Mob was worried about Touichirou.
But he also knew that there wasn't a lot that he could do. He would leave most of it to Master Reigen, Master Reigen always knew what to do, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to help out as best as he could. Touichirou was far from home. When you took out the time travel part Touichirou was just really far from home, like he had gone on a long trip, but he hadn't packed. Not for real. He hadn't brought anything important like a toothbrush or a change of clothes.
But Mob could help with that.
"Do you want this red toothbrush?" asked Mob as he crawled out from under the bathroom sink.
"What?" asked Ritsu as he wiped down the bathroom mirror. Mob bumped into him as he got to his feet.
"Do you want this red toothbrush?" asked Mob as he held it up for his brother to see. Ritsu shrugged.
"You can have it if you want. I don't really need a new one right now." said Ritsu
"It's not for me, it's for Touichirou." said Mob. He must have said something wrong but he didn't know what it was. What he did know was that Ritsu's shoulders suddenly got very square and his aura showed really bright. He didn't lose control, though, because he was Ritsu. He never lost control. Mob didn't know what he would have done if he'd said something so wrong that his brother lost control and broke something…or hurt someone.
It would have been easier if he knew what he'd said that was so wrong in the first place.
"Brother, no, I don't want to think about that. I just want to clean the bathroom like Mom told us to and then…I don't know." said Ritsu
"When we finish the bathroom we should vacuum the hallway, unless you want to get started on organizing the linen closet before we vacuum." Said Mob
"No, not that." Said Ritsu with a sigh. Mob didn't blame him. It was always hard work when Mom decided that they needed to do spring cleaning. It would have been easier to prepare, mentally, if she gave them more than a few hour's warning.
"I could do the linen closet by myself if you want. I mean because it's harden than vacuuming the hallway. You could just use your powers for that…but only if Mom's not looking. I mean I don't know why she thinks that you're going to accidentally break it if you use your powers, since your control is so much better than mine, but I won't tell on you if she asks." Said Mob. He would have thought that would have been the thing to put Ritsu in a better mood. The linen closet was the worst closet in the house…though part of that might have been his fault. He wasn't the best at keeping things organized when Mom asked him to put the laundry away. So then there was another very good reason why Ritsu should have had the easy job…why he should have been happy.
Ritsu was so complicated sometimes.
"It's not about chores, Shige, it's about…please don't bring him up again. I don't want to think about him." said Ritsu. Mob nodded, that made sense. The whole thing was kind of scary when you thought about it for too long. People could travel through time and all kinds of things could go wrong…though they had never settled on which movie's rules applied to this situation. He hoped that it was Terminator, but the part where you couldn't change time, not the part where sometimes killer robots from the future came back to kill you so nuclear war could happen.
He wished that someone had made a romantic comedy about time travel. He would have liked being in that a lot more than being in Terminator.
"I understand. It's scary to think about time travel being real but don't worry, Master Reigen will figure something out. I trust him." said Mob
"Oh good, all hopes for the future rest on Reigen Arataka." Said Ritsu. Mob smiled.
"See? I know you'd understand." Said Mob. Ritsu shook his head and put both hands on the bathroom counter like he was tired…well that made sense, cleaning without their powers was hard work.
"Brother…can we please just not talk about him? He's a terrible person and I don't want to think about him being here and…and everything." Said Ritsu
"Alright, but he's really not so terrible." Said Mob. Ritsu looked at him for a long time and then pointed out the window. Mob turned to see what he was pointing at…just the back yard.
"Do you think that Mom wants us to do yardwork too?" asked Mob. Ritsu put both hands on his head and took a deep breath.
"No…but can't you see it?" asked Ritsu. Mob took another look outside. There was nothing out of the ordinary there.
"The yard?" asked Mob
"No, downtown. Can't you see it?" asked Ritsu. Mob looked out the window again. He could kind of see the tops of buildings, though the view had never been very good, and it was even worse with so many of the tall buildings still being under construction.
