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It’s cold. The first snowflakes of the year are circling down from the sky above, melting away as they hit the ground. Mob tugs his jacket closer around himself, watching his breath turn into frost smoke. He rubs his hands together in a feeble attempt at keeping them warm, trying to ignore the eyes that follow him as he and Reigen progress through the ancient looking village.
It’s a tiny place, tucked into a valley beneath the foot of Soba mountain, home of a couple of lesser known shrines. Shrines that have been considered haunted for well over a decade. Or at least, that is what Reigen excitedly claimed before dragging Mob two cities over to investigate.
Currently, he is cursing to himself as he fights with an oversized tourist map, trying to straighten it out while walking proving difficult. He seems to completely ignore the dirty looks the locals are sending their way. There aren’t many people out in the streets at this hour, but Mob can feel them peering out the windows.
He switches his attention up at the mountain looming in front of them instead. While it is hard to tell from where he is standing, there is certainly some kind of energy radiating from it, though he can hardly begin to explain.
Maybe he should tell Reigen to call it off. It’s not as if the rumours surrounding the mountain ever involved anyone getting hurt, and some things are best left alone.
The man in question has made it halfway down the street while Mob was zoning out, completely unaware that his protégé isn’t keeping up. Mob shakes his head to clear it, and is about to set after Reigen when a hand on his shoulder stops him.
He turns slowly, eying the owner of the hand in confusion.
It is an older lady, her skin reminiscent of the dry autumn leaves that are currently littering the ground. Her eyes are boring into Mob intensely, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. Her grip around his arm is like steel, making it impossible for Mob to break free without resorting to his powers.
He eyes the lady warily, trying to gauge her intentions. Down the road, Reigen is still cussing out his map in an unnecessarily loud manner.
“Your aura is strong,” the woman rasps. Mob watches uncertainly as she scrutinizes him carefully. “Even stronger than your red string. It is practically drowning in it.”
“Excuse me, I really need to get going,” Mob sputters nervously, trying to subtly pull himself out of the woman’s grip, but she holds strong. As much as he tries to avoid them, there’s something about her eyes that makes it difficult to look away.
“Be careful if you intend to step up onto the mountain. The spirits residing there are fond of meddling.”
She lets go of Mob’s hand, who stumbles out of her reach, bowing more out of awkwardness than any intent of being polite, before he stumbles after Reigen. He can feel her eyes on his back as he breaks into a run down the little street.
His master has come to a stop by what appears to be an info board for tourists, though apart from showing a simple map of the possible paths one can take up to the two shrines, and a warning to consider the weather conditions before climbing it in winter, there isn’t much to learn from it.
Reigen’s face has taken on a determined expression, his hands clutching the pouch of table salt he brought with him just in case.
“Are you ready, Mob? We’re about to shed light on one of the region’s greatest mysteries.”
“I you say so, master,” Mob mutters absentmindedly, still a bit shaky after his encounter with the old lady.
“Oi, don’t go all sassy on me. We’re doing the locals a huge favour here. Plus, it will be good PR for the office if we can either disprove he rumours or exorcise whatever it is that’s been causing a fuss.”
Mob hums in agreement, trailing after Reigen as he resolutely sets off towards the path up onto the mountain.
Reigen’s energy last for approximately the time it takes to get them up the first slope. Before them, two sets of stone stairs with no railings are snaking their way up the steep mountain side. Beside him, Reigen is already panting. Not that Mob is in such good shape either, but his runs with the body improvement club has definitely started to pay off.
“You know Mob,” Reigen drawls, trying his best to not look like a single set of stairs took all the wind out of him. “Maybe we should split up. There is a lot of mountain to cover, and it will be dark in a couple of hours. We can go each our way, then meet up back here in thirty minutes.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright, master?” Mob takes in Reigen’s bent over form with scepticism.
