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hongherbac · 1 month

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[Serizawa centric] The Humanity of S&S - Chapter 1

Read it on AO3

Chapter: 1/6

Fandom: モブサイコ100 | Mob Psycho 100 Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Non-Romantic Relationships: Seirizawa Katsuya & Reigen Arataka & Dimple

Characters: Seirizawa Katsuya, Reigen Arataka, Dimple, OC

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Battle (would be there in CH5), Canon Compliant

Summary: There were always some difficulties in life. Serizawa sometimes fell into self doubt, and he was not the only one who found their own answer in the journey.

(Serizawa's new classmate strongly questioned his occupation decision and judgment, then used some dirty tactics to poach him.)

Notes: I wrote the Chinese version of this in May, And I'm translating it during the small breaks while working on my WIP.

Now this work seems somewhat immature to me, but I remember having a lot of fun writing it, and I think it's still worth sharing. I mean, I can never get enough of Serizawa and Reigen hurt/comfort content.

Updates might be slow, but I will definitely finish it sooner or later!

Chapter 1

"Let me introduce you to Ido Sayuu. He has just transferred here and will start attending classes today. Please make him feel welcome. Ido, would you like to say a few words?"

The man in the white shirt took a step forward and bowed to the classroom.

"My name is Ido. Ido Sayuu. I moved to Seasoning City because the company planned to open a branch here. Thanks to the help of many people, I was able to enroll in school in the middle of the semester. I'm looking forward to studying with you."

The classroom applauded sparingly, as a simple gesture of courtesy. For these working adults with other priorities in life, a transfer student is nothing to get excited about. There was a tall, tanned, muscular boy writing furiously, taking his time to fill in the numbers for today's assignment. There was also a girl, her heavy makeup already a bit loose, looking down at her cell phone's text message, pondering the client's request.

Among these people, Serizawa was not special at all.

He clapped his hands enthusiastically, welcoming the new night school student. Like the others, he came straight from work in his work clothes. Serizawa had always been careful to iron his shirts and keep them neat and tidy, but he didn't notice a small burn hole from the evil spirit's residue. People would probably think it was from smoking, even though he didn't really smoke. They had borrowed the classroom at Salt Middle School for a while because their usual classroom was being renovated. His knees ached under the small desk.

"Ito-san, you must be in a very high position, right?"

At the end of the class, a man who was also an employee of the company spoke to the transfer student.

"You said the company was 'planning to open a branch,' so it's still in the preparation stage." Another student also came over excitedly, "You've been assigned to handle the expansion at this time. Let me guess, are you the future branch manager?"

"Ah, no," Ito scratched his head, "Actually, the expansion hasn't been finalized yet, although I think it's pretty much decided… I moved here for a few months to really check out the business environment. After all, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable leaving such a big decision to the people under me."

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Ito took out his business cards, and handed them over with a smile, "I'm the president of Ito Parts Manufacturing. Nice to meet you."

=====

Inside the office of Spirits & Such, the blinds were partially open, allowing stripes of sunlight to stream in and brighten the room.

"So, there came a company president in your class…."

Reigen leaned back in his chair, his laptop open in front of him, and a small pile of edamame shells piled up on the table. He had obviously been idle for quite some time.

"There were really all kinds of people in your class."

"Yes. Everyone does different things during the day. It's amazing." Serizawa said enthusiastically, "Even though Suzuki-san, Reigen-san and Ito-san are all company presidents, each of you gave a completely different impression. I don't know Ito-san very well yet, but he must be an outstanding person as well.

"Nah, you're thinking too much," Reigen waved his hand dismissively, "Anyone can be a president these days, as long as they have money. All you have to do is come up with a few thousand dollars, fill out some papers and register with the government. Then, BOOM! You're president."

"That's right. Look at this guy: no brains, no leadership. He's been doing fine for years."

"Hey! DImple!"

"I have looked into Ito Parts Manufacturing," Serizawa said. "A business magazine reported that Ito-san started with nothing at first. He took over a dying factory, saved it from bankruptcy, and turned it into a publicly traded company in just three years."

"Ha! He's not on the same level with Reigen at all! You are wayyyyyy behind.” Dimple laughed.

"Serizawa… now, listen carefully." Reigen looked extremely serious all of a sudden, and his tone was prudent, "It's very important to connect with your classmates. You all missed out on your youth for some reason, and this is a great opportunity to make up for it! You're all in the same boat, so you can be good partners and support each other! Ito-san is new at school. Although he doesn't show it, he must have a lot of unfamiliar difficulties. Why don't you give him a hand? Also, if he has any problems, ask him to visit us for help, will you? We will do our best to provide service!"

Dimple squinted at Reigen. His face twisted, eyes widened with excitement, nostrils flared and puffed out, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but lift in a grin. The word 'greedy' was written bright and clear across his entire face.

"O-okay. I get it." Serizawa was a bit confused, but still took the advice carefully. He scratched his head, "I'm not very good at connecting with my classmates…. But since Reigen-san said it's important, I'll try my best."

-Knock, knock.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Finally, we have a visitor." Reigen put aside his selfish desires, straightened his tie and said, "Serizawa, go greet them, please."

"Yes, sir."

Serizawa went to the door, where he politely welcomed a worried, awkward, middle-aged man. His hair was thinning, face wrinkled, deeply furrowed with worry, and the steps were hesitant and heavy. The man was invited to sit on the sofa. A small plate of pastries lay on the coffee table in front of him. From the back of the room, there came the sound of Serizawa boiling hot water for tea.

The man lifted his head and looked at Reigen.

Reigen stared at the client solemnly without hurrying. He kept his mouth closed, as if to say silently, "I know. You're so troubled, so anxious. Usually you scoff at the supernatural, but now you have to seek help. This is embarrassing. Yes, I understand. But it doesn't matter any more. Because I, Reigen, the greatest psychic of the 21st century, will do my best to help you!"

At the same time, Dimple floated behind the office desk, picking up and eating the edamame that Reigen had just swept onto the floor. What a waste! But worry not. Dimple, the most powerful evil spirit of S&S, would do his best to help.

"Well… How should I put it? It might scare you…"

The client finally stammered.

"Please… Please don't be terrified. But I think my little girl is… possessed! By an evil spirit!"

That’s quite ordinary. Serizawa thought to himself and served the hot tea.

"What did you say!!!!" Reigen shouted loudly. Serizawa startled, almost spilled the tea. "Are you saying an evil spirit possession? This is very serious…!! The evil spirits that can possess humans are mostly very malevolent. They are energy carriers filled with resentment and obsession which can severely affect the person possessed, both physically and mentally. If not handled properly, you and your family may be in great danger."

"Is it really that serious?" The client also raised his voice, sweating profusely, "My god! I should have come sooner. This evil spirit is killing my whole family! My daughter is getting thinner and thinner. My wife was in poor health already, and now she is even more and more emaciated. I really don't know what to do… Master, please help us!"

"Well, there's still hope. You came to me just in time." Reigen rested his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward attentively, "Please, tell me everything."

…bla bla bla this and that

…bla bla bla bla

"I see. I have fully understood the situation. The evil spirit sounds very strong. I have to make some preparations first, then I'll visit you in a few days to perform the exorcism. How about… two days later? In the afternoon? Is that alright? Well then, please have a look at our price list. If you want the best results, I highly recommend this package."

After sending off the client, Serizawa collected the tea cups and dessert plates on the tray and took them to the sink. He opened his small notebook, carefully wrote down the client's phone number and address, and marked the date of the visit on his calendar.

"Ha-ah…" Reigen yawned widely, stretching his previously upright body, "I guess that’s it for today. You're off in less than an hour. You can leave early if you want. There's nothing left to do anyway."

"Thank you, Reigen-san. But can I stay here before night school? I have a civics assignment, and I thought I'd take the time to work on it."

"Suit yourself." Reigen shrugged, "Civics you say? Like helping old ladies cross the street?"

"The teacher did talk about morality, but maybe because we are all working adults, he emphasized more on legal knowledge. Like in this assignment, I have to look up some statutes. It's quite difficult for me."

"It’s really inconvenient to look up information on the cell phone. Do you want to use my computer?"

"Oh, can I? But don't you have to work on that?"

"How can you work all day? I'm going to watch some TV. You can use the laptop as you like. But remember, DO NOT delete my files, and DO NOT click on those suspicious websites. Got it?"

"That would be a big help! Thank you, Reigen-san!"

Reigen flopped down on the sofa, crossed his legs, grabbed the remote and began aimlessly flipping through channels. So… what should he watch now? Reigen was not interested in serial dramas at all. He could tell the plot two hundred episodes ahead just by watching the first fifteen minutes… Hmm? This bag of edamame was almost done. Did he really eat that much?

At this moment, Serizawa sat in Reigen's usual place with his homework and stationery. He held the mouse and double-clicked on the web browser, then suddenly realized that Reigen still had the memory tab function on.

"Ah! …"

#fanfic #fanfiction #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #ao3 #archive of our own #reigen arataka #serizawa katsuya #mp100 dimple

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iantimony · 10 months

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tuesdaypost

tried a new thing this week where i started drafting this as i went - so any time i read something that i wanted to put here, for example, i just slapped the link in to expand more on when i got around to finishing the post, yanno? i liked it, i think it made the whole process less "??? what did i do this week???" i also think i do like tuesday, actually, because it means i can put all my various weekend craftings/watching/playing in while it's still fresh in my mind.

because i noted things down as i went this is a RICH tuesdaypost, buckle up

listening

up to partizan 15! also been listening to fatt soundtracks as background while i work, it's very good for that.

reading

a looooot of bloodletter this week, notably all the tgcf and most of the mdzs fic, but especially both ways open jaws: delicious, pun intended. found it through this tumblr post of the art that's in one of the chapters. (saw dreamwidth user rigormorphis in the acknowledgement notes on there!!! [leonardo dicaprio pointing meme] i follow them on dreamwidth!! hello!) also read you were not mine to save by factorialrabbits: this isn't really how i understand nhs as a character, personally, but i liked the narrative structure a lot! read it because bloodletter wrote a fic that was inspired by it and i liked that one a lot too.

read some of the tgcf donghua just because i wanted to look at pretty pictures.

the poster's guide to the internet of the future by david pierce: interesting. i've never much thought about having all platforms be cross-connected and cross-interact-able and i'm not sure if it's something i would want, to be totally honest. i like certain things to be separate. we should all go back to geocities. (jk) (unless....)

caught up on the soft news newsletter by joy alicia raines, one that's been sticking in my head is the bit about 'but and therefore rule' from may

i started 'the house on vesper sands' by paraic o'donnell while i was at my grandma's because she had a copy in the guest room, read about the first 100 pages or so, liked it enough that i rented it from the library but we'll see if i finish it haha

playing

oh i'm DEEP in pokemon go again :p send me friend codes if you wanna be pokego friends!

watching

my grandma has been recommending peaky blinders to me for ages so when i visited her last week for thanksgiving i decided that if we started watching it while i was there i might keep watching it when i got home. i probably will! we watched the first three episodes while i was there, definitely has the Drama and Intrigue that i would expect, doesn't hurt that cillian murphy is easy on the eyes, etc.

as promised last week, i've watched the new tgcf episodes! as you can probably tell from my reading section, i am fully back in the tgcf brainworms, frothing at the mouth waiting for new episodes to get released

finished cowboy bebop with my bf, it was so good :( i think our next show is finishing kill la kill, i had him watch the first threeish episodes a while ago but might as well. also on the list to watch together is jujutsu kaisen, mob psycho, space dandy…feel free to rec!

making

continued progress of my big scarf! started what will hopefully be a very quick winter headband knit for my roommate's mom, i'm spending time with her over christmas and i'm absolutely sure she will get me a gift so i need something to give to her lol.

after tragically missing the deadline for secret samol i sent the tumblr account a message asking to be put on the pinch hitter list and it turned out that they were able to slide my entry in after the deadline!! so i got my secret samol assignment in my email on saturday and i'm VERY excited, there are some really good prompts and i have to figure out which is tickling my fancy and what medium to do it in…the funniest part of it is probably that my assignee is a geologist. like, what are the odds, right? (i am not a geologist by training but the research i do now for my phd is way closer to geology than i ever thought i would be. i wonder if they'll be at AGU in a few weeks…it's such a big conference so odds are slim but there's definitely a funny universe out there where i run into them without either of us realizing :b)

i spent most of sunday cozy inside because it was snowing out, and i did a lot of little mending tasks! i finally blocked out the tank top that i finished knitting a few months ago, fixed the lining for a cowl that i made in 2021, darned some socks + some holes in a shirt that i like…

(the Cowl Saga: i finished the object in 2021! it was a little scratchy so i made a cute lining out of matching plaid fleece! i never fucking wore it because it was too small and pressed on my nose uncomfortably and sucked to pull over my head!!!! so i went, damn, wait, i didn't block it. i bet i can make it a better size by blocking it. so this summer i took the lining back out and blocked it (and laid it in the sun to dry, so it FADED UNEVENLY because the yarn was just dyed with turmeric in 2020!! i am not a professional!!! so it definitely isn't colorfast!!!) and lo and behold, now it fits better! however now the lining was too damn small! so finally, FINALLY, i used some leftover plaid fleece scraps to patch in an extra panel to make it big enough! so now i can wear it! i wore it yesterday because it's finally cold enough!!!)

no pictures of me wearing the tank top because i don't love the fit…i have some spare bra inserts at home that i can get when i'm there for the holidays so hopefully sewing those in will help? i can't really wear a bra with it otherwise. despite using an old norwegian cast-on, which according to google is one of the stretchiest options, to wear it the hem is stretched completely taut so i probably should have sized up >:\ it was a fun project otherwise, might try it again with a different size/yarn/cast-on, perhaps without the waist increases.

also, started writing again?? something about glancing at my decade-old nanowrimo last week tickled my brain and i started poking at something inspired in that direction. no promises.

misc

i was thinking of getting a small keyboard for my ipad so i don't have to bring my whole laptop to a conference next week, i was discussing with my roommate, she was like "ah but they're sooo small…" i said "we have tiny hands, it's not a bad size for us", she goes "but they're scared of each other" which made me crack up. will probably try to go to best buy or something, one of the little logitech ones could be good, but also do i Need a keyboard?? will i actually type ANYTHING while i'm at this conference????? i doubt it. so maybe not huh my current week looks like powering through my poster for AGU, that way i can spend next week tweaking as needed and print a few days before travel…….fingers crossed. i laid that timeline out for my advisor yesterday and she nearly cried from how reasonable it was, apparently her last phd student was a "finish the poster on the plane and print the day of the presentation at the conference" kinda guy oops. :")

#tuesdayposting

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winterstaroffical · 3 years

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Mob Psycho 100 2022 Winter Star event (SIGN UPS CLOSED!)

--Sign ups are closed--

Artists ASSEMBLE!

This is an event you may be interested in!

Who's excited for Mob Psycho season 3?

In celebration, we have an exciting event!

What is Winter Star?

(It's like Secret Santa! Except this goes into the new year, during winter.)

In this event an artist will gift you a wonderful piece of art, but in return you will have to draw another member a wonderful art piece as well. You will receive art of your favorite Mob Psycho character specifically made for you! Isn't that exciting? And in return you can feel the magic of gifting someone their favorite character in an art piece that you've worked hard on. In my opinion, I love the feeling of joy from another over something I've created.

Now, you're probably wondering, how is this all going to work out? In this post it will teach you step by step how to join. Once you join there's no going back! So be sure to read and re-read everything carefully so that things will go as planned!

Gifting Schedule

Gathering Stars

Nov. 23rd -- Dec. 12th

Assigning Stars

Dec. 12th -- Dec. 15th

Drawing Period

Dec. 15th -- Jan. 20th

Check In dates:

Dec. 27th and Jan. 10th

Posting Period

Jan. 20th -- Feb. 1st

Tag: #MP100WS

Schedule explained below

How to Join?

(We are not accepting any more people, event sign ups are over)

❄Step 1❄

This is the "Gathering Stars" period.

You will have to fill out this template by answering these questions. An easy copy and paste of this questions will be at the end of this post.

