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Throughout all the time you had known Shigeo, he had never been big on physical contact. Not with anyone. You knew it wasn't because he didn't want to, he was just an awkward guy and it made him nervous, so he tended to avoid it. You knew this, so it never offended or upset you when he tensed up at your affectionate hugs or shied away from your hands when you reached out to touch his shoulder instinctively. You were a very physically affectionate person and Mob just... wasn't. Dealing with Mob's awkwardness was just a part of being friends with the young teen, so you never minded it (even if you would have loved to have ruffled his hair at least once).
Because of his aversion to touch, you hadn't expected him to be very lovey-dovey with you once you started dating. People don't just change overnight, and you didn't expect him to. The poor thing had had enough trouble trying to confess to you — you were afraid he might have had a heart attack if you started doing things like hand holding right away. So you let Mob set the pace, working through things nice and slow.
It started with little things, like letting you touch his shoulder or stand closer to him than he would normally allow someone to. You then worked your way up to holding hands when you walked together and ruffling his hair affectionately. He was still a little timid in your relationship, however, but even if he sometimes couldn't find the courage to take your hand and even if his hugs were still a little stiff at times (you were significantly taller than him so most of the time when you hugged his face ended up buried in your chest, so you deemed this to be a reasonable reaction) and even if a peck on the cheek might have held the threat of him fainting on you, you couldn't really find it in you to care. You didn't mind waiting so long as you knew Shigeo was happy and comfortable. The added wait actually made it all the more rewarding when he finally let down a piece of his walls, letting you in. It felt special to know that he was slowly getting more comfortable around you, and even more special to know that he didn't usually allow other people to be that close to him.
You usually didn't initiate anything with him, be it hand holding or a date, in order be sure he was comfortable. Even if it meant going against your instincts to smother him with affection, it wouldn't mean anything if he wasn't okay with it. It was probably weird enough that he was dating someone so much older than him, so you decided to at least give him that much. On this particular day, Mob had invited you over to his house, seeing as neither of you had school and his family was out. You gladly accepted the invitation, eager to spend some quality time with your adorable boyfriend, and rushed over as soon as you could.
You rang the doorbell and rocked back on your heels in an expectant manner. You had no idea what he had planned, but you hoped it involved video games and/or old movies. Shigeo answered the door and, upon seeing it was you, a small smile grew on his face. "Oh, hi," he said, "Come on in." He stepped to the side and held the door open for you.
"Hiya, Shige!" You skipped inside and plopped onto the couch, hanging your upper body over the arm of the couch so you were still facing him. "So, what've we got planned for today? Snacks? Movies? Or just riveting conversation?"
Shigeo turned pink when you called him 'Shige', even though he was the one that told you that you could call him by his petname. He looked down and started playing with his fingers. "W-w-well, I uh, I mean um..." he stuttered, "I-I was w-wondering... Only if you're okay with it...! But I was wondering if... you... you maybe... maybe wanted to..." He took a deep breath and looked up at you, his face entirely red. "Y-yeah amoviesoundsgoodI'llgomakesomepopcorn!" he squeaked in a voice twice as high as normal before turning on his heels and scurrying stiffly into the kitchen.
You stifled a giggle at his awkward behavior. 'How cute.' A crease of concern formed between your eyebrows as you furrowed them. 'But what was he actually going to say? I'd hate it if I somehow messed up his plans.' You decided not to confront him about it, however, when he came back a couple minutes later with a stack of DVDs and a bowl of popcorn bigger than his head. The poor boy was embarrassed enough, and you were cool with anything so long as you got to spend time with him. If he wanted you to know, he'd tell you. But it did bother you a bit that he wouldn't tell you what he really wanted to do.
The two of you agreed on a movie from the stack and Shigeo popped it into the DVD player. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch, and you suppressed the twinge of pain you felt in your heart. You tried to be understanding, you really did, but it was a bit hard sometimes when he wouldn't even sit next to you. You wanted to be close to him, but even more than that, you wanted him to want to be close to you. Ultimately, you knew that it had absolutely nothing to do with you, but deep down a little voice kept whispering that there must be something wrong with you. you mean, you were his girlfriend. Were you doing something wrong? Was it too weird that you were older than him? Did he just not like you that much?
You were pulled out of your depressing thoughts by a gentle weight on your hand, which was laying at your side on the couch. You looked up and saw that Shigeo had placed his hand on top of yours, and he was smiling at you softly with the sweetest blush on his face. You felt your features melt into an easy smile and all of your worries evaporated as if they were never there at all. He did want to be with you, he was just shy. Honestly, it was pretty adorable.
