#Switch!Teru

[kanene-yaaay]

A Little Pick Me Up!

Kanene’s note: FIRST FIC OF THE YEAR!!! LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Hope you didn’t forget about me, since I didn’t post since last year :DDD *ba dum tss*

Yeah yeah I am very funny thank you <3

This story is 100% inspirated on @carrie-tate‘s headcanons that Teru likes to randomly pick up Shigeo and give him raspberries so Shigeo starts training to be able to do the same thing with him sdfghjfghjuk. Absolutely lovely <3

Warnings: Raspberries. This is a tickle fic with Switch!Mob and Switch!Teruki. Around 3.500 words.

[~*~]

That was something hitting his window.

It was too light. Too often. Too loud, swimming around his mindless, peaceful sleep and rudely pulling him bit by bit from it without permission.

Shigeo kept his eyes closed, shuffling even further on his comforter and refusing to acknowledge the sound until it disappeared. Sometimes spirits liked to cause a ruckus at night and that was none of his business. Nor something he particularly cared about, not when his bed never felt any comfier.

There was still an insistent tap-tap-tap on his window. 

He opened his eyes and sat on his futon with soundless movements, face carefully kept in a neutral mask while his eyes focused on the glass with a strong intent, showing his unhappiness at having to be up and about at this hour. 

An annoyed gruff was already yawning on the back of his throat.

Teruki waved at him from behind the window. 

Shigeo turned to his right, looking at the second futon right next to his own, watching with a lost feeling its emptiness and the blankets that were messily thrown around it as if they could explain exactly why his friend was locked outside the room when they wished each other a goodnight a few hours ago, cutting their sleepover short and going to sleep after a whole afternoon hanging out.

He turned back to Teruki. 

Blink.

He was still out there and not magically materialized on the spot besides him.

The blond waved before putting his hands around his face and mouthing something.

"Let me in!"

His movements were still sluggish, painted and shaded by a sleepiness that insisted on getting attached to his very bones, but Shigeo got up and walked to the window, opening it.

It was windy outside and cold too, the breeze almost freezing enough to cover the warm feeling on his chest when Teru smiled at him with a hint of mischief on the slight tilt of his lips. His hair would be even messier than the normal by morning.

"Sorry. The wind slammed the window when I stepped out and I got stuck." The glint on his eyes didn't show an ounce of tiredness. Each breath seemed to invigorate him. Somehow he didn't seem very sorry at all. "Come here, I want to show you something!"

"No, thank you, I don't want to." And Shigeo turned away, already heading back to the comfort and warmth of his bed.

He managed to successfully get to the middle of the way before an arm sneaked under his knees, holding them together while the other one rested on his back, tipping the one with black hair sideways and lifting him up as he lost his balance with half protesting grumble, the only reaction he had to suddenly and unexpectedly finding himself being carried bridal style by the other.

He stared at Teru and his playful grin with his usual neutral face, not a tad or two more alarmed than the normal with his current situation. The Body Improvement Club prepared him to being carried and picked up out of the blue.

“What are you doing?”  Teru only adjusted his arms so he could be in a comfortable position. There was something hilarious (or maybe it was just the tiredness) on the way Mob only blinked in his direction and simply nothing more, totally unimpressed and one hundred percent done with everything already as he began walking back to the outside, liking very much the sensation of having him in his arms. “I want to go back to sleep.”

Who would say that the most powerful esper to ever exist would come in a pickable size.

“This will be real quick, don’t worry.” The one with blond hair summoned his telekinesis, testing it for a bit before feeling satisfied with the result and activating it fully and joggling in zigzag in the air until both of them were safely situated on the rooftop of the Kageyama’s house.

He opened his mouth, ready to present his surprise when something pressed on his shoulder. Teru looked down only to see Shigeo grumble a little more and hold tightly his pajama’s shirt, face still locked on the same place, firmly shoved on the space between his shoulder and chest.

For a moment all Teru could do was stare at him with slightly wide eyes, instinctively pulling Shigeo closer. 

Then it hit him.

“Telekinesis gives you motion sickness, right? Sorry, I kind of forgot about that.” He winced at his own words. ‘Kind of forgot about that’. God, his charm never seemed to help him when he really needed it to.

“It’s fine.” The voice was muffled because of the fabric, but for what Teru could perceive there wasn’t any signal strong distress on his friend’s tune, only a light discomfort. His face also didn’t look any paler than normal and there wasn’t any drop of sweat on his neck. 

The blond felt his posture relax, not ever realizing that he was that tense in the first place.

Well, better focus on the reason he did all that work then, right?

“I woke up because of an explosion nearby.” The night was quiet, so it felt only natural to accompany it with calm whispers. Tonight the wind was cold and insistent, just enough to leave a couple or more of shivers running on his spine and making the leaves shake with a slight hissing sound. It felt like a storm was slowly creeping closer. “It made the power go away and it seems to have affected the whole neighborhood and maybe the next block as well, so it probably won’t take too long before it comes back.”

Shigeo began to slowly detach his face from its hiding spot, the light nausea that hinted to appear already going away and giving space to the curiosity gradually filling his mind with each one of Hanazawa’s words. 

He didn’t even realize that the streetlamps weren’t working, but now it was clear that they couldn’t be. He could still see and there was still light surrounding them, but it felt less… sharp and flaring than the normal.

“That is why I woke you up.” A whisper, a murmur. Teruki always felt energetic, shiny and colorful, as if it was only natural for all the attention to be focused on him and his words (even if sometimes he looked at Shigeo as if his attention could be everything he could ever want). It was very different to hear him talking so low and reverently. It was very… nice. Comfortable. Warm. He really liked it. “I didn’t know how long we would have, but… Look.”

So he did. Mob looked up and found Teruki’s eyes before he tipped them upwards, making the shorter one follow his gaze to the sky.

The sky full of stars.

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

The farthest points in the street were bathed in darkness, as far as his eyes could reach there was only a deep black greeting him back, which only highlighted the illumination coming from the sky. Stars twinkled in and out their shine as heavy dark clouds slowly navigated around them, moving forward with the wind and dipping their surroundings in shows of light and darkness dancing in harmony.

It was infinite, stretching and taking over absolutely everywhere, being present on the light, on the wind, on every ounce of their surroundings, filling him with an unspeakable sensation. 

