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Mogami Keiji is used to being hated.
He's used to being called many things, like demon, devil, monster, cursed child. He's used to people looking at him with fear and contempt and he's used to being treated like a disgusting little dirt stain that you can't get rid of so you just decide to tolerate its presence.
The looks of disdain he gets from adults aren't exactly new either, but he can always sense their unease whenever he interacts with them.
But with Kageyama-san, though…
It's pure resentment.
Pure murderous intent.
—
When Reigen-kun had introduced him to Kageyama-san, the first thing he noticed was his eyes. Dark, deep and weary. The kind of eyes that he sees everyday whenever he wakes up and looks at the mirror. But these eyes would light up and become soft and tender whenever he would look at Reigen-kun—like looking at the loveliest thing he's ever seen in his life. And it's these eyes that would eventually shift and sharpen when Kageyama-san's gaze fell upon him. He could see the light in his eyes grow dimmer and colder the more he noticed Reigen-kun acting so fidgety in his presence.
He recalls the day when Reigen-kun had first approached him. "This person sweats a lot" — was the first thing he had thought. Reigen-kun's eyes would bounce around looking everywhere but him, with his hands flying wildly in different directions as he talked about evil spirits. His gestures had seemed so familiar until he recognized them as the hand motions he did for his exorcisms for television.
Oh. He's a fan—Is what he had eventually come to realize. He supposes he's rather flattered at having a boy around his age be actually a fan of him, since most kids around him found the nature of his work creepy and disturbing. His manager had told him that it was boring watching an exorcism without anything interesting happening, so he started practicing flashy hand movements in an attempt to entertain audiences better. He always thought it was rather embarrassing, so he couldn't help but feel oddly flattered at seeing someone admire him enough to imitate them, though Reigen-kun's were definitely more exaggerated. Reigen-kun had introduced himself as a fellow esper like he was, even though he couldn't sense any psychic energy from him at all.
"O-Of course you can't sense anything from me! I'm just that good at hiding my aura! I'm the disciple to the most powerful esper in the world after all!" was what Reigen-kun had said.
That mentor was now looking at him with a cold gaze. If he had to compare it to something, it was like being stared at by a large black panther who's seeing a new threat in his territory. Mob Psycho. Who would have thought.
"Ah, so you're Mogami Keiji-kun, was it? Arataka-kun likes to talk a lot about you," Kageyama-san smiles. There's no warmth in it at all. "It's nice to meet you."
—
Reigen-kun is clingy. That was the next impression he had come to develop.
Their schools happened to be near each other, so he would often encounter Reigen-kun on his way home. Reigen-kun would stick to his side and talk about meaningless topics with him, right until he would head to Kageyama-san's office. He's tried shaking him off several times before, but Reigen-kun seems to have this frightening ability in spotting him and forcefully attaching himself to his side like a magnet. Damn, so persistent.
Is Reigen-kun some hardcore fan? He doesn't really understand why he continually insists on hanging around him.
"You know, you remind me of Shigeo," Dimple had once told him. Dimple was this weakened evil spirit that's been leading a cult worshipping Mob Psycho. But because Kageyama-san has no interest in becoming the cult's god, he's mostly stuck complaining about how often he has to babysit Reigen-kun. "You two don't talk very much and always have this same scary gloomy look plastered on your faces…Y, yeah exactly like the one you're giving to me right now! I'm just saying things like I see it is!!...Yeah, seriously, both of your auras absolutely scare the shit out of me! I feel like if I get too close I'd get vaporized in an instant! Honestly, hanging around a quiet, depressing kid like you…that Reigen…does he have a type?"
So is it because of similarities? Dimple has complained before about how Reigen-kun "throws these silly little tantrums" whenever Kageyama-san isn't available to spend some time with him. So a substitute then. Reigen-kun probably hangs around him because he's the next best thing he's got. How troublesome.
Reigen-kun's incessant clinging towards him could be dismissed as a minor annoyance, but then there's the auras. Espers always leave an imprint of their auras in areas or things they can touch, even if it's only for a brief moment. It's especially noticeable when there are traces left on people.
For Reigen-kun. Reigen-kun is always surrounded by an extremely powerful aura. And it doesn't feel like the kind that fades away either, it's something that's constantly enveloping him. Kageyama-san's aura might as well be a protective barrier with how dense it is. But it also feels something more. Like a warning. Like a mark of possession. Reigen-kun doesn't seem to be aware of its existence at all.