•Name

(The name you go by, not your username, unless that's the name go by. Some artists may include your name in your gifted art piece.)

•Favorite characters (Top 3)

(Your top 3 favorite Mob Psycho Characters! The artist, drawing your gift, will choose one of your favorite three.)

•A note to your artist

(You could ask for a pastel colored theme or suggest a crossover with demon slayer, but be aware that these wishes don't have to be followed. Please be very open minded to the gift you receive! They worked really hard on it and we will not accept any disrespect.)

•Characters you prefer drawing (Top 3)

(Which Mob Psycho Characters do you enjoy drawing the most? This will help us assign you to a more comfortable challenge, but it's not guaranteed we'll find the perfect person for you.)

•Your specialties and weaknesses

(What are you great at drawing? Let's say you do well with cute pink themes, or maybe you're a horror artist. Maybe you can't draw muscles or a specific character. This also might help us assign you to a more comfortable challenge but again, it's not guaranteed.)

•Amino or Tumblr?

(This celebration will also be held on our Mob Psycho 100 Amino. If you have an active Amino account, please put both your Mob Psycho Amino username and your Tumblr Username. You may be paired up with a Amino member. If you don't have Amino, that's okay, please just give us your Tumblr username.)

•Second Contact

(We really don't suggest putting your phone number. We suggest putting your Instagram, Email, or some other way of contact in case we loose you. We may never use this second contact if you remain responsive on Amino. Do not worry, all will be kept private only between you and I.)

•Please send 2 or more pieces of your previous artwork.

(To prove that you are an artist of course. Any level of art is allowed. We just wouldn't want to accidentally accept an imposter.)

When you fully answer these questions you will PRIVATE MESSAGE me these question responses. DO NOT COMMENT your responses on this post. Remember, you are not supposed to know your artist, it's a surprise! You should receive an "Approved 👍" message from me. If you don't get a response within 72 hours, your message may not have been sent. Resend it, or comment on this post "My message did not get approved." When approved, the following steps will proceed in our chat.

Example of a filled template:

Name

Kyle Mcarley

Favorite characters (Top 3)

Mob, Ritsu, and Reigen

A Note to your artist

I love when Ritsu had the red dimples.

Characters you prefer drawing (Top3)

I'm really good at drawing Mob and Ritsu.

Your specialties and weaknesses

I'm not good at drawing older characters like Reigen, and not totally good at hands. I design more and I draw abstractly.

Amino or Tumblr?

Amino :King Kuso

Tumblr: KingdomKal

Second Contact

Instagram: KingdomKAL

Please send two of your favorite art pieces.

(Here you will send two images of your past art pieces.)

If you know any artists that love Mob Psycho please share this post with them. The more people, the better

❄Step 2❄

This is the "Assigning Stars" period.

After being approved, we will wait until the "Assigning Stars" dates. Only then will I assign you to the person you will be drawing for. If you feel like pulling out of the event, it's better that you tell me BEFORE we assign you to somebody. You can start your art piece immediately once you are assigned the person you are drawing for.

The message will look something like this,

Thank you for joining our event "your name"! Here is the Winter Star you will be gifting!

Name

>>Chris Edwin

Favorite characters

>>1. Reigen 2. Mob 3. Dimple (human)

A Note from your Winter Star:

>>Reigen is my favorite and I would like him to be happy and smiling! Thank you for your hard work!

Please enjoy your challenge and remember not to contact your Winter Star, and do NOT post the finishing art piece until the "Posting Period" dates, Which is Jan 20th to Feb 1st. We will also be contacting you in the chat on the dates Dec 27th and Jan 10th to check on progress, and to check to see if you are responsive.

Anything life changing can happen any day and we understand.

Just let us know as soon as possible so we can quickly find a back up artist for you. If you don't respond to the first reminder, we will contact your 'second contact' listed, and if you don't respond, we will try again on the second date. If no response, we will immediately look for another artist.

If you have any very important messages for the person you are drawing for, I will pass them along to your Winter Star and give you their answer. You will not contact the person you are assigned to. Remember, it's a lot like "Secret Santa".

❄Step 3❄

This is the "Drawing Period" and "Posting Period"

Now that you're all ready to go, we've given you 37+ days to go all out for your art piece. Remember we will be messaging you on Dec. 27th and Jan. 10th to check in on your progress. Please respond as soon as you can. Once the "Posting Period" comes along, you will then be allowed to post your well worked on art piece for your Winter Star! Remember not to post the final result until the "Posting Period" Jan. 20th through Feb. 1st. This date may change if EVERY artist gets done earlier. If that happens, you will be told that you can post early. Otherwise, do not post until those dates!! Don't forget to wish them a happy New Year! I also will be messaging all participants a link to their gift post! So don't worry about trying to search for it. Remember to be kind and open minded to the gift you may receive! They worked really hard on it and it's a special gift made just for you!

THE TAG THE TAG THE TAG

PLEASE don't forget to TAG

#MP100WS

This will make it a lot easier to find your posts.

Gifting Schedule

Again

Gathering Stars

Nov. 23rd -- Dec. 12th

Assigning Stars

Dec. 12th -- Dec. 15th

Drawing Period

Dec. 15th -- Jan. 20th

Check In dates:

Dec. 27th and Jan. 10th

Posting Period

Jan. 20th -- Feb. 1st

Tag: #MP100WS

BUT BEFORE MOVING ON

We have specific Guidelines for this Event:

❄Event Regulations❄

Must follow Dates (Gifting Schedule) accordingly.

Posting early is not acceptable unless messaged to do so.

Please be thankful for the gift you may receive.

Be open minded, disrespect will not be tolerated.

Do not contact the person you have been assigned to.

Remember, it's a lot like "Secret Santa". Keep it a surprise and stay anonymous.

No gore, avoid using bloody or violent themes.

If you are ever unsure, ask me beforehand. Or, I can ask your Star if they are comfortable with those themes, but you will not contact them. I will do the messaging, you stay anonymous.

Some ships and Sexual themes are not allowed.

Age gap ships are not allowed, we won't even let you request it. Explicit content is not allowed at all, and nudity isn't allowed either. Drawing an adult character shirtless varies. In short, flirty poses may not be allowed, but in a beach setting it might. Please ask us before going with it.

Your final piece can not just be line art.

You can do black and White shading, manga style or full color. We wouldn't want to give a person an unfinished gift, make it with love as you will receive a gift made with love too.

❄The Yahs and Nahs❄

❌No, your art doesn't have to be related to Christmas or New Years.

It's simply a fun piece of artwork of the character you've been assigned to draw.

✅Yes, you can post your final piece on this Amino AND on Tumblr.

We actually suggest this if you use Amino too. Just don't forget to post only during Jan. 20th through Feb. 1st and don't forget to Tag: #MP100WS

✅Yes, you can draw all 3 of your Star's favorite characters.

This is completely optional as it may be more challenging. Remember, you have 37 days to do it.

If you know any artists that love Mob Psycho please share this post with them, the more people the better!

This marks the end of this post for all regular participants. We suggest reading the entire post one more time to make sure everything will be followed accordingly, I know it's a lot of information but we must keep things organized. Stay tuned if you're interested in being a back up artist.

If you have ANY kinds of questions, message me or comment them.

꧁:*ﾟ:*:✼✿▬▬▬▬▬✿✼:*ﾟ:꧂

CALLING FOR BACK UP ARTISTS

Every event usually has a member that will pull out of the event. It's our job to make sure every Star gets a gift, and nobody gets left behind! You can help out too, here's how:

Message me answering these questions:

Back Up Artist Questions

●Name

(Any name to call you by.)

●Number of art pieces you are willing to draw.

(Be very honest and sure on how many you are willing to complete. Remember you may have to complete it very quickly.)

●Amino or Tumblr

(Do you use this Amino or Tumblr. Not required to have a Tumblr.)

●Second Contact

(Any other contact like Instagram or email.)

●•●•●•●

Yes, you can JUST be a back up artist! You don't have to participate in the entire Winter Star event. You can choose to only help out by being a back up artist.

❗Back up artists do have to be quick. Back up artists may be expected to finish a full piece within 4 days at least, it depends on how soon or late someone decides to pull out of the event.

❗If you are already apart of the Winter Stars event, and we're past the "Gathering Stars" period before deciding to pull out of the event, you can't be a back up artist. If you quit, you quit.

There may be a special group chat with all Back up Artists so that it will be easier for artists to choose what replacement they want to do.

Thank you so much for reading! It means a lot! I've been working very hard on this event and if could help share this with your friends that would mean the world to me! -KAL

Easy Copy and Paste Questions

Winter Star Event Questions:

•Name

•Favorite characters (Top 3)

•A note to your artist

•Characters you prefer drawing (Top 3)

•Your specialties and weaknesses

•Amino or Tumblr?

•Second Contact

•Please send 2 or more pieces of your previous artwork.

Back Up Artist Questions:

●Name

●Number of art pieces you are willing to draw.

●Amino or Tumblr

●Second Contact

Yes, you have to answer all questions even if you're being both a back up artist and normal Winter Star.

#MP100WS #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #mob psycho #mp100 fanart #mob #reigen #secret santa

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volfoss · 3 years

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Top ten manga and anime!!

OK!! im gonna uhhh cheat a bit and do 10 of each ok <3

manga:

xxxholic (i feel thats obvious <3) but its like my fave thing ever and just has such a good supernatural comedy plot but is also like serious and one of those things that legit changed how i thought about things (in a good way <3)

tsubasa reservoir chronicles!! its the sister series to xxxholic and is like found family road tripping across dimensions and oh my godddd its so good!!

chobits uwu, IF you can get past the well, horniness, of the first 15 chapters, its soo soooo good, its like a story about finding your person and it just aughhh its so powerful......

i feel i need to have jojo on here somewhere so bam here. good series would kill araki if i could etc

OMG i nearly forgot abt stop!! hibari kun! important thing to note abt me is that i rly enjoy going back and seeing trans rep in older manga and this like?? handles it not great but the characters r near and dear to my heart and the art is rly pretty <3

OH MY GOD I NEARLY FORGOT BUT DORORO!!!!!!!! like the art is gorgeous the story is rly rly good and the characters are so good. it DOES have an anime but i maintain the manga is the best way to like consume it? its just rly rly well handled and rly fun.... if u can like ignore the uhhhh mild transphobic shit in the second half, but its rly good and dororo (character) is trans as fuck and my best friend!!

DOUBLE HOUSE OMG!!!!!! literally THEEEEE trans manga thats kinda older and its just so soft and so sweet and aughhhh its not officially translated into english but u can find it online but its so good.....

OMG OMG... like anything by junji ito!! uzumaki is my fave but gyo is rly rly good and tomie.... ough its so good!! i rly like horror manga <3 honorable mention for this spot since i havent finished it yet, but the drifting classroom has been rly good so far <3

NARUTO sorry sorry for enjoying it buttttt its good <3 i read it mostly for sakura my best friend but its a rly good series and even tho its long as shit it didnt rly like get bad? other than the 100 chapter stretch where i was going to kill someone bc it was so boring <3

OUGH OUGHHHH yes i nearly forgot about x/1999!! its like clamps magnum opus and its just a like rly epic sci fi story, but also unfortunately continues from tokyo babylon (gross gross icky :( ) but its so good and the characters are really good and it would be SOOO much higher if it was actually finished :(

anime:

DEATH PARADE OH MY GODDDD literally like my fave anime of all time its so good and so powerful and makes me cry every single time... it is everything to me

mob psycho 100!! also like one of those that fundamentally changed my brain but the artstyle slaps so much and its rly rly fun!!

great teacher onizuka! its uh a very very big thing of if u can ignore some of the more questionable aspects of it, but it was like one of my first animes and its smth that i rly treasure. its a like rly light hearted comedy abt this former motorcycle gang leader who wants to become a teacher, but gets assigned to a rly rly tough class and uses like RLY unorthodox ways to solve the problems... its like oddly heartwarming and the openings slap sooo hard

OH MY GOD I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM.... again its a thing of ignoring the fanservice but i legit cannot think abt the ending w/o bawling my eyes out... its like a popular one but its popular for a reason imo? its fun <3

again feel obligated to put jjba on here <3

OHH YEAH!! what ive seen of doctor stone is rly good! im a bit further ahead in the manga but the artstyle is rly good and if u can look past a bit of fan service... ough its so good. its just like rly fun and scratches an itch in my brain <3

OH YEAH!!! hunter x hunter!!! its rly fun and i rly need to finish the manga someday, but its like a long term one that i rly rly enjoy <3

YEAH YEAH I NEARLY FORGOT!!!!!! but i rly rly enjoy gangsta!! its like idk rly fun and the main three are in a poly relationship in my mind <3 i rly love the characters and the setting a lot <3

YEAH OMG YEAH1!! K-ON!!!!! its like a slice of life and while i dont normally like those... k-on is rly good <3 its just a soft little series and makes me rly happy (havent finished it but god its just rly good <3)

i feel so bad that i never finished this one BUT i rly enjoyed the millionare detective: balance UNLIMITED when i watched it! im a chronic never finishes shows person (except if it sucks in which case i will binge it) but its animated rly nice and its a fun premise <3

#asks #i <3 watching and consuming shitty things so like dsjfhsdf dont fully trust my taste yk?#i watch a lot less anime than i read manga if that makes sense??

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aj-anime-blog · 3 years

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Deca-Dence - Review!

Wooooo Deca-Dence!

Deca-Dence was a summer 2020 anime, and that’s when I originally watched it! I've watched it about a dozen times since, as it landed itself right on my roster of my favorite animes, if not my favorite of all time.

Deca-Dence is an original piece, so no manga source material (whaaat!) and comes from the genius brain of Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director of other fan-favorites like Mob Psycho 100 and Death Parade (a review for Death Parade is in the making!). Original mangas are such a hit-or-miss recently, and I think that this one got the bullseye!

What's our concept?: Set in the future, the world is now plagued by monsters known as Gadolls. In an attempt to keep humans safe from them, mobile fortress Deca-Dence was constructed, where Gears, who live near the top, fight the Gadolls, and Tankers, who live at the bottom, provide support from inside Deca-Dence. Our protag, Natsume, is a Tanker who wants to fight with the Gears, but her prosthetic arm keeps her out of battle. That is until she meets Kaburagi, an older Tanker who seems to know his way around fighting and might have more to him than he lets on.

It's gonna be hard to go through this without spoilers, but I promise that I'll keep it spoiler-free until the section at the bottom!

So overall, what do I think?: 10/10! I've already said it, but Deca-Dence is one of my favorite animes of all time, and it deserves the spot! It has incredible characters, a story that keeps you hooked even through twists and turns, and a pace that manages to cram so much plot into only 12 episodes without feeling overwhelming or rushed! Deca-Dence presents ideas that, at the surface, may seem overused or old, but spins them in such a way that they're completely original. It follows through with character relationships, making them worthwhile and fulfilling.

Let's start with the story this time!: 10/10!! It's going to be really hard to explain the beauty of Deca-Dence's plot without spoiling it, but I'm doing my best! I really do recommend just giving the show a try, though, as it's really worth it! (Don't just drop it after episode 2, like a lot of people did :( That's just judging it wayyy too early!!)

Deca-Dence has a story that's thrilling and new. Everything that happens builds off of itself in a way that's natural and smooth. The elements of the story, no matter how different they may seem, play their part and work together well. The show isn't predictable either - don't go in thinking that you know what's going to become of it. Each twist feels surprising and new without feeling like they're coming out of left field.

I won't say much more in fear of ruining it, but Deca-Dence's story holds up well, and with its strong cast of characters supporting it, it becomes absolutely suburb. I think a lot of people fell into this pit of seeing only the beginning and tossing it aside, but no matter how strange the concepts in it may be, they wind together to form something really unique!

So those characters, huh?: 11/10, I love them so much! I'm a character nerd through and through, and Deca-Dence sends my little character-obsessed heart wild. The protags, Natsume and Kaburagi, are both fascinating, have incredible development, and engage in a character dynamic that is so natural and well-written that I never doubted it.

