Chapter Text
They were inseparable, those two. Despite going to different schools, despite having no other friend in common, despite all that and more, it was rare to hear someone say "Hanazawa Teruki" without it being quickly followed by "Kageyama Shigeo". Furthermore, if these words were to be spoken, it would be in hushed whispers and rushed mutterings between gritted teeth. For you see, the duo had become quite infamous throughout Seasoning City. For all intents and purposes, the city might as well be theirs, after all the effort they’d put in infecting it. None had the strength or the bravery to challenge the two psychic shadow-leaders, and their gangs of lackeys. Even high-schoolers and adults felt cold shudders at the idea of being confronted.
Of course, reputations meant very little if they weren’t regularly upheld. And so, it stands to reason that most of their time together was spent in damp back-alleys, challenging any and all rival gang members they stumbled upon. How else were they to get stronger? How else were they to maintain control?
“Well well Kageyama-kun, what have we got here?” called Teruki’s smooth voice, effectively giving away their presence.
“Crap! Banchou, it’s those two again, they’ve found us!” Cried one of the lower-ranking thugs. They were from Mayo, judging by the green uniforms.
“I noticed thanks…” Grunted their apparent leader, already bracing himself in a battle stance.
Teruki made a point of scoffing, before he mocked: “Some weak-ass normies, by the looks of it. Only those bother travelling in such large packs.”
The second, his partner, merely rolled his eyes at the cattish teasing: “Stop wasting time. They know what they’re in for.”
Teruki needed no more prompting. There were a few breathing seconds, and then the storm began. In the blink of an eye, he’d disappeared from Kageyama’s side only to reappear amidst the fray. Briefly put, Teruki found simple pleasure in a hands-on approach.
Kageyama raised a hand, and the students left untouched were sent flying in all directions. They violently slammed against each other and onto the alley’s walls, before slumping back to the damp asphalt, unconscious.
It wasn’t much of a fight, really. More like a massacre. No other outcome was possible.
With the Mayo students now knocked out at his feet, Teruki lazily stretched his arms upward.
“Ugh, even this is becoming boring… Though I guess it’s for the best. We wouldn’t want anyone to rival our strength, now would we?” He let the silence hang, then snorted: “Yeah right, like that’d ever happen…”
Kageyama nudged the closest thug with his foot: “Do you think they’ll tell on us?”
“I sure hope not,” groaned Teruki, as he rifled through the leader’s pockets: “I’ve got too many hours stacked already…”
Hours of community service, that is. While the schools did fear what would happen if they were to suspend or even expel either of them, completely ignoring the problem would be a level of unprofessionalism they weren’t quite ready to sink to. Overall, it was a necessary pain for all those involved.
Kageyama hummed in agreement, just as Teruki rose with a triumphant sound, a pile of loose change in hand. A quick count, and he handed Kageyama his half. Too busy with his loot, he did not notice the shadow crossing his friend’s face:
“What’s that?”
“Huh? What’s what?”
“On your face.”
Frowning, Teruki brought his hand up, brushing his own face with fluttering fingers. His nail caught in the gauze he'd stuck there earlier.
"What, this? Nothing. Just some kid who pulled a knife on me earlier. It's only a scratch, nothing serious."
Before he could add any subsequent thoughts, Kageyama "tsked" harshly, raising both hands to the other's face as he muttered between his teeth: "You bandaged it wrong, you idiot."
And suddenly both of Kageyama's hands were against his cheek, nails digging in slightly as he roughly pulled off the bandage.
Teru gasped partly in pain, mostly in offense: "Kageyama! What the hell?? What's that for?"
"Shut up," replied Kageyama, in a tone bordering on poisonous.
His hands are back on Teruki's face, and the latter's protests die on his tongue, because this time the hands are gentle. Light brushes on his now-raw skin, almost tickling, as Kageyama presses in the bandage, smoothing it down against the curve of the other's cheek.
As Kageyama retreats, the job now done, Teruki opens his mouth to speak, only to find his brain has effectively shut down.
There was something else in place of cohesive thought. A feeling, too deep in his chest, hot and dripping liquid. It felt like an anomaly, a cut, a weakness. A gaping wound, exposing things better left untouched. All in all, it was wrong.
They made each other stronger. That was their pact, the one Teruki himself had come up with... So why could he feel it falling apart around him, with no more prompt than the delicate feeling of fingers on his face?
"Don't do that again," he said, gruffly. He took a breath and held it, hoping the burning sensation it left in his lungs would drown out whatever else resided there.
"I won't, if you fucking learn to treat your wounds correctly."
Teruki doesn’t answer. He let out the air he was holding, and watched the cold air turn it to vapour as it rose to the clouds.
The spirit was disappointingly weak.
"You can't exorcise me!" It cried from under Mob's foot: "This is my turf!"
"No," he growled back venomously: "It's mine."
