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Chapter Text

(ZERO) 0

Mob's mind is a tornado of thoughts at the moment, and yet he manages to keep a straight face.

[This must be the seventh ghost I've found this week. I'm starting to get out of attractive man passing by who also turns out to see dead people.]

Ignoring again the not-alive ramblings about his death due to push a redhead teenager out of the way of a bus... Oh, he sees a redhead teenager.

Quickly mob starts walking near that young, and forces a crash. He apologies and secretly observes how the ghost recognizes the other and viceversa.

[This, and the childhood friend's trope seems to be the two favorites of this world.]

Mob keeps walking, avoiding some yankee's shoulders and some truly suspicious sings of job offers.

[But, to be fair, about other supernatural related flags, there seems to be none of them. Since I realized about the BL dynamics of this world, only ghosts appear to be the no-lead-by-the-laws-of-physics kind of trope. I mean, there's no vampires (not real ones at least, truly, so much fetish about blood), no soon-to-turn-human mascots, no werewolves, no telekinesis users, and no, no mind readers. If I ever come to read someone's thoughts, I certainly am not gonna act on that, and no one has ever show a sing of being able to read mine's.]

Mob face leaves any concerns that may afflict a living being of this world [Even if that happens, that's something my future me will have to deal with.]

Too focused on ignoring his problems, Mob doesn't realized a tall, extremely good-looking, mind reader man is trying to hold back his laughter. [Pfft. Hilarious. Can't get enough of him.] With a pale blonde hair, dark eyes, and profound mischievous gaze, his smile seems to plan for trouble. [It's starting to be time of introducing myself, don't want a ghost to get ahead of me].

Well, he be doomed.

Chapter Text

1 (ONE)

Seno here is the heir of an old and powerful business family. It all started when his great-great-great-great grandmother bought a patent from a product everyone thought was a failure and successfully owned what came to be worth millions. Since then, his family has the reputation of always finding the hidden gems, always knowing what people will want next.

And, well, were it any other family, it would have been a matter of instinct, wisdom and insight, yet in the Sasaki family it was due to that and a little deal made with a being who called itself “The Third God Of Thoughts”. The god gave them the ability of reading someone’s mind when intended, and they took every opportunity they could. It only required they handed once a century a wife proper of its glorious being.

The Sasaki family tried their best to fulfill their part of the contract, yet no female was born in the family for the last three generations, and so, the god decided to punish them by making them hear the thoughts of everyone inside a five meters perimeter.

Some members of the Sasaki’s family could not resist so much information at a time, and decided to isolate themselves so they won't succumb to madness.

Not wanting to prolong the situation, they sent Seno’s older cousin, Akino, to speak to the God in hope to convince him to retrieve the punishment, even if that meant to give up on their powers. They sure as hell did not expect the God to fall madly in love with Akino and decide to cancel the punishment and increment their power, even giving the heir of the family a clue as to how the world works. That clue being a direct message to Seno's head that said something along the lines “You better go to the entrance of the university tomorrow at 02:58 PM. And pay attention to the most dull, bored-looking guy behind everyone. The little shit got it all right”. And, well, Seno did it and finally met Mob.

Finding him was harder than it should have been. Seno was looking for a guy that stands out by looking bored. And well, if Mob was something, definitely a memorable person was not it. The only clue (if it can be called that way) was a truly, truly noisy and extensive monologue he heard, about everything. Once he found him, he just disappointed himself. 

Mob was just… average.

He did have some beauty on his face, yet that dull eyes and bored expression just make him forgettable. He just did not stand out, he was not incredibly handsome, nor the least ugly. And well, the way he talked and behaved did not call for anyone's attention. 

Listening to how the world seemed to try and make every handsome man gay was a shocker for Seno, yet a quick look back was enough to prove the guy right, I mean, a fucking god was in love with his male cousin. That should have gave him a clue.

[Since my brother is out of the game, I’m the one left to make my parents grandparents]

Not needing anything else from him, Seno turns, about to make an exit.

[Plus, I love big boobs] And that made Seno choke at the same time he turned to see him again. That crudeness surprised him more than a bit. Especially since he saw Mob’s eyes glued to a brunette’s breasts.

As if Mob sensed he was being watched, he makes eye contact with Seno, not so much that would catch anyone's attention, and not so little that would make someone look suspicious. And no, Seno did not fall in love the second they met eyes.

[Oh, another extremely handsome guy. Why is he staring at me? No, keep going pal, behind me there's a cute small guy looking with heart eyes at you. I better move so you two can “accidentally” stare at each other's souls] And so Mob did, and walked away from them. Relieved to have successfully avoided another flag.

Too bad Seno did fall for that stupid thought rambling. It was a nice surprise to find himself blushing at someone thinking of him as extremely handsome, he heard those kinds of thoughts at least five times a day. Must be the nonchalant way of calling him handsome, or perhaps the typical reason of him not being interested in Seno, whatever may be the reason, it hit Seno, he fell hard for his first time in love. Blame the obsession gene in his family, after all his cousin Akino did almost kill another god out of jealousy.

