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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[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."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Phew. Mob seemed encouraged if nothing else. "Uh-huh...how big were you thinking?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Big," Mob said. "At least as big as Goda-senpai."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen didn't even have to think about which one that was. The guy's voice aggressively loud and aggressively polite introduce was STILL ringing in his ears. The guy...the middle-schooler whose CHIN that HE, Reigen Arataka, came up to.

"Are you saying you want to be even bigger...?" His voice wobbled.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah," Mob said. "I'm sure it'd catch Tsubomi's eye."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"So that's it, huh?" Reigen smirked, a grain of rice clinging to his lip. "Muscles are great and all, but remember--the key to a man's charm is kindness."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I'm kind already," Mob said, "But I don't think she really notices me."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Oh?" Reigen motioned at him again with his chopsticks. "You don't talk to her? Listen to her problems? You're not a person she knows she can rely on?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um. Not really."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Then how does she know you're kind at all?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob swallowed. Now that he had to admit it... "I don't know."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen sighed. There was only so much he could say about love and attraction to Mob, but...

It was gonna be a long train ride. Longer if Mob spent it all in his own head.

"Try something. Think of a time when you felt truly cared for. Really conjure it in your mind."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob took a breath and closed his eyes. It was easy to conjure up those moments he felt cared for, because he felt cared for a lot. By the Body Improvement Club, by his mom and dad, by Ritsu, by Reigen... he even felt like Dimple cared for him, even if it was in a weird kinda way.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Caring for someone…being there for them…it’s simple but that’s what makes it difficult. There’s no shortcut or grand gesture that will truly unlock someone’s heart. It’s something you do every day.” The ramune gave a hiss as Reigen popped the marble. “That being said, being in shape never hurts your chances either.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

That made sense to Mob. But then, what was stopping him from doing that?

"I guess... I don't really know how to talk to her anymore."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen swallowed without chewing all the way and regretted it when it stretched his throat on the way down. He winced and coughed a bit and took a swig from his bottle before setting it back down.

Before Reigen could respond, Mob’s phone started vibrating like crazy on the table in a way he could immediately clock as text tones. They had the same model of phone after all. One buzz, two buzzes, three buzzes, four…

’Someone’s popular.’

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob immediately grabbed his phone, then flipped it open and navigated to his texts.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

SHIGE Send.

That food is WAY CUTER than I remember it Send.

૮꒰˶●༝●˶꒱ა ~♡︎
/づ𓆏 Send.

wait Send.

are you still on the train? Send.

did you pack that? Send.