Time was moving way too slowly.
Mob checked her phone again. Not even a minute had passed. She usually loved spending time with Master Reigen but now…well, it was kind of boring today. She was pretty much all alone. Master Reigen was the only other person there and she was busy. Rei and Tome had things to do and Serizawa was off visiting his mom. She should have been so happy, though, to have been there with Master Reigen like things had been when she had been little. But that was just it, she wasn't little anymore.
Not at all.
She checked her phone again. Nothing. Still the same minute. Nothing to check, either, since Teru was busy at soccer. She needed to talk to Teru, to be with him, to just be near him. She didn't know how this was supposed to work, how she could have possibly been expected to be able to be apart from Teru when they had just been so close, as close as two people could have possibly been.
She blushed and looked down.
She had to stop thinking about him. When she thought about him she thought about 'it'. Doing that with him…all of the things. She couldn't believe that she had done that, all of it, so many firsts. Being with him, on top of him, him on top of her, the two of them just sleeping together afterwards. Everything had been so perfect and wonderful and…and she wished that her life could have been like that forever. That every single day she could have woken up with him and gone to sleep with him and eaten with him and taken baths with him and never, ever, ever been apart from him. But that wasn't how things worked. She was fifteen, she was in middle school, and her parents weren't like Teru's parents. They weren't going to let her get her own apartment or move in with him…they didn't even like her out after nine o'clock at night.
It was six.
She had three hours. The minute had finally changed. She had three hours to get to Teru, soccer might have been done by now, and then…whatever they wanted to do. She buried her face in her arms. She had to stop thinking about it. It was written all over her face, Tome had said so, she had said that girls who had done it could tell when someone had done it for the first time. She wasn't sure if it still counted as the first time, she had lost count somewhere between fifteen and eighteen, but she knew that whenever she thought about him she blushed and got a weird expression and she had to just…just stop it! Because if she kept thinking about this then Master Reigen would see her and then she'd know and then Mob would die.
She'd have no choice but to die right on the spot and hopefully pass on because she did not want to spend the whole of eternity as an embarrassed ghost.
She took a deep breath and looked up. She heard the door to the massage/exorcism room opening. She quickly grabbed her phone and held it right up to her face in that way that Mom told her would make her need glasses when she grew up. She heard Master Reigen talking to the client, a woman who Mob had forgotten the name of, and she didn't move. She just pretended to read her phone. She stayed still, completely still, until she heard the office door close.
Then she checked the time.
Soccer had been over for two minutes now! That was two minutes she could have been spending with Teru! She needed to get up and go, now, because they only had two hours and fifty eight minutes together. It would take her twenty minutes to walk to his school, fifteen if she walked quickly and ten if she ran, and then another twenty to get to his apartment and then that would only leave her with enough time to-
-she looked down as she packed up. She had to stop thinking about this.
"Ok Master Reigen, I don't think that there are any spirits that need exorcising so I'll just go home now. Goodbye!" said Mob as she tossed her backpack over her shoulders. She could see the door. She just needed to leave and then she could be with Teru for a little bit and then she could get home and charge her phone and text him all night again or maybe she could sneak out, Tome did it all the time, and then she could be with him all night so long as she got up really early in the morning so she could pretend that she had been asleep in her bed the whole time! Exactly, that was a good plan. She had to leave…that was all. She had to just leave and then-
-a hand was on her shoulder.
"Hold up, Mob, I want to talk to you about something." said Master Reigen
"Is it important? I have to leave now for…um…reasons." Said Mob. She couldn't lie to Master Reigen, well she could but she didn't like to.
"It is, now come on." Said Master Reigen as she led Mob to the couches. She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her. She had two books and a plastic bag tucked under her arm that she put down on the coffee table. Mob turned her head to the side and read the cover.
"The Loveliness of Womanhood?" read Mob. It was in English, not her best subject, and the cover had flowers all over it. She wasn't the best at biology either…but something told her that the book wasn't about horticulture.
"Sit down here, Mob, we have a lot to talk about." Said Master Reigen. Mob took her backpack off and slowly sat down. Then there was quiet. Master Reigen usually talked a lot. She usually had a lot to say and didn't mind repeating herself if she had to. But now she was quiet. Mob turned to the side and checked the clock. Soccer had been over for five minutes now…that was five minutes she could have spent with Teru.