"Thank you for coming over," Shigeo said in his usual soft voice. He looked away and you say his blush darken almost imperceptively. "I was worried you might be too busy."
His sweetness made you feel like you were made of warm butter. You gave his hand a light squeeze. "I'm never too busy for you, Shige."
His eyes widened slightly. "R-right," he murmured. You sat in silence as you watched the movie, the only sounds being the television and the occasional crunch of popcorn being eaten. You were fully comfortable with the lack of words, but you could sense a strong nervous energy emanating from Shigeo. There was obviously something he wanted to say to you, but he was too shy or scared or nervous to say it.
In times like this, you knew it was your duty to take matters into your own hands. "Hey, Shige?" you asked, getting the boy's attention by placing your free hand on top of his so that you were holding it with both of yours, "Is something on your mind? You know you can tell me anything." You dragged your thumb across his knuckles in a soothing motion.
His eyes snapped up to yours, but only to look back down at your conjoined hands. His cheeks reddened further. "I-I know... It's nothing," he mumbled shyly.
You smiled sadly and shook your head. "Shige, I know you well enough to be able to tell when something's bothering you. You don't have to be nervous about telling me. You trust me, don't you?"
You could practically feel the heat radiating off of his face as he vigorously nodded his head. "Y-yes...! Of course, I do...! It's just... well, I just..." He looked away from you and sighed quietly, seemingly frustrated at his own inability to convey his thoughts. Almost inaudibly, he murmured, "I-I was wondering if we could maybe do something different..."
"Sure!" you chirped encouragingly, startling Shigeo, "What did you have in mind?"
"W-well..." he began, his gaze flitting across the room, "I was r-really hoping that... that maybe we... that maybe you... could, um, uh..." He trailed off. A defeated look crossed his face and he muttered, "... C-could help me with my homework." He seemed to have to ground out the words as if he himself was disappointed for saying them. He was physically cringing, too.
You blinked. Now, it didn't take a psychic to figure out that that was not what he had meant to say, but the fact that you were one (an empath, no less) didn't hurt matters. You probably would have laughed had he not been in so much pain. A sadistic little part of you found it absolutely hilarious to see him flounder around and fail miserably to tell you what he was trying to say, but the larger, more empathetic side of you won out. You really wanted to pry it out of him, but you knew he would be more comfortable if you just played along, so you did just that. It wasn't like he hadn't asked for your help with school before — you being in your second year of high school, you had already learned all of the material he was covering so you were a prime tutor.
You gave him a soft smile. "Okay," you said, only somewhat sadly, "I'd be happy to help. Go get your stuff and I'll see what I can do."
He mumbled a quick 'thanks' and ran off to his room for his schoolwork, still very obviously distraught. You frowned. You really wished he wouldn't beat himself up over this, but that was exactly what he was doing. Even if you couldn't quite get a clear read on him, you could sense that much. The tense, negative energy that hung around him was almost palpable. It broke your heart to see him this upset, but if he wouldn't tell you what was wrong you weren't sure if there was anything you could do.
Your judgment that he had not intended for this to be a study date was further solidified when Shigeo came back with work that was almost laughably easy. His pitiful attempts at pretending to be confused didn't fool either of you, either. You could feel the red-hot shame burning off of him, and you had never felt more powerless. The only times your psychic abilities could have been useful, such as discerning why your boyfriend was upset, they never seemed to work. It was so frustrating at times, but that was what had drawn you to Shigeo in the first place, even though he was three years younger than you.
In all your life you had never met anyone with such strong emotional walls as Mob. They were so strong, in fact, that you could rarely read his emotions or intentions at all. It was almost frightening when you first met, actually. If everyone else was a painting to you, the colors of their every feeling and passion boldly slathered onto the canvas for you to see, Shigeo was like a blank slate. It was jarring and foreign, but it also holds the most potential. There was something attractive about not knowing. About being given the opportunity to find out. You had never had that luxury before.
