Chapter Text
3 days until it would all end.
-
Utopia basks in a comforting, mellowed light, diluting the vibrant blues of the breezy skies. Painted in watercolour, it illustrates a child’s dream.
That’s what this was.
A world of innocence, where the monsters of the outside world couldn’t touch it.
“Tsubomi-chan! H-Hey–! Stop–! It tickles!”
Hiccups of laughter sweeten the air as their uniforms rustle lightly against each other – the two friends toppled over each other.
A young boy tumbles in the lush grass, bristles of green tickling his pale, full cheeks. His short, black hair drapes lazily over the grass, choppy bangs framing his rounded face, warm, chocolate eyes marbled with a shy, yet adorable affection that met those teasing, bubbly sapphire irises jewelled with mischief from above.
“Mob-kun!” The voice shrills, giggling.
An eleven year old Tsubomi Takane and Shigeo Kageyama.
Tsubomi’s navy, silky hair swayed as she tumbled with the boy down the bumpy hills, the licks of green leaving an earthy, muddy aftertaste in the mouth.
Yuck! The dirt doesn’t taste very nice.
“Tsubomi-chan! We’ll be late to class!” Mob, still breathless with laughter, protests against the dizziness that Tsubomi mercilessly inflicted. “You’re a menace, y’know that?”
“I know, and I take pride in it!” Tsubomi beams, a small, stubby finger pointing at herself, flourishing with a confidence her best friend had grown all too accustomed to.
It was a part of her charm.
Her rosy pink hair clip faintly glistens in the radiating sun, but somehow, Tsubomi outshines it, and Mob could feel his cheeks getting hot, his complexion matching it.
What kind of feeling was that?
Mob blinked.
His chest felt.. weird.
Was it the sun?
Maybe it was just the sun.
Not helping, Shigeo..
“Mob-kun?”
Tsubomi’s head tilts innocently, and her wide eyes fix on Mob’s flustered cheeks with amusement.
“You’re doing that thing again! You’re completely– are you sunburnt or mesmerised?” Tsubomi teases.
“A- Ah, sorry! Yeah, I.. It’s the sun…”
Mob’s face bleeds a few shades pinker, and Tsubomi raises an eyebrow, giggling.
“Okay, let’s go to class then! Catch me if you can, Mob-kun!”
Tsubomi springs up, splints of grass still in her hair, and shakes it off.
Before stopping dead in her tracks, the light in her eyes suddenly dimmed.
“What's wrong, Tsubomi-chan?”
“Mob-kun.. We have.. Maths now, don’t we?”
Tsubomi’s eyes twitch, and she laughs hollowly, all the colour drained from her face.
“Maths..” Tsubomi groans, body slumping exaggeratedly, and Mob’s face smirks, rolling his eyes amusingly.
“Come on, it’s just numbers, Tsubomi-chan–”
“It’s MATHS, MOB-KUN! The numbers hate me, AARGH…!”
“It’s not like they have teeth or anything.. like some sort of scary monster–”
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”
The two continue to squabble amongst themselves, Tsubomi’s hearty blabbering, whining over the fact that yes, they do have maths class.
In this world, numbers seem to be the only thing that can hurt them.
That childish dread seems to be the only thing that somewhat hurts.
—
After an hour of agonising arithmetic, the clock finally strikes.
It’s time to go home!
Home.
Mob can just smell it— the whiff of his okaa-san’s cooking— the bubbling and crackling of fire on the hob..
“Mob-kun, my okaa-san said I could go over to your house for a bit! But we’ve got to pick up Ritsu first, right?”
“Yeah, we need to pick up Ritsu from the other block..”
Ritsu Kageyama. A younger brother Mob loves with all his heart; an older brother’s affection that lingers in the air, that can’t quite be put into the words, or hands, of an eleven year old boy.
He cherishes him deeply.
He’d never let anything hurt Ritsu.
Tsubomi knows that.
And her heart melts at the very thought of it: the way that when Mob does talk about Ritsu, his eyes get all bright and wide, the way his words roll seamlessly, as if the idea – the very concept of Ritsu, comes naturally to him–
“NII-SAN!”
A younger boy with matted, blue hair scurries hastily towards Mob, arms thrown into a tight hug, Mob wracked with a case of ‘sibling whiplash’.
Those same eyes stare back at Mob, but with a shaky excitement, mellowed with adoration for his beloved nii-san.
“A-Ah, Ritsu..!”
Mob ruffles Ritsu’s hair, his fingers tangling through wild, spiked locks.
They’re the stark opposite of each other, and it often throws people off when they realise Mob and Ritsu are related.
