Chapter Text
Mob doesn’t leave the apartment anymore.
He remembers a time when he did, though. He remembers going to school and being around people. He remembers walking down the street back home, past cars and streetlights and houses. He remembers going grocery shopping with his mother.
His parents couldn’t take care of him though, and he understands. Mob tries not to let it hurt. He has his own space now, an apartment far from his childhood home, and that’s nice.
It’s a place where he can scream as much as he wants without upsetting anyone.
+++
Ritsu has a spare key to Mob’s apartment that he uses only when Mob doesn’t answer the door.
Usually, Mob is either asleep or sitting in front of the tv, staring blankly with the volume up too high.
Sometimes though, on the other side of Mob’s door, Ritsu finds what he is seeing now.
His brother is curled up just outside the bathroom. He is twitching and convulsing on the floor and biting back screams through bleeding lips as he holds himself tightly together. Ritsu knows that Mob had probably been trying to make it to the bath tub. Mob had told him once that it was the safest place to be during one of his “attacks” or “explosions.”
The groceries Ritsu has brought are dropped unceremoniously on the floor while he shuts the door and then hurries over to his brother’s side. Mob sees him coming through a single squinted eye, the other obscured because it is pressed into the carpet, and holds out a shaking hand to his little brother. Ritsu takes it and ignores the tearing feeling in his chest when Mob pulls the hand close to him and curls up even more tightly.
“What is it?” Ritsu asks, running his free hand through Mob’s sweaty bangs, subtly trying to apply pressure to his head so that it will stop shaking.
“Fire.” Mob chokes out, “Hurts, Ritsu. F-feels like, anger.” Then he goes back to biting his lips as another ripple of pain shakes his spine.
Ritsu bites at his own lips, and tightens his grip on Mob’s hand. “Breathe, brother, breathe. It’ll pass. It always does.” He says, reassuringly, still running his fingers through Mob’s hair even when they tremble. He keeps his voice steady though, “It’ll pass. You’ll be alright. It’ll pass.”
It takes minutes that seem like hours, but when it’s finally over, Mob simply lies on the ground. His chest is heaving with large gasped breaths, as if he were trying to make up for all the air he’d lost while breathing shallowly through fire and smoke. Ritsu doesn’t dare pull away until Mob lets go of his hand himself, and then he helps his brother sit up.
“Sorry.” Mob says, his voice rough, throat torn from the screaming he must have done earlier before collapsing and curling up.
Ritsu shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything until after he’s helped Mob stand up and then sit back down on the couch, “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” But Mob is shutting down again, Ritsu can see it, and Mob ends up just staring blankly in response to Ritsu’s words.
The groceries across the room call to him, and Ritsu rubs Mob’s shoulder comfortingly before going to get the bags and take them to the kitchen. He’s putting away a fresh carton of milk when Mob speaks again.
“I’m sorry you went through this alone, Ritsu.”
Ritsu feels all of his life leave his body in an instant.
“It must’ve been hard, being away at school and having no one.” Ritsu looks over at his older brother, sees the way Mob’s fingers twist in the hem of his shirt, sees the wet gleam to Mob’s dark eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Ritsu feels like there are cacti growing in his chest, stabbing his lungs. He goes over to Mob and takes his brother’s hands in his. Mob looks at him in slight shock, not having expected the touch.
“It’s fine. It’s fine. I’m recovered, aren’t I? Plus, I didn’t have it for very long.”
Mob bites at his ruined lip, “But still-”
Ritsu cuts him off, “Brother, don’t apologize. It’s fine. Plus, you’re the one with it now , the past doesn’t matter anymore.”
With over wet eyes, Mob whispers, “But it does.”
Ritsu lets his brother bend and fold into his shoulder. He keeps Mob’s thin shaking hands clasped in his. He lets Mob cry.
He tries and fails to not feel like a terrible person for lying to his brother. For saying that he had and recovered from the disease that Mob now is suffering from that causes the victim to see and experience extremely realistic hallucinations. In an effort to give his brother hope, Ritsu has only dug himself a hole.
