Chapter Text
Despite what middle schoolers may think, living as a 14 year old kid in an apartment all by himself is not really all that it's cracked up to be.
Most of the time it is, in fact, extremely boring. Teru’s time spent there was pretty standard. Making breakfast, lunch and dinner for himself while studying and catching up on homework was probably the most noteworthy thing he had to say about his usual routine.
So, whenever the chance presents itself, today in the form of a day off from school, he’ll jump at the opportunity to go where he always goes.
Teru swiftly picks up his small, peach colored duffle bag and examines the contents of it. He usually has this thing packed with the necessities: spare change of clothes, a toothbrush and comb, and some other random junk he stuffed inside in case future Teru ever needed them, which, knowing himself, he probably would.
Teru pawed through the tightly folded clothes and fished out a tangled phone charger, juggling his phone in the other hand as he used his thumb to fish through his notifications. At the top of his screen, he saw the most recent one was a reply to a text he sent off.
Teru smiled, putting a bit more verve into the two tasks in his hands. He decided to accept defeat, not making any progress in fixing the tangled mess in his hand, and tossed the phone charger in the air. Before it could land onto his bed, he swirled his finger around, commanding a sparky line of yellow that coiled the wire around the charging adapter neatly. Psychic powers definitely have their perks, and Teru thanks the universe for his every time he has to deal with tangled wires.
Now that he had both hands to work with, Teru scrolled through his messages a bit more gracefully, spotting the group chat he was searching for. He typed up a message and sent it off before shoving his phone charger back into the duffle bag, cursed to get tangled once more in due time.
Swinging the bag over his shoulders and kicking his shoes onto his feet, he checked his phone, which now had a few unread messages.
There were a few more messages he didn't bother reading, most likely Tome just poking fun at Takenaka for not being the best at picking up on last minute plans. Impromptu hangouts or sleepovers at Serizawas house kind of became a habit for Teru, an every-other-week type of habit.
Serizawa never seemed to mind, especially after Reigen informed him he found out about the lack of adult supervision in Teru’s life. Teru didn't mind if Serizawa knew, it just gave him more of an excuse to crash at his place if he was feeling particularly shitty or lonely (of course he wouldn't tell Serizawa that, but a part of him knew that he probably knew)
And of course, with how often he stayed at Serizawa’s place, he was always given the invitation to invite the others over too. Sometimes he wouldn't be up to being around a lot of people, and silently doing his own thing seems like a better option to Teru, but Today wasn't one of those days. I mean, a day off from school? Middle schoolers had to cherish those, and what better way to do it than to hang out at some 30 year olds apartment with other fellow middle schoolers.
On that notion, Teru pocketed his phone, zipped the pocket securely, and flung out his apartment window. He had a tendency of being fashionably early, after all, he needed to secure his track record.
_ _ _
Teru arrived 5 minutes after leaving. Psychic powers seem to be good for two things really, untangling wires and fast travel. He knocked on the door to alert Serizawa of his presence, and let himself in. Kicking off his shoes, he took the time to appreciate the smell lingering in the apartment, no doubt the cinnamon smell coming from a candle hidden out of view. He heard the clack of metal in the kitchen, assumingly Serizawa, doing god knows what.
Teru gingerly plopped his duffle bag on the nearby couch, trying to block out the flashbacks of Serizawa trying to cook breakfast for him the first time he came over. One thing led to another and Teru’s Omurice turned into Scrambled eggs. Mastering the skill of omelet making is something Serizawa has yet to achieve, nor the skill of cooking in general.
“What are you doing? I can’t imagine you'd be cooking something.” Teru smiled at his own dis, sitting down next to his bag and ruffling through it.
“Rude.” He heard someone shout from the kitchen, and Teru immediately knew the voice didn't belong to Serizawa. He straightened, still surprised by the recent development in his routine of crashing here.
Serizawa descended the staircase leading to the second floor, and he stopped when he noticed Teru sitting on the couch.
“Oh! Teru, sorry I didn’t hear you come in, when’d you get here?” He asked, descending the rest of the way down and meeting Teru in the living room. “Are the others on their way? Or did you just want to get here early again.”