The sheer power is enough to make any other esper flinch and annihilate any lesser spirit that happens to get close. Although for his case, he's been told by other espers before how his own esper aura feels oppressive and reeks of death, which even an evil spirit like Dimple finds extremely disturbing. It seems that it's strong enough to make his body be able to handle making contact with Kageyama-san's aura.
So whenever Reigen-kun clings to him, especially when there's a cockroach around, it feels like getting repeatedly stabbed by knives. Troublesome, ahh, it's really troublesome. Kageyama-san always gives him such a cold eye whenever they meet, most likely seeing the traces of his aura getting mixed in Reigen-kun, like seeing a dirty kid constantly getting their dirty fingerprints on his precious item.
Sigh, what a pain. It's a good thing he has a high pain tolerance from all the beatings he gets at school everyday.
—
Sometimes, he would do exorcisms on his own. Nowadays, he's used to being accompanied by a filming crew, but occasionally he fulfills requests from neighbors, students from school, or cases from the local police.
He doesn't get paid for any of it. When Reigen-kun heard about it, he looked so offended and started to drag him along for exorcism jobs with Kageyama-san. He really didn't have much of an issue with exorcising spirits before, but now it seems to have gotten more dangerous with Kageyama-san always looking like he wants to off him whenever Reigen-kun's not looking.
At least he gets some money out of it. For every job, he gets 300 yen. Because even if he's not an official employee of Spirits and Such, they're willing to give 3% of their earnings to a contributor, or so Reigen-kun had said. Reigen-kun is quite the businessman. Though Reigen-kun likes to frequently call him an "old man" because of his "old man hobbies" and inadequacy with technology, Reigen-kun also behaves in a rather mature way compared to most kids his age. From what he knows, it was also because of Reigen-kun that Kageyama-san had decided to open up a consultation office.
Reigen-kun and Kageyama-san's relationship was always a strange one to look at. Even though Reigen-kun is the younger one, he's usually the one who dictates what Kageyama-san should do, and Kageyama-san will follow silently without much of a fuss. Reigen-kun never acts in a respectful manner towards Kageyama-san, always calling him "Mob" as if they were just casual friends. Between the two, it seems like Reigen-kun is more like the adult in their relationship, with the way he looks after Kageyama-san by cleaning the office for him, taking care of him when he's sick, fixing his clothes, cooking for him and feeding him…no wait, isn't he practically a young wife?
Reigen-kun is usually the more reliable one, but Kageyama-san seems to like it when Reigen-kun becomes a vulnerable little boy acting just like any young kid would. Reigen-kun always likes to put on a brave face when facing evil spirits, but you would notice how his hands would slightly tremble at his sides. He would cling tightly to Kageyama-san when an evil spirit would dangerously get close, and Kageyama-san would tell him "It's all right now", in a reassuring and innocent voice as if the spirit couldn't have been finished off much earlier with just a simple wave of his hand.
Reigen-kun seems to be under some mistaken impression that Kageyama-san is a timid and docile adult that he can easily push around, but indulging the idea of control to someone just because you like the attention is a far cry from mindless submission. Who then is the real master in the relationship?
Kageyama-san…is a cunning one.
—
Most of the time, when Reigen-kun would be tutoring him, they would study at the consultation office. Because his grades are terrible, he got held back a year when he transferred to Salt Middle and ended up being classmates with Reigen-kun. Now that they're in the same class, Reigen-kun's clinging has only intensified. So troublesome. Seeing his struggles with his studies, Reigen-kun had offered to tutor him "out of the goodness of his heart for a fellow esper". Reigen-kun doesn't seem to like lingering for too long in school, so he prefers to tutor him in the office after class. He has to admit that it is more peaceful in the office rather than studying in the school library.
Well, if one would disregard Kageyama-san's deadly stare. Reigen-kun, please don't lean too close to me, Kageyama-san looks like he's about to violently kill me on the spot.
Sometimes, if he isn't too busy with student council duties, Suzuki-kun would join them in their tutoring sessions. On some occasions he would bring Serizawa-kun along, but most of the time Suzuki-kun likes to come by himself. Suzuki-kun joining them for studying would seem like such an irrational concept; being number one in grades in the school ranking and as well as being the student council president, it was unnecessary for him to participate in any tutoring. But it's clear just why Suzuki-kun likes to accompany them so often in the office.
