Teru knew a bad idea when he saw one.

He didn't just mean the way Ritsu was shoving food into a zip lock back on his lap. Sure that was a bad idea, if his parents looked over and noticed then Ritsu would either have to make up a lie or tell the truth. Lying to Frau and Herr Kageyama wasn't something that Teru ever wanted to do. They were the nicest parents that he had ever met. They came home every single day and had dinner and watched TV and did other family things that Teru had only seen on TV. They even played board games together! Not that he liked board games that much…but it was nice to be included. These were the nicest parents that he had ever known in his life and the last thing that he wanted to do was to lie to them…or even be a part of lie…

But, really, the truth was about a hundred million times worse.

There, upstairs, right above their heads was the enemy. Ritsu had invited the enemy right into his house. Into his bedroom. On sleepover night. Maybe that was the worst part of it. Ritsu had done all of this without even thinking of Teru or…or the logistics…or…or anything! How someone as smart as him could have been so stupid Teru would never know. Even now he was being an idiot. He had a plastic sandwich bag in his lap and he was filling it with foods that were NOT supposed to go together. Frau Kageyama was really nice…though he wished that she wasn't so nice all the time. Her attempts at making him feel at home were…attempts.

Not every attempt was a good one.

Not that he was ever going to say that to her face. No, he was going to choke down her creative interpretation of goulash and sauerkraut and he was going to smile the whole time. That was what worked best with people, smiling, smiling and being nice. So that was what he did. Even while Ritsu was kicking him under the table and shooting him looks. Those looks said 'save me' and 'save me now' and 'what the hell are you waiting for' and other stuff like that. He wanted to go back upstairs…he kept motioning back there with his aura.

Teru wasn't done yet.

"Someone's hungry tonight." Said Frau Kageyama. Ritsu smiled and nodded, though it wasn't as natural as it could have been. His eyes were too tight and he was making his mouth really small like he was sucking on a lemon. His shoulders were really tight, too, like he was getting ready to run away. That didn't seem like such a bad idea at all. They could run away and start new lives on the road living by their wits and good looks like they were in a movie or something. Maybe fiction needed to turn into reality. It would have been a hell of a lot better than dealing with the latest incredibly stupid thing that Ritsu had done.

It would have been a hell of a lot better than dealing with the CLAW MEMBER that Ritsu had invited into his bedroom.

"Who?" asked Herr Kageyama. Frau Kageyama tapped him over the head with her chopstick.

"Dad." Said Ritsu in a tone that Teru would have never taken with his father. Ever. Not that he ever really talked to his parents that often. They called about once a week, mainly to make sure that he was still alive and he got his allowance, though they had missed last week's call…he didn't care. He was twelve. He didn't need his parents anymore. Besides, he had bigger things to worry about than his parents.

"It's really very good, Frau Kageyama, just like my mother used to make." Said Teru. He just left out the part where he wished that Mater had been a better cook.

"Son, do me a favor. Next time bring home a Chinese boy or a Korean boy or-" said Herr Kageyama before he was hit over the head, a lot harder that time, with two chopsticks. He had rice in his hair, now, and Teru was glad for it. It had been spared from being mixed with goulash and sauerkraut...Teru worked on keeping his face happy. Sure on the inside he was about ten different kinds of pissed off but nobody needed to know.

He had to be a good guest.

He may not have been Ritsu's boyfriend but he had to at least be a good guest in his house. They were going to have to talk about this whole 'boyfriend' thing. It was losing him dates, first of all, and second of all people were starting to make fun of him. He wasn't Ritsu, he had a reputation to uphold, and so far the only reputation he'd managed to make and uphold was that he was the gay kid who went around kicking people's asses for now reason.

"Ichimaro!" said Frau Kageyama. Ritsu took the opportunity to fill the bag in his lap with whatever food was left out on his plate. Apparently they were going to torture information out of the enemy.

"This was really good mom. Anyway me and Teru are going upstairs now so I can…help him with his homework." Said Ritsu. He gave Teru another look. Teru sighed and put his chopsticks back down. Interrogate the enemy or keep on trying to choke down goulash and sauerkraut over rice. He really didn't have much of a choice now did he?

He didn't have much of a choice when it came to a lot of things.

Ritsu didn't wait for an answer, he just shot Teru a look and stood up. That look meant that Teru was going to have to follow him. This was rude, incredibly rude, but it was better than sitting at the table, choking down food he didn't really want to eat, and listening to Ritsu's parents fighting with one another.

Now that was something that he was used to.

