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Hanazawa Teruki was the best. He was a monster. A force to be reckoned with. He would pass every class, woo any girl, be the MVP in all of the sports he played. He was popular, perfect in every way possible. He was a star. He shone so bright it was blinding to everyone who looked upon him. No one dared to question the light and the shadows it cast. No matter how bright he made himself, the shadows grew bigger, longer and lurking. He could not keep ignoring them like this, they would become a problem if he was not careful enough. So Teru grew to control the shadows too. He worked in them, muddying up his glowing image to the public and worked with the thugs. It made him feel even more in control. We was better than everyone who opposed him and anyone who posed a threat was either terminated or assimilated. Hanazawa Teruki was the mastermind behind Black Vinegar Middle school. He was a lying cheat, and he knew it. It made him feel on the edge, risky. It fueled him.
Kageyama Ritsu was the worst. He was a normal person. A kid just doing his best. He would pass every class, woo any girl, be the MVP in all of the sports he played. He was popular, perfect in every way possible. He was a shadow. He forced himself to become dull, so mundane that no one would bat an eye whenever he became top of the class yet again. He made others be the bright light, and with that the bigger he grew. He ignored everyone around him, everyone wanted to be his friend or lover, but he did not care. He could say anything and everyone would believe him. It felt weird and alien to him, but he kept it up. He reinforced the light and made them brighter and better. He was nothing compared to them. The delinquents were trash though, casting more shadows and creating more trouble and what they were worth. They needed to be destroyed. So he kept twisting their words, and made them go away. Kageyama Ritsu was the mastermind behind Salt Middle school. He was a lying cheat, and he knew it. It made him feel on the edge, risky. It drained him.
When their paths converged, the day was as bright and sunny as any other day. Teru was walking to the closest cafe, a girl had just left him when their date was over. He was gonna dump her in a week anyways. She was just another girl he was only interested in because he wanted to make it to the top of the social ladder. Not that he was not already. Then, he heard a scream. It was not the usual scream of excitement from girls seeing him in the street. It was pained, stressed. It sounded like a siren, calling to Teru. Warning him of what was to come. And yet he followed it, cautious and curious. What he saw there was a reflection, staring back at him with cold, vacant eyes. The laughter coming from the figure before him, dark and quiet, a challenge.
And Teru took him up on it.
The dark obelisk that was this challenger was standing tall around the people around him. Five men were passed out on the ground, and there was just a statue in the middle of the field of their bodies. Teru noticed something about the challenger’s face change. The challenger extended a hand, and Teru ran up to grab it, cool to the touch, as if he really was made of stone. As Teru grabbed his hand, the whole world seemed to revolve around them and only them. There was no one else in this unfair world, the dark, deep set red eyes looked at Teru with nothing but shock and confusion. “Who are you?” The nameless figure hissed through his teeth. Teru just looked at him close, he was obviously a psychic. He could feel his aura, no matter how faint it was, the light buzz of energy that almost felt electric was emanating off of the dark boy.
“Hanazawa Teruki, call me Teru. It’s a pleasure.” Teru smirked at the boy, like a predator staring at his prey before going in for the kill. He squeezed his hand, sending a jolt of his aura to the weaker esper. He watched the statue crumble, and fall to his knees, groaning in pain as he tried to withstand Teru's intensity. The boy snapped his head up to glare at Teru beneath his bangs, causing Teru to smile wider. “Already fallen to your knees?” Teru scoffs, eyes mocking him, daring him to do something against him, “You’re so young.”
Teru watches in acute fascination as he struggles to his feet. Teru hears him mutter something, and then the charge seems to be reversed. A pulse starts to come from the other boy’s hand, shooting pins and needles up Teru's arm. It caused him to jolt, allowing the dark haired boy rise to his feet, saying, “It’s Kageyama Ritsu to you. I'm so glad we could meet.” He smiles, showing his teeth. It was so obviously forced that Teru almost laughed. Almost. He noticed two red dots on Ritsu’s cheeks, sitting there, out of place on his otherwise perfect skin. It made Teru cringe, why would he do that to himself? Even Teru would hate that. Frowning, Teru gripped Ritsu’s hand harder, causing him to cry out in pain. Teru paid no mind to the oil like substance leaking off of him, shades of yellow and greens coming off of him in waves as it enveloped both him and Ritsu. Teru caught glimpse of a blue aura coming from Ritsu, looking akin to broken glass. “Let me go!” Ritsu’s voice was shrill, as he attempted to squirm out of Teru’s fast grip.
When Teru let go of Ritsu, the world seemed to return to normal. The cars seemed to run again, and the people walking by them just appeared out of thin air. Teru stared fast at Ritsu, who slowly rose to his feet, out of breath. Nonchalantly, he wrapped an arm around Ritsu’s shoulders, but in a non-threatening manner, “Let’s take this elsewhere, shall we?” He hummed, dragging Ritsu along. It was the easiest thing he had ever done, going from one attitude to the next. After all, he was used to it at this point anyways.
The duo slipped into an alley from the bright street. It was somewhere that adults would not question two middleschoolers fighting. It was dark and musty, it made Teru gag. Ritsu snorted, obviously amused at his over reaction, “What?” Teru asked sarcastically, speaking with his whole body now, “This place is where rats play in some feral cat’s feces.” Teru watched as Ritsu wrinkled his nose, scowling at the thought. Teru took a deep breath before grabbing Ritsu by the neck, and used his psychic powers to amplify his strength just a bit to dig his face into the concrete.
