The schoolyear was halfway done.
Rei didn't know where the time had gone. One minute she had been looking for her new classroom, getting to know her new classmates, and debating if she wanted bangs that year or not and now it was almost her third year of middle school. Soon she'd be in her third year and then she'd have to study for entrance exams and then high school and university. She'd be an adult soon.
But right now all she felt like was a kid.
"….mean they take convincing, Mob, you've got to make it worth their while." Said Tome as she leaned against the wall, her popsicle melting all over the ground. Rei didn't think that it was hot enough for popsicles, or to be outside, but it wasn't like they could go back inside. Reigen had kicked them out for being too loud, she had a client who was 'heavily cursed', but Rei figured that it had been a lie. It wasn't that they were talking to loud, it was that they were talking at all that bothered her, or maybe it was just what they were talking about.
Correction. What Mob and Tome were talking about.
"I didn't have to convince Teru, though, he just kind of did it." Said Mob. Rei kind of got what 'it' meant. Tome and Mob hadn't used any of the actual words for things since Reigen and Serizawa were around, them overhearing was almost as bad as parents overhearing, but Rei kind of got it…kind of….not that it mattered.
This wasn't a conversation she could be a part of.
"Then what's the problem?" asked Tome. Mob looked down at her carton of milk. Rei, finally, popped her soda opened. They had gone to the store, they had come back, they were still kicked out, so they were going to stand here and talk like normal. She glanced upwards….if they went in…a quick look into the future told her that Reigen would just kick them out again. So she was stuck here…and that was a terrible way of thinking about it. She was hanging out with her friends…tagging along with her friends.
Like a tagalong kid.
"I don't know how to get him to do it again. I mean he asked the first time but after that…I mean he did it but things are different now." said Mob
"If he turned into an asshole I swear to God-" said Tome, making a fist.
"No, no, nothing like that. He just…we just…it's hard when we don't live together. Things just kind of happened. I mean the first time I had a list and we went through it and then afterwards it just sort of happened." Said Mob
"But in a good way, right? Otherwise I swear-" said Tome
"Yes, yes, yes, in a good way…a really good way. It just kind of…it just kept on happening. Like we'd be eating dinner and then…um…and then we'd be watching TV and then…uh…and then we'd be taking a bath and then…oh…ok, the bath had been a bad idea because there wasn't a lot of room and also telekinesis is…it's hard to do two things at once." Said Mob
"Understandable. I mean you two spent the weekend together, you're practically married at this point." Said Tome. Rei drained the last of the soda in her hand. Cherry flavored. She turned away…and then back to them. She may not have been able to participate but that didn't mean she got to act like this. She was going to be a good friend and good friends did not get jealous like this.
"And now there isn't time and…and when there is it's like we have to…to get right to…um…and then there's not a lot of time for…uh…" said Mob, her carton of milk crinkling in her hand. Tome shook her head.
"Why don't you try it first?" asked Tome
"Try what?" asked Mob. Tome raised an eyebrow and then ate her popsicle…and suddenly Rei knew exactly what they were talking about. She knew but she didn't KNOW. She had read books, she had a phone, she knew what people did but she had no idea what it was like or…or even why anyone would want to do that to a boy? Wasn't it gross? And have a boy do that to you…she never could have even though about anything like that! It would have been too embarrassing!
"Tome! Master Reigen is right up there! What if she looked out the window and saw you?" asked Mob. Tome took her popsicle out of her mouth and shrugged.
"Reigen knows we aren't kids anymore, and besides, it's not like she's never-" said Tome
"We don't know that about her. The time we spied on her she might have just been…uh…" said Mob
"Going out on a house call to a hotel room?" asked Tome
"Yes. She was making a house call like, uh, doctors do and…and other businesses." Said Mob
"I didn't know that we were that kind of a business." Laughed Tome. This was one of those times when Mob got it, it seemed, since her hair shot straight up and her eyes went wide. Rei felt a sort of static electricity against her skin as Mob's aura touched her.
