Mob leaned back and soaked up the sun. Beneath him, the roof of the apartment building was warm. A breeze played at his bangs, but he didn't care. Above him, a puffy cloud floated by – the same texture as cotton candy and the same shape as a curled up cat. He smiled.

This was so nice.

He wasn't kidding himself. University classes were tough for him. He hated the hours spent at a desk, cramming information into his skull just so he could regurgitate it during an exam and then forget it all. Breaks couldn't come soon enough. And now that he was on break, he filled up his days with mindless things like watching the clouds.

University. It was a necessary evil, and one that would be over soon enough. When all was said and done, he could stand on equal footing with Reigen, knowing how to actually run a successful business. Luck for him, he had Ritsu in the interim. Ritsu was always ready to help out.

A shadow fell over the rooftop as the puffy cirrus clouds obscured the sun. The one doing all the work looked like a baseball hat. The air grew still. It felt like someone had wrapped a blanket around him. The weather had finally passed the cusp of spring where most of the chill of winter had been banished.

This was so very nice.

Mob didn't realized he had fallen asleep until a sound wormed its way into his subconscious. Footsteps. They were light and characteristic of rubber soles on rooftop. He felt a little disoriented, like he'd blinked and the sun had dropped a whole five centimeters in the sky. He vision focused on the shadow that fell over him, or more accurately, the person creating that shadow.

"What're you doin' up here?" Shou asked, his tone that usual mash-up of curiosity, lightheartedness, and teasing. Contrary to their first encounter, Mob had found that it actually took a lot to make Shou upset. The rest of the time, he seemed wholly unaffected by anything that happened to him.

Usually if Shou was upset, it had something to do with Ritsu.

"Watching the clouds." Mob answered honestly.

"Really?" Shou laughed, "Because to me it looked like you were watching the insides of your eyelids."

"That's true."

Shou laughed again and sat down beside Mob, leaning his back against the door to the stairwell. Mob might have worried that Shou would get hurt if the door opened, but no one but him ever really came to the rooftop.

"What are you doing here?" Mob asked instead.

"Eh. I came to see Ritsu." Shou propped an elbow on his knee and cupped his face in the same hand. The end result, his round cheeks – which hadn't thinned out since their teenage years – squished into his face and exaggerated his expression, "Gotta talk to Ritsu."

"About?"

"This and that."

"He's downstairs in the apartment." Mob informed Shou. Really, Shou knew the way. Mob wondered why Shou was dilly-dallying. His talk with Ritsu must not be urgent.

"Yeah."

Mob didn't say anything. He waited for Shou to get up and leave, but he didn't. He waited for Shou to say something, but he didn't.

So instead, Mob pointed up at the sky, "I think that cloud looks like a hamster."

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." Shou looked at Mob, his eyes bright, "Huh? You weren't kidding. You really were looking at the clouds."

Mob nodded.

Shou continued, "It's not like I thought you'd lie about that, but… still. I didn't know you liked to do that. Usually you're pretty busy with your classes, or your part-time job, or working out."

Mob nodded again, "But I like to do stuff like this when I have more time."

"Ah!" Shou snapped his fingers, "Ritsu did mention that his semester ended a few weeks ago. Nice. Man, though, school must stink." Shou always seemed like he had energy, always moving. He laced his hands behind his head and smiled wide, "I'm so glad I decided against it."

"It doesn't always stink." Mob felt the need to say, "Sometimes it stinks more than others. But breaks are definitely worth looking forward to."

"My life is one-hundred percent break!"

Mob cast about for the details of a conversation he'd had recently with Ritsu, "Really?" he asked Shou, "Because I thought Ritsu said you got a job a while back."

Shou, who'd had his eyes closed against the sun, cracked one to look at Mob.

"Well, yeah." Shou admitted, "I took the hero exam. You're looking at a certified member of the Hero Association. I'm A-class." Shou effused smug confidence, "Cool, right?"

"Yeah." Mob agreed.

"I know." Shou preened, "So you should really convince your brother of the same thing."

That made Mob pause.

Shou had turned his full attention on Mob now, his electric blue eyes seemed to be buzzing with energy just a bit.

"Ritsu doesn't agree?" Mob asked tentatively.

Shou pouted a little, "Well, he thinks it's stupid."

"What part?"

"I don't know!" Shou groaned, "That's what I don't get. Whenever I bring it up, he just kinda shuts me down. You know how he does that."

Yes, Mob knew Ritsu does that, but he never does that to Mob.

"I guess you'll have to try some more." Mob suggested.

