Chapter 2: Hunting Season(ing) Part One

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Are you okay with this?" Mob sat on a bench with Tome, the head of the Telepathy Club. Mob wasn't part of the Telepathy Club, but he had a good relationship with the members since they shared the room with the Body Improvement Club (which Mob was a part of). So naturally, when Tome aggressively insisted that he help her hunt aliens or telepaths or telepaths that were also aliens, Mob felt like he had no choice to agree.

But unfortunately, despite having four investigative meetings (this one was number five), they had thusfar failed to find anything.

Maybe aliens or telepaths weren't as common as either one of them thought.

"Maybe it'd be better for us to try again later in the year. Maybe aliens visit only during certain seasons." It didn't at all seem implausible to Mob. People always hoped for the weather to be a certain way when they went on vacation. If aliens were even a little like humans, Mob was sure they'd feel the same way when they vacationed on other planets.

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[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Even if I'm not an official club member, that doesn't mean I don't want to help," he said. "I just don't want to waste your time." They'd had no luck at all. Anyone would be impatient at this point at their lack of results.

[mp_npc]

'Wasting time...'

So, that's how Mob saw it.

Tome sat silently for a moment before standing and brushing her jacket off of the crumbs and gathering her things. "Fine. I get it. Let's call it here for today."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

He'd said the wrong thing, hadn't he? Mob jolted to his feet and brushed his sweaty palms off on the front of his pants.

"Next Sunday again, right?" he said, a little too fast in a desperate attempt to make things right.

[mp_npc]

Waving him off, Tome listlessly started down the path home and crumpled up her chip bag. "Yeah. Sure. If the weather is nice enough."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob hovered nearby, following closely behind her uncertainly. "I'm sure the weather will be good, so we should plan on it!"

[mp_npc]

'And if it's not?'

"See you in the club room, Kageyama."

Tome hastened her steps until she was practically running the rest of the way, leaving Mob far behind. There was nothing she wanted to do more in that moment than just crawl into bed and listen to old Orwell broadcasts to forget the day ever happened.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob knew from the way she said it that there was no point in following her. He'd really messed things up, hadn't he?

Dismayed, Mob made his way back to the bench they'd been sitting at only a few minutes before and sat back down.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

The humble bench that watched the busy intersection had seen plenty of better times--even between the two who had just been using it. Now, the boy was alone with a dark cloud over him thick enough to ward off even people with the most tired legs. Everyone who took notice grimaced and moved on. It could have been said it was the most the boy had stood out in awhile.

So, it made sense that someone who could do nothing but stand out was the one to broach the thick barrier between the boy and everyone else.

That's how Teruki Hanazawa thought of it, anyway.

"Yo. Kageyama." He stopped a few feet from the bench, adjusting the trendy duffel bag on his shoulder.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob immediately stood. "Hanazawa-kun." They hadn't seen one another since the incident the other day. Mob hoped things weren't going to be weird between them... even though they had gotten into a big fight with one another.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"You look pale." Teruki cocked his head slightly, totally unaffected by Mob's nervous spike of energy. "I saw you earlier on my way to the gym a few blocks down, but...you were with your girlfriend, so I didn't want to interrupt."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

It took a moment for Mob to register who he was talking about. "Oh," he said, as the realization dawned on him. "She's just a friend from school."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teruki hummed in surprise. "Oh. Really? I see. I mean...she was cute. Maybe a little intense." He stared down the way she had beat a hasty retreat. "Well, I take it this means you're not busy anymore, right?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob fidgeted with his hands. "Um. Not really."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"...Ah." Teruki rubbed at the back of his neck, suddenly aware of how carried away he was getting. The self awareness wasn't something he was used to, but when it was Mob's gaze... "I come in peace...promise. I wanted to talk to you."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Before Teruki could tell him exactly what he wanted to talk about, Mob found himself distracted by other things that just dawned on him. Namely...

"Your hair," Mob said. "It looks good." Or at least better than it had the last time Mob had seen it.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

'Eh?'

The easy-going pretense vanished from Teruki's face at Mob's sudden statement.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Is it a wig? Or did it all grow back?" There were all kinds of psychic powers in the world... it wouldn't surprise Mob at all if someone had the power to grow hair at an accelerated rate using their psychic abilities.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

There was such a thing as too much self-awareness, right? There should be limits on how much the human brain was able to reflect on itself, right?

Well...no, self-awareness was nothing new to him. Quite the opposite. That was his flaw. Rather, this was the first time he let someone else's gaze pierce through his own barrier.

"That's...well..." He fiddled with a few strands. "Do you really like it?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, it looks good on you." Mob was surprised that Hanazawa didn't know that. Or was he feeling self-conscious since he didn't have much hair left after the other day?

[mp_simplyacommoner]

'The dynamic just totally shifted...' Well. That was to be expected, but...it was still embarrassing.

"Hey, let's go someplace a little quieter. I can grab you some tea or something on the way. You look beat."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Sure." It was strange... this Hanazawa was a lot different from the one he met the other day. But Mob didn't mind it. He thought he liked what he saw of this Hanazawa a lot more than the other one.

Maybe that's why he agreed so readily to get tea with him.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

It was unexpectedly exciting to show Mob his favorite café. There were a bunch of high schoolers there crowded over their notebooks or already over all the studying. The sun had just started to set, after all.

It's nice to cool down after a workout with citrus, Teruki had said to Mob when he ordered his iced fruit tea. Even if the choices were overwhelming at first, Mob honed in on the creamy drinks pretty quickly. Ah. Noted. Teruki paid before Mob could say anything about it and they were on their way.

"...Ah!" The walk away from the noise was silent, save for the sounds of them chewing boba, until Teruki stopped. His blue eyes sparkled in interest. "It's a park...no little kids around at this time. Let's go in."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Oh," Mob said, looking over at Teruki. "You know this place, too? I used to play here all the time when I was younger." With his brother and Tsubomi especially.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"Not at all. I didn't grow up around here, after all." His running sneakers were touching wood chips now when he passed the gates and he took in the feel of it as he looked around. 'Where should I start?'

Then, the self-awareness was back. He had come here to do something. Something of deep importance.

Still, he could indulge himself a little. The swingset had side-by-side seats, one of which he helped himself to right away. "Sit by me? I'd feel weird about monopolizing this thing."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Sure." Mob sat down on the swing and began to swing a little. This was... a little nostalgic.