"Tome! We can't…Master Reigen doesn't…and even if she did we don't know for sure-" said Mob
"I mean, come on. Have you seen her and Serizawa together? It's always like they're ten seconds away from-" said Tome
"I don't want to think about Master Reigen and Serizawa doing…um…anything!" said Mob, dropping her empty milk carton on the ground and covering her eyes. She shook her head and muttered something about that not being right and about not wanting to talk about it. Rei picked up her scrunched up milk carton and took it over to the garbage can.
Maybe by the time she got back they would have moved on to something else.
Because she didn't want to talk about it either. It was…it was impolite, yes, that was it. It was none of their business and…and ok, they had never been good at minding their own business, but still. What did they care what Reigen did with Serizawa? They had boyfriends who they did stuff with. Why were they even talking about it with each other? Was it really so amazing that all they could think to do on a day like today when they had their whole lives ahead of them was stand around and talk about boys and boyfriends and doing it?
Apparently yes.
"…got to make your needs known, Mob, or you'll fall into sexual malaise and you don't want that…not that Inukawa and I have ever fallen into that, of course, he's incredibly…uh…inventive! Yes, he's an inventive and attentive lover-" said Tome
"Tome! I saw the blinds move!" said Mob as she pointed up to the Spirits and Such window. Rei could see movement. She checked the future…Reigen wasn't going to catch them, the chance was very low, but…but if she did come out here and tell them to shut up before they offended the client…well then they'd be forced to talk about something else.
"Uh…yeah. There's a good chance that Reigen's going to come down here and kick us out if we don't shut up. The…the client is going to be offended." Said Rei as she pointed upwards to the window. Tome scoffed and bit off the last of her popsicle. Mob winced. Rei was there with her.
"Thank you." said Mob. Rei smiled, not feeling it reach her eyes. She shouldn't have lied but….but it wasn't like she had a choice. Not with the way she felt…they way she knew she shouldn't have felt. She should have been happy for Mob. She'd crossed that invisible line between girls who had done it and girls who hadn't. She'd done the most important thing that you could ever do with someone, the more important thing that you could do end of discussion, and Rei should have been happy for her. The divide was meant to be crossed.
Even if it meant you left your friends on the other side.
"Don't mention it." Said Rei
"I'll text you later, don't worry. Hell, if you want I'll knock some sense into Teru for you. Where is, soccer? Bike club? Getting his roots touched up?" asked Tome
"No, soccer is cancelled today because too many people got suspended for fighting with another soccer club…they used actual clubs and someone lost a lot of teeth…and his bike is in the shop. It can hold one person for a long time but not two, the wheels are out of alignment and the frame is bent…but he's not mad. He said so." Said Mob
"So he's getting his roots touched up, then? Ha! I knew it." Said Tome
"No, he's a natural blond. The hair on his head is the same color as the hair on his arms and stomach." Said Mob
"And I'm guessing-" said Tome. Rei knew without a doubt where the conversation was going to circle back to…and she wasn't going to let it. She couldn't let them talk about doing it, boyfriends, or anything having to do with boyfriends. If they did then she would go from their friend to this little kid who hung around them eavesdropping on their every word. She felt like a little kid, like she did when Mom would have her friends over back when she sold Tupperware. Rei could practically hear their voices, practically feel the tile floor under her, just like she had back when she had been a little kid hiding under the table listening to the things adults talked about…trying to make sense of them…
To make sense of things she was too young to understand.
She wished that she could have gone back to the days when they'd had things in common. They'd all met because they had powers…well she and Mob did, Tome had been looking for people with powers. Specifically telepaths. Of course the only telepaths that she knew could only hear each other's thoughts, and also had secret conversations when they were hanging out with their friends which was, of course, super rude. Tome had lost interest, sort of, but…but she was head of the Telepathy Club at her knew school and…and ok, she had been more into aliens lately but Rei didn't know any aliens.
She did, however, know a couple of telepaths.
"Did you find any telepaths yet?!" asked Rei quickly. It had been the best she could come up with on such short notice!
"I mean, how is your paranormal research going, Tome?" asked Rei. Tome shrugged.
