shoutout to my friend 1cupofacid, who wrote the transcript for this episode. you've made my job so much easier, tysm!
me, after speedrunning chapter 13 in one day: Cool, I don't have to write for a while, I can take a break.
my clown ass the next day, writing a 4,000 word chapter: i'll fuckin do it again
"Okay. We need to talk."
Reigen's tone had no hint of the normal joking, casual tone, only seriousness and a bit of concern.
"I agree," Ritsu said, shifting slightly to turn towards them.
Teru wiped at his eyes. "Mhm."
Mob picked at one of his fingernails. "About...?"
"About what just happened. All of it." He pressed his lips into a line. "You believe everything you said about yourself?"
Mob swallowed, but nodded nonetheless.
Reigen hummed softly. "Well, that's an issue. Especially considering none of those things are realistic."
Mob stayed silent, looking at him with eyes that looked far too old to belong to a teenager, too weathered. Eyes that told you the poor soul had seen something awful.
"What am I missing, Mob?" He said, leaning forward. "What aren't you telling me?"
He set his jaw, an out-of-character display of determination. "I don't know what you're talking about, shishou."
"Liar," Reigen said, not unkindly.
"You know, I'd kind of like to understand what's happening, too," Teru said.
Reigen cleared his throat. "Let me try something."
He reached out and took Mob's shoulder.
"Why," he said quietly, "Do you feel like you don't have a purpose?"
"Because, I'm not good at-"
"No, no. You said that already, trust me, I remember. I just want to know the simple reason. Why do you think that you live without purpose?"
Mob's eyes shaded over.
"Because... I saw."
It came out as a whisper. He had to strain his ears to catch the words.
"Saw what?" Ritsu said, face pale.
Mob gritted his teeth, pulling his arm out of Reigen's grip.
"I- I don't want to talk about it."
"Mob, you know, I would miss you," Teru said. "If you died, I mean. We all would. People don't move on that easily."
Reigen nodded. "That's true. I need you, you're important to my business... and to me."
"You're my brother. I love you, Nii-san, and I admire you-"
An uncharacteristic flood of anger surged through Mob.
"You only admire me because of my powers!"
All three of them froze.
"What?" Ritsu said, his voice strangled.
"I-" Mob was shaking, every muscle in his body tensed up. "If I didn't have psychic powers, you wouldn't-" he choked on the words- "You wouldn't admire me. You wouldn't even care about me-"
"That's not true," Ritsu said, desperately. "Nii-san, that's not-"
"It is," Mob hissed, "I saw it, he- Mogami-"
Reigen, who felt like he'd just been plunged into a bucket of ice water, said, "Mogami? What does he have to do with this?"
"Who is Mogami?" Ritsu snarled. "I'll fucking-"
"Don't curse, Ritsu, you're like twelve-"
"Shut up, Reigen!"
"Both of you stop fighting!" Teru snapped. "You're just making it worse! Mob," he said, gentler, "Who is Mogami? What did he do to you?"
Mob cringed, curling in on himself.
"Mogami was an evil spirit we ran into a while ago," Reigen supplied. "Mob exorcised him by astral-projecting himself into the possessed girl's body."
"That sounds dangerous. Was he okay?"
"I..." He glanced at his disciple. "I thought so, but it appears I was wrong- he spent about thirty minutes in there."
"That's a pretty long time for someone with his ability."
Mob couldn't make sense of anything, the ringing in his ears drowning out the world.
"Nii-san, it hurts!"
"Help...help me..."
"You will be reborn as one of my sympathizers!"
"Yeah, but he didn't act weird or say anything to me when we left, or any time after that. I don't know what happened when he was in the possessed girl."
There were a few beats of silence.
"Maybe you should ask Kei," Ritsu said quietly, a hand on his brother's back.
Reigen nodded and rose, moving over to her seat.
Kei looked at him. "Hey. Need something?"
He stayed silent for a moment.
"What did Mogami do to Mob?"
She froze and glanced away, then took a deep breath. "It's complicated."
"How complicated?" Reigen said, crossing his arms.
Kei stared up at him, an odd combination of feelings swirling in her eyes- pain, grief, pity, anger, satisfaction. Then, she opened her mouth and spoke two simple, incredibly frustrating words.