To be honest, Natsume doesn't have a personality that's anything new. She's young, determined to a fault, naive, and a complete sweetheart. She wants to fight the Gadoll and she'll do anything to achieve that dream. She's not a natural at fighting but her motivation to do so makes her believable and relatable. She's looked down upon because of her prosthetic arm and forced into a job that she doesn't like, but she never gives up on her goals. Even though she's so simple, her interactions and energy make her lovable and a wonderful protagonist.

Kaburagi follows the washed-out warrior trope, as he's an older man assigned to clean-up duty who keeps to himself and never shows too much emotion. While this type of character can sometimes get annoying, the show gives Kaburagi enough time to show his real feelings and explain how he got to his position. This proper development keeps him down-to-Earth and shows him as even more flawed than Natsume. Kaburagi's motivation, which I can't explain for spoiler reasons, is entirely believable and explains perfectly why he decides to put up with Natsume, even though she's his polar opposite.

The relationship between the two characters is balanced and beautiful. It's given the proper time to grow, mature, and ends up being extremely worthwhile. Natsume relies on Kaburagi, as he sees the potential in her and continues to support her in ways no one else ever has, and Kaburagi understands that Natsume is everything that he's trying to rebel against. Their relationship is emotional, runs deep, and leaves you wishing that there was more of them to watch, even after the show has ended.

The villain! The villain. I cannot talk all that much about the villain at the risk of spoiling. He is evil. I really really hated him, and that is a very good thing because it means that he's well-written. His motivation makes sense, his actions make you want to strangle him, his design was really really good! He's not the most interesting thing in the show, as his character is really only there to move the story along, but not every villain needs to be incredibly deep for a show to be good.

Lastly, our supporting characters! While none of them are as wonderful as Natsume or Kaburagi, they're still interesting and hold their own. They play important parts in the show and all of their interactions with the main two feel natural. Their conflicts make sense, their resolutions feel well-earned, and their personalities are all unique! For a 12-episode anime, there's a larger cast of supporting characters than you would think, and nearly all of them are memorable and loveable.

Time to shut up about characters, what about the art?: 9/10, ooooh yes the art! Deca-Dence is gorgeous! It's animated by studio Nut (bwahahhaha), who haven't done that much else in the anime world. Still, for a relatively new studio, it's absolutely amazing! The characters all have unique looks that make them stand out and the fight scenes are to die for. They lose a point on the CG, since it's a little bit less than amazing, but again, for a new studio, it's definitely not the worst I've seen!! (Admittedly, I also don't like CG much at all, so I'm always harsh towards it when it's used).

Deca-Dence switches between two styles that vastly contradict each other, one which is a colorful, happy-go-lucky style, and one that's the more typical anime style. I'll speak more about them in the spoilers section, but they do a wonderful job at maintaining the tone of the show, as to not let it get too dark, and forming a clear divide between the events of the two parts.

Oh goshhh the Gadolls look so cool. I'm so obsessed with cool monsters in anime and woah they look awesome!! They're original, with cool designs that I haven't seen elsewhere. The show could've so easily slapped in some pretty typical-looking dragons or wolves or whatever, but they instead spent time on these epic creatures, and it's so worth it! It makes the setting that much more unique and allows it to stand out from other animes.

Surely there's a flaw in this anime? The pacing, maybe?: 9/10. Yeah, I would argue that the pacing is Deca-Dence's weakest point. Not that the pacing is particularly bad compared to other shows! I still think that, for a 12-episode anime, it does a wonderful job of fitting in a large amount of plot into only about 5 hours! But, at some points, parts felt rushed or confusing, as the show would zoom into them. I never felt like I was truly lost, though. Even if I did wish that there was a break from the action, I never found myself really thinking that the show was leaving me behind in the dust. It's not the kind of show that you can turn on and leave running while you multitask, though. Blink for too long and you might miss something important, which can ruin some of the hard-hitting twists that the anime works so hard to build up.

OK! Time for spoilers! I beg you, go watch the anime before you read past this, because it's totally worth it!!

Woahh episode 2 am I right?? I thought that I clicked into the wrong anime when I began it, it took such a wild turn, and so soon in the anime too. This is what I really mean when I talk about a show not being what it appears to be! Again, I really encourage you to watch it for yourself, but if you're that stubborn on reading this through before you turn it on:

Deca-Dence is not about the heart-wrenching battles between Gears and their desperate attempts to keep humanity alive, because Gears are just avatars for cyborgs! You see, there's a civilization of cyborg people who are living above the Earth, who log in to fight in mobile fortress Deca-Dence as a game. So the Gadolls are genetically grown as prey for the Gears and the entire story surrounding Deca-Dence's battles are scripted. Crazy right!? The best part: the Tankers aren't in on this at all. You heard me: Natsume and her human friends have no idea that Deca-Dence is staged.

From here, Deca-Dence has two distinct parts: we'll call them "Natsume's half" and "Kaburagi's half". Natsume's half refers to the mobile fortress, the Tankers who live unaware of the cyborgs, and the art style that premiered in the first episode. Kaburagi's half is the Solid Quake organization, the Gears who are avatars of the cyborgs, and the goofy, stylized art style with big lines and bright colors.

The twist and the diverging sides of the story set this show up as not your typical sci-fi anime, but as something a little deeper. The stakes are the same, as humanity is in just as much peril as it was before - it becomes abundantly clear that the Gears and cyborgs don't care about them - but the name of the game completely changes as you realize that our so-called "heroes" aren't really all that heroic, and there's a lot more going on.

Kaburagi is, of course, one of these cyborgs, cursed to live among the Tankers because of a mistake he made while playing as a Gear. Now, he's in charge of eliminating "bugs", or mistakes that the system finds. He's upset with his life, frustrated at what he's doing, and contemplating suicide. But when Natsume walks into his life, a little girl that the system considers legally dead, Kaburagi sees a chance to rebel, even the slightest, against the system. He's supposed to kill Natsume, but instead, he takes her under his wing, determined to protect what he's been instructed to eliminate. This development gives their relationship a deeper meaning, even if Natsume doesn't know it.

Deca-Dence does a wonderful job at showing the watchers both sides of the story but keeping Natsume's side in the dark. Even though we see scenes from Kaburagi's side, Natsume knows nothing about them. When Kaburagi leaves after Hugin kills his avatar, Nastume doesn't know where he's gone and has no reason to believe that he hasn't run away. There's no way she could guess that Kaburagi's new form - his weird orange Gear avatar - is the mentor that she once knew. And when Kaburagi, back in his original form, is killed in front of her, she really believes that he is dead. When Natsume finds out about the truth of the Gadolls - that the world she knows is fake - her horror is palpable and realistic, because there's no way she could've known any better.

Kaburagi's world has a goofy style to it, with the cyborgs looking cartoonish rather than realistic. While it might initially seem off-putting, I think that it ends up balancing the tone of the story much better. Consider the hellscape that is the reform facility that Kaburagi visits. Imagine how dark it would've been if it was not in a silly style! By keeping the style cuter rather than realistic, the show doesn't dip too far into dark and gritty, and I really liked it!

It also set up this harsh divide between Kabruagi's half, where things are easygoing, done for pleasure and fun, and not nearly as harsh as Natsume's world (Look at the name of the series! Decadence literally means living in excessive luxury!). Even when the cyborgs are in their Gear forms, which are drawn in Natsume's style, they're still a lot more colorful and vivid, showing that their lives aren't as harsh as that of the Tankers. The art styles reflect the differences between the two halves and give them both distinct tones and personalities!

& finally, let's take an in-depth look at one scene!: I had a really hard time picking what I thought summed up the series in a single scene. In the end, I think that Natsume and Kaburagi's discussion at the end of episode 7 was the best. Here, we see a culmination of a lot of the character development going on. Kaburagi, in this scene, is in a Gears avatar that Natsume doesn't recognize, meeting her for the first time since his normal avatar was killed. Natsume's been working with the Tankers to protect them from Gadolls that infiltrated the fortress, and she's motivated them all to rise up and fix the hole in the fortress themselves.

Kaburagi has encouraged Natsume to be a stronger person, even though she had to be independent and not rely on him any longer. His pessimistic view on the world - that they'll never defeat the Gadolls - has rubbed off on her, but it's only made her more determined to be stronger to stand up to them. In this scene, we see her breaking down as she considers that Kaburagi might be right, and that she'll never kill them all, but that she needs to continue fighting.

Though Kaburagi previously doubted Natsume and her endless determination, he now feels filled with the same motivation. Natsume has convinced him, time and time again, that he can't give up, and so he decides that he's willing to do anything to make sure that she never loses that hope. He wants her dreams to come true, and he knows that she can't accomplish them alone.

This perfectly shows the effects that they have on one another. Natsume is now stronger than she's ever been: independent, able to take down Gadolls on her own, and determined enough to patch up the hole that no one else thought could be fixed. Kaburagi, in stark contrast to his suicidal thoughts from episode two, is now completely devoted to make the world a safe place for Natsume. Their relationship has shaped one another into being the best versions of themselves, and this isn't even the end! They still complete their growth in the last few episodes, but I've rambled about them enough.

We're done!: That's my review of Deca-Dence! I really believe that it's one of the masterpiece animes in recent years, and I wish it got more attention. I'm sure that there's plenty of anime out there like this one - forgotten diamonds in the rough - that I'd love to dig up and fawn over. Tell me if you know any! Or, if you disagree with my review, tell me where you think I'm wrong!

#time to go rewatch deca-dence #writing about it has made me miss it so much #its sooooo good #please check it out #it's so worth it #studio nut #bwahahah #studio NUT #lmaoooo #please tell them to get a better name #deca-dence #anime #anime review #summer 2020

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yasuda-yoshiya · 5 years

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Sorry I haven’t been around here much lately! The last few weeks (/months, really) have been rough for me, but I’m feeling a bit better at least for now. For now I’ll just drop some overdue thoughts here on some of the things I’ve been watching since I finished Utena:

Princess Tutu

I found Tutu to be a really sweet and charming show with a ton of heart, but I'm also sad to say that I don't think watching it straight after Utena did it any favours for me. Utena portrayed the same kinds of themes around breaking out of predefined narratives in a way that personally hit home for me a lot harder, so Tutu ended up feeling a bit like a watered down version of the same ideas to me... Which is a shame because I do still think it's a really cool show with a lot to like about it! It's visually and aesthetically gorgeous, I adore its whole cosy meta-fairytale atmosphere and the ballet theme and the whole general feel of the show a lot - it just didn't end up leaving that much of a lasting impression on me in the end. I may well come back and revisit it some day, because I feel like I'd probably get more out of it coming in with a clearer idea of what to expect and without Utena's shadow unfairly hanging over it.

For the characters, I loved Ahiru and Fakir! They were both so endearingly earnest and I really liked the respective directions they ended up taking both of their character arcs and their relationship (Fakir passionately rewriting the story to be about Ahiru's bravery and courage at the end made me cry so hard! That's like, the exact kind of individual heartfelt expression of love that hits straight to my heart when it comes to fictional couples, waaaah...)

Mytho and Rue were a bit harder to connect with for me; I felt like I couldn't really get invested in Rue's feelings for Mytho for the most of the show since the backstory around them wasn't revealed until the very end. (I did like Ahiru and Rue's relationship quite a bit, though! That sort of feeling of the narrative artificially pushing them into being enemies when they really could have helped each other as friends was well done.) On Mytho's end I just never clicked at all with the whole raven blood subplot that seemed to dominate his character in the second season, unfortunately. I couldn't make it meaningfully connect for me, even though I had quite liked him as a character in the first half of the series (even in just my generic "hnng cute boys struggling with the idea of having feelings" way). I'd be interested to see on a rewatch whether those two would work better for me having a better idea of where their trajectory was going from the start, since I felt like I didn't really "get" what they were going for with their relationship or how I was supposed to be reading them until the very end (I'm slow okay).

Steven Universe

What an absolutely lovely series! I've been wanting to check this out for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got the chance because it really is excellent. I totally fell in love with the whole Crystal Gem family, and the balance between them all having their own personal issues to deal with while still being able to draw love and support from each other was done really well. I really loved the handling of Steven's PoV in the first couple of the series especially for how they handled his growth around coming to understand that his parental figures are really flawed people who have a lot of baggage to deal with, but also without framing their personal problems or their relationships with each other as being at all within either his power or responsibility to "fix". Instead, his moments of growth are more about more consciously registering the burdens they're under and making those little gestures to ease them wherever he can, like consciously showing appreciation for their parenting efforts with the test, or giving Amethyst more time to vent things out with her friend when she's stressed out instead of asking her to take him home right away. Likewise, on the gems' end, we really get the sense that e.g. Pearl's love for Steven is real and valuable and "saves" her in a very real sense, but also that it's not going to ever fully erase her depression or her grief over losing the life she had with Rose before and that that's okay.

I would say as the show went on, it felt like it lost some of the grounded and occasionally harsh nature that originally drew me to it - the first couple of seasons felt like they had a sort of constant legitimate tension in the background with the gems trying hard to keep things together in a hard situation in a way that still obviously had its cracks in it, and a sort of acknowledgment that "maybe not everything will be okay, but there's still a lot of good in the world and in our relationships that's worth living for", which I appreciated. Whereas I felt like they moved a bit more towards unambiguously positive resolutions as the show went on, with a bit less of that willingness to leave things "unresolved". (Of course the show still has a lot of those moments, like the reveal of Rose's past in particular, but even then I wished that the fallout from the reveal and its lasting impact on the gems was given more time and weight than it was.) That feeling culminated for me in the finale of series 5 and the way the plot with the diamonds was resolved, where it felt like the show pretty much parted ways with reality entirely and fully embraced a kind of ideal fantasy positivity.

But I don't think that's necessarily a totally bad thing, either - it's still a very genuine and heartfelt kind of positivity that can be hard to find in narratives as unapologetically queer as SU is (especially in media targeted at young kids!) and I'm sure a lot of people really need that gap filled in their lives, so I can't really bring myself to resent it overall. The characters remain as endearing and lovable as ever, the show still made me smile from beginning to end, and all in all I have nothing but great appreciation for all the important ground it's willing to tread as a kids' show touching on a lot of extremely relevant contemporary issues in a positive and responsible way. It honestly makes me feel really happy and hopeful to think of kids getting to grow up with a show like this! So while I might personally have ended up resonating more with the show if they'd taken a different direction, I feel like I still have a lot of respect and understanding for the route they did end up taking, too, and I'm glad to have experienced it.

Mob Psycho 100

I thought this was a very cool and interesting show! As "deconstructing shounen tropes" series go, I feel like this one successfully hits a unique sort of sweetspot for me in the way that, rather than brutally tearing apart shounen conventions out from the roots (which is also something I can enjoy a lot when it's done well!), it's instead focusing on taking a lot of the genuinely positive ideas that draw people to shounen - the ability to overcome adversity through personal growth and "the power of bonds/friendship", positivity in the face of despair, and so on - and re-examining them through a more grounded context that asks "Okay, but what does that actually look like in the real world?" Because, you know, it definitely DOESN'T look like people with magical god-given superpowers blasting through everything that challenges them with the sheer force of their specialness and their pre-assigned role as the "main character", right?

So I was really impressed by Mob as a series for not only being so thorough about deconstructing that (to the point that the voice encouraging Mob to use his powers more and be a super special hero is an outright "devil on the hero's shoulder" kind of character!), but also for going that extra step to examining what real positive growth actually DOES look like. I felt like the series did a remarkably insightful job overall (especially in the second series) of sort of gently but firmly differentiating "real growth" from "shounen growth" in that sense. I really loved those little touches like the Emi episode, where the viewer is effectively led to expect a moral about how "people will like you more if you act more genuine and be yourself!" - but then the show very deliberately switches gears to the idea that trying to be more genuine is already worthwhile in and of itself, just because you're living in the world with a more conscious awareness of what's important to you and standing up for the things you care about, and how that authentic way of living can inspire other people and have a positive impact on them too.

