Disclaimer: Mob Psycho 100 and all of its characters belongs to ONE
Rated: K+ for mild coarse language
Timeline: Post-Claw Arc
Summary: Ritsu is walking home from school when he meets up with Reigen. Together they go out for some ramen and bonding ensues.
The sun casted an orange hue over Spice City as Ritsu began to walk home from school.
He had just finished wrapping up a meeting with the student council concerning the school's upcoming culture festival. Many details had to be organized to accommodate the students' ideas and schedules. It had lasted until almost dinner time, and Ritsu was just happy to finally be able to go home, eat a nice meal, and sleep.
Except of course, nothing could ever go the way Ritsu wanted it to.
"Oh, it's Mob's little brother!"
Ritsu groaned the loudest groan he could muster when he heard that dreaded and unwanted voice in his ears. He wanted this man to know loud and clear that he was absolutely not in the mood today.
Ritsu continued walking, not responding to Reigen's greeting in hopes that he would get a clue and stop talking to him.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?"
But it seemed like Reigen was especially determined today, ignoring Ritsu's blatant displeasure of his presence.
"Hey, what are you doing out so late anyway? Shouldn't you be home with your brother?"
Ritsu sighed, angling his head to look at the man as he walked, "I had a student council meeting today."
"Oooh, I see," Reigen nodded, his hands in his pockets as he fell in-step with Ritsu. He closed his eyes as if he was reminiscing, "I remember those days. My classmates in the student council always seemed so busy, I hope they're not sending you to an early grave too," he tried to joke, giving a small chuckle in the end.
Ritsu didn't find it that funny and just looked straight ahead, "I'm fine."
There was a beat of awkward silence as Ritsu assumed Reigen was trying to figure out what to say next, missing the brief look of concern the man threw at him.
Not being able to fathom why Reigen hadn't just walked away yet, Ritsu decided to speak first, "What about you? Why aren't you back at your office giving people massages or whatever it is you do?" he spoke in a cold tone to tease him.
Ritsu saw Reigen flinch out of the corner of his eye with a small squeak before he coughed into his hand. Reigen pointed a finger at Ritsu, "I actually just finished exorcising a spirit for a client," Ritsu rolled his eyes at that, "and I was just about to go get some ramen. I'm starving! Dealing with spirits all day really takes a lot of energy, y'know?"
"Then leave me alone."
"Don't be like that, little brother," Reigen shook his head as they walked, "How about this? Come with me to get some dinner, I'll treat you."
"No thanks," Ritsu replied without having to think twice.
Reigen jumped at the sudden refusal, "What!? You're denying free food!? What kind of teenager are you!?"
Ritsu stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Reigen, "I don't want to worry Shige. Besides, you know I could eat you into bankruptcy if I wanted to, right?"
Reigen gulped at that and nodded nervously, "Let's just call it a favor then?"
Ritsu remained quiet for a couple seconds before relaxing a bit of the tension he's so used to carrying around with him, "Okay, fine, I'll go with you. I could go for some ramen anyway."
Reigen sighed in relief at that and smiled before turning right at a corner, "Follow me then," he instructed, and Ritsu trailed behind him.
"We'll both have the takayama ramen please, thank you!"
"Coming right up!" the waitress nodded to Reigen before grabbing their menus and walking back to the little restaurant's kitchen.
Reigen turned back to look at Ritsu who was sitting across from him, rummaging through his school bag, "I texted Mob for you and let him know you were with me."
"Thank you, the last thing I'd want is for him to start worrying about where I am."
If Reigen wasn't paying attention, he might've missed the brief look of regret that shown in Ritsu's eyes at that moment.
Reigen couldn't deny that it must have been hard for them to get over Ritsu's kidnapping and the entire incident at Claw a couple weeks back.
He jumped out of his thoughts when he saw Ritsu pull out a couple sheets of paper, "What's that?"
"Just some notes from my student council meeting today. I want to make sure everything's in order."
Reigen chuckled, "Quite the busy bee, aren't you? Mob told me you like learning and being apart of school activities."
Ritsu just continued looking down at his notes and going through them, "I guess."
Damn. Reigen thought that could be a really good conversation starter but the kid just didn't want to budge.
He'd have to think of something more clever…
"So… I hear you have psychic powers now?"
Ritsu stiffened at that, "Yes."
Reigen nodded, pretending to act like he didn't notice Ritsu's discomfort at the new topic, "How's that going for you? Are you able to control them well?"
"Dimple taught me how to use them. I've been practicing with him and brother."
"Ah, I see. When did you get them?"
A beat of silence passed between them as Ritsu stopped shuffling his papers. Reigen blinked, waiting for a reply when their waitress came back with their ramen.
She set the two bowls on the table, "There you go. Enjoy!"
