Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 baybee!

It was lunch break again, which meant:

"Kageyama! Eat lunch with me!"

Two voices. One masculine, excited and friendly. The other feminine, reserved, if not a bit coy.

"Um, sure." Shigeo responded.

Kuroda and Morishima looked at each other briefly. Morishima merely gave him a dark smirk, which wasn't returned.

"Fine, then." Kuroda said. He grabbed a seat and placed it in front of Shigeo. Morishima silently did the same.

Kageyama looked at the two students in front of him. The three of them had only just met earlier that week, but Kageyama already couldn't help but feel that there was some odd tension between the other two students.

Morishima cut straight to the point. "So! The place I was talking about is actually an old boxing gym that's been abandoned since its original owner died. His name was Coach Tadakoro, nicknamed "Rage" because of his unyielding determination and fiery personality. He wasn't a pro or anything, and it doesn't seem like there's any record of him leaving behind a family, but he was well known for being a really harsh trainer, and he faced threats of closure many times before his death because of verbal abuse."

"Wow. Sounds like a great guy." Kuroda sarcastically commented.

Morishima smiled and continued. "Another building was built right in front of its entrance right after it closed down, so people have completely forgotten about the gym's existence. I went to go check the place out yesterday and it doesn't seem like anybody has gone inside in a long time."

Kuroda sighed. "Couldn't you think of a more normal hangout idea for our first time out? You know… karaoke, watching a baseball game, going to the arcade, going to the mall."

"It'll be fun! We should make the start of our high school lives memorable! What do you think, Kageyama-kun?"

Shigeo wasn't exactly ready to tell them that this was just daily life for him back in middle school. Exorcisms, exploring supposedly haunted places, avoiding shady people. Shigeo was hoping to keep all of that behind him.

Originally, that is.

Oddly enough, Shigeo couldn't help but feel a little bit excited at the thought. He always had Reigen supervising him when he went on excursions like this. The idea of going on one on his own with two friends who were also espers never really crossed his mind. Sure, these two were inexperienced and probably didn't know what they were getting into.

Shigeo could take care of them though, right? He just had to keep an eye on them, maybe even do all of the work.

Maybe just a trial run.

Shigeo shrugged. "Sure. Let's do it." His middle school self would've hated him for this.

Morishima clasped her hands together. "Yay!"

"But listen first, Morishima-san." Shigeo says. Morishima tilts her head expectantly. "I'm hoping this doesn't become a regular thing for us."

The light in her eyes dimmed a little bit, but she agreed. "Sure, sure."

"And don't go on these kinds of adventures by yourself." Shigeo added.

"Yeah, yeah."

"And don't go in until I get there." He asserted.

"Mmhmm."

"And make sure someone knows where you are at all times. And don't overestimate the necessity of your powers. And make sure you eat before we go. And also-"

"Kageyama."

Shigeo was surprised to hear that Kuroda was the one who cut him off.

Shigeo blinked as he realized that he had become a bit too doting and flushed. "Um, sorry."

The other boy laughed a little. "That was a bit much, don't you think? You could've just said that we should wait for you. I know you said you had somewhere you needed to be right after school. Morishima and I will go there first and wait for you before we start exploring."

The girl simply giggled and dug into her lunch for the first time.

Kuroda looked at her cautiously. "I also agree with you that maybe this shouldn't become a regular thing."

The two of them stole a glance back at Morishima again, a bit intimidated. She simply payed them no mind and happily continued eating.

Reigen's Spirit Council. It's probably been some three or four months since his last visit. He used to come here almost every day to be paid well below an acceptable wage. But Shigeo felt that the experiences he had under Reigen were much more valuable than any sum of money Reigen could have given him. Shigeo wondered how different things would have been had he never come here, for both of them.

Scratching his chin, the boy entered without knocking.

"Hello. I'm entering."

Reigen was there behind the counter, looking as youthful as ever even at the age of 30. Dimple simply hovered behind him lazily. Tome-chan was lounging around on one of the couches looking at her phone. There was a handheld game system on her lap. It looked like Serizawa-san wasn't here today.