“I just walked in the door, I still need to text them to come over ‘cause I didn't give them time.” Teru relaxed against the backing of the couch, reaching his hand out to point towards the kitchen. “Who's cleaning the kitchen? Did you hire a nanny?” Teru teased.
“Yeah, something like that.” Serizawa twisted his body to face the kitchen, cupping one hand over his mouth, “Reigen, Teru’s here!”
“I know, he made fun of your cooking skills.”
“Don't be a tattle tail.” Teru shouted back. Either Reigen was going deaf (which in Terus opinion about time, the guys almost 30) or he was listening to his stupid American rock bands while scrubbing the dishes. Teru turned back to Serizawa, crossing his leg over the other and pulling his phone out, “Did Reigen stay over again?”
“Yeah, he was already staying here before you texted me so I thought ‘why not have everyone over’, right? It's been a while anyways.”
“Well, not everyone” Teru typed the keys on his phone, texting the group chat that he was already there and to come over whenever or as soon as they can, “Ritsu and Sho already had plans for today, but Takenaka’s coming over. He was nervous about it, especially after Reigen gave him the stink eye on New Years. Everyone keeps telling him not to worry about it, ‘cause Reigen’s just kind of a weirdo like that and he wasn't mad at him or anything.”
“Reigen is kind of a weirdo.”
“Rude.” Reigen sounded like a broken record at this point. But he was an easy target for being slightly out of earshot.
“Anyways, I just told them to come over, so they should get here in like 30 minutes tops. It's been a while since we’ve all hung out together so Tome was pretty excited about it.”
Serizawa walked over to a small closet that hid under the stairs, grabbing some throw pillows and a few blankets, “It's been a little over a week, it hasn't been that long.” He set the folded blankets down next to the spot where Teru was sitting, knowing in the back of his head they are going to be thrown about and disheveled when the others arrive.
“It's a long time when you’re young I guess, you geezers wouldn't get it.”
“Rude.”
“Rude.”
.
As Teru expected, Tome was the first to show up. Teru answered the door for her, and he was met with her beaming face. She was practically skipping the way she hastily kicked her shoes off and threw herself onto the couch, stealing Teru’s spot.
They bickered a bit, some threats were made, and eventually it ended with them, surprisingly, sharing the couch. Once the teasing dialed down, they took to showing each other the stuff they both brought in their bags.
“I brought shrimp chips, Warheads for you because you're insane, some watermelon gummies for Mob, and for Takenaka I just bought him some chips as well. He wasn't in the telepathy club for very long so I have no idea what kind of snacks he likes, that dude’s so hard to shop for…”
“Did you only bring food? Did you even, like, pack a change of clothes?”
“Of course I did!” Tome shoved Teru’s shoulder, “Besides, you know the deal, I bring all of the junk food and you bring the random crap that keeps us busy.” Tome poked Teru in the chest.
“‘Crap’? Well, guess you don't want to make friendship bracelets with me then-”
“Huh?? Wait wait, hang on, yes I do!! ” Teru barked out a laugh as Tome shook him by the shoulders, desperation clear in her furrowed brow. Teru likes to think that one of the reasons Tome and him are such good friends is because whenever he’s in her presence, she always seems to out-drama him. A task only she seems to be able to accomplish, truly astonishing.
Tome stopped shaking Teru when they heard a muffled crash come from the kitchen, followed by a curse. Reigen finally peeked his head from out of the kitchen, peering around to see Serizawa looking through the collection of games that were shelved inside the TV stand.
“Seri, all of your Tupperware fell out of the cupboard and clobbered me.” Reigen nagged half-heartedly before retreating back into the kitchen.
“I just shove it up there,” Serizawa replied, talking over his shoulder, eyes still trained on trying to find a particular game, “You do it too, hypocrite.”
“Yeah but you're supposed to be my better half.”
“Reigen I don't think you know what that means.”
Tome perked up, sitting on the edge of the couch now and shouting a bit louder than necessary. “Oh, Reigen! I didn't even know you were here!” Reigen greeted her back with a simple ‘Hey Tome!’ before getting back to work. Tome Turned to Teru now.
“I thought you were the first one to come over.”