Well, on the other hand, that cute small guy did have his heart broken, but no more than five minutes passed until an even smaller guy crashed into him and made him spit the word ‘cute’.

Now Seno was getting the hand of the world's work. Well, time for him to study and learn about the object of his attention, and start quickly by it. [He better not crash into anyone]

Well, Mob be doomed.

Chapter Text

Mob had always felt as if he was being watched, something that he attributed as paranoia after mouths, even a whole year, passed and nothing -more like no one- had tried to approach him. He was very cautious at first, he verified every direction with a masquerade glaze so he would not look paranoid, that between other stuff he did in order to avert being a BL protagonist. He knew damn well that a crazy/paranoid character was a flag attractor, so he acted as naturally dull as possible. Mob was not gonna let the world’s mechanisms win.

He did everything he could, yet he saw no repeating single’s (or cheater’s) faces around, he did not hear any suspicious sounds, rumors about anyone in particular (suddenly hearing about someone's well known reputation is the oldest trick in the book), and surely he did not feel any supernatural presence. After a very long while (Mob is a very cautious man), he let his guard down.

Well, he should have known better.

Right in front of him was a tall, truly good-looking, man with pale blond hair and black eyes. Those eyes glancing at him in a way he felt familiar. [So I had someone stalking me the entire year. ¿What bicycle did I fix this time, or was it a printer?] The soft chuckle of the guy trails him out of his thoughts, but just to put him on others [What? Is he going to think something along the lines of “He looks cute when he’s lost in his mind”? Cause nope, I am not letting that happen]

The incredibly rude and dumb face he makes should be worth a disappointed face, or at least a (badly) surprised look. Yet, that face of his only makes the stranger smile more. Almost as if the blonde knew what he was trying. 

_Mob-san, right? I’m Sasaki Seno, one of the members of the project group_ he sounded pretty calm and not interested, though the amused eyes were unmistakable in Mob’s sight.

[Ah, he is definitely interested in me. It's still too early to give in whatever plot is going on] _Nice to meet you. Can you believe Rina-chan is in the same group as us? Too bad her sombre brother is too_ says Mob in a NPC tone [Not really, he just needs a new hairstyle and surely would surpass the beauty standard to be coupled with you].

_Is that so? Who is Rina, anyways?_ asks Seno with a side smile [Oh, so he wants to go with the siscon plot with the secretly handsome brother. Only one way to confirm, and, yes, Rina’s brother is right beside him, now there's gonna be an exaggerated outburst to defend her sist…] 

_What do you mean by that tone of yours?_a smaller gingerhead male grapes Seno's collar, angry [er. It is followed by a quick move upwards of his head and immaculate face reveal] as Mob thinks, that’s exactly what happens. [Congrats, now you two can marry] Mob tries to make a silent retrial, but stops when he realizes that Seno is looking at him with too much misguided interest, practically ignoring the siscon teammate. [Damn]

_I’m sorry if my way of speaking bothered you, but I have said nothing rude or insulting about the girl. I wanted nothing but to know about her and why she is known_ Seno sounds sincerely apologetic but Mob’s experience (read a ton of BL manga) tells him the blonde doesn't care the least about offending the other. Too bad Rina's brother had completely fallen for it and actually feels ashamed of his outburst of rage.

Well, he did doged that flag skillfully, and for that Mob was a bit wowed. Even to him such a direct approach would have startled him. Yet Seno seems to barely react and that's a skill that took almost a year for Mob to train.

_I’m sorry, I overreacted_ [Yeah, nothing unexpected about your character’s traits] _I don't usually tend to get violent except when it comes to my sister's well-being. She is just an incredible person, always thinking about others and helping them, she is smart, beautiful and so kind that she ends up attracting mean people and doesn't realizes_ [Now is the time when Seno starts getting interested in the rambling about Rina and wants to meet her, then finds out she is disappointing and gains interest in her brother and his siscon-rotted brain… Why is he still looking at me so amused?] _ Anyways, I shouldn't have acted like the that and I apologize for my rude manners_ concludes Rina's brother.

_Acchan_ yells Rina getting close to them [Ah, right, the most normal short for Akihito, obviously] _We’re on the same team_cheers while hugging his brother.

[What a nice sister, indeed] Mob’s eyes stop for three seconds exactly on the gigerhead girl’s chest while on the watch of the psych, and he is too busy to realize that.

_Rina, these are our teammate's, er…_ Akihito struggles to remember the names told by the professor while deciding the project groups.

_I’m Sasaki Seno, and he is Mob. Nice to meet you Rina_ 

_Nice to meet you too_ smiles to them brightly and that catches Mob’s attention since he can clearly see her face features, and she is gorgeous.

