasn't quite as long as the last one thanks to Reigen.
"Oh my god, finally!-" He began, only to be cut off by a light smack against his stomach. "Oof!"
"Taka! Be serious!" Serizawa lightly chided as he smacked his husband. "But he's right, I'm honestly surprised it took you this long…" he sighed with a small smile.
Shigeo looked up from his lap in surprise, not expecting their reaction, 'I anticipated support of course, but the two had been waiting for me to fall for Hanazawa?'
"What do you guys mean?" Shigeo squeaked out.
"You're so oblivious, Mob. You two have had chemistry since you guys met, it was only a matter of time," Reigen rolled his wrist a few times as he spoke, unable to hide his smile even if he wanted to.
"Honestly, when I first saw you two I thought you were dating then…" Serizawa chuckled, scratching his chin.
Shigeo couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Even though we were rivals?"
"Rivals to lovers has always been my favorite trope! I can recommend you some manga if you're interested in that," Serizawa grinned and though Reigen bit his tongue to keep from embarrassing himself, he definitely agreed.
Shigeo just stared in confusion, an ellipsis practically floating over his head. The two men realized they'd lost the teenager.
"Just because you developed a crush on Tsubomi way back when from being her friend doesn't mean you can't develop feelings for someone in a different way," Reigen explained, always taking the chance to be the boy's mentor at every turn.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense… but you didn't answer my first question. Is falling for a guy the same as falling for a girl? Am I supposed to be feeling or doing anything differently?" Shigeo murmured, rubbing his fingers anxiously as he thought about how his heart raced from Teruki's touch, just like how it felt when he held Tsubomi's hand as a kid.
"No, not necessarily," Reigen leaned back against the cushions, crossing one leg over the other. "Attraction is attraction, regardless of gender identity. So it shouldn't matter if it feels the same or different, don't feel like you need to change your emotions. Just trust your gut and keep being you, kay?"
Reigen and Serizawa smiled encouragingly to the teenager, reaching over to place a hand on either of his shoulders.
Shigeo's cheeks warmed at the gentle encouragement from the two older men, nodding slowly as he soaked in his ex-master's words of wisdom.
"Right… thanks, guys."
After a brief group hug and a few noogies, Shigeo headed out of Spirits and Such, leaving the married couple to their own devices once more.
"I still can't believe it took him three years to catch feelings for Hanazawa," Reigen snorted, sliding up beside Serizawa as they leaned against his desk, a hand instantly finding his hip.
"No kidding. A real slow burn but I'm happy for him."
"Me too, now, show me that manga you were talking about."