hoping this arc brings in more examinations and breakdowns of seritoi/seritou. messy, horrible, bad relationship but also a little implicitly coded into the show. write seri’s messy feelings. such a good relationship to talk about shit with
It Won’t be Long (A Mob Psycho 100 fanfiction) Chapter 4/?
Also on AO3!
Previous chapter
Chapter 4: For No One
Shou was so excited, he couldn't stand still, so he bounced on his feet as Ritsu opened the door. Spending the night with friends was a new experience and he was as eager as he'd been at the amusement park, if not more.
“Suzuki-kun” Shigeo had catch up with them and called, almost too soft to be heard.
Shou had considered asking him to just use his first name, like Ritsu did, but he knew the older would just attach the “-kun” to it. Which wasn't bad but only Serizawa called him that, so wouldn't that be weird?
“Hm?” He turned to him, distracted by his own thoughts.
“No powers in this house, Suzuki-kun” Shigeo said and it sounded like a threat, but as he briefly raised his head, Shou thought he could see a hint of fear on his eyes. It was so intense, however, that he could only nod, taking half a step back.
But he quickly recovered when Ritsu motioned them to follow him, and he all but jumped inside, scanning the place, ready to take on every little detail. It was more colorful than his own, impeccable house; it smelled nice too, like how he imagined a home would smell. He smiled and took a quick tour around the living room: he inspected a framed child's drawing, booped the nose of a porcelain cat and made faces at himself in front of an antique wall mirror. Momentarily satisfied, he returned to Ritsu's side and enthusiastically shook hands with the tall, smiling man who had come to greet them.
“Nice to meet you, Kageyama-san, and thanks for having us!” He beamed, trying to stand taller. Seri would be so proud of his polite manners! “The name's Suzuki Shou, at your service!” He finished his act with a deep bow and a grin, which grew bigger as Ritsu hushed “stop being a fool”, and his dad laughed.
There was silence after that, and Shou could feel it growing uncomfortable, though he wasn't sure why, until Ritsu's dad spoke again.
“Come over here!” He called, and only then Shou realized Shigeo had been standing by the door the whole time. “Long time no see, eh, Shige? Look at how tall you've got! Your mother is reading at our room, but she won't mind you saying hi”
Shou registered all the exchange with interest, and followed Shigeo with his eyes as he shrugged, mumbled something unintelligible and walked away.
Ritsu cleared his throat then, looking somewhat tense.
“Let's- Let's go to my room, Shou”
Some minutes later, Shigeo joined them. They had been fighting over which game they should play first when they heard a soft chuckle, and stopped to see the older esper looking at them with a fond expression.
“Ah, Nii-san!” Ritsu stood up smiling, as Shou looked down, feeling embarrassed but, not exactly? It was just, Shigeo's laugh had been so adorable…! “Which game do you prefer?”
Shigeo entered the room slowly and sat on Ritsu's bed.
“I'm not good at video games, but I want to see you play”
“You still can pick one!” Ritsu insisted, pushing the game he wanted to play towards his brother. Shigeo shook his head and smiled almost imperceptibly.
“You should let Shou-kun choose, he's the guest after all” He said, and Ritsu turned to glare at Shou, who laughed and stuck his tongue at him.
“Alright. Catch” Ritsu said then, throwing the cases to Shou; who got hit on the face with one before he could stop the other mid-air, a faint glow around it.
That gave him an idea.
“Hey! Check out this neat trick I- !” He cut himself brusquely as he saw Shigeo went pale, eyes wide open, and lowered his hand, with the game case along it. “Let's just play the one you wanted, Ritsu” He conceded with a grin.
Ritsu glanced quickly between Shou and Shigeo, and then sat down on the floor in silence, preparing to start the game.
“Katsuya” Touichirou's voice called as in a dream, warm and close, and inviting. Serizawa could swear he opened his eyes the second he heard him, but by then there were no one else in his room. He still got up, yawning, and rubbed his eyes.
For a moment he just stood there, pondering what to do next.
