Chapter 3: Hunting Season(ing) Part Two

[mp_npc]

God, was there some planet in retrograde right now? Everything was so…gray. Tome usually would have been able to cite a specific planet but she had been too oddly deflated all day to speculate.

At least she wasn’t the worst one off. No, not by far. That honor went to the pompadour’d thug who did nothing but sulk in the corner of their shared club space now. Her own club mates who were always too scared of him to even approach even tried to offer him one of their honey chip bags out of sheer pity. Tome, usually quite stingy with the resources (especially now they didn’t actually have funding anymore) didn’t even object. ‘How the mighty fall.’

Goda had spent some time trying to cheer Onigawara up. That boy was too nice for his own good. Him AND Kageyama. Tome didn’t know what Goda had been trying, exactly, since she was too engrossed in (or rather numbed by) her video game to listen but she could guess. The Body Improvement Club had one solution for every possible human ailment. It was exactly why she didn’t risk complaining today.

Tome glanced at the clock—it was getting to be that time, wasn’t it? The time where everyone finished their club activities up. Ah. Orwell was calling her name once again.

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[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru opened his mouth and closed it again. A swell of anxiety rose in his chest as he watched Mob fumble with his phone.

What impression had he given his parents? What impression did Mob give his parents of him!?

And somehow the most important question he wanted to ask but absolutely could not…did they disapprove?

And he couldn’t peek at what was being typed either. That was excruciating.

Mob’s phone quickly buzzed with a reply. That’s fine, Honey.

A pause. Another text came.

Stop by before school, okay? You can have breakfast and pack your dinner for lunch.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Oblivious to Teru's spying, Mob looked up from his phone as be shut it. "She says it's okay for me to stay over."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru could have fallen over from relief. That was a good sign, right!? Despite their severe misreading of the situation, they were okay with it…? With him?

‘No, no, that’s not right…should I include a card with my thank you gift for the food explaining things? …Gah, but that would be really humiliating for Kageyama-kun, wouldn’t it!? “Thank you for the cheesecake and nikujaga. I promise to take care of your son in every way but a sexual one.”’

Teru rubbed at his forehead. If he wasn’t careful he’d give himself another fever. There was no way to cope with this so he decided to take action himself by pulling out his own phone. “Good. I’ll call my personal driver.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Personal driver?" Mob repeated. This had come as a surprise.

[mp_npc]

“Personal driver?” Tome repeated right behind them, causing Teru to spin around.

“Tome-senpai! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She pressed one hand to her head. “One moment we were by the river and the next I was just…walking down the hill.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"So you don't remember anything?"

[mp_npc]

Tome shook her head, but she didn't look to Mob or Teru for confirmation of anything. Even if she couldn't quite remember, she felt certain that the dove had done what it had come there to do.

Tome's hood began to rustle and she gasped. A tiny head poked it's head out. An oriental turtle dove looked around uncomprehendingly and it's puffy chest expanded---

Coou-coou.

Then, it took flight. Tome watched it disappear into the distant tree canopies with a smile.

"So! Personal driver, huh?" Tome pointed at Teru. "Were you holding out on us this whole time or something?"

"No, no. I don't call on him much. Walking or bussing is way more satisfying."

Tome cringed. "You've gotta be joking."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob watched the dove fly away; his gaze stayed on the sky long after it soared out of his sight -- which didn't take long given how late it was. The only true light in the area was coming from the old lady's house.

"It won't be a problem, will it? We're pretty far away." They didn't have much of a choice, though. The last bus had come and gone over an hour ago.

[mp_npc]

"Don't worry about it. He's salaried." Teru tapped away quickly at his phone with one hand. "Right. He'll be here in twenty minutes."

The bus ride out had taken forty-five.

Tome rubbed at one of her eyes. Fatigue was washing over her. She should have been energized from so many incredible things happening in one night, but...

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"That's gonna be awhile." Mob turned and looked down at the ground. "I'll make us somewhere to sit."

Mob didn't like to use his powers unnecessarily. But Mob justified this was necessary. They were all wet and cold and tired. And Mob didn't want to risk getting sick so soon after the last time.