The older man sputters, then straightens up. His hand does a flurry of gestures before poking a finger at Mob’s chest. “Hey, is that doubt I’m sensing. We’re talking the world’s greatest psychic here. If anything, you should call me if you get in any trouble.”
Mob huffs, but promises to call anyway, a small smile tugging at his lips.
The shrine before him isn’t much to talk about. A single torii gate marks the entrance to a small clearing, the place looking as if it rarely gets any visitors. Even this late in autumn, the path is overgrown. Thickets frame the little shrine, making it almost impossible to walk all the way up to it.
Mob stops a few feet away from it, considering it silently. There isn’t any spiritual energy in the area as far as he can tell, nor can he hear any of the strange sounds people have allegedly heard when climbing the mountain.
Still, there’s that odd feeling from before that makes his gut churn uncomfortably.
He checks his phone. It is still twenty left before he and Reigen are supposed to meet up, so he might as well start to head back. Eying the shrine for a last time, he turns back to the path leading down the mountain.
He stops.
A single spirit is sitting on the path he just came from. It reminds him slightly of a fox, except it is glowing, and Mob is pretty sure a normal fox isn’t capable of making an expression like… well it’s hard to describe, but it practically oozes of mischief.
A shiver runs down Mob’s spine. He still can’t feel any spiritual energy from it, even though it is sitting right in front of him, plain as day.
“You’re the one who has been causing trouble around here, aren’t you,” Mob says softly, approaching the spirit slowly.
It yawns, barely paying Mob any mind, its tail, no, tails wagging lazily. Mob closes his eyes, summoning a small burst of power to get the job done. Except it feels more or less like chucking a ball into the air, expecting someone to catch it, only to watch it hit the ground and roll away. The fox remains unscathed.
Frowning, Mob tries again. And again. His powers doing nothing the dispel the fox. He sits down on his knees in front of it.
“You’re not a normal spirit, are you?”
If he expected an answer, he doesn’t get one. The fox just stares him down. Mob stares back.
Maybe he should call Reigen.
Mob fishes out his phone, not expecting the fox to pounce the moment he takes its eyes of it. His hands shoot up to protect him from the attacker, except it goes right through him, leaving him with a sensation of having his lungs stolen away from him.
He turns around to see the fox staring him down from behind, a glowing orb of bluish violet energy in its maw. Mob reaches out to catch it, but it runs off, leaving Mob in the grass, the faint feeling in his chest spreading to the rest of his body.
Before he knows it, he collapses, face first into the grass.
Mob groans, blinking his eyes open, his head spinning as he tries to orient himself. He can vaguely remember being out on a job with Reigen when he blacked out. He sits up.
He’s in his room, his blanket resting comfortably across his feet. When he glances out the window it is evident that it is already in the middle of the day. Looking down himself he realises he’s still wearing the same clothes as the previous day, except for his winter jacket and shoes. So, it wasn’t a dream after all.
He gets up to brush his teeth and change into a different set of clothes. The rest of the house is hauntingly empty, only a quickly scrawled out note on the kitchen table notifying him that his parents are at work and Ritsu at school, and to call them if he needs anything. They’ve conveniently left his phone by the note.
Mob ignores it for now. Apart from his body feeling a bit stiff from having hiked up the mountain, he’s feeling fine otherwise. He tries to recall what happened the previous day, but his memories are a messy blur.
He’s still not sure just what happened as he pours some cereal into a bowl, then proceeds to drown it with milk. He could call Reigen, but knowing him he’s probably busy with the kind of costumer that Mob isn’t strong enough to handle yet. There’s also the possibility of just heading by the office to see if he’s there, but it is a bit of a walk, and he usually doesn’t come in on Mondays.
Finishing up his cereal, he puts the bowl in the sink, and retreats to the kitchen table. Having missed out on school he supposes showing up at club activities might seem a bit odd, and judging from the fact that he passed out on the job, he might ought to take it a bit slowly today.