And similarly, I absolutely love Mob and Reigen's weird, messy, problematic relationship being the emotional centrepiece of the series, because it's the exact opposite of the kind of friendship you'd expect to be centred in a "POWER OF BONDS!!" themed show, but that's also why it just... really really works! It's such a humble and near-accidental and flawed and limited connection, and I love that Reigen is also allowed to impact Mob in negative ways and have selfish motivations and be unambiguously portrayed as a genuinely pathetic and terrible person and a bad influence on him too, and that the show doesn't remotely shy away from that - and yet somehow it still absolutely shines through that both of them would be worse off without each other, that the "power of their bond" really has changed them both for the better as people. Not through any incredible magic connection, but just through those little moments where they save each other through things like Reigen telling Mob "It's okay to run away", or Mob telling Reigen "You're a good guy".

Because the show is so upfront about the limitations of their "bond", it really does make the emphasis on its positive impact and how fortunate the two of them are to have been influenced by each other really work and have value, I think - because it comes across as that kind of approachable, recognisable "miracle" that really can and does happen in people's daily lives. It doesn’t claim to be a perfect friendship, or to have the capability to fix all their individual problems just by existing, but it does still come across loud and clear that they’ve been a genuinely positive force in each other’s lives. I definitely came away from it with a greater appreciation for those little chance encounters and humble relationships that have helped me and shaped me as a person! On the whole, I'm sure the show isn't for everyone, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys shounen as a genre at all, because I feel that it really works as a remarkably critical and self-aware yet loving celebration of the spirit behind those kinds of stories.

#princess tutu #steven universe #mob psycho 100

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weirdlizard26 · 5 years

Note

For the ask meme? All of them.

jay,,,

give me a sec to edit this post ok

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

wine glasses are like reading glasses except you wear them while drinking wine

i’d say water bottles but only the ones that can handle heat and stuff and not poison your drink with plastic or whatever

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

i havent had a lollipop in a good while so thats my choice

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

havent tried either but boy i’d love to try just a little bit of cotton candy at leastonce

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

bro,,,,,, that was like 10 years ago, how am i supposed to remember that,,,,,,,

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

i usually drink soda from plastic cups but honestly? nothing beats the experience of sipping that sweet sweet ambrosia from the bottle,,, but also i’d love to try soda in a can some day!

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

idk what half of these would look like but sportswear always wins in my book

7. earbuds or headphones?

ok i actually googled whats the difference and im more of an earbuds person! theyrejust safer i think and it makes me kinda anxious when im home listening tomusic and cant hear anything going on around me

8. movies or tv shows?

tv shows! well, unless the episodes are like 40 minutes or a full hour because its hard to focus for that long kfjsndkfs

9. favorite smell in the summer?

pavement after rain and also. grass.

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

haha thats a funny joke you made there *starts crying*

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

just a couple of meat+cheese+mayo sandwiches! if its summer mom cuts tomatoes or cucumbers for us and as they start getting more and more expensive we replace them with pickles!

12. name of your favorite playlist?

sorry i couldnt choose!

13. lanyard or key ring?

key ring!

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

aaaa i love fruit flavored ones!

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

aaaaaaaa i dont remember if it was elementary or middle school but we were assigned this really cool ukrainian book that ive actually read before they assigned it. well, nobody here will recognize it but it was Тореадори з Васюківки by Всеволод Нестайко and it was about 2 boys who were best friends growing up in the countryside and they went on adventures and had fun and their friendship made me so happy,,, i guess i was all for cool friendship portrayal even back then! it was mostly laughs and jokes but some moments were actually serious and hit me really hard and i remember them to this day actually

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

its a myth, sitting was created as a personal attack on me

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

my trusty old sneakers!! theyre all black and the sole is very soft and nice

18. ideal weather?

when the sun is out and its just warm enough to show off your new graphic tee and also very soft and nice

19. sleeping position?

i just lie on my left side like a fool

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

notebook!

21. obsession from childhood?

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!!! AND DANNY PHANTOM!!!! i even made a ghost fighting costume once,,,, tho it wasnt much of a costume, it was just fingerless gloves i cut out of paper. they were extremely uncomfortable. but very effective in fighting ghosts!

22. role model?

kfjsdnfk i have a bunch! might sound weird but one of them is bdg i think??? and the other 2 are some online acquaintances whom im too afraid to interact with more often than i do

23. strange habits?

repeating silly lines i hear on tv / in anime/cartoons? and also i never touch food with my right hand unless its plums?? and there are more but. you know. bad memory.

24. favorite crystal?

all of them!!!!!

25. first song you remember hearing?

my grandma used to sing this to me over the phone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUPnqqPXQsw

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

go for a walk!

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

slep

28. five songs to describe you?

we are the people by empire of the sun

home by cavetown

strawberry blonde by mitski

smile like you mean it by the killers

afterlife by arcade fire

29. best way to bond with you?

wash your hands very thoroughly and make jokes

30. places that you find sacred?

i see nature i go crazy from how much respect i have for it

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass andtake names?

*wearing hinata cosplay* im here to play volleyball and kick your ass and as you can see ive already played today’s match

32. top five favorite vines?

road work ahead

a avocado!! thanks!!!!!

REBECCA THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK

i fell can you help me :(

that vine where ukulele sounds like human voices and people sounds like ukuleles

33. most used phrase in your phone?

idk how to check that??? sowwy

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

the stomach meds ad they keep showing on tv

35. average time you fall asleep?

3am? 4am? idk for sure

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

t-trollface…

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

havent used either (cause ive never traveled anywhere too far away) but the latter looks pretty and i feel like it would fit more stuff

38. lemonade or tea?

depends on my mood!

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

dont kick me but im not sure if ive ever tried either ;w;

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

the school’s cat who hates most people actually kinda warmed up to me even tho im terrible with animals

41. last person you texted?

jay uwu

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

afabs cant have both huh

but i want both. please give me both.

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

all of these sound nice but my lazy ass will always go for hoodies

44. favorite scent for soap?

aaaaaaaa im allergic to a lot of soaps but i like flower scented ones

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

i love all of them dearly but lately ive been more into superheroes i think. im not sure really sure what exactly i feel

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

something really really long

47. favorite type of cheese?

there are different types????

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

i hope im a pear

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

become a good person. thats all.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

i dont remember what it was but i remember i was with my friends and we couldnt stop laughing for several minutes and ive never felt happier

51. current stresses?

UNIVERSITY FUCK OFF!!!

52. favorite font?

i like comic sans

53. what is the current state of your hands?

they arent doing so hot tbh, my dermatitis is back again

54. what did you learn from your first job?

i dont have one!

55. favorite fairy tale?

gonna be honest chief, i dont remember too many of them ;w;

56. favorite tradition?

on new year’s we turn the lights off, light up a candle in the kitchen, laugh at president’s speech and only then starts eating

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

getting over a lost friendship, passing high school finals and uni entrance exams and coming out to my best friend

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

singing!! being able to learn how to do most things pretty quickly!!! and i cant think of anything else but honestly these two are quite enough for me

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

uh oh! guess what! i dont have a catchphrase and im very self-conscious about it!

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

im torn between sports anime and slice of life

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

because humans dont have wings we look for other ways to fly

from haikyuu

obviously

62. seven characters you relate to?

tsukishima kei from haikyuu

mae borowski from nitw

apollo justice from ace attorney

flame princess from adventure time

donatello from tmnt

sokka from atla

kageyama shigeo from mob psycho 100

63. five songs that would play in your club?

mr brightside, bohemian rhapsody, smile like you mean it by the killers and allof haikyuu ops and eds

64. favorite website from your childhood?

if social media counts, vkontakte i guess?? i didnt really go anywhere else and it still exists and i thriving so im not sure if it should count fkjsndkjf

65. any permanent scars?

yeah, the one from my very first vaccination from when i was a few months old i think and also some traces of when i had chickenpox

66. favorite flower(s)?

idk a lot of flower names but i really like tulips

67. good luck charms?

dont have any at the moment but i’d love to get one!

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

whatever fish mom used to buy when we were kids >:(

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

bro my memory isnt good enough to remember those,,

70. left or right handed?

im a righty but i had to become a lefty for like a month when i broke my pinkie

71. least favorite pattern?

i like traditional ukrainian ornaments

72. worst subject?

history :P

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

ice cream + fries

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

idk how pain levels work but i try not to take meds unless the pain is interfering with studying

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

idk but i had a box full of my teeth for so long they turned to dust and i had to throw it away

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

RHNGRHGNRHGRNH EVERYTHING except for freshly made mashed potatoes

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

if its green it can stay

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

have never had either of those and i hope i never will cause they sound gross!

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

i dont have a license, so.

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

kfjsndfks depends on the mood tbh!

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

fireflies!

82. pc or console?

i WISH i had a console but this is too broke for that,, i played a couple of times tho and it feels more fun than pc!

83. writing or drawing?

please dont make me choose, ive abandoned both and its making me feel bad

84. podcasts or talk radio?

podcasts :O

84. barbie or polly pocket?

idk what polly pocket is but barbie rules!!!

85. fairy tales or mythology?

i feel like sometimes fairy tales are kinda like watered down myths so i have a right to say i like both

86. cookies or cupcakes?

my heart goes to cookies

87. your greatest fear?

finding out im faking any part of my identity

88. your greatest wish?

get through whatever’s going on right now

89. who would you put before everyone else?

mom

90. luckiest mistake?

when i recorded an undertale medley and got a few notes wrong but it actually ended up sounding better than originally

91. boxes or bags?

boxes!

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

fairy lights……

93. nicknames?

never really had many? my bff calls me mr smith sometimes but thats all i can think of fkjsdnfs but also! steve used to be my nickname before i decided my life my own and i get to choose my name

94. favorite season?

spring ;w;

95. favorite app on your phone?

sudoku

96. desktop background?

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

my own and my mom’s

98. favorite historical era?

eh im not very fond of the past because not every time period had soap

#wl26 #wl26 answers #flamingerrs #jay just so you know i love you a whole lot #i really did that huh #long post

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sunkistjello · 5 years

Note

Question time!!!! 9, 15, 16 ("On The Floor Like A Heathen" doesn't count), 19, 25, 30, 40, 48, 50, 55, 62, 67, 96, 98 (gooood that's So Many, feel free to pick and choose any of them, i dont wanna send your wrist right back to Pain Town with this!!!!!)

Thank you Kata!!!! It did get pretty long so under a cut it goes!!

9. Favorite smell in the summer?

Campfires!!

15. Favorite book you read as a school assignment?

Oof…. I haven’t read a lot of books I enjoyed At All in school but probably The Great Gatsby?? I think I could probably read that again now and still enjoy it

16. Most comfortable position to sit in?

Ancklscklsnkvsdmvkdsv thank u for calling me out….. tbh I’m Constantly changing my sitting position but however I sit it’s usually either got a leg up on the chair or crossed on my other leg. I have sat cross-legged in a chair before and nothing can stop me

19. Sleeping position?

On my side in the worst, most neck cramp-inducing ball you can imagine!

25. First song you remember hearing?

Oof. Oof. It was either “It’s All Good” by Bret Michaels or…. All Star……. by Smash Mouth. That whole time gets kinda mixed up in my head

30. Places that you find sacred?

Uhh cliche but my room!! It’s the only place that’s really Mine and family just walking in and sitting wherever or god forbid. Standing in the doorway and blocking me from getting out whether I was planning on leaving or not. Hate that! I think I lost track of the definition of sacred somewhere in here

40. Weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Some kid got busted for selling drugs and half the student body made a joke campaign to free him from prison. This is not a joke. Also when that Beyonce song came out with “H-Town” in it and, being in a town that starts with H, everyone wouldn’t shut up about it and it’s still seen carved into desks and walls all around the school

48. If you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

Citrus fruit is probably the easy way out jsndvjdkm but probably a clementine! Or tangerine. Or some sort of little orange-esque fruit

55. Favorite fairy tale?

The Bremen Town Musicians!!

62. Seven characters you relate to?

Mob (Mob Psycho 100), Finn (Adventure Time), Mabel (Gravity Falls), Magnus (TAZ), uh. That’s all I can really think of right now! If anyone thinks I’m like any characters feel free to tell me kdnvjdjvkdvkm

67. Good luck charms?

A tiny needle-felted Calliope (homestuck... oops) my friend (Kaelyn) made for me!!

96. Desktop background?

This pic I took while camping!!

98. Favorite historical era?

I was never very good with history but I guess like...... whenever it was that the Greeks and Romans were makin big temples and all sorts of myths and legends and stuff! That kinda stuff is cool

Typing doesn’t hurt my wrist too much so I did almost all of them!! Thank you again!!

#helen battle #there were like..... one or two i couldnt come up with a good answer to #sorry it took a while to answer!!

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autisticmob · 6 years

Text

tagged by uhh nobody but allie @pundeserving kinda left it open and im swoocing in because its fun. you cant fuckng stop me.

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in any order), answer the questions and tag 10 people you want to get to know better

I choose…

1. homed Stuck

2. mob psycho

3. fma

The first character you loved!

1. ARADIA like ok first panel she was in i saw her and i was like “telekinesis? kinda spooky?? oh shit my TYPE” and that was it. it helps that she turned out to be objectively the best homestuck character as well.

2. MOB HES SUCH A GOOD BOY!! like, he’s the first character you’re exposed to and he’s so good, I don’t think you can avoid loving him first.

3. i mean. it’s gotta be alphonse. like... what a sweet boy? all the bad shit happened to him and he deserved NONE of it, my poor fucking SON.

The character you never expected to love so much!

1. ok in all honesty, sollux. sollux is tied with aradia for my all time favorite homestuck character, but the only reason i ever paid any attention to him was because i happened to have some weird 3D sunglasses, and that meant he was the first character I was able to cosplay easily. but obviously if you pay enough attention to him you realize hes a fantastic boy. like hes a fatalistic douche and a massive weenie but he cares about his friends so much?? like to the point of repeated, kinda horrifying self-sacrifice? and he was 13!!! its so fucked up but he just is love his friends THAT MUCH and now I’m sobbing.

2. shou. it’s 100% because i watched the anime first, and he’s barely in it at all, so it’s hard to get a read on him from that. but obviously after reading the manga im like oh hes just a young chaos gay. a sweet baby boy who doesnt know shit except how to exploit psychic powers for fun and profit (and also revolution against his shitty dad.)

3. ed tbh? hes such a shit boy. like tbh i found him kind of annoying and unlikable at first? but he’s the protag, so you KNOW he’s gotta get that good good character development throughout the series, and he does! hes a lot more complex than he seems at first and even if he’s largely STUPID about his interpersonal relationships, that’s just because he’s, y’know, a literal child, and doesn’t mean he doesn’t care a whole fucking lot about his family/friends.

The character you relate to most!

1. dave. there is an ever-expanding running tally of outside sources which have pointed him out as my government-assigned homestuck kin and at this point it would be foolish to argue. rose is a CLOSE second.

2. mob. i have a whole post about why he’s so relatable to me but tl;dr he’s got mad issues with expressing emotions outwardly, but that doesnt mean he doesnt love his friends more than fucking ANYTHING and thats a mood

3. winry. special interest hell, no time for bullshit.

The character you’d slap!

1. andrew hussie the man himself... (among a number of other characters. it would take a lot to list all of them but just know orangeman is at the top of that list)

2. touchy hoe is the obvious answer, I think.

3. envy. the nonbinary representation i deserve and you’re coming in here with that hair?? that fucking crop top monstrosity?? get the fuck out.

Three favourite characters (in order of preference)!

1. aradia, sollux, dave

2. mob, shou, serizawa

3. alphonse, riza hawkeye, olivier armstrong. im gay, what do u want from me.

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore!

1. i had a phase toward the beginning of my time in the fandom where i really really liked eridan. i don’t like... DISLIKE him now or anything, but i just... don’t really care about him all that much anymore?

2. this is hard because my love for most mp100 characters has only grown over time. i guess mezato? again i dont DISLIKE her, i kinda thought she’d have more to her character than just manipulating mob for her own interests, but then she just... didn’t, really? which was disappointing, i thought there was more potential there.

3. most of the homunculi? tbh? they all seemed really interesting and honestly opening with greed’s arc the way they did I thought they’d all get more development than they did. like... envy got some, sort of, and pride/wrath kinda did too, but like. not enough to be satisfying. and then lust gluttony and sloth were just kinda... there? idk i understand WHY they didn’t all get individual arcs because like thatd be a mess but the fact that they didnt is why my interest in them kind of dwindled off over time. (aside from greed who was Very good the whole time.)

