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It was nice, Mob thought, that Ritsu was talking to him. He watched Reigen’s narrow shoulders shift from a distance as his younger brother held his attention with conversation. He couldn’t hear what was being said.
Maybe they were finally becoming friends.
Reigen was quiet at dinner, pushing egg and rice around the plate with his spoon, but that wasn’t altogether unusual. He and Mob both had days where interacting with other people was just too much,when appetite would come and go. Mob placed a hand on his upper arm, questioning gently, and Reigen reassured him with a tiny smile. A scoff interrupted the exchange and Mob looked up fast enough to see Ritsu roll his eyes and leave the table, taking his plate to the kitchen. His mom followed and Mob could make out the susserations of a whispered, but, heated discussion. A heavy hand landed in his hair, Reigen’s, as he stood, some unspoken communication happened over his head between his dad and the man leaving the table.
“It’s going to be okay, Shige.”
The next morning, Reigen was gone. The sheet was folded neatly and his shoes weren’t by the door. Mob stared blankly at the empty couch, fear and panic whorling together in his stomach. He was gone, he was gone, where had he gone? Suddenly, the house felt too dark, too cold, he was gone. Mob was hollow, frozen, he couldn’t move, couldn’t think clearly. As the rest of the house came alive around him he could only stare, unblinking, at the folded sheet. Distantly he felt his someone’s hands on his face, his forehead, repeating his name. He heard everything as though he were under water. Arms wrapped around him too tightly, a hand on the back of his head guided his face down to someone’s shoulder but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the couch.
Time was fluid. Day and night were interchangeable and seemed to come without him being aware of it. Sometimes Mob would find himself standing in a room with no memory of how he got there. More often than not, he found himself at the couch. He felt detached, like he was looking at himself from the outside while his thoughts swirled around his mind, butterflies, too swift to be caught and pinned down. At night, no matter how often his parents led him back to his bed, he ended up on the couch.
The door flew open, startling Mob from where he had tucked himself up against the arm of the couch. Lit from behind by the outside light he couldn’t tell who was standing in the doorway for a minute.
“Help me,” A voice, Ritsu, grunted, shouldering a taller figure. A dirty but familiar blanket slipped to the ground as they stepped forward, Reigen was sliding off Ritsu’s shoulder. He didn’t look well at all and Mob rushed to catch him.
They didn’t make it to the couch, it was just to much, too far. Mob tried to support his weight but found them both sinking to the floor next to the furniture he’d been staring at for the last three days. Reigen let his head fall against the arm, spent, eyes half-lidded. Silently, Ritsu settled a clean blanket around his shoulders and went to sit on the cushions, drawing his knees to his chest. Mob moved forward, feeling the cold radiating off the man in front of him.
“Mob.” His voice was raspy and soft, no trace of the energy or color that Mob so often associated with him. Reigen touched the side of his face with an icy hand. “We’re out?” He shivered violently, withdrawing his hand to hug both against his chest in pain. “We’re out.” A little stronger this time, as if reassuring himself. He closed his eyes and Mob tucked himself into the space created by the blanket folds almost gasping at just how cold it was.
“Ritsu,” Mob glanced up into a face so pale it was almost paperwhite, “do you know why he was out there?”
“That’s, uh-”
“It was my own fault.” Reigen paused, short of breath, he couldn’t seem to catch it. “I was just, I couldn’t sleep.” He trailed off, shivering steadily now. “Thought I’d go for a walk, I got lost...guess it was pretty stupid of me.” Mob buried his face in his chest and wrapped skinny arms around him in a tight hug.
“You have to be more careful.”
“Mmm,” a shaky inhale.
“You shouldn’t push yourself.” Mob felt the cold starting to lessen and clutched tighter.
“I know.” Bare more than an exhale against the top of his head.
“We’re lucky Ritsu found you.”
“Yeah,” a large hand settled in his hair, “sorry I worried you.”
Mob woke when he heard his mom gasp in surprise. He untucked himself from where he lay curled up against Reigen’s side on the couch. He could tell the man was overly warm now, almost hot. He didn’t wake.
“When-?!” His mother drew close, unable to form a complete thought, confusion and worry warring on her face.