“Reigen was already here, Serizawa said they were hanging out when I texted.”
“Again? Really? Huh…” Tome stated, flatly. Her eyes rapidly glanced between Serizawa and the kitchen, before landing back on Teru.
“What?” Teru began, confused, not catching onto Tomes apparent inner epiphany, “You have that look on your face again, where it looks like you're holding in a sneeze.”
Tome, offended by Teru’s jab, quietly whispered under her teeth, “Do you not see what's happening?”
Teru was now stunned into silence, utterly confused and seemingly out of the loop. “Uh…”
“Serizawa!” Tome piped up, startling the man enough to drop the game he was holding, “You should go help Reigen with, the- uh… the Tupperware situation. He’s petty enough to reduce your work payment over some plastic, better get to it!” She pointed at him, then dragged her finger to point at the kitchen, almost as if she were telling a dog to get into a kennel.
“I’d like to think he wouldn't, but… I'm not gonna take any chances.” Serizawa chuckled, using his hands to push himself up by the knees. He then walked into the kitchen, out of sight and- hopefully, out of earshot. After a beat, Tome snapped her head back to Teru.
“Teru.”
“Tome.”
“They're totally dating.”
Teru couldn't help but let out an audible gasp, triggering Tome to clasp her hands to his mouth to not alert the two men in the kitchen. After a few seconds of Teru internally screaming, he pushed Tomes hands away and let his jaw hang loose.
“ARE YOU-” Tome hushed him and Teru had to do a double take, forcing his voice into a whisper, “Are you kidding me?? How do you know?! What do you know??”
“Teru think about it!” Tome brought her knees up to her chest, clasping her hands on her knees dramatically. “This is the third time we’ve all hung out together where Reigen was already here, and that's three times IN A ROW! And that's not even counting the amount of times you come over here alone- wait wait wait Teru how many times has Reigen been here when you show up out of the blue??” Tome went back to shaking Teru, trying extremely hard to keep her voice anything but a loud whisper.
“Oh my god, um uh-” Teru wracked his brain for the information Tome asked him for, now matching her crazed state in the presence of juicy gossip, “Like, more than 10 times or something, I have no idea but you're so right!! I didn't even think about that, they never used to hang out together after work, let alone at each other's place but he’s been over so much recently!”
“And that comment Reigen made?? The other half comment? I know he can be pretty stupid sometimes but it makes sense!”
“Oh my god, I feel so dumb!” Teru dragged his hands across his face, dramatically dragging out his eyelids, “I'm usually so good at sniffing out stuff like this, I'm all about relationship gossip, how could I miss this??” Teru held his hands out towards the kitchen, as if he were presenting it, “I mean, Reigen’s cleaning Serizawa’s kitchen!”
Tome failed to repress a snort “Like a housewife.”
“I know right?? Tome your so on it with this one, I can't believe I missed this!”
“What should we do? Should we ask them about it?” Tome clasped her hands together, resting her chin on top of her fingers.
“No no no, I don't think we should be the ones to bring it up. They’ll probably deny it considering they haven't even told me about it.”
“Can't believe they would keep it from us, US of all people!” Tome threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Teru laughed, getting a shush in return.
“Yeah shocker, the two most drama-driven people they know. We would spread that information like wild fire to the others, you know how I know that?” Teru prodded. Tome picked up what he was putting down, and pulled out her phone, a big, plotting smile curling up on her face.
_ _ _
Takenaka turned the corner, double-triple checking the address Teru had given them. He squeezed his backpack strap a bit tighter, not noticing his knuckles turning white. If it were up to him, he would be the last one arriving, fashionably late as always.
It was always much more appealing to be the last one to arrive at any social gathering, because, god forbid, if he were the one to arrive early he would be a social wreck. Awkwardly making small talk with the few people who had arrived, if any, and stalling until everyone else showed up. He hasn't really had a big group of friends like this since grade school, but that memory of being the first one to arrive still haunts him to this day.
He was being dramatic for something so simple. Teru and Tome had stopped being active in the group chat ever since Tome left for Serizawa’s, so Mob unfortunately had to do damage control and sooth Takenaka’s many unnecessary worries.
