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Shigeo could honestly say that the past few months had been the best in his life. His grades were better than ever, his esper training was going smoothly, he was making real progress with the body improvement club, and, most importantly, he felt more confident than he had felt possibly ever. It was almost like magic how drastic and abrupt the change was. A change that he attributed almost entirely to one sunny, albeit a little bit crazy, high school girl by the name of Y/N.
Ever since Shigeo coincidentally crossed paths with the hyper esper, she had been a near-constant presence in his life. From tutoring at his house to simply encouraging him when his club activities became overly difficult, she was almost always at his side, except for when they were at school, of course. And even then, she always made sure to swing by Salt Middle to talk to him directly after school got out (even in she was really there to pick up her younger brother, Mob appreciated that she made an effort to go see him as well). She even sometimes helped him and Reigen out at work, even though her abilities weren’t really offensive ones.
At first, Mob didn’t know what to do about Y/N. He wasn’t accustomed to receiving much attention at all, especially not from members of the opposite sex. Having an older, extremely pretty, foreign girl constantly showering him with praise and words of encouragement was almost too much for the young teen. But she was just so positive and so genuine that it was difficult to remain uncomfortable around her for long. There was something odd and inexplicably… calming about her. Like he didn’t have to worry about anything so long as he was with her.
This strange feeling caused Mob to seek out the empath’s presence more. And more. And more, to the point where she was coming over to his house nearly every day to study or play video games, or just so that Shigeo could watch her draw and paint and bask in the steady comfort she gave him. Some of her stuff was even kept at his house at this point.
Why she possibly liked him as much as she did, Shigeo had absolutely no idea. She was bright and cheerful and talented, and, well, a high schooler, and he was just… him. Just plain old average Mob, with nothing all that interesting about him other than his psychic powers. Even so, for some strange reason, Y/N took an instant liking to him and seemed to be extremely fond of him. It almost made him feel… special. Like he was wanted for something other than being an esper.
He found himself constantly trying to impress her or make himself useful to her somehow, and he couldn’t help the warm feeling that bloomed in his chest when she smiled at him and ruffled his hair when he did something well. Shigeo could barely keep his mind off of her, and it wasn’t long until the people around him began to notice.
His family noticed first, or at least they were the first to confront him about it. Not long after Y/N had started coming over to Shigeo’s house, he received a phone call from her one evening. Wondering what it could be (and excited to potentially see her again), he picked it up. “Oh, hi Y/N.” What is it?” he said into the phone.
“Hiya Shigeo! So, um, I have a HUUUGE favor to ask you,” Y/N’s lilting voice echoed from out of the cellphone.
Shigeo tilted his head curiously, even though he knew Y/N couldn’t see it. “Oh, sure,” he said, “What is it? I don’t know how much I can help, but if you think I can I’ll try my best.”
He heard her chuckle nervously. “Well, uh, it’s less about you doing something for me, and a little bit more about getting your permission for something…”
He set down the homework he was doing and sat up ramrod straight. “What could you need my permission for?” he asked, feeling a bead of nervous sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
“Well, you see, I seem to have been gotten myself into a bit of a predicament that involves in me being covered in paint and kicked out of my house…”
Shigeo became alarmed at this knowledge, standing up abruptly and almost knocking the coffee table over in the process. “What??? What happened? How can I help?”
Y/N laughed heartily — almost alarmingly carefree for someone who had just gotten kicked out of their home. “Aww, it’s so cute that you’re worried about me!” Shigeo felt heat rise to his cheeks. “But don’t be! It’s not that big of a deal! I just pulled a little prank on Christian that he didn’t find nearly as funny as I did. He should let me back in soon, but for the time being, I’m still slathered head to toe with acrylic paints. That’s where that favor comes into play!” she declared matter-of-factly.
Shigeo let out a breath and relaxed, relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. Y/N’s brother could overreact sometimes, but knowing her, her ‘little’ prank may very well have been something pretty bad. How bad would it have it be to warrant her being thrown out of her house? Debatable. Even so, Shigeo was still confused as to how she expected him to help. “Well, I’m glad it’s nothing major, but what exactly do I need your permission for?”
He could practically hear her grin grow through the receiver. She explained, “As I said, I am currently covered in paint, and without access to my house I have no way to wash it off. Soooo, I was wondering if maybe you would let me shower at your place? I promise to be quick, so you don’t have to worry about me increasing your parents’ water bill or anything!”