And with no more flourish, he brought his foot down and the spirit disappeared.
Ghosts were fair game. No one liked them around, he couldn't get punished for it, and it allowed him to externalize whatever feeling was burdening him.
He'd been about to start walking again when a heavy, decidedly adult hand, landed on his shoulder.
"Hey..."
Mob whipped around, aura flaring up in defence. It was an adult alright, blondish and tall and wearing a suit. The adult raised both hands in front of him, a show of deference: "Woah, chill out kid, I just wanna talk..."
"Yeah? Well I don't," replied Mob, shrugging off the man's hand and turning away.
"Wait!" Cried the man, as he took long strides to catch up to Mob: "Please listen first, my name is Reigen Arataka, and I have an offer for you-"
"I don't want any drugs, fuck off."
The man squawked indignantly: "It's nothing like that! Hey hey, get back here!”
Mob kept walking, completely ignoring him. And he would have kept on ignoring him, had the man not then asked:
“I saw that. You made that spirit disappear, didn't you?"
This... Was certainly not what Mob had been expecting. He turned back, albeit slightly:
"Yeah, I did. What about it?"
The man smirked. That had gotten the kid’s attention alright.
"How would you feel about doing that as a job?"
Now thoroughly stopped in his tracks, facing the man, Mob stared back, perplexed.
“…What did you say your name was again?”
Between a flurry of janky hand movements, the man answered: "Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic of the twenty first century. And yours?"
"Mob." Then: "I'm listening."
They'd known each other for years.
Everything had changed the day Kageyama had first lost control, the day his unconscious body had made use of his powers in an explosion of destructive intent. There had been a flash, and suddenly both the high schoolers who’d threatened him earlier, and the younger brother he’d wanted to protect, were lying bleeding on the sidewalk. Teruki had been there, he’d seen it happen, and there had been no doubt left on his mind. Both were strong by themselves... But if they were together, they'd be unstoppable.
A few days later, Teruki found him sitting alone at the nearby swing set. They spoke.
“I know you have powers. I saw what happened.”
Kageyama’s large eyes had blinked back slowly. And then his gaze had slipped away, as though he were afraid to answer.
“I have them too,” Teruki had insisted. “I’m just like you.”
It was this admittance that made Kageyama speak to him for the first time:
"I hate my powers. They hurt people, even those I care about."
Teruki claimed the swing next to the other boy: "That's because you're not strong enough. If you're stronger, then you won't lose control. I want to be stronger too, so you should stick with me. Then, we'll be the strongest."
Kageyama had been hesitant, at first. But the thought of being capable of protecting his family from himself must’ve been too tempting to refuse. The next time they met, it was Kageyama who found him.
From that day on, they’d been linked by their pact, that which formed the cornerstone of their relationship. Whenever adversity presented itself, they faced it together, they took it down together, they learned from it together. And so, Teruki had let himself think he knew Kageyama better than anyone else, that if anyone held the power to predict his every move, it was him.
Teruki had been wrong.
"You what ?" He shrieked, indignant.
"I got a job," repeated Kageyama: "Please stop yelling."
The blond sputtered: "Yeah but why ? You don't have time for that! What about your community service hours?"
Teruki didn't give a fuck about whether or not Kageyama completed his hours, but it was the first objection that came to mind. He couldn't say what he was actually thinking. How could he, when he couldn't even let himself think it?
"Reigen talked to my principal. The hours I spend working for him will go towards my community service hours. Once those are all covered, he'll be allowed to pay me."
"That Reigen guy just wants to use you. Can’t you see that? I bet he isn't even a real psychic."
"Doesn't matter,” stated Kageyama: “I'm using him too. Besides, beating the shit out of spirits is gonna be way better than picking up garbage."
"I guess," Said Teruki, with a tone indicating that he did not agree one bit.
There was a moment of suspended silence again, one that filled the spots of emptiness within the alley. Then Kageyama hummed back thoughtfully, falling into a lean against the bricks behind him:
"If you want, I could probably convince him to give you a position too."
Teruki snorted, loudly, almost exaggeratedly:
"I ain't working for some sketch-ass phoney even if my life depended on it. I'm better than that, and so are you. In fact, there’s no one in the world that’s better or stronger than us. We both know that ."
They held eye contact across the narrow alley for an uncomfortably long time, Teruki because he refused to back away from his point, and Kageyama because he was Kageyama.
That moment shattered when Kageyama's phone rang, bringing a sudden, brutal end to the silence and tension that had engulfed them.
"Is it him?"
Kageyama pulled out his phone, staring at the screen, before nodding slowly.
Teruki said nothing. He stood, turned away, and began to walk. Follow me, he wanted to scream. Follow me and prove that this matters to you. Don’t go where I can’t follow.
Behind him, he heard Kageyama's phone flip open.
"Hello?"
Teruki ignored the amplified cracking in his chest.