Takenaka shuffled through his closet with little-to-no grace as he talked to Mob on the phone.
“What should I wear? It's not like New Years, I dont have the excuse of just bringing a jacket and jeans for the cold.” He examined his windbreaker, tossing it aside and assessing the variety of other clothes.
“You can if you want to, you know. You can wear whatever you want.” Mob's monotone voice clashed with Takenaka's frenzied one.
“Yeah but- I want to make a better impression than I did on New Years. I mean, I was an hour late, and…”
“You're overthinking things, Takenaka.” He could hear shuffling from Mob’s end, probably the other getting ready to leave as well, “No one is mad at you, and you should wear something comfy, it's a sleepover after all.”
Takenaka sighed, shifting gears and looking at all of the ‘way too casual clothes’ he tossed aside, “What are you gonna wear…?”
“Serizawa’s house is always kinda cold, so I'm gonna wear a sweater. If you have one you should wear it too, if you can't think of anything else.”
Takenaka picked up a sweater, sprawled against the back of his desk chair after being thrown across the room in a huff. It was an orangey-yellow color, covered in light brown zig zags. The stripe pattern was a bit faded, less opaque than it used to be, which in Takenaka’s opinion is a blessing in disguise. Brand new, the sweater made him look like a bee, but with years of use it was more of a subtle look now.
“Y-yeah, I’ll…” He sighed, folding the sweater and setting it on his bed, turning to clean up the pile of clothes he made, “I’ll do that, thanks Kageyama. I’ll meet you there.”
And there he was, at 1:40 PM. The text Tome sent off intrigued him a bit, or maybe it just made him more nervous. Nothing extraordinary could have happened yet, considering half of them were not there yet, but still. Maybe the fear of missing out possessed him into arriving before Shigeo, who had texted him he needed to eat lunch before heading off.
After, for the fifth time, confirming that the address he had was right, he made his way up the two tiny steps and took the short walk to the front door. Lifting his hand up, he stalled for a bit before knocking a rhythmic pattern. Immediately after doing so he inwardly cringed at how lame that probably was.
Before Takenaka could turn on his heels and walk off from sheer embarrassment, he heard the patter of shoes on the other side of the door. He stumbled back as the door was eagerly swung open, Tome greeting him on the other side with a smile as bright as the sun.
“Ah! Takenaka you’re here! FINALLY, I thought you were gonna arrive an hour late again.” She teased, rolling her eyes and drawing out her words as she dragged Takenaka inside by his arm. He let himself be hauled away as he took in the house.
It looked pretty small from the outside, but the inside felt a bit bigger than he would have imagined. The house was definitely taller than wider, a square shape with two floors. The main floor was almost entirely left open, save for the kitchen that was sectioned off a tad by a wall. The living room had a couch that was shaped like a wide “U”, A TV in front of it sitting on a stand shelving all kinds of games and consoles.
There were blankets and pillows already thrown around, and Serizawa was sitting on the floor with a pillow in his lap, installing a game on the TV. Teru sat on the couch, and by the looks of it had the whole “arts and crafts grandma” thing going on. His crossed legs were hidden under a soft looking blanket, as a box of beads and tiny rubber bands sat propped on top of them. Teru was hard at work making what looked to be a bracelet, concentrating hard enough not to notice Takenaka’s arrival until Tome loudly announced it.
“Teru look, Takenaka’s here!” She moved from grabbing his arm to clasping his shoulders, pushing Takenaka to set his stuff down and sit on the couch. “REIGEN! TAKENAKA’S HERE, DON'T BE A WEIRDO AGAIN.”
Takenaka blinked a bit, looking in the direction Tome was talking. In the kitchen he could hear the sound of the faucet being fiddled with. Reigen’s here? He thought, eyebrow quirking. He didn't know Reigen was coming over too, but whatever, Tome and Teru hang out with him all the time.
“Hey, Takenaka,” Teru looked up, smiling and giving a little wave with the free hand he had. He saw Teru’s eyes trail from his own to the sweater he was wearing, his smile turning a bit more nefarious. “Nice sweater, Charlie Brown.”