"Mob. Hey," Reigen got up from behind his counter to go greet him. "It's been quite a while."

Both Tome and Dimple greeted him with a simple "Yo."

Then, Dimple's face scrunched up in disgust. "What is she doing here?"

Before Shigeo could say anything, Reigen raised an eyebrow and spun a finger to motion behind Shigeo.

The boy turned his head.

Mezato was there.

"You're so predictable, Mob-kun."

"Huh."

Dimple winced upon hearing her voice.

Reigen put a hand on his shoulder and shook him playfully. "Did she drag you here herself this time? You know she's come here before."

Shigeo shrugged. "No. I thought I came alone."

Mezato frowned. "I was just waiting for you outside. I'm surprised you didn't see me, but a little less so that you even came at all."

"What have you been up to, Mob?" Tome-chan called out from her seat, ignoring the other girl.

What seemed like a previously dull atmosphere was lit up the moment Shigeo came in. Though Reigen's business didn't exactly surge in popularity before, Shigeo's absence and an increased maturity in the work place has caused Reigen to take clients at a much more relaxed pace. Having Dimple, Serizawa and Tome-chan around gave Reigen the flexibility to nurture any other interests that came up.

Shigeo shifted a little bit to look at the desk behind Reigen. If that was any indication, it would seem that his mentor had taken up bonsai nursery. Knowing him, this hobby would probably be short-lived.

Shigeo placed his bag on the floor beside the couch and took a seat next to Tome-chan. "I am a high schooler now. I've already made a few friends, so I figured I should visit again for old time's sake."

Tome-chan eyed Shigeo suspiciously and glanced at Mezato before turning back to him.. "Well you haven't been here in a while. Inugawa and I have been talking still, you know. He says you two haven't met up in a while."

"Yes, well, I suppose it's hard to make time for everyone."

Dimple floated over to the two of them, Reigen following. "What about me, Shige? I've been oh so busy working here that you never bothered to check up on me!"

"There's nothing stopping you from coming to my house."

Mezato tilted her head in confusion. "Um, what? Did you say something, Kurata-senpai?"

The girl raised an eyebrow before snorting and giving her a sorry look. "Oh, you can't see or hear him can't you? Heehee."

This time it was Shigeo's turn to tilt his head. "Tome-chan? You can see him too?"

The journalist girl scratched her head. "Wha?"

This was a familiar atmosphere, and one that he kind of missed. The hectic transitional period that came with Shigeo's move to high school left him with little time to relax, and coming here brought him back. It's a bit more crowded than usual though.

"Anyway, I'll only be here for a little bit. I promised to meet up with my friends after this."

Reigen took a seat back behind his desk and looked up. "Oh, I don't expect you to work or anything, so just sit back and take a breather."

The boy obliged and sat there silently. Again, a familiar scene, though it was interesting to see the familiar scenes of Tome-chan playing video games on a couch and Reigen calmly working behind his desk being put together.

Mezato took a seat across from Shigeo and smirked. "So, you're meeting up with your friends after this?"

"Yeah. It'll be our first time hanging out. There's only 3 of us."

Tome-chan smiled. "I see you wasted no time making friends."

"Mmhmm."

"What are you guys gonna do? Some karaoke? Going shopping? Playing video games at someone's house?"

"Something like that."

Mezato narrowed an eye. "That's oddly vague."

Shigeo shook his head. "It isn't anything special. We're just hanging out."

Shigeo couldn't see it, but the four other entities in the room eyed him suspiciously.

Dimple snorted. "Okay." He chided.

Mezato walked behind Mob; About 20 yards behind him, with a small crowd of people in between them. She'd planned on doing this anyway, but the two people at Reigen's Spirit Council insisted she tail Mob in order to find out what he was up to. That was the green light, now she can see what the idol of the now-defunct Psycho Helmet Cult was up to without worrying about someone else blowing her cover.