Still, the thought of sitting home alone all day makes him feel a bit restless. There’s still a couple of hours before Ritsu will be home, his student council duty keeping him busy. He has no idea how long his parents will be at work, but he assumes they won’t be home before the evening.
He picks up his phone. The time, 14:52 blinks up at him from the display on the back of it, a small symbol in the corner notifying him that he has several unread messages. He flips the phone open, eyes scanning the screen.
There are five new messages, all from Hanazawa.
07:10
Hey, Kageyama! You haven’t happened to notice anything strange about your powers lately?
07:13
Strange as in them not being there I mean, heh
07:15
Anyways, I have to head out to school, but maybe we could meet up today ~☆
07:16
Only if you want to though! Maybe it’s just me who is in a bad shape today, you never know. Either way, it’s a bit strange, and I’d love to hear your input
08:30
I’ll be in the park by that takoyaki place you like after school if you want to talk. Maybe we could even get takoyaki!
He spends a few minutes reading over the texts, trying to comprehend what Hanazawa is on about. A cold feeling settles in his gut. He walks over to the kitchen sink, pulling out a dirty spoon, twirling it between his fingers. Surely, Hanazawa must be wrong. He focuses his attention on the spoon, imagining it curling in on itself, twisting into an unrecognisable shape.
The spoon remains unbent.
Hanazawa is not looking to well when Mob arrives at the park they decided to meet in. He’s hunched over face slightly redder than it usually is, his hair is hanging limply over more scarves than Mob’s entire household owns combined wrapped tightly around his neck. He looks up sluggishly when Mob comes to a halt in front of him.
“Ah, thanks for coming Kageyama. I really appreciate it. Takoyaki?” He holds out a paper tray, the food still smoking hot.
“You don’t look to good,” Mob remarks, brows scrunching up in worry. He picks up one of the octopus balls with a toothpick, careful not to burn himself on it. They taste delicious.
“It’s just small fever, it’ll pass once I recover from the initial shock,” Hanazawa waves his hand at him dismissively. Mob hums, settling down beside Hanazawa on the bench.
“So, no luck in summoning your powers either, eh?” Hanazawa asks. Mob shakes his head.
“I don’t really mind,” he muses, pretending not to notice Hanazawa’s flabbergasted expression at his statement.
“I always used to be afraid that I might accidentally hurt someone with my powers someday, and it’s not like they ever were all that useful. It’s kind of freeing to know they’re not there anymore.”
He must have said the wrong thing, cause Hanazawa makes a grimace, then proceeds to do very bad job at covering it up. He sometimes forgets how Hanazawa rely on his powers like breathing, even if it is to a lesser extent nowadays.
“But you use them to help your master Reigen at work, right? And what if you have to fight off enemy espers, or even evil spirits?”
“I guess. Master Reigen has Serizawa now though,” he trails off. Are they the only ones whose powers have mysteriously disappeared, or are there more espers out there suddenly finding themselves without their abilities? He makes a mental note to ask Ritsu when he gets back home.
“Even if you don’t want your powers, you got to admit this is strange,” Hanazawa presses. He bumps his shoulder into Mob’s in a friendly gesture, or at least that is what Mob thinks it is. “We should at least stick together until we find out what is happening, and if this is something affecting all espers. Maybe if we figure out the reason behind our powers’ disappearance, we might be able to restore them.”
It turns out, Ritsu’s powers are working just fine, his younger brother just looking at him with a confused expression when asked to bend a spoon. It also turns out when Hanazawa said they should stick together, he meant it in every sense of the word.
“Not bad little brother,” he exclaims, taking the now bent spoon out of Ritsu’s hands to study it closer. Ritsu makes a disgusted face, before turning to Mob.
“What is he even doing here,” he mutters, not even caring that Hanazawa can hear every word. Fortunately, it takes more than that to insult Hanazawa, who just flashes Ritsu another bright smile, handing the spoon back.