“I-” Takenaka spit out, before he let his jaw hang loose. He hasn’t known Teru for very long, he’s known Shigeo for longer, but he does know that Teru pretty often leaves him at a loss for words. But if Teru can freely toss around remarks like that, then…
Takenaka slapped on a toothy grin, rolling his eyes and pointing at Teru’s own outfit. “Says the person who’s dressed like a CandyLand villain.”
Teru’s eyes widened, sending Takenaka into fight or flight, his smile immediately dropping. Crap, did I piss him off??
Before he could open his mouth to apologize, Teru barked out a laugh. He kept laughing as Tome took her place beside him, shoving his arm and scouting the box on his lap for her work-in-progress bracelet.
“Don't mind Teru, he’s in his “insult everyone” mood right now.”
“You have to admit that was pretty funny though.” Teru settled down, wiping his eye and picking up a bead from the box, “Nice one Taka’.”
Takenaka relaxed his shoulders a bit, finally putting his backpack down and plopping down in the spot next to Teru. Well, I don't think he’s mad at me, if the nickname is anything to go by, Takenaka sighed, leaning his head against the back of the couch. Though I'm not really sold on “Taka”...
“So, what, we’re making bracelets?”
“Yeah,” Teru lifted one of his legs up, the box now angled towards Takenaka, “Me and Tome are making one for each other, you should make one too, it's pretty easy once you know how to do it.”
“Oh, wait, I know these things,” Takenaka grabbed a small wrinkled plastic baggie, the inside holding a bunch of colored rubber bands, “I used to make bracelets with the- with uh… With my sister. I taught her how to make little fish with them.” Takenaka scratched his chin, barely saving himself from admitting that he used to make these all the time alone and not with his very-made up sister. He didn't give Tome the chance to call him out, “A-anyways I know how to make them, but I don't know how to do it with the beads.”
“Oh, It's easy!” Teru piped up, setting his bracelet aside to demonstrate with new bands and beads, “You just push a rubber band into one of the beads and use them to make the bracelets like normal, it looks pretty neat.” Takenaka nodded, putting the bag in his hand back in the box in search of the colors he wanted. He looked up to the ceiling, contemplating, Maybe a pastel pink-yellow-green combo?
Takenaka got everything in order: A small bag of yellow rubber bands and some green beads, sharing the bag of pink bands with Teru while he still worked on his very pink bracelet. He started making a bunch of rubber band beads, making a little pile on his lap.
“You wanna join us, Serizawa? The game’s gonna take a few more minutes to download anyways, Tome can wait.” Teru asked, leaning over and tapping Serizawa on the shoulder. Crap, Takenaka thought, I got distracted by the bracelet making I forgot to say hi to the guys who’s house I'm staying at!
“O-oh! Sorry, Serizawa, I forgot to say hi. Thanks for letting us stay over.” Takenaka didn't dare make eye contact for too long, silently thanking Teru for the bracelet distraction.
“Oh, no problem Takenaka! Make yourself at home, Tome was saying you were pretty nervous about coming over.” Serizawa turned his head to face them.
Takenaka put on a tight smile, irritated as he stared daggers into Tome, “Yeah well…”
Serizawa got up, setting the controller down on the floor, and he sat down next to Tome. Tome snagged the box off of Teru’s lap, tilting it so Serizawa could reach in.
“Wanna join us?” Tome offered in a sing-song tone.
“Yeah sure, I can give it a try!” Serizawa smiled, hand hovering over the box and studying it, “What colors should I use?”
“Hmm…” Teru chimed in, about to give Serizawa his expert advice on which colors compliment others, but Tome had a better idea.
“Oh, you should make one for Reigen when he’s done in the kitchen. You can surprise him when he comes back!” Tome flailed her hands around, stopping after remembering her bracelet was snug around her fingers. Teru smiled bigger than he should have, probably, and the two exchanged a knowing look before looking back to Serizawa. Takenaka felt like he was being left out of an inside joke or something.
“Oh, that's a good idea, Tome!” Serizawa beamed, looking back down to the box with a bit more intention, picking up a few bags and shifting through the container of beads.