Mob was such a serene walker. His posture never faltered, and his steadily light footsteps made Mob look like the most peaceful teenager in the world. Since Mob probably wasn't too familiar with her school uniform, her disguise was as simple as putting on a pair of lensless glasses, a black baseball cap, and tying her orange uniform jacket around her waist. She took off her ribbon neck-tie too just in case.

The boy was so obviously vague with his descriptions that there was no way he was going to a simple hang out. Trouble never left Mob alone for too long.

The trek took about 20 minutes before Mob seemed to have found the place he was trying to get to. Mob stared down at his phone for a bit. The girl guessed that he was trying to get in contact with the friends he was supposed to meet with.

Mezato carefully positioned herself behind a telephone pole as the boy looked around cautiously. Then, Mob slinked away into an alley. The girl quickly took her camera out of her bag and followed.

She slowly approached the break between the two buildings and sidled up against the corner of one. The girl took off her cap and glasses and peered her head around the wall.

She didn't get much of a look before somebody grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in.

"Whoa!"

She was pushed against the wall and another hand pinned her shoulder against it. A boy, likely her age. Except she didn't recognize him. His dark hair was cleanly swept sideways. His school uniform was the same as Shigeo's.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Mezato scowled back at him. "I'm with Lemon Pepper High School's newspaper! You Oregano kids look like you're up to something. This is Coach Tadakoro's abandoned gym isn't it? There have been rumors of supernatural occurrences here. You shouldn't be here!"

The stranger boy backed off of her and put a hand on his head in confusion. "A reporter? Kageyama why do you have a reporter from Lemon Pepper following you?"

Mezato turned her head to see Mob and another girl with messy brown hair standing near the entrance.

"Mezato-san?" The boy asked. He looked surprised, but otherwise unbothered by her appearance.

The other girl glanced at Mob and gave a dark smile. "You know her, Kageyama-kun? You never told us you would bring any friends."

The new boy shook his head. "No. She's been following him. Kageyama never realized."

Mezato placed a thumb on her chin, thinking for a moment. She pointed a finger at Mob. "So you were getting involved in some ghostly shenanigans! I knew you were hiding something!"

The new boy shook his head roughly again and moved over to block the other two from Mezato's line of sight. "Why are you here? What do you want with Kageyama?"

The reporter girl blinked and looked aside uncomfortably. She really only followed Mob because she was curious about the slight chance he'd be doing something interesting. She glanced around the strange boy to see Mob eyeing her curiously. She always knew Mob had a cautious trust towards her.

"Um. Mob-er, Kageyama-kun's the type of person who would get in a lot of trouble. I had a feeling he'd be able to lead me towards an interesting story." It was partially truthful.

The boy looked at her suspiciously. Then, he walked over to Mob to whisper something into his ear. Mob simply shook his head, to which the other boy sighed in relief.

The brown-haired girl walked over. "In any case. We can't have you with us here. I'm sorry, but you have to leave."

Mezato stood her ground. "Make me."

The two of them stared each other down. Then, the other girl saw her camera and smirked.

"Well then." She raised a hand. Mezato held her stare.

Mob saw this and jumped over to grab the other girl by the shoulders. "Morishima-san! Don't!"

The other girl, now known as Morishima, pouted. "Huh? Why?"

"She worked really hard to earn that. It'll make her really upset if you broke it."

Hearing this, Mezato subconsciously put a hand on her camera. Did this girl seriously consider destroying a stranger's belonging? What kind of people was Mob associating himself with?

Morishima sighed, still smiling her dark smile. "Oh, alright. But we still can't have her here."

The reporter girl stuck a tongue out at her before turning back to the other boy. "How did you know I was following him?"

The boy's eyes widened and he looked around nervously. "Ah, well. I saw Kageyama from across the street and realized you were there as well."

That couldn't be right. Ever since they turned onto this street Mezato was watching this alley closely. She never saw this boy walk out to check if Mob was there.

This was becoming more and more suspicious. Mezato was getting concerned. "Mob-kun? What's going on?"