Yet Mob is the one constantly apologizing.
+++
Ritsu gets back to his own apartment late at night, when it’s already dark out. He had stayed at Mob’s to make dinner for them both. Then, when dinner was over, he had packaged himself up some leftovers, made sure his brother would be alright for the rest of the night, and began the journey home.
When he entered his apartment, he fully expected to be alone. But instead, there is someone crawling in through his window.
Ritsu stares for a moment, not quite believing what he’s seeing. He’s seeing a head of fiery orange hair, a set of tan hands, bright turquoise eyes, and a beaming smile, all crawling in through his window.
“Yo!” The stranger says through that beaming smile.
Ritsu lets out a battle cry, crosses the room in a leap, and punches the stranger square on the nose.
Instead of falling backwards out of the window like Ritsu had hoped, the stranger instead falls forwards when he lets go of the wall to clutch at his face. He tumbles in and nearly knocks Ritsu over when he collides with Ritsu’s legs, and Ritsu staggers backwards before reaching down to try and continue fighting the stranger.
“Ow, hey, stop!” And then, inexplicably, the stranger disappears from Ritsu’s sight.
Ritsu’s hands are still gripping something though. He yanks, and feels between his fingers the stranger’s jacket that he had grabbed, and the weight of the stranger wearing it.
“What, in hell, is going on.” Ritsu breathes heavily, “Who are you?”
The stranger reappears, staring up into Ritsu’s eyes. “Are you going to stop hitting me?”
Ritsu makes a contemplative sound in his throat, and doesn’t confirm yes or no.
“Good enough,” The stranger shrugs. He holds a hand up into Ritsu’s face somehow even though Ritsu still is holding him by his jacket collar, “I’m Shou. Shou Suzuki.”
Ritsu still doesn’t let go, “Why were you breaking into my apartment?” He shakes Shou a tiny bit.
“Can you please let me go at least?” Shou pleads.
Ritsu responds by simply releasing his grip and letting Shou drop right to the floor. His back hits it with a thump and he yelps a bit at the impact.
Shou’s hand is still sticking out in an offer for a shake, but it lowers when Shou sees Ritsu straighten up and cross his arms. Ritsu is squinting a glare down at him, and Shou gulps behind his smile.
“You certainly are a welcoming guy.” Shou jokes.
Ritsu doesn’t budge, “I’m not trying to make you feel welcome.”
“Fair enough.” Shou concedes, as he pushes himself up on his elbows and then rolls over so he can more easily stand up.
With his guard still up, Ritsu watches, ready to throw another punch just in case. Shou doesn’t seem to have malicious intentions though. He just seems… weird.
“So!” Shou brushes himself off, “You wanted to know what I was doing here?”
“Yes.” Ritsu deadpans.
“Well, I’m running from someone. But also, I’m trying to stop an evil organization bent on world domination, but right now, mainly I’m running from someone.”
For a moment, Ritsu is taken aback, and he blinks at the grinning Shou in front of him. He hadn’t honestly expected a truthful explanation, and although he knows there’s a lot of details he’s missing, the straightforward summary was a bit of a surprise.
But then the actual words that Shou had said register, “Wait, what?!” Ritsu shouts, “I- I’m not going to let you hide out in my apartment from anyone! I don’t even know you!”
Shou shrugs, and walks over to Ritsu’s couch. He flops down onto his back on it without hesitation, “Oh, I introduced myself already though, didn’t I? You’re the rude person who hasn’t shared your name.”
“I’m not telling you my name.” Ritsu hisses, stomping over to beside the couch so he can glare down at Shou, “Get off my couch. You’re obviously crazy and I’m not letting you hide from anyone, made up evil organization or otherwise, in my apartment.”