“These bags kind of remind me of his hair color…” Serizawa lifted up two bags, both different shades of orange that matched the strawberry-blonde’s hair the most. “And his favorite color is sea green foam, but since you don't have any beads that match…” Serizawa lifted his palm up, holding two different shades of blue beads, “these will probably be the next best thing!”
Teru piped up, “That would look really nice! good pick Serizawa.”
“Yeah!” Tome added, matching Teru’s energy, “He’ll love it, even if he’s too lame to wear jewelry.”
They all sat together on the couch, at first the only background noise being the quiet droning of the installation screen and Reigen humming his own melody in the kitchen. Teru decided to pull up his phone and put on a random playlist to fill the silence, which lead to Tome controlling the songs after being the first one to finish making her bracelet.
The bracelet had pink and yellow rubber bands that intertwined with a pastel arrangement of pink, blue and yellow beads, all clear with glitter and sparkles in them. Teru gushed over it, putting it on before finishing up his bracelet for Tome.
Teru didn't finish too long after Tome, showing her his creation. Takenaka couldn't help but laugh at Tome’s less than impressed face, hearing her argue with Teru. She claimed he had ‘just made a bracelet that he would have liked himself’ , and his defense was ‘I made it so you would be reminded of your BFF every time you wore it ’. Tome just sighed, muttered a ‘lovely’ under her breath, and tried to hide her appreciation as she slunk it over her wrist.
Takenaka glanced over to Serizawa, working hard and concentrating on delicately arranging the bracelet between his fingers. His face was soft, delicate as he worked the beads into the bracelet, and Takenaka couldn't help but smile at the effort Serizawa was putting into making it for Reigen.
Takenaka was the next to finish, and since he made it for himself he didn't make it a point to loudly show it off. That didn't stop Tome and Teru from prodding him into seeing it, and after a bit of a bickering he opened his cupped palms and handed it over to Teru. It was, like he had planned, a yellow and pink bracelet with neon green beads. Teru commented on how nice the colors were, Takenaka replying with ‘I don't know why, the colors just fit really well together’. Tome had solved the color theory mystery for them, however, after commenting on how the colors reminded her of rainbow sherbert.
A few more minutes passed, Takenaka having the gut to request a song from some indie band he listened to a lot, until Serizawa was finally finished with his.
“Alright, I think I'm done!” He replied, deliberately hiding the finished bracelet for suspense.
“Oh, oh, let me see!” Tome and Teru said in unison, Tome practically bouncing in her seat. Serizawa chuckled in response, bashfully revealing the bracelet as if it were some secret treasure. The three of them leaned down, and examined it.
It was relatively simple. The orange colored rubber bands were made into a striped pattern, and so were the blue beads that were weaved into it. Some of the blue beads were metallic, and paired along with the orange reflecting in the plastic, it made them look almost like water. The color combination and pattern in the bracelet was, on paper, a pretty standard design, but the end result looked very pretty.
The initial reaction was nothing more than ‘oohs’ and ‘awes’ from the three of them, before Tome snapped out of her trance.
“Serizawa, this is so pretty!!” She shook him by the shoulders, turning to Teru.
“The colors look so nice, the blue beads are so cool looking…” Teru said, still awed.
“Yeah, I-I'm sure Reigen’s gonna love it!” Takenaka chipped in, trying to match the energy of the others. Don't get him wrong, it was a very nice looking bracelet, but Teru and Tome seemed to be freaking out about it more than they should. Again, Takenaka felt like he was left out of something…
“T-thank you! I was worried about getting it wrong at first, but I fell into a rhythm after a while. It was really fun!”
The noises in the kitchen came to a stop as Reigen stepped out, yawning and stretching his arms in the air. He blinked the tired tears from his eyes as they set on the four in the living room.
“Oh hey, what’s everybody doing?”
“We should be asking you that!” Tome pointed an accusatory finger his way, “We’ve been in here having fun and you’ve been toiling away in the kitchen for 40 minutes.”
Reigen walked over to the living room, cracking his back and sending a collection of pops through the air. He cringed, twisting his back and then finally relaxing his muscles as he stood next to Serizawa.