The familiar boy lightly pushed the other one aside. "It's alright Mezato-san. We just came here to check this place out. We won't be long."

He gave her a sweet smile to reassure her, but she didn't budge.

"I'm not going anywhere." She affirmed.

Mezato watched cautiously as the three other high schoolers before her came together and began discussion.

"Kuroda? How long was she following me for?"

"Well, I only saw you once you turned onto our street, but it looks like she was following you for a while."

"Huh? Really? I never noticed."

"Heehee. You aren't very observant of your surroundings when you're focused on something, Kageyama-kun."

Mezato cleared her throat. "I can hear you, you know."

The three of them turned to her, causing her to back up into the wall a bit more.

She continued. "We can sit here and wait until a police officer sees us and tells us to scram. Or, maybe you can tell me what you're really up to."

The three of them looked at each other. Kuroda shrugged and turned back to her. "Kageyama was telling the truth. We just wanted to check this place out because we were curious."

"Are you espers too?"

The other two students looked surprised at this question. Mezato smirked. She hit the mark. If she was wrong that would have been bad. She knew Mob liked to keep his powers a secret, but these two students were acting too suspicious to just be normal students.

Morishima simply smiled, but Kuroda began scratching his cheek with a finger and looked up nervously. "Um. I-I don't know what you're talking a-about." He managed to say.

"Very well," Morishima began. "Yes, we are. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be exploring this rumored haunted place on our own."

Morishima grabbed Kuroda by the back of his uniform collar and dragged him into the building. Mob gave Mezato an apologetic look.

"Sorry, Mezato-san. I had a feeling this would happen."

She took the camera from around her neck and put it back in her bag. "You've been hiding interesting things from me for too long Mob-kun. This time, I'm gonna take the initiative and make sure I'm there for everything that happens in this city!"

Mob blinked. "I see, well. I guess I'll see you again next time we meet on the train platform."

"What?"

Mob entered the building and shut the door close behind him before Mezato could follow him.

She ran to the entrance and pulled on the door handle.

"Damn it! It's locked." Mezato stepped back and analyzing the building in front of her.

"There has to be another way inside."

Kuroda raised an eyebrow as the door behind Shigeo shook violently. "Huh? What did you do?"

"I locked her out."

The clairvoyant boy stared at the key hole on the door. There was no way Shigeo could have locked it without a key, right?

Morishima skipped ahead. "Let's get going!"

"Let's go." Kuroda said.

Shigeo simply stood in place and checked his surroundings. Even though it was still the afternoon, the building's tight placement between the other buildings around it allowed very little light to come through the windows. From what Shigeo could see, the gym was spacious. It seemed to mostly be one big room. There were two boxing rings placed in the center of the room and three overhead lights hanging over them. Heavy bags were situated on the far right corner, and a mirror covered the entire far left corner of the room. Dust and dirt filled the place with a sense of desolation.

Places like this were perfect for evil spirits to hang around. Despite that, Shigeo couldn't sense a thing.

Kuroda and Morishima walked up to a speed bag hanging from a lowered part of the ceiling. "You know," Kuroda said. He lightly punched the bag. "My uncle brought me to a boxing gym once. He taught me how to do this."

He began punching the bag in rhythm. Morishima sighed and walked over to the ring.

She placed a hand on the canvas. "This is weird. It seems like most if not all of the equipment in this gym's still here. Normally an unoccupied lot like this would get cleaned out."

Shigeo looked up at the lights again. "Morishima-san, could you try turning on those lights, please?" He asked with a point.

Morishima frowned. "This place has been abandoned for quite a number of years. They've probably long burned out, but I'll give it a try."

The girl raised a fist up at the bulbs and opened it.

Surprisingly enough, the middle bulb actually began flickering rapidly like an eye with a lash caught in it.

Then, Shigeo saw it.

Flickering in the darkness with the light, an ethereal being's presence persisted in the far end of the room behind the other boxing ring. Shigeo couldn't get a good look at it, and it hid its spiritual presence well.

Then, the lightbulb blew out and shattered.