To espers, it's no secret that Kageyama-san is a very powerful esper. Any psychic user would be able to detect the incredibly strong aura that emanates from Kageyama-san. Suzuki-kun is also a rather strong esper, and is the only other esper he knows is able to withstand Kageyama-san's aura. Suzuki-kun had tried to challenge Kageyama-san before but had magnificently lost, so since then he's been trying to get Kageyama-san to be his mentor which is something that irritates Reigen-kun a lot. Suzuki-kun and Reigen-kun seem to have some sort of rivalry that's apparently been going on even before he had transferred. It's bothersome. The way he keeps getting roped into trouble because of their petty fights gets very annoying.
They don't even get to do much studying. When Kageyama-san gets a client with a new case, the three of them end up accompanying him on the exorcism job. It's fine for Suzuki-kun and Reigen-kun since they're smart, but it's my grades that are on the line here, please consider my situation more. Kageyama-san can just never refuse whenever Reigen-kun insists on coming along, and Kageyama-san just seems to have an inability in being separated from Reigen-kun for any prolonged period of time.
Kageyama-san is more than capable of handling any exorcism jobs on his own, but in cases where there are a lot of powerful evil spirits having more espers around does help finish the job faster. All Reigen-kun does is throw (unpurified) salt, and Suzuki-kun uses this opportunity to show off in front of Kageyama-san with his powers. He always feels a sense of secondhand embarrassment just watching those two, so he just focuses on beating up the spirits. Unlike most espers, he doesn't possess any telekinesis so he usually relies on physical combat when fighting.
He doesn't mean to show off either, but it's still a force of habit that he makes his movements flashy as possible to keep viewers engaged, even if he doesn't work for the television industry anymore. He does feel a sense of flattery though when he catches Reigen-kun looking at him with admiring eyes. "Cool…"
Ah, Kageyama-san's face turned really sour. That's bad.
Ah, there's an insect spirit. That's unpleasant.
Ah, Reigen-kun sprinted and clung to him because he just happened to be the nearest person standing by. That's inconvenient.
Ah, Kageyama-san's expression looks furious. That's terrible.
He honestly doesn't know which one is more painful, the knives stabbing at his sides or Kageyama-san's hateful stare. Thankfully, he's spared of the agony when the evil spirit ends up rushing in and separating him and Reigen-kun. Kageyama-san is quick to teleport to Reigen-kun's side, pressing him close towards his body that makes Reigen-kun flush and squeak at the close proximity. He has a hand raised, and with just one swipe the spirit should—ah, Kageyama-san seems to be doing some complicated hand gesture. The spirit is eliminated within seconds, but seeing such a flashy gesture is really unusual coming from Kageyama-san.
Reigen-kun looks at Kageyama-san with sparkling, relieved eyes. "Phew, Mob, you really saved us!"
He catches Kageyama-san glance at him briefly and give him a look. A kind of smug and triumphant look. Kageyama-san…did he just want to look cool in front of Reigen-kun too.
He doesn't feel really saved at all.
"You should give up, Suzuki-kun." He tells Suzuki-kun on the way back.
He knows Suzuki-kun had witnessed everything that had transpired earlier. Suzuki-kun has probably witnessed many similar scenes like that before too, so he decides to make him be aware of the reality before him so he'll stop tiring himself out with meaningless efforts. A 28-year old adult man who one-ups a middle schooler just because he wants to look cool in front of his beloved disciple…that's a completely hopeless case. There's just no way someone can interfere with that kind of deep fixation—a kind of fixation that doesn't leave anymore room for anyone else since they've already chosen to give it to one person only.
"You don't need to tell me something I've already been aware of a long time ago. It's just that…" Suzuki-kun looks down with a confused frown on his face. Compared to his usual severe expression, it's oddly vulnerable and innocent. Knowing that Suzuki-kun always comes to school with bruises from his home, he always found his pure and childlike mentality a miraculous thing to have maintained. "... I don't understand. Why Reigen? He has no psychic powers. He's nothing more than a normal human being. Why did he choose him to be his disciple?"
Why Reigen-kun? That was a good question.
Reigen-kun, a normal boy who has the world's most powerful esper as his mentor. Kageyama-san willingly accepts Reigen-kun as his only disciple, even though there's nothing he can teach him about psychic ability. There are cases when an esper comes to awaken their abilities as they grow older, but Reigen-kun has absolutely zero potential. What exactly was it that made Reigen-kun so special?
