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"My hair's getting too long."
Mob must have been spacing out somewhat, since Teru felt the boy next to him jump slightly at the sound of his voice. They'd been walking in leisurely silence thus far, and the sudden statement had likely taken him by surprise. Teru meant to apologize, but Mob was quicker: "...What do you mean? I think it looks fine..."
Teru hesitated to explain himself. Today was a nice day, uncharacteristically warm for this early in the year, and their friendship had been going especially well lately. Should he really risk ruining all this with his own problems? Then again, if they were friends, he should be able to share his troubles with Mob, shouldn’t he? Especially since the latter had been the one to ask, it would be rude if he simply shot him down with no explanation…
He kept pouting for a moment more, staring down the strands falling between his eyes, before he sighed:
"Look at it, it's starting to look like... The way it was back then."
Mob blinked back owlishly, head tilted slightly in confusion.
"…You know, when we first met…" slowly added Teru: "…when I tried to kill you."
"Oh right... I almost forgot about that."
"What do you mean you... Never mind…” As it was, almost half the people Mob knew had tried to kill him at some point or another. In fact it was almost reassuring to know that Mob didn’t seem to dwell on that too much.
The silence returned. Teru wondered how he should keep going, because he knew he had more to say, but he was unsure of how to continue, how to best voice these thoughts…
Life metaphorically threw him a life line in the form of Mob asking: "You still think about that?"
Teru took a small moment to feel proud of his friend for having successfully read the atmosphere. Whether he’d gotten better at it in general, or had simply learned to read Teru specifically, it was still progress.
"Of course I do!" Exclaimed Teru, a little offended. "It was one of the most important days in my life!"
"Why?" Asked Mob. It was blunt, but not dishonest.
Teru sputtered: "What do you mean why?? Because I met you, because it was the first time someone beat some sense into me, because you made me realize I wasn't all that I thought I was, that everyone including me are just commoners trying to make things work, and that I had to change... That's important to me."
Mob seemed to consider this for a moment, before he nodded: "That does make sense."
The rather plain reaction gave rise to more questions within Teru, and he wondered whether he should press or not. He ends up doing so: "Kageyama-kun, is it... Not, important to you?"
Mob hummed, tilting his head thoughtfully: "I wouldn't say it's unimportant. Just that there are many more things that happened with you since then that are more important."
"Like... What?" Teru scrambled his brain to find anything of the like, but he had a hard time imagining it.
"Well. Like the time you helped me save my brother. The times we've studied together, or gone to watch movies. That time when my house burned down and you wanted to help me find my parents. Or that time we went shopping together, and you picked out that shirt for me... Even if no one else thought it looked nice."
Teru couldn't help but grumble a little at that last part. The shirt had been nice, damn it!
"But why?" He couldn't help but ask: "A lot of those are completely normal things, why would those be more important to you?"
Mob stopped, and Teru had gone a few steps ahead before noticing. He turned back and, recognizing the look on Mob's face, moved to stand closer as he waited. He knew that expression well: it was the one Mob took when he was thinking hard, his usual blank stare now unfocused, a small crease appearing on his forehead.
Once he'd gathered the thoughts and properly turned them into words, he looked up to Teru and slowly said:
"It's because those are the moments where it's most obvious that you've changed. Because you're being a good friend. A good person."
Those words hit him deep. ...Did he really deserve to be called those things? A friend? A good person? Then again, Mob certainly wouldn't say it without reason...
Teru opened his mouth to answer, but Mob didn't leave him the chance: "So that's why I don't understand why you're worried about your hair. It might look the same, but we both know that you aren't."
The other boy shrugged a little, now at a bit of a loss. How should he put this...
"...I guess it is kind of ridiculous. But I can't help but associate that with the way I was back then, and I'm scared that... What if that's still how others see me? What if it's still how you see me? I've been horrible, so I wouldn't blame them for that, but it still hurts... So I've been keeping my hair short to separate myself from that, but it keeps growing back..."
"If people think that, then they're wrong, or they haven’t been paying attention," suddenly cut Mob: "The fact that you're worried about that proves it."
Teru was... Honestly left rather speechless. He’d thought it had been just a little thing, something he could ignore and get over on his own, but now… With Mob proving it wrong so bluntly, with so little hesitation… The weight was off Teru’s shoulders, and only now could he appreciate how heavy it had been.
Teru laughed:
"...You know what Kageyama-kun? You're absolutely right! This is exactly why our friendship matters so much to me…"
Now it was Mob's turn to be struck speechless.
"...Its not that great really... It's just something Shishou told me..."
"That doesn't surprise me. Your shishou's so wise!"
Mob agreed with a nod, happy as always to see others agree with him about Reigen: "He said that people are like trees. They may look the same on the outside, but everyday they're growing and changing and becoming slightly different. Even if you can't tell, it's wrong to assume people will always be the same, and even if they wanted to, it’s impossible for them to go back to their previous states… Or something like that."
Teru's eyes drifted to the row of alders lining the street: "Like trees, huh?" He murmured pensively. It was a fair analogy. Growing was normal, changing was normal... Trees didn't shrink, and neither did people... They built off what was already there to reach for the sky.
Before he could stop himself, he found a smile making it's way upon his face.
"Thank you, Kageyama-kun."
"Ah... For what? I didn't do much..."
"You gave me advice. That's important to me." Teru inhaled deeply: “You’re important to me.”
"O- oh." There was a moment of quiet tension, before Mob answered: “You’re important to me too.”
They shared a smile. Until they simultaneously remembered they’d been heading somewhere, before having stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
And so they kept on walking, with Mob glad he'd been able to successfully support his friend, and Teru thinking that if his hair wanted to change along with him, then why not let it. That wasn’t what mattered most anyway.