"See? You embarrassed them!" said Frau Kageyama. Her voice carried just like Mater's did. Teru didn't pay it any mind, these weren't his parents, and either way his own parents had been very clear. Children were never to involve themselves in the affairs of adults. Children were to keep to themselves, mind their manners, and never shame themselves or their family. There were so many things that could bring shame onto someone. Being impolite, not knowing your place, looking raggedy…so many things that a person could do wrong.

That was one good thing about being away from his own parents. At least he didn't get lectured anymore.

"Don't look back." Said Ritsu as he pulled Teru by the hand. The handholding was for his parents'. They had to think that he and Ritsu were together so they wouldn't question why he and Ritsu were always, well, together. Best friends wouldn't cut it…even though he would have been a lot more ok with being best friends. People wouldn't have looked at him weird if he and Ritsu had been best friends instead of boyfriends…and he would have had a hell of a lot more dates too…but that was the least of what he had to worry about.

No, the bright red aura bearing down on his was a much bigger deal.

"I'm being supportive! That was me being supportive of my son and the fact that he had boyfriends now!" said Herr Kageyama/ His voice carried too. Teru…well he knew that these weren't his parents…but he didn't want them to end up like his parents...but he also had a lot to deal with as it was.

The aura got closer as he got to the top of the stairs.

"Good, they're going to be at that for a while. That gives us time." Said Ritsu as his parents fought down in the dining room. Teru couldn't tell what they were saying but they were still fighting…but apparently this was worth it to Ritsu. His parents fighting was worth whatever he planned on doing with that guy in his room.

Teru wasn't an idiot. He knew what he had walked in on.

"For what? What's your plan here, Ritsu?" asked Teru. He knew what he had walked in on Ritsu doing and it was not interrogation. He had heard, over and over again, about how Ritsu was completely and totally in love with some guy name Sho. Well there was Sho on the other side of the door. It would have been more polite to excuse himself and leave Ritsu to his real boyfriend….but that would have been stupid. They had a very sensitive operation here. They were close to being close to taking down Claw…well he first step of it…actually they'd accomplished absolutely nothing since getting together…but still!

Claw could not know about all the plotting and stuff!

"I…I have a plan…and it's a good one too!" said Ritsu as he pulled the dinner bag out from his hoodie pocket. He reached over for his doorknob but Teru grabbed his wrist. He could feel the crackle of Ritsu's aura under his hand, and he could see the beginnings of a barrier trying to form, but he didn't let go. They had to get on the same page about this….whatever this whole thing was.

"I'm waiting." Said Teru, his hand tightening around Ritsu's wrist.

"He's…going to stay here and then…he's going to go home." Said Ritsu as he pulled his wrist free from Teru's hand. Teru rolled his eyes. That was the best that Ritsu could come up with?

"You call that a plan?" asked Teru

"Obviously." Said Ritsu

"What's going to happen in the middle? You do know that plans need a middle, right? Otherwise they're just lists of bullshit you made up. You realize that, right?" asked Teru

"I have a middle…I just…" said Ritsu

"This is our chance. We can get firsthand information about Claw out of him! Even if we have to use your mother's cooking to get it out of him." said Teru. He needed to know what Claw was planning. He needed to know if his parents were still being watched. He needed to know if he was still being watched. He needed to know what Claw's next move was. He needed to know…well he needed to know where Shigeko was…and what she was planning…and how she was doing. She'd saved him, twice actually. The first time when he'd been kidnapped and the second time when he hadn't even known that he had been in real danger of being kidnapped. He liked her a lot…he didn't know her but he liked her…and…and if it had been Shigeko in that room then it would have been different!

But it wasn't here…but at least now he had a chance to at least figure out what had happened to her….

"Don't talk about my mom like that." Said Ritsu crossing his arms. Teru rolled his eyes so hard he thought he might end up with them getting stuck that way just like every single adult in his life had always warned him about.

"Fine, let's talk about the guy in your room-" said Teru. He hit the door for emphasis…and almost tipped over as it opened. He caught himself with his powers. There was no way his was falling flat on his ass in front of the enemy!

"My name's Sho, Suzuki Sho, and I can hear everything….hey! Is that for me?" asked Sho as he reached into Ritsu's pocket and pulled out the bag of dinner. He didn't wait for an answer, he just popped it opened and stuck his hand in.

"Sorry, I forgot to grab a fork." Said Ritsu. He looked just like a girl there. He was blushing like a girl and doing that thing that girls did where they smiled at you while looking up at you through their eyelashes…Teru wondered if it was actually possible to know some sense into someone. Ritsu was being a complete and total love struck moron….and over THIS guy?!