He always thought of Reigen-kun as a great enigma he couldn't properly understand either. Reigen-kun, who is someone everyone at school knows about, but is someone who nobody at school knows what any of his hobbies or interests are. Reigen-kun, who easily talks with every student as if they were close friends, but is always alone during lunchtime. Reigen-kun, who claims he's popular, but always has wounds and bruises on his way home.
Reigen-kun, whom he can sense is always seething with envy at him whenever they interact, but is someone who shares takoyaki with him, worries for him when he gets hurt, gets hurt trying to protect him even though he has no powers, and will smile brightly and talk to him as if he were just like a normal person.
Hatred is an emotion he's already long used to receiving, but being looked at with envy was something completely new to him. What was there to be envious of him about? A family barely making ends meet, a family with no father, a home with a tired mother who always looks like she wants to cry when she looks at him, and cursed abilities that make people look at him with scorn?
He doesn't understand Reigen-kun at all.
—
If you were to ask him the one thing that frightens him the most, he would not say evil spirits, youkai, zombies, or aliens. Rather, he would say: people.
If you were to ask him to get specific, he would say: Reigen Arataka.
Arataka-kun is someone who's never honest with anyone, and is someone who will selfishly use others and their position and abilities for his own benefit. Arataka-kun had once told him "To mind his own business more and stop needlessly taking requests from people".
And yet that same person was someone who would risk his life to save others, regardless if they were strangers or not. Because he and Arataka-kun had developed a bit of a reputation in school as "those two creepy guys who take care of ghosts", they would often receive requests from students. A female classmate had approached Arataka-kun about feeling watched. Because he was unavailable at that time, it was Arataka-kun who had rushed off to deal with it himself. It had turned out to be an evil spirit. What happened to "minding his own business more"? What the hell was with this discrepancy?
"Uh, hey, Keiji." After finishing off the evil spirit with a good kick, he wordlessly stares at Arataka-kun, who was desperately hanging for his life off the bridge's ledge.
"..." The unamused expression on his face must've been very bad, as the sweat on Arataka-kun's face starts increasing.
"Um, senpai," Arataka-kun only seems to conveniently remember how he's the older one at times like this. "Mogami-senpai. Mogami-san. Mogami-sama. Uh, I seem to be in a troubling predicament. Would you please help your little kouhai? You wouldn't want anything happening to your cute little kouhai, right? Right?"
With an irritated sigh, he reaches out a hand and grabs Arataka-kun, helping him up as he stumbles and stands upright, patting off all the dirt in his uniform.
"That was a close one! Thanks, Keiji!"
Dimple comes flying over, looking a bit smaller than he usually does. The evil spirit seems to have done a bit of a number on him. "Keiji! It's a good thing you came just in time! I told this idiot not to run off on his own if it turned out to be the real thing!"
Arataka-kun merely flaps his hand. "Well, whatever it's fine, everything's all okay now, right?"
"Of course it's not fine!! If anything actually happened to you, Shigeo's gonna wipe my existence out so hard there won't be any trace of me left for the afterlife!! Shigeo instantly forgives you the moment you act cute, but it isn't the same for me!!"
"Arataka-kun, this is incredibly troublesome. If I hadn't met Sasaki-san earlier, I wouldn't even have known that you had come here. Dimple's weak, and I can't always be around to save you when you're in danger."
"H-hey Keiji, did you really have to say that I'm weak…"
Under his displeased glare, Arataka-kun nervously pats his shoulder. "O-okay! I get it! To make up for all that trouble you can join me and Mob for some ramen!" Seriously, this guy just likes to completely go about and drag others at his own pace.
"Well, guess I'll leave you two then. I don't wanna be around Shigeo when he's in that state." Dimple gives him a pitying glance before he flies off.
Predictably, Kageyama-san is upset at hearing Arataka-kun was in danger. Arataka-kun managed to smooth things over and assure Kageyama-san that he wasn't terribly hurt, but now he has Kageyama-san's upset face directed towards him most likely because he's the one who got involved in Arataka-kun's incident, and that he's intruding on their sacred ramen date.
"Oh dang, I think I gotta go to the toilet. I'm gonna head to the nearest convenience store for a bit! You two can go ahead and order without me!"
Ah, Arataka-kun left him all alone with Kageyama-san. Arataka-kun has an exceptional talent in being able to read people, and yet for some reason he's unable to notice how Kageyama-san always looks unhappy whenever he's around. Even Dimple knows how irritated Kageyama-san gets around him and sends him pitiful looks when he's there to witness it.
