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“A penny for your thoughts?” Shigeo asked. Teru looked up and saw him standing there, all clad up in a suit and a coin in his hand.
“I won’t mind,” Teru chuckled. He took that coin from him and played around with it, absentmindedly performing tricks with it that he performs nowadays instead of psychic powers to stay well liked among his classmates.
“May I?” Shigeo pointed at the seat, where Teru had kept his water bottle on.
“Of course, Kageyama” he smiled, putting it down, beside his legs. Shigeo sat down there, and looked forward. Took in the scenery. In front of the aisle, the previous telepathy club and Ritsu were chattering away about things- high school, college entrances, dating, gossip, the usual. Somewhere a few meters away Shou and Kurosaki were fussing over Shou’s hamster, whom he brought by to ‘give the wedding a slighter edge’ (whatever that meant, but it was still cute to see it perched on the podium). Ekubo was with them, making faces at the hamster to which the little guy didn’t respond. Maybe he forgot that only a handful of creatures can actually see him. Serizawa and Reigen were still nowhere to be seen, they must be tending to the other guests in the wedding. You know, guests that weren’t high schoolers.
Teruki suddenly noticed something.
“This isn’t our currency”
Shigeo chuckled. It was a lovely, pure sound. It was also deep and husky; the side effect of maturation. A tone that rang straight into his veins and made him feel like they were suddenly being filled with hot lava burning him up from the inside. It didn’t help that Shigeo was sitting close to him and his cologne was strong and it matched perfectly with…his persona. The kind of person he was. The kind of person Teru thought he was.
Not that he imagined too much about what cologne he’d wear. That would mean he’d imagine situations in which he’d wear said cologne. Like going to the movies, just the two of them alone in a dimly lit room. Or dancing, there they’d move in perfect tandems simply holding each other. Or dates, in a nice restaurant, filled with lovely conversations and sugary sweet dessert tasting kisses and good lord did he miss what Shigeo was saying?
“It’s a little gift from Serizawa’s classmate,” he explained. Teru was relieved that he didn’t phase out too much “You know the saying? Something old”
His eyes widened in realization.
“Something new” he continued, smiling and pointing at Reigen’s newly bought suit. It felt a little surprising to see him wear anything other than the light gray of his business suit.
“Something borrowed” Shigeo followed, pointing at Serizawa’s lapel pin. A carnelian sat right on it, bright and blooming. It was a family heirloom, passed from his grandfather to his father and now to him on his lucky day.
“Something blue” Teru gestured towards Reigen’s tie, a prussian blue, no prints of anything on it. Teru recalled him suggesting he wear the one with the small baby’s breaths on it, but he rejected it, saying it was much too colourful and would clash horribly with the black of his suit.
“And a silver sixpence,”
“In your shoe” both of them concluded in unison, and they broke into a fit of giggles. It felt nice to laugh with Shigeo. It felt nice to do anything with Shigeo, but just…being happy, having fun with him was one of the best things in Teru’s world. Invaluable. Indescribable.
“Wait, so…why is the sixpence with you, then?” Teru asked, an amused eyebrow raised.
“Master was irritated with the fact that it poked his sole whenever he walked. His shoes were already tight enough as they were”
Teru suddenly made a disgusted face. Wrinkled up his nose and looked at his friend questionably. He slowly put the penny on Shigeo’s chair and dusted his hands on his pants. It took him half a minute to latch onto why Teruki did that.
“No-” he shook his head fervently “No! He washed it before giving, I swear”
Teruki jokes overdramatically, “That’s a relief. I could have caught a lethal disease and it would have been your fault then, Kageyama”
“I won’t ever give you anything that toxic,” Shigeo said solemnly. Either he intentionally wanted to melt his moment into something akin to being touching and heartwarming, or he completely missed the point of the joke. Either way, the hot lava in his veins stopped scalding and turned lukewarm. It spread around him like warm baths on a snowy day, like hot chocolate after ploughing snow off the garages. A lovely, cozy feeling.
“I know you won’t” he replied, good naturedly. He rubbed his thumbs together, looking back ahead again. Ritsu and Shou were using their psychic powers to rearrange the fallen flowers. Tome was instructing them; and she was doing it badly, because Ritsu looked like he had a headache coming.
“You never said what was on your mind,” Shigeo said, looking straight at him.
“Oh” he squeaked, a few pitches higher than his normal voice. He had forgotten about the question that started this conversation in the first place. He made a couple of sounds that could range from anywhere between abashed laughter to awkward spluttering, like a rusty, faulty car engine being worked again after a millennia.
“Are you okay?” Shigeo asked as he patted his back and handed him the bottle of water “Here, drink this”
Teru waved his hands “No, it’s alright. It was just, unexpected, that’s all”
“Oh…I’m sorry” he said penitently.
“Not your fault at all, Kageyama” he reassured “Well…to answer your question- I was thinking about marriage”
“Marriage?” he asked, bemused.
“Cheesy, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so”
“Of course you don’t. You feed on cliches”
Shigeo got flustered by Teru’s words. Turned an adorable shade of red around his cheeks, and got stiff. The kind of reaction you’d expect someone to get when they’ve been caught by their mother while sneaking sweets. Hand in the cookie jar kind of thing. Teru swooned internally like an adolescent girl as his eyes captured that moment to put in his alarmingly long mind album of Shigeo pictures.