A character you did not like at first but do now!

1. She Who Must Not Be Discoursed. like at first i was like aight shes bitchy and terrible whatever im not interested but then as time went on i was like oh shes bitchy and terrible AND interesting. idk. still have mixed feelings about vriska and i absolutely will Not get into discourse about her but yeah shes Neat if nothing else.

2. teru... honey im sorry but before i watched mp100 everyone was like “wow i love teru!” and when i first saw him i was like “... okay why tho...” but I KNOW NOW. teru did a lot of things wrong, in his life, i know this and i love him.

3. roy mustang. literally didn’t give a shit about him for like... a lot of the time? toward the end i started warming up to him tho.

Three OTPs!

1. aradia<3sollux, sollux<>terezi, dave<3karkat. like... these are just some kids who genuinely care a lot about each other, and i like to cry about that sometimes.

2. teru/mob/takenaka is a good one. teru and takenaka both like mob because he likes them regardless of the fact that they are passive aggressive dicks. they continue to be passive aggressive dicks to Each Other for a while until they like, idk, actually talk to each other like real people and realize that they have shit in common and are actually capable of being decent. After this point they Will kill or die for each other (and mob still.) serirei is of course a classic tale of two disaster gays. and then ritshou is VERY good. like. its SO fucked up how quickly they go from like one-sided crush, one-sided Mortal Enemy Status to just. Real Chill Bros in canon it makes no sense and my only explanation is that they were both so goddamn desperate for a meaningful connection with somebody their own age that they just. Settled for each other?? at which point they got VERY lucky because they both turned out to be genuinely good and sweet boys underneath all the trauma and questionable life choices.

3. ok ed and winry are okay and all, i get the appeal and stuff but like. WHY DO PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT ALL OF WINRY’S EXCELLENT GIRLFRIENDS? paninya?? an incredible option, 10/10 cyborg gf. sciezka? cryptid live-in gal pal. LET WINRY HAVE A TON OF GIRLFRIENDS, ITS WHAT SHE DESERVES!!

gonna tag...... uh. @whentvsfly @imhereformysciencefriends @margoslxix and i think most of the other people i wouldve tagged have already BEEN tagged so uhhh mutuals all of u DO it

#words #long post #mp100 #hs #fma

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pannypancake · 7 years

Text

Hope is a Four Letter Word

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100 Characters: Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo, Reigen Arataka Rating: T Genre: Friendship, Dimension Travel, Pseudo-Age Swap Perspective: third person, past tense Word Count: 6971 (Oneshot) For @eigenvalium in the Mob Psycho 100 Holiday Gift Exchange (@christmas-shou)

Reigen waved one energetically dismissive hand. "We all have different skills that give our contributions value," he said. "It's only natural that we rely on other people."

Read On:

ArchiveofOurOwn Fanfiction.net

Or under the cut:

Mob was always kind of relieved when the teachers picked the groups for assignments. It saved him the awkwardness of having to ask people only for them to have to explain to him that they already had their group picked out. The only downside was that sometimes he didn't know anyone in his group very well at all.

This time was one of those times.

“I'm just saying, I don't know what you're so mad about,” Saito said, not looking up from where he was typing into his phone. His fingers and eyes moved in rapid unison. Mob didn’t know how he kept up with it while talking. “If you ask me, we got way lucky.”

“Good thing nobody asked you,” Yokoyama said, tossing her hair and sniffing.

“You kind of did,” Takada said with a shrug. He was leaning over to peek at Saito's phone. Saito kept shrugging his shoulder if Takada leaned too close, but otherwise didn’t try to stop him. “When you asked if anyone else cared.”

Mob, who had been sitting stiffly, hands upon knees, and trying to follow the course of the conversation jumped a little. He hadn't realized that had actually been an invitation for his opinion. “Um,” he said. The other three jumped a little too before turning to look at him. “Um, I think Fujita's already started on the project over there.” The other three continued to stare at him and his palms suddenly felt clammy. He resisted the urge to wipe them against his pants. “I just thought maybe we should go over and see how we can help?”

“Hah, good luck,” Yokoyama said. “She'd just tell you not to get in her way.”

“Right, so we should just let her do her own thing. It's not like she's gonna rat us out to the teacher,” Saito said.

“Fujita's groups always get really good grades,” Takada said.

“Oh, okay,” Mob said, uncertain. Letting one person do all the work didn't seem very fair to him. But...it was true that he wasn't very good at this sort of thing. Maybe if he tried to help he'd just ruin it and then everyone would get a bad grade. He looked over to where Fujita was very seriously sketching ideas onto a sheet of paper and something squirmed in his gut and his chest.

“Look, you do what you want, Kageyama. We're just telling you that you'll be wasting your time,” Saito said and then frowned as something on his phone beeped rapidly. “Shit, there goes my high score.”

“Hm? Fujita?” Inugawa rubbed at his neck as he thought. “I mean, yeah, she pretty much does every group project by herself. I think last year someone offered to help her and she just bit their head off - said she'd already done it all.”

“Sounds like a pretty good deal to me,” Shirihiko said. “It means you don't have to worry about homework this week, right?”

“Oh, I guess that’s true,” Mob said, brightening with the realization.

“Oi, Mob, you’re half way through a push-up!”

“E-eh?” Mob glanced downward and his elbows wobbled with the attention, almost as if his gaze had added extra weight.

“Ah, don’t give up, Mob! Fight!”

“Do you sense anything, Mob?” Reigen asked, hand inserted casually into one pocket. The building in front of them looked like it might once have been capable of ‘looming’, but years of sinking into rot and disuse had made it just look vaguely sad.

“Yes.” Sometimes Mob couldn’t detect any spirits when he and Reigen visited a haunting site. People are haunted by many things, Mob, Reigen had told him one time when he’d been particularly troubled by it. It wasn’t an issue now, though; even standing outside the front door he could feel the hair on his neck standing on end. “It’s very powerful.”

“Right,” Reigen said after a moment, shifting to look at him. “The client asked us not to do a straight exorcism today; we’re supposed to help the spirit move on. And sometimes it’s okay not to exorcise spirits if they’re not hurting anybody.”

“Like the little family in the woods,” Mob said.

“Exactly, like the little family in the woods.” Reigen snapped his fingers. “But we also can’t let the spirit hurt anyone.”

“Right.” Reigen just looked down at him expectantly and Mob scrambled to think of what else he was supposed to say.

Reigen sighed and laid a heavy hand on Mob’s shoulder. “Just keep an eye out.” Reigen patted his shoulder once, twice, firm. “You’ll know what to do.”

Mob followed Reigen into the building, staring up at him, but Reigen wasn’t looking at him anymore. His gaze was darting into the darkness, as if the spirit might emerge from any of the barely distinguishable shadows on the walls. It was a good instinct; Mob could feel the aura snaking through the space around them.

“It’s not happy that we’re here,” Mob said. Reigen paused, stiffened, before continuing on.

It was when Reigen’s foot was stepping over the threshold of a particularly decrepit looking doorway that snaking turned to striking. Mob’s hand flashed out, but it was almost unnecessary, his power moving first without the need of physical direction. He felt something recoil in the dark and remembered at the last second to pull back; this was not an exorcism job.

“Leach.” Something without a shape settled in front of them, just beyond the boundaries of the room. Mob watched it warily. It happened sometimes that a spirit became so entrenched into the place that it was haunting that it lost its own physical form; they would have a hard time convincing it to move on if that was the case. “Parasite.”

“Hello,” Reigen said loudly, hovering outside of the doorway. “My name is Reigen Arataka. This is my disciple, Mob - ”

The spirit lashed out again, but Mob moved first. Reigen flinched back from the place where the spirit struck at his barrier.

“Leach,” the spirit said again. “You're hiding behind the boy.”

“You're the only one who's hiding here,” Reigen said. His eyes slid past the spirit's non-form to veer wildly into the dim room. “Why don't you come on out and we can talk about this like civilized adults?”

“People like you are the worst kind of vermin,” the spirit said, apparently not interested in Reigen’s offer. “You cling to the talents of others, relying on them to carry you. Does he even know what you are?”

Reigen waved one energetically dismissive hand. “We all have different skills that give our contributions value,” he said. “It's only natural that we rely on other people.”

“What do you contribute? What value do you have?” the spirit asked and its presence seemed to swell. Mob's power prickled along his own skin as he kept himself waiting. “I gave my whole life to my work while the rest just waited for the credit. Where is the value in that?”

“Ah, here we go.” Reigen stepped forward, just outside the doorway now; brave, confident, or careless, it was hard to tell sometimes. “Alright, why don't you tell us your story and we'll see what we can do about this haunting situation.”

“Why don't you disappear.”

Mob tried to hold himself back, stopping the spirit’s curse without harming. It was like trying to cup a bubble in your hands: delicate, careful.

Inevitably impossible.

All it took was a brief spike, an infinitesimal falter in control, and the bubble burst, splattering Mob and everything around him with the collateral damage.

Mob awoke to the distinct sensation that something was off, like looking in the mirror and finding your nose moved two millimeters to the left. He was sleeping on the floor, like he had for years now, but the angle of the sun was all wrong. And his feet were cold.

He looked downward and realized that his feet were also big.

He climbed from his bed and his limbs felt strange, longer. Not, he noticed with disappointment, more muscular. He used them to carefully make his way to a bathroom he didn’t recognize, hoping there would be a mirror.

His nose was, fortunately, exactly where he’d left it. The face it was attached to, however, was quite different. Older.

Okay, so he had somehow traveled to the future. Well. That really wasn’t that strange, considering everything that had happened to him already. There was no need to panic.

He was kind of panicking a little bit.

He took a better look around the apartment. Small. Sparse. Clean. His? It was hard to tell; there were no photos on the wall or personal affects that would give its ownership away. He spent some time examining a small potted plant by the window that seemed to be barely clinging on to life.

The nicest thing in the apartment was very clearly the cellphone charging on the kitchen counter. Even so, the model would have already been considered out of date in Mob’s time; it must have been considered ancient now. It was kind of comforting to look at.

As he scrolled through the phone, a sense of relief built with every contact he recognized. Mom and Dad. Ritsu. Hanazawa. Reigen.

His thumb hovered over ‘Reigen Arataka’ for a long moment before he flipped the phone closed. This was the future; he didn’t know if the number was up to date or if he still worked at Spirits and Such. Or if Spirits and Such still existed. Or if Reigen still lived in Spice City.

He studied the familiar skyline through the window. He could probably find his way from here.

He checked the small closet and to his relief found a coat that looked like it fit him. It felt weird, taking a strange coat without permission, but he supposed that the coat was (technically) his. He reached into his pockets. From the left, he pulled a handful of crumpled receipts; all of them were from the same store, for the same type of potted plant, bought weeks apart from one another. He glanced again at the dying plant by the window, trying to decipher the strange puzzle his future self had left for him.

From the right, he pulled two keys attached by a ring. He tried both in the apartment’s front door and the second one turned the lock. Good. Okay.

Mob felt so relieved when he found the office, right where they’d left it, that his legs almost wobbled with it. He inspected the second key from his coat pocket curiously before trying it in the door; the lock turned easily.

He flicked on the lights and this space instantly felt more familiar than the apartment that he’d woken up in. There were changes: the posters with Reigen’s likeness were gone from the walls, the tile floor he remembered had been replaced with warm, if cheap-looking carpet, there weren’t quite as many books, some of the furniture had been moved. But Reigen’s desk and the smaller one that he’d given Mob to work at were both still there. Where the apartment had been bare of personal affects, the office was tidily scattered with little pieces of evidence that people worked there: two mugs sitting on the coffee table, a couple of knickknacks by the small tv, a couple of photos on Reigen’s desk in fragile plastic frames.

Mob handled the photos carefully, faintly surprised when he turned over the first one to find a picture of himself and Ritsu. They were older than he remembered either of them being, but perhaps a little younger than he appeared to be now. Disappointingly, the Mob in the photo hadn’t noticed the camera in time to smile, hands pressing down on the papers spread in front of him. The Ritsu in the picture was frozen in the middle of turning toward the photographer, eyebrows drawn to the space between his eyes and mouth open to say something. Mob wondered who had taken the picture and if Ritsu and Reigen were on better terms now.

The next one was of a boy in a Salt Middle School uniform who Mob didn’t know, but who resembled Reigen closely enough that he was probably a relative. The camera had been angled in such a way that the boy had clearly taken the picture himself, leaving the end result out of focus, but he wore a large, open grin.

Mob set the pictures back and glanced uncertainly around the office. He at least knew now that Reigen was still here. He couldn’t be certain that Reigen would know how to fix this anymore than he did, but…he would feel better not being alone. And somehow things had always worked out before. Mostly.

He was just debating giving the phone number a try when the door to the office burst open, followed by the sandy-haired boy from the picture. The boy almost chased after the door, reaching to stop it before it slammed against the wall and sighing in relief when he succeeded. “I’m sorry I’m late, Shishou, I – ” The boy stopped, schoolbag slapping once against his side with the abrupt end to his momentum, staring at Mob as he stood stiff and uncertain in front of the desk. “Are you okay?”

Mob startled momentarily at being addressed. He opened his mouth. Closed it. And finally it dawned on him who the boy had probably been expecting to see. “Oh, are you looking for Reigen-shishou too?”

“Am I - ?” The boy’s mouth moved a moment longer without sound, brows furrowed. And then he marched up to Mob with purpose, peering into his face with such force that Mob actually found himself leaning back. Without warning, the boy clapped his hands on Mob’s arms, grip surprisingly firm, and Mob felt his heart make a genuine effort to escape through his throat. “Shishou, you need to sit down,” the boy said, apparently to Mob.

“I – okay,” Mob said and let himself be led to the office’s familiar couch because nothing about what was happening made any sense and sitting down sounded good right about now.

The boy pressed the back of his hand to Mob’s forehead and narrowed his eyes before moving away. “You’re not sick again.”

“I don’t think so,” Mob said. His own hand almost automatically went to touch the spot that the boy’s hand had vacated.

The boy cupped his chin thoughtfully, rocking back on his heels, and Mob was struck again by just how much like Reigen he looked. “Did anything strange happen before I got here? Any shady looking visitors?”

“Yesterday, I was fourteen,” Mob said. If this boy was studying under Reigen, maybe he could help. “And now I’m not.”

The boy blinked at him. “Who did you say you were here to see?”

“Reigen-shishou. I think he still works here, but – ”

“I’m Reigen Arataka,” the boy said, thumping his chest proudly, “the most promising exorcist of my age. I’m studying under the greatest psychic of the twenty-first century.”

Mob’s whole body felt strange: cold and hot at the same time. His throat was dry, tongue heavy in his mouth, but he swallowed and spoke anyway. “And who’s that?”

“You,” Reigen said, looking at him steadily. “Kageyama Shigeo. Mob. My Shishou. Except you’re not, are you?”

“I think I’m still the first two,” Mob said.

Reigen sat on the couch opposite him and leaned forward across his knees. Mob had seen this pose enough times before; it usually meant Reigen was interested in a case. “Why don’t you start from the beginning.”

“Right, okay,” Reigen said, pacing a little now. Mob’s eyes tracked him as he moved. “I’ll have to handle this afternoon’s customers; that’s alright, some of them are regulars. We’ve got that little old lady coming in again to talk about her cats.” He stopped abruptly, arm swinging around to point at Mob. “Do you have somewhere to go?”

Mob stiffened, back ramrod straight as if the tension from Reigen’s arm was contagious. “Ah, um, I could go back to the apartment?” Reigen stared at him blankly. “My apartment,” he clarified. “Or I think it’s my apartment.”

“Good, perfect, wait for me there.” Reigen turned away and it took Mob a moment to realize that the conversation was evidently over. He hovered uncertainly by the couches for a while in case there was anything more. Reigen flitted busily from one part of the room to another: brewing tea, sorting through papers, checking something on his phone. Eventually, Mob decided it was probably alright to let himself out. He stopped outside the front door, patted his pocket and felt for the key; it was still there. He debated on whether Reigen expected him to lock the door after him; he decided against it.

