Chapter Text
16 --
It had been a good night for Ritsu. He’d met Shou downtown, spent a few hours at dinner and trading sips from a beer can Shou bought from a vending machine. He left feeling pleasantly tipsy on the crisp night and thought, why not stop by and rescue Shigeo from work? So he texted to make sure Shigeo was still there and, after getting a confirmation, walked the few blocks to Spirits and Such.
Ritsu heard laughter as he pushed open the door. Reigen’s and—much quieter—Shigeo’s. Ritsu found himself smiling in response. Shigeo still rarely laughed out loud. Then he actually saw what was going on.
To the outside observer the main concern would be how much of a mess Shigeo and Reigen were. They were streaked with grass stains, and there was mud in Shigeo’s hair. Reigen was explaining something-or-other to Kurata about an esper burglar masquerading as a spirit out in the countryside. Ritsu didn’t really care. Because Shigeo was leaning toward Reigen, half-laughing, eyes glittering, as happy as Ritsu had ever seen him.
He eyeballed Dimple: are you seeing this? Dimple grimaced back: no, or alternatively, stop staring at me, asshole.
“Hey, Onii-san,” he said, “you ready to go home?”
Shigeo startled; he obviously hadn’t noticed Ritsu come in. “Okay!” he said, pushing himself off the couch. He really did look ridiculous. The front half of his hair was in the same flat bowl cut he’d had since Ritsu could remember, but the back half was propped up with mud and cut grass in some sort of grotesque reverse mullet. Grass stains streaked up the arms of his hoodie and there was a new rip in his jeans.
“Wait a second!” Reigen fished in his pocket and pulled out a few coins. Shigeo’s salary was up to 500 yen these days. He pushed it into Shigeo’’s hand and then stretched up to ruffle his hair. “Good job today, Mob, but next time have more care for the suit. You’re lucky I didn’t take it out of your salary…”
Normally Ritsu would be glaring at Reigen for this, but he was more interested in his brother’s blush at the small contact. For fuck’s sake, Ritsu thought. He could practically see doki-doki sounds pop up around Shigeo like a crappy shoujo manga.
Hustling Shigeo out the door, Ritsu started down the street, frowning as he tried to figure out how—or even if—to talk about this. Romance had been such a sidenote to the mess that was their lives; it felt silly to bring it up.
“Onii-san,” Ritsu began, and frowned.
Shigeo gave him a moment. “Hmm?”
“You know you can talk to me if you have feelings for a guy, right?” Shigeo gave him a puzzled look. Ritsu wasn’t sure what part of this was puzzling, so he added, “Romantic feelings, I mean.”
Shigeo smiled. “I know I can, Ritsu. But thank you.”
They walked along in silence for a moment. At this hour the neighborhood was quiet. All the bars and convenience stores were a few blocks away, leaving only dilapidated offices giving way to residential neighborhoods. Ritsu watched the shadows lengthen and glanced over at his brother’s face. Some people said Shigeo looked blank all the time, but he could see the soft edges of contentment there.
“So is there a guy you like?”
“No?” More firmly: “No.”
Ritsu blinked. Shigeo had never been in touch with his feelings in the usual sense. He’d only started comfortably showing them in the last few years, and his natural reserve made even those little displays rare. But Shigeo was always honest about what his feelings were. Everyone in the school had known about his crush on Takane.
Oh my god, Ritsu thought, he actually doesn’t know.
Well, Ritsu wasn’t going to tell him. “Okay,” Ritsu said, and let the matter drop.
17--
Shigeo put down his cram school textbook and said, “Teruki and I are dating now.”
Ritsu snorted soda up his nose. Between coughs he managed, “What? How?”
“He confessed last yesterday and I accepted. We have a date Friday,” said Shigeo. Ritsu kept sputtering so Shigeo added, defensive, “You said I could tell you.” He used his powers to lift away the droplets Ritsu had spattered onto his textbook and deposited them neatly in a flowerpot.
