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"How exactly does that work?" Ritsu inquires passively, not properly looking in Shou's direction as he materializes out of thin air next to him.
Shou offers no answer, instead shoving his face into Ritsu's (clearly insignificant) personal space and over his desk, "What're you workin' on?" His palm rests on the table, fingers curling along a piece of paper and leaving a crumple mark that makes Ritsu wince.
"Homework," A groan from Shou and a beat of silence from Ritsu, before he continues, "You didn't answer my question. How's your invisibility work?"
Suddenly, the chair he was sitting in spun around dangerously fast, jolting to a stop at an angle that left his room's light shining directly into his eyes. Shou's silhouette flashed in between him and the blinding ceiling light, his posture tense and expression steeled in a way that made Ritsu briefly think of interrogations.
"Ritsu!" Shou's palms came down hard onto Ritsu's shoulders, the chair he was in squeaking gently under the force, "are you finally ready for me to teach you my techniques?"
Ritsu decided it would be pointless to mention Shou had never once said he'd teach Ritsu to replicate his cloaking powers, instead shaking his head, "That's... not what I said." he also decides it's pointless to acknowledge the way Shou's nose crinkles in disappointment, "I'm just curious how you do it. I've never seen another esper do it, I don't even know if Nii-san can do it."
"Of course he can't!" Shou states, arms sweeping outwards, exasperatedly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ritsu feels himself involuntarily raise an eyebrow, and Shou immediately takes notice, "Hate to break it to you, but I really don't think your big brother knows a single thing about how light is reflected," Shou taps his chin thoughtfully, but not thoughtfully enough that it could potentially make anyone doubt he knew every last detail about the topic at hand.
"You'd learn it right away, if you tried! Your bro'd probably nod off...or get distracted by, like, a bug crawling 'cross the floor." Shou shrugs and says it with the same unabashed self-confidence of every other sentence that comes out of his mouth.
"...Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question." Ritsu pointedly ignores the compliment, tilting his head in his best friend's direction, "How do you do it? You said something about 'reflection.' What's that about?"
"Light reflection, dumbass! I thought you were an honor student?" Shou grins widely at him, earning an eyeroll and an elbow to the midsection with no real anger behind it. Shou takes his wordless response as an indication he should continue, "Well, y'know how everything has colors?"
Ritsu, unamused, nods along.
"Well, that's cus' when light shines on stuff, the stuff takes that light in, and it, like... reflects into our eyes, and we can see colors 'cause of that, right?"
Ritsu shifts so his chin is on his knuckles, and nods along again.
"So I- the genius that I am, thought, 'what if I just changed the shit on myself that reflects it?' and then I did." Shou demonstrates by going invisible, the light around him warping with a sheen of blue and orange light before he vanishes without any trace but the warmth of his aura, "Cool, right?" the disembodied voice never fails to startle Ritsu, earning a small jump from where he's seated.
"But that's color changing... how do you, just... go invisible?" Ritsu, now intrigued, leans forward as he gestures with his upturned palms towards where Shou had been seconds prior. He's slightly off mark, the latter giving him a hearty pat on the shoulder, and a laugh when he startles as expected.
"By reflecting the light around me." Shou raises the hand that was resting on Ritsu's shoulder, "Come on, speed it up a little up there!" Shou emphasizes by knocking against Ritsu's skull with his knuckles. Ritsu swats his hand away automatically.
"But, yeah, that's invisibility. Like y'said, I can change color too." Shou, without missing a beat despite Ritsu's raised brow of confusion, suddenly flashes a startlingly bright green before returning to his normal colors. Ritsu leaps out of his chair, eyes wide with surprise.
"Cool, right?"
Furrowing his brows, he thinks to himself sourly; it was really cool. Expression steeled, Ritsu finally murmurs, "I guess so."
"But... that's not it." Shou's fizzy aura enveloping the room suddenly dims into something dark, dangerous. Ritsu feels a bead of sweat drip down his cheek -- Shou does this often and without warning, a telltale sign he's about to get serious, "I've got... a secret. About these powers."
Ritsu pauses, before realizing a response is expected, and swallows his nerves, "...Yes?"
Shou's mouth is set in a thin line and he leans back, one hand in his pocket and the other smoothing down his unruly hair.
His hand comes away from his head, and what once was a shade of bright, unnatural orange, has dulled down to a soft brown hue. Ritsu feels his jaw drop involuntarily.
"No."
"Yeah." Shou affirms, pauses, then adds with haste, "Don't tell anyone. This is Ritsu-exclusive info."
"I knew it wasn't your natural hair color, but I didn't think--!" Ritsu stops then reaches forward, "Wait, is your hair actually naturally spiky? If you can bend the light around yourself, you could probably--"
Shou snatches him by the wrist before he grows too close, fixing him with a nasty stare, "If you touch my hair I'll make yours pink."
Ritsu cracks a small, genuine smile as he ignores the threat and yanks his arm out of Shou's stone cold grip, "So it is fake!" He reaches again, leaping out of his chair in a motion so quick that Shou yelps and twists away in a desperate attempt to avoid the hand drawing closer to his head.