He had the entire walk to think his situation over, but nothing became any clearer. It didn’t matter how he turned it over in his head or what angle he held it from. Understanding of his situation fled from his grasp like the answers to a math equation.

Alternate realities shouldn’t have felt that much more impossible than time travel. Home felt somehow farther now.

The knock on the door came about a half hour after Mob had decided that Reigen wasn’t actually coming tonight. He opened it to find Reigen shivering against the night chill, holding two bags of take out. “Sorry I took so long,” Reigen said. “I had to sneak out after Mom went to bed.”

Mob thought for a moment about scolding him, but the idea of scolding Reigen about anything was too weird. Instead, he moved aside and Reigen was quicker to make himself at home than he expected. He dumped the food on the small dining table and picked through the kitchen for clean dishes in a way that suggested familiarity. Mob could count on one hand the number of times he had been to his Shishou’s apartment over the years.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d had anything to eat today,” Reigen said, unpacking his own food.

Mob honestly hadn’t thought about it with everything that had happened. His stomach growled loudly, as if to chastise him for this oversight. “I didn’t. Thank you.”

Reigen nodded and gestured for Mob to sit across from him, digging into his burger without further preamble. The sight of ketchup smeared across Reigen’s face made something in Mob’s chest ease. This Reigen may have been younger and had different memories, but he was still Reigen.

“So, you wanna go back to your own world, time, whatever,” Reigen said, gesturing sharply with a fry. “I want my Shishou back. The way I see it, we’re partners.”

“That makes sense,” Mob said, relieved. ‘Partner’ sounded like a much more manageable title than ‘Shishou’. Reigen looked pleased.

Reigen insisted on looking at ‘the scene of the crime’ after they finished dinner, examining the bedroom with careful scrutiny. He insisted on turning over Mob’s bed to check for portals. Mob felt like he probably would have noticed if there had been one, but had to admit that he hadn’t checked.

Finally, Reigen rolled back onto his calves, looking vaguely disheveled, and held out a hand toward Mob. “Give me your phone.”

“You don’t have one?” Mob asked even as he passed his to Reigen.

“Mine won’t work for this,” Reigen said, frowning at the screen. “Great as my abilities are, I’ve determined that interdimensional travel might be beyond even me. So, I’m calling in my secret weapon.” Reigen turned the screen to Mob for a moment before going through with the call, apparently unfazed by Mob’s surprise.

“Ritsu?” Mob glanced at the dark sky through the window. “It’s late; will he even pick up?”

“He’ll pick up. That’s why it had to be your phone.” Reigen held his finger up in an unmistakable request for quiet. “Yo, Kageyama – ”

Reigen lapsed into sudden silence, frowning with the phone pressed against his ear. Mob sat stiffly, hands fisted in his lap as he waited. “Yeah, I know, but – ” Reigen started before pausing again. “If you would just listen – ” Reigen paused. Frowned harder. Flipped the phone closed. “He hung up.”

“Is Ritsu okay?”

“Oh yeah, he’s fine.” Reigen waved a hand in front of his face, at once reassuring and dismissive. “He’s just mad that I woke him up when his new job starts in the morning. I’ll call him back.”

“We can’t bother Ritsu,” Mob said.

“It’s not like I want to, but – ”

“We can’t bother Ritsu,” Mob said firmly. Just a twitch of psychic power and he pulled the phone from Reigen’s grasp for good measure. It felt a little weird; maybe his body wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

“Geez, fine.” Reigen rolled his eyes before standing up, stretching until his back popped. “I guess it’s good to know that you don’t really change when it comes to stuff like that, whatever world you come from.”

“Look, I have school tomorrow, but I’ll do some digging around and let you know if I find anything,” Reigen said. “You should see if you can do anything on your end in the mean time. You know, psychic stuff.” He waved his hands expansively in what Mob guessed was supposed to be a representation of ‘psychic stuff’.

Mob nodded even though he wasn’t sure exactly what it was that he was supposed to be trying. Maybe…could he make a portal? He let his aura flare, just a little, and even with the ‘weird’ quality to it, he knew his powers were as strong as ever. It was almost scarier to entertain using them to travel between realities as a real possibility.

Reigen didn’t seem to notice Mob’s flare up, pausing instead to look at the plant by the window. He reached out one hand to touch a browning leaf before poking at the soil. “I thought he was looking after it.”

Mob thought guiltily of the receipts in the coat pocket and wondered if he should say anything; it wasn’t his secret to share. And then Reigen sighed and Mob couldn’t find it in himself to lie. “I think he’s been replacing it every couple of weeks. Sorry, I was never much good at looking after plants.” Actually, if he used his powers, they usually grew too much and became a problem in a different way. He understood why this world’s Mob would want to care for the plant without relying on psychic powers, might have even felt proud of it, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he’d clearly been unable to take care of something that clearly meant so much to Reigen.

To his surprise, Reigen didn’t seem disappointed at all. If anything, he left looking happy.

“Where have you been, Dimple?” The words slipped out before Mob realized that they probably wouldn’t make any sense – not to this Dimple.

“Keeping out trouble,” Dimple said, looking a little cross. “I figured I’d give the kid some space after the, ah, incident last month. Keep you from deciding to poof me. Turns out, there’s no pleasing some people.”

“So, he’s not possessed,” Reigen said, staring Dimple down.

“Possessed? Kageyama? Hah! I’d like to meet the spirit who tried that one.”

“No,” Mob said because Dimple wasn’t talking about himself and there was only one other spirit who came to mind, even if Mob had technically been in someone else’s body at the time. “No, you wouldn’t.”

Dimple stared at him for a moment. “No, I don’t suppose I would.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.” Reigen sighed. “I figured we should rule the easy stuff out before breaking the laws of science and whatnot.”

“He’s not possessed,” Dimple said, “but he is sporting one hell of a curse.”

“Curse?” Mob’s eyes widened with the epiphany.

“And you couldn’t just say that from the beginning?” Reigen glared at Dimple, hands on hips.

“I was getting there, sheesh.” Dimple floated closer to Mob, looking him over before whistling. “It’s a doozy too. Normally Kageyama should be able to shrug this kind of stuff off, but, as usual, his powers complicate things.”

“What do you mean?” Mob checked himself over, wondering if he could spot the curse if he looked hard enough.

“I mean, you appear to have…absorbed it? Something like that. Shame – I don’t get to eat curses very often.”

“So, what do we do now?” Reigen asked.

“You’re gonna need the help of a really powerful psychic, that’s for sure.”

Reigen glanced at Mob. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to lend me your cellphone again.”

“We’re – ”

“ – not bothering Ritsu. Yeah, I got it.” Reigen sighed.

“You could always ask that guy,” Dimple said. Reigen's eyes narrowed. “What? Is this because you want into his pants? Because I don’t see how it would hurt. In fact – ”

Reigen grabbed Mob’s arm firmly. “Let’s go. There’s nothing this useless spirit can do for us.”

“Useless? Who are you calling useless, you wannabe – ”

The house looked normal enough, but Reigen kept straightening the hem of his shirt as they approached. If Mob didn’t know better, he might have mistaken it for nervousness.

The woman who answered the door did not look pleased to see them and Mob began to feel a little nervous himself.

“Good afternoon, Serizawa-san,” Reigen said, ignoring Mob’s surprise at the name. Reigen had his Customer Service Smile in full force and Mob allowed himself to relax fractionally; Reigen had always been very good at dealing with people who didn't want to deal with him.

The woman stared at Reigen for a long moment before stepping aside. “Katsuya’s upstairs.”

Reigen and Mob both thanked her in turn before entering, Reigen encouraging him to ignore every ingrained instinct toward politeness and hurry on. About half way up the stairs, Reigen finally acknowledged the questioning glances Mob had been directing at him. “I miiight have yelled at her. Once.” Mob couldn’t entirely quash spark of admiration; Reigen would be the kind of kid who wasn’t afraid to yell at an adult.

Reigen seemed to have no trouble figuring out which room belonged to Serizawa, pausing to rap his knuckles gently against the door. “Serizawa-senpai? We need to speak with you.”

It only took a few seconds for the door to crack open, a head poking out. Serizawa looked both less put-together than he usually did these days and more so than he had been when Mob had first met him. He smiled tremulously and seemed to unfold from himself a little when he saw them. “Reigen-kun. Kageyama-san.” He paused and his brow furrowed as he turned to Reigen. “I thought you were sick?”

“What? Me? No. You know me: the very image of health.” Reigen quickly inserted himself into Serizawa’s doorway, wrapping one arm over the other boy’s shoulder and pulling him away from Mob. He seemed to remember half way in that Mob was actually supposed to be a part of the conversation and hurriedly signaled that Mob should enter. Mob tried not to feel too annoyed.

Serizawa was very patient while they explained things to him, eyebrows lowering on his face when he had to ask them to review certain points. "I'm very worried about Kageyama-san too," he said when they had finished. He glanced, almost guiltily, at Mob. "Um, both Kageyama-sans. I guess I just don't...see why you came to me with this? I mean, ah, not that I don't want to help - obviously! I just don't see how I...can?"

Reigen's eyebrows rose on his face as if to compensate for every millimeter Serizawa's eyebrows had sunk. "Serizawa, you're the most powerful psychic I know." He stopped, patted Mob on the arm, almost consolingly. "Besides Shishou, of course."

“That’s very nice of you.” Serizawa ducked his head as he started to turn pink and sweaty like after a workout.

“It’s the truth,” Reigen said emphatically. “I need a powerful psychic to get rid of this curse and you’re the man for the job.”

“Reigen-kun, I still can’t control my powers well enough for something like this. It wouldn’t be right to use them on another person.”

Mob felt sympathy swell in his gut. “We’ll find another way.”

“What other way?” Reigen asked, one hand making a frustrated slice through the air to connect with his other palm. “We can’t bother Ritsu, Dimple can’t eat it, I tried calling that guy with the ESPer training camp or whatever – ”

“Ah, Hanazawa-san is – ”

“Busy, yes, I know. I couldn’t even get through to him directly and the brat who answered the phone wouldn’t tell me where he went.” Reigen sighed, running a hand through his hair. Serizawa was so tense at this point that Mob’s back hurt just looking at him. “I’m sorry, Serizawa, this isn’t your fault. We’ll…we’ll figure something out.”

“I do want to help,” Serizawa said. “Maybe I could, ah, come by after school? Just to see if there’s anything else I could do?”

“I appreciate it,” Reigen said, but he didn’t make eye contact with Mob the whole way back.

Mob woke up one morning to the realization that he may not be going home for a long time. Something burned at his eyes and pushed at his ribcage and he tried desperately to quash it before he wrecked something in the apartment that he still couldn’t think of as his.

“He hasn’t been in school all week,” Dimple said, materializing arms apparently just to cross them. “I’ve been tailing him because tall, dark, and jittery here was worried.”

“Reigen-kun, why didn’t you say something?” Serizawa genuinely looked as confused as Mob felt.

Reigen glared at him, taking Mob aback; he’d never seen the Reigen of his world be anything but kind and patient with Serizawa. “Because there’s nothing you could have done. You already missed so much school while you were locking yourself in your room, you can’t afford to miss any more.” Reigen spread his hands and adopted his most reasonable tone of voice. “Look, priority number one is still getting Shishou back, but until that happens someone needs to pay the rent and keep this place running. I may not be like the rest of you, but I can do that much.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about that,” Mob said. “Adults are supposed to handle those things.”

“No offense, but you’re not actually any more of an adult than I am,” Reigen said and his expression didn’t look very young at all.

“Why didn’t you ask Dimple for help, then?” Serizawa asked.

“It’s not like he can greet customers,” Reigen said, but for the first time he looked away from all of them, appearing uncharacteristically cornered. “Why would he want to, anyway; not every job was going to have ghosts for him to eat.”

"What, you can only accept help from people you think you've manipulated into giving it?" Dimple said. It sounded mean, but Dimple was easy to misunderstand when he was actually trying to help. "Is this some sort of pride thing; you're too good for handouts? Because let me tell you, kid, out of the two options this one is much more pathetic."

Mob didn’t think that was it. “Reigen-shishou says that you’re never too good for free”

“Look, Shishou has saved me a whole bunch of times,” Reigen said. “I owe him this.”

“I don’t think Kageyama-san thinks of it in terms of ‘owing’,” Serizawa said.

Reigen whirled on Mob, advancing with an almost manic energy. "Why did you take me on as your disciple?" Mob knew the glint in Reigen's eyes well; it was the look he wore when he knew he was on to something.

"I don't know," Mob answered honestly. "I don't understand why I would.” He knew it was the wrong thing to say when Reigen almost seemed to deflate. Dimple's harsh inhale and Serizawa's nervously reproachful "Kageyama-san" only backed that up.

“I don’t know what kind of person this ‘me’ is or what he would have to teach you,” Mob said, “but he must have his reasons. Reigen-shishou helped me learn to use my powers to help other people. I hope that we’re still able to help people here.” Mob placed a hand firmly on Reigen's shoulder. “We all have different skills that give our contributions value. It's only natural that we rely on other people.”

Reigen looked up at him, wide-eyed, before turning his gaze away just as quickly. "Then why can't you rely on me?"

"I do." Mob's brow furrowed. "All the time."

“But not this ‘me’,” Reigen said. “And you’re not the one I want to hear that from.”

“I know,” Mob said and tried not to be upset about it. The thing inside his ribcage rumbled and swelled.

“Hey, if your ‘Reigen-shishou’ was here, what would he do?”

“I don’t know.” He’d wanted to turn to Reigen for help from the first moment he’d woken up in this world. The thing pushed until the pressure was almost unbearable, shaking him apart from the inside. “I wish I could ask him.” If they couldn’t figure this out, he’d never see Reigen, or anyone else he knew, again.

Mob’s aura flared; the pressure had nowhere else to go.

Dimple hurriedly backed behind Serizawa. “Kageyama, hey, what are you –”

Mob’s explosion came on like a kettle coming to boil and all of them were overtaken by a blinding white light.

When Mob was finally able to open his eyes, he found himself again in an unfamiliar place: white, expansive, and empty.

Empty but for one familiar person in a grey suit and pink tie.

“Ah, Mob,” Reigen said, settling into a casual slouch even as he took in his surroundings, “this is your doing I take it?”

“I think so,” Mob said. Reigen shrugged and sat down, patting the space beside him to indicate that Mob should do the same. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Reigen said. “Can’t say it’s much to look at, but it certainly makes a change from the past week.”

“Did you go somewhere too, Reigen-shishou?”

Reigen nodded. “Hell of a thing to wake up to: the office was gone, I didn’t have your number – which made sense later because apparently we’d never met. I worked for a law firm. Steady, reputable. My parents would have loved it.” Reigen scratched at the back of his neck. “Might have been their idea, come to think of it.”

“Oh. Ah, were you very good at it?” It sounded like a stupid question as soon as he’d asked it; it seemed obvious that Reigen, who never lost an argument, would do well as a lawyer. Somehow, in his mind’s eye, Mob couldn’t make Reigen fit into any other context than the Spirits and Such Consultation office, feet propped on the desk, using a computer that had never heard of a ‘terabyte’. Even so, he wondered if Reigen had some regrets.

“Well, you know, these places make you start small.” Reigen cleared his throat, loosening his collar a little. “But my last performance review was very favorable.”

“That’s amazing, Shishou,” Mob said sincerely.

"If something's worth doing, it's worth doing well. I've always believed that." Reigen laughed like he'd told a really good joke; Mob wished he got it. "I probably would have quit within the week."

“Why would you do that?”

“Because sometimes our talents are the worst thing for us, Mob. An idle mind is an obstacle to progress; always want more.” Reigen frowned. “And never let anyone make you do something that you don’t want to do.”

“My Mom says we all have to do things we don’t like sometimes. Like Math and dishes.”

“Wise woman, your mother. And she’s right for the most part. But unhappiness, dissatisfaction – these things are traps, Mob. You don’t always know you’re stuck until it’s too late, but you have to claw your way out regardless. Otherwise – ”

Mob tried to wait patiently for Reigen to finish, but no follow-up seemed to be forthcoming. Mob shifted a little, something uneasy in the silence travelling through the base of his spine. “Shishou?”