The feeling that something so big and beautiful was so just right there, too far and too close at the very same time. And they had the chance to see it.

Shigeo has no idea of how much time passed with them just… standing there. Enjoying the simple, cozy moment in between the silence and their quiet breaths.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yes.” Teruki agreed easily, and, as if the words had broken the spell, turned back at him with a slight smirk playing on his lips. “So, wasn’t this worth waking up to? I didn't know you were such a grumpy pants when you’re sleepy.”

“I wasn’t being grumpy.” Replied Shigeo, in a tune that definitely wasn’t a grump one, of course. Just a bit displeased. And rational. Very calm and rational, just exactly as he had been the entire time as he was awake in the middle of the night because he wasn’t a grumpy pants.

Teruki tried to not snicker at the clear hint of a pout in the other’s face, his cheeks beginning to puff out with his pokes of friendly fun. “You were. Just like a disheveled kitten meowing in betrayal because someone took you out of your warm bed.”

A lovely shade of red began to paint Mob’s cheeks, which, as consequence, got even more puffed out in protest, words disappearing from his mind before he could reply such teasing.

“A disheveled kitten?”

“Hmm…” The Hanazawa made a thoughtful face, slightly adjusting Shigeo on his arms as he pulled him closer. “Actually, no, wait. Forget that. If you really were an animal I know exactly which one you would be.”

There was something dangerous with the way the blonde stared at him, a twinkling shine on his eyes, a certain quirk in the corner of his mouth, the way fingers twitched…He was planning something.

A shiver ran across Mob’s spine.

He knew that gaze very well.

“Which… one?”

Teru’s grin only grew, making butterflies shake their wings in excitement on his stomach. His own lips began forming a wobbly smile before he could even think in stopping them.

“A giggle bug.”

Then he took a big, exaggerated breath and Shigeo’s eyes widened, hands coming to his chest in a pacifying motion, caught in between the idea of trying to push the other away and try to defend himself and wrap them around his vulnerable, sensitive, ticklish midsection, but ending up not doing any of the two things. 

“Teru!” But the other was still distracted with the way-too-over-the-top and unnecessary deep breath, which was quite good because Mob didn’t even know what he wanted to say or how he could end that phrase. Words never came easily to him and now that his thoughts felt like they were scrambling all around his head, sentences simple were mixing themselves with giggles and the danger signals his nerves were sending non stop, making his entire torso feel like a gigantic tickle spot with plenty of feathers spreading a madly tingling sensations on absolutely everywhere.

He tried to pull his legs upwards and curl in a defensive ball, but the hand carrying him kept them nice and cozy right where they were.

How can Teru still-

With a swift, quick move, Teru finally (finally) lowered his head.

For a second, Shigeo was frozen by the raspberry, brain halting to a stop and the entire time and space freezing in a single blink.

Until it all came crashing down.

There were ticklish shocks running across every single ounce of skin, the vibrations spreading from the single point where the blond’s lips connected to his belly to dance and torment all the nerves nearby, pulling a wheezed snort from his mouth before his silent laughter and hiccups took over, whole body shaking and bouncing with every single one.

As quick as it came, the raspberry was over and Mob could only lay there and let his giggles dance freely on the sudden silence for the few seconds it lasted, using the break to take gulps of oxygen and try to not let the rest of his features disappear under the giant smile stretched across his face.

He opened his eyes. His vision was slightly blurry, but he could perfectly see the joyful, adoring blue eyes watching him in a soft expression. Then the dangerous light was back and a smirk took over  Teru’s mouth before it opened once again and he began taking another deep breath.

Shigeo, now knowing exactly what was about to happen, shoved his face on the other’s shoulder  once more, the tips of his ears getting completely red as his own shoulders bounced non stop with a giddy delight, the butterflies once again flying and panicking on his stomach, titters and quiet squeaks rolling in flocks by his throat.

Another raspberry. Another roll of laughter. And another. And another. And another. And another. And-

Let’s just say that Mob was left in a much better mood when they got inside the house than when he had to go out.

(...)

Mob was staring at him.

It was something he did sometimes. Stopped everything he was doing and just… looked at Teruki. Eyes following him through whatever he was doing, gaze clued on his gestures, all the attention directed at his words as the teen fell in another of his dramatic rambles about a senseless whatever.

Teruki couldn’t really say that he minded when it happened. It was actually very cute. It reminded him of a cat and more than a few times he would turn around to stare at the one with black hair back and slowly blink at him, only to chuckle when Mob replied to him in the same way.

(He never discovered if Mob realized the joke and got in on it to amuse him or if he just was mirroring him because he didn’t want to leave Teru hanging. Or maybe Mob was really just part cat. Either way, it was still very adorable and it made his heart want to melt inside his chest when he thought too much about it.)

So, back to the matter, Shigeo just came back from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and was now looking at him rather intently. Teruki finished sending a few more messages to the class’ group before turning off his phone, an amused air on his expression as he also focused his attention on the other one.

Shigeo lighty tilted his head to the right and left the bowl on the coffee table, giving Teru another searching glance before deciding to fixate his gaze on his own hands. Teru wondered what was going on inside his mind.

Today they were reunited in the Hanazawa’s apartment in celebration of the fact that, after months of training, Mob was able to finish his first entire week of doing his sets of exercises, complete with weight lifting and running through the Body Improvement Club’s usual track.

Without passing out a single time!

Everyone was very proud of the shorter boy.

Shigeo nodded to himself, getting a determined look on his face (with his eyebrows lightly furrowed and the corner of his mouth just slightly tipped upwards) and basically throwing himself on the blonde.

Teru let out a quite embarrassing squawk at this, body throwing itself from its sitting position in face of the eminent attack by reflex, the hands that wobbly wormed their way under his knees and shoulders making him try to squirm out of the hold before realizing that it was just Shigeo trying to carry him.

Wait.

His body was lifted, no longer laying on the couch and being completely supported by the other’s pure physical strength.

Shigeo was carrying him!!

He hastily turned his attention to Mob, who let out a happy soft noise, a few shades of red being painted on his cheeks when Teruki laughed joyfully and locked his arms behind his neck, letting his fingers skitter a bit on the ticklish skin just to see his proud smile expand and the shorter to try to scrunch his neck in a ineffective illusion of a protection.

