Chapter Text
Ritsu tried to keep himself from cringing at the sounds of children shrieking as he walked past the park. This was definitely the least favorite part of his commute. He fished his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. 7:30 am. More than enough time to make his meeting. As he placed his phone back in his pocket he felt a prickle on the back of his neck. The distinct feeling of being watched. He subtly glanced around, looking for the source of prying eyes.
There. On the bench.
A man with dark brown hair and messy bangs that fell in an ugly middle part had fixed his eyes on him. The man’s focused expression suddenly turned into a scowl, almost as though he had heard the comment on his haircut.
The man standing next to him, who Ritsu had paid no mind to seconds before, suddenly looked up from his phone and said “Are you sure?” to no one in particular.
The dark haired man glared at him and he gave an exasperated roll of his eyes. Ritsu decided to take the distraction as an opportunity and sped his pace, reaching the end of the block and disappearing into a crowd of pedestrians making their way to city hall. It was more important to be punctual than worry about why those freaks had been staring at him.
As Ritsu made his way down the steps he checked the time again. 11:36 am. He didn’t have to be back until 1:30, he could probably grab a coffee and some lunch before he had to walk back.
“Kageyama Ritsu?”
He glanced up. The man who had been standing next to the park stood at the bottom of the steps. His face was twisted into a cocky grin, framed by long, deliberately unkempt, blonde hair. He was wearing an unbuttoned bright purple suit with a loose tie slung over his neck, as though he had spent so long moving every strand of hair into place in the morning that he hadn’t had time to fully dress himself. Ritsu made the executive decision to continue ignoring him and changed his path to walk around him.
“Hey, rude.” the man called, walking behind him, “I thought councilmen had more manners than that.”
Ritsu quickened his pace.
“I need to talk to you!” he called again, “It’s about your brother!”
Ritsu stopped dead in his tracks.
“Your brother is Kageyama Shigeo, correct?”
Ritsu spun to face him. The man’s casual expression hadn’t changed.
“What do you want with my brother?” Ritsu said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Who did this person think he was?
“I want to help him,” the man’s expression shifted. For the first time since he first saw him he looked serious.
“Help him? Who do you think you are? Leave us alone,” Ritsu scoffed and tried to turn, but found both his feet leaving the ground. He threw out his arms, trying to catch his balance as he fell. He shut his eyes, bracing to hit the concrete. After a few seconds he opened them and looked down. The man stood several feet below him, arm held out and palm outstretched.
“Sorry, thought I would introduce myself,” he grinned, “My name is Hanazawa Teruki.”
Ritsu sat at the cafe table, glancing from his coffee to the other side, where Hanazawa sat absentmindedly twirling his finger. Ritsu could see ripples on the surface of his drink, as though it were being stirred.
“Talk whenever you feel like it,” Hanazawa said, “I have all the time in the world.”
Ritsu stared at him for a moment, trying to think where to even start.
“How did you find me?” Ritsu finally asked.
“Your name was listed on the city government’s website under staff along with a photo, so I took a friend with telepathy to sit outside city hall and let him pick you out of the crowd,” he explained, lifting the cup to his lips and taking a sip without ever laying a finger on it. A few drops spilled from the top and he caught them and put them back in the cup.
“All that to talk to my brother?” Ritsu asked, “Why?”
“Well, he hasn’t left his house in, what, thirteen years?” Hanazawa said.
“Fourteen,” Ritsu looked down at his coffee.
“Why is that?”
“There was an incident at our school,” Ritsu said, gazing out the window, “I thought you would have found something on it, what with all your research.”
“I did find an instance of a student dying during his time at Salt Middle School, but nothing that directly connected him to it,” Hanazawa said, “Something about a terrorist attack?”
“Terrorist attack.” Ritsu scoffed, “That’s the go to cover up for any incident involving espers.”
“What really happened then?” Hanazawa leaned forward, resting his head in his hand.
Ritsu gazed out the window. Should he really be telling this to some weird stalker? But he was another esper like Nii-san. Like us.
“My brother never had the best social skills,” Ritsu said, “Even when we were little he would have trouble making friends and talking to other people. Other than that, and his powers, he was normal. Everyone thought he was just an awkward kid, it was a phase he’d outgrow.
But it just got worse.
Eventually he stopped smiling or laughing all together. It was like a switch had flipped in his brain and he stopped being able to show what he was feeling entirely. And then his outbursts started…”
Ritsu ran a hand along a small bump on his skull. Eighteen years and this was all that was left of the injury.
“He hurt you?” Hanazawa asked, lifting his eyebrows.
“No!” Ritsu snapped defensively. Hanazawa put his hands up in mock surrender.
“It wasn’t him,” Ritsu’s voice shook, “There’s something inside him and sometimes when he gets overwhelmed or loses consciousness… it comes out.”
“Did it happen a lot?” Hanazawa asked, leaning forward, resting his chin on both his hands.
“Only twice that I knew of,” Ritsu sighed, “Once when we were little, right after New Years Eve. Some older kids tried to take our New Year's money and one of them threw him against a wall. All I remember after that is a bright light and the shadow of that… thing, as I got knocked to the pavement.”
“And the second time?” Hanazawa quirked his eyebrow.
Ritsu stared at his reflection in the cafe window for a few moments.
“I wasn’t there when it happened,” he said finally. “He isolated himself in middle school, I don’t know if he actually had any friends. None that he talked about anyway. I think he was being bullied but… he would never tell me what was going on. Then, one day, while I was at a student council meeting, there was an explosion outside. When we went to look out the window we were hundreds of meters above the ground.”
“You think your brother did that?”
“I know he did,” Ritsu couldn’t stop his voice from shaking, “Or, that thing inside of him did. After that he stopped leaving the house, eventually he stopped even leaving his room...”
He looked to Hanazawa, who’s expression had grown more serious again.
“You said you could help him,” Ritsu said, “How?”
“I work with an organization that helps espers realize and control their power,” Hanazawa explained. “Your brother is just the case we’ve been looking for.”
The door creaked open and Mob squinted at the light coming through it from where he lay on the floor. What time was it? Was it dinner time already? He lifted his head and stiffened. There was a stranger in his doorframe. The hallway lights cast his silhouette in shadow, with only the outline of his messy blonde hair and wrinkled suit visible.
“Kageyama Shigeo?” his voice rang out, calm and friendly, as though he were coaxing a stray cat.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Hanazawa Teruki,” he said, the corner of his face twitching, “But you can call me Teru. I’m with an organization called Claw, and I’m here to help you learn how to control your powers.”