"Hey, I'm over here." Said Master Reigen as she snapped her fingers in Mob's face. She quickly turned away from the clock. That had been rude even if they hadn't been doing anything at all.
"Sorry, I was just checking the clock for…reasons." Said Mob. Master Reigen sighed.
"Mob, you don't have to dance around the obvious. I know that you're anxious to meet Haystack and I know why." Said Master Reigen. Mob's eyes widened. Her hair shot straight up. She hadn't braided it today. The braids just felt too young for her. She was a woman now, Tome had said so. You needed to sleep with a boy before you became a woman. Mob certainly felt much older. She needed to look as old as she felt…
Though she didn't need Master Reigen to know what she was looking so much older for.
"I…um…I didn't know that you liked books, Master Reigen." Said Mob. There, now the subject was changed and they didn't have to talk about Teru anymore. She sat back. She was better at this than she had ever thought.
"These aren't for me, well the one on top used to be mine, they're for you." said Master Reigen
"Thank you but it's not my birthday or Christmas or girl's day." Said Mob
"I know what day it is but this is…Mob, you're not going to make this easy on me, are you?" asked Master Reigen
"Make what easy on you?" asked Mob
"This conversation that we both need to have right now. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be fun, and it's certainly not what I would have wanted to do with my evening but it's something that we're going to have to discuss." Said Master Reigen. Mob nodded and looked down. She had a bad feeling about this. Nothing good ever came from someone using the word 'discuss', especially an adult.
"If it's not going to be easy or fun can we just skip it? Please?" asked Mob
"Nope. Now let me think." Said Master Reigen
"Um…ok." Said Mob
"Mob…you know that I love you, right? You know that I'll always love you no matter what?" asked Master Reigen
"Y-Yes?" asked Mob
"And you know that I'll always…I'll always put your best interests firsts even if you don't? Wait! No, that came out wrong." Said Master Reigen
"What came out wrong?" asked Mob
"Everything! This…this shouldn't hard. I'm not that much older than you and I'm not going to punish you…I mean I don't even have that kind of power or anything and I don't want it but…I don't know. I won't be mad at you, I guess? I mean it's not like you did a bad thing, just not a smart one…damn it!" said Master Reigen as she ran a hand through her hair. A few strands came out of her bun and fell down in front of her face. She sighed and leaned forward holding her head in her hands. Mob didn't move. She knew what Master Reigen wanted to talk to her about…but how! Only two people knew and they were the two people she trusted more than anyone else in the world aside from Master Reigen and her own brother.
Someone had told on her…someone she had trusted.
"Come on, Arataki, get it together. You've been through worse, much worse." Muttered Master Reigen
"Who told you?" asked Mob softly. Master Reigen sat up and brushed her hair back. It just fell down onto her face again.
"That's not important. What is important is that you were safe…please, for the love of God, tell me that you were safe." Said Master Reigen. Mob blinked.
"Of course I was safe…I love Teru and he loves me. I mean I know that we fought when we met, and also I know that I beat him up and shaved his head…and destroyed his clothes…and his clothes…and then he had to run home naked but we aren't like that anymore and he accepted my apology." Said Mob
"No, Mob, that's not what…you don't even know what I mean. You had sex with that kid and you don't even know what-" muttered Master Reigen
"Master Reigen!" gasped Mob. She used her powers to close the blinds and lock the door…then she put the file cabinet in front of it. This office was only twenty minutes from her house! What if her mom or dad had been walking by? Or worse, Ritsu?!
"Hey, no, you don't get to be like that. If anyone should be scandalized it's me! I mean, come on?! What have they been teaching you at that school that you're running around having unprotected sex-" said Master Reigen
"I'm not running around, it's just with Teru, and we did use something! I'm not dumb, I know that I can't have a baby! My parents would be really mad at me if I did and they'd probably tell me that I wasn't allowed to see Teru anymore and that…that would be horrible." Said Mob. Master Reigen sighed and put her arm over Mob's shoulders.