The arms under him began trembling uncontrollably, the strain starting to get into his muscles as his legs seemed to be transitioning from bones and muscles to the state of unstable wet noodles. 

Ops. Bad idea, that was a bad idea. Note for future Teru when they fall ungracefully on the floor: don’t tease Mob when he is holding him.

Before he could possibly summon his powers and prevent them both to have a promptly date with the floor, with a quick and well thought maneuver Mob spun and let himself fall in a sitting position on the couch, small gasps for oxygen and a few droplets of sweat showing on his forehead at the physical exertion.

And yet he kept Teru firmly on a bridal style hold the entire time.

The Hanazawa snorted. Shigeo was an incorrigible softie.

Teru turned to look at the other, a taunting poke of fun already getting ready on the tip of his tongue when Shigeo’s own voice filled the room.

“Do you remember what you did to me when you held me like that?" 

Teru froze in the same place. Wide eyes staring at the tiny, but horribly teasy smile on Mob’s face as the words brought memories of laughter, of giggles and, especially, of an attack you couldn’t simply run away.

Shigeo was a monster. Shigeo was a cold, calculist human who unfairly attacked defenseless and awfully ticklish people that have never, never ever done anything wrong in their entire life to deserve such a harsh, merciless and unforgiving treatment.

“Nonono, wait, Mob, wait!” His tune already had a hint of hysteria in it, voice getting increasingly more and more higher and less coherent as the words spilled in waves from his lips, even if Shigeo didn’t move a single finger in his direction. “We can come to an agreement, Shig, you really don’t need to- NO!”

A single blink and in less than a second Mob’s head was being shoved on his belly, sealing Teruki’s defeat with a series of raspberries that somehow were laid exactly on his most ticklish spots, vibrating and vibrating and vibrating and tickling all over his sides, ribs, hips and even the patch of skin right above his bellybutton that never failed to summon a crackling squeal from him.

The maddening sensation completely took over all his senses and mind, erasing any and every kind of thought that wasn’t just incoherent babbling and uncontrollable laughter twirling in the air in harmony.

It felt like forever - but probably didn’t last more than a couple of minutes -, the ghost sensation of buzzing and tiny tickly shocks swimming across every nerve, giving each one some attention before immediately going to torment another, when Mob relented his attack.

His teasy grin seemed even more teasy and happy than normal, the light in his eye burning bright and soft at the image of Teru giggling and blushing in his embrace, tears on the corner of his eyes and an enormous smile going from one ear to another, one of two snorts tumbling clumsily in between the remanent laughter and titters.

Shigeo felt like he could spend the entire day looking at him.

Their eyes locked. Teru wiped the few tears that ran across his cheeks, the smile on his face slowly transforming into something a tad more cheeky and much more like the smirk he always had before saying something that would never fail to pull a more playful side of the other.

“That is what you call a revenge? I barely even felt anything.”

Ah, there it was.

Shigeo took a deep breath, fingers twitching in preparation.

Teruki Hanazawa realized that maybe that wasn't the smartest choice of words on his part. His eyes, once again, became wide and more desperate, excited giggles began falling from his lips.

“Wait, wait, wait! I take it back. I swear that I- AH!”

[anteakwa]

[sallymew4]

some quick pre-mob terumob becuz i am sleepy [snore]

[phantomrose96]

is a Riteru read of ABoT the intended one?

It can be if you want it to be buddy. Go enjoy the world!

More genuine answer: I'm an aro-ace writer with a long long streak of gen-fic. Shipping doesn't interest me. I don't hate it; it just doesn't click for me at all. I joke that the only way romance ends up in the story is if it's a plot-necessity (Tetsuo and Jun are there because 'married man suspected of having an affair' is what pulls Reigen into the entire Mogami-possession plot. The Kageyama parents are married because they're, well, the parents. Teru and Mei's relationship is a joke until it's plot-relevant.)

So to me, I'm not writing Ritsu and Teru's relationship as a ship. But also? This is all pretend. It's all transformative. This is for fun. I absolutely know that if I were a ship-writer, Riteru would be the obvious choice. I know they're one angry-kiss away from being someone's enemies to lovers fic. So if you look at Ritsu and Teru in ABoT and say "they're holding hands, to me", go right ahead, go hog-wild, come play Barbies with me.

[auxji]

Teru-Kou Ghost Hotel switch!

A drawing of Kou from @universalkuzey's au!! I love this au so much thank you for thinking it into existence

[oceanwithouthermoon]

creating headcanons purely based on my tomodachi life game

[buboplague]

changed my sns and discord icons to ring in the new year hahahahaa wow someone stop me

[quiniiby]

For terumob reqs: them playing video games together

here is the, playing. Just dance. LOL

[nitw]

i think it's such a funny detail that basically all characters in mp100 use smartphones and it's just reigen (and in turn, mob) who believes in flip phone supremacy

[daily-terus]

[fiendishartist2]

too alien to take you home– mp100

Once the dust settled over Seasoning City, and Toichiro Suzuki was finally taken away, Shou found himself with nowhere to go.

For a few hours, he wandered. He scaled rubble, looking for anything to occupy his mind with. Anything that could push away the static in his brain– that could stop the leftover shockwaves of adrenaline shooting through his restless limbs.

Eventually, he found himself perched on an upside-down park bench. Over and over, he spread his aura thin over the city, marking names and faces on a mental map. He counted them on his hands, making sure to take stock of every single Claw member first, then smaller, less familiar auras second.

There, on the outskirts of the city, in an apartment carefully crafted to be inconspicuous, were Fukuda, Higashio, and Ootsuki. Another familiar aura– Serizawa, in the lower-end suburban area. Minegishi and Hatori were together, picking apart what remained of the centre of the city. A few Scars were scattered around as well; Tsuchiya and that little girl Shou never got along with were near the train station, while Sakurai and Koyama were in a restaurant. Joseph and his father were long gone, but their auras left behind a trail of power in their wake.

He ran over them all in his head, dwelling on his father's violent red explosion in the centre of the city, where a giant broccoli now grew out of the ground. It hurt, deep and sharp like a hole in his gums where a tooth used to be– but he kept running his tongue over the bloody spot regardless. It loosened something in his chest, the constant reminder that Claw was over for good. His father left his mark on the city, but that mark was an outright confirmation that he wasn't coming back.