"No spoilers."
Reigen almost throttled her. "No fucking sp- I'm pretty sure he's inches away from having an anxiety attack!"
"I know. I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. Okay."
"What did she say?" Teru asked the moment he sat down, keeping his voice carefully low.
Reigen ground his teeth. "No spoilers."
"You're kidding."
"I wish. Mob, how are you doing?"
Mob sighed, elbows propped on his knees. "I feel a bit better, shishou. I'm sorry about earlier."
"It's okay."
"It isn't," he said softly. "Thank you, though. Can we go back to the show?"
"I..." Reigen hesitated. "If you want."
Ritsu glared at him, mouthing something that looked like 'what?'
Kei's voice came again, saying, "Is everyone good? Can we continue?"
After a chorus of yeses, she started the sixth episode.
A child's hand dipped into a bubble of clear water.
Reigen swallowed. Another flashback.
Ritsu's eyes widened slightly. Oh!
"Wow!" Younger Ritsu's eyes glinted. "It feels so good!"
He turned to Mob, "Hey, do you think I'll be able to do this, too?"
"Yeah," Mob nodded, smiling at him, "Of course you will. You're my little brother."
He tensed. Oh... oh no. Please, please, don't let this be about me.
Ritsu woke up with a gasp. He sighed, then went to get a drink of water.
At the kitchen counter, he stared at the water running from the tap.
He put his palms against it, trying to manipulate it. It didn't work.
There were a few chuckles at this. Looking back on it, Ritsu thought it was silly.
He tried different poses, but the result didn't change. The water reflected his straining face.
Mob's heart sank. Ritsu...
This is my fault. Again.
Discord ~To Become One~
The screen changed to Spirits and Such Consultation Office.
"We will now begin the seance." Reigen's voice said.
A man sat across from him in the office. The words Client: Hitoshi appeared.
"They do seances, too?"
"Apparently. Not very surprising, though."
Reigen sat in front of him with a leaf crown on his head.
"Dial it back, you didn't win the Olympics."
"Okay, first of all, it's part of the ritual-"
He suddenly lurched, and Hitoshi jumped. Reigen sagged forward before standing up.
"I-Is that you, Dad?" Hitoshi called hopefully, "Do you know who I am?"
Reigen stared down at him with puffed up cheeks.
"Oh, Hitoshi…" He said in an 'old man' voice, a tear trickling down his cheek.
"I never thought the day would come when I got to see your face again…"
The students stared, unimpressed.
"Dad…" Hitoshi also teared up. "When did you learn to speak Japanese so well?"
"Okay, logging out for a sec."
"You can't pause an online game."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, I'm not getting a very good signal. Were you satisfied?"
"No!" Hitoshi nearly jumped at him. "Please call him back!"
"Hey, please calm down!"
Reigen adjusted the laurel crown. "Seances take a lot of concentration. By the way, where is your father from?"
"New Jersey in America."
"All foreign languages will be auto-translated into Japanese."
"Eh?"
"How come everyone falls for this?"
"Considering they're going to a spiritual consultation office, it's not that much of a stretch."
Reigen nodded. "It's true. Half of our clients are anti-vaxxers."
A representation of Latin letters going into Reigen's head and Japanese characters coming out of his mouth was shown.
"This is an advanced technique that does something or other to the wavelength of the spirit's languages, but there will not be an additional fee."
"That's amazing! But I'm okay with English."
"Now, then…" Reigen sat back down, along with the client.
"Oh, Hitoshi! How have you been?"
"It's Japanese…"
Hitoshi wiped his nose, "Well, whatever. Dad, do you remember? Remember how we used to play ball when I was a kid? And we did that one thing that was popular on TV back then?"
Reigen stared at him tiredly.
This got a few general laughs, most people just trying to lift the heavy feeling depression left from the last episode.
Teru chuckled quietly to himself.
"Show it to me one more time!" Hitoshi requested fervently.
Reigen - with a very serious expression - stood up, shifted his foot back, and spun, ending with a weird pose.
"I- what-"
"I never understand anything these days," one of the teachers sighed, leaning back and rubbing his head.
"...Dad? Huh, what was that?"
A hero figure inspired by burgers and hotdogs was shown on the background.