Rubbing at his nose with his sleeve, Ritsu said, “Yeah, I just didn’t expect him.” Hanazawa wasn’t a bad choice for a first boyfriend; Ritsu liked him, and he trusted him with Shigeo. But still. “How long have you liked him?”
Shigeo frowned and tapped his pencil against his chin. “I don’t know. I’ve thought he was handsome for a while. Kissing is fun. I don’t get nervous around him the same way I did with Tsubomi-chan, but maybe that’s because we’ve been friends for so long.”
It was rare to get so many words from Shigeo in one stretch. For that reason Ritsu tried to push away his awkwardness on the topic. “You sound like you aren’t sure.””
Shigeo sighed. “I don’t know. We’re friends, and I don’t know what the difference should be between feelings for friends and boyfriends or girlfriends. If I like someone and they’re attractive and I want to be around them a lot, what’s the difference? How do I know?”
“You just know,” said Ritsu, knowing this would frustrate Shigeo, and tried to elaborate. It wasn’t like he had much experience either. “Like at first you’ll be nervous around them, and maybe if you already know them you’ll start being nervous again out of nowhere and wanting to impress them. And you start thinking about them too much, and noticing little things about them, and you start doing things to get their attention. Their opinion starts to be the one you want to hear the most.”
“Huh,” said Shigeo, and chewed on his eraser. “That can’t always be right. I mean, I think a lot of those things about Shishou.”
Ritsu considered, seriously, dropping one of the textbooks on his own head. “I don’t know everything, Onii-san. If you want to go out with Hanazawa, you should. Don’t worry about it too much.”
Nodding, Shigeo went back to his textbook.
In the end Shigeo dated Hanazawa for several months, much longer than Ritsu expected. Then one day he texted, is it ok if I invite teru out with us Sunday?
Ok as long as I’m not a third wheel, Ritsu said.
You won’t be. we broke up a week ago.
Ritsu stared at his phone. “Of course you did.”
Hanazawa met them at the movie theater, and it was surprisingly not awkward. “You know Shige,” said Hanazawa when Shigeo was still at concessions. “It’s hard to stay mad at him.”
Ritsu nodded, conceding the point.
Hanazawa squirmed for a moment and then asked, “Does he have feelings for someone else? I know that sounds suspicious, but I’m not—he always seemed fixated on someone. But he didn’t admit it, and that’s not like him.”
Oh thank fuck. Someone else saw it. Ritsu let out a breath. “You’re talking about Reigen, right?” Hanazawa nodded furiously. “Yeah, I don’t think Shigeo even knows. Reigen was his shishou for so long, and…” He broke off into a shrug. It was a little worrying to see Shigeo so oblivious to his own feelings, but what was the alternative? Shigeo, still in high school, actually acting on his crush on a man fourteen years his senior?
Hanazawa sighed. “I never really had a chance, I guess,” he said. “I mean, who could compete with that?”
Okay, Reigen was handsome, but he wasn’t that handsome. Definitely too sweaty. Ritsu almost protested but at that moment Shigeo appeared at the end of the aisle. “Compete with what?” he asked, folding himself into a seat while his powers passed out soda cups and popcorn buckets. Then he saw the look on Hanazawa’s face. “Oh,” he said, and kept to himself until after the movie.
18--
Shigeo came home a night early on his first break from university.
Or: Shigeo, who had told Ritsu and their parents that he would meet them at the train station early Saturday afternoon, actually knocked on Ritsu’s bedroom door at about eleven Friday night. Ritsu knew it was Shigeo before he opened the door because the air had taken on a shivery quality, currents and flurries responding to the waft of Shigeo’s power. He yanked it open with his own powers before he finished getting out of bed.
“Why are you back early?” Ritsu shut the door behind them. “Is everything alright?”
It was a stupid question. Shigeo sat on the bed, hands on his knees. His hair wafted around his face. “I stopped by the office. I wanted to talk to Shishou, and…” He let out a frustrated huff of air and then another, deeper breath. The power around him faded, hair falling down into his eyes—without their parents around to nag him, it looked like he’d forgotten about his haircut. “I wanted to ask him out. But you already knew about that, didn’t you?”