Then something else caught his attention; something cold, in deep indigoes and bubbly cyans. Glittering, like it wanted nothing more than to distract him. Next to it, two more auras sparkled, overpowering to anyone else, but just background noise to Shou compared to the alluring blue.

"Ritsu…?" Shou mumbled to the empty air. That's not his house, Shou thought, icy trepidation spider-webbing through his gut. Goosebumps spread across his grimy skin, and Shou was overcome with the sudden need to find his newfound best friend.

--------------------------------------------------

Shou landed roughly on the fire escape of an apartment. Through the haze of his brain, he remembered vague definitely-illegally-dug-up information he studied for weeks before his coup. This shitty little flat on the bad side of the city belonged to Reigen Arataka. He only really bothered to look into ways to get Ritsu's brother to flip out, which lead him to Spirits and Such and eventually, this apartment. Other than what he saw of him on the Culture Tower through the pain of being thrown around by his father, Shou didn’t know anything about Reigen.

He perched on the windowsill, willing his double vision to come back– if only to stop the sharp tunnel-vision of his gaze giving him a headache. Pain pounded behind his eyes in time with his racing heart.

He squinted through the window, trying to parse out what was what. And more importantly, where Ritsu was.

Soft, orange light filtered in from a side room no bigger than a closet, illuminating everything inside. The single room apartment was cramped, furniture packed together to give just enough space to walk between them. The couch and desk were unoccupied, but if Shou squinted, he could see three distinct lumps curled up on the bed. Ritsu's brother, flat on his back and dead to the world, was the most distinct, due to his whole face being visible above the blankets. Ritsu laid sprawled out next to him, clutching onto his brother with an iron-grip. Only his untameable, sea urchin hair poked out of the top of the blankets. Shou wheezed the closest thing to a laugh he could manage without aggravating his ribs. On the other end of the bed– someone Shou only recognised as the guy Shimizaki nearly killed– was starfished over both of them, barely covered in the wrinkled duvet he was wrapped in.

A lanky young man came into view and Shou zeroed in on him. He manoeuvred around the closely packed furniture, with a laundry basket balanced on his hip. Shou wrinkled his nose at the pretty ugly bear graphic on his sweatshirt.

He was padding around the apartment as quietly as possible, picking up clothing from the floor and placing it in his basket. It made Shou a little nauseous, the amount of blood on some of them.

Shou leaned in closer, nose nearly touching the window as he studied the man.

Absolutely no psychic power emanated off of him. Reigen didn't even have a visible aura, just the traces of someone who spent a lot of time with very powerful espers. But that just served to make Shou more confused.

Espers with as much power as Shou was convinced Reigen had couldn't suppress their auras to that degree. Shimazaki, Kageyama, even his own father– they could do nothing about the halo of pure psychic energy that surrounded them at all times.

But Shou was convinced he had to have some kind of psychic abilities. Otherwise, why would he have shown up at the Culture Tower and attempted to stop Ritsu's brother from fighting Shou's father? If he didn't have a way to defend himself, why did he try to go toe-to-toe with a man who could render him a stain on the floor, armed with only a small handgun? Kageyama could handle himself, even if he was losing to his father because he was too much of a saint to fight back. So why step in unless he's more powerful than the both of them?

Shou focused harder; there had to be something he missed. Some detail he had forgotten to look into that made this frankly weak looking guy make sense-

With a loud resounding thunk, Shou smacked his face on the window he was spying through.

He froze as a muffled squeak came from inside the apartment. The man he was essentially stalking had heard him and knew he was there.

Shou's instincts screamed at him to run. His rational brain wanted nothing more than to jump into the alleyway and hide from the man approaching the window who, for all he knew, could be double the esper his father was. But his body was so tired. For once in his life, Shou couldn't muster up enough energy to fight. Maybe it was the way his ribs ached with every breath, or how despite his open wounds all healing over with Kageyama's explosion of light, fresh blood still dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. And despite himself, maybe it was the relief in knowing that his father couldn't hurt anyone anymore and it didn't have to be through death. For all he talked of putting a stop to his father by any means necessary, Shou didn’t know if he could kill him. Even if that meant he lost.

Either way, Shou couldn't move from his spot slumped against the glass.

Reigen roved across his apartment slowly, picking up his TV remote and brandishing it like a weapon. Enough crazy shit had happened today and he would rather die than let anything else happen to the three boys crashing on his bed. Logically, he knew that if it was any of the nutjobs they ran into today, a remote and his own scrawny, tired body wouldn’t last in a fight. But he was ready to die on that tower for Mob, and that same protective adrenaline was still burning inside of him.

Stepping around the couch, Reigen set down the laundry basket under his arm. He wielded the remote in both of his shaking hands. The floors creaked as he prowled closer and he thanked his unbelievable luck that the kids were still fast asleep. Just as he raised the remote over his head, ready to strike, he got close enough to see through the window and-

And he sighed, nearly collapsing with relief. He was less relieved to see the little redhead boy from the Culture Tower slumped and unconscious on the windowsill, but anything was better than a Claw grunt coming to finish them off.

Reigen tossed the TV remote back onto the couch with the basket. He pushed open the window, holding out his arms as the boy nearly tumbled out.

“Woah-!” Reigen stared back at the boy’s wide, electric blue eyes. He braced himself on the window, gripping the frame with his knobby knuckles. Reigen tried to ease the tension in his trembling shoulders with an easygoing smile.

“Don’t you know spying on others is illegal, kid?” He said before he could stop himself. The boy wasn't deterred by his bluntness– in fact his expression hadn't changed at all. His piercing blue eyes shot holes into Reigen. Now that they were face to face in the light of his apartment, Reigen could clearly see the blood splattered all over his face. His stomach turned.

"Do you need help down?" Reigen subtly invited the boy in, trying for a gentle tone. He didn't move.

"Are you hurt?" He didn't even blink. Reigen swallowed the urge to groan, "You got brain damage or something, kid? C'mon in before I kick you out." He didn't mean to be so short, but it had been a long day and the weight of it all was making him a little high-strung. This kid's unwavering stare in place of any actual answer was grating on his nerves.

