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Reigen had managed to fit five marshmallows in his mouth when Ritsu came in. Dimple immediately burst out laughing at Reigen's deer-caught-in-headlights look and Reigen, not knowing what else to do, gave a weak wave to the boy. Ritsu didn't look all that surprised at their antics and merely sighed before giving a polite bow.
"I wanted to ask for your help with something."
Reigen tried to push the marshmallows to the side of his mouth so he could speak, but it came out a garbled mess. He looked around for the trash can and saw it just as it glided into the other room. It was times like this that Reigen wished Dimple had a neck so he could strangle him.
Reigen chewed furiously, determined to get rid of the fluffy treats in his mouth as he motioned with his hand for Ritsu to continue.
Looking incredulously at him, Ritsu pressed on. "Today is Mob's Birthday, and I wanted to know if you would be able to bake him a cake or something. I won't be able to, since I've got school and club activities, and to be honest I can't really bake..."
A large hunk of marshmallow slid down Reigen's throat and he thumped his chest and coughed, spewing spitty chewed bits onto the floor in front of him.
Ritsu was visibly fighting to keep his face neutral as he put his hands up and began backing up towards the door. "Actually, don't worry about it. I see you're busy here... I'll ask someone else."
Reigen held his hand out to try to stop him, shouting a muffled "Wait!" but Ritsu had already opened the door and left.
Breathing an aggravated moan, Reigen turned vindictively towards the other room, just as the trashcan came floating back in. He yanked it out of Dimple's grasp and spat his half chewed mess into it.
"Dimple, you bastard."
Dimple gave an innocent look and floated smartly towards the ceiling, out of Reigen's reach. "It;s not my fault that you were cramming marshmallows in your mouth"
"You're the one who bet me on how many I could fit!"
Dimple looked to the door, ignoring Reigen's fury. "I can't believe the kid didn't tell us it was his Birthday."
Reigen wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, still glaring at Dimple. "It's not really surprising, Mob-kun keeps to himself, he probably doesn't find his Birthday all that important."
Dimple hummed contemplatively. "What a weird kid."
Reigen fished his wallet out of his pocket and looked at how much he had. "Guess I'll run to the store."
"For what?"
Reigen shot Dimple an irritated look. "For cake supplies, obviously."
"Mob's brother already said he'd get someone else to do it." Dimple shot back, "Beside, do you even know how to bake?"
Waving his hand dismissively, Reigen headed toward the door. "Ritsu thinks I'm an idiot who is just using his brother. By doing this, I'll show him how important Mob is to me." He clenched his fist, suddenly feeling fired up over the situation. "I'm gonna bake Mob the best damned cake he's eve tasted."
~~~~~~~
When the club room door opened, Tome didn't even bother looking up, assuming that the Body Improvement Club had come back from their run. It was only when Inugawa asked "May we help you?" that she looked up to see Mob's little brother standing in the doorway.
Ritsu shook his head. "I was just looking for the Body Improvement Club, do you know where I can find them?"
Before Inugawa could answer, Tome slammed her hands down on the table in front of her, standing fast enough to nearly tip her chair over.
"Are you planning on joining their club?"
Ritsu blinked at her sudden outburst and was about to answer but Tome cut him off, making her way around the table to stand in front of him.
"You're Shigeo-kun's brother, right? You have potential to join our club, if you're looking to join one."
Ritsu put his hands up defensively. "It's nothing like that, I'm already in a club. I just need to talk with them."
Tome looked him over, not sure if she should believe him. "What business do you have with The Body Improvement Club then?"
Ritsu's hands fell to his sides as he sighed. "I wanted to know if they would have time to bake a cake."
Tome let her confusion show on her face.
"It's Mob's Birthday." Ritsu explained simply. He bowed politely and waved behind him, leaving the room. "I've gotta find the Body Improvement Club, I have to go."
The door shut and Tome huffed. Having Ritsu join the club would be a great asset, considering he was related to an esper, but it seems the fates weren't smiling on her today.
Well, it didn't matter. At least they had something to do today.
She clapped her hands loudly, rousing the other two members from their nap.
"Boys, let's head to the Home Ec room, we've got a Birthday boy to impress!"
~~~~~~~~
Musashi could see a figure in the distance, bent over as if out of breath. For a brief second he thought it was Mob, but the person was still in the school uniform. Not to mention that Mob was probably still on the first half of the running track, judging by his usual pace.
The figure slowly came into view as Musashi ran closer, and he could see that it was Ritsu. He raised his hand to wave at him as he was about to pass him, but Ritsu put his hand up, signalling for him to stop. Musashi slowed down but kept his legs pumping, running in place to keep his heart rate up.
Ritsu was still out of breath as he spoke. "Could you...make a cake..."
"What was that?" Musashi asked, not sure he had heard him correctly.
"A cake..." Ritsu gasped. "It's Mob's Birthday.... I can't bake.... asking his friends...to make one."
Musashi's feet came to a stop and he looked down at Ritsu. "Is it really his Birthday? I didn't know."
Ritsu nodded, his breathing slowly becoming even. "Can you do it?"
Musashi looked behind him and could see the other members approaching at a fast pace. Mob still was out of sight, but he knew that he would catch up soon.
"I'd love to but... Mob might think something's strange if I disappear."
Ritsu groaned, a noise very uncharacteristic of him. "Just....okay. Thanks anyways."
Ritsu took off in a light jog, heading back to the school. Musashi watched him, and as the group approached, Musashi came to a decision.
"Oi, Ryohei."
Ryohei stopped, the rest of the guys behind him following suit.
"I need you to make sure to keep Mob outside, okay?"
Ryohei gave a small salute before looking at him questioningly. "That'll be no problem, but just out of curiosity, why?"
