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"Ritsu, Shou is here!"
Ritsu was still upstairs deciding what he should wear for the day. It was Saturday and Mob was at work today. He usually worked every other Saturday, so on the days Mob would work, Shou would come over and play video games with him. He always brought a new game for Ritsu to play, seemingly eager to wait for Ritsu to ask to borrow it. Seeing as Shou only came over twice a month, he usually did. That was why Ritsu liked to try and dress well. It worked for interviews, right? So why not for crushes?
Finally, he decided on a simple hoodie over his t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It wasn't as if they were going anywhere, except maybe the convenience store later, but sweatpants were pajamas. Maybe one weekend, he could get Shou to spend the night.
Ritsu headed down the stairs, but before he reached the bottom, he paused at the foot to listen in on what Shou was telling his mom.
"You spend every Sunday with her?" Mrs. Kageyama was saying.
"Of course! We always go to the park, even if it's raining," Shou responded.
'She'? Who was Shou talking about? Was this girl the reason Shou never came over on Sunday? Ritsu normally wasn't one to eavesdrop but with this topic, he couldn't help but stop and listen.
"Aren't you afraid you'll catch cold?" Ritsu's mother asked.
"Nah," Shou answered. "I have psychic powers just like Ritsu and his brother. I put up a barrier and the rain rolls right off."
"Yes, they do it for groceries sometimes. I suppose it does have its uses."
"She wishes I'd never gotten them, but I reassure her it's okay. I'm not dangerous like some people are, but she says that's not the problem."
Ritsu felt a twinge of anger at the nameless girl they were discussing. He loved Shou's powers and to take them away would detract from who he was. Why would anyone wish someone's powers away?
"Well, of course you aren't Shou, but take it from me, it can be a little disconcerting to those of us without powers."
Shou laughed, "Yeah, you guys don't know the half of it. But it's okay, she understands and she still loves me, powers or not. I love her too."
Ritsu's heart sank at hearing Shou's words. He already has someone he loves? So, he never even stood a chance. Whoever this girl was, Shou seemed to have been with her for a long time now. It was hard to beat that kind of history. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear anymore of it.
"That's sweet that you're so open about your feelings. I wish my boys were like that. Oh, speak of the devil. Ritsu, are you hungry? I was just making Shou some lunch. He said he didn't eat this morning, he was so excited to see you today."
"Sure, mom," Ritsu answered plainly, all his own enthusiasm from that morning now gone.
"I got this cool new game, you're gonna love it. I picked it up last week Sunday."
"Sunday, huh?" Ritsu asked. Probably got it from whoever his girlfriend is. He wondered what she'd think if she knew Shou lent them to Ritsu.
"Yeah, it released Friday but I couldn't get over there until Sunday. Snagged the last copy. I haven't even had a chance to play it myself yet! I wanted to experience it for the first time with you!"
"Oh, really?" he asked, still distracted. Well, at least his excitement to be with Ritsu was sincere. He supposed that ought to be good enough.
"Hey, are you okay?" Shou asked, genuinely concerned.
"Yeah! Don't worry about it. I just stayed up late last night finishing my homework early to prep for today!" Ritsu lied. He should be the bigger person and try to just be happy for Shou and whoever he was dating. Twice a month suddenly seemed like it wasn't enough.
"Here you go boys. It's not much, just some leftovers. Hope you like omurice, Shou," Mrs. Kageyama said before going to wash up.
"Shou will eat anything, Mom. He's like a garbage disposal," Ritsu teased, trying to lighten his own mood.
"Yeah," Shou agreed, his mouth already full. "You got any leftovers you need to get rid of, I'm your man."
Right now, Ritsu felt a lot like the leftovers.
-
"Come on, put it in, put it in!" Shou was urging Ritsu on, who was carefully popping the disc out of its case.
Ritsu laughed. "Hold on there, it will only go in so fast. I don't want to scratch it, especially if they were sold out." He sat on his bed next to Shou, who was sitting cross-legged in the center of the bed.
"Yeah, yeah," Shou waved him off. "Hey, while it's loading, I have something I wanna show you."
"You mean besides this game?" Shou was pretty excited about the game.
"Yeah, this is more important," he said, waving him off. He briefly dug around in his bag, muttering to himself as he looked. "Sweet, they aren't crushed!" Shou pulled out a rather large satchel. It was filled with individually wrapped chocolates. "Here! Isn't this bag huge? I think I could even fit inside it if I really tried."
Ritsu stared at the bag full of chocolate. His girlfriend really must like him to get him a bag of chocolates that big. Even still, Shou shouldn't be offering them to someone else. "Thanks, but... Isn't it rude to share those with me?" Ritsu asked politely.
Shou look shocked. "What, you can really eat all this?" he asked, amazed.
"What?" Ritsu was just as confused as Shou was. "No! I mean, why would you want me to eat chocolates your girlfriend gave you? Shouldn't you share them with her?" He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but puberty betrayed him and made it crack.
Shou was quiet for a second, searching Ritsu's face for some sign that Ritsu was joking. Then, when he didn't find it, he started to laugh anyway, "Dude, what are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend."
"Yes you do! I..." Ritsu started, trying not to sound distraught. Trying not to sound accusatory. It was his fault for eavesdropping. "I heard you talking to my mom about her. You spend every Sunday with her at the park and she loves you, and you love her..." He trailed off. He didn't trust his voice to go on anymore.
"Ritsu, that was..." Shou started, reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder, comforting him. Then, the serious mood was broken as Shou cracked a wide grin at him. "I was talking about my mom, stupid! I spend Sundays with my mom. You didn't know that?"
"Your mom?" Ritsu balked. Well, that certainly explained a lot of what his own mother said.
Shou was trying to contain his laughter. "I had to wait until Sunday to get this game because she's who takes me to the game store. We get one every week before I come here. I tell her all about you and she's gotten really into video games now. The games we play are ones she picks out," he explained. He ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe you thought I had a girlfriend!"
Ritsu was trying to wrap his head around it. Here he'd been jealous for nothing. "Then what are the chocolates for?" Ritsu asked defensively, trying to come up with an excuse for his reasoning that didn't involve admitting he had a crush on Shou.
"What are the- Oh my god." Shou's laughter died down slowly at that, his voice taking on a serious tone so that Ritsu wouldn't think he was joking around. "Ritsu, those are for you. I got them for you, for Valentine's Day. I know it's not for a few more days, but..."
"As... As a friend or...?" Ritsu was almost afraid of the answer.
"You think I'd get this much chocolate for just a friend?" Shou paused. "Okay, to be fair, yeah I would, but that's not what this is. I got this much for you because I thought a bigger amount would show how much I like you."
Ritsu stood frozen to the spot, his stomach doing hurdles. He'd gone from thinking he didn't stand a chance to receiving such a casual confession of feelings just like that. It was all too much to process for a 13-year-old.
"Ritsu? You okay?" Shou asked, seeming to find the whole ordeal much less formal than Ritsu did.
"I need to sit down."
"Yeah you do, you're blocking the screen!" Shou said, chucking one of the many, many chocolates at his back. Ritsu sat down and with shaking hands picked up the controller. "Now come on, let's see if my mom picked out a good one this week."
Ritsu swallowed thickly. Shou spent Sundays with his mom. That was all. No girlfriend, no big secret, just spending time with his mom. "Hey, Shou?" he asked finally.
"Yeah?" Shou answered, still looking at the screen as the game's opening cut scene started up.
"Do you want to spend the night?"