All of Shou hurt, a bone-deep soreness that couldn't be attributed to any visible injury. But, he couldn't admit that to anyone, especially not a potentially dangerous adult esper like Reigen. He shook his head and grit his teeth against the way the room spun.

Carefully, Shou lowered himself down from the windowsill, until his tattered sneakers hit the floor. He let his white-knuckle grip loosen, causing him to stumble back into the wall with a soft thump. A hiss escaped past his clenched teeth.

"M'fine," he slurred. He shoved his trembling hands deep into his pockets, "Jus' need a min- m'nute…"

"Uh-huh." Reigen scoffed, eyebrow raised. It made Shou want to punch him in his smart mouth.

Reigen sighed, "How about you sit down before you faint?"

Shou crossed his arms. The impact of his glare was hindered severely when he winced. Something twinged violently in his ribs.

"I said… I'm fine." His breath came out in bursts, exhaustion pulling at his wobbling knees, "Leave me alone. I don'-don't need your help…"

Shou leaned his head back to rest on the wall, closing his eyes. It soothed his nauseating headache and his vision stopped swimming for a moment.

"Well, at least I know you're well enough to sass me." Reigen's voice floated around in the blackness behind his eyelids. He walked away with soft footsteps. The distance between them eased a little tension in Shou's shoulders.

Shou cracked an eye open at the sound of a drawer opening. His eyes narrowed in on Reigen's hands on instinct, watching as he pulled something out of the tall dresser. He kneeled down to rummage in the bottom drawer, holding up clothing and checking the tags. This went on for a while; Reigen pulled out a shirt or pair of pants, checked the tag, glanced at Shou, then grimaced as he put it back. Eventually, Shou felt his eyelids grow heavier and he couldn't fight to keep them open anymore. Sounds fizzled out the longer he spent with his head ducked down and his eyes squeezed shut.

Something soft was shoved into his chest in the darkness and Shou gasped. His heart caught in his throat as he brought his aching arms up to block his face.

Except, no other attacks followed, and Shou was left reeling with the anticipation. He chanced a peek at what had startled him, finding a stack of clothes and a towel in Reigen's outstretched arm.

Reigen was giving him a weird look– eyebrows furrowed and eyes crinkled in a mock wince, mouth pulled into a deep frown. Shou's staring must have made him uncomfortable, because Reigen started to ramble.

He cleared his throat, "Uh- I got you a change of clothes. Y'know," Reigen's other hand started flopping around, landing on a thumb pointed over his shoulder, "So you can take a shower and stop tracking dirt all over my house." Sluggishly, Shou realised it must have been some kind of joke because Reigen was laughing, high-pitched and stilted. He scowled.

Shou's heart was still stuttering in his chest, adrenaline pumping with every short panicked breath he took. He pinned himself back to the wall, trying to get as far away from Reigen as he could without his knees giving out. His vision blinked out every few seconds.

None of this should be happening. Someone like Reigen shouldn't be helping him. It wasn't normal for an adult with as much supposed power as him to be here, speaking softly to Shou and trying to coax him into taking care of himself.

Maybe, Shou reasoned, he's trying to get my guard down. If I listen to him, he'll just double cross me. I mean, it wouldn't make any sense for him to be so nice to me. Shou didn't know why, but the thought comforted him a little. At least if he was tricked into thinking he was safe, he wouldn't be in uncharted territory anymore.

Reigen started sweating under Shou's glare. For a kid who looked like the wind could knock him over, Shou was incredibly intimidating.

"C'mon Suzuki, I'm not gonna bite." That broke Shou out of his one-sided staring contest. He ripped the stack of clothes out of Reigen's hands.

"It's Shou." He bit out, stomping across the apartment and shutting himself in the bathroom.

Once Shou had locked himself away in Reigen's dingy bathroom, he realised his mistake. He just trapped himself in a room with no exits, where he would be a sitting duck to anything Reigen was planning to do. If he was ambushed in here, that would be it.

With wheezing breaths, Shou encased the door with the strongest barrier he could muster. He braced himself on the counter, too occupied with the door to care about how it dug painfully into his back.

He waited there for a few minutes, carefully trained ears straining to make out any sounds outside of the bathroom. Once in a while, a floorboard would creak or blankets would shift and Shou's whole body would tense. It was agony, knowing something was coming and just waiting for it to happen.

Ten more minutes passed and Shou's barrier was starting to flicker away. His raised arms shook with exhaustion, but he couldn't let them drop. Not if Reigen was playing the waiting game, tiring him out before deciding to strike. Not if Reigen was going to barge in and reveal himself to be another Toichiro Suzuki.

Except– except, if he was just like Toichiro, why would he be here, watching over the Kageyamas and their blond friend? Shou's father hadn't ever shown that level of care, at least since Claw started getting big. Shouldn't he be on top of that weird broccoli tree, claiming the remains of Seasoning City for himself?

Irrationally, Shou wanted to believe in this idea; there was stability in someone he could hate, someone he could fight back against. Honestly, he didn't know what to do with being shown genuine kindness. It wasn't normal.

Again, his barrier wavered as his thoughts pooled around the fight with his father. Reigen had put his life on the line for Ritsu's brother, promising to protect him even when Toichiro was ready to kill them both. When he shut his eyes against the memory, all he could see behind his eyelids was Kageyama's subtly grateful expression. His trust that Reigen would take care of it. The way he relaxed for a moment, relieved at the sight of Reigen strolling up to a losing battle with the arrogance of someone who had the world in the palm of his hand.

This is so stupid.

Shou let his barrier fall as he slumped on the floor.

If Ritsu's brother trusts him, then that's going to have to be enough for me too.

It took a long time for the water to run clear, but eventually Shou had scrubbed all of the grime and blood (both dried and fresh) caked on his skin and hair. Now, under the lukewarm water spewing unevenly out of the dinky showerhead, Shou felt the full force of his exhaustion. He could have fallen asleep right there, leaning against the yellowing shower tiles. Instead, Shou got out and dried himself off, shivering against the stale, chilly air.

