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Months had passed since Mob and Teru had started walking with each other after school. What had started out as Teru simply picking Mob up from his school on days they studied together evolved into both of them meeting each other at their schools’ gates, Teru showing up at Salt Middle School on days when Mob had club and Mob hustling to Black Vinegar every other day.
Today was one of the days that Mob didn’t have club, and so the boy in the black uniform waited amidst a sea of purple until a familiar aura flared up nearby, signaling his friend’s arrival. Mob couldn’t help but let out a brief burst of his psychic powers in response, happy to meet his friend to walk home together. He caught sight of Teru trying to weave his way through the other middle schoolers before locking eyes and witnessing one of his friend’s million dollar smiles.
Teru freed himself from the crowd and jogged over to greet his friend. “Kageyama-kun! There you are. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” Teru’s hand went to one of his hips as his posture went casual, a sharp contrast from his rush to catch up to Mob. Mob couldn’t help but note how his friend always tried to appear collected with him, and while he didn’t really think it necessary, he admitted it was impressive how well Teru did it.
“No, not at all.” Mob gave his friend a small but reassuring smile -truthfully, he always rushes over to Black Vinegar trying not to be late himself, but Teru didn’t need to know that. Teru seemed pleased by the answer and let out a small chuckle.
“Ready to go, then?”
Mob gave a hum and a brief nod before the two of them began their walk, side by side as usual, in the direction of Teru’s house. It didn’t take long for Teru to begin their daily conversation, patiently letting Mob tell him how his day was before talking about his own as energetically as always. Mob appreciated his friend’s ability to talk for both of them, especially when he was on the quieter side. Plus, Mob enjoyed watching Teru when he spoke -he was very expressive with his facial expressions and his hands, sort of like his master but in a brighter way. He found himself watching Teru again today, engrossed in his story and the way his eyes smiled when he spoke, how his lips would quirk up just so slightly to one side when he smiled, how Teru’s face scrunched up unpleasantly as his sentence got cut short. Wait, what?
An unfamiliar voice caught the two of them off guard. “Teru-kun!” Mob looked towards the source of the call and saw someone approaching -one of Teru’s peers, from the looks of the purple uniform he’s sporting. His dirty blond hair was longer than Teru’s and spiked upwards like Shou’s, only more wild, tamed just slightly by a headband placed halfway down his head. The boy stopped just feet away from the two of them, and while Mob took a small step back from this rowdy looking kid, Teru stood his ground with one hand planted firmly on his hip. Mob returned his gaze to Teru’s face to search for clues on who this was, noting the smile his friend was wearing. It was the same expression he gave everyone he didn’t really have an interest in talking with, something polite but hardly warm. His eyes didn’t smile with it. “Niniri-kun,” was his greeting in response.
“We kept looking for you after school! You always take off so fast.” Mob watched Teru’s polite stance slowly fade as he rolled his eyes and his hand left his hip to cross with his other arm in front of his chest. He wondered how Niniri could be so oblivious to these little gestures, as he showed no sign of rethinking his prepared monologue. “Teru-kun, I was thinking you could-”
Teru cut him off with a raised hand. “I told you guys already, I’m not interested in being the shadow leader anymore.” Niniri fidgeted uncomfortably, looking desperately like he had more to say. Something seemed to be choking him up, and Mob would’ve noticed how badly he had begun sweating if he wasn’t preoccupied with darting his eyes between him and Teru’s face.
It took a moment for Niniri to overcome whatever obstacle kept him from talking, and his voice cracked slightly when he spluttered out, “But-! We could really use your help, when you were with us we-”
Once more he was cut off, and Mob thought it surely was from the way Teru creased his eyebrows. However, upon looking back at Niniri, Mob realized that he had only just noticed him standing besides Teru. The way Niniri was staring at him made his hairs stand on end, though he didn’t know why. He cast a subtle glance back up at Teru, who caught his eyes in his own wide ones. It was the briefest exchange of glances Mob thinks he’s ever made, but the emotional understanding between the two of them was almost palpable. In an instant, Teru’s eyes were back on his peer, hard and resolute, daring him to make any sort of wrong move.
And Niniri did.
“Is that White-T Poison?” Mob reflexively moved behind Teru a bit. Niniri looked to Teru with big eyes, “You’ve been hanging out with Salt Mid’s shadow leader this whole time?” Niniri’s expression shifted to one of excitement as Teru sported a frown. “This is great! If you two team up, no other school would even stand a chance! We’d-”
A burst of psychic energy from Teru startled Mob, pricking his skin and making his own hair fluff up on its own. His aura enveloped him in a powerful, faintly golden glow, solid enough to give Mob goosebumps up his arms just by standing near him. He watched his friend carefully as he barked at his peer, “ Don’t involve him in this. Neither of us are interested.” Niniri started at the harshness of his tone, looking desperate again to say something else, but Teru didn’t let him get in another word. “ Don’t make me repeat myself again .”
This was enough convincing to set Niniri in a rigid, hasty stance, sweating bullets while he tried to collect his voice only to squeak out, “Y-Yes, Teru-kun! I won’t! Okay!” He stiffly walked away from the two of them after that, wasting no time to try to escape the daggers Teru was glaring into his back.
Finally out of sight, Teru let out a sigh heavy enough to drop his shoulders and relaxed, arms returning to his sides. His aura simmered down, color disappearing but still lingering on his purple uniform. “Sorry about that, Kageyama-kun.” He looked back down at Mob and blinked; Mob was staring up at him. How long had he been watching him like that? Teru tried to lighten the mood with a small laugh. “What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?”
Without changing his expression at all, Mob pointed up at Teru’s mouth. “Teeth.”
In the flurry of emotions that brought out his psychic powers, Teru’s teeth had grown bulky and sharp in his mouth. Mob had been watching his mouth ever since his aura had first flared up, intrigued by the sudden fangs. He wasn’t surprised by Niniri’s hastiness at all with a grimace like that.
Teru slapped a hand over his mouth, cheeks flushing. Behind his fingers he muttered, “Shit… Not again.” He avoided Mob’s gaze for a good few seconds but couldn’t avoid him for much longer, not with him still staring up at him like that. Teru lowered his hand a bit. A few upper teeth were protruding out just slightly from under his upper lip. Teru has a small overbite, Mob noted. “Uh… Usually I’m better at keeping this from happening.” Mob understood why he’d want to keep them hidden, but he couldn’t help himself from being interested in them.
Teru glanced in the direction they had been walking and almost asked if they were ready to keep going before Mob cut in, “Can I touch them?” Teru’s eyes snapped back to him, eyebrows raised high. Mob felt a little bad for the request, but he couldn’t help but enjoy how expressive his friend was being.
“Um… Okay.” He wasn’t sure if he should open his mouth or not as Mob reached up, finger starting at the tip of his upper canine and gliding over the surface of the fang, pushing his lip up as he felt the tooth almost all the way up to his gums. Teru’s face was getting hotter by the second and his aura was flaring up again, causing his teeth to grow out even more than before. Mob smiled to himself as he ran a thumb across Teru’s upper front teeth before returning his hand to himself, mercifully ending his little investigation before his friend’s fangs wouldn’t be able to fit in his mouth anymore.
Teru opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before clearing his throat, unable to calm down his powers or the color blooming across his face. “Uh… Tho, then, are you ready to, uh-” Mob wondered if he had heard his friend correctly. Teru blurted out, “We should thtart walking!” and quickly stepped forward before he could see the grin widening on Mob’s face.
Poor Teru,
Mob thought as he hurried to catch up to his flustered friend.