“I was trying to figure out how to get back. I did manage to track you down, but…well. And then I wasn’t sure what was happening when that whole white light business started. I should have known it would be you."

“You said that I would know what to do,” Mob said in realization.

Reigen blinked at him for a moment before smiling. “Just so.”

“You said you found me,” Mob said. “Did I – ” Mob clenched his fists, unreasonably frustrated. Did I not try to help you? But maybe that Mob was still afraid of his powers. Or maybe there was some worse reason why Reigen couldn’t turn to him for help.

“You did alright without me,” Reigen said, ruffling Mob's hair lightly. Mob wasn't always the best at reading the mood, but Reigen didn't seem upset.

Mob thought back to the empty little apartment and how much better he had felt when he had found the office. “I think I did better with you.”

“Oh?” Reigen raised an eyebrow. “Careful, Mob. Flattery is a dangerous - ”

“Did you do better without me?” Mob asked because Reigen hadn't mentioned that part.

Reigen ducked his head. “No. I don't think I did.” He chuckled. “Maybe I do rely on you too much.”

“Then maybe - ” Mob started to say and maybe he'd meant to finish with we were meant to help each other.

But at that moment, white space became impossibly whiter. And brighter. Mob blinked, squinting against the light -

- and when he opened his eyes, he was back in the musty house like nothing had changed; Reigen and the spirit still stood in their same positions. Reigen's back seemed impossibly broad as his arguments grew more passionate.

“It may be natural for the weak to cling to the strong,” the spirit said, “but do not pretend that it benefits the strong.”

“Was your mother weak, then?” Reigen asked.

The spirit stopped short. “What?”

“She came to us to get help for you. Is she weak because she had to rely on us?”

“How dare you – ”

“No, how dare you. There’s nothing more powerful in this world than the bonds between people; only fool would look at them and see weakness.”

“It’s not weak to ask for help,” Mob said.

“Exactly,” Reigen said, smacking his fist into his palm. “It’s absolutely the least weak thing you could do.” He stretched out a hand. “So, how about it? Take the gift your mother has given you and let us help you.”

For a moment, Mob really thought that it would work. Or maybe he just wanted to believe that it would and that’s why he was so late in noticing when the spirit’s aura turned malevolent and violent energy grasped at Reigen’s arm. Reigen howled as the skin on his arm blistered and Mob didn’t even have time to think; his power surged out from him like a wave.

And this time he did not hold back.

Reigen cradled his injured hand against his chest as they sat on the lawn. They’d had to call Serizawa to pick them up; Reigen wouldn’t risk driving the rental one-handed. Mob had felt bad that Serizawa had sounded so worried when they’d explained the situation to him, but mostly he was relieved that someone else was handling it now.

Reigen kept glancing down at his jacket pocket, where he kept his cigarettes. All at once, it occurred to Mob why he probably hadn’t grabbed one yet. “I could light one for you,” he said with a guilty glance at Reigen’s hand.

Reigen turned to look at Mob, eyes a little wide. “What? Oh. Don’t worry about it; I should probably cut down anyway.”

Reigen stared at Mob a moment longer before turning away again, scrubbing his good hand over stubble that he didn't have. “Listen, Mob, not everyone is going to want our help,” he said. Mob nodded because he understood that much, even if it didn't make anything feel any better. “But it matters that we tried.”

“You’ve helped a lot of people,” Mob said softly.

“Yes,” Reigen said, “we have.”

When Mob woke the next morning, his feet were the right size and maybe a little too warm.

Fujita rolled her eyes. “I already have it all planned out; I'm not changing it now.”

“Oh, okay,” Mob said. He eyed the various papers and objects that Fujita was carrying. It looked like a lot. “Um, I could help you carry that?” She stared at him, maybe a little disbelieving. “I'm in the Body Improvement Club,” he said hopefully. His muscles still didn't look like much (though President Musashi had said that his deltoids seemed a little less soft the other day), but he was sure he could manage that much.

“Sure,” she said, drawing out the middle vowel and staring at him for a moment longer before handing off some of her burden. They walked mostly silent through the hall and Fujita kept shooting him small glances.

“Um, hey,” she said, stopping as they approached the door, “are you available after school today?”

Mob tried to think of any pressing commitments; Reigen wouldn't be taking on many serious jobs while his hand was bandaged and it wasn't a Body Improvement Club meeting day. “Yes, I think so,” he said.

“Oh, good. Um, then you should meet me here and I can catch you up on what I've been working on so far.”

“Oh! Sure!”

“Great.” Fujita helped him unload the papers onto the desk. She paused to re-arrange them in a way that didn't make much sense to him, but seemed important. “And, um, thanks. You know, for asking.”

#shou-ho-ho #Mob Psycho 100 Holiday Gift Exchange 2017 #Mob Psycho 100 #Kageyama Shigeo #Reigen Arataka #Friendship #Dimension Travel #Age Swap #Third Person #Past Tense #Oneshot #Rated T #Gen #Fanfiction

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unpepper · 7 years

Text

Professional Relations 1

Shigeo Kageyama is a psychic and exorcist for hire, and his work is usually pretty straightforward. Sometimes spirits aren’t necessarily evil, and he does his best to negotiate. It’s always gone well... until he’s sent to exorcise a murderous fox demon and things don’t quite add up. (Notes are at the end of the chapter.)

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100 / Yu Yu Hakusho crossover

Pairing: Shigeo Kageyama / Kurama (Kuramob)

Rating: Gen

Word Count: 2300

Part 1: Training Exorcises

Minamino Shuuichi, age 20, has his life together. He goes to school in the city, forsaking the ease of student living quarters for the ability to return home each day to care for his family. His younger brother is still in high school, and Shuuichi helps him study. He makes dinner most nights, cleans the house on his days off from class, and tends to a beautiful garden in the backyard. He loves his mother a great deal, but never leaves the rest of his family feeling unwanted for it. They play cards on weekends, and most times, Shuuichi lets someone else win.

The most remarkable thing about him is his decision to pursue an education in alternative and traditional medicine, which isn’t very unusual at all if you know he’s a millennia-old demon and frequent user of plant magic, more popularly known as Youko Kurama. And apparently he’s possessing the human body belonging to Shuuichi, but the nature of that accusation seems, at this point, a little dubious.

Kageyama Shigeo, age 19, knows spirits and demons perhaps better than any other living human. His skill at exorcising such creatures from the mortal realm is unparalleled, but he’d much rather just talk things out. Really. Even with a demon who, according to his client, is actively endangering the lives of humans around it with the false pretense of being one of them. He –or, it– could break free from its vessel any moment, then start ripping out people’s entrails and imprisoning souls inside forest labyrinths or overly complex word games. Being a Master of Deception, it’s effortless for the beast to feign all things from politeness to love… or so Shigeo has been told.

That isn’t stopping him from deciding for himself whether this exorcism request and the money behind it are well-intended. He times his knock at the door in the evening, after the fox demon has had time to clean up after dinner, but before he’d normally hole up in his room for the night, reading or studying before bed. Shigeo has watched him for quite some time and knows his schedule.

…Which is something Kurama knows. The presence of a powerful human esper in his vicinity isn’t exactly subtle, and he’s been waiting for the reason behind it to present itself, one way or another. He opens the door, interested to finally see his guest, and he doesn’t have to pretend at surprise. The psychic is taller between the two of them, but he stands on the raised heels of sleek black boots. He’s in all black, in fact, managing to look somehow professional and eccentric at the same time. His skin is pale enough to reflect the porch light, but his hair and eyes are darker than his clothing. He’s not a sweaty man in a poorly-fitted suit, nor is he trying at the look of some kind of religious leader.

Kurama gathers himself shortly and affects an appropriately mild smile. “Good evening. Is there something I can help you with, sir?”

Shigeo is caught off-guard as well. Watching at a distance could never have granted this much to him. Of course he knows what his target looks like, but nothing could prepare him for the Youko’s delicate features – alert green eyes, slender hands, and the smell of dish soap with something earthier. On top of that, Kurama is small. Shigeo doesn’t often deal with people face-to-face on his assignments, and when he does, they’re never this disarming.

Out of habit, he opens with the same thing he says to most of his targets: “I’m Kageyama Shigeo. Do you know why I’m here?” …And immediately regrets it. That’s… way too weird a thing to say to someone who’s just opened their front door to you.

Kurama just takes it in stride, his smile inching wider with amusement. “No, actually. But I have some guesses.” Someone calls from within the house, and he turns to answer without hesitation. “A classmate of mine, mother! I’ll just be a moment. …I don’t suppose you’d mind discussing our business together on a walk?”

Shigeo blinks once, but manages to reply. “Oh. Ah… sure.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

The sun has set, but the weather outside is still pleasant. Kurama leads them down his street in a light jacket, cell phone in one pocket and thumbs hooked in both. “I apologize for the wait.”

“That’s alright.”

“My family might have worried if I’d told them a powerful esper wanted a word with their demon son.”

“Oh–” Surprise sets onto Shigeo’s face only with the words properly separated from the soft, pleasant tone. “…They know?”

Kurama chuckles, and for some reason he can’t place, that makes Shigeo’s face flush a little. “Well, don’t your parents know what you do for a living?”

Shigeo just stares, uncomprehending.

“Ah, I’m sorry. That was a joke, I’m afraid. I see it wasn’t very funny. My point is that I couldn’t very well hide it from them. The world being as full of strange things as it is, they ought to know if one is living under their roof.”

“Oh. I see.” And if that’s true, it blatantly contradicts what Shigeo has been told. Already, this request is very different from any other he’s taken. True cases of possession are generally not much like this.

“Yes. Now if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to know why you’re here, Kageyama-san.” From someone else, that might come across awfully passive-aggressive, but Kurama keeps his tone carefully measured and distant.

It’s still an awkward thing to have to answer. Shigeo bows his head, turning his face away so his expression won’t give away how odd he feels saying this to someone who’s seemingly… a normal person. “I was hired to exorcise you.”

“Exorcise me?” It’s Kurama’s turn to look abruptly confused. He stops walking, raising his hand to cover a grin that still reaches his eyes. Is this a joke? “I’m… heh, I’m not sure that would be possible, to be honest.” But he’s been watching me for a while. If it’s a legitimate request, then who in the world would ask for it? …Likely just a regular person who happened to be sensitive enough to youki to feel mine, and then to find a genuine psychic. Kurama seriously doubts it’s anywhere near as grand an affair as Spirit Detective adventures.

But it could be. And while Kurama considers it, Shigeo’s cheeks begin to redden again. The demon can’t see it, but the nervousness in the air is palpable to him. He can smell sweat and can’t resist slipping just a thread of his aura out to test the space between them. Upon reaching Shigeo’s, the sheer magnitude of the power there makes Kurama’s eyes widen visibly. Alright, there’s that as reassurance. “If it were possible, I have no doubt that you’d be more than capable, Kageyama-san.”

Shigeo feels his hair prickle at the intrusion. It doesn’t seem dangerous, and it distracts him from the embarrassment over telling someone you’ve just met that you’ve been sent to banish them from this plane of existence. Sure, he follows the formula with evil spirits and other demonic presences, and even sometimes human ghosts, but to say it to a person? It’s just ridiculous.

And he’s very sure Kurama is a person. There’s nothing about him that feels attached to his body artificially. The energy that glides over Shigeo’s is like an errant plant root through the gaps between concrete tiles. It doesn’t force itself; it doesn’t read as hostile. When he returns the favor, Kurama pulls back in surprise, lips parted and expression slightly wary.

“I didn’t know you could feel me,” he explains, replacing his mask-like smile in an instant. “You’re incredibly powerful and incredibly sensitive.” He breaks into a gentle laugh, at which Shigeo finds himself smiling, too. “That, or I’m simply not accustomed to the abilities of human psychics. A poor judgement on my part -- I ought to have known my youki would stick out like a thorn to you, hm?”

Youki. Shigeo had been almost too flattered to notice it. He has the distinct sense that Kurama’s compliments are not only sincere, but well-informed. “Oh. Um. Just a little,” he answers, reluctant to downplay his companion’s abilities, not that he’s witnessed very many of them.

“You’re far too kind.” Kurama chuckles. He angles his feet toward the road again, and a half-step later they’re back to walking together.

They seem to be over the exorcism issue, but Shigeo’s heart still feels a little fluttery. “You’re… not possessing this body, are you?”

“No.”

“But you do have a demon’s energy.”

“Yes. And a demon’s soul. Yet I was born into this body, the same as you were.” As pointedly as he says it, the esper doesn’t seem to react. Does he not know? Or am I wrong? Well, it was only a hunch in the first place. Who knows; maybe once anything gets powerful enough, it begins to feel demonic. As much as Kurama would love to poke around a little more into Kageyama-san’s energy signature, the man can feel it, and that’s hardly polite.

So he focuses on what he can sense without being detected: mostly Kageyama’s scent, the feel of his aura itself and its enclosed natural barrier, and the way he carries himself. To most people, the very real and very capable psychic likely has an air about him that proves as much. His gaze is both intense and unfocused, exactly what one might expect from someone used to looking beyond the realm of the material. He looks somber in that strange, all-black outfit of his, but he’s sweating and his heart is beating a little too fast for him to truly be as calm as he appears. And is he really so serious, or does he just not pick up on humor very easily?

There’s a great deal more to him than he’s showing. What a fascinating person. Kurama is content to walk the length of the block with him in this comfortable silence, at the very least, but after another several meters, the esper speaks again: “I won’t exorcise you.”

Kurama restrains himself from laughing, even though Kageyama probably could manage at least something like an exorcism. And it’d probably hurt quite a bit. “Oh? But weren’t you hired to do it?”

“You’re not evil and you’re not causing trouble.”

“Hmm. Well, I should hope not. But I do appreciate you letting me know.”

“Th-that’s. Ah, it’s no problem.”

It’s sort of charming, the way humor seems to go completely over Kageyama’s head. Kurama can feel his nerves act up again, and watches with amusement as he curls his hands around the ends of his sleeves in each palm. The movements of his fingers suggest he might be trying to quell another bout of sweating. Kurama leaves him to it, concluding the last third of their walk on an interesting idea: a shy man with a kind heart and a positively monstrous amount of power.

Everything seems to move too slowly and then to be over far too quickly. Shigeo is left dwelling on the awkward things he’s said, walking in silence beside Kurama until they’ve reached the Minamino household. He’s not sure whether any of the silence was good or bad, or… or whether he should even be concerned about that in the first place, since they might -- most likely -- never talk again, seeing as Shigeo has completed his job.

“...more important matters to get to.” He only hears the end of Kurama’s sentence. Another strike… “But if you have a bit of time, I’ll be happy to make you something to drink before you go.” Shigeo blinks at him, wide-eyed. “Oh, something like tea, I mean! Not alcohol.”

Had he looked like he wanted to come in for a drink? A drink drink? “No,” he replies quickly, “um, no thank you. I shouldn’t keep you busy any longer.”

Kurama’s smile turns a little hollow, like he’s… disappointed. It must be Shigeo’s imagination. He’d come here to end Kurama’s mortal existence. He’s not going to do that now, but there’s no way Kurama would want anything more to do with him after meeting under circumstances like these. “I see,” he says, lowering his brilliantly green gaze. Under the porch light, it’s clear his eyelashes are the same red as his hair. “In that case, would you mind giving me one of your cards? I’d like to have someone responsible to call if I run into any trouble, myself.”

Kageyama nearly drops his card box and does drop his wallet while fumbling for it. But Kurama waits patiently until a simple black business card is offered to him in shaking fingers. Touching the esper with a trick like this would be tacky, so Kurama doesn’t. He thanks Kageyama and bids him farewell and safe travels, and then he’s left on his own again. He makes tea for just one and retreats to his room for the night, leaving the card on his desk. It’s plain black with white writing, nearly as cryptic as its owner. One side has a phone number. The other reads:

Kageyama Shigeo

Spirits & Such Consultation Office

The name is a bit silly, and Kurama finds himself curious about even that. He’d so quickly dismissed the situation that’d brought about their meeting, too. Whoever requested an exorcism, of all things, surely had something of a loose grasp on the nature of Kurama’s mortal incarnation. And yet the same someone did sense him. Or, they knew I was here already. Interesting.