The clothes Reigen gave him definitely belonged to a kid, which surprised him. He didn't remember his guys telling him about Reigen having any children. The matching pyjama shirt and pants were adorned with cats, each with a speech bubble telling a horrible cat-themed pun. Their only saving grace was the fact that they were a peaceful blue, not unlike a certain best-friend's aura (which was quickly becoming Shou's favourite colour, incidentally). Shou wrinkled his nose at them, his cheeks growing warm with embarrassment at the thought of putting them on. If anyone caught him wearing these– god forbid if Ritsu saw these– he would die of mortification on the spot. He eyed the bloodied and ripped jacket he shucked off, but dismissed the thought of putting it back on. Reigen told him he was making a mess and Shou's stomach squirmed at the prospect of angering him.

Despite probably belonging to someone a few years younger than him, the pyjamas swallowed Shou's meagre frame. He floated a little to reach the small mirror hung up for someone much taller than him. As he poked and prodded at his ribs in his reflection, Shou realised just how prominently they stuck out. It was normal for Shou, but alongside the twinge in his stomach, he couldn't ignore it. He grimaced, trying to remember when his last meal was. Fukuda might have made him choke down a few spoonfuls of rice the day before he met up with Ritsu. He couldn't remember; Shou could barely keep the days straight in his head in this state.

At least his ribs weren't broken like he thought they were. They definitely cracked during the fight, probably when his father blasted him into a wall. Silently, he thanked Ritsu's brother, not for the first time that day. Before he healed everyone, Shou was sure he was going to die on that tower, with broken ribs and a few missing teeth to show for it.

He was paler than usual and his eyes were still a little unfocused. But, judging by how most of his dizziness had gone away and his head splitting headache was reduced to a low thrum, Shou didn't have a concussion. That stumped him, since Toichiro had fought him without mercy, incapacitating him to an extent that coming out of it without irreparable damage was shocking. Shou snorted; not like he hadn't tried.

--------------------------------------------------

Reigen paced around the apartment as quietly as possible. He couldn't stop, even when he kept bumping into the corner of his couch. Everytime he knocked his shins into something he froze, whipping around to make sure he didn't wake the kids. He was buzzing with nervous energy and continued his pacing anyways.

Reigen had been on his feet since they made the long trek to his apartment. The last few hours were spent cleaning up after the boys and watching them like a hawk, even after they had long since fallen asleep. It was irrational, but Reigen didn't want to shut his eyes for a second. The thought of leaving these kids vulnerable when he was supposed to be responsible for them again filled him with dread.

This was a different kind of restlessness now though; Shou was obviously tired and hurting and Reigen couldn't help but worry for him. He was even younger looking than Ritsu– shorter than Mob and with a frame so underweight, Reigen wondered if he was malnourished. Everytime he looked at the boy, Reigen's heart rate spiked thinking about what that meant for Toichiro. Yeah, beating up middle schoolers was awful, but a kid younger than that? Now that was deplorable. Seeing the small teen tattered and nearly falling asleep standing up left a sour taste in his mouth.

It took Shou so long to start his shower that Reigen wondered if he was even in the apartment anymore at all. Was he the one that could turn invisible? Reigen couldn't keep all these espers and their different powers straight. A few months ago he didn't even know espers other than Mob existed. He stopped his pacing, waiting for the water to start. After a few moments, the sound of his shower filled the silent apartment and he sighed with relief.

Eventually, Shou finished his hour-long shower. He finally creeped out of the bathroom and Reigen could see the full extent of his fatigue.

He limped across Reigen's cheap flooring, favouring one of his legs and walking stiffly, trying to move his hip as little as possible. An arm rested around his chest protectively; he was hunched over it and breathing shallowly, breath stuttering every few seconds as he rubbed circles into his ribs. His nose was crooked, like it had been broken and set wrong, and when he grimaced, Reigen spotted a few missing teeth. He really hoped they were baby teeth.

Reigen knew that if he looked, he wouldn't find any evidence of injury at all– Mob's powers took care of that. Where they failed however, was the details; broken bones set imperfectly or leftover pain where no cuts or bruises lie. He saw it in the kids already, when he looked them over for the source of their soreness. Teruki complained the whole way home about his chest, until Ritsu shut him up with his own grumblings about the twinge in his back. Mob was completely out of commission, barely able to keep his head up as they floated him to the apartment, but he too complained about various aches and pains in due time. But when he sat them all down after their showers, he couldn't find a single scratch on any of them.

The quiet rage that had been simmering beneath his skin since he met Toichiro on the Culture Tower was near impossible to set aside now. Reigen couldn't imagine the type of person you would have to be to see literal children as fair game to fight. That cold, merciless look in Toichiro's eyes– different, yet just as immature as the ones reflected in the 7th Division members'– set something dangerous aflame inside of Reigen. That same something that let him aim Sakurai's gun at another person without hesitation.

While Reigen seethed, Shou shuffled over to the couch. He tried to sit as far away from Reigen as possible, crossing his arms and eyeing him with blatant suspicion.

"Where does it hurt?" Reigen asked without preamble, "I've got painkillers, but I want to make sure nothing else is wrong before I give them to you. No concussion or anything, right? I don't actually know how to check for those…" He rambled, trying to fill the gap in conversation. Shou's heart pounded in his ears, and his mouth was wired shut. He didn't want to answer, but Reigen was getting more animated by the minute and each fast, sudden movement made Shou's want to scream.

"No." He stated, emotionless. Sweat gathered under his wet hair laying limp against his forehead.

"Oh, well, that's good then. Great. Let me just-" Reigen scrambled into a side room, emerging with a squat bottle of liquid medicine and a glass of water. He handed them to Shou, watching him expectantly.

The bottle of generic kid's painkillers was nearly full and obviously old. He could see a layer of dust on it and the label was yellowing with age. Shou tried very hard not to crinkle his nose at it.

"I know it's ah- not brand new or anything. But it's not expired! Don't worry, I checked." The smirk he sent Shou was not reassuring, which must be why he continued despite getting no acknowledgement, "Sorry, I just haven't had to buy medicine for kids in a little bit," he laughed, "Mob outgrew that stuff pretty soon, so I stopped stocking up on it."

"...How old do you think I am?"

Reigen paused. He wasn't sure what the right answer to this question was.

"Um… like ten? Eleven, maybe?" He said, tentatively.

This 'totally harmless' front Reigen was putting on was pretty convincing, because Shou contemplated throttling him for a moment before he caught himself.

He handed the bottle back to Reigen. It was probably– no, definitely– laced with something.

"No thanks." Shou's patience was growing thin. The urge to escape back out the window itched just under his skin.

