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?

Comments

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

What about for other things?

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Not really Send.

There was a pause.

Well, I do get cards and presents for my birthdays and stuff Send.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob frowned at that answer.

We should do something special for your birthday Send.

When is it? Send.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Oh it passed a few weeks ago. Don't worry about it. Send.

Another pause.

It's April 13th, for the record. Send.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Ok I'll have to figure out how to put it on my phone's calendar

[mp_simplyacommoner]

(〃￣ω￣〃)ゞ Send.

you're gonna embarrass me Send.

hey, I'll stop bugging you, okay? I know you're working and everything Send.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Thanks Send.

I'll send you another picture soon. Send.

Mob shut his phone and wondered if all the other middle schoolers texted like this. He set it down on the table, only then realizing how rude it might have been. They'd been texting back-and-forth for a few minutes.

"Sorry about that," he said to Reigen before he continued eating his bento.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You got fast at texting all of a sudden," Reigen commented, thoroughly nonplussed. He was over halfway through his own bento at this point. "Talking to a girl?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"No, just a friend." Mob didn't think he was that fast at texting. Maybe he was getting better?

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Someone from your club?" That alien-obsessed kid still counted as a girl, surely.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"No, he's a friend from another school."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"That's new." That was new, right? Mob never even talked to anyone his own age from his own school until he started the year several weeks prior. "How'd that one happen?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"He was the one I fought a few weeks ago." Mob said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“During that incident?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“You seem easy-going about it.” Even if Reigen was electing to merely state an observation there was a flicker of concern beneath it. “Did he at least apologize for the trouble?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, he did. He even tried to make it up to me, even when I told him it wasn't necessary."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen's lips twitched. Here Mob was making friends with and merrily texting his former enemies like it was nothing but the mere thought of saying one word to the girl he liked completely staggered him.

Well. It was good that Mob was really feeling better about the whole thing. This outcome was the best any of them could have hoped for.

"'Friendship is constant in all other things. Save in the office and affairs of love.'" Reigen finished off his bento and wiped at his mouth with the complimentary fox-printed napkin that came with it. "As long as he doesn't become competition for Tsubomi-chan, I'm sure you both will get along fine."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"He actually was trying to help me get with the girl I like. He just misunderstood and thought it was Kurata-san."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Is that right." 'I really do not pity anyone who takes on THAT as their project.'

...

"...Wait."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"What's wrong?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"That's what you were getting up to when you missed work?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah." Mob finished the last bite of his meal, then closed his bento box.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Incredible..." Reigen murmured to himself. Mob was incredible because he could say that with a straight face. He felt like he was getting five different stories from the kid but he knew Mob would never outright lie to him.

Well. It didn't feel worth it to pursue questioning this further. It obviously wasn't Mob's idea and it hadn't gone anywhere. Of course it wouldn't. Mob's mysterious new friend could have been the most adept wingman-boy on earth but he wasn't chipping away at his protege's impossibly thick barrier of social anxiety anytime soon.

"Anyway, now that we've eaten, let's discuss our plan of attack."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Never a boy of many words, Mob responded with a simple, "Sure."