"Still a whole lot of nothing. Honestly, if you and Mob weren't going to end up in the same high school as me I would just disband the Telepathy Club entirely. Inukawa's busy with game design club, Kijibayashi only shows up to charge his Switch, and Saruta says that he doesn't even plan on going to my high school. Something about his parents wanting better for him…what a load." Muttered Tome
"But Tome…all we did in the Telepathy Club back when you went to Salt was hang out." Said Mob
"And that's pretty much what we do now." said Rei
"I know, and I love the both of you, but a person needs to have dreams! If I could find a telepath I could use them to contact aliens and then, oh yeah, and then that would show them! That would show them all!" said Tome, shaking her fists at the sky. Rei looked up. A confused pigeon looked down at them before flying away.
"That's a good plan if we ever find aliens. We should show them to people otherwise they'll never believe us." Said Mob
"Yes, obviously, but there's no way for us to find a telepath. It's not like we can just go up and ask people if they can read minds, believe me I've tried, they just call you names and run away…assholes…" muttered Tome
"I know some telepaths. The Shiratori brothers, remember? At the Awakening Lab?" asked Rei
"Yeah, I remember, but they can only hear each other's thoughts. How useful is that?" asked Tome
"Still? Sorry, that came out wrong, I meant that maybe they can read other people's minds now. People's powers sometimes change when they grow and it's been a while since you've seen those guys, right?" asked Mob
"Yeah, it's been…since the thing where the world almost got taken over…" said Rei. It had been a long time, hadn't it? She never gave those guys much thought. It wasn't like they had been good friends. It had been rough being the only girl. She didn't really care about fighting games, spitting contests, or that thing that Go did where he shoved his chopsticks up his nose and pretended to be a walrus…boys were so immature. She had mostly just hung out there because she hadn't known any better…but maybe they had gotten more mature. It had been a long time, people could change in all kinds of ways in a year, and anyway it was better than hanging out and listening to Mob and Tome talk about things that Rei couldn't.
Anything was better than being left out.
"Let's go see what's changed." Said Rei. That was it, they had plans. She felt kind of bad for bailing on Reigen but Reigen was busy working. She had too much adult stuff to do, she didn't want a bunch of kids hanging out while she was trying to make money to pay bills and stuff, nobody did. Just having some little kid there listening to everything you said like a creeper…no way she wanted that. Nobody wanted that…so that wasn't what was going to happen. Instead of hanging out listening for the whole walk to the Awakening Lab Rei did some of the talking. She told everyone about a new thing she had seen there you used electricity to burn pretty patterns in wood. Mob was apprehensive, Tome was excited, and Rei…she didn't need to look into the future to know that Mom and Dad weren't going to be happy if she took the microwave apart for this like the video had said to…
But she could cross that bridge when she came to it.
She'd had enough bridge crossing for one day. To get to the Awakening Lab they'd had to cross the river twice because of the different canals. She didn't know why exactly it did that, only that Mitsuura's family had paid for it a long time ago. She maybe should have been paying more attention back when he had been explaining things. He had just been trying to share his life with them after all. But she had been too busy trying to decide which of the boys were cuter…
Maybe Mom was right. Maybe she did spend too much time thinking about boys.
There were more important things in life than boys, she wasn't dumb she knew that, but finding a boyfriend was just…it seemed important to her. Like how getting her hair the right shade of red was important to her even though nobody would notice if she was a shade or two off. She just wanted someone to kiss and stuff with….and to love! Yeah, that was supposed to be the most important part, wasn't it? You had to love someone to do that with them and…and if she found someone she wanted to do it with then she would know she was in love with them.
Though if she was trying to find love maybe the Awakening Lab wasn't the place to do.
"Rei! You came back, and you brought company! Everyone, look over here!" shouted Mitsuura. Rei waved to everyone. She tried to look happy. She had kind of ghosted everyone a while ago…but at least it didn't look like there were any hard feelings. Mitsuura sure seemed happy to see her, the twins didn't seem upset, and Takeshi and Go…well they seemed ok. Everyone seemed ok, when she really got a good look at their futures…or at least there weren't any fights in their future.
Of course there weren't going to be, these were her friends, not her best friends but it wasn't like they were her enemies.