People usually assume Ritsu and Tsubomi are related.
Perhaps it’s the hair? Or maybe the personality they exude?
Mob doesn’t know, but it always makes Ritsu laugh when he sees the scrutinised expressions of parents deciphering the idea of them being related, and trying to read between the lines like morse code, or something geeky like that.
Mob, the older, shier brother, and the uncontrolled, bouncing ball of energy that is his brother.
“I wonder where he gets all that energy from… Does he suck it out of you, Mob-kun?” Tsubomi prods lightly. “Like a vampire?”
“N-NO! He doesn’t– I don’t know, don’t think I got the genetics for being a wild, emotional animal like Ritsu–”
The irony.
“I’m just tired, give me a break!” Mob groans, stifling a smile. “Ritsu sucked all my energy..”
After being strangled by hugs, the three children set off towards the Kageyama residence. Tsubomi holds Mob’s hand, her fingers sticky against his palms, and that faint rosy hue still lingers on his face, a stubborn stain that he’s not sure he wants to get rid of. Mob holds Ritsu with his other hand, a warm exchange between the brothers, and he smiles softly, eyes darting between both his best friend and his brother.
The feeling of being loved. Being cared for. Being held.
He doesn’t want it to go away.
He doesn’t want this world to ever leave.
He wants to just exist here.
Here, with his beloved best friend and his brother.
If life would be merciful enough to let him.
—
“Ah, Shigeo, Ritsu, come here, my baby boys!”
Mob and Ritsu give their parents a huge squeeze, and their Oto-San ruffles their hairs.
“How are my two boys doing?” Their father lets out a rumbled chuckle, and Mob squints, laughing under his ruffled hair.
The Kageyama residence is a quaint, cozy home. Pillowed couches laze in the living room, while chandeliers dangle from above, stirred from the guest presence.
“Ah, Tsubomi-chan is here as well,” Their mother smiles sweetly, “Tsubomi, it’s lovely to see you. Your parents know you’re here, yes?”
“Ah, Mrs Kageyama.” Tsubomi bows slightly, while Mrs Kageyama gently swats her hand.
“Spare the formalities, seriously! Shigeo, you look awfully red..” Mrs Kageyama chuckles. “It was warm outside today. Didn’t I tell you not to bring your coat?”
“I thought it might be cold–!”
“Shigeo! It was sixteen degrees today! Unbelievable!” Mrs Kageyama chuckles to herself, shaking her head. "Typical Shigeo..”
Mob smiles awkwardly, his eyes dropping to the side.
“So, Mob-kun! You said you would help me learn how to cook?” Tsubomi steers the topic, voice tuning in melodically.
“Oh, right! Yeah, so that you stop stealing my food at lunch!” Mob teases.
“Well you can’t blame me, Mob-kun! The tamagoyaki you make is so good! Why do you think I steal your lunch everytime?” Tsubomi remarks, and her eyes twinkle. “And maybe you could show me another one of your psychic tricks? You know, how you make your powers all sparkly and stuff!”
“Sparkly.” Mob murmurs softly, repeating Tsubomi’s words.
Something fluttered in his chest.
That feeling again.
“Yeah, I could show you stuff with my powers as well..”
His powers.
‘A gift from God.’ That's what his Okaa-San calls it.
Something he could call ‘his’.
Something that made a difference.
Something that made life worth living.
Something that excited and fascinated Mob’s pure heart, swelling with adoration at the swirls of purple and blue energy that would blend in a mesmerising display of colour and dreams.
It made people happy.
He liked that.
He liked making people happy.
Mob is a psychic phenomenon— he can do all sorts of things with his powers. Bend water pipes, make objects float, make flowers grow, blow bubbles, stuff like that. Anything that would bring a smile to someone’s face, he’d do it with that soft energy that always blankets his timid body.
—
“You’re cracking the egg wrong– TOO MUCH PRESSU–”
Yolk splatters the room, and Mob flinches, runny yellow liquid dripping down his face.
White, sticky egg strings on the counter-top, crawling down the cabinet.
“Mob-kun!” Tsubomi breathlessly gasps, immediately clasping her hands in a prayer. “I-I’m sorry–”
Tsubomi squints, expecting a telling off, but instead–
Mob stifles a chuckle, chocolate gaze warming.
“Hey, it’s okay! Don’t worry about it, it adds some nice colour and uh.. Protein to my face, right?”
“This was like the 90th attempt, I’m terrible at this..”
Tsubomi’s shoulders slumped, and she glanced over awkwardly at the graveyard of eggshells piled next to them, arranged like a frayed brick wall.