Every ounce of blood in Shigeo’s body rushed to his face all at once, and his mouth suddenly felt drier than a desert. He had to brace himself against the wall because he was sure he would faint if he didn’t. A girl was coming over to his house to shower. Even though it probably wasn’t that big of a deal, the thought still caused his heart to race and his hands to feel clammy. He wasn’t mentally prepared for that!!! He would probably never be prepared for that!!! But he couldn’t just say no when she needed his help.
“Pretty please, Shige? It would be SUCH a big help!” Y/N pleaded.
Shigeo sighed, his face still burning all the way from his ears to the base of his neck. In the end, his desire to help his friend won out against his embarrassment, and hoo boy was there a lot of embarrassment. It’s not like he could resist when she talked like that. “…O-okay. W-whatever you need…!” he practically squeaked, his voice at least three octaves higher than normal.
“Really?!” Y/N exclaimed, and Shigeo could practically hear the gleam of elation in her eyes. It made him smile. “Oh, thank you so so so so so much!!! I’ll be right over! I seriously owe you one, Shige!”
Before Shigeo could protest that Y/N didn’t owe him anything, she hung up. He swallowed to try and wet irreversibly dry throat. Unable to focus on his homework any longer, he instead sat and waited for her arrival, desperately pushing thoughts of her naked out of his head. It didn’t help much.
A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Calling out to the rest of his family that he would get it, Shigeo jumped up and answered the door. Sure enough, standing there was Y/N, completely drenched in paint, as she had said. There was green in her hair, blue staining her arms — the only place that seemed to be spared from the oil-based barrage of color was her face, and there were still a few splashes of purple and orange there.
“Oh, wow,” Shigeo said, taking a step back. When she said that she was covered in paint, he didn’t realize she meant covered. “You look…”
“Like a rainbow violently barfed on me? Yeah, I know,” she finished. She was grinning like a wild hyena, the stark white of her teeth sharply contrasting with the vivid colors adorning her body. She had a wicked glint in her eye as if she couldn’t possibly find her current situation more amusing than it was. It was a little frightening. Shigeo swallowed.
“Um, uh, yeah… Why don’t you… come in?” Mob mumbled, stepping to the side and keeping his gave firmly planted on the floor between his feet. Something about her devilish expression made him nervous.
Her grin softened to something a little warmer and more sincere as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. “Thank you so so so so much, Shige! I really appreciate it!”
“I-it’s nothing, really,” he stuttered, feeling his face heat up again.
“Well, I appreciate it nonetheless,” Y/N stated matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips, “Soooo, would you mind directing me to the bathroom?”
“Oh! Uh, sure. Just right down the hall and to the left.” She chirped a quick thanks and skipped down the hall, disappearing into the bathroom. Shigeo released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and put a hand up to his chest, finding that his heart was beating faster than usual. Odd. Maybe he needed to lie down for a second.
Before he could do that, however, his mom popped her head into the room. “Shigeo? Who was that?” she questioned, “Why is she using our shower?”
Mob’s face flushed darker. “Oh, uh, just a friend. You know, the one that helps me study sometimes?” He looked off to the side and rubbed the back of his neck. “Her brother kicked her out of the house, so she asked if she could clean up over here. I figured that would be okay, so I said yes…”
His mother frowned slightly. She looked like she wanted to ask him something, she but didn’t. Instead, she just said, “It’s perfectly alright, it’s just, well… she’s…” She quickly changed the subject. “So, if she can’t go home right now why don’t you invite her to stay for dinner?”
Shigeo was a little curious about his mom’s abrupt shift in demeanor, but he chose not to comment on it. “…Okay. I’ll ask her once she gets out of the bathroom.”
She smiled. “Good. I’ll make a little extra in case she says yes.” She disappeared back into the kitchen.
After a few more minutes of awkwardly waiting, Y/N came out of the shower with a fresh pair of clothes (probably the ones she accidentally left the last time she was at his house). Shigeo offered to let her stay for dinner and she cheerfully accepted, after politely asking if it wouldn’t be too much of a bother, of course.
That dinner was probably the most talkative meal there had been in the Kageyama household ever. Y/N never failed to entertain with her many stories, and her bubbly aura seemed to brighten everyone’s moods just by her being there. She explained her odd circumstance and reassured everyone when they expressed concern over her housing situation. Apparently, Y/N had been making a giant mural on the ground and ended up tripping and falling onto the wet paint. As a joke, she had run around the house chasing her brother to give him a big painty hug, and when she caught him, he was so annoyed he had tossed her duffel bag outside and locked the door behind her when she went to go retrieve it. She assured them that he just needed to cool off a bit, so there was no need to worry.
