Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Texting was a pretty neat function. It was widely adopted by every teenager except the one he, Reigen, had so generously gifted a phone to do it with. Mob was diligent to a fault about picking up his calls, but texting? Still a work in progress. Mob was getting better, though. After all, how else was Reigen supposed to give him a heads up about big jobs before the end of the school day? Excepting the occasional friendly lunch break chat.

That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.

Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.

'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?

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[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob deflated into the water, his eyes and the top of his bowl cut the only parts of him exposed to the world.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Damnit.

“Aw, c’mon, Mob. Don’t sulk. You had me going. No one’s managed to pull one on me in awhile. Maybe you’re not telepathic, but you’re definitely leveling up.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob lifted himself enough out of the water to expose his lips. "Really? I just thought that this was the kind of thing normal kids do, so I wanted to give it a try."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen gently knocked the back of his fingers on Mob’s flushed forehead affectionately.

“Why don’t you look at it this way—your lack of “normalness” ended up being your secret weapon here. Just like with the LOL Cult. You beat me and I humbly concede defeat.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob fully emerged from the water, feeling better about the situation. He knew that it was okay to be not normal, but he still really wanted to fit in. Teru kept reassuring him that he was fine as he was, but it had to be strange for him to be seen with someone as awkward as he was. Maybe not to Teru, but to all the people who admired him.

"Thanks, Master." Maybe he was overthinking everything. Not just this, but the stuff with Reigen being possesed or cursed earlier. Everything did feel normal now. Even Reigen giving him a hard time wasn't out-of-character for him. He didn't do it a lot, but he did sometimes.

"What are we going to do when we go back to the Castle tomorrow?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen settled back now that Mob had calmed down. “We’ll discuss that after dinner…let’s just enjoy what time we have left here in the baths.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob settled back beside him, unconsciously mirroring Reigen's movements.