Mob Psycho 100 : Reverse AU

2. How Kageyama and Arataka met

It wouldn't be unusual if Mob had a crush on his childhood crush/friend. Tsubomi-Chan was beautiful, far prettier than any of the other girls Mob had ever encountered. They were vegetables in comparison. Obviously, there was more to Tsubomi-Chan than just looks. She was confident, sure of herself, and by far the strongest willed person he knew. She was always true to herself, and never did anything she didn't want to do.

She was out of his league.

Mob admired her greatly. They had grown apart in middle school, but his feelings were still there. As of now, the two were friends again. Mob was... happy with that.

He supposed his own inability to say no had resulted in Reigen Arataka barging in and taking root as a part of his life.

Mob had set up a cozy little psychiatric counseling office. His study of this field was born out of an effort to understand others and, as Tsubomi had told him years before, "Get a clue."  It may or may not have payed off, although Mob supposed it didn't hurt if he used a bit of his power to help him get a feel for other people's moods. He could see, and read their auras. It was nice, their auras. In fact the majority of people had really barely there, but nice auras.

However, people did remember his elementary school attempts to impress Tsubomi, and his friendship with Kurata-Chan led to him attain a status akin to a small urban legend. Occasionally there were a few people who cam around to get his help, not in counseling but in psychic matters. Mob supposed if he was using his powers to help people, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but of course he needed to get by, so he charged a relatively small fee for his psychic services. It's not as if it took much effort, nor very long. After all, Mob knew of the immense dangerous power he could unleash, should he loose control. And that was the crux of the matter. Control.

He had been able to keep his emotions under wraps. Most of the time. He had lived a quiet life, and there was no reason to feel terribly strongly.

Then, one day a primary school child with band-aids on his knees and cheek tentatively opened the door.

"Are you Mr. Kageyama?" The orange haired child asked.

Mob nodded, and softly replied, "yes. I am. I'm afraid I don't recognize you as one of my clients."

Mob paused.

"Would you like some tea?"

The child nodded, and made himself comfortable on the couch. They had a nice little conversation, and the child introduced himself as Reigen Arataka.

"Mr. Kageyama, I gotta question that I really need to know the answer to."
"Alright, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability."
"ARE YOU AN ESPER?!"

Mob froze. Reigen had been greatly anticipating this moment. Throughout the whole conversation, he had been wanting to ask this question so badly, but wasn't sure when would be appropriate to ask. Reigen had jumped out of his seat in excitement, hit the table, and the hot tea had begun to spill.

Suddenly, around Mob, a faint blue, purple, iridescent aura appeared. His hair began to float slightly as he used his powers to prevent the tea from scalding the young child's skin.

Reigen watched in awe as the cups and liquid took on Mob's glow. The tea returned to the cups, and the cups returned to the table. It was like watching things in reverse. Even though he wasn't psychic, he could see Mob's powerful aura. He shook where he stood , with a wide smile forming on his face.

There was silence for a moment as Mon contemplated his answer. There was no hiding it now, and lying would do no good. He had a feeling, that this kid had a stubbornness to him.

"Yes, I am." Mob replies.

From then, Reigen Arataka had become a permanent fixture in Kageyama's otherwise mundane life.