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Shigeo steps left, narrowly avoiding a beam of lighting shooting past his ear. His arms push forth in the air and expell psychic energy; it wraps around his attacker, subduing them without hurting them.
Even though it's been a year since Claw has been disbanded, a small group of copycat espers keep appearing every so often, trying to take over the city. Shigeo usually doesn't interfere— as advised from his master, Reigen— but when they get disruptive, actually threatening people's safety, he and his friends will ask them politely to stop (or fight them, when it eventually comes to it).
That's what he's doing right now with Teruki. He looks to his left where his friend and foe are fighting just in time to see Teruki get shoved into a wall. Shigeo yells out and steps forwrd, but before he can jump in to help, Teruki's familiar aura attacks, knocking out the other esper.
"Teruki!" Shigeo rushes over to his side. He's splayed on the floor, one arm resting on a large piece of concrete debris. Shigeo sighs; he looks mostly uninjured, besides his cheek, which is bleeding a bit. "Are you okay?"
Teruki groans, holds his head, and sits up. His arms shake slightly from where they're holding him up, behind his back. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." He gives Shigeo a wavering smile. "That guy wasn't that strong, he just caught me off guard."
Shigeo hums. He kneels next to Teruki, leaning forward to inspect the wound. The bleeding is slow and thin, barely reaching his chin, so it shouldn't be too worrying, but the sight causes his stomach to feel like it's dropping off a skyskraper.
"You don't look good." Shigeo frowns, leaning closer.
"Really? I thought I always looked good." Teruki jokes, grinning, but slowly drops it at Shigeo's blank expression. "I-I'm fine, really." Teruki's face is becoming red very fast. It hightens the worry in Shigeo's chest, and he decides that he needs to fix this.
He has bandaids in his backpack— courtesy of his experience in the Body Improvement Club— but that would only stop the bleeding. Teruki would still be hurting. Shigeo can tell from the trembling in his arms and the grimace his smile is replacing that it hurts more than he's letting on.
Shigeo takes the bandages of his bag, Teruki protesting as he does, and glaces from Teruki's cheek to his hands, deciding what size would be best.
"Shigeo—" Teruki sighs, then makes an odd choking noise when Shigeo grabs his chin, tilting it to the left, to lay the large bandaid over his cuts. Weird. Shigeo didn't push his throat or anything— he's gentle when he grasps him.
The bandaid is secure, but now Teruki looks even worse. His face is a blotchy red, his mouth is widening in shock, and he's completely tensed up. This isn't good at all. Shigeo was trying to make it better.
A memory jumps to mind; when he was much younger, he'd scraped his knee and was crying on the ground. His brother tried to console him, but the tears wouldn't stop. The only thing that calmed him down was his mother bending down and kissing his forehead. Warmth still spreads over him at the memory.
Teruki catches his breath. "Th-thank you, Shi—" Shigeo presses his lips against his uninjured cheek.
He leans back. Teruki stares.
Then he falls back on the debris, blood shooting from his nose.
"Teruki!?"
"Ah, I'm so sorry..!" Shigeo says. "I was trying to make you feel better."
Teruki suddenly jumps back up. Shigeo holds onto his shoulder to help his sit. "N-no, I'm definitely better." He nods quickly. "I feel like I never even got hurt!"
"Oh. Okay." Shigeo smiles.
Teruki stands on shakey legs, facing away from him. "Let's go report back to Reigen."
—
"Oww…"
"Are you okay?" Shigeo looks back to Teruki, who's holding his forehead with a grimace.
"I hit my head on the doorway." Shigeo looks up the the door. It only a bit shorter than average, but Teruki is quite tall, having hit a growth spurt earlier in the year. And the building they're investigating for spirits is old, so the wood is more likely to sag.
Shige hums. "I'm sorry, about that."
Teruki glances at him. "It just… hurts… so bad." His eyes dart between Shigeo's face and the floor. "…Maybe a kiss might make me feel better." He blushes and rubs the back of his neck.
Shigeo blinks. So, that one time really did help him? He smiles and grabs Teruki's shoulders, leaning up on his toes to reach his forehead.
Teruki's warm breath brushes the skin of his neck. His shoulder's are firm under his hands— if they wern't, both of them would've tumbled over by now— but Teruki holds onto his waist to steady him anyways. Shigeo appreciates the gesture.
When he plants his heels back on the ground, he looks up to Teruki's face, which is a furious red. Did Shigeo embarrass him somehow?
Well, if something's the matter, he's sure Teruki would tell him. He turns around and faces the inside of the decrepit building. "The spirit Reigen wants us to exorcise should be upstairs—"
—
"Ouch! Ugh, stupid…" Teruki mumbles and frowns down at his hand. At Shigeo's concerned glance, he waves his hand. "Ah, it's nothing, just a papercut."