He laughs at himself, settling onto his bed. “Perhaps I do miss some parts of Spirit Detective work after all.”

notes: weeEEEEEew i finally did it! i finally wrote a fucking kuramob! my beautiful, precious crackpair ;v;

part 2 is like 1/3 finished. thank you so much to everyone who’s read my work and supported me so far, particularly @sasybanana , @senpai-no-lie for editing, and @linesporadic for coming up w this fucking AU, then outlining the whole damn plot for me, then drawing me fucking adorable fanart. this has truly been and will continue to be an extremely collaborative effort.

and if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!!! you’re a star!! i appreciate any and all feedback so hmu if you have anything u wanna say <333

#mob psycho 100 #yu yu hakusho #fanfic #kurama #shigeo kageyama #w #mine #mp100 #yyh #professional relations #kuramob

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avecorviidae · 5 years

Text

Fic: Aubade - Chapter Eight

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100 Rating: M Relationship(s): Kageyama Ritsu/Suzuki Shou Word Count: 3089

Ao3 Link

The funny thing is, Ritsu definitely knows Shou, and he’s not trying to brag when he says he’d put money on knowing him a whole lot better than anyone has in quite a while, maybe ever.

Ritsu knows what Shou looks like when he’s choking back tears, knows the hysteria that edges into his laugh when he’s running on no sleep, knows about his favourite movies, about the pet hamster he’d had when he was ten, knows that his mother used to tell him stories to make him sit still in the bath. He’s faced up against psychic apocalypses with him, written essays for him, has probably been dragged across every street in Seasoning five times over just talking to him.

He’s sat beside him on a pile of debris, far enough away from the city center that they wouldn’t be bothered by the news crews puttering about, filming pieces about a nationwide tragedy and talks of a memorial site, reciting lines about rising death tolls and search crews. He remembers the tremor in Shou’s hands, in his voice, when he’d said, I don’t think I’m ever gonna see my dad again, and above all, remembers the unguarded relief in his laugh when Ritsu had immediately said, Good fucking riddance.

So yeah, he knows Shou.

Therefore it’s naturally surprising when the first few weeks of living with him turn into an exercise in the ways that he apparently doesn’t.

Shou drifts into the living room one afternoon and grabs his wallet off of the coffee table, says, “Hey, I’m going out, wanna come?” And Ritsu would, except that he keeps getting these really worrying emails from the school about some paperwork that he’s definitely already filled out and turned in, except some fucking genius has apparently gone and lost it, and he tells Shou so. He winces in sympathy and gives him a hissed “Good luck, dude,” before leaving.

Between the paperwork and getting caught up grovelling with this one professor to make space in her psych class that Ritsu’s been dying to take, he’s been a little distracted the past few days, but he’s pretty sure he’s not imagining the fact that things keep appearing in their kitchen. Like, he’d convinced himself that maybe he’d just forgotten one of them buying the flour, the olive oil, even the garlic cloves he finds in the pantry, but he can’t quite resolve memory blanks with the fucking blender and toaster oven that seem to will themselves into existence on the countertop.

And he’d ask Shou about it, right, except that once the jetlag had worn off, Shou’s naturally nocturnal sleep schedule had reasserted itself, so more and more Ritsu’s mostly catching him in the afternoon and the evening, by which point just talking to Shou about whatever’s going on that day takes precedent over bringing up the little spontaneous appliance phenomenon in their kitchen. Honestly, he’s seen weirder.

It’s about four in the afternoon and he’s curled up on the sofa with a book when he finally hears Shou’s bedroom door open and close, and then footsteps in the hallway.

“Morning,” he calls out. “Should I order pizza for dinner?” Which is… kind of a chronological contradiction, but it’s one Ritsu’s chosen to embrace.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Shou answers, appearing in the doorway, and Ritsu blinks in surprise when he realizes that he’s already fully clothed. He’d become intimately acquainted with the sight of Shou wandering around the apartment in boxers and old shirts, moaning about how hard it was to shower and get dressed, and god, Ritsu, we can’t all be functioning adults, jeez.

A wide grin and then Shou’s gone again, and about ten minutes later, Ritsu starts hearing odd noises from the kitchen. There’s a distinctly metallic clutter, and at first he figures Shou’s probably dropped something, but then there’s the sounds of the fridge opening and closing a couple of times, cabinets clattering shut, and then beeping, of all things.

Ritsu glances down at his book, considering. It’s poetry, and not of the sort that he’d usually pick up on his own, but someone had warned him it was assigned reading for next year, and he’s intimately acquainted with professors’ tendencies to assign more and more reading during the busiest parts of the year. Better, he’s thinking, to have read it over summer and have a distant memory of it, than to have not read it at all and be four chapters behind with an essay due in three other classes.

The rustling in the kitchen abruptly switches to the sound of a very persistent SWAT team who forgot their battering ram at home and decided to use a hammer.

Ritsu looks down at the poetry book again.

It’s, well, it’s bad.

He’s more than willing to let himself be distracted.

In the kitchen, Shou is–

Ritsu raises his voice over the din. “What the hell are you doing, Suzuki?”

Shou looks up at him, unidentified hammer-like object still raised in mid-swing. There’s a hanging moment of dead, charged silence where Ritsu watches Shou’s eyes dart to the thing in his hands, down to the pink wrapped package on the counter, and back to Ritsu.

“I’m beating my me–”

“I will murder you if you finish that sentence. ”

Shou makes a face, tongue out, but corrects haughtily, “I am tenderizing my chicken.” He whacks the chicken on the counter lightly for emphasis. Ritsu elects to take the high road and not point out that it still somehow sounds alarmingly sexual when he puts it like that.

Shou’s “This is gonna be loud” is Ritsu’s only warning before he goes back to pounding.

Their kitchen isn’t massive, but it’s a decent size for an apartment, large enough that there’s a small island countertop up against the wall, and space for a couple of barstools. Ritsu hops up on one, surveying Shou’s work.

It looks like a disorganized disaster to his eyes. Every countertop is covered with a detritus of spilled flour and egg shells, bowls and utensils strewn about everywhere. Shou’s only been in the kitchen for about fifteen minutes, but Ritsu can’t tell how much of this stuff is already dirty and how much is yet to be used.

They’ve been pretty good about splitting the dishes evenly so far, but Ritsu’s already decided that this is Shou’s mess to clean up, entirely.

After what feels like an eternity of Shou going at his chicken with what, upon closer inspection, is a large spiked mallet that may be the most intimidating thing Ritsu has ever seen, Shou finally holds up his newly flattened chicken, grinning at Ritsu in satisfaction.

“Lovely,” Ritsu says, raising an eyebrow. “Should I tell the neighbours they can call off the noise complaints?” For once, Shou doesn’t rise to the bait and give him a response. He’s glancing over his shoulder distractedly, and Ritsu watches his eyebrows furrow, then tastes metal on his tongue as Shou absently gestures with one hand. For a split second, the air in the room hangs on a precipice, sharp and sweet and making Ritsu’s skin dance in anticipation. The kitchen jumps to life in a haze of glowing orange.

Ritsu blinks, and it takes him a few moments to grasp the movements of the intricate dance Shou’s choreographed. The chicken is now nudging itself to the side, fighting for counter space with a couple of bowls floating over from by the sink, one of which sends up a small puff of flour when it lands. He watches Shou weave his way towards the microwave, leaning easily to dodge the high-speed projectiles that come flying out of the fridge. He gets a little lost in it, watching dumbly as eggs crack themselves into the empty bowl, while on the other side of the kitchen Shou’s doing something with a cheese grater and a tray of toasted breadcrumbs. A knob on the stove clicks, a frying pan goes shooting over Shou’s head and settles on one of the burners, all the while a fork is doing its best to beat the eggs into oblivion, sending little flecks flying out of the bowl from sheer aggression. Shou appears back in front of Ritsu with his breadcrumbs in hand, as a small plastic-wrapped sphere makes its way from the freezer to the counter, settling itself politely just in front of Ritsu.

Just like a fucking Disney movie, he thinks, somewhat horrified, staring at the little bundle of… butter? He’s half expecting it to burst into song.

He feels it the second Shou drops his control, hadn’t quite noticed how thoroughly his aura had been spreading through the room until the warmth started to recede, seeping from his skin like he’s just stepped out of broad daylight into the shade. And yeah, they’re at the point in summer where even with the air conditioning blasting they’re both feeling worn out and hazy in the heat, but Ritsu still finds himself flipping his wrist on the countertop, watching as the last of Shou’s aura lingers on his fingertips, and still finds himself missing it a little once it’s gone.

The pinprick tingling that’s left on his palms is both foreign and familiar, echoes of being fourteen and trying to figure out why it felt weird and different when Shou grabbed his wrist or threw an arm around his shoulders, trying to get used to the feeling of an unfamiliar aura in his space. There’s this odd sort of pang in his chest when he realizes he’s barely touched Shou since they moved in, despite the constant proximity. It honestly hadn’t even occurred to him, and he’s so used to Shou being the one who comes to him… Well, maybe being around him so much meant that it wasn’t occurring to Shou either.

He shakes himself, looks up to see Shou, nose scrunched in concentration and the corners of his mouth twitching downwards as scoops spoonfuls of the butter ball into the center of each piece of chicken and wraps it around, then carefully rolling each bundle in the flour bowl, the egg bowl, and the breadcrumbs. Ritsu has to squint, tilt his head to see his aura clinging to him, distorting the air like heat off of a stove.

Ritsu’s distracted, off in his own thoughts, but he still finds himself leaning forward on his forearms, asking, “What are you making?” Shou glances up briefly to make eye contact, smiles at him, looks back down. “Chicken kiev,” he replies, a little distantly. “It’s tenderized chicken breast filled with garlic butter, breaded, fried, then baked.” A pause, then he adds, “Or at least, that’s how I’ve always made it. I dunno, it’s not exactly a family recipe passed down to me from an old babushka or anything, this could totally be a cultural disaster if I ever made this for a Russian.”

“I’ll tell Sergei to stay home then,” Ritsu quips, and holy shit is he grateful for his reflexive sarcasm because he really needs to be able to stall while his brain comes back online. Or at least, to tell himself not to be an idiot, because watching his best friend breading chicken should not be a severely existential crisis-inducing event.

Even so, it’s not until Shou’s floated everything over to the oven and started dropping chicken in the pan that Ritsu finally manages to ask, “So you cook?”

Shou nudges him with his elbow – Ritsu had wandered further into the kitchen, found himself squeezed between Shou and the corner of the room, leaning against the counter beside the stove – and laughs. “I mean, yeah, dude. I’ve been living alone for like, a while, and like, don’t get me wrong, I’d probably die for a bowl of ramen if it asked me to, but the takeout stuff gets gross after a while.”

So, don’t get Ritsu wrong here, it’s not like he thought Shou was functionally useless at being independent or anything. It’s more that, well, he just hadn’t thought, and his past year of living off of shitty college student food and six years of just kind of assuming he and Shou were on the same level until proven otherwise had chosen to fill in the blanks. Again, he tries to tell himself, this shouldn’t really be such a stunning revelation, or even as weirdly charming as it is.

And the heat of the kitchen is hazy and overbearing, full of cooking smells and fading sunlight and frankly, Ritsu thinks he can be excused his moment of overly emotional stupidity when he just smiles at Shou languidly, says, “There’s so much to you,” in this kind of indecipherable voice that has so many layers even he’s not sure what he means by it.

Shou huffs this little laugh but he’s not quite smiling, just staring at Ritsu with wide eyes like he’s waiting for the joke or something, and Ritsu watches as a flush rises high in his cheeks, spreading until his whole face is ruddy pink; when Shou blushes, he blushes hard. There’s this split second where everything is charged, Ritsu feels like he’s feeling everything at once, like he’s on the edge of something with the way Shou’s swaying further into his space–

–And then it breaks, when hot oil pops loud as a gunshot, coming flying out of the pan with enough force to make Shou jolt backwards, looking dazed. Ritsu yelps, practically leaps backwards from the stove, then throws up his barrier about half a minute too late to actually be effective against anything. This, of course, sends Shou into hysterics, bracing himself against the counter and clutching his stomach as he doubles over cackling. Ritsu rolls his eyes and huffs, puts on a good show of annoyance, but can’t keep the smile off of his face, not with Shou’s infectious amusement in such close proximity. Shou returns to his station, starts nudging the chicken with a spatula, but not before shaking his head at Ritsu gravely and teasing, “I see your instincts have slowed in your old age.”

Okay, so Shou can cook. Like, he’d kind of figured he could from the expert, practiced way he’d moved around the kitchen, but it hadn’t quite sunk in for Ritsu until he’d stuck a piece of chicken in his mouth experimentally and found himself moaning around his fork.

“Holy shit,” he says once he’s swallowed, lightly kicking at Shou’s thighs where he’s sat next to him on the sofa. “Yeah, I’m going to need you to make this all the time? Please?”

Shou just laughs and makes to run his hand through his hair, but aborts the motion as soon as he hits the gelled spikes. “I dunno, there’s other stuff, and kiev’s kind of an ordeal,” and Ritsu can’t quite stop himself from grinning because Shou’s rambling only sounds this aimless and shaky when he’s flustered, and he leans back as Shou continues, “I just needed to start myself making stuff at some point or we were gonna live off of pizza forever, and we had all the stuff for kiev, so.” Shou shrugs halfheartedly, then starts cutting up his chicken, just a little too aggressively to be casual.

Ritsu does the dishes. It’s a fair price to pay, if he’s gonna keep getting dinners like that.

jesus, it’s hot, and he can barely fucking sleep with the sweat running up his back, soaking him to the bed and the sheets are tangled around his feet and there’s

weight on his hips, and it’s burning and there are thighs on either side of his stomach, shaking with the strain and

he’s tracing imaginary patterns of freckles with his eyes and his fingernails and his teeth and then there are hands heavy on his shoulders, pressing him down and he’s

panting, hot breath joining the already sweltering room because there’s friction, grinding down hard and it’s almost too much and he’s dragging fingernails across sweat-slick thighs and an arching back and anything and everything he can reach and he’s

staring into eyes it’s too dark in the bedroom to see the blue of and it feels like he can’t hear for how heavy the heat is but he watches lips moving and knows he’s begging and

He wakes up with his hand down his boxers and the word please ringing in his ears.

Ritsu stares at the ceiling, waiting for his sight to adjust so that he can almost make out shapes in the pitch black of his room, and breathes, silently willing his heart to stop pounding, his chest to stop aching. Weird, he thinks, absently palming his dick; he’s lucid enough to know that it’s probably a bad idea to get himself off after that, but still hazy and hyped up enough from the dream that he’s going to do it anyways.

As it is, he’s just doing his damndest to ignore the distant sounds of Shou puttering about in the living room.

And, god, that was the strangest part of it. See, it wasn’t that Ritsu didn’t have a sex drive, but he didn’t… he didn’t get this sort of thing, the weird sex dreams and absent fantasizing about people, and hell, he’s figured he could probably go the rest of his life without getting off and not be all that bothered by it. Even when he’d been fourteen and viciously hormonal, the dreams had always been vague, or arousing while he was having them and then weird when he woke up.

But this was – well, it was vivid, to say the least, and it was sticking with him, Shou straddling his hips and grinding–

He bucks up into his hand, comes with a choked sound in the back of his throat.

And god, does he regret that decision immediately, when suddenly everything is sticky and disgusting and there is no way in fucking shit he’s risking the walk from his room to the bathroom while Shou is awake, so he settles with shucking out of his boxers, doing his best to clean up his mess with them, putting on a new pair, lying down on the other side of the bed, and resolving to deal with his brand new problems in the morning. Even despite the lingering unease climbing in anxious tendrils up his throat, it’s still easy enough to let himself drift back off.

If he dreams again after that, he doesn’t remember it in the morning.

#/#//#///#////#/////#robin fic #mp100 fic #fic: aubade

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