"'Cheeseburger Tornado', the main character's special move in 'Junk Food Fighter Michael', the super popular show at the time."
"What the heck?"
That sounds like something you'd see in a dentist's office, but okay."
"Anyway, Hitoshi…" Reigen kept his eyes closed. "Cut to the chase and tell me what you want."
"Dad…"
Hitoshi looked down, then his face darkened.
"This will not end well."
"Tch! If being cordial won't work, then screw it!" He barked.
"Yo, you shitty old man! Tell me the password to the hidden safe! I know there's a fortune in there!"
The boy sitting next to the one who commented pressed 100 yen into his hand.
Reigen frowned, "Um, I think the password was my birthday…"
"Don't give me that crap! It's thirteen letters of the alphabet!"
Hitoshi pulled out a knife and held it to Reigen's face.
More money was passed over.
"Oh, now I remember!" Reigen wound up his fist.
"The password is…"
He uppercutted his client acutely.
"'GETAJOBYOUBUM!'"
"HA!"
Soft applause filled the room. Reigen sat up a little straighter.
A soft smile curved Mob's mouth.
The words Cheeseburger Tornado appeared, along with the image of the hero doing the same pose as him.
"This is one of Reigen's special moves, where he uses his whole body like a spring and smashes his fist into his opponent's face with a powerful spin."
Hitoshi slammed facefirst onto the ground.
"Now there's a special move!" One of the delinquents cheered.
"Crap! The client's consciousness logged out!"
There was more laughter at this.
Mob leaned over his cardboard desk to look. "Did he pass out?"
"After that? Yeah, I'd think so."
"Yeah… But, well, it was self-defense."
Hitoshi twitched where he lays, drooling.
"Self-defense…" Mob mused.
"What? You look a bit pale."
The tension returned, the room falling quiet again.
"To be honest, when does he not look pale?"
A figure of Teru before their fight was shown, under spotlight.
"If it's self-defense, is it okay to shave off someone's hair, rip off their clothes, destroy their pride, make them lose their friends, and destroy the school they go to?"
"..."
"I mean," Teru said, "Technically it was self-defense."
Mob shook his head. "Not really."
"After I choked you out? I think that qualifies as self-defense several times over."
As he finished his sentence, the figure ends up on its knees on the ground, naked and clutching what's left of its hair as the building in front of it blew up.
"I still shouldn't have done it."
"And I shouldn't have picked a fight with you."
The two glanced at each other.
Teru reached out a hand. "Forgive me, Kageyama-kun?"
Mob took it. "Only if you forgive me. And just 'Mob' is fine."
They shook on it.
"How can you do that much in self-defense?"
"We don't really know, either," Reigen muttered.
"There are times when my psychic powers go out of control… And it happens when I'm unconscious, to boot." Mob sweated.
"I don't want these powers anymore."
Mob pressed his back against the couch, shutting his eyes for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths.
Reigen listened calmly. "If nothing else, they're of use to me," he replied. "And it's not just me. Think of all of the clients you helped with those powers."
Bits and pieces of the people and spirits Mob had aided was displayed in flashbacks.
"See?" Reigen whispered, maybe to Mob, maybe to himself, "See how much good you've done? How much you still can do?"
Reigen tapped his head, "Don't just focus on the negatives. It's all about how you use the knives, remember? Don't suppress yourself. You're the one who holds the keys to maximizing your potential." He walked to his table, continuing, "Trust me. You'll be fine."
Mob let out a breath.
At least I could help a little.
Ritsu was thinking the opposite. I really am hopeless. Nii-san is struggling and I...
"The buddy-buddy brothers act ends now."
I said something that would have hurt him a lot- but it... it didn't.
How did he know it was a lie when I myself thought it was the truth?
The scene changed to Salt Middle School, then to the four delinquents.
"Huh? The shadow leader system?"
"Yeah," Onigawara said, "I completely lost to that shadow leader named Hanazawa, but the guy who beat him is from Salt Middle School."
"Someone that strong?!"
"Yeah. We're gonna have him be our shadow leader."
"That's not good."
"Hopefully they don't find the Psycho Helmet Cult."
"Don't freakin' jinx it."