"Hey Teru! Guess who's back!" shouted Takeshi and…oh. Right. Teru still came here. He stood up, the twins had been blocking her view, and Mob's aura was so big it was like trying to see through fog…of course it was big. She had probably known that Teru was here the whole time…which was why she had agreed to come, wasn't it?
It always went back to guys, didn't it?
"So, where are the telepaths I've heard so much about?" asked Tome as Mob and Teru practically ran into each other's arms. Rei turned away…but not because she was jealous! No, she just…wanted to see what was going on. She smelled smoke and….and Go was setting chips on fire while Takeshi held up score cards…
At least nobody was sticking chopsticks up their noses.
Mob and Teru were talking, she didn't know what about but judging by how close they were Rei could have guessed. Tome was talking to the Shiratori brothers, thankfully she was keeping a normal amount of distance, though Rei didn't even have to guess what they were talking about. This just left her, alone, again…but that wasn't so bad. Just so long as Mitsuura didn't start talking to her.
She had forgotten how much he loved to go on and on.
She made a split-second decision. She heard Mitsuura taking a breath, probably getting ready to tell her a long story or to fill her in on what she had missed. But she would much rather have gotten it from someone else…the only two guys left over. Go and Takeshi. Takeshi was a little older, three weeks and two days with however many minutes and seconds as they had calculated once, but Go…well, he was blond. And cute. He still wore his hair the same way. It really suited him, his face shape, and not a lot of guys knew about that. His hoodie was kind of cool. He had gotten a new one. Gone was the baby blue and here was a red one with flames all over it…flames and the logo for the Flaming Hot Chip company…
It was better than Takeshi's white jumpsuit, anyway.
"Hi guys, what are you doing?" asked Rei as she sat down beside Go on the couch.
"Rei, hey. You're back." said Takeshi as he opened another mine bag of hot chips. He offered her one. She took it to be polite…though she had never had a blue hot chip before and she had never really liked them that much to begin with. Still, she needed to be nice. Guys liked it when girls were nice. That was how Mob had gotten Teru, right?
Well, Tome did have her theory that Teru liked being hurt and humiliated because had fallen in love with Mob after she stripped and shaved him but that wasn't something that she liked to speculate on.
"Yeah, Tome wanted to come and see telepaths so…so here we are." Said Rei
"See them do what? They can only talk in each other's heads." Said Go
"Still?" asked Rei. Well now she knew that Tome was going to be disappointed...but they'd work past tat as friends. As soon as Rei found a boy to mess…to fall in love with, that was all, and Go was…apparently into chips now…
Chips were ok.
"Yeah, still, but they can read other people's minds if they focus." Said Takeshi. Rei nodded and took a bite of her chip…and then her tongue caught fire! Her tongue, her throat, even her eyes were burning! She needed something to drink! But…but what?!
There was a can of soda in front of her. She didn't think, she just drank.
"But you can feel them and then you can kick them out, or if you think of really weird stuff they freak out. It's really funny, like this one time Ritsu and Sho were here and they were getting really touchy so I dared Daichi to read their minds and he freaked out. They were totally thinking about doing-" said Takeshi before Go kicked him in the shin.
"Hey! Girl here!" said Go. Rei nodded as she drank. That was…thoughtful, right? That counted?
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot that you were a girl…I mean, that girls didn't like that kind of stuff." Said Takeshi
"It's ok." Said Rei as she pulled the can from her lips.
"Hey, I was drinking that." Said Go. Rei instantly put the can down, the fire in her mouth slightly put out…but it had nothing on the fire she felt burning on her face. Right, of course someone had been drinking that, and of course that someone had been sitting here…
"Heh…you're really going to yell at your girlfriend?" laughed Takeshi. She didn't see what was so funny about any of this. Her face burnt nearly as badly as her mouth did. She could still feel it smoldering, her tongue burning down to nothing. How did they EAT these things?! Even during the worst of Mom's diet hell Rei never would have reached for a bag of these extra spicy torture devices!
She would rather have picked death by chips over death by embarrassment any day.