"Hey…I'm sorry." Said Master Reigen softly
"For what? I'm the one who yelled at you. You were just yelling…that's just what you do sometimes. It wasn't at me." said Mob just as softly
"No, I was freaking out. I know that you're not stupid, I just got scared." Said Master Reigen
"Why were you scared? I'm not dumb, I was careful just like they said at school." said Mob
"Sorry, sorry. When I was a kid they said to be 'safe' not 'careful'. They times they are-a changing." Laughed Master Reigen. Mob laughed too even though it wasn't that funny. It just felt good to laugh.
"Seriously though, I don't need to tell you how badly getting pregnant would fu-screw your life up…right?" asked Master Reigen
"No, no, I know that if I had a baby then my parents wouldn't let me go out with Teru anymore." Said Mob
"Yeah, and also you'd have a whole human being to take care of." Laughed Master Reigen even though that didn't seem very funny at all. Mob hadn't thought that far ahead. A baby was a whole human being…not that she knew what a half human being would have looked like…well she did, it would have been horrible, but…but she didn't want any kind of human being to take care of! She wasn't even allowed to use the washing machine on her own, how was she supposed to take care of a person!?
"I don't know why you're laughing…it's not a good thing." Said Mob
"I'm not laughing because it's not funny, it's lifechanging…it would be for the both of us. But at least you're being safe…careful. At least you're being careful and…and you know that if anything did happen I'd be there for you, right?" asked Master Reigen. Master Reigen being there…she hadn't even known that Master Reigen wanted to have a baby. Well, Rei had said that she would, so…wait, was this how it happened? This was even better than what she had imagined. She had always just imagined Master Reigen having a baby and then she played with it sometimes and dressed it up, her because it had to be a girl, and then she could have finally been a big sister…well she was but Ritsu was only a year younger than her so it was different…but if she had a baby and then Master Reigen took care of it, like in that show she saw last year, then it would have been great!
"You'd adopt the baby and then you'd buy the house next to mine and raise it with Serizawa and then I could visit all of you together all the time?" asked Mob. Master Reigen's eye widened. She reached out, picked up a book, and then before Mob could ask what she was doing the book hit her over the head.
Three times.
"No." said Master Reigen as she finished and put the book down. Mob rubbed her head.
"What was that for? I thought that it was a good plan, like in this one show I saw-" said Mob
"Yeah, no. This is real life. We live in the real world and in the real world these things don't work out like that, ok? I meant that if you ever made a mistake and, well, we used to call it getting into trouble-" said Master Reigen
"You mean if I get pregnant?" asked Mob, whispering the word 'pregnant' in case there was anyone she knew walking outside the building who could have been listening in and, also, knew her parents and could have run all the way to her house to tell them that Mob had done things…things that she knew they wouldn't have let her do.
"Yeah. If you get pregnant I'll take you to the clinic, pay whatever I need to pay, and take the whole thing to my death. Ok? But let's not go down that road in the first place, ok?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.
"I know. Tome already said that she'd take me to the clinic and pretend to be my mom if I got pregnant." Said Mob
"How is she supposed to pass as your mother? She's a year older than you." said Master Reigen. Mob shrugged.
"I don't know, she just said that she would, but she won't have to. I paid attention in health class last year, I know what to do." Said Mob
"Well I didn't know, I mean I don't know, what you know. Ok? I just wanted to cover all of my bases. I just don't want you to end up like me, alright?" asked Master Reigen
"But I want to be like you. You're the coolest adult that I know." said Mob. Whenever she had pictured herself as an adult, ten years in the future, she always pictured herself as Master Reigen. She would live in a cool apartment all by herself and work with her boyfriend, Teru was an esper too so they could get a lot of work done, and she'd hang out with her friends all day and wear cool clothes and makeup and get extra meat in her ramen every night.
"Thanks, but that's not what I meant. When I was your age my mom didn't tell me anything and I had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way…a lot of them…and I just don't want you to have to go through that. Besides, there are a lot of things that they don't teach you in health class." Said Master Reigen
"I think that they covered everything. They told us about how babies grow and what kinds of diseases that we can get and the things that we could use so we don't get sick or have babies because we're in middle school and they said that we weren't allowed." Said Mob
"It's not that you aren't allowed…how the hell do you tell someone that they aren't allowed to contract a disease? How do you even control that…not the point. Ok, Mob, there are a lot of emotional things that come up before, during, and after sex that they don't prepare you for in health class and I just…I want to help you through whatever you're feeling right now and give you wisdom, I guess, that my mom didn't pass down to me." said Master Reigen. Mob nodded. It was less embarrassing when she put it that way, like she was passing down wisdom. She did that a lot, it was normal for them. She could sit back and pretend that Master Reigen was helping her with her homework or telling her why it was a bad idea to being home stray cats or cut her own hair or…other wisdom like…like things she would think about when they weren't talking about sex anymore!