"I can kind of see it, a little. Why? Do you want to go downtown? I don't think that Mom is going to let us go anywhere, not tonight, it's already getting kind of late and we haven't even finished the bathroom yet." Said Mob
"I mean can't you see how many buildings are gone? And the Cultural Tower? Remember that?" asked Ritsu
"They're building it back up pretty quickly." said Mob
"They wouldn't have to be rebuilding anything in the first place if Sho's Dad hadn't tried to take over the world." Said Ritsu. Mob nodded.
"He's sorry about that…well, kind of. He's mostly sorry that his pursuit of world domination alienated him from everyone he ever loved. His ex-wife, his best friend, Sho, Mukai, this one lady who he kind of liked but she thought that he was too unavailable and broke his heart even though he pretended for years that it wasn't broken, and also-" said Mob
"Is he sorry that he tried to kill you?" asked Ritsu suddenly. Mob wondered if it was a good idea to tell Ritsu that it was rude to interrupt people. On the one hand he didn't want his little brother to go around alienating people like Touichirou did, he was kind of rude though much worse than Ritsu had ever been, but on the other hand he didn't want to derail the conversation.
He decided not to derail the conversation.
"I'm not sure, maybe? He spent his whole life trying to find someone like him so I guess he must have been. I didn't see anything like that when we became one person, though." Said Mob
"And what about Sho?" asked Ritsu
"I think he's at his mom's house but you'd know better than I would where he is since he's your boyfriend and all." said Mob
"Shigeo! Not so loud!" said Ritsu. His eyes darted towards the door and out to the hallway. Mob gasped and covered his mouth. He had forgotten that Mom and Dad could have been upstairs. It was hard to tell with normal people, after he'd spent so much time around other espers, where they were without auras. Maybe he was becoming too dependent on his powers. He would have to talk to Master Reigen about that…but after he apologized to Ritsu.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't think that Mom and Dad could hear." Said Mob
"I don't know if they can and…and just be careful, alright?" asked Ritsu
"Of course! I know how much you love Sho and I would never, ever, endanger your relationship." Said Mob. Ritsu turned red and looked at the wall. Mob knew that he wasn't staring at the wall because the crack in the tile there was annoying and once you saw it you couldn't un-see it. No, he was looking away because Mob had embarrassed him. He could get a clue sometimes…and he had one now. He didn't blame Ritsu, he would have been embarrassed if someone had brought up his love life, that is if he ever had one.
But he just hadn't been able to help it.
Ritsu and Sho were so perfect together and Mob was just so happy for his little brother! He'd found the love of his life and now they could be happy together for the rest of their lives. Sure Sho could be kind of loud, and messy, and he had burnt their house down, and also he had kind of beaten Ritsu up when they had first met…and he did kind of bring out the worst in Ritsu, too, sometimes…but they still loved each other and that was what mattered. True love.
Ritsu was so lucky…but maybe he didn't need Mob to bring that up.
"I don't know if…anyway just because careful and…and is he sorry, Touichirou, about what he did to Sho? That's what I want to know." asked Ritsu, his eyes meeting Mob's. Mob wasn't sure what that look was about, he may have been getting better at getting a clue but he wasn't an expert yet, and he didn't know what it was that Ritsu wanted to know about, either.
Touichirou had done a lot of things to Sho after all.
"He did a lot of things to Sho, I mean things that I know, there could have been things that happened that I don't know about. What, specifically, do you want him to feel sorry about?" asked Mob
"Everything!" said Ritsu, throwing his hands in the air. There was another crack. The broken tile on the wall had a friend now…and Mob decided not to draw attention to it. He'd already embarrassed his little brother once after all and once was too many times.