"She's not my girlfriend and I'm not yelling at her." said Go
"Really? Because she did just pretty much kiss you." said Takeshi. Go looked at the soda can, at her, and then at Takeshi…and she didn't know why. Was that such a bad thing? Kissing her? it wasn't like she'd never kissed a boy before…though she didn't know if it counted if she had been that young…but it wasn't like there was anything wrong with her, right?
She was kissable…right?
"Oh shit, we did just kind of kiss, didn't we?" asked Go
"Um…that wouldn't be so bad, would it?" asked Rei. Takeshi laughed. Go put his hands in his hoodie pocket and looked down at the floor.
"No…no! Because we're not little kids and we don't tease each other about that stuff. See Takeshi! This is why people think we're gay!" said Go
"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Said Takeshi quickly.
"No way, of course not. Sho's gay and he's the second coolest guy I know…and anyway we're in middle school which means that we're practically adults so no more of that." Said Go, crossing his arms.
"Does that mean no more making extra, extra hot chips?" asked Takeshi
"No, we can still do that." Said Go as he held out his hand. Takeshi handed him a chip and then, before Rei's eyes, it caught fire…and she didn't know why she was so amazed by that. Go set things on fire, it was what he did, and…and maybe it was just amazing because there was so much fire now. Before he used to have to focus really hard to get even his fingertip to catch fire but now he could make it dance in the palm of his hand…it was kind of cool.
Apparently he thought so too.
Either that or he really hated hot chips. The entire coffee table was covered in half burnt hot chips so…maybe he was mad at them? Or, most likely, he was being the 'pyrokinetic godsend' again…she was going to go with the second one. He had always gone overboard even back when they had first met. It seemed like he hadn't changed if what he had done to the TV area was anything to go off of…and it was. She wrinkled her nose. It smelled so gross, like fire and burnt potatoes…and also burnt plastic, a little, too. Something crunched under her foot. A half burnt bag of hot chips, new extra spicy flavor…
"See? Extra hot." Said Go with a smile…he had a really nice smile. Pretty eyes, too…even if he was obsessed with burning things and, apparently, chips now…but that was ok. She didn't mind hot chips that much.
"So that's what you're burning them for? A pun?" asked Rei
"Well yeah, because it's funny, but it's also to bring out the flavor. Here, taste it." Said Go as he held out the blackened chip. Rei smiled and shook her head.
"No thank you, I believe you. You are the telekinetic godsend after all." said Rei with a giggle, the kind she knew boys loved. Tome made eye contact with her from across the room. She ducked down and focused on the task at hand.
"You…really think so? Seriously?" asked Go
"Yeah, that was really…really cool. Fire is cool…um…like I saw this thing online where you used electricity to burn art into wood." Said Rei. Go scoffed.
"Electricity? Why not just use the real thing?" asked Go
"Because I don't have a wood burner." Said Rei
"You don't need a wood burner, I am a wood burner." Said Go with a smug smile…a cute one.
"You'd help me?" asked Rei, smiling at him and making lots of eye contact just like all the magazines and web articles had said to. Guys loved it when you smiled at them and making lots of eye contact made them feel seen and loved.
"You…want me to burn stuff with you?" asked Go, his eyes meeting hers and then bolting away.
"Yeah, of course. So…do you want to?" asked Rei. She smiled at him, batted her eyes, and put her hand on his wrist. She didn't know what else she was supposed to do to get the message across. He turned a little pink and nodded. Good. The touching had been the thing, she decided, she had read that guys loved skin to skin contact because that made them think of touching which made them think of doing it and the best way to get a guy was to make him think of doing it…not that she was going to…
Not unless she had a boyfriend.
"Sure….sure! Yeah, I burn stuff good! I mean well! I mean, I like fire!" said Go. Takeshi laughed and muttered something about Go being smooth. Then they kicked each other a lot…but that was normal for boys. They were just immature, that was how they were, even when they got older. Like how Serizawa still played videogames and built plastic models even though he was twice Rei's age. Reigen still loved Serizawa and she…she could learn to love Go.
She was fourteen, she was in her second year of middle school, and before she knew it she'd be in high school and then all grown up. No way was she going to do all of that without a boyfriend….no way was she going to stay a little kid forever.