With the way Arataka-kun is always running off and nearly getting himself killed and making him spend time around Kageyama-san, he can't help but sometimes feel that Arataka-kun is intentionally trying to get Kageyama-san to kill him. But then again, this is Arataka-kun—ranks 4th in the overall grades for the entire school, but is idiotic enough to attempt swallowing an entire box of Mobcky in one go. Whenever Kageyama-san is involved, Arataka-kun's so-called intelligence and common sense always seems to plummet significantly and be buried six feet under into the ground.
After placing their orders, they silently wait in their seats. The sounds of noodles being cooked…the banging of kitchenware…the sounds of bicycles and people passing by…the tension in the room was incredibly thick.
To his surprise, it's Kageyama-san who breaks the silence.
"Mogami-kun, I apologize if Arataka-kun bothers you a lot. I've told him before not to keep forcing people into doing things they don't want to do. You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. Arataka-kun must also see the strong resemblance which is why he attaches himself to you. I'm really sorry for all the trouble he's given you. I'll be more firm with him next time."
A strong resemblance. Similarities. Both are quiet, broken people who are forced to bear the burden of the powers they are born with. On the surface, that's how it seems to be. But—
"That's not necessary, Kageyama-san. Arataka-kun's tutoring has always been helpful. A lot of people like to say how similar you and I are. But I don't think that's the case.
You and I are both monsters, that's a sure fact. But that's where the similarities end. You're someone who has parents who support you, a younger brother who looks after you, friends who care for you, and a disciple that adores you very much. You're someone who is very well-loved, Kageyama-san."
Seething envy. Seeing someone have something that you will never have. Will never grasp. Perhaps he can't really fault Arataka-kun for those feelings after all. He's starting to understand them all too well.
He remembers cold eyes. A cruel smile. Flowing purple hair.
"When I want something, I go and get it. It's only natural."
He opens his mouth and says,
"—So Kageyama-san, you don't mind if I take at least a bit of that love for myself, would you?"
A pressure.
A boiling heat. A shuddering force in the air. The feeling of an immense power surging from the very earth. Wild, flowing hair that defied gravity. A face so shadowed with rage that it barely looked human. This was not a man. This was a vicious beast.
He will die.
This was a certainty, not a suggestion.
He will be erased here, he will be annihilated here, his existence will be so violently shredded here that not even a single trace of his soul will remain.
He's afraid. But not afraid of Kageyama-san. He's afraid of Arataka-kun. Arataka-kun, who treats this monster like it was just like any normal human being. Refers to it as his mentor, his friend, his hero. Looks at this monstrosity with nothing but adoration.
Arataka-kun, an ordinary boy who possesses no psychic powers, but has the world's most terrifying monster at his beck and call. The one whose sheer power inspires reverence and worship, the one who even the government fears and can't control, the one whose name is whispered like a horrifying urban legend, the one whose mere presence is treated like a natural calamity, the one who's responsible for the half-apocalyptic state Japan is in right now. If Arataka-kun wished for it, Kageyama-san would crumple the sun and present it to him like gifting a flower you just plucked off from the ground.
He's a completely normal boy who would breathe nothing but lies, but would treat you with such devastating gentleness that you would willingly allow yourself to fall for it and cling to it like a dying man clinging desperately to a messiah's words. That's the most frightening being he's ever encountered.
"Hey! Sorry for the wait!"
Just like that, the harsh air in the room vanishes.
Arataka-kun sits down on his chair just as the food arrives.
"Thanks for ordering my food for me, Mob!" Arataka-kun smiles at Kageyama-san before he looks at his bowl with a frown. "What, Keiji? Is that all you're eating?"
He glances down at his small bowl. Well, he ordered the cheapest dish they had because it was all he could afford.
"There's no way you'll get full from that! Here, you can have some of my—"
"Arataka-kun, that's the dish that Mogami-kun wanted to eat. That's what he chose, so you shouldn't forcibly give something he doesn't want."
He locks eyes with Kageyama-san for a few seconds. A silent exchange of words.
"... Yes, I'm fine, Arataka-kun. You don't need to share your portion with me."
"... Well, all right…If you say so."
He breaks the chopsticks into two and dips it into the bowl. Kageyama-san doesn't like to share. He tastes the noodles in his mouth. It's rather salty.
Why, Kageyama-san, you're no better than the selfish adults that use me all the time.