Really!?

First of all the hair. He looked like he was about to go super saiyan and not in a good way. What, was this a manga or something? A little bit of product, probably something with coconut oil or argan oil since his hair looked unbelievably dry, and then maybe a flat iron too. Maybe a little bit of brown there, or blond, something to offset the sheer amount of red this guy was subjecting the world too. A new cologne would have done him some good. Something lighter, a lot lighter, something that didn't smell like he was some kind of wannabe yakuza member. A change of clothes would have done him some good, too. That jacket had to go. The nineties were cool but not that part of the nineties. If he had been wearing an actual shirt, not that stupid Zooptopia t-shirt, then it could have offset that truly hideous jacket….and that didn't even get into the whole 'working for the most evil organization ever' thing.

Ritsu could have done A LOT better.

"May I remind you that your parents are right downstairs?" asked Teru. Ritsu snapped out of whatever love stuck bubble he had been trapped in and quickly pulled Teru through the door. He closed it softly behind himself. They technically weren't allowed to keep that door closed. Something that Ritsu hadn't thought about. How was he supposed to hide this guy in here when his parents popped in all the time without asking?! How…Teru had to stay calm. At this rate he was going to end up all red and broken out in the morning.

If he even made it to the morning.

He didn't plan on sleeping tonight. His futon was set up right there on the floor, Ritsu's parents had gotten it just for him, but he wasn't going to even sit on it. He didn't plan on sitting at all. He stood in front of the door and just…planned on staying there all night. That other guy…Suzuki Sho…was sitting right there on Ritsu's bed eating with his hands like a cretin…and Ritsu was just sitting right there next to him like this was nothing!

Well it wasn't nothing!

"What am I even eating?" asked Sho with his mouthful like he'd never eaten a meal before. Ritsu should have brought napkins…or just let this guy starve to death. That would have worked too.

"My mom tried to make German food…it's not so bad once you get used to it." Said Ritsu

"It's not that bad, not really, I've had worse. My sister puts cheese in curry." Said Sho. Teru perked up. Sister? He knew…well Shigeko had mentioned a brother…not that he remembered much of what she'd said. He'd been too busy with…other things…but he knew that she had a brother…but that…well Sho didn't look a thing like her. She had eyes so big and dark that he could have gotten lost in…and her hair was black and shiny and soft…and her skin was really soft…and now he needed to think of something else.

Anything else.

"Why? Does she hated curry that much?" asked Ritsu. He was sticking his tongue out now. Gross. He was such a child sometimes. He could have been a lot cuter if he…well now was not the time to pick people's looks apart. Now was the time to be vigilant. What he was being vigilant of he wasn't sure. Sho didn't look like he was planning anything right now…he mostly looked like he was trying to eat dinner….but he was a member of Claw! There was no way to trust him!

"Because she read about it somewhere and my dad likes it….I think she might like it like that too since she keeps on making it. This is a lot better than what my sister makes….but don't tell her I said that…not that you ever would. Like, if you ever talked to my sister then I'm pretty sure my dad would have killed you…even if he didn't know that you were the kid who escaped from the Seventh Division. Stay away from there, by the way, I saw your notes and-" Said Sho

"You left all of our notes out in plain sight?! Ritsu, what's the matter with you?" asked Teru. Well now he had to say something. Now Claw knew what they knew! Well…it wasn't much, and a lot of it came from Reddit...but still! Now the enemy had valuable information and RITSU of all people had let it slip right through his hands!

"Don't talk to him like that." Said Sho. He tried to get up but Ritsu pushed him back down. Teru wished that Ritsu hadn't gotten in the middle of that. He could have beaten this guy, and so fast too that Ritsu's parents didn't even noticed. He'd been in fights before, a lot of them, and sometimes he didn't even need his powers. This kid may have been a powerful esper but he was short and weak…and Teru was a strong esper and strong in the normal way and…and he wasn't going to let himself get kidnapped or captured or whatever ever again!

"Teru, it's fine. He's on our side." Said Ritsu. Teru rolled his eyes again. He didn't care if they got stuck like that, he'd just wear sunglasses or something. He really had nothing else that he could do. This was so ridiculous. Ritsu was always accusing him of being more focused on girls than the mission…and now Teru was practically standing in a puddle of drool. Ritsu was way too close to this guy and it was clouding his judgement. Teru…well if he had been in Ritsu's place and Shigeko had been there then it would have been different. He knew that Shigeko was on his side. They were like Romeo and Juliet, the good version from America made in the nineties. Or maybe they were like that one movie with the two spies on opposite sides of and then one of them got shot…wait…no…or maybe they were more like….