“Me and your brother are just hanging out. Actually, would you mind texting that red head friend of yours? Ask him how his powers are holding up.”
“Text him yourself,” Ritsu sighs, unbending the spoon before pocketing it. “What’s going on with you two anyways, you’ve been acting odd all ever since you passed out on that job, are you sure you are okay.” The last part is directed at Mob.
He frowns. “We haven’t spoken since I woke up,” he points out to Ritsu, who raises an eyebrow in disbelief.
“You don’t remember? When we were at the doctor’s office you were spouting all sorts of weird stuff about red strings or whatnot.” His expression morphs into an amused one. “You should have seen Reigen’s face when he brought you in. He was afraid you had been possessed or something.”
Mob just stares at Ritsu. He really can’t recall anything after reaching the shrine. Ritsu’s expression changes into something aching to worry.
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”
He shrugs. “Of course.”
Ritsu nods to himself, the casts one worried glance before leaving the room.
Mob settles down on his futon, not sure what to make of Ritsu’s side of the story. Hanazawa watches him with the same worry Ritsu displayed earlier, but doesn’t say anything.
When Mob doesn’t say anything, he sits down on the floor in front of Mob. He’s absentmindedly chewing on the string of his hoodie, something Mob has come to associate with him being in deep thought.
Mob just watches him for a while, noting how Hanazawa’s teeth are slightly crooked where they peek out from under his lip to nibble at the hoodie string. Hanazawa must have noticed that Mob is staring, because he lets the string slip from between his teeth, the tips of his ears growing slightly red.
Mob isn’t sure how long they just sit there, staring at each other. Maybe he should be saying something, that must be why Hanazawa isn’t filling the silence with his usual chatting, right? He grows slightly antsy the longer they sit there, Hanazawa’s blue eyes boring into his own, staring right into his very soul.
Hanazawa worries his lip between his teeth, leaning closer until Mob can feel his breath on his face. His heart is racing in his chest.
Hanazawa’s phone goes off, startling them both, making Mob jump away from the other boy. He watches as Hanazawa fishes it out of the pocket of his hoodie, frowning down unto the screen.
“It’s from the awakening lab kids,” he says, fingers moving to type a quick reply. “None of them seem to have lost their powers either.”
Mob stares down on the floor. He’s got a sinking feeling that whatever happened on that mountain the previous day has something to do with this all, and somehow, he managed to get Hanazawa involved too. What kind of a friend would he be if he turned out to be the cause of Hanazawa loosing one of the things most dear to him?
“Hey, it’s okay,” he reassures, though his smile seems a bit defeated. “We’ll figure this out. Didn’t your brother say something about Reigen? Maybe your master can help us out, he’s a great psychic after all!”
Mob shrugs, it’s their only lead so far, so they might as well check it out.
Hanazawa grins, scrambling to his feet. “To Spirits and such then!”
“Mob! Shit, are you okay, how are you doing?”
If Hanazawa hadn’t pulled him out of the way, he’d probably be knocked out by the door leading into the spirits and such office. Behind Reigen, Serizawa is staring worriedly over his shoulder, his school backpack clutched in his hands.
“I’m fine, master. Are you, uh, heading out?”
Reigen steps outside the office, Serizawa quickly following suit, locking the door behind them. “We were just called in for an exorcism. It’s not a workday for you, what are you doing here anyway? Did you need something?”
“We just wanted to talk to you about something,” Hanazawa hesitates. “Is it a bad time?”
Reigen’s glances over at Serizawa. “You have room in your car, right?” Serizawa nods, eyes flitting between the two boys, Hanazawa still holding Mob’s arm in his grip.
“You guys can tag along if you’d like, never hurts to have a couple of extra espers on board. Then we can talk afterwards. You know what, I’ll even treat everyone to some ramen, how about that?”
“But- “Hanazawa begins, but Mob cuts him off.
“Where are we going, Master?”