“It’s not a bad thing! I love some cliches myself!” Teru consoled.
“Ah…” he gulped, before continuing, “I think…marriage is a lovely thing. I like to think about it too. The decoration, the feelings, the romantic environment in the marriage altar, the dressing up, the vows…it’s all so beautiful. And when it’s with someone you love…it’s just better . And this was such a cozy ceremony, don’t you think? Not too many people, but enough to keep a celebration going. Really nice, right?”
Hearing Shigeo talk about marriage with such a passion strung on all the most sensitive heartstrings. If he were alone in his room he’d now be stuffing his face into a pillow and kicking his legs into the mattress hard enough to squish it flat against his bed frame. He composed himself now, though. He was used to composing himself in front of Kageyama, or anyone for that matter.
“You’re right. Though…in my mind, apart from what you said, there was a different thing about marriage that always got to me”
“And that is?”
“Well” he chuckled as he tried collecting all the rampant thoughts and feelings in his mind “The thing where they talk about staying with each other till eternity from that moment forth. In sickness and in health. Through thick and thin. Through rich and poor. To love and cherish despite all those hurdles. Till death do them part. I used to, well, sometimes still wonder how that feels…”
“You’re thinking of marrying someone already?” Shigeo teased playfully.
“No! I mean…I would want to marry someone eventually” Teru started, trying his best to not look at Shigeo, all suited up, lest his brain should whir overdrive with fantasies about him looking just like that, but at a wedding altar, with a ring on his finger and Teru’s hand in his and- gosh. He berated his brain strictly and ordered it to stop then and there
“I wonder how…having a constant in life feels”
“A constant?”
“Yeah. Like. People who you know are going to stick with you forever, no matter what happens to you. People who’re going to look at all your ugly, all your scars, and still say ‘yes, I still want you with me’. People who’re not going to get…afraid of me. That kind of surety”
Too close. Too close and too much and too sad for such a festivity. Why was he thinking about this now? His parents have been holidaying at some far flung corner of the world for years and he had been alone for such a long time, in a single room apartment with no adult figure to look after him and no real friends, but it was alright . His parents left and he didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care how they took two looks at the dangers of his powers and thought abandonment was the only viable option. He didn’t care how people in his school detached themselves from him the moment he was defeated in a petty fight. He had friends now! He had Kageyama brothers, and Reigen, and Serizawa, and so many other people. It shouldn’t sting. He shouldn’t be having distasteful thoughts. He shouldn’t be thinking about bad alternative universes and outcomes when they’ll all eventually leave if he makes one wrong misstep. He should stop and cease thinking those thoughts but he was not and it was overwhelming and he really should get a glass of cool water before he creates a scene. It wouldn’t be fair to the newlyweds if they had to spend their time consoling his tears.
“Sorry Kageyama” he croaked, not realizing just how dry his throat became and how much his eyes stung with tears. He couldn’t bear to look at Shigeo and not burst into tears, so he kept gazing at the cloth of his pants. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Whoa…” he started after a while of silence “talk about souring the mood, eh?”
“I don’t think so” he scooted closer, rubbing Teru’s arm in comforting strokes, “You didn’t sour the mood for me. And…I’m sorry that you feel alone…”
“Not anymore” he replied, a small smile, the kind of smile that appears on his face only if Shigeo is around “Don’t ever think I’m not grateful for your kindness and your friendship Kageyama”
“You’re welcome” he replied “I’m still sorry your parents left you behind, though. I understand how you would have such wistful thoughts”
“S okay now” he finally looked at Shigeo, at his perfectly gelled hair, at his soft smile, barely reaching his eyes, at the rosy redness of his cheeks. He felt so incredibly lucky to know someone like him. His garnet eyes were flooded with understanding and affection, and Teruki would happily drown in them for the rest of eternity.
“Brother, Hanazawa, they’re going to toss the bouquet” Ritsu announced from inside the banquet hall, “If you want to try your luck then come on in!”
Teruki stood up, and reached out a hand for Shigeo to take.
(They held hands until they stood right outside the banquet hall, when he realized that there were people in there who would definitely have a lot of questions about them which he’d had absolutely no answer to)
Teruki could only stare at the bouquet when it landed straight into his arms like opposite ends of a magnet. Seamlessly landing into his palms even though he had kept them half open because it was Reigen who was throwing and god forbid if he actually threw it in a sensible trajectory. But he miraculously did and Teruki was holding that bouquet, wide eyed in shock.
The crowd gathered around him, cheering and congratulating and asking him who his boyfriend or girlfriend was and when would the lucky day be and all sorts of miscellaneous marriage related questions and jest but he could only hear about two words among the whole chatter.
There was definitely something wrong. Something fishy. Some pandering. Some meddling. Teru knew the bouquet would never land so slowly and gently unless an outside force acted on it. Some friction other than air drag. It was an unnaturally perfect landing, especially by someone, his mind repeats, who was two drinks down.
Teruki whipped his head up and woke from his trance when Musashi gave a pat on his back strong enough to knock him down.
His eyes met Shigeo.
Shigeo smirked, and winked. In the cute way he does. Eyes nearly closed but not quite, nose scrunched up, mischief glossing all over his face.
Teruki was positively, absolutely sure he was going to combust on the spot.