"Whoa!" Morishima and Kuroda both jumped away in surprise as the bulb's glass shards crumbled to the floor. Just like that, darkness covered the room again and the being from before disappeared.

Shigeo wordlessly took a step towards where the spirit had been. His two friends might have bit off more than they could chew by coming here.

"We have company." Shigeo stated.

The gym's exterior wall had been taken over by nature. The cement and brick walls were horribly cracked, and moss thrived on the mortared crevices on the bricks. Both windows were boarded. The planks were beginning to fall apart, but even then Mezato wasn't sure she was strong enough to take them off. Doing something like that might be too dangerous anyhow.

The front door wasn't boarded up, so why were the windows? Something doesn't seem right.

Mezato approached the windows and examined the wood slowly. They were creaking. In fact, it looked like they were deteriorating right before her eyes.

She wasn't crazy, right?

One of the planks suddenly snapped with a loud noise and fell off. She backed off as the ruined wood hit the ground. Then, four more planks followed, and suddenly the entire window was accessible.

Mezato looked around frantically. She wasn't actually going crazy was she?

She slowly pushed up the glass pane and peered inside. It seems this window lead to a different room from the entrance. A closet maybe?

She took a discarded folding chair from nearby and pulled herself through the window using it as leverage. Then, the chair fell apart in a pile of metallic bits. Well, she was inside. No reason to turn back now.

As she had guessed, this room actually was a closet. The shelves were emptied for the most part, and the light leaking through the window was enough to illuminate most of the room, as slight as it was. It was oddly cold. At this time of year there was no reason for a place like this to become this cold. She rubbed her frigid hands and breathed into them, the visible mist spreading outward into the darkness.

She could hear the voices of the other three through the closet door, which was partially open. If she could stay quiet enough, she could exit the closet and stay undetected in the darkness. She shivered, the cold still taking her.

At that same moment, a ghostly mist formed behind her, emitting no light and camouflaged in the shadows. It followed closely behind her, the girl completely ignorant.

Mezato opened the door as quietly as she could, causing a slight creak, and shimmied through the space she created. When she took a few steps forward, she was caught off-guard when the door behind her slammed shut.

"Huh? What was that?" Kuroda asked. Mob and his friends turned to her direction.

"I'm gonna go investigate, stay here." Mob said.

"Hey, a-are you sure about that? This is getting ki-kinda weird. I think it'd be better if we just left." Kuroda said again.

Mezato blinked frantically and tried to move to cover. She didn't want to be seen, so she hid herself behind the canvas cover of the raised platform. It was then that she felt a cold tingle in her spine, and her knees buckled underneath her. She lost all control of her body as she froze. Panicked, she frantically looked around her as darkness overcame her. She couldn't breathe, and she blacked out.

Shigeo stepped forward. The presence was no longer hidden. He could feel the spiritual energy bursting from in front of him. His two friends watched him from behind. Morishima hadn't said anything, but Kuroda was surprisingly timid in this kind of situation.

A silhouette emerged from behind the ring and walked out. Shigeo took another step forward and strained his eyes at the figure.

"Um. Mezato-san?" She looked oddly unfamiliar for someone that he knew quite well. "How did you get in?"

The girl rubbed her eyes and glared at him. That's when Shigeo realized why she exuded the ominousness of a stranger.

The atmosphere of dread he was feeling was coming from her.

Shigeo stepped forward again. The power he sensed coming from her was immense.

"How?" Mezato began. Her voice was the same, but it did not sound like her. Her timbre felt like a chain link slamming into a metal door in Shigeo's ears. "This girl's body is filled to the brim with determination! Her will is greater than most of the sorry fighters I've ever had in this gym! How can this be!? Hahahahaha!"

Shigeo sighed. This is why he always avoided having Mezato or any of his friends follow him on his endeavors during his time with Reigen. It was always dangerous, and an unexperienced child would always be a liability. After all, he first met her when he met Dimple, and that didn't end so well for everybody involved.

Kuroda let out a deep breath and inhaled again sharply. "Something's wrong, Kageyama. She doesn't look like she did when we were outside!"