“It’s just a twenty-minute drive, some teenagers called in about an old hospital building being haunted. Serizawa and I will go get the car, meet us outside the block in a minute.”
Reigen and Serizawa disappears down the stairs, leaving Mob and Hanazawa staring after them.
“Mob, not to be negative here, but you do realise we won’t be able to exorcise anything like this.”
“It’s fine. There might not be anything to exorcise.”
“But he said-“
Mob touches his index finger to Hanazawa’s lips, effectively silencing him. His cheeks grow an alarming shade of red, eyes meeting Mob’s with an uncertain expression.
“It’ll be fine. We should get going.”
“Right.”
Serizawa’s car is relatively small, so the trip to the haunted spot ends up being pretty cramped. Hanazawa talks through the entirety of the drive, to which Mob responds with an occasional hum or a question when it seems appropriate. Mob is secretly relieved once they pull up in the abandoned parking area by the building. As much as he loves to listen to Hanazawa, it feels kind awkward with both Reigen and Serizawa overhearing everything.
They split up once they enter the building, Hanazawa and Mob examining the rooms on the right side of the long corridor while Reigen and Serizawa take care of the left. There is an eerie feeling to the whole place. Even without any spirits, the atmosphere does not feel very inviting.
Hanazawa’s hand finds his own, his eyes meeting Mob’s briefly as if to ask for permission. He squeezes Hanazawa’s hand in reassurement, allowing the other boy to lead him into yet another room.
It is pretty plain, with paint chipping of the walls. A broken lamp stands unplugged on the floor beside what looks like an old nightstand. What grabs their attention however, is the vaguely human shape, glitching in and out of focus in the middle of the room.
Mob let’s go og Hanazawa’s hand, taking a step closer to the spirit. It doesn’t react immediately, maybe he can talk it into leaving.
It doesn’t seem to like how close Mob is coming to it, a sound between a hiss and a growl sounding from it. That’s the only warning they get before the entire room is shaking, large cracks running through the ceiling, before a sizeable piece comes crashing down into the first floor.
Mob coughs from the dust filling the air, backing away from where the ceiling went down. Is the spirit planning on destroying more of the building? He briefly wonders if Serizawa and Reigen noticed anything.
On the other side of the room Hanazawa yelps as the spirit sends a piece of rubble flying in his direction, only barely managing to duck out of the way. Mob’s entire body freezes in fear for a second, which is enough for the spirit to send him flying into a wall.
He tries desperately to summon his powers, but there is nothing there to grasp. On the other side of the room, Hanazawa is shouting something, but Mob can’t quite make out what it is. His head feels muddled after hitting the wall without the protection of his barrier.
The spirit turns to him with an ugly snarl, more pieces of rubble rising around it.
Suddenly a bright flash of colour spreads through the room, the spirit making an agonizing shriek before disappearing. Mob squints through the haze that is slowly dissipating, spotting Serizawa standing in the middle of the room, wide eyes and his entire body shaking with his fast breathing.
He hurries over the moment he sees Mob lying up against the wall.
“Are you alright? What happened?”
From the other side of the room, Hanazawa is watching them, his are lips drawn into a thin, serious line. Mob allows Serizawa to help him to his feet, supporting him until he’s able to stand without toppling over.
“We should talk now that the spirit is gone. I’ll go find Reigen,” Hanazawa murmurs, casting one last glance back at Mob and Serizawa, before leaving the room.
Serizawa brushes some dust from Mob’s clothes. He glances up at the hole in the ceiling, before giving Mob an awkward pat on the back.
“We should get out of here, I don’t know how much damage has been done to the structure, but that,” he motions to the hole. “Does not look good.”
The ride to the ramen place Reigen has picked out for them is mostly silent. Even Hanazawa, who usually never misses out on an opportunity to gush about his day or newest interest has anything to say during the ride. Instead, he spends it staring out of the car window.