Go see Touichirou, was his first impulse. But no, no when he just woke up, no. First… brush his teeth? But he should put on his pants first. Was it cold outside his room? Maybe even change the sweatshirt he slept on. It was so warm, though. That could wait. Perhaps it'd be better to make the bed now, before leaving the room. Or leave that for after breakfast. Yes. He should start preparing breakfast. And wake Shou up… No, right, Shou wasn't home. At what time did Shou go to sleep last night? He should remember to ask him that when he's back, to see he's keeping a good sleep schedule. But maybe staying up late once in a while wasn't bad. He was a teen after all, that's what teens do. Or so he supposes.
Serizawa sat down on his bed. What was he thinking about? Oh, yeah. What was he going to do next?
“Katsuya, breakfast is ready” The dream-like voice called again, and that was all Serizawa needed to stand up, put on a pair pants, and walk out.
The sight was so domestic, when he stepped into the kitchen, that he felt his heart beat faster, even with the strong smell of coffee filling the room.
Touichirou was sitting on the corner of the table, warming his hands with a steaming cup, and a hint of smile in his face, which softened his features. He pointed to the other cup and patted the seat next to him, waiting until Serizawa sat down to speak.
“I think we should celebrate, right?”
Serizawa took a sip of his coffee, managing to keep his grimacing to a minimum. It was black. He looked around the table but there was no sugar in sight. Nervously, he took another sip.
“Was your business trip successful?” He smiled despite the bitterness on his mouth. Touichirou grinned and held out a hand, rubbing Serizawa's knuckles, and took a long sip from his own mug.
“Well, yes. But that's not what I mean. You're making progress!”
“Huh?” As Serizawa pulled a confused expression, the calm in the room seemed to break. Touchirou was still grinning, but his lips looked tense at the edge.
“You left yesterday, without your umbrella, am I right? That's good news!”
Serizawa froze. The weight of Touchirou's hand over his seemed to increase suddenly, but no move had been made.
“I don't…” His mind was racing, and it made his head spin. It all came to him so sudden that it brought tears to his eyes.
That was right. Last day…
Shou had pulled him along, without letting him prepare. He didn't notice at all, with Shou's small warm hand guiding him…
“Are you saying something, sweetheart? I can't hear you”
It hadn't been him, it was Shou! But no, he couldn't say it, he shouldn't bring the boy into this…
“I-I didn't…” Why didn't he notice? Shou-kun left… then Reigen distracted him… Serizawa shook his head and attempted to pull his hand to his chest, but the grip on it didn't allow him. “I didn't mean to leave it…”
“But you did” Toiuchirou's voice was cold, now, and even when took his hand away and stood up, Serizawa could feel his power weighting against him.
“Touichirou…” Serizawa pleaded, but the other wasn't listening. Instead he reached out his arm and as if magnetized, the umbrella came instantly flying from across the room.
Touichirou inspected the umbrella in his hand with a look of despise, and when he looked up, Serizawa could see the faint outline of his psychic powers around it.
“You didn't mean to leave it home, but you did. Could it be you didn't notice it? The gift I gave you…” Touichirou's voice was low and cold; and suddenly he seemed to grow taller, and unreachable. Serizawa sank on his chair “It can only mean you don't need it anymore. That's alright.”
It wasn't alright.
It wasn't alright! He still needed it, but he couldn't say anything, he could only watch in shock how the object trembled with the amount of power being imbued into it.
“Shall I destroy it, then?”
“No!” He shrieked, louder than he meant to, and immediately recoiled, clasping his hands over his mouth.
Everything kind of stilled then, his breathing and the spinning of his head, and Touichirou's powers. And then Touichirou just let the umbrella drop unceremoniously, and his expression returned to neutral.
“Pick this up” He said, gesturing to the table as he headed out of the room. Serizawa hurried to comply. “And get ready, we're heading out”
“But Shou-kun isn't home yet” Serizawa let out before he could catch himself. Touichirou stopped walking but didn't turn to look at him to reply.
“He's not a little kid, and it's only a couple hours. Get everything you need”
Serizawa nodded, but only leaned to pick his umbrella when he heard the click of Touichirou's room door as it closed. Letting out a shaky sigh, he held it close to his body.
He stood there, then, and waited, until Touichirou returned and threw him an examiner glance.
“I said, get everything you need” Clutching the umbrella harder, Serizawa looked at him, puzzled. “A jacket. Or do you want to catch a cold?” Touichirou barely contained an exasperated sigh, and Serizawa scrambled to his room to find a jacket.