“Now I’m gonna ask nicely.” Teru whispered, squatting down so he was right next to Ritsu’s face, “What does claw want from me this time? You’re one of their agents right?” Teru could feel his heart pounding heavily against his chest, “You’re a kid that they experimented on and made strong. You give off the same fake aura as them.” Teru watched as Ritsu slowly moved his face to look Teru in the eyes. He seemed to genuinely be struggling, but that could have just been an act he was forced to put on. Teru never trusted it for a second.
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Ritsu spat, his face jumbled up in confusion. Teru could feel the heat rise in his face,
“You work for them I know it!” He yelled, forcing Ritsu to taste the concrete again. Teru could hear Ritsu’s muffled screams of “I don’t! I don’t I swear!” Beneath his hand. Hesitating, Teru released the scrambling boy. Teru stared at his hand, it seemed to hold all the answers. If he looked long enough, it did not feel real. Like he could bite it and make it bleed and nothing would happen. He was a god, one that he himself did not believe in. From his hand, Teru glanced at Ritsu, who was staggering up now. He had a bloody nose, and bruises all across his face. Teru noted the crater with his face imprinted on it and almost snorted at it. It was almost funny. Almost. Smudging the blood coming from his nose with the back of his hand, Ritsu looked real. An impossible reality that Teru would never truly experience or feel. Teru wanted that. He wanted what Ritsu was, what he had.
It was so simple.
Teru smiled at him, “I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding.” he apologized, but nothing in his tone suggested it was serious, “I had a run in with these just awful people, taking children and torturing them to become killing machines. All for their psychic power. They went after me, obviously, since I’m the strongest one here.” Teru smiled, watching Ritsu scoff, rolling his eyes, “I thought you were one of them.”
“You’re kidding right?” Ritsu asked, looking almost insulted at Teru’s words, “There’s no way an organization like that exists. If they do, they obviously aren’t looking very hard.” Ritsu crossed his arms and took a more confident stance, “And even if it does exist, why should I trust you? You seem to know an awful lot about it.” Teru, of course, expected a reaction like this. Who would trust a guy who just beat you up in an alley. Teru must admit, he took a calculated risk.
“Hey, one of their lackeys attacked me and spilled all this information. It’s all I know.” Teru held his hands up in a mock surrender, “If you want to know more about them, we’d have to work together.” Teru smirked, looking at Ritsu with those same hungry eyes.
“No.”
Man, is Teru bad at math. “Wh-Why not?” Teru asked hurriedly. He could feel his facade fall apart, “I mean,” Teru cleared his throat, “You gain nothing beating up random people on the street. You need to hone that negative energy to be useful.” Teru smiled at the sound of that. He almost sounded smart! He always does though, but it was especially effective, judging from Ritsu’s flushed face. Or that could be from the blood still pouring from his nose. “Let’s get you patched up, yeah?” Teru offered, when a shadow fell over the two of them.
“So, you think you can hide from us for long?” A deep sounding voice blared from the other end of the alley. Fuji, Teru recognised him. He was confused as to what business they had with himself though. Teru beat them up a few months ago, they were over that now. A shout came from right next to Teru as well.
“Oh, so the shadow leader is teaming up with you too huh?” Akagi, another delinquent from a completely different school yelled, “Well, Salt’s reign of terror wont last long.” Teru gaped, watching as the narrow alley got filled with more and more kids. Eventually Teru and Ritsu were forced to be back to back, being surrounded on all sides.
“What the hell did you do!?” Teru almost yelled at Ritsu. Almost. Ritsu winced at the noise and turned his head to Teru. Looks like the bleeding stopped. Ritsu wore a hesitant smile as he laughed nervously. Teru watched as the two red dots appeared on Ritsu’s skin again.
“Let’s just say I did some… Cleaning up.” He said, turning back to the thugs around them, “This should be easy. You ready, Teru-san?” Ritsu asked, aura already pulsing off of him. It was defensive, and Teru just laughed,
“You know it, Ricchan.” Teru said. And then they fought. Being in sync was almost second nature to the two of them, and it put a sour taste in Teru’s mouth. However, soon the two were the only ones left standing in the alley. Ritsu looked worse for wear, and Teru felt like he just broke a sweat, maybe a nail. They stood in silence, panting and leaning against opposite walls. Teru felt a pit growing in his stomach. He could sense a third esper’s aura close by, one not bothering to hide. Sure, Teru could probably take them on, but he was getting tired at this rate.
“Let’s… Get you fixed up.” Teru said, grabbing Ritsu by the elbow, “Come on!” Teru quickly ran into the crowd and watched as the red dots disappeared from Ritsu’s cheeks. Ritsu opened his mouth to speak but Teru shut him up by putting a hand over his mouth after they were a ways into a crowd. “Someone there is looking for me, you, or us.” He said, voice low, “I’m taking you to my apartment for hiding. It’ll be easier if we stick together.” Ritsu gulped, but nodded, and Teru sighed, relieved. He was thankful that someone trusted him so steadfastly. He was not used to such unconditional trust from a complete stranger. Hell, Teru is not used to complete strangers period.
So maybe that’s why now when Teru looks into a mirror, he can only Ritsu’s hopeless and tired eyes staring back.