"Ok, you can pass down your wisdom, but only if you call it wisdom." Said Mob
"Ok…we'll put a pin in that. Just…Mob, how do you feel right now? You can tell me. I won't judge you. if you've got some big feelings then, please, get them off of your chest." Said Master Reigen. Mob nodded. She had to think…big feelings…big feelings. She mostly felt embarrassed, that was the biggest feeling that she could think of right now. She was anxious to see Teru, too, and also kind of sad to be away from him…she had a lot of feelings right now the more she thought about it…so she thought about it some more.
She thought about it for one minute and fourteen seconds, if the clock on the wall was right.
"Uh…Mob? You alright there?" asked Master Reigen as she waved her hand in front of Mob's face. She looked up suddenly, nearly knocking heads with Master Reigen.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about how I felt." Said Mob
"That bad, huh? It's ok, my first time wasn't the great too. He was an upperclassmen and we were on a club camping trip, none of us were even that into camping and it had nothing to do with theatre but we just kind of wanted an excuse to go and party in the woods for a couple of days…anyway! I was a little younger than you…younger than Rei, actually, nearly fourteen and…and anyway there was this third year guy I was into, Anno Shin, and…yeah. We got to talking and I found my way to his tent and we…went through a lot of firsts…and then the next morning we went back to school. I thought that we were together but it turned out that he and his girlfriend had been on a break and…yeah. Three days into the next week and he was back with her and…and pretending that he'd never met me." said Master Reigen. She laughed at the end even though there wasn't really anything there that was funny. The whole thing sounded downright horrible if anyone had asked her…
Poor Master Reigen.
Mob got a tight sort of feeling in her chest. The thought of Teru pretending not to know her afterwards…after they had been as close as two people could have been…it hurt. It felt like someone was digging around in her chest with a rusty hook. Teru had told her so many times before, during, and after that he loved her and then he'd held her all night and…and the whole thing had been so perfect…why couldn't it have been that perfect for Master Reigen? It just wasn't fair! That boy was lucky he didn't go to her school…well, he was a man now…that man was lucky he didn't go to her school. If he did then she would have done…done something.
She knew that she wasn't supposed to use her powers on other people but maybe she needed to make an exception.
"So yeah, your first time can't be any worse than mine and if it was then we can sit here and you can cry about it for as long as you need to." Said Master Reigen
"Oh…but I don't need to cry. I mean I did-" said Mob
"Shh, it's ok, come here." Said Master Reigen as she pulled Mob into a hug.
"But that was happy crying, Master Reigen, not the kind you probably did." Said Mob as she wrapped her arms around Master Reigen. She clearly needed all the hugs that she could get right now. Mob was super sad and she had only heard the story, she hadn't had to live it, not like Master Reigen had…poor, poor Master Reigen. That man was so lucky he didn't live in Seasoning City and…wait, she didn't know that for sure…
But Facebook would. Adults loved Facebook, he was bound to be there.
"Happy…crying?" asked Master Reigen
"Yes. The kind you do when you're happy." Said Mob as she rubbed Master Reigen's back. She didn't blame Master Reigen for never having had cried out of happiness before. It must have been so hard for her to even feel a little happy after having had carried all of that within herself for all of these years.
"I know what it means but you were…that happy?'" said Master Reigen
"Yes. I happy cried and Teru happy cried…but it's ok if you cried from being sad. You can cry on me, that's ok, I'll be there for you no matter what." said Mob
"You'll be there for…no, no, I'm done crying about that. I got over that years ago and, anyway, this isn't about me. It's about you." said Master Reigen
"Do you know where he lives?" asked Mob
"Where who lives?" asked Master Reigen as she pulled her way out of the hug.
"The boy who broke your heart…well, I guess he's a man now, but do you know where he lives? And how he spells his name? We can find him on Facebook and then I can make him pay for making you feel bad." said Mob. Master Reigen shook her head…for some reason. Well, she knew why, she wasn't supposed to use her powers against other people, but maybe this could be an exception.