"…sorry." Said Ritsu
"It's alright." Said Mob
"I just…he did a lot, alright? He did a lot of things to Sho and it's just…it's hard to think about him being here after everything that happened. He did so much and…and does he at least care? About everything that he did?" asked Ritsu
"Everything is kind of…a lot. I mean that's a lot, and I don't know everything about him, just what he was feeling when we became one person and also a lot about his life so I'm going to do my best." Said Mob
"Is he sorry about what he did, that's all I want to know." said Ritsu
"He's sorry about some things. I know that he's sorry that he made Sho not like him, and that he wasn't there for him more when he was growing up, and that he made it so that Sho had to grow up without a mom, and he's sorry that he wasn't as good of a dad as his dad was, though when I think about the stuff he's said I don't think that his Dad -" said Mob
"And what about all the times he hit Sho? Or the Awakening machine? Or the time he-I shouldn't be telling you this." Said Ritsu, turning away quickly. Mob reached out a little but pulled back. Ritsu didn't seem sad, a little mad, but also…also he'd interrupted again. Maybe this was the time to say something or…or something. He didn't know, he wasn't good at this, Master Reigen was…he wished that Master Reigen had been there with them.
"Or interrupting. You shouldn't do that, Ritsu, it's not polite…sorry, I had just wanted to say something for a while and this seemed like a good time since we were done talking about Touichirou and Sho…or at least it seemed like it." Said Mob
"I don't really care about…fine, I'm sorry, but just…don't tell Sho I told you all of that, alright? He doesn't want people to know." said Ritsu
"Why? Sho didn't do anything wrong, and either way I know…I mean I guess I always knew, I just never thought about it so I didn't know until now, but now that I know I can't…un-know." said Mob. Touichirou was sorry that he and Sho didn't get along, that they had never gotten along, but he wasn't sorry about putting Sho in an Awakening Machine, or about all the times they trained together which was mostly just Touichirou hitting him, or about the time that he nearly killed Sho on accident because…because it was his own fault for getting in the way.
Touichirou's thoughts. Not his. He could never have thought anything as mean and terrible as that.
"It's just…he doesn't like to talk about it, ok? He just doesn't want to talk about it and he doesn't want people to know so, please, don't tell him that you know." said Ritsu
"I don't get it but alright, if that's what you want." Said Mob. He really didn't get it but he didn't have to get it. He didn't have to understand Sho to understand that he didn't want to hurt his brother's boyfriend, and also his friend, even if they weren't very close friends. Not like him and Master Reigen, or how close he thought he and Teru had been.
"Thank you." said Ritsu. Mob nodded and got back to what he was doing, happy that he had fixed whatever he had messed up, not that he was still sure what he had messed up. He didn't know what it was that he had messed up but it was fixed….and now he just had to fix this. Then tomorrow he could go and see how Touichirou was doing. Then everything would be alright.
He just had to leave it all to Master Reigen…leave most of it to Master Reigen. He could focus on the things he knew he could do.
"And you don't want the red toothbrush?" asked Mob. Ritsu made a face like he was eating sour candy and shook his head.
"…no, he can have it, I guess." said Ritsu quietly. Mob nodded and went back to the cabinet. Ritsu went back to cleaning. He didn't seem alright…but he must have been, since he had gotten back to cleaning. If there had been something wrong then he would have said something.
"And do you think that Mom and Dad would notice if the extra dental floss was gone?" asked Mob
"Maybe. I don't know." said Ritsu with a shrug. Mob decided that he would borrow some and if Mom and Dad asked then…then he could think of what to do. He didn't like lying or sneaking around but sometimes you had to. Like when Master Reigen had pretended to have powers for years and years to make Mob feel better. That was very important, making people feel better, and that even counted for people who were kind of…
Kind of jerks.
He hated insulting people but Touichirou did grow up to be kind of a jerk. Well, he knew worse words, but he wasn't going to use them even in his own head. But that was older Touichirou. He hadn't done any of the bad things yet. He was still just a kid, even younger than him, and he wasn't anything more than a jerk right now…and also he was far from home and scared and he didn't even have a change of clothes.