Reigen blew out a long sigh, "Alright, guess we're doing this the hard way. No medicine." He ran a hand through his hair, "You hungry, then?"

He didn't wait for a response, already halfway to the side room (which Shou could now see was a tiny kitchen) that he got the medicine from. Shou sat rigidly on the edge of his seat, hands balled by his sides just in case. He was spring-loaded, ready for anything, like always.

The microwave beeped. Shou scolded himself for flinching at it.

Reigen was soon sitting in front of Shou on the coffee table. Once again, he handed Shou something he had long since learned to never accept.

Shou took the plate, staring down at the food Reigen reheated for him. The smell of barely seasoned rice and eggs, scrambled together haphazardly, attacked his senses. His hands trembled as he fought with himself to refuse it, just like the medicine.

He looked up at Reigen, venom in his voice betraying the shaky smirk on his face, "How do I know you didn't do anything to it?" He challenged. Reigen visibly paled.

"Wh- you think I'm trying to poison you?! What kind of person do you think I am?" He whisper-shouted.

Shou shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me." His stomach turned– whether from the nearly irresistable temptation of the food sitting in his lap or from the frustrated pinch of Reigen's face, he didn't know.

"Just eat, kid. You look like you're going to faint if you don't. I promise I'm not plotting to kill you– I can't believe I even have to say that." He said, exasperation clear in the way he buried his face in his hands. When that didn't convince Shou, Reigen moved to stand up. He might as well get some laundry done while the boy sulked.

Shou jumped back with a choked shriek. He threw up a bright orange barrier at the abrupt action, flinching away. Reigen sat down just as fast.

"Hey- hey! It's okay– look I'm sitting, don't worry just- kiddo, just calm down!" He babbled, hands up in a placating manner as he tried to reassure Shou. His teeth were chattering, but by the strain in his jaw, he was desperately trying to hide it. His eyes, wide as saucers, were trained on Reigen. The rest of his face was tense, trying to keep a mask of aloofness over his fear. It looked wrong on a face so young.

He kept rambling until Shou stopped tracking his hands with his eyes. The crackling barrier between them fizzled out soon after.

"Sh-shut up." Shou mumbled, voice shaking. He picked up his spoon and took a bite of the first full meal he's had all day.

"Woah- slow down! You'll make yourself sick!" Reigen exclaimed. Shou tuned him out, continuing to shovel mediocre rice and eggs into his mouth with reckless abandon. He barely took a breath between bites. Now that food was in front of him, the ravenous hunger tearing through him was making itself known.

Shou got up from the couch and mindlessly walked into the kitchen.

Reigen blinked, "Where are you going?" He asked dumbly. Shou could barely stand just moments ago, so why was he suddenly keen on stumbling around Reigen's apartment?

Shou rummaged through Reigen's barren fridge. He spotted the rest of the leftovers immediately, popping open the container and helping himself to its contents. He didn't even heat it up.

Alarms were going off in Shou's head; he was seriously pushing his luck acting like this. No matter how nice Reigen seemed to Ritsu's brother and how strangely accommodating he was being to Shou, there was no telling how much annoyance he would take before lashing out. But Shou couldn't help it– this newfound instability was like a rug pulled from under his feet and he needed something familiar to hang on to. And being a smartass was unfortunately very familiar to him.

"I'm getting more obviously." Shou grumbled in between bites.

"Please don't overeat. I am not cleaning up vomit tonight." Shou padded back into the main room, crashing on the couch and curling into the arm.

"Whatever, old man. I'm not g'nna barf…" He drifted off, finally giving into the tired itch behind his eyes.

He shook his head, suppressing a sigh. Slowly this time, Reigen stood again. He tip-toed around the apartment, searching for something to lay on top of Shou. Reluctantly, he nabbed one of the blankets he piled onto the boys. He hovered in front of Shou. Will he freak out if I tuck him in? He's kinda jumpy… Reigen thought. He didn't want to think of why the kid was so skittish– it was too late for that kind of rumination.

After a few awkward moments of shuffling, Shou started snoring and Reigen gave up. He threw the thin fleece blanket over the boy.

God, finally, they're all down. He scanned his apartment, chuckling softly to himself. How did I manage to become a temporary guardian to four kids? What the hell are their parents doing instead of watching their kids?

Reigen had asked after they found Mob if the boys all had somewhere to stay, which was met with a resounding (and reluctant, in some cases) no. Apparently, their houses had all been destroyed right before their attack on Claw. He decided to ask more about that later, unease settling in the back of his mind at Mob's faintly haunted expression. Teru skirted around the issue, but Mob chimed in absentmindedly that he lived alone and Reigen decided right then that they would all be staying at his place.

Suddenly, he realised that with the boys taking his bed and Shou passed out on his couch, there was nowhere for Reigen to sleep. Although, after the day's events, Reigen didn't even know if he wanted to. He settled into his squeaky desk chair, crossing his arms over his chest and reluctantly shutting his eyes.

[kanene-yaaay]

The v cool @carrie-tate ​asked about my tickle headcanons of Teruki (EVERYONE HERE SUSH IT’S <3 <3 h i m <3) in This Asky because of This Post and I shall answer because Teru is one of the most interesting and fun charaters to me so! Let’s gooo!!

🦁 Teru’s Headcanons 🦁

(Teru's new hair reminds me of a lion cub so that is the emoji of today VWHGWYWGW)

He is just so *incoherente noises*. This guy has just so much Vibes I can’t take it

Tickling someone? YES. Being tickled? Absolutely yes. He is perfect for everything and that is a fact.

First of all, Teruki is a hell of a ler. Not only because he knows how to look for sweet weak tickle spots and has teases dripping freely from his lips before the person can even realize what is happening, his attentive eyes actively searching for everything that makes the bean that is being tickled flustered and giggly and just latching on those things until the person is lost admist laughter and tickly tingles.

(Mob lost the count of the amount of times Teru would manage to make him squeal tickling spots that he isn’t even aware he was ticklish in the first place)

But, anyway, he is one of the biggest lers ever because he. is. so. smug.

He is very good at making people a mess of giggles and he knows that. And he knows that you know that he knows that. So, the entire time attacking someone with clawing fingers and distracting pokes he will just have That Smile. The Smile. The Smug, Teasy, Playful smile that automatically makes shivers run across the your spine and makes giggles bounce on your throat.