“Ritsu found him.” Mob glanced up at the pale early morning sunbeams lancing across the ceiling. Everything seemed so much brighter now. Everyone was back where they belonged. “Reigen got lost.” He glanced down at his sleeping face, pale but for two high spots of color in his cheeks. “We were lucky.” She laid a hand on both foreheads.
“He’s come down with something so I want you to wear a mask, okay?” Mob was torn, he didn’t want to leave. What if- “I’ll stay with him, don’t worry.”
When he returned, Reigen was sitting upright, warmly wrapped in the comforter, with a thermometer under his tongue courtesy of Mob’s dad who was standing by, arms folded in concern. His mom, perched on the side of the couch, had her hand pressed against his temple, fingers gently moving in his hair. Reigen was leaning into the touch, blinking sleepily. After it beeped she made a disapproving sound as she examined the screen and looked at his dad.
“It’s pretty high.” She handed the tiny thing off as Mob came to sit beside them. “Reigen, how do you feel?” Her palm moved to frame his face.
“Mmm...cold…” he whispered, shivering to make his point.
“Is it hard for you to breathe?” A dip of his head. “I’m going to get you some medicine, I think a visit to the doctor might be a good idea.” Reigen’s head snapped up, his eyes were wide if unfocused, and he seemed close to panic, breath fast and shallow.
“N’no! No, I don’t need a doctor, I, I, I’m fine, I’ll be fine!” His head whipped to the stairs and Mob followed, Ritsu was standing there. He looked back as Reigen continued to stammer. “I’m fine, I don’t, I don’t…” He coughed harshly into his shoulder as tears filled his eyes, streaming silent down his face and suddenly his dad was cupping both sides of Reigen’s face in his large hands. When Mob glanced over to the stairs, Ritsu was already gone.
“Hey now, hey, shhh, there we are,” his dad soothed until Reigen was focused only on him, using both thumbs to wipe away the tears. Reigen blinked fast, trying to clear his vision. “Let’s see how well the medicine works,” he turned to Mob’s mom, “a bath might help too. Can you draw one, not cold, but not too warm?” She nodded firmly and rose.
“Shige,” she placed a warm hand on his shoulder, “get a glass of water for him?” He nodded, determined to help in any way that he could. When Reigen had been missing he hadn’t been able to go look for him. Ritsu had been the one to bring him home. But he could help him now. The glass felt cold on his palms, condensation clung to his fingers as he passed it to his dad who held it to Reigen’s lips.
“Small sips, slow now, that’s right...” A steady stream of comforting words, one hand pressed into sweat-soaked hair, until the empty cup was passed into Mob’s hands and Reigen’s head was lolling. His dad picked the bundle of Reigen up off the couch and cradled him close to his chest, head tucked under his chin. “It’s still early, I want you to get some more rest, okay Shige?” Mob made to protest, “I know, I know, but you can’t do anything for him if you get sick as well, can you?” Mob felt frustrated because he was tired, tired and upset. “You need your rest, I promise I’ll come wake you when we have him settled.”
Mob climbed the stairs with them, one hand on a blanketed leg, disquieted by how still and silent Reigen was. A short pause at the top before they split ways, Mob’s mom was leaning out of the bathroom, one hand on the doorframe, one worrying the hair behind her ear.
“I promise, Shige, we’ll look after him.”
Over two days later and Reigen wasn’t doing any better. Mob’s parents had propped him up on several pillows because lying flat made it hard for him to breathe, and tasked him with standing watch while they made a trip to the pharmacy for something else to try. Worry spiked in Mob’s chest. He looked awful, especially with his head thrown back, eyes ringed with shadow, all but gasping. Reigen refused to go to the hospital. When his parents tried to convince him, tears would spring to his eyes and he would shake his head back and forth on the pillows. When pressed, he couldn’t explain why he didn’t want to go. Was he scared? Mob could understand that, when he was feeling bad a lot of things scared him, maybe Reigen felt the same way. He inched closer to the sleeping man and smoothed out the covers, needing to do something with his hands.
“Mmmob?” A weak cough made him hug his chest and he wheezed painfully, slurring his words. “Y’you shouldn’t, you’ll get sick.” He blinked his fever-glazed eyes open, trying to focus on Mob’s face, ultimately losing the battle.