When she mentioned the mural, Ritsu expressed some interest. “Oh, do you like are, Y/N?”
“Mhmm!” she confirmed, “I still have a lot to learn, but I really enjoy it.”
“She’s a really great artist!” Shigeo added enthusiastically, startling his family with his uncharacteristic outburst. “She once made this painting of the stars and it looked so real it was hard to tell it apart from a photo…!”
A soft pink dusted across Y/N’s cheeks as she looked down bashfully. “I’m not that good, really… But that’s really sweet of you to say.”
Shigeo objected. “No, it’s true…! You’re super talented and skilled…! You’re the best artist I know…”
Y/N’s blush darkened. “R-really? I, um…” she stuttered, uncharacteristically shy, “Wow. Th-thank you. I’m flattered.”
Shigeo’s family looked on at the exchange slack-jawed. It was a rare sight to see Shigeo act emotional about anything, let alone be so adamant. No one mentioned it, however, and the meal continued. Mob continued to astound his family with his talkativeness, well, so long as the conversation was centered around Y/N.
Once dinnertime was over Y/N decided to head off. “Thank you so so much again, Shige! You really helped me out! And thank you for the food, Mrs. Kageyama!” she said, giving a shallow bow to Mob’s mother.
“Oh, um, can’t you stay for a little bit longer> We could hang out in my room and play video games or something…” Shigeo offered. He didn’t quite know why, but for some reason, he felt more than a little desperate to keep her around for as long as possible.
She smiled warmly at him, and his heart thumped loudly in his chest. “Thanks for the offer, but maybe another time. It’s getting pretty late, so I should probably get going.”
Shigeo deflated. “Oh… Okay. See you later I guess…” He felt very disappointed at the declination, but it was getting to be pretty late.
“Yup! See you later! I’ll be sure to text soon!” She bent down to his height and planted a quick kiss to his cheek. “I had a great time. Bye bye!” She skipped out the front door, leaving Shigeo light-headed and redder than a tomato holding his cheek.
His family dispersed to all do their own things, and Shigeo practically floated to his room. He flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, a small smile playing at his lips. A girl had kissed him. True, it was only on the cheek, and Y/N was only a friend, but he was still really happy for some reason.
A few minutes later there was a knock at his bedroom door. Shigeo sat up. “Come in” he called.
The door opened to reveal Ritsu. He stayed in the doorway but said, “Hey, big bro. I, uh, wanted to ask you something.”
Shigeo was curious. “Sure. What is it?”
Ritsu cleared his throat and looked away. “Sooooo… that Y/N girl.”
Mob cocked his head to the side, growing more confused every second. “What about her?”
If Mob didn’t know any better, he would’ve said Ritsu looked embarrassed. “You two seemed, um, pretty close, huh?
“Yeah, I suppose…” Mob said, “She’s a really good friend.
“Friend? So, um, when she kissed you that didn’t mean anything?” Ritsu asked.
Mob felt as though his face had caught on fire, finally understanding what his brother was getting at. “Wh-what? No…! Th-that’s…! She’s…! That’s just how she is! N-nothing like that!” he squeaked.
Despite Mob’s protests, Ritsu didn’t look all that convinced. Even so, he didn’t push it. “Okay… If you say so. Just remember you can tell me anything.”
“Y-yeah, I know.”
Ritsu left, closing the door behind him. Mob was left only to wonder what in the world had just happened. He couldn’t believe that Ritsu thought he and Y/N were dating! She was in high school! And he liked Tsubomi! Y/N was just really affectionate. Yeah, that was it…….
The second person, or, well, group of people, to notice Mob’s odd behavior were the members of the body improvement club. Y/N liked to hang around during his club activities on occasion to offer moral support, as she wasn’t very athletic herself. On this particular occasion, almost three weeks after her dinner with his family, she had brought her dog. It wasn’t a particularly momentous or obvious moment, but the change in Shigeo’s behavior was pronounced enough for Musashi to say something about it.
The incident itself was small. Y/N was just sitting on top of a fence and watching the club run, giving Mob encouraging cheers every once in a while. Mob felt close to passing out again when Y/N’s energetic german shepherd trotted up beside him and barked as if to encourage him to keep going. Y/N laughed heartily. “See, Shige? Even Chloe believes in you! You can do it! Just a little more!” she called to him, her legs swinging idly back and forth. Shigeo’s face would have flushed had it not already been red from all the activity. As odd as it sounded, the thought that even her dog wanted him to succeed gave him a bit more motivation. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get him through the body improvement club’s rigorous running exercises. He was panting and wanted to vomit, but he’d finished without fainting and that was a step up from before.
