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The first time they met again after about 2 years without direct contact, Shou called him “Kageyama nii-chan”.
The reason for that particular nickname is rather simple, really. It's rather simple, but interesting enough to be told in full details.
You see, Shou remembers people’s faces well. It probably came from his exceptional observation skill, but he can even tell apart baby twins’ slight facial differences upon first meeting (his mother would know, the babies were her friend’s). There was once an esper that tried to kidnap him by disguising as his father, but he kicked him straight in the face and say, “Dude, his eyebrows ain't as neat as that even on good days!”
On a different note, he was also a master of spot-the-difference games.
(“Ritsu, you suck!” to which Ritsu responded by throwing the magazine to Shou’s face)
However, despite all that, he is terrible at remembering names. Unless the name is vocalised often, he can last knowing someone for a month by addressing them as hey .
(It's even worse when there isn't a face to put the name to, which is why his worst subject is history)
By that fact alone, one can conclude that Shou had heard Ritsu's name voiced several times over when he suddenly came up on the front door of the Kageyamas household. But where had he heard the name enough times to actually remember it? Why, during the 7th Division Claw incident, of course. That bowl-cut guy just wouldn’t shut up about Ritsu Ritsu Ritsu!
Shou did not remember Mob’s name. Ritsu had always addressed him as nii-san and the kid with the then-haystack hair called him Kageyama-kun, which he knew to be a surname, shared between the brothers. So, his instant train of thought upon seeing Mob on the rooftop that first day of highschool was as follow:
Shit, what was his name again? Bob? No, that’s not right. Ritsu’s nii-chan. The older Kageyama. Kageyama nii-chan? Kageyama nii-chan it is!
(In hindsight, Shou could always have called Mob “senpai”, but he'd never called anyone as that, so the title escaped him entirely)
The time when Shou remembered Mob’s name was much later in spring, when he pretty much stopped hanging out with Mob. Ever since that one time he levitated the bread from the canteen lady because he didn’t feel like making his way through the horde of hungry students, one after another came to him to talk about pretty much the same thing.
So, are you, like, a psychic or something, like Kageyama Shigeo from class 2-3?
Hey, you know Kageyama Shigeo from 2-3? I heard he’s a psychic, or esper or whatever.
Are you related to Kageyama Shigeo? Since you have that magic thing, like him.
By the time they started talking again, a.k.a their confrontation in the alleyway, the nickname had stuck in Shou’s tongue and moved reflexively even though in his mind, he had wanted to say Mob’s full name in pure spite.
After a while, Shou figured that Kageyama nii-chan was a mouthful, and started cutting it to simply nii-chan . The first time Shou called Mob by said new nickname was when he was hanging out in the Kageyama household one weekend. However, it caused Mob to flinch ever so slightly that if Shou hadn’t familiarised himself with Ritsu’s controlled expression, he would’ve missed it. He started calling Mob that in public, with more people, in louder tones, and was delighted to see how uncomfortable he looked everytime.
It finally came time for Mob to talk with Shou about it.
“Please stop calling me nii-chan .” As usual, it was always straight to the point, with Mob.
Shou responded by bursting into laugh, “But seriously, though, why? I mean, if I didn’t know better I’d say you have a big brother kink or something.”
Mob tilted his head, Shou knew enough to know Mob did not understand what ‘kink’ meant. But instead of voicing his question, he decided to continue explaining his request.
“I… there were several instances when other people called me nii-chan , or nii-san , and even aniki before. They… hadn’t left a good impression.” Mob shuddered.
Shou could pretty much understand what Mob meant. He had heard from Ritsu of the tale of White-T Poison,the urabanchou of Salt Middle that became a legend. Some people must’ve called him by nii-san and aniki . But nii-chan , though?
“Okay, I get the gist of it, but who the heck called you nii-chan that made you traumatized, or whatever?” Shou asked, because Shou never hesitated to ask.
Mob flinched, he looked at the fascinating view near his toes, “The scary guys,” he said weakly.
Shou laughed even louder, “Are you serious?!” he wiped his teary eyes, “You were traumatized by some mugger who were calling you nii-chan ?! Wah--” he tried to even his breath, “What the hell, dude! You-- You could’ve protected yourself very…. easy….” Shou trailed off, he saw how Mob’s face went paler than it already was, and was now drenching in sweat.
Shou thought. Shou really, really thought. Shou might not be the most academically excelled, but he prided himself for being able to put two and two together. And he did. And the realization hit him like a train.
Mob did use his power. And whatever happened afterwards was the actual reason he’s uncomfortable with the nickname.
They stood there for a while, no sound exchanged. Mob looked ashamed of himself, Shou realised. Which made Shou mad, which made Shou disappointed, which made Shou felt ashamed in return. No wonder he reacted very strongly when Shou was surrounded by the lying delinquent bodies that one time. It might be almost impossible to understand what Mob was thinking, but it was always too easy to see how whatever it was that had happened affected him. He’s too honest.
“Okay,” Shou finally broke the silence, “I understand. No more nii-chan .”
Mob looked up, a small smile gracing his lips. He still looked apologetic, but at least he also looked appreciative, and his quiet “thank you” was as sincere as everything he does.
“BUT!” Shou pointed dramatically at Mob, “I’ll start calling you Shige-nii from now on! It’s decided! ” cutting any objection Mob had before even voicing it.
Though honestly, even that nickname lasted only a mere three months...