“Please,” Mob gripped the sleeve of his shirt, it was hot and damp with sweat, and swallowed hard, fear strangling his throat. He remembered being trapped in that dark place, he would have given anything to- “please, will you please go?” Reigen dug the heel of his palm into his forehead.
“I, I can’t. I d’don’t have, I just, I can’t.” Reigen’s breathless voice broke in a sob over the last words as he closed his eyes against the tears. They streamed down his feverish skin anyway. Mob searched his face. He was missing something here, something important.
“Mom said it doesn’t have to be a hospital,” his fingers tightened on the fabric, trying to will the man to just change his mind, “you can go see her doctor, she’s nice, you don’t have to be scared!”
“Mob, it’s not-” harsh, wet coughing cut him off, he couldn’t stop, couldn’t breathe through the congestion drowning him and Mob didn’t know what to do until suddenly Ritsu was beside them, tugging Reigen’s unresisting limbs forward until he was sitting upright. It seemed to help. The hacking tapered off until he was just leaning sideways against the back of the couch, shaking and gasping. His crossed wrists pressed into his chest, like he was trying to hold himself together. Mob noticed Ritsu’s hand gripping him around one shoulder, his other palm flat, tentative, on Reigen’s back.
“I’ll get a glass of water,” Ritsu’s eyes searched Mob’s face. “Don’t let him lay back down.” He slipped away.
“It’s okay,” Mob soothed, brushing his fingers through auburn fringe. “Mom and dad will be home soon, they’ll have medicine, it’ll help.” Reigen could only nod weakly, eyes tightly closed, too focused on trying to draw air into his trembling body.
“Here.” Ritsu pressed a glass into Mob’s hand. “Small sips, don’t let him drink too much at once.” He held the rim to dry lips, like his dad had done, but Reigen wouldn’t take it. Mob pressed more insistently.
“Just a little, you’ll feel better.” He tipped the cup forward, just enough to stream the water into his mouth, so relieved when he swallowed. They continued in silence until half the liquid was gone, and his breathing was steady. Mob could feel Ritsu’s tense presence at his side, waiting to take the glass, fingers tapping a nervous rhythm on his knee. “Thank you.” Mob turned to him, relieved, handing over the cup.
“Mm. He should stay sitting up.” Mob felt sad, he and Ritsu had this distance between them that he didn’t know how to cross. He reached out but his younger brother was already moving towards the kitchen, tossing, almost casually, over his shoulder: “You should see a doctor tomorrow.”
“Ritsu’s right, please.” Reigen shuddered, heaving as deep a breath as he could.
“S’sorry I worried y’you.” His voice hitched, barely above a whisper. “I’ll go.”
Dusky sunlight filtered through the curtains, motes of dust spun lazily through the air and Mob sat curled up against the arm of the couch, watching. Waiting. He was no stranger to it. Ritsu paced in the kitchen. Silence fell like a thick blanket over the whole house. It was almost unnerving, just how quiet it was, but Mob focused on the sound of his brother’s footsteps in the kitchen and the traffic outside on the street. Ritsu flicked on a light. Mob hadn’t noticed how dark it had become.
“Mom and dad’ll be back soon.” Mob nodded, but didn’t respond otherwise when Ritsu sat on the couch next to him. “He’ll be okay.” Another nod. What if he wasn’t? What if he never came back? What if he-a hand around his shoulder snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. “He’s too annoying to not come back.” Mob hummed, turning his head to the door. A moment later a key twisted in the lock and their dad bustled in with a gust of cold wind. Reigen hung on his shoulder, a mask over his face. He looked up, right at Mob, and a tired smile reached his eyes. Their mom rushed in a moment later carrying a small bag from the pharmacy.
“Sit him down, sit him down.” She made shooing motions with her hands and their dad chuckled good naturedly, settling a loose-limbed Reigen on the couch, removing his shoes and helping him wriggle out of the overlarge sweater. A few minutes later his mom dropped some pills into Reigen’s palm and helped him drink them down with a glass of water. Mob tucked the blanket over his lap and Ritsu settled on the arm of the couch to listen to the instructions their mom was rattling off. Mob sighed contentedly, taking in the faces around him. Everyone was right where they needed to be.