"You're the one who caused the supernatural incident at Black Vinegar Middle, right?"
"U-Um…" Mob stammered, sitting across from Mezato in the club room.
"You're basically the only person who could do that. Oh, but according to the rumors… There's a kid at Black Vinegar Middle who easily throws people around, too. Maybe he's an esper just like you…" she pressed excitedly, "And then you two met at Black Vinegar Middle School, and fought. An esper battle! That's what happened, right?"
"Well, I'm scared."
Twitch, twitch. Tome's ear twitched as she eavesdropped from the side.
"Oh my god. I thought it was a myth."
"Can you actually twitch your ears?"
"Both of you shut up."
"You don't want to talk about it?" Mob kept silent, so Mezato backed up. "That's enough for today, then. But someday, you're definitely going to tell me all about it." She left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.
Mob sighed, then jumped as Tome lunged in front of him.
"Mob-kun?! You mean that wasn't the work of aliens? And that aside, there are espers other than yourself?"
A moment, then, hesitantly-
"Yes..."
Tome chucked ominously, and Mob leaned away.
"You can find them, right?"
"Huh? I've only met one other in my life."
"That number went up rather quickly, too," Mob mumbled.
"That's strange. What about your master?"
"Ah…"
Reigen's face, swinging in the image of a shining sun, was displayed.
"Come to think of it, I don't sense anything from my master. But that's because his powers are spiritual, not psychic." Mob explained. The words 'psychic' with an 'X' on it and 'spiritual' with an 'O' on it appeared.
"Nice excuse," someone called, while someone else started blasting the "Fucking Bullshit" song.
"What kind of rule is that? Well, whatever. Let's go on a date after this." Tome said.
"Huh?!"
She grabbed him by the arm. "We're going to find other telepathic people together! And then take our first step toward connecting with outer space!" Space and planets surrounding Earth was shown in the background.
"For once, I agree. It sounds cool."
"But I'm not in the Telepathy Club."
"Black Vinegar Middle School's shadow leader?" Goda crossed his arms. "I lost to him. That guy had some nice muscles."
"Th-Then who beat him? It was someone from your club, right?" Onigawara demanded.
"He's a gentleman who usually dislikes violence."
Mob's face went slightly pink, but something in his chest ached painfully.
Goda looked down at him firmly.
"Do not involve him in this. Begone."
"Begone, THOT!"
They really are good people. It's good that Mob hangs around them, too.
"Tch. Damn that Musashi…" Onigawara walked up the stairs, but looked up when he noticed Mob heading their way. "Hey."
"I swear, Onigawara-"
"Listen, I didn't do anything. I just wanted to apologize."
"What?"
Mob jumped and pressed his back against the wall.
"Huh? Y-Yes?"
"You were picked on by the guys from Black Vinegar Middle School last week, weren't you?" Onigawara glanced away.
"That was all my fault. Sorry about that."
"Wow. That was unexpected."
"You're a pretty cool guy, Onigawara. I guess."
"Thanks."
"Huh? What do you…"
"Don't sweat the small stuff!" He shouted, startling Mob even more.
Ritsu sweated. I completely misenterpreted the situation. And, on top of that, I ruined his school life.
He felt sick to his stomach, disgusted with himself. What he had done to his classmates, what he had done to his own brother.
But Nii-san still forgave me. Why?
Well, as it turns out, he does have something over me. He's a better person than I could ever be.
Yamazaki spoke up. "Sorry, Kageyama. Tenga-san's an idiot, so he can't explain things proper–"
"Shut up!" Onigawara punched him down the stairs. "You asshole!"
Ritsu was coming up when he saw them. He hid back behind the corner and watched.
"Oh," Onigawara said. "Yeah, it's not what it looks like."
"I see that now. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
"I'm talking to him. Stay out of it!"
Mob trembled. Ritsu narrowed his eyes.
The scene changed.
"Well, then… That will be all of the student council's activities for this month." Tokugawa concluded. "Is that all right, President Kamuro?"
"Well…"
The words "Salt Middle School Student Council President: Kamuro Shinji" appeared.
"It's not bad, but we need something with more impact. Don't you think so, first-year Kageyama-kun?"
Reigen shifted, looking at the Student Council President.
Ritsu looked up from his papers, surprised.