“You’ve got it wrong!” Shou says, sitting up a bit, as if the need to correct Ritsu were dragging him into an upright position, “I’m not running from the organization, well, I mean, technically,” He hums in thought a moment, eyes unfocused, before getting back on track and looking up at Ritsu again, “I’m mainly trying to stop the organization, and the running is being done from someone else, who now that you mention it, is from the organization, so I guess I am running from them. Hm.”
Ritsu grits his teeth, “I’m going to punch you again.”
Shou vaults over the back of the couch more quickly than a bullet from a shotgun, and then he completely disappears.
“Being hit is no fun so I’d rather you not.” Comes Shou’s disembodied voice, as Ritsu gapes at the empty space. Shou had disappeared earlier as well, when Ritsu had had his fists buried in his jacket, but Ritsu hadn’t really been focusing on that at the time.
Now though, Shou’s little invisibility trick has his full attention, “How- how are you- what-”
“Speechless, huh? I know, it’s great.” Shou’s voice says, close to his left side. Ritsu’s eyes tremble when he tries to squint and see if he can somehow find Shou.
When Shou reappears, he’s on Ritsu’s right side. Shou’s grin is full and smug, and Ritsu glares.
“How are you doing that?” Ritsu asks, trying to seem collected and in control.
Shou puts a finger to his lips, “It’s a secret.” He winks.
Ritsu makes a jerking motion, as if to hit Shou again, and Shou fades from sight once more. Ritsu snorts, “Wow, you’re brave.” He lets the question of Shou’s invisibility powers drop, for now.
Across the room, Shou reappears. He’s pouting. There’s a look in his eyes though that lets Ritsu know that Shou is aware he’ll ask again later about his power, but not anymore right now.
So instead, Ritsu reaffirms a previous statement, “I’m not letting you hide in my apartment.”
“But will you let me stay in your apartment?” Shou asks, “Staying is different from hiding. Plus, I think you’d be a great help at fighting this organization. You’ve already got the punching part down.”
“I punched you because you broke into my apartment. I’m not going to go around punching people from an evil organization that I don’t even know about. I’ve got more important things to do with my life.” Ritsu says, voice falling into a snarl. He thinks of Mob, alone in his own apartment for the night, and of the prescription Ritsu needs to fill for him tomorrow and then take over.
“Hmm.” Shou hums, “I could always fill you in on all the details, but that might take awhile.”
“Yeah, no, not doing that.” Ritsu moves towards Shou again, “Just, get out, get out of my apartment. I’ve had enough of your craziness for the night.”
Shou, seeming to finally recognize that he’s lost the battle, dances around Ritsu and, thankfully, over toward the door. “Yikes, yikes, alright.” He, surprisingly, surrenders. His hands are up on either side of his head, and Ritsu watches them for any laser beams or other weird things. If a man can turn invisible, there’s no saying what else he could do. “I’ll find somewhere else to hide for the night, but,” he opens the door for himself, and then grins back at Ritsu, “I’ll see ya, Ritsu.”
Then, he’s faded once more from sight, and the door shuts. Ritsu is left standing in his apartment, alone, feeling like a flash tornado has just hit his life.
He doesn’t want to think about the stranger Shou Suzuki or the evil organization he mentioned any more, but as he flops, face first, onto his couch, Ritsu realizes that he never told Shou his name.
+++
“He was weird, kept rambling about some evil organization, and then, brother, he turned invisible right in front of me.” Ritsu says to Mob the next day, as he sets Mob’s prescription on the counter and then flops onto Mob’s couch like he had flopped onto his own just the night before. The news is on, but the volume low, and Ritsu can hear the clatter of pills as Mob, who is sitting on the counter, takes the bottle into his hands.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?” Mob asks, sliding off the counter and getting himself a glass of water. Ritsu twists on the couch so he can see over into the kitchen, and he watches for a moment as Mob shakes two red pills out, closes and sets the bottle back on the counter, and then knocks the medicine back with a gulp of water and a trembling hand.
Ritsu digs into his jacket pocket and then holds up the note that he had found that morning, on his floor, that Shou must have dropped. Mob walks closer and takes it from him so he can more easily read it.