For whatever reason he was still on the other side of the room while Morishima had already gotten closer to see what was going on.

Morishima sighed. "Well, duh. It doesn't take someone with clairvoyance to figure that out."

Shigeo looked back at the two. "You two should leave. This is getting really bad. I'll handle this on my own."

The girl scowled. "Who do you think you are, Kageyama-kun? And what kind of people do you think we are to just leave you behind like this?"

Mezato laughed, uncharacteristic in its malice. "At last. Young people, bodies ripe with physical potential, have finally decided to come here. You three neophytes look like you could use some hard-nosed physical training! Especially you, boy." She pointed at Shigeo.

The boy shook his head in response. "No, I'm okay. I have my own body improvement regimen that I do."

Again, she laughed. "What? Are you serious? I don't believe you, you're skinnier than a flyweight! A punch from even my weakest lightweight fighters would put you to sleep!"

This must've been Coach Tadakoro, Shigeo thought. He's dealt with bodily possession before. If done incorrectly, it could do irreversible harm to the host's body. There was probably no way Tadakoro was as powerful as the last evil spirit Shigeo encountered to do a demonic possession. Shigeo considered Mezato a friend, he couldn't mess this exorcism up.

Mezato removed some of the excess weight from her body; her camera, the jacket around her waist, and her bag. Then, she began walking towards him. "Let me ask you a question, boy. In the sport of boxing, what attribute can a person have that is more valuable than any trainable ability?"

Shigeo stood his ground. "Determination to succeed." He answered.

"Heheh. Correct! Wow, first try! Another question! Why do you think I would choose this girl's body, which has no psychic power whatsoever, over any of you three?"

"I don't know."

"Because." Mezato squared her right foot toward him and dashed forward, landing a hard left straight against Shigeo's cheek, sending him flying backwards.

Morishima and Kuroda ran up to him. "Kageyama!"

With that, Mezato tapped her jaw three times with her knuckles. She assumed a southpaw boxing stance. "This body belongs to a friend of yours, doesn't it? Her desire to win, to reach her goals, to achieve her greatest dreams, this separates her from you three. And I absolutely love guiding these types of fighters."

She laughed again. "A vessel that belongs to that kind of person suits me much better."

Shigeo took Kuroda's hand and got up. "That took me by surprise," To both Morishima's and Kuroda's shock, Kageyama's face looked completely fine. He glanced at both of them before turning back to Mezato. Coming here was a mistake. Most spirits he came across weren't anywhere near as powerful as Coach Tadakoro. Still, he probably wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "Let me handle this. You two should go home."

Kuroda grabbed Shigeo's sleeve. "No! We can't just leave you here."

Morishima narrowed her eyes and turned to stare at Mezato. "Coach Tadakoro, right? How long has it been since you last trained anyone?"

Coach smirked. "Not as long ago as you think. Starting with the four of you, I'll revive this gym and turn it into an otherworldly training ground where mortals train with the dead to fight for life!"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Then, the three of them felt the hairs on their arms stand up, and the room turned deathly cold. Desks, chairs and tables floated up from where they were and over their heads to block the entrance. They were trapped.

Then, they were suddenly surrounded as several ethereal boxers materialized around them.

"Welcome to Coach Rage's Boxing Gym!"

And we're underway! I know this took over a month, but this actually was a lot of fun to write. The new Reigen spin-off manga and the excitement of the anime's incoming second season has given me a lot of inspiration.

I wrote this chapter from both Mob and Mezato's point of view. While Mob is definitely the main character here, I'm going to be telling the story through the perspective of other characters sometimes. From what I have planned, I think the four main characters of today's chapter will probably get the most external narration. I have an important role planned for Ritsu too.

I also plan on having a lot of other characters to make appearances, so some characters like Teruki, Shou, Inugawa, Tsubomi, will make appearances too. Might even show some of the lesser-known but still recurring characters like Shinra Banshoumaru, Hoshino, Koyama, etc.

Until next time.