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Mob was visiting Teru’s apartment for one of their regular study sessions, though a lack of particularly difficult classwork turned it into a movie viewing. Teru had put something new on and was laying down in front of the TV. Mob was sitting a little bit behind him. He didn’t mind the casual atmosphere—repeated visits dissolved Teru’s initially-formal hosting style, and Mob liked quietly observing that change. Mob had noticed a few other changes, too, with Teru’s hair being the most obvious. He had been growing it out for years now, and it was currently laying on his shoulders. It seemed like it would be nice to touch. There was a piece dangling in front of Teru’s face that, for some reason, gave Mob the urge to brush it away with his hand. Thinking about it made Mob kind of nervous, but he couldn’t peg why... When Mob looked at the television, the movie was almost over. Had he been staring for that long? Oh god. The nervousness held over for the rest of the evening, even when he got back home.
“Ritsu, can I… talk to you… about something?” Ritsu was sitting at his desk when Mob asked him the question. Their relationship had only improved as they got older, but he still got a prick of excitement whenever his brother wanted to open up about something. He happily agreed and offered his brother a seat on his bed.
“Okay… well… I’ve been feeling… weird… around Hanazawa-kun.”
Ritsu’s face darkened. “Are you okay? Do you need help? …I can make sure you never have to deal with him again.”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that. It’s just that… I guess I’ve been staring at him a lot, and I noticed it today, and now I feel really strange about it.”
“Oh.” Ritsu paused for a second. “It sounds like a crush, nii-san.”
Mob’s face turned bright pink. He looked away and started playing with his hair. “D-does it? B-but he’s not a girl, and I think I like girls… maybe… uh…”
Ritsu got up and sat next to his brother, grabbing his free hand. His eyes were the picture of conviction. “You don’t have to worry about that kind of thing, nii-san. You can like whoever you like, and that doesn’t have to affect anything else.”
Mob stopped fidgeting and looked at his brother from the corner of his eyes. “Do you… think it’s weird?”
“Of course not. I completely understand how you feel.” Tiny tears started forming in the corners of his eyes. “And don’t listen if anyone else thinks it’s weird. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Mob finally looked at Ritsu head on, with a small smile. “Thank you, Ritsu.” He paused, and then his face looked troubled again. “Do you think Hanazawa-kun would think it’s weird?”
Ritsu’s face suddenly went back to normal. “What? Of course not. He’s obviously had a crush on you since I met him.”
Mob stared forward blankly. Every single memory with Teru came flooding into his mind. Why did he help him with Ritsu even though they fought the last time they met? Why did he help him so much in general? The girls peak at you because you’re really handsome?
“Oh my god.” Mob’s face was full of the kind of regret you can only feel when you realize you’ve missed years of gay shit. He looked at Ritsu, panicked. “Do you think he still likes me?”
“I’m sure he does. He obviously picked his high school just for you.”
Mob blinked. The school they went to was fine academically, but the name alone wasn’t going to impress anyone on an application. Mob had to study quite a bit to get in, but Teru was smart enough to go to any high school he wanted…
“Oh my god.” Mob put his face in his hands.
Ritsu laughed nervously. “It’s okay, nii-san. You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Consider it like this: Your odds are really good if you want to ask him out!”
“Oh! Right.” Mob looked relieved, and then instantly full of dread. “D-do I have to ask him out?”
Ritsu ruffled his hair. “You don’t have to, but you can if you want to. I’m sure he’ll say yes.”
Mob was thinking about it all the way through school the next day. Every time he ran into Teru, he nervously made some excuse for why he couldn’t talk. It wasn’t the best way to get a boyfriend, but at least it would buy some more time to get some courage. He finally decided to stop running away when school ended. The two of them usually met up in front of the school and walked to Reigen’s office together—that would be when Mob would finally speak up.
Teru was standing by the gates, right where he always was. He looked pleasantly surprised when Mob walked up to him. “Oh, Kageyama-kun! You seemed pretty busy today, so I didn’t know if you’d come. How was—”
“Do you want to go on a date sometime?” Mob’s face was bright red when he blurted it out. All of the things he was going to lead in with left him the second he saw Teru standing there, and his nervousness made him say it as soon as possible.
Teru looked to his left, and then to his right, finally looking back at Mob and pointing at himself.
Mob nodded in response. “You don’t have to, uh, I know that I’m not very, uhm—” This wasn’t going as planned, and his words ended up coming out in a stutter.
“I-I would love to! We can go to a movie, maybe? I’m not doing anything today, if you want to go then…” Teru was rubbing his fingers on the bottom of his blazer while he talked.
“Today is good.” Mob didn’t even know if today was good. He didn’t want to think about it too hard.
“Okay! Alright! Sounds good!” Teru breathed a sigh of relief. He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Uh, do you mind if we meet up later? I kind of want to go home first.”
Mob quickly nodded. “Yep. That’s fine with me.” He didn’t say it, but he desperately wanted some time to calm down too.
Teru awkwardly laughed. “Okay! Great! Uh, see you later?”
Mob smiled and nodded. “See you later.”
They both walked off in separate ways—more so for an opportunity to freak out alone than to get to a destination. A quick phone call freed up Mob’s schedule for the date, though he had to swear that he would call and talk about everything right after it ended. A text came in soon after the call ended: “Do you want to meet up at 6? I’m really looking forward to it!” He quickly sent a confirmation before he could forget. He was looking forward to it too.