The ramen place is mostly empty when they enter, which is a relief since they all seem rather tired after a long day. Reigen strikes up a conversation with the owner while Hanazawa, Serizawa and Mob find a place by the counter set up by the window, giving them a perfect view of the small street.
“So,” Reigen says, sitting him self down on Mob’s left. “You guys wanted to tell me something.”
Mob twiddles his thumbs, trying to avoid the burning sensation of Hanazawa’s gaze boring into him. He seems to take the hint when Mob doesn’t start talking.
“Mob’s powers, along with mine mysteriously disappeared sometime between yesterday and this morning. Which is why we almost got ourselves killed in that encounter with the evil spirit.”
“Now, Hanazawa,” Serizawa begins, but Hanazawa shoots him an angry look. “You saw it yourself, if you hadn’t showed up, Kageyama could have been hurt, and it would be my fault for not stopping him when he insisted on going with you, even knowing that our powers were gone.”
“Teruki!”
Mob bites his lip. There are tears brimming in Teru’s eyes that widen comically at Mob’s exclamation. He suddenly comes the realisation that he’s never used Teru’s given name before.
“You don’t need to take any blame,” he whispers, avoiding Teru’s eyes. He turns to Reigen instead. “Something happened on our previous job. Ritsu said you brought me to the doctor’s office, but I can’t remember anything of that. If there is anything at all that might clear this up, please.”
The shop owner comes with their food. It smells amazing. None of them bother to touch it.
Reigen looks at Mob with an unreadable expression.
“I- I don’t think I can help you Mob. When I found you up on that mountain you were barely conscious. I guess you did keep saying you had to “follow the red string” or something like that. Not that I saw any red strings or anything. I handed you over to your parents as soon as we reached seasoning city. There was no indication that your powers were absent at that point.”
“So, you could sense his aura?” Teru asks.
Reigen makes a face, then gestures wildly until his thumb lands pointing towards his own chest. “Of- of course, something like that. You know, when you reach my level of power, such things start to become trivial. And anyway, I had to get Mob down a mountain on my own, I had bigger things to worry about.”
Teru doesn’t look too impressed, but he doesn’t question Reigen any further. Mob glances out the window, disappointed that after all they went through, they still have nothing to go by.
“It’s the fox,” Mob blinks incredulously, the memory of the spirit fox coming back to him. He rises from his stool, gaining the attention of the rest of the group.
“What are you talking about?” Hanazawa’s voice feels distant.
It is standing in the middle of the street, tails wagging slowly behind it. Mob watches mesmerised, until it turns around and bolts.
It takes only a split second before Mob does the same.
It registers at the back of his mind that someone is shouting, but he ignores it, sprinting after the fox for all he is worth.
A couple of months ago, he’d probably had to give up already, but with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and his slowly increasing stamina, he does a good job of keeping up. He doesn’t know how long he follows it through narrow winding backstreets, before it jumps with a remarkable suppleness that no normal fox should have and disappears over a fence.
Mob makes a frustrated noise, watching it flee out of sight. Behind him, Hanazawa finally catches up with him, looking slightly winded.
“Where did it go?” he demands, eyes darting around. Mob points over the fence dejectedly. Hanazawa raises an eyebrow, then jumps up, hands finding a grip on the chain-link fence. He climbs it with ease, swinging himself over the top.
“Come on!”
Mob looks around nervously. The street is empty, but that doesn’t mean no one just witnessed Hanazawa climbing a fence unto a private property. Sighing, he takes hold of the fence, clumsily finding his way over it.
The property appears to be a school.
Tall blocky buildings loom over an empty schoolyard, only populated by a single jungle gym. Mob spots the fox again on the top of a set of stone stairs leading up to the school building. It darts as soon as Mob is in sight, fleeing right through the wall of the building.
Mob and Teru hurry after it, rattling the big double doors. As most schools is in the evenings, it is locked.