The ride was uncomfortable. Serizawa's ears were buzzing since they left the house; and even when Touichirou was normally referring details of his trip as he drove, Serizawa couldn't stop thinking about how upset he had been earlier, and all because of his carelessness.
All in all, it didn't take long to reach their destination, an average house in an average neighborhood.
“I don't want any distraction, alright, Katsuya?” Toiuchirou said, ringing the doorbell; and as Serizawa pulled out his phone to silence it, a guy with thick glasses and an easy smile opened the door. Touichirou quickly assessed him, and hummed in satisfaction.
“Hatori, right?” The guy nodded “I'm Suzuki Touichirou, we talked on the phone” With professional elegancy, Touichirou extended his hand.
“Nice to meet you. Please, come inside” Hatori shook his hand and moved to make space. His eyes shifted to Serizawa first, and then his umbrella, curious. Serizawa hunched, nervous under his gaze, trying to make himself less noticeable.
“This is my partner, Serizawa” Touichirou introduced simply, and Serizawa stood taller “The other is here, too?”
“Yes” Hatori's smile grew bigger, and then turned to walk in front of them “Over here” He guided them into a neat, dimly lighted living room, and pointed to someone already sitting there. “They're Minegishi”
Minegishi, whose expression looked bored, lifted a hand for a quick wave, and then played with a strand of their hair.
Hatori pulled two more chairs, and Touichirou looked over the other three before sitting down and start talking.
What was he talking about, Serizawa wasn't sure, and he wasn't making an effort to pay attention. He was too distracted with his handsome face, how his lips stretched with his careful modulation, the concise way his hands moved… He didn't want to outright stare, that would make the other uncomfortable, but he couldn't help sneaking glances at him. He had missed him so much…
He did catch a bit about “noteworthy powers”, and “looking forward to work with them”, and it clicked.
These people were espers, too, and powerful ones at that. Touichirou knew already, of course, but it took until then for Serizawa to recognize, since the aura they emanated was far different from the ones he was so used - Touichirou's, and Shou's; and lately Shigeo's. It probably meant they had different powers? He could remember Touichirou mentioning there were espers with all kind of specializations. He wondered what these two could do… He looked up and Minegishi's eyes were fixed on him, inquisitive and unreadable. Startled, he lowered his head, and a warm hand settled on his knee.
“If you're distracted, you can wait outside” Were Touichirou's hushed words when he looked at him, and almost automatically, Serizawa stood up and left the room.
Once outside, he sighed and took out his phone, to distract himself. He nearly panicked when he saw he had a lost call, and a string of new messages. Had something happened with Shou?
In frenzy, he opened the messages and read over them quickly, and when he saw it was nothing bad, he reread them, more focused this time.
>Hey hey! This is Reigen Arataka!
>I forgot to thank you yesterday for walking the boys to Ritsu's
>So, thank you!
>We should hang out again
>If you're cool with it!
>Also!!
>I've been thinking for a while that I should hire someone to help in the office
>Mainly for paperwork and stuff like that, it's nothing too heavy but it gets too much for just one person…
>And Mob said you don't have a job so I thought maybe you'd be interested??
>Because you seem pretty chill and responsible
>…That didn't sound weird, did it? I hope it didn't sound weird
>Well anyway, if you think you're interested, just lemme know!
Frowning, and thinking, Serizawa put the phone back on his pocket.
“What would you say… If I got a job?” Serizawa brought up later that day, when they were settling to sleep.
Touichirou, already on the bed and watching him change, slightly raised his eyebrows at the question.
“One would say I make enough money for the house” He said, and he sounded amused.
Serizawa took out his pants and folded them.
“Y-yeah, you do, but…”
“You want to get a job”
Serizawa shrugged and nodded at the same time. There was silence as he went under the covers, into the other's arm, and then Touichirou spoke again.
“If that's what you want…” He made a pause. Serizawa listened intently. “Just keep in mind that it's not easy to find a job, you know. And you didn't even finish middle school” Serizawa felt a jab at his chest, but said nothing, and Touichirou was already done with the topic. “Turn off the lights, would you, Katsuya? I'm too tired”
Serizawa made a small noise of agree and was about to stand up, but he found out he was feeling extremely tired as well. After a moment of consideration, he lifted a trembling hand and psychically switched the lights off.