Y/N came running over to him with a water bottle, a wet cloth, and a massive hug. “I knew you could do it, Shige!” she exclaimed, capturing him in her bone-crushing bear hug. Her dog barked as if to agree with her statement.
“Th-thanks,” Shigeo panted, smiling up at her appreciatively. She released her hold on him and handed him the water bottle and the cloth, both of which he took gratefully.
“I’ve got to get going now, but great work today! I’m really proud of you. Bye bye!” And with a kiss on the cheek, she was gone.
Shigeo couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face. “Bye,” he whispered, even though he knew she had no way of hearing him.
Musashi trotted up to him and gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Great job today, Mob! I think that’s the first time you’ve made it all the way through!”
“Th-thank you,” Shigeo said, still very much out of breath.
“So, that high school girl’s been coming to our meetings more often recently. Any reason why?” Musashi asked without a hint of malice.
Shigeo took another drink of water and managed to get his breathing under control. “Hmm? Yeah, she has to wait on her brother most days, so she likes to come watch us. No big reason.” He shrugged his shoulders.
Musashi smiled brightly. “Well, that’s fine! You just seem to work a lot harder whenever she’s here, so I was wondering if maybe there was another reason!”
“Do I?” Mob asked, looking down at the ground, “I didn’t even notice. I guess… that’s because she believes in me so much. I don’t want to let her down.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, then! It’s not bad to find motivation through others! Well, anyways, good job today, Mob. See ya tomorrow!” Musashi walked off, leaving Mob to contemplate what he had said.
Was there really that much of a difference when Y/N was watching? Well, now that he thought about it, Mob did feel like he had to impress her. It wasn’t like he was particularly intimidated by her, but he wanted her to think highly of him. Though, for the life him he couldn’t figure out why…
The third and final person in Mob’s life to comment on his relationship with Y/N was, understandably, his master, Reigen. It was actually a little odd that the self-proclaimed psychic didn’t say something about it sooner, but his tone of voice when the girl exited the office one afternoon told Mob that he had either noticed for a while now or that he just didn’t care.
“You like her,” Reigen said nonchalantly as if he were stating a fact about the weather, as he idly picked at his cuticles.
Shigeo felt his face go beet red and he lost his ability to form coherent sentences. He made a couple of strangled noises then stammered, “Wh-what?! I-I…! What do you…!? I’m, uh, she isn’t…!” He swallowed. “N-no I don’t!” he finally managed to say.
Reigen raised his eyebrows in a suspicious fashion and leaned forward across his desk. “Oh, really now?” he asked, his voice dripping with skepticism, “Is that what you’re telling yourself?” He lit a cigarette and stuck it between his teeth. “’Cause you obviously like her.”
“Wh-what do you mean, obviously?” Shigeo stuttered, growing more and more mortified with every passing second. Even his master thought there was something going on between him and Y/N!
Reigen let out a short puff of air and smoke. “Seriously? You follow her around like a lost puppy. When she’s not around, she’s literally all you ever talk about. You’d have to be blind and deaf not to know.”
Mob felt lightheaded and sweaty. He didn’t think he’d ever been this embarrassed in his entire life. But the thing was, Reigen was right. Shigeo had unconsciously been acting like a lovesick fool without realizing it! Of course, people were starting to notice it! Mob wanted to sink into the ground under Reigen’s relentless gaze. “B-but I don’t like her!” he protested, as much to convince himself as to convince his master.
Reigen sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. “Okay then, let’s say you don’t, just for a second. How do you feel about her?” he interrogated.
Mob had to think for a second. How did he really feel about Y/N? He finally said, “Well… She’s always really nice to me, and she encourages me a lot. She’s so positive and I admire her a lot. She makes me want to be a better person. I get really nervous around her, but not in a bad way…? She always makes me really happy.” He smiled brightly, but it fell, and his eyes widened when he realized the implications of what he had just confessed.
Reigen was grinning impishly. “That sounds an awful lot like you like her, doesn’t it?”
Mob looked down and all of a sudden, his complicated thoughts about his friend finally clicked into place. He liked her! He stood up abruptly, startling Reigen. “Oh my gosh, y-you’re right! I’ve got to tell her!” He immediately bolted out of the office, the door swinging shut behind him.
Shigeo didn’t see it, but Reigen chuckled and leaned back in his chair. He took a long drag on his cigarette. “About time he figured it out.”