Okay. This conversation, then. Judging from Shigeo’s general attitude—and the fact that he was here at all—Ritsu could guess how it went. “I did,” he said as gently as he could.
“He said he still sees me as a kid, it doesn’t matter that I’m not.” Shigeo blinked several times, staring off into the middle distance.
Ritsu didn’t quite know what to say, so he nudged his foot against Shigeo’s shin. “I’m sorry.” Sorry that he was hurting, at least. Shigeo didn’t have to know Ritsu was relieved Reigen had rejected him. He still thought the man was kind of an ass, but at least he wasn’t a creep. Maybe this could be like Takane. It had been important for Shigeo to get his own feelings off his chest, but soon enough he’d moved on. He was at university most of the time, after all: far enough away from Seasoning City to forget about all this.
Shigeo just nodded and sighed. He’d grown into a beanpole, long and lanky, taller than Ritsu by a head. Ritsu had seen him catch up to the Body Improvement Club in terms of speed but he’d never put any real weight on, just stretched. Even though Ritsu was the younger brother, Shigeo had always been a kid to him—someone he needed to look out for, physically and mentally. No wonder Reigen had thought the same thing.
“Hey, it’s late, Shigeo,” he said. Shigeo gave him a puzzled look, like maybe eleven at night wasn’t all that late in university land. Ritsu tried a different tactic. Maybe he needed a distraction. “You want to play Smash? You can be Mewtwo this time.”
“Yeah, okay,” Shigeo said, and they took turns beating each other until Ritsu fell asleep on the couch.
19--
“Hey, come on. You’re going to get cold.” Shou shoved his jacket onto Ritsu’s shoulders as they wove through the restaurant tables to the doors.
It wasn’t particularly cold outside; Ritsu shrugged it off. “I’m fine. It’s almost summer, you know.”
Shou sighed as if Ritsu had missed something very obvious. Ritsu turned, got another look at his long-suffering expression, and held out his arms; the jacket floated gently onto them. “Fine, I’ll wear your jacket,” he said, and pushed up the sleeves.
Shou rolled his eyes but he was grinning as they emerged onto the street. Ritsu was too busy looking at Shou to look in front of him, which was how he ended up walking into Reigen Arataka. Not that he knew it was Reigen at first, but the pink tie was a giveaway.
“Oh,” Reigen said, and jumped back. “How about that! Haven’t seen you around in a while. Either of you,” he added, noticing Shou. “How’s your dad?”
“Still in jail,” said Shou cheerfully.
“That’s what happens when you kill people and try to conquer the world, I guess,” said Reigen without a trace of awkwardness. Then he turned back to Ritsu. Reigen didn’t look uncomfortable, exactly; Ritsu rarely saw him give away anything as vulnerable as that. But there was a wariness in his expression that told Ritsu what he was going to ask. “And how’s Mob?”
“He’s doing alright,” said Ritsu. “I think he likes university better than high school. But he was here a couple of weeks ago—did he not stop by then?”
Reigen reached for something in his coat pocket, then stopped himself and made a fist. Going for a cigarette, probably. “No. Well, Tome said he’d been by, but I was out.”
“Were you clients of his?” asked a woman behind Reigen. Ritsu blinked; he’d noticed her standing there, but since the sidewalk was so crowded he hadn’t realized she was with Reigen. She seemed to be in her thirties, dressed nicely but a little worn-down at the end of the day, with a friendly smile.
“We helped save the world together,” said Shou, at the same time Ritsu said, “My brother worked for him.” They exchanged glances and laughed; the woman just looked confused, and Reigen didn’t seem inclined to explain. “It’s good you’re making friends your own age,” Ritsu added pointedly.
Reigen coughed. “This is Kozue—we’re going to check out a convenience store spirit, if you two want to come along. Watch the master at work.”
Raising an eyebrow, Ritsu looked at Shou. It would be pretty funny to see Reigen try to pull this off, but…
“Nah, we’ve got more fun things to do,” said Shou. “See you.” He grabbed Ritsu’s hand and pulled him into the crowd.