He doesn’t have a very good poker face because of that, btw. Mah boy can’t pretend that he didn’t realzie he was tickling someone by accident or feigning innocence for his LIFE

Teru doesn’t do a lot of antecipation too. He is more of a:

            “Hmm. I think I am going to tickle you.”

            “Wha-”

And then give the person no time to process his words or run away sdfghgfdsdfg

EXCEPT when it comes to Shigeo. Because he is extremely cute trying to not titter and yelp every time Teru decides to tease him w anttecipation by lightly - very, very lightly - skittering his fingers on his torso and wondering out loud about “What tickle spot should he gave his especial attention today?~’

Talking about cute and soft things, Teru is an absolute SOFTIE. Yes, he is an evil, teasy, smug, playful and meanie ler who can and will use all his tickly power (both metaphorically and literally because no, he is not above using his powers to help him tickle someone sdfghjhgf) but he is WEAK for cute things. He will forever deny it but making someone just... laugh is very nice. It’s fun. It feels like he is able to make something important, to impact someone’s live positively even without his powers.

Now, now, talking about adorable things, don’t even get me started on Teruki as a Lee. Because ohhh gosh.

Oooohhh gosh

Before everything I 100% agree with your Teru’s in a Lee Mood headcanons and they are *chef kiss* fabulous, perfection, incredible absolutely amazing.

Now picture with me: Mob in a Ler Mood and being too shy to do something about it and Teru realizing. And he wants Mob to loosen up a bit more! He wants him to just feel free to be playful and silly with no worries

So he decides to be a gremlin.

Teru will act a bit like the way he is when in a Lee Mood, but with less embarassement. He will be stretching all the time, wearing crop tops and asking for Mob’s opinion, tapping his own fingers on his stomach or sides, laying on Shigeo’s lap and putting his hands behind his head, sometimes even giving Shigeo a poke or two to show he would be okay w a tickle fight in that moment.

And then Mob (and here I am heavily LOOKING at Otomiya’s idea of Mob tickly “”power”” building up until 100%) will finally attack and Teru IMMEDIATELY will go from a grinning come-on-tickle-me-I-dare-you to NONONONOWAITWAITPLEASEPLEASEWAIT in like half of a second.

That man can’t take what he dishes out AT ALL. If someone gives him a single one (1) jab on his side and he is falling on the floor he is smiling like crazy he is pleading for mercy he is ded.

Maybe it’s because he was so used to being feared and looked upon during his entire life before his fight with Shiego but the idea of someone being silly? Tickling him and being teasy and having fun and paying attention to him and not his powers his reactions and smiling and caring makes him very, very, veeeery flustered. And extremely giddy. And at least 100% more ticklish because holy gosh-

99,9% of the times he is tickled he was almost sure he was melting and honestly by the awed way Shigeo looks at him when he is tickling the blonde maybe that is still a possibilty SDFGHJKMJNHB

He has ticklish elbows. Mob can tap-tap his way from his wrist to his elbows and he will giggle and snort his head out. Sorry that is the true I don’t make the rules.

[m00ngbin]

AJDIFOENAKFKDJ NEW CHAPTER OF SHOW ME THE WORLD OUTSIDE IT JIST UPDATED SCREAMING AND RUNNING AROUND IM SO EXCITED

Don't read the tags if you don't want to be spoiled cause I went on a rant about the plot

[mari-lair]

Mar-Chan!, about the mood swings fiction, could you tell me how Kou was with the sudden change???

Ooooh interesting question Kitty!

Aoi-chan isn’t close to Kou at all, so she’ll have no idea what to do when this underclassman run up to her yelling “Teru nii!”, her confusion/disconfort is very obvious.

Kou notices something is wrong right away, cause Teru’s smile is strained, he isn’t patting his head at all or saying his name. Did something happen??

Since Kou knows about the supernatural, and has been through many wacky hijinks they’ll tell him the truth. He still runs towards ‘Teru’ on instinct, to the point Aoi finds it a bit amusing, but he slowly gets used to go to ‘Akane’ cause that’s where his bro is. While there is a bit of confusion at times, Kou eventually gets used to seeing Akane and going “Teru nii!” in his head.

Aoi gets a slight soft spot for kou, nothing visible but her opinion go from ‘Minamoto senpai younger brother’ to ‘A very cute kouhai’ 

When things go back to normal, Kou has already trained himself to go to Akane for help. Akane is a bit caught off guard but he'll still try to help, especially if is a school question, taking a moment to realize exactly why Kou went to 'him' for help in the first place. It's embarrassing for the two of them, but since Akane tends to be very helpful/decently patient, Kou still sometimes go to him.

[minamotosousuke]

i absolutely agree that mitsuba was sent by tsukasa to do something to kou (and i do think you’re right about the purpose of this) but i’m not sure he knew what the exact plan was. i don’t know, his reaction to the aquarium itself felt too genuine for me to think he knew he was actively luring kou in that moment

on a different note, teru was me the entire time holy shit. maybe i am an overprotective big sister but if that were my sibling i’d freak out too! he’s out late in the city with someone teru doesn’t know if he can trust, he won’t tell teru where he is, who he is or what time exactly i should expect him to be back, and he won’t even read teru’s texts - meaning there’s no way for teru to even know if something’s happened, let alone actually be there to help. also he just left his phone hanging out of his back pocket!!! stressed me out sooo much. i love kou to bits but god if that were me i’d be sending 🥺 messages too. surprised teru didn’t call honestly

I personally don’t see a correlation between Mitsuba being genuine and Mitsuba not knowing. WE know that it’s likely that Mitsuba will live (or we’re supposed to even though everyone thinks he’s going to die) but Mitsuba doesn’t know that.

Mitsuba’s incredibly intelligent and a little bookworm to boot. During his time in the Severance I wouldn’t be surprised if he connected all the clues he had (what happened to Sousuke’s ghost, his own creation, the picture perfect arc, Natsuhiko finding them and talking to Kou, etc) and realized that Tsukasa wants something from Kou.

If Mitsuba was aligned with Tsukasa and knew the plan entirely, I could see him being less scared and surprised. But he’s not, and knows that Tsukasa would kill him in a heart beat if he wanted too.