As disturbing as it was to know nothing about his mental state, it was so refreshing being around Mob. Going about your day, you easily became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of feelings you encountered at every turn. Even worse was the knowledge that there was nothing you could do to help most of those you met that were hurting. It wasn't as if you could turn your powers off like other espers, so you were always in tuned to the emotions of everyone you encountered. Being an empath had its drawbacks, and one of them was that you usually felt drowned and suffocated by all the emotions around you. Zipping around from one total stranger to the next left you feeling whiplashed and dizzy, like the feeling you get from looking at a kaleidoscope for too long. The people around you unintentionally smothered you, so much so that it was difficult to discern your feelings from those of the nearest passerby.
Shigeo... Shigeo wasn't like that. Being with Shigeo didn't drain you, or expect anything of you. He was like a much-needed deep gasp of air after you had been barraged by unrelenting waves deep at sea. You didn't feel like a foreigner with Shigeo, like you were intruding upon something you were never meant to see. How could you? You didn't see anything different than anybody else. With Shigeo, you felt... normal. Like any other girl. When you met Shigeo, for the first time since your powers surfaced you felt like yourself. With him, you could be you, not just the phantom of emotions felt by those around you.
You cared about Shigeo. Not because your powers obligated you to empathize with him, but because you loved him for who he was.
You knew Shigeo deeply. Not because your abilities forced you inside of his head and his heart, but because you chose to get to know him.
You loved Shigeo, and you wanted to make him happy. But you couldn't make him happy if he wouldn't tell you what he wanted since your powers were pretty much useless when it came to him. You finished all of his homework very quickly, so you packed away his books and returned back to your abandoned movie. Just when it seemed like you were going to go back to sitting in tense silence, Shigeo said something that startled you.
"I'm sorry."
You let out a short laugh that was more like a sharp exhale. "Sorry? Shige, why on earth are you apologizing?" you asked, very concerned, "You haven't done anything wrong."
"M-maybe not, but... I'm sorry." His gaze stayed fixed on the ground in front of him, and while his voice stayed mostly steady you could still pick up a faint trace of something.
Guilt. Sadness. Shame.
Your heart broke.
"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about. Everything's fine." You tentatively cupped his cheek to get him to look you in the eye. He did. "Can you please tell me what's wrong? I'm starting to get really worried."
He tried to look away from your eyes but found that he couldn't. He sighed. "It's just... I... I-I don't really know... what couples are supposed to do during these kinds of things, I guess..." he finally relented, "A-and... I'm sorry. For not knowing what to do."
Your eyes widened. 'That's it?' You smiled brightly at him and chuckled. "You just don't know what we're supposed to? Shige, is that all this is?" He nodded subduedly. "Sweetheart, there's nothing we're supposed to do! It's not like there's a manual for dating that we have to follow," you chuckled, relaxing against the back of the couch. You were so relieved that it wasn't anything serious, that without thinking you said, "But, well, most couples would usually get some pillows and blankets and cuddle at home dates."
"C-cuddle?" he squeaked, his face turning tomato red.
'Shit.' You waved your hands around in front of you frantically. "I-I'm not saying that we have to, just that that's what most couples would do...! I-if you don't want to or if you're uncomfortable we totally don't have to! I am cool just sitting and watching movies!" 'Shit shit shit what did I just say?! He's way too shy for that kind of thing oh Lord he'd probably pass out —!'
"... Can we try that?"
You nearly choked on your own spit. You coughed loudly. "W-what?"
His face was bright red all the way to his ears, but he had a sweet smile as he looked up at you. "Can we try cuddling? I mean, if that's what couples normally do... And I, uh, think I'd like it."
Heat flooded your face. Oh Lord finally finally finally after all this time you were going to be able to snuggle with him!!! You coughed, trying to play it cool. "Uh, sure, if that's what you want. Just, um, grab a blanket and... c'mere, I guess." Okay, maybe you weren't very good at playing it cool.
You could see a faint sparkle form in his usually blank eyes as he grabbed one of the blankets from the end of the couch. He sat down closer to you than before, but there were still a couple inches of space between you. "L-like this?" he asked, growing nervous again.
You chuckled softly. "Not quite. How about here?" You sat crossed-legged and patted the spot in between your legs.
"O-okay," he mumbled timidly, getting up and sitting between your legs as you had instructed, "Like this?"
His back was against your front and his head was tilted back so he could look up at you. An all-around adorable sight. "Perfect," you said, your eyes softening as all your insides turned into mushy goo. God, you loved this boy. You took the blanket from him and wrapped it around the both of you, forming a cute little cuddle burrito and wrapping your arms around him in the process.
Shigeo turned around in your arms so that you were facing each other. His blush had died down to a soft rose color as he snaked his arms around your middle and buried his face in your chest. He gave a happy sigh once he got comfortable.
