Teru woke up on his couch with a headache and dry mouth, which would have been normal enough if it weren't for the fact that someone had removed his jacket. It was folded neatly on the coffee table next to his makeup kit. Then the hushed conversation coming from the genkan finally made it past that funny ringing in his ears.

He squinted against the too-bright overhead lights and barely made out Shigeo and Reigen. Teru relaxed the yellow power that had started to build between his hands. Shigeo hadn't noticed the change in his aura. He was reaching out a hand to steady Reigen, saying something about "-the wall above the bookshelf."

Reigen was standing with one foot in the genkan and the other in the air as he tugged off a shoe. He turned around to look into the living room and would have fallen over if Shigeo hadn't steadied him. Teru shut his eyes again.

"Psycho Union… Espers…" read Reigen. Teru could hear them approaching the bookshelf. "I'm sensing a theme."

"You're right, Reigen-shishou. I didn't even notice. Maybe he's renaming the Awakening Lab." The frown was audible in Shigeo's voice. "Oh, and I accused him of-"

"I don't think so," Reigen interrupted. "They're not exactly Extermination Club material."

Teru tried to even out his breathing so it wouldn't catch when Reigen snapped his fingers and said, "Is he still doing that Kaijin thing?"

"You mean when you sent me out to patrol the city at night in tights?"

"Don't put it like that."

"I don't think so," Shigeo said slowly. "He said nothing ever happens in this city."

"Was that before or after we dismantled a psychic terrorist organization?" asked Reigen.

"Before," said Shigeo, "but… they're… dismantled now. Right, Shishou?"

"Which means the ones that didn't get arrested are probably getting bored instead."

Shigeo sighed. "Oh, Teruki," he said, and of course, that made Teru's breath catch.

Teru opened his eyes. Reigen and Shigeo had definitely heard him. He wouldn't have been surprised if the old lady from next door had heard him.

"Hanazawa-kun, how are you feeling?" asked Shigeo, and Teru already missed the sound of his first name in that voice. At least he could blame his blush on the fever.

"Fine," he said, sitting up. "I'm sorry."

Now he could see Shigeo's frown. "What for?"

Teru hadn't intended to laugh at Shigeo. He definitely hadn't intended to laugh so hard he passed out again, but the question had caught him off guard. For one thing, it seemed like he hadn't shaken his old urabanchou status after all.

For another, he hadn't exactly formed that gang.

Three months into his middle school career, Teru had finally hit back with his powers instead of his fists and broken Edano's nose.

Edano had threatened to turn him into the principal unless Teru agreed to go on-call for any fight more serious than rock-paper-scissors. Teru doubted the impending parent-teacher conference would have a good outcome if only half of the parties were present, so he became the shadow leader of Black Vinegar Middle School. By the time Edano's nose had healed, being an urabanchou had gone to Teru's head. At least Teru could win those fights.

By then he was winning most of his fights against Claw too. He'd always been stronger than them in terms of psychic powers, but it helped that he was no longer young enough to get two black eyes from one punch.

Teru just shrugged. "What's Reigen-san doing here?"

"Mob'll have to start heading home for dinner soon," said Reigen, before Shigeo could answer. "Unless you want Outoto-kun to make that headache of yours worse."

Teru tried to glare, but his squint probably ruined the effect.

"That doesn't-"

"You have a concussion, right?" Reigen interrupted. "You're not supposed to be alone in case you slip into a coma and die."

Shigeo looked alarmed, but Teru just glared harder. "I all know about concussion checks. I can do them myself."

"You-" Whatever carefully-controlled thing Reigen was doing with his face slipped out of place, and for a moment he looked genuinely confused. "How?"

"Balance test, cognitive function, visual tracking," Teru ticked them off his fingers. "I know what I'm doing."

"That's not as comforting as you think it is." Reigen's voice was faint.

"Please listen to Shishou, Hanazawa-kun," said Shigeo. "He thinks you should go to the hospital."

"Hospital?" Teru had been starting to list back against the pillows, but at that word, he jackknifed into a sitting position. "I don't need to go to a hospital!"

Hospital trips meant phone calls to his emergency contacts, which meant phone calls to the Seasoning City Child Guidance Center when his emergency contacts didn't pick up. He'd made that mistake once before and learned most of his acting skills the hard way putting out the resulting dumpster fire.

"Seriously, kiddo," said Reigen. "You don't look so hot. I think it would be a good idea if you got checked out by someone with an actual medical degree. The cab's waiting outside, so why don't we just-"

Teru didn't mean to teleport.

One second he was on his couch, and the next he'd been dunked ass-first in a rice paddy somewhere significantly more rural than Seasoning City. Without his shoes or coat.

He felt his fever go up a couple more degrees.