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 took the bento into hand and unwrapped the patterned cloth. A green bento box sat inside. Mob wordlessly opened it, not knowing what to expect inside.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

The first thing that greeted Mob when he lifted the lid was a joyful frog shaped from rice. A thin strip of seaweed stretched across it's face in a broad smile and bright salmon roe delightfully dotted it's round cheeks. It's small hands were gathered over small slices of picked cucumber carved like a lily pad. It sat on neatly arranged food of all different kinds - smoked fish over an omelette, savory mushrooms, and even a kiwi sando neatly tucked away in it's own compartment.

In short, not the cheap bentos he regularly went for as a man on the go.

Reigen's eyes looked between it and Mob's face as he opened his own and suddenly he was second guessing himself. Did Mob still like this kind of stuff? When he was little he had a frog umbrella he carried with him everywhere in Spring. Funnily, he didn't even use it for it's intended purpose, electing to protect it with a psychic barrier...

"Hey, it's appropriate, right? We're over the marsh right now and all."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

For several long moments, Mob basked at the display of food in front of him. No one had ever given him a bento this cute before.

"Did you make this, Master?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"No, but I can fit a prodigious amount of food in a bento. ...Ahem. There's a place nearby me that takes custom orders. I picked it up before right before we got to the train station. Freshness is most important, you know? So, eat up."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Thank you, Master."

Instead of digging in, though, Mob fished his phone out of his pocket and opened the camera app, trying his best to frame the bento in the center of the screen.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen's lips twitched into an easy smile as he lifted the lid on his own bento. It was identical except for the fact his had an adorable fox. The smile disappeared when he saw Mob not immediately digging in. "...Mob, are you seriously taking a call right now?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"No, I'm trying to get a good picture of the bento you got for me."

Mob hit the shutter button, then gazed down at the picture. It might not have been as good as one of Teru's, but Mob thought it wasn't terrible, either.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Oh."

Mob...never took pictures of anything before. Did he really like it that much? Reigen rubbed under his nose.

"That's a decent way to commemorate your third-year anniversary with Spirits and Such."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nearly dropped his phone. "Third-year anniversary?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Your Master keeps track of these things." Reaching into the same insulated bag, Reigen produced two still-chilly sealed glass bottles. Emblazoned on them was a humble print of a cow. They were both filled with creamline milk. Reigen gave Mob's bottle a little swirl. "A toast!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nodded and set his cell phone down on the table. He had never had a toast before. It always seemed like something that adults did. It made this landmark feel all the more momentous.

He took the bottle from Reigen. "What is it that people say before a toast again?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Kanpai!" Reigen didn't care for the noise level - after all, they were the only ones in that train car. Their bottles met with a loud clink! Eager to set the example, Reigen peeled off the lid and pounded the milk back.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Gulp.

He sighed loudly and slammed the glass on the table. "That's how you do it!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob watched Reigen finish the entire bottle of milk with several long swigs. He wasn't sure he could manage the same feat, but he was going to try. It was a special occasion, after all.

It took more than three gulps for him to finish the beverage, and he felt his stomach churn slightly with the last swallow. Maybe he shouldn't have drank it as fast as he did. Even so, Mob didn't regret it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was our anniversary at all," Mob said, setting the now-empty bottle down on the table. "I didn't get anything for you."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You reward me with your eternal dedication, Mob. Seriously, eat that all up, okay? You'll grow even faster if you do." Reigen waved his chopsticks at him dismissively. Generosity was even more gratifying when it was on someone else's dime. "Man, now that I think about it...how small were you when you first walked in...?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"One hundred and twenty-five centimeters." Mob was a lot taller now than he used to be... but still smaller than every other boy at his school, and even smaller than many girls.

Mob began to dig into his food, hoping that what Reigen said would eventually be true.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Hah! Oh it's all coming back...you barely came up to my belly button." Reigen popped a bit of smoked fish into his mouth and suddenly shuddered. God. Time flew.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"You looked younger then, too." Mob said it like it was a statement of fact, and that's exactly how he meant it. He didn't intend to take a shot at Reigen.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen opened his mouth. He closed it. He opened it again to eat the fox's adorable little nose. The rice that helped it together drooped in his chopsticks.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob didn't sense Reigen's discomfort at all, but Mob could be pretty bad at reading other people's emotions at times. Maybe it was because he had problems with his own.

"I know I've gotten taller, but have I really changed that much?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Of course. It'd be worrisome if you didn't at your age. You've even joined that sports club." Reigen said that last part as a mumble more to himself. That was still really new.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Do you think I've gotten more muscular?" Mob had been working really hard, even though he hadn't been part of the club for very long.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Muscular?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah. Do I look more muscular?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Muscular..." Reigen repeated himself as he chose his next words carefully. He knew viscerally somehow this was a matter of great delicacy for his protege. "Well, you're bundled up in that jacket but...just looking at you, I can tell your face is really getting defined. That comes from dedicated trapezius exercises--it's all connected, you know?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"You think so?" Mob set his chopsticks down long enough to run his hands down his cheeks. They felt normal to him, but maybe he was having a harder time seeing his progress than his Master was.

"I'm going to keep trying to get stronger," he said. "If I keep working out with the Body Improvement Club, I'm sure I'll get muscles as large as I want."