"That's ancient history, Mob, and anyway I'm a grown woman. I don't need you going after my exes, especially ones from middle school." said Master Reigen
"Exes? More than one boy broke your heart?" asked Mob, her eyes narrowing. This was going to be a busy weekend. She was going to have to take time away from Teru for this…but it was worth it. Nobody broke Master Reigen's heart, not without paying the price. Tome and Rei would probably want to help with the revenge, too…that would make coordinating a little harder but she knew that would manage it.
"I'm almost thirty, Mob, I've broken a lot of hearts and had mine broken a few times. That's just a normal part of growing up. I'm over it and, anyway, this isn't about me. This is about you." said Master Reigen
"But…my heart isn't broken. Teru and I happy cried a lot and held each other and traded 'I love yous'" said Mob. Master Reigen nodded slowly.
"That's…I'm happy for you, don't get me wrong, but I didn't think that it would be that way for you." said Master Reigen
"Why? You don't think that Teru…that he loves me?" asked Mob
"No, no, that's not in question. It's just that most first times aren't that great and…I don't know. Sex gets better, a lot better, as you and your partner learn more about each other, I guess…uh…practice makes perfect?" said Master Reigen. Mob's eyes widened.
"It…it gets better?" asked Mob. That had already been the best thing that she had ever experienced in her entire life. From the start to the end it was just perfect, even better than being on her own, and that was already pretty good…even thinking about it…
She needed to stop thinking about it right now.
"It was…it was good?" asked Master Reigen
"It was the best thing that I've ever felt in my entire life." said Mob. Master Reigen nodded, shook her head, and then nodded again.
"That's…I'm happy for you? Anyway, here! I got you a couple books." Said Master Reigen as she handed Mob the books from the coffee table. She knew the first one already and the second one…oh. She'd have to put a book cover on this one.
"Everything you ever wanted to know about sex but were too afraid to ask: your teenager's guide to doing the do…" read Mob. That was…helpful, she guessed, if she ever lost her phone or the wifi went out. She forgot, sometimes, how much older Master Reigen was than her.
"The people at the bookstore said that was a good one and the first one…I don't even know why I gave you that. My mom gave me that when I was your age and it's just kind of been hanging out in a box in my apartment for God only knows how long." Said Master Reigen as she pointed to the book with flowers on the cover…and the inside. Mob flipped through it. There weren't even any words…
"This is just pictures of flowers." Said Mob
"Yeah, I don't get it either but my mom gave it to me and this is kind of uncharted waters…anyway! If you ever have any questions please don't hesitate to ask, that's what this whole thing's been about." Said Master Reigen. Mob closed the flower book. She wanted to know what flowers had to do with sex…but she didn't know if she could ask Master Reigen that. She loved Master Reigen but she was just so much older…it was kind of like talking to her mom about sex. Not something that was going to happen…besides, she had a phone and now books and if all of those didn't answer her questions she still had Tome. Tome had been having sex with her boyfriend for years now, she knew everything that there was to know about sex.
"That's ok, I can just ask Tome. She knows all about this kind of stuff. She's older." Said Mob
"Tome's not that much older than you, Mob, this is the kind of thing you should be getting your information from someone who's been around the block a few times…if you want, ok? No pressure just…whew! This was one hell of a conversation. How about we get some ramen and talk about something else. Like…uh, is Rei's mom still on that weird diet?" asked Master Reigen
"No, now she's on a weird one where she's only allowed to eat meat and cheese and sometimes milk….but….um…" said Mob her eyes resting on the clock. She'd already missed out on so much time with Teru…but clearly Master Reigen needed her. Their eyes met and then Master Reigen looked at the clock.
"You know what? I forgot, I have some stuff I need to finish up around here. Why don't you go and enjoy your evening…and here, in case something happens." Said Master Reigen as she handed Mob the plastic bag. It was black, she couldn't even tell what store it had been from, and inside was a box of…
Oh.
"Bye!" said Mob as she took the bag, shoved it deep down into her backpack, and ran away. She still had time to see Teru and…well, she didn't know what. She was just glad to get out of there.
Time had moved way too slowly.