On the note is a scribbled little winking hamster face, a phone number, and a “Call me! - Shou”
Mob stares at Ritsu. Ritsu flushes, “He’s crazy.”
“It looks like he likes you.” Mob says, handing the note back to Ritsu, lips twitching only slightly in a softer version of a very older brother-y smirk.
Ritsu, still red, bristles, “He doesn’t know me.” He turns back around on the couch with a huff, “And I don’t know him.”
Mob is about to reply when there’s a knock on the door.
He doesn’t even get the chance to move to open it before Ritsu is up, off the couch, across the apartment, and yanking open the door. He cries, “I knew it’d be you !” And then suddenly is wrestling Shou on the floor of Mob’s apartment, “I don’t know how, but I knew! Leave my brother out of your craziness!”
Mob, with his eyes wide, inches around the tussling two so that he can shut his apartment door.
“C’mon Ritsu don’t be like that!”
“And how did you know my name? I never told it to you!”
Mob picks up his glass of water from earlier and sits down on top of his counter again, so he can get a good view.
“It was destiny!”
“You’re insane!”
“Also, I came here to talk to you again, not your brother, don’t- oof! - worry - hey watch it-!”
“How did you know where my brother lived?”
“I followed yo- hey ow ow ow what is it with you and the hitting ?”
“Brother call the police on this stalker-”
“I’m not a stalker!”
Mob laughs. He hides it behind his right hand, but he still laughs. His shoulders shake and it sounds kind of like he’s hiccuping.
But it brings the rough housing on his floor to a halt, as both Ritsu and Shou listen to the rare sound and watch Mob’s eyes squint with mirth.
Ritsu feels a little grateful to Shou then, since it’s been a long time since Mob has laughed like that, but when the moment is over he roughly pushes Shou off of him and away.
“Alright, talk, you have one minute to explain before I call the police.” He shoots Mob a small, betrayed glare, since Mob hadn’t even made a move to call the police earlier when Ritsu had shouted for him to. Mob, still smiling behind his hand, only shrugs.
This is probably the most excitement Mob has seen in years, and the most he’s seen another person besides Ritsu. Ritsu knows this, so he really can’t hold his glare on his brother for long. So he switches it’s focus to Shou.
“I already explained most last night!” Shou says, “About the evil organization and everything, I was just coming to ask again if I could hide at your place. But you weren’t there, and the place was absolutely trashed , so I found you at the pharmacy and followed you here and figured you were staying here now because your place was trashed.”
Ritsu stares at him, “... My place is trashed?! ”
Shou nods, “Yep, absolutely wrecked.” He says, as if there’s nothing wrong with that statement at all.
Ritsu growls, “ Suzuki.” and then he pushes past Shou and towards Mob’s apartment door. He throws it open and hurries out into the hall, likely to go back to his apartment to verify what Shou says as truth.
Of course, because Ritsu had gone in a bit of haste, Shou is left standing in Mob’s apartment with Mob, who is still sitting on the counter.
“Aren’t you coming?” Shou asks, while he also moves towards the door.
Mob stares at where his brother disappeared and bites his lip, “Mm, no. I can’t, really. Leave, that is.”
“Why?” Shou is just a step away from the hallway.
“I’ve got a disease,” Mob admits, “I have hallucinations that I feel like are real. Things don’t really go well when I hallucinate and am outside.”
Shou stops, right on the line, half in Mob’s apartment and half out, “But if you have the disease, and the disease is in you, why does it matter where you go? You shouldn’t let it stop you.”
Mob gapes, unable to respond, already thinking about what Shou said. Then Ritsu comes crashing back into the conversation, slamming into Shou’s back, grabbing him by the collar, “I told you to leave my brother alone, now let's go . I’m not leaving you alone to let you escape if you’re the cause of this.”
Shou grins like he’s won something, and it’s a grin that only Mob can see since Ritsu is facing the other way and pulling Shou down the hall. Mob stares, stunned, as they both leave.
Despite everything, Mob stays.