"Thank you," Reigen smiled before grabbing a pair of chopsticks to open up and dig right in. He slurped up a huge mouthful of noodles, chewing quickly as his hunger took over.
He noticed Ritsu hadn't moved yet, however, his chopsticks still laid neatly on the table.
"Hey, kid, what's up? You're not eating?"
Ritsu tightened the grip on his papers as he stared down at them, scowling. "R-Reigen…"
"Hm?" The addressed man raised an eyebrow, confusion flickering over his face. The kid was obviously having a hard time getting this out. It was best if Reigen didn't make it more difficult for him by interrupting.
"What- … what does it mean to be a good person?"
Reigen stopped at that. It was a conversation he's had with Mob many times, meaning that those two have talked to each other about it before. If Ritsu was here asking Reigen about it too, it could only mean he was still upset about something.
"Well, just being a kind person is all it takes, really. Doing something with ill intent is what will drive you in the opposite direction of that."
Ritsu hesitated a moment before speaking again, "My brother, Shige… his powers are amazing. They're so much greater than mine will ever be and I…
I used to be scared of him."
That thought shocked Reigen. From all the things Mob has said about his brother and how much he admired Ritsu, Reigen believed that they had a really close relationship.
"Why is that? Because of his psychic abilities?"
"You must already know that my brother's powers sometimes go out of control. I was always scared that if I angered him too much, he would lose control and attack me."
"But.. you don't think that anymore," Reigen stated.
Ritsu nodded, "I know Shige. He's too kind to do something like that, especially to me," he lowered his notes and stuffed them back into his bag, "I admire him a lot, but when I confronted him about my fear towards him, I tried to attack him. Yet, even after everything… he still forgave me."
Ritsu sniffled a bit, and Reigen didn't have any clue what to do.
"I'm not a good person, Reigen. I attacked my own brother because I was afraid he would hurt me. What kind of brother does that?" he rubbed the back of his hand against his eyes, "I tore apart friendships at school by making up lies about my classmates. My corrupted actions are what gave me my powers... Shige would never do those things."
So he still holds Mob up on a pedestal. Reigen thought. Makes sense considering he is his little brother, and complexes like that don't just change in a heartbeat.
"Well, you regret those actions now, don't you?"
Ritsu looked up at Reigen at that moment, tears still glistening in his eyes but not falling anymore. "H-huh?"
"The fact that you're here telling me about these things could only mean you regret them," Reigen pointed a finger at Ritsu, "That's what makes a good person, little brother. Even if you do something bad, you can still learn from it and change. The people who are willing to do that are very strong people."
Ritsu just stared at him as he spoke, awestruck, his mouth hanging a little open. He looked back down at the table once Reigen was done talking, "I don't know about that. My powers aren't that powerful compared to Shige's-"
"That's not what I meant, Ritsu," Ritsu's eyes shot back up to Reigen at that, "Psychic powers are just another characteristic of a person. They don't define you. Your actions and thoughts are what really matter. How you act towards other people, your feelings, the lessons you learn, they are what show a true person's nature," Reigen grabbed some noodles with his chopsticks again and started chewing. With his mouth full, he said, "You're strong, little brother. Mob tells me that all the time."
"He does…?"
Reigen nodded, swallowing the bite he just took, "Of course! He's always bragging to me about how much of an awesome younger brother he has! I think he's trying to make me jealous of being an only child."
Ritsu chuckled at that. He glanced down at his noodles before finally picking up his chopsticks to take a bite.
Satisfied that Ritsu seemed to cheer up a bit and relax a little more, they both continued to eat and chat lightly here and there as the sun went down.
After they finished their ramen, Reigen paid for their dinner before offering to walk Ritsu home. The walk was relatively silent, but not as awkward or uncomfortable as it probably should have been.
They finally arrived at the Kageyama's house as Ritsu went up to knock on the door. It opened up to reveal Mob, whose face grew much brighter at the sight of his younger brother and Reigen hanging out, "Hey, Ritsu. Did you have fun?"
Ritsu shrugged, "If having fun means talking about the weather with an old man, then sure," he replied with a teasing face.
Reigen gawked at that, "Wh- I'm not old!"
Mob looked up with a straight face at Reigen, "I think I'm seeing some gray hairs, Master."
Ritsu burst out laughing at that, clutching at his stomach. Despite the harsh insults thrown at him, Reigen couldn't help but smile at that look on Ritsu's face.
He wanted to continue to protect these two, he concluded, for as long as he could.
Author's Note: ritsu is my favorite character in this series and it saddens me how little content there is of parental!reigen and ritsu ! so i wrote this fic to make up for that haha, i love them so much
also is it obvious that i watch the english dub?
hope you enjoyed !
-sofia