Mob could help with that.
"And do have any old clothes he'd want? You're closer to his size than I am." Said Mob. Ritsu shook his head and turned around to start wiping down the windows. He was such a hard worker. Mob should have been helping more…but this was important, too. When this was done then he'd get back to helping.
"I don't…I don't know. Just give him your clothes, alright? And if you don't have any then ask Hanazawa or something. He's got more clothes than anyone I've ever met." Said Ritsu
"Ritsu, that's a great idea. I mean Hanazawa has…interesting…taste in clothes but he'll probably have something that Touichirou would want. Thank you so much." Said Mob
"…no I'm not." Said Ritsu as he stopped wiping the window. Mob didn't get it. He could see Ritsu's reflection in the window. Maybe he was just tired or something. Mob couldn't think of any other reason why he'd say something like that about himself.
"Yes you are, Ritsu, you're the-" said Mob
"Can you get started on the linen closet while I finish the bathroom? Please?" asked Ritsu as he turned around. He didn't look at Mob, he just went right to the shower door…but that was alright, he'd given Mob the harder job, and that was alright since he was the older brother.
He was supposed to have the harder job. That was how it worked.
"Of course!" said Mob as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He texted and walked, only nearly dropping his phone once, as he made his way to the linen closet. Teru got right back to him. That was weird for this close to after school, but also nice, because it was always nice to hear from Teru…even if it wasn't about…things that really weren't Mob's business.
And besides, they had bigger things to worry about, much bigger things.
They were friends and friends didn't have to share everything with each other. Somethings were personal and if Mob had been in Teru's place then he wouldn't have wanted to say anything either. Well…maybe. He didn't know, he had never been in Teru's position before, and he probably never would be…but he had other things to worry about. Like how to make Touichirou comfortable while he waited to go home.
He was worried about Touichirou but not too much…not when Master Reigen was there to help him, and not when Mob knew that there was something that he could do to help, too.
And that something was collecting old clothes. At least that something would have been collecting old clothes if he hadn't had to tidy up the linen closet first. He could have done it on his own, in fact he had insisted on it, but as soon as he started he felt Ritsu's aura right beside his. That was weird since he had told his little brother that he had this, though Ritsu could be kind of…like that sometimes, but Mob wasn't going to say anything.
Nothing mean, anyway, because Ritsu was his little brother and a person wasn't supposed to be mean to his little brother.
"You don't have to be here, Ritsu, I've got this." Said Mob as he turned around. Ritsu was standing there looking at the floor. Mob looked down…oh! He reached out with his powers and picked up all the washcloths and hand towels that had fallen. They never used these, they were the fancy ones that mom was saving for important company, and they'd never had any of what mom would have called 'important company' before. He still wasn't going to leave them on the floor.
And neither was Ritsu, apparently.
"I know but I want to help." Said Ritsu as he bent down and picked them up by hand. Mob stopped using his powers. He shouldn't have done that. Master Reigen would have been so disappointed in him, using his powers for something he could have done by hand, depending on them like that. And he'd set a bad example for Ritsu, too.
He wasn't much of a big brother right now, was he?
"You don't have to." Said Mob
"But I want to. I want to make up for how I was to you." said Ritsu
"How were you?" asked Mob. He thought back as far as he could…and as far as he could remember Ritsu had just been his normal self.
"Mean, really mean, and I shouldn't have been. I'm just worried, I guess, about everything." Said Ritsu. Mob shrugged. He didn't think that Ritsu had been that mean. He'd had people be mean to him in the past. Ritsu hadn't even insulted him or used any words that he shouldn't have, not that he had ever done that, even at his worst he had never been truly mean to Mob.
"You don't have to apologize to me, you weren't mean, and you don't have to worry about anything either." Said Mob
"Brother, I think that this is something I should be worried about." Said Ritsu
"The linen closet isn't that bad, Mom just keeps way too much stuff we don't ever use in here. Maybe we should-" said Mob as the closet door closed.