Neither of you was paying attention to the movie at this point, preferring to just bask in each other's warmth. At some point, you started petting his soft black hair, and he hummed contentedly when you did so. You could have fallen asleep like that and you would've been the happiest napper in the world. He nuzzled his face deeper into your chest sweetly. "This is nice," he murmured drowsily. You hummed your agreement. He continued, "Y'know... this was what I really wanted from the start... I just *yawn* didn't know how to ask..."
You just smiled gently down at him. Your eyelids felt heavy as you closed them fully. You leaned down and kissed the top of his head affectionately. You just couldn't help yourself. "I love you, Shigeo," you whispered, your heart feeling fit to burst."
"I love you too," he echoed.
But even if you hadn't heard it with your ears you would've known his response, because you sensed one feeling, stronger than anything you had ever felt from him before.
Love.
You smiled, and like that, you fell into a deep, content sleep.
A couple moments later Shigeo felt your breathing deepen and even out, signaling that you had fallen asleep. He smiled softly and closed his eyes as well. 'How lucky am I to have a girl like her,' he thought sleepily. Just as he felt himself being pulled into the tempting throes of sleep, he was startled into alertness by the sound of his cellphone ringing.
He snatched the offending device out of his pocket and quickly turned the volume down, so to not wake you. The glare of the screen was almost too bright for his eyes as he read the name flashing across it. 'Master.' A little begrudgingly, he answered it, keeping his voice low. "Hello, Master, what is i—?"
"Hey, Mob!" Reigen's voice boomed through the phone, causing Shigeo to hold the device a couple inches from his ear. "Y'see, I know this is your day off, but I really need you to come i—"
You made a noise, and Shigeo placed his hand over the receiver, frantically checking that you were still asleep. You were. He let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Mob? Mob, are you still there? Did you hear me?" Reigen said once Shigeo put the phone back up to his ear, just as loudly as before.
"I'm really sorry, Master," Mob answered in his usual monotone voice, "I can't come into work today. And, uh, I don't mean to be rude, but could you please keep it down?"
It was obvious from the long pause that that was not the reply Reigen was expecting. "...What? C'mon Mob I really need you to quit screwing around and get over here. What could you possibly be doing that's more important? And what's with all the whispering — what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry. My girlfriend fell asleep on me so I can't get up. I'm sure you can handle it without me."
A beat. ".......... Since when do you have a girlfriend?!?!?!?!?"
Mob might have felt offended by how astounded Reigen sounded had he not been aware of how novel the idea was. Even he couldn't believe it sometimes. ".......... I've had a girlfriend for four months. I thought you knew. You've met her before."
"Wait, do you mean the girl that showed up at the office that one time??? The highschooler??? That was your girlfriend?!?"
"Yeah," Mob said flatly, "And she's sleeping on me so I can't come to work. I'm really sorry again. I'm going to hang up now."
"W-wait! Mob! How the hell did that happen??? She is so out of your league and —"
Shigeo didn't hear the rest of what Reigen said, as you had stirred. You slowly blinked your eyes open and placed another lazy kiss to the top of his head. "Who are you talking to, baby?" you murmured into his hair sleepily.
"Oh, I'm sorry I woke you up," he said. His eyes became a little downcast as he continued, "It's my master. He wants me to come in for work."
Shigeo felt your arms tighten around him. He couldn't see your face, but he could hear the thinly veiled sadness in your voice clearly. "Oh... Well, I guess if you have work then you have to go..."
"It's my day off. I was just telling him that I couldn't come. I don't have to leave," he said, feeling a little desperate to stay curled up with you for as long as possible.
You sighed quietly through your nose. "No, no... it's okay. I understand." Even though that's what you said, though, you still made no attempt to move.
Shigeo placed the phone back up to his ear. "She's awake now. She says I can go, but I think she's lying." He heard her whine a soft 'Shigeee.' "I'll come in if you really want me to, but is there any way you might not need me?"
Reigen cut in immediately. "Y'know what? Forget about the job. I can handle it. You just have fun. You deserve it. Just... be responsible, okay?" And with that, he hung up.
Reigen's implication flew completely over Mob's head, that or he was just too happy to care. He beamed up at you. "He said I can stay."
You grinned and kissed the tip of his nose. "Remind me to thank Reigen later." You spent the rest of the day happily huddled in each other's arms, and you couldn't have been happier.