Kamuro pointed at him.
"You rank as one of the smartest in the nation, so I want to hear your opinion."
Huh. That's new, I didn't know that.
"Right… In our school, there are students known as delinquents." Ritsu began.
Ritsu rubbed his temples, mostly to hide his face from the people around him.
"If the student council could reprimand them, I think we'd be able to create a peaceful school."
"I see… a peaceful school, eh?" Kamuro smiled.
Disciplining Delinquents was written on the chalkboard.
"That's great. Let's do that."
"That explains a lot."
The scene changed to sundown. Ritsu walked down the street.
I have to make it a comfortable environment for my brother…
Mob smiled weakly. "You don't have to do anything for me, Ritsu."
"I tried to avoid stressing you out. I had not way to defend myself from your powers."
Yes, what Ritsu said had stung. And it also made a lot of sense why he was doing what he was doing.
Is everything he's doing because he doesn't want me to hurt people?
Mob would have been lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but he would always firmly dismiss it. This was his brother, after all.
But after Mogami, he had started to doubt that- a small seed, planted in his mind. Sprouting.
He hoped it would never bloom.
"Kageyama-kun?" A voice said from the corner. Ritsu stopped.
"Thank goodness. I guess there was a point in waiting around after all." A man stepped towards him and holds out a gold lined, red card. "Here are my credentials."
It read "Awakening Lab - Mitsuura Kenji."
Awakening Lab? Ritsu thought, inspecting it.
"What do you think, Kageyama-kun? Why not try to amplify your psychic powers at my research facility?"
He stared at the man, irritated. He's got me confused with Nii-san.
"That must have helped a lot," someone quipped sarcastically.
The scene changed.
Mob pointed, "Ah, Tome-san. That person–"
Some people stiffened.
"What? Is he an esper?!"
A man with a crazy hairdo walked across the street.
"No, I just thought he had a very unique hairstyle."
Exhaled breaths as people relaxed.
"False alarm!"
Tome entwined her hands, "Oh, you're right!" she said happily.
Mob laid on the ground with a bump on his head.
"Stop fooling around!"
"I'm being serious."
"He's always serious. He's probably never cracked a joke in his life."
"Just part of his brutal honesty."
The scene changed to the city. Ritsu looked down at the red card, waiting to cross the street.
"Oh, it's you, Kageyama."
"Ah, Vice President Tokugawa." He greeted.
The pedestrian light glowed red.
"Loitering, huh?" Tokugawa stood to Ritsu's right. "I guess even people like you feel like doing that at times."
"People like you? What does that mean?"
"That seems kind of like an asshole thing to say, but go off, I guess."
"Like me? I'm just a normal middle school student you can find anywhere." Ritsu stared ahead.
"Totally simple and normal."
"You won't find a totally simple and normal middle schooler anywhere on this planet," Tokugawa argued, pointing at him, "But, for whatever reason, you want to be one and are trying to act the part."
"I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying."
"Despite having abilities that always make you the center of attention, you try to play the minor role and let others have the spotlight," he supplied.
Kind of like Mob.
The pedestrian light lit green. They started to walk.
"Don't try to act like your brother."
"Wow. Um, direct."
Reigen had a bad feeling about where this episode was going.
Ritsu froze, an intense look on his face.
The light blinks, blinks, blinks.
He crushed the card in his hand.
An air of nervousness filled the room.
Mob fell facefirst onto the cement.
One of the Body Improvement Club members called to Goda.
"Captain! Kageyama-kun is…"
Mob looked up, nose bloodied.
He took in a deep breath, then said, "I'm fine!"
Reigen smiled warmly. He's doing better. It'll be fine.
We'll sort all of this out.
The other members jogged in place. "I think you're starting to build up some stamina!" Goda said happily.
The image of Mob catching up to them froze on the screen.
Progress Toward Mob's Explosion: 4%
the last episode was the peak of this fanfiction and my literary skills, btw. the entire time I was writing it, i was just like, "they're gonna go ape when they see this." i got hyped from writing it, for god's sake.
also, sorry about the beginning part, cause i'm out here like "alright, now that i've forcibly torn their hearts out of their chests, how about I extinguish a cigarette on there, just for luck?"