“Ritsu!” Reigen called, and Ritsu turned back, pulling Shou to a halt. “Tell Mob—tell him I said hi,” he finished awkwardly.
Frowning, Ritsu waved in acknowledgement and let Shou pull him forward.
20--
Instead of going home during his university’s break, Ritsu visited Shigeo. Shigeo’s school was closer than Seasoning City, anyway, and he was staying to cram for exams. There was no real point to going home without him. Shigeo sent him his address and texted, I may not be home but you can let yourself in.
So Ritsu did. Locked doors didn’t do much to stop him. Shigeo could probably put up a barrier or something but he never had.
Something whooshed toward Ritsu as he turned to lock the door and he threw up a barrier. Metal clanged behind his head and someone let out a startled yelp. He whirled, already gathering power around him, but his attacker was so…nonthreatening. He was short, brunette, with thick square glasses and a frying pan lifted to strike, and he was wearing one of Shigeo’s hoodies. The green one with a puppy on it that fit Shigeo like a crop-top. Attacking anyone in that just felt mean.
“Do you usually just attack strangers?” Ritsu asked.
“Do you usually break into people’s apartments?” He asked—except the voice was much higher-pitched than Ritsu expected. Ritsu blinked.
“I’m Kageyama Ritsu,” he said by way of explanation. “Shigeo said he might not be home. Are you his—girlfriend?”
She lowered her frying pan, pink staining her cheeks. “Sorry, he didn’t say he had family coming over. I’m Haruhi. We’re friends, I guess.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about you.” Just in passing. Shigeo had called her a friend too, though that didn’t explain why she was wearing his clothes. If they were friends with benefits or something, Ritsu preferred to maintain little-brother ignorance. “Do you know where he keeps the glasses?”
Haruhi obviously knew her way around Shigeo’s kitchen and had no qualms about intruding in it. She fixed Ritsu a glass of water and offered him a snack, which Ritsu turned down. “So you’re an esper? I didn’t realize it ran in families.” Haruhi turned out to not be psychic herself, but she knew a couple from high school, and that got them into small talk that lasted until Shigeo came through the door.
“Holy shit,” said Ritsu, “you got a haircut.”
Haruhi burst into laughter and Shigeo self-consciously touched his mop of hair. It really wasn’t anything remarkable—the same haircut half the men on the street seemed to have, and actually a lot like Haruhi’s—but it was so different from Shigeo’s old bowl cut. Ritsu hadn’t realized how much of his impression of Shigeo’s face shape had been based on that. If he hadn't known it was Shigeo he probably wouldn't have recognized him.
“I wanted something different,” Shigeo said with a shrug. “And actually—while you’re here, can you show me how to use hair gel?”
Ritsu beamed.
A few minutes later he had Shigeo in front of the bathroom mirror, carefully arranging locks of hair with both his hands and his powers. Ritsu bit his lip, watching Shigeo’s progress. On one hand he didn’t really want to know, but on the other hand, he wanted to check up on Shigeo…curiosity won out. “So Haruhi said she was your friend,” he tried.
“Mmhmm.” Shigeo frowned and finger-combed a stubborn chunk of hair near his ear.
“So you two aren’t seeing each other or anything?” Ritsu batted his hands away. “And don’t slick it up like that, you’ll look like an anime character.”
Shigeo snorted. “We are, I guess. It’s not serious. She has this guy she really likes studying abroad, and…” He shrugged. The corner of his mouth twitched down and a blush spread down to his collar. And he still had feelings for Reigen, Ritsu thought. Damn it. “I like her, though.”
Well, at least he was putting himself out there. He patted Shigeo’s shoulder. “Good,” he said. Pulling Shigeo’s hands away from his hair, he gave it one last ruffle. Ritsu had perfected the “artfully disheveled” look on himself; it worked pretty well for Shigeo, too. “And now you look like an actual college student.”
Shigeo hip-checked him away, a small smile on his face as he examined himself in the mirror. “This was a good decision,” he said. Ritsu wasn’t sure which of them he was talking to, but agreed either way.