"It's Mob's Birthday, and I'm going to go bake him a cake as a surprise."
Hiroshi wiped sweat from his brow. "But...do you know how to?"
Musashi froze. He hadn't even thought about that.
"I can bake."
The other guys looked around and Tenga was there, covered in sweat and breathing heavy. Musashi gestured with his hand, telling him to come on as he broke out into a light sprint.
"Then come on, I'll help you." He turned and pointed at Hiroshi. "If Mob asks, tell him I had to take Tenga to the nurse!"
~~~~~~~
It was a sight Shinji had never seen, the normally calm and composed Ritsu with his hair dishevelled, sweat glistening on his forehead, his uniform askew, gasping air like a fish out of water.
"What's going on?" Tokugawa asked, getting up from his chair in concern.
"I have... a question..." Ritsu gasped, leaning tiredly on the door frame.
"Does this question have anything to do with why you're late?" Shinji said in a flat voice. He really didn't mind that Ritsu was late, they didn't have anything on the agenda anyways, but still, as the president of the student council he had to keep his subordinates in line.
"It does." Ritsu gasped.
Shinji sighed dramatically before gesturing for him to continue.
Taking a deep breath and collecting himself, Ritsu's expression grew serious.
"Do any of you know how to bake a cake?"
~~~~~~~
Mob honestly felt like he was on the brink of passing out. His muscles ached and his vision tunneled as he shakily attempted to push his body up with his arms.
"And....4!" Hiroshi said happily as Mob managed to lift himself up.
Mob let himself fall onto the grass tiredly as the deep burn in his muscles slowly ebbed.
"That's a new record for you, Shigeo-kun!" Hiroshi exclaimed proudly. "Keep at it, and you'll be able to do a full set of push-ups in no time!"
The other members shot praises at him, and Mob sat up, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Okay, let's do some squats now."
Mob glanced at the school, frowning. "Should we check on Tenga-kun? Musashi and him have been at the nurse's for over an hour now."
"Has it really been over an hour?" Ryohei asked, glancing at his watch to confirm the time. Him and Hiroshi nodded to each other before looking to Mob. "We should head back now anyways."
"We'll meet you there Mob!" The members all stretched lightly before taking off, well ahead of Mob already.
Taking a steadying breath, Mob broke out into a steady jog and followed behind them.
~
By the time he had gotten to the school, the rest of the club were nowhere to be seen. He padded through the empty hallway, making his way to the nurse's office.
The nurse looked at him with confusion as he asked if Tenga had left, and she explained that Tenga hadn't visited her today. Feeling equally as confused, Mob thanked her and made his way to the club room, only to find it empty. The Body Improvement Club was hardly ever in the room so it wasn't surprising that they weren't there, but the absence of the Telepathy Club was something that was definitely strange.
Feeling more confused by the second, Mob walked down the hall, not sure what to do.
A student was standing at the student bulletin board, tacking a flyer up, so Mob approached him.
"Excuse me, have you seen The Body Improvement Club?"
The boy looked at him briefly before gesturing down the hall. "They're in the Home Ec room, for whatever reason."
Mob thanked him and made his way to the aforementioned room, completely and thoroughly not understanding what was going on. He knocked politely on the door before sliding it open.
If he had been confused before, this certainly elevated it to full blown bafflement.
Tome was to the side, barking orders to the Telepathy club as they scrambled around the Student Council, who were covered in flour and looking panicked. Tenga was yelling "You have to let it cool first!" loudly at Musashi, who had an icing bag in one hand, and a mess of melting icing sliding down a cake in front of him, as the rest of the Body Improvement club scrambled around them, looking unsure of what to do.
Ritsu was the first to see him and froze in the middle of chopping strawberries.
"What are you doing!" Shinji said aggravatedly, sweeping the minced fruit into a bowl. "We don't have time for you to dawdle!" He looked up to see what Ritsu was staring at and also froze.
Slowly, everyone came to a stop as they realized who was at the door.
"Damnit." Tome said, verbalizing everyone's thoughts in the quiet room.
Mob stared blankly at them, not sure of what had brought such an odd assortment of people together in such an odd place.
"What's...going on?" He asked, twisting the hem of his shirt.
"Isn't it obvious, you idiot?" Tenga said, scraping off the melted icing from the cake in front of him. "The Body Improvement Club is making a cake for your Birthday."
Tome snorted derisively. "You mean the Telepathy Club is making a cake, and you guys came in to get in our way and sabotage us."
"Neither of your clubs have enough structure to work together, your cakes are doomed to fail." Shinji said haughtily.
"Says the guy whose cake is burning." Tenga snapped back.
Shinji glared at him before looking down at the oven. "It's not burning," He commented, cracking the door open and releasing a stream of dark smoke that quickly filled the room.
Everyone began coughing and Musashi quickly opened the windows, letting the smoke drift out.
"It was supposed to be a surprise." Ritsu said, his voice low as he looked at Mob.
"This..."
Mob's voice was soft, but everyone turned their attention towards him as he spoke.
"This is all for me?"
Musashi smiled. "Of course it is. It's your special day after all."
"What are friends for?" Tome said, giving him a wink.
Mob hung his head, his hands still twisting the hem of his shirt.
"Th..thank you."
Everyone smiled at Mob and shared looks with each other, but the feeling of warmth towards their friend was short lived as a loud shout echoed from outside. Everyone turned their heads towards the window just as a string of curse words could be heard from below.
They all rushed over to see what was happening, but Mob knew who it was from the voice.
Sure enough, when he squeezed between Ritsu and Tenga and squinted his eyes, he could see Reigen at the school gates, angrily glaring down at a mess of icing and cake that was in a colorful splat on the ground as Dimple floated around him, laughing.