"Brother, can you please forget about our chores for five seconds? That's not what I was talking about. I was talking about the other really big, really worrying, thing that's happening to us right now." said Ritsu. Mob nodded. Right, the other thing…and now he was thinking about it…and now he was worrying about it again.
"This is kind of worrying, I mean I've seen a lot of movies, not as many as Teru and Sho, but I know that this kind of thing doesn't end well." Said Mob
"Yeah, I guess, but I'm mostly just worried about Sho. This isn't going to be good for him and you know how he gets." Said Ritsu, looking away. Mob thought for a moment. He couldn't think of anything in particular that Sho did. He was just Sho, he did a lot of things, not all things that Mob thought were smart but he did do a lot of things.
"I don't, not really, but I don't spend time with him one on one. I mean he's not my boyfriend, he's yours, and that would be weird. Right? I'm not sure what the rules are." Said Mob. He did kind of want to be better friends with Sho…but Sho wasn't his boyfriend. Mob had seen a lot of movies. He knew how people, even brothers, could be when there was a girlfriend involved. Maybe it was the same with boyfriends. Though Mob would never have stolen anyone from Ritsu, girlfriend or boyfriend, even if he was madly in love with them…no, wait, he would never have let himself feel that way about someone Ritsu was in love with in the first place.
"I wouldn't think that it would be weird if you hung out with him…but that's not what I'm worried about. I just…I know how he gets. I mean he burnt our house down-" said Ritsu
"He said he was sorry, though, and he put it back the way it was so it's alright. I'm not upset about that anymore." Said Mob
"He's just capable of…a lot…when he feels cornered or freaked out and things aren't great for him right now…but I can't tell you why. I mean I don't know if I can. Sho doesn't like it when I talk about him, his life, I mean." Said Ritsu
"Ok. If that's how it works with couples then that's how it works…but if Sho ever needs someone I can be there for him to. I mean as a friend, only as a friend, never as anything else. Just so you know you don't have to worry about that. I mean we have a lot of things to be worried about as it is-" Said Mob
"I know you would never try and take him from me, you're not like that." Said Ritsu. Mob didn't know why he was rolling his eyes. He felt like he had said the wrong thing. He went backwards…oh! Right, of course he had no reason to steal Ritsu's boyfriend.
"I mean I wouldn't if I liked boys." Said Mob quickly. There, that should have fixed everything…but now Ritsu was rolling his eyes again. This was getting way too complicated. He wished that Master Reigen was there, he would have known exactly what to say.
"Yeah, that too." Said Ritsu
"I just want you to be happy, little brother, that's all. I just want to be there for you and stuff like that, and I don't want you to worry. I'm the big brother and it's my job to worry about things. You're too little." said Mob
"I'm a year younger than you." said Ritsu
"That's still younger than I am." Said Mob. Ritsu rolled his eyes again…Mob wondered if Mom and Dad were right and it really was dangerous to do that. He wouldn't have wanted Ritsu's eyes to get stuck like that.
"I mean it, I just want to be there for you." said Mob
"Then move and let me help you." said Ritsu, opening the door. Mob didn't need him to help, and he wanted to save Ritsu the work, but when Ritsu was determined to do something then he was going to do it. Like when he tried to save the world with Sho and his friends and hadn't even done so much as leave Mob a text message, or the time he tried to awaken his powers and did all those mean things, or even the time when they had been little and Ritsu thought that he could make his own toast and electrocuted himself trying to get it out with a fork…
Mob stood a little closer to Ritsu.
Sho wasn't the only one who did reckless things. Mob decided that he was going to stick closer to Ritsu, but not in a weird way, just…just to keep him safe. Because he was Ritsu's big brother and that was what big brothers did. They protected their little brothers…and it felt nice, knowing what to do, having some kind of a plan.
It helped to keep the worry away.