The sun is setting over the horizon. Mob sits down on the stone steps leading up to the main building. His entire body feels drained, and not in a good way like after a long run or work out session. Teru settles beside him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get your powers back. I know how much they mean to you.”
Teru raises an eyebrow, hand finding Mob’s again. He lets him pull it out of his lap, interlacing their fingers.
“It’s not like this was our only chance. I’m sure it will show up again.”
“Maybe.” Mob feels slightly sick. Even without his powers, he has somehow managed to mess it all up.
“You know, I had fun today. Even despite the murderous evil spirit, it was nice spending time with you.”
Mob doesn’t move when Teru leans in this time, his breath tickling against his face for a moment before their lips press together.
When Mob imagined his first kiss, he’d always thought it would be something sweet and warm. What it actually feels like is literal sparks going off between them, a full feeling spreading trough his entire body and settling in his gut. Teru makes an almost desperate sound, pressing closer, which causes Mob’s head to spin. He clings desperately to Teru’s shoulders, not daring to open his eyes before they eventually pull away from each other.
It is only then that he realises they’re both floating a good meter above the ground, enveloped in a mix of yellow and purplish auras. His eyes meet Teru’s which are displaying a mix of disbelief and an eagerness that is so uniquely Teru that Mob’s feelings fill him up to the brim, his aura flaring violently.
They slowly sink down to the ground again, Mob stumbling slightly, falling into Teru’s arms as his feet hit the ground.
He untangles himself from Teru awkwardly, muttering out an apology, which seems to go right over his head.
Teru is staring at his hands incredulously, his soft yellow aura clinging to his skin like a second layer. He knits his fingers into a fist, his powers spiking for a second as he summons several barriers at a time, enveloping them in a pulsing yellow light.
His face lights up in a huge grin.
“We got them back! My powers are working again!”
Mob blinks, as the barriers disappears as fast as they appeared. Mob glances down at his hands as well. He doesn’t need to test it to know his powers are back, he can feel them pulsing underneath his skin, strong enough to pull an entire building apart should he want to, but right now there are way more important matters at hand.
Teru tackles him into a hug that lifts him off the ground for a second, planting another kiss on his lips when he sets him down. There’s that ecstatic feeling, churning around in his gut again. Mob decides, he can get used to it.
“You’re truly amazing, how did you do it?”
Teru hugs him tightly again, his entire body shaking with laughter and joy, making even Mob crack a smile.
“I don’t think I did.” Mob nods toward the school yard.
On top of the jungle gym, the fox is watching them, before dissolving into nothing.
Teru gapes, then turns back to Mob.
“We really should tell Reigen this.”
“So, you’re saying you were robbed of your powers from a fox that may or may not have been an evil spirit, and you got them back by kissing,” Ritsu makes a face again, motioning towards Teru. “Him.”
“You hurt my feelings, little brother,” Teru remarks dramatically. He is lying up against Mob in his lap, Mob resting his head on the top of Teru’s. Somehow, even with Ritsu and Teru bantering with each other, he’s filled with a strange sense of calm, Teru’s warmth is oddly comforting. He buries his face deeper into unruly blond tresses.
“I don’t get it, is losing your psychic powers all of a sudden even possible?”
“Claw had that one room where they didn’t work, didn’t they? It’s more likely than you think.”
Ritsu scrunches his brow up in worry, then rises from the living room floor.
“Well, I’m glad you got them back I guess.” He hesitates in the doorway. “By the way, if you’re going to get all kissy and sappy you can do it in your room, I don’t need to see this.”
Mob blushes furiously, although there is no malice in Ritsu’s words, he leaves the room with a teasing smile.
Underneath him, Teru just laughs, a joyful sound that fills Mob from top to toe with that warm good feeling. Teru turns around to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“So, getting kissy and sappy, huh. Doesn’t sound too bad to me.”
Mob smiles, pressing a soft kiss to Teru’s mouth.
Not too bad at all.