Shigeo hums and grabs his wrist, bringing it u to his face.
"Ah— I-I need a bandaid."
"Oh." Shigeo lets go of his arm. It only takes him a minute to go to the bathroom and grab a bandaid, but the entire time he thinks about how silly he just made himself look; he thought he'd read Teruki's intentions right, seeing as he's been asking for "feel better" kisses a lot, recently. His ears heat up with embarassment.
Teruki smiles from Shigeo's desk when he walks back into his bedroom.
"Thanks!" Teruki wraps the bandage around his finger. "…I, uh, could use that kiss now." He smiles shyly.
Relief pushes the embarrassment out of his head. He leans down again and kisses Teruki's hand.
—
Shigeo has a problem. It's difficult to call any problems "big", now, after his experience with Claw and almost dying, but this one is definitely up there.
He doesn't know when it started, but recently he's realized that his friendship with Teruki isn't normal. Kissing and enjoying kissing his best friend isn't normal either. No, their friendship is much more like a relationship, and Shigeo likes that.
So after a minute of thinking critically about the warmth in his chest, Shigeo realizes that he really really wants to date him. Shigeo loves him. Every time he looks at his face feels like the first time; he keeps pausing while be walks and blushing like a fool, and came close to hitting a pole. It's a miracle that Teruki hasn't caught on yet, or maybe a curse, because how is he supposed to tell Teruki how he feels?
He's trying. He is. But it almost feels like Teruki is purposely trying to be oblibious. Fore example, a few days ago, he'd scrounged up the courage to confess.
"Teruki, I like you a lot." Shigeo uses all the conviction he has into the words making sure they're louder than a mumble. They're both laying back on the grass, staring at the clouds above. It's the perfect moment to confess, as everything around them is beautiful, just like Teruki. "You've been by my side for so long, and I'm always happy when you are. I feel like, we really understand each other, and you make me a better person."
"Hm?" Teruki tilts his head to the side. The dewey grass pushes into his cheek. He smiles. "I like you too, Shigeo. I wouldn't be who I am today without you."
Shigeo stares for a moment. It doesn't feel like a revelation has been made… Teruki's face is the same as always. In his mind, he imagined this moment going differently, ending with them kissing and holding hands. Was he not clear enough?
"I love you."
Teruki smiles wider and laughs. "Aw, I love you too!"
How can he make this any clearer!? Shigeo sighs and looks up at the clouds. The wind guides grass to lap at the side of his face. He needs to think about another way to tell him. A way he'll understand.
There were a few other times, too, where he'd said the same thing— and Teruki responded in turn, seeming completely unaware of the Shigeo's love being shoved at him.
So he has to think outside the box to get his confession through.
Shigeo controls his breath, careful not to let it become obviously nervous. Today's the day, he's going to do it and finally date Teruki— because he has no doubts that Teruki likes him too, there's no way, with his behavior towards him being so different than with his other friends.
It took a lot of thinking, but he finally realized that a physical confession might work best. So, not letting a weekend day go to waste, he invited Teruki to go shopping with him. It's not as romantic of a scene as before, but confessing during one of their regilar hangouts seems good, too; comforting, maybe.
Currently, Shigeo is sitting on a bench, shaded by a large lilac tree, next to Teruki, whose shopping bag sits between them. He's listening to Teruki speak, not completely focusing, as he has something much more pressing on his mind.
"Teruki." Shigeo interrupts his sentence, but Teruki doesn't look bothered when he turns.
"Yeah?"
Shigeo grabs the bag inbetween them, setting it on the floor. "Hm?" Teruki tilts his head, still smiling.
Shigeo grabs his cheeks and smashes their lips together… and then immediately retracts his face after their noses smash together, too.
"Ow—" Shigeo scrunches his face, taking his hands away from Teruki's face to cup his nose, but before he can, Teruki grabs his wrists.
Teruki kisses him.
Teruki's kissing him. His lips brush Shigeo's for a moment, hesitating, before they press against his firmly. Shigeo squeaks and grips Teruki's shoulders. He feels warmth travel from his blushing cheeks down to his neck, and he's sure he's completely red now.
Teruki leans back, seperating from him.
"You… you like me?" Teruki asks gingerly, as if holding onto a threat that at any moment could slip from his grasp.
Shigeo huffs. "I've been trying to tell you."
"Oh." He laughs suddenly before resting his head on the junction of Shigeo's neck. "I like you too. So much."
"…Can we kiss again?" Teruki doesn't wait to respond with words; he immediately leans back in.