It would have been totally different if it had been him and Shigeko. That was the point.

"You don't know that." Said Teru lowly.

"Hey! I totally am! Cross my heart! I'm not going to tell dad about you guys, I have no reason to, and anyway even if I did my dad's a dick hole's dick hole. I'm not doing anything to help him." said Sho

"Well then are you going to help us take Claw down or not?" asked Teru getting right to the point. That was what mattered here, not whatever lovesick stupid shit Ritsu was feeling.

"Hell no. It's impossible, for one thing, and for another my dad does bad shit to traitors….like…really bad…stuff I don't want to talk about. Besides, what do you care if I'm going to take Claw down or not? By the time dad takes over the world we're going to be really old or whatever." Said Sho

"Wait…you're not going to help? At all?" asked Ritsu. He scooted away from Sho. Sho reached his sticky, greasy, hand and took Ritsu's in his. Teru gagged.

"I'll keep you safe if I can but I won't try and fuck with Claw. My dad already hates me and the only reason he even keeps me around is because I don't have any brothers and my sisters can't inherit the world because they're girls. Either my dad takes over the world and I take over after he dies, which is probably going to be pretty soon afterwards since he's already really old, or he doesn't take over the world and Claw falls apart." Said Sho. Ritsu pulled his hand away and wiped it on his hoodie…like an idiot. That was his best hoodie, the only one he looked vaguely cute in, and now he was going to mess up the whole wash schedule because of it….he could worry about this later. Right now he had to deal with…whatever the fuck this shit was.

"You're just going to go along with it?" asked Ritsu. He sounded hurt, there and Teru was ashamed to say that he'd had his moment of schadenfreude, but it passed. Ritsu may have been an idiot but that idiot was his best friend and fake boyfriend.

"I don't have a choice. I never had a choice. Do you think that I would have been a part of this if I had a choice? Do you think that I would have been a Suzuki if I had a choice? I don't get a choice in who's kid I am and I don't get a choice in what I'm going to end up…doing…when I grow up. I don't have a choice." Said Sho. He sounded sad there, desolated…if Teru was going to borrow a word from his vocab homework, but he didn't care. He was too focused on what Sho just said…his dad was Claw's President…and that meant that he was Shigeko's little brother.

Shigeko.

He wanted to ask about her. He wanted to ask Sho how she was doing, where she was, and if she ever mentioned him. He had been about to ask when he stopped himself. He wound up making a weird yelping sort of noise…but that was better than getting Shigeko in trouble. She had helped him, twice even, and Sho had just said that terrible things happened to traitors…and she was technically a traitor. If he opened his mouth…if he said anything at all…then it would all be over for Shigeko. She had done so much for him and…and he missed her so much….but he couldn't say a word. He couldn't say a word and he just…he couldn't stand to be here either. To be so close to her brother, to be so close to her world, to be so close to her and also so far.

He had to get out of here.

"Well I have a choice and I choose to leave. Call me when you realize how bad of an idea this is." Said Teru. He didn't say anything else, he didn't wait to hear what Ritsu had to say, he just walked out the door and left. Ritsu's parents were done fighting and had moved on to cleaning up after dinner. Sneaking past them was easy, risky, but easy. If he got caught then he could have just told them that he and Ritsu had a fight or some other stupid thing. He wouldn't have been lying, anyway, since he and Ritsu kind of just had a fight…fucking idiot that he was. Teru…he needed to get out of there. He kind of got how Ritsu felt, he would have done the same if Shigeko had been there instead of Sho, but he knew that he could trust Shigeko.

Shigeko the girl who popped into his life only to save him and then ran away, not Shigeko the baby in the depressing Shrine that took up most of Ritsu's living room.

No, he just said his goodbyes to that shrine and left. It was only polite after all and Teru, no matter how pissed off he got, would never be anything less than fully polite when he was in another person's house…even if that other person was pretty fucking committed to being a complete and total moron. He was Hanazawa Teruki. He was better than…a lot of things and…and he just…he put his shoes on and left. He kept his phone close, in case Ritsu changed his mind and decided to actually think about what he was doing, as he walked the long walk home. To his apartment. Alone. He didn't want to but it was better than staying at Ritsu's…

He knew a bad idea when he saw one and that would have been a phenomenally bad idea.