“It’s okay, I mean.. You’re certainly a lot better than Ritsu–”
“–I HEARD THAT!”
Ritsu grumbles, and Mob raises an eyebrow.
“Thought you were doing homework, Ritsu..?”
“I finished like an hour ago! I’m BOOOOORED OUT OF MY MIIIIIIIIIND!”
“You wanna be a chaperone as well, Sous-Chef Ritsu?”
“I mean..”
“Come on, Ritsu-kun, it’ll be fun!”
“I suppose it couldn’t hu– Nii-San what do you have on your face?”
Ritsu’s eyes twitch with a suppressed wheeze of laughter.
“So that’s why it reeked of egg! Nii-San, that's egg-cellent isn’t it?”
“Don’t ‘egg’ this on, Ritsu, or I’ll dump you with one as well.”
“Nice to see you like the egg jokes, Nii-San!”
Mob whisks the eggs mock aggressively, and sighs, but he’s helpless to chuckle afterwards.
—
Tsubomi goes home that night, picked up by her parents.
“Thanks for having me over! Is it possible if I could come over tomorrow as well~?”
“Tsubomi, we’ll have to see, honey–”
“Okaa-saaaaaaaaaaaaaan! You aren’t working the late shift either tomorrow, Oto-San?”
“I don’t see the harm in bringing her over tomorrow, if it’s alright with the Kageyamas?”
Mrs Kageyama smiles, clapping her hands together happily. “Tsubomi-chan’s free to come over whenever she wants, she sure makes my boys happy, especially Shigeo.”
“Okaa-San—!”
“—It’s nice seeing them getting along so well.”
“Thank you, Mrs Kageyama. We’ll see if we can bring over Tsubomi tomorrow as well then…”
“Bye, Mob-kun! I’ll see you at school tomorrow!”
“Bye Tsubomi-chan! I’ll show you a psychic trick tomorrow, okay? Sorry I couldn’t today..”
“That’s okay! I’ll be looking forward to it! I’m holding you to your word, Mob-kun!”
“Bye!”
Tsubomi waves goodbye, walking with her parents, and Mob smiles, faintly blushing.
Her eyes are so pretty this evening– a warm beacon of light radiating throughout the gloom of the hushed night.
He shakes his head, blinking and Tsubomi’s gone.
His head spins around, helping his Okaa-San pick up dishes to load into their dishwasher that rumbles with a hungry stomach. It hasn’t had its dinner yet.
“Now, both of you boys should get to bed!” Mrs Kageyama points a dirty spoon at Mob and Ritsu, before tossing it into the dishwasher, continuing to scold lightly. “And Ritsu, no oversleeping again, got it?”
“Otherwise you’ll have to answer to your Oto-San!” Mr Kageyama chimes in, winking at Mrs Kageyama, and they both exchange a hearty laughter, before Mrs Kageyama ushers both of the boys to bed.
Mob and Ritsu trod up the stairs, both of them doing their nighttime routines.
Mob gargles the mouthwash in his mouth.
The white, bubbling foam fizzes.
It tickles his tongue with a cooling, minty sensation, cleansing the eggy, rank residue of his breath before spitting it out.
He blinks, groggily gazing up at the mirror reflecting the tired, sleepy boy through the warped glass, and Mob smiles lazily.
“Time to head to bed…” Mob murmurs, head dipping slightly.
His droopy eyes hover over at a Ritsu that has far too much energy for this hour.
But when does Ritsu not bubble with energy?
Mob still doesn’t know how he does it.
“Good night, Nii-San!” Ritsu bounces with excitement. “I can’t wait for tomorrow! I can’t wait, I can’t WAIT! We’re getting our tests back!”
“That’s nice, Ritsu..” Mob slurs, lazed smile curving wider. “Good night.”
Mob staggers to his room, body melting into the bed.
His head lolled against the pillow, gazing through the window.
He curls up in his bed, arms enveloping his small body, fingers tugging weakly on his loose, light-blue striped pajamas.
Shigeo Kageyama sleeps soundly that night, brain succumbing to a dreamy daze. Drool strings from his mouth, the frothy wisps trickling down his chin.
Nothing could hurt him here.
Just an 11 year old boy snuggled in on himself, smiling as his dreams take him on their own journey.
Yet.
Another pair of black irises stare from the outside of it all, faintly crackling.
It did not belong here.
Eyes twisted with an unease, a somber clairvoyance sheened in those mysterious voids.
It wasn’t going to last forever.
This world was doomed.
This boy–
This poor, poor boy.. would soon disappear.
“I was so foolish back then… wasn’t I?”
“...If only I could still be so foolish.”