“Well I was putting the dishes away and then one thing led to another and I decided to clean a bit. I think I may have gotten carried away, maybe the music had some influence…”
“Yeah, yeah, enough about your old rock bands,” Tome swatted away Reigen’s answer, too excited for the surprise, “We made bracelets!”
Tome and Teru proudly lifted up their hands, presenting the bracelets on their wrists, and Takenaka followed weakly, propping his elbow on his knee and flicking his wrist up.
Reigen surveyed all of them, looking over the multicolored beads and bands, and he smiled.
“These look pretty good, you made them just now?”
“Yup, took us forever though.” Teru replied, proud of the positive response.
“Says you!” Tome laughed, “You're just a perfectionist.”
“I like yours, Takenaka, I like the green.” Reigen commented, nodding and smiling while he placed his finger under his chin to examine it.
“Oh, thanks! I thought it looked nice, so I- um. Yeah.” Dammit, accept a compliment, man! “Thank you.”
Reigen smiled, freeing Takenaka of the pressure of maintaining eye contact as he turned over to Serizawa, “Did you make one too?” Reigen pointed at the stray beads on Serizawa's lap.
Serizawa chuckled, scratching his face, “Well, actually…” he held out his arm, Reigen’s intrigued eyes following the cupped hand, “I made one for you.” Serizawa smiled, undoing his fingers and showing Riegen the orange and blue bracelet. Reigen slowly took it from his palm, examining it with a close eye, surprise littered in his face. It was a good few beats of silence, as Takenaka could sense Serizawa inwardly panicking at the growing lack of response.
After what felt like a straight minute, Reigen clapped his hands onto Serizawa’s shoulders, surprising everyone in the room and nearly giving Serizawa a heart attack.
“I love it! It's amazing, I love it, thank you!” His eyes beamed, grinning hard as he wobbled Serizawa by the shoulders. His hands retreated, Serizawa still catching up to the sudden reaction, as Reigen slipped the bracelet over his hand. He flailed his hand around a bit, bracelet making pleasant clicking noises as he shifted his weight and placed his other hand on his waist, almost posing if Takenaka didn't know any better.
Serizawa sat up now, returning the beaming look Reigen gave him, “I-I'm so glad you like it! The colors reminded me of you, so I thought you would!”
“Excellent intuition, Serizawa! You know me well.” Reigen smirked, clearly happy with it. The chime from the TV stole Takenaka’s attention, everyone else distracted, as he saw the words “FINISHED INSTALLING: Super Mario Party” flashed on the screen.
“Hey, Serizawa,” Takenaka called, leaning forward to see past Teru and Tome, “That game you were installing finished, are we gonna-”
Tome stood up, gasping. “OH MY GOD FINALLY! Reigen, perfect timing, I convinced Serizawa to buy Mario Party. We are playing it right this instant. Teru, hurry, put the beads away!” Tome moved at the speed of light, packing up all of the bags of bands and stray beads that littered the couch. Takenaka watched as Teru used his powers to neatly pack up the pile on his lap, sorting out the bags and beads in color-coded fashion back into the box he brought. Reigen took his seat next to Serizawa as the man got up to retrieve the controller from its spot on the floor.
Takenaka finished cleaning up his pile, letting Teru organize his bags, when a doorbell chime rang throughout the house. Being closest to the front door, Takenaka stood up and answered it. Surprisingly, he almost forgot that Shigeo was also coming over, and had finally finished eating lunch at his house. Mob walked in, greeting and being greeted by the others in the living room. He set his bag down next to Tomes, besides the couch, as Takenaka invited him to sit next to him.
Despite how nervous Takenaka was before coming over, and even more nervous about Mob not being there, he actually had a fun time. He didn't feel socially awkward, waiting for people to get there so the fun could really start (whatever that meant), and he couldn't help but smile. It took a sizable group of friends to realize he missed having a sizable group of friends.
Takenaka’s calm, comfy demeanor didn't hold up for very long, however, as the living room turned into a battlefield. With the max amount of Mario Party players being four, two of the four players would have to be a shared team. The easy part was finding out who would be teamed up, naturally Serizawa and Reigen volunteered and Mob agreed to Teru’s excited offer to join his team.
That was the easy part. The hard part was battling over the character roster.
.
.
.