The trees had been stripped of leaves during the monsoon, leaving a sizable amount of them spread across the ground. With his powers, he pulled them towards him, then formed a thick blanket across the muddy earth below.

Mob stepped up on one foot so that leaves could spread themselves across the gap where his foot had been. He stood on the other one and it filled the blanket in completely.

"It should be done now." Mob sat down experimentally. It was pretty comfortable -- and somehow dry. It wasn't what Mob intended, but he wasn't going to question their luck.

[mp_npc]

Tome formed a small 'o' with her lips and wasted no time in flopping back onto the quilted pile. Teru lowered himself in a more controlled manner, flipping his some of his soggy bangs back to hide a wince.

"...Kageyama. Can you make a car?" Tome asked with a yawn.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um. I don't think so." Mob was the only one sitting.

[mp_npc]

"If we found a car, could you fly it out of here?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I've never tried it before, but probably."

[mp_npc]

Teru frowned as his eyes traced the constellations. 'Is she doubtful about my driver actually coming...?'

Tome tapped the tips of her shoes together idly. "Can your master build cars?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"He's a spirit specialist, so no." Mob hadn't even considered that Tome was asking because she lacked faith in Teru's driver. He just thought Tome was being curious, that's all.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"Spirit specialist?" This time it was Teru's turn to ask the question. He knew he should have been letting Mob and Tome have their moment but he couldn't reign in his curiosity.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, he's taught me a lot about exorcising spirits and how to handle them. I've learned a lot since I first started working for him." He'd been employed by Reigen for years now. "Those aren't the only thing I learned from him, though."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru's eyes sparkled while Tome's face slanted in a mixture of intrigue and skepticism.

"Like courage, right?" Teru said as his eyes found his favorite constellation. "And compassion."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, he was the one who taught me not to hurt others with my powers." That seemed obvious to him now; both times he hurt someone with his powers, he didn't mean to. And it unnerved Mob a lot more than it would have if he made the choice to.

He'd really worked hard not to hurt anybody, but...

69%.

"And that people have all kinds of talents," he said before he could dwell on it any longer. "And that having psychic powers doesn't make me any more special or different than anyone else."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Tome glanced over at Mob. As disinterested as she was in others, even she could sense the weight behind his words.

"Regulus." Teru pointed up. "You're definitely Regulus."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob's gaze followed Teru's finger.

"Regulus?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"It's the one of the stars that make up Leo," Tome filled in. Even if she didn't know foreign physicists she knew more than enough astronomy to get by.

Teru smiled in satisfaction. "There in the Spring Triangle, remember? If you look to that far point...you can see Leo. The sickle that makes up the head, then the body...Regulus is the heart."

"Then which one am I, Shadow-kun?"

"You're Spica, of course. You and The Fluffy One."

"The egg-shaped ones?"

"Yeah! They're the cutest ones, of course."

Tome let out a little psssh and did her best to fight the grudging smile that threatened the corners of her mouth. A silence settled over them. Mob's leaf blanket proved surprisingly comfortable and Tome's eyes were beginning to slip shut.

The stars eventually dimmed as a light flickered at them over one of the rolling hills. Teru sat up and motioned for the other two to rise as a car skillfully rushed to location side and slowed down just in time to avoid pelting them with mud.

Tome sat up and blinked blearily. Then, she was gaping. 'Car my ass! Walking and bussing MY ASS!' It was a full-on limousine that was barely tarnished by the rough country roads.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Wow." Mob gaped, too. "I've never ridden in a limousine before." His parents didn't even own a car. They traveled by train or foot most of the time.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Tome was the first in--and she hoped the face she was making wasn't too dumb. There was fashionable backlighting everywhere and were seats really built to curve so...intimately? She settled across from the bar with glasses cleanly suspended in their holders and elected to pretend she really was on a UFO of some kind. It was easier that way.

"Long time no see, Teru-san." The partition was rolled down as the teenagers climbed in. A young man, likely no older than twenty-five, adjusted his mirror to smile chipperly at them from it.

"Matsuda. Sorry about the mud."

"Not a problem, sir. Warm towels in the right-most console."

Tome jumped as the door to the console popped open to present a row of fresh towels right on cue.