[Please be the rival and no the gay character]

_We should exchange contacts so we can arrange a meeting to plan the project. I'm about to start another class so I should get going_ suggest Seno grabbing his phone out of his pocket and holding it strangely pointing to Mob.

_Yes, let's do that, I’m also running late to one_ Mob imitates him, but deliberately points his phone to Rina [Now cowboy, this ain't my first rodeo] _Can you also create a group?_ suggest quickly, avoiding to be the one with the initiative.

_Sure_ chuckles softly the blonde.

[I will (not) deal with you later. The next class is full of single, handsome, men, and being late is such a big flag]

Chapter Text

3 (THREE)

To Mob’s relief, the interaction between him and Seno on the following week was reduced to arrange a meeting in the group to do the project.

It was decided to be in a cafe two blocks from Mob’s house since it was the most (relatively) in the middle place from everyone’s houses.

Still, that doesn't mean Mob hadn't seen Seno in the last week. Quite the contrary, he could not stop seeing him. In the cafeteria, the library while studying, the bar he frequents with his friends, they even share four classes.

[Somehow I’d managed to escape his gaze, but seeing him randomly laugh is definitely some way of the universe to show his beautiful smile. There! He is smiling again. Better leave the classroom before him, one third of the people is already out]

Mob manages to grab his stuff incredibly fast without looking in a hurry. He knows better than to draw attention to himself. 

In less than a minute, he is outside the classroom rushing to the next one at the same speed most people doing the same thing do.

The good thing is, the next class is his safe zone. Everyone in it has already appeared, and they are either paired up with someone, or they are not attractive enough to make it as a BL protagonist. 

Mob knows that judging someone from their looks is bad (he does, even though he doesn't show it) but most BL he had ever found is written by a woman, and they surely seem to like attractive men. So, even with his plain face (he does know himself), other extra people around him turn out reassuring.

…

On the other side, there is Seno.

He’s been having an interesting week. Ever since having the God of Coincidence put him and Mob in the same project group (it was a good thing Akino owed him a couple of favors, and he is apparently in a three godly love triangle) Mob’s thoughts started to drift to him a couple times a day. So, yeah, Seno was hearing Mob's thoughts about him almost all the time they were both at college. And, again, Mob’s nonchalant face while thinking something along the lines ‘What is he, a garden? Why does he have so many flowers around him?’ is just endearing. He doesn't know how he managed to keep a straight face every time he heard Mob thinking about his looks, but it was worth it for it brought him more amusement and the least downing of his guard.

Because, if Mob was incredibly good for anything, he was the perfect shield. And how could he not? Not only was he the only one (or at least one of the very few) to notice the mechanics of the world, he started studying it, and was incredibly quick by planning how to avoid flags, even faced with a corner, he would marvelously improvise his way out of it, uncanny. And, damnit, that attracts Seno like moths to a lightning bulb.

So, yeah, he was not risking it. Seno has already acknowledged that anything but a slow, meticulous approach would just backfire, damn, even being in the same group as him in a project was apparently suspicious enough to Mob so he already determined he was the one to ‘stalk’ him all this time back (Seno would not use this word, stalk, not for the lack of meaning but for the negative impression).

And for that he decided to take a tiny step back. He did not approach him at all this week. And that was hard considering he had already decided to make his move. Then again, he waited for a whole year, what can a few more days do to him? This project would take them at least a month, that's about eight group meetings if they manage to arrange an encounter twice a week, let's say that Seno takes care of the siblings a couple of those times (nothing mobster of course) and he has the right, not-suspicious-at-all, excuse to meet him and build a relationship with him. A friendly one at first.

After seeing how Mob rushed out of the classroom discreetly, Seno walks his way out of it too, slowly for his next class is two doors apart and he is not in a hurry, but also because reads a truly disturbing thought from the girl in the same group of the project.

_Ricchan, you're so lucky. Not only do you have your brother to help you with the project, but you also have Sasaki-san in it. He has the best notes in almost every class he takes, and he is so handsome_ says the girl near Rina.

_I guess so, Acchan is always helping me with my study. And even Mob-san seemed to know quite a lot about the theme_ answers her.

_Mob? Ah! The boring one in your group. Well, you couldn't have everything perfect, at least he is not pulling you down, if only his looks were a little bit above average…_ Rina's friend continues.

[But Mob is kind of cute, though] thinks Rina, and that makes Seno’s eyes twitch.

_Don’t say that, that's just mean_ reprimands her softly, at which her friend just shrugs her shoulders.

_If you say so, Lady too-good-for-this-world_

He could not believe his luck; first he has to be wary of almost every good looking guy that comes near him and Mob, and now it seems that Mob is starting to stand strong to the world dynamics to the point where even girls are starting to notice him.

Just, no way. He hadn't spent an entire year following his almost every move to know him and plan their relationship development just so q random girl could snatch him away.

[I dare you try] he thinks to himself.

…

Mob doesn't know why the air seem to cold down for a second,

but he is not risking it. So he puts on a sweater.