Shou slouched against the door, "I know." He grumbled, "I just want him to understand that I'm not like a lot of the other guys who do it. I'm not in it for the glory or the fame or because I think I'm some heavenly agent of justice. I just want a job that I'm good at, you know?"

"I know." Mob agreed. It was satisfying, to be doing something you were good at. That's why Mob wanted to run his own agency. Because he was good at dealing with spirits; he was good at dealing with dangers that no one else could see.

Shou sighed.

"Do you want me to try talking to Ritsu?" Mob asked.

"Nah," Shou grinned, "I'll get it through his thick skull. That's what best friends are for. But thanks for the offer. I'm glad we're on the same side."

I'm glad we're on the same side.

Years ago, Mob never thought he would hear those words from Shou. But a lot can change in a few years. Shou didn't seem to change. Mob had changed some. In this case, it was just the relationship – the dynamic. Between fighting ESPer wars and just being around each other, some solidarity had formed. What was its foundation?

Mob didn't know.

A breeze dance across the rooftop. Billowy clouds sailed overhead. A chorus of pedestrian and automobile sounds rose of from the street, increasing in volume as the sun sunk lower and rush hour began. The two ESPers sat in the stillness – like the eye of a storm.

"Have you got a lot on your mind, Shou-kun?" Mob asked.

"Not really. This is just really calming. I sat down and now I don't want to move."

A smile tugged at Mob's lips, "Right?"

"Yeah."

Just two ESPers soaking up the sun.

"Ya'know, I think someone once said that first impressions were usually wrong." Shou said suddenly, "I think, maybe they're right. I was wrong about you, anyway."

Mob looked at his brother's friend – his friend, if he were being honest with himself. His expression might have seemed a bit blank because Shou went on.

"The more I grow up, the more I understand how right you were back then." So he must be talking about the Seventh Branch stuff, "We were just kids trying to fight adult battles. It's a little surprising we all made it through that relatively sane."

Relatively sane. Key word being relatively. Because Ritsu still occasionally carried spoons in his pockets and Hanazawa-kun got a little jumpy if knives came too close to his hair and Mob had the occasional nightmare about cradling a dead cat in his arms. Mob pushed the thought away. Shou was still talking.

"I kinda found out over time: we need to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of other people. I guess that's what I'm trying to do in the hero business. It's for me first and then for the people I help. And by helping, I can make sure that kids don't get pushed into the kinds of situations that they're not ready to handle, so the cycle doesn't start all over again."

"That's good." Mob says.

Shou leans, a little aggravated, "I just want Ritsu to get that and get off my ass about it. He seems to think that I'm just in it for the thrills."

"You could try writing it down and giving it to him," Mob suggests, "You know how Ritsu likes to have things written down. And that way, you'll be able to tell him what you just told me without him being a butt about it."

Shou laughs out loud at that. It takes him a minute to bring it in again. He wipes a tear from his eye and says, "I don't think I've ever heard you badmouth your brother before."

"That wasn't badmouthing, that was stating a fact."

Shou laughs some more.

Mob checks his phone while Shou gets his giggles worked out. No messages. Ritsu might have fallen asleep too. He had looked pretty out of it, lounging in front of the TV when Mob had left for the roof. But it was getting close to dinnertime. And Ritsu might be sneezing up a storm with as much as Mob and Shou were talking about him.

Mob gets to his feet, dusting microscopic dirt off the seat of his pants. Shou stands too, with more energy and extra exaggerated movements.

"Hey, can I stay for dinner?" Shou asks.

"You should ask Ritsu. He's cooking."

"Heh. Then I'm definitely staying, whether he likes it or not. His grub is always good."

Mob opens the door to the stairwell, deciding not to mention the fact that Ritsu always keeps ghost peppers stocked in the kitchen. If Shou is breathing fire by the end of dinner, that would be his own fault for inviting himself over. Shou could kind of be a moocher and a cheapskate. Ritsu knew that.

"By the way," Mob asks, "How did you find me on the roof?"

Shou follows him down the stairwell and answers, "I used telekinesis to get here. It's much cheaper than the train."

Figures. Maybe Mob should tell Shou about the ghost peppers after all.

Sorry for the break in updates. Midterms are happening so, yeah. Here's a whole chapter of character interaction for some characters that rarely interact *sweats*

Speaking of which, I feel like there's a decent amount of Shou's cannon character in the manga, so I did my best with him. I personally see him as a little eccentric and very energetic. He's very inventive and doesn't tend to do things by conventional means. So yeah, if he seems erratic and random, that's sorta the impression I get off him :)