][ Previously: The whole school teases Mob for being smOl. Elyse becomes Reigen's unpaid therapist, and Ryo's doing his own thing now. Villainously. ][

      The desk was big. Mob sat in the first hour classroom, attending class as usual. Except it was different, because now he looked like a child. Sometimes Aizawa would forget momentarily in the middle of his lecture and just stare at the boy before remembering. Occasionally, another student would give him a long glance as well. It just felt...weird. Weirder than before.

     Despite asking everyone to treat him the same way, there were still some minor differences in how he was treated. Very minor but noticable. A little annoying but not enough to point out.

     The League had treated him like a child long enough. He was done with that by now... Couldn't wait until it would be reversed.

     "Hey." Mr. Aizawa came up behind Mob as he was leaving the building. Mob spun around and craned his neck to look up at the man. "I was wondering if you wanted to check up on Eri with me during lunch break. She's been kind of lonely and you have plenty of free time."

     "Uhhm, sure!" Eri was the girl they had saved last week, right?

     A couple hours later, Mob rode alone with his teacher. It was very awkward. His brother sent him a text on the phone.

Ritsu:
Hey, I'm heading back home today. You SURE you want to stay here?? We can go home together.

Mob:
Thanks, but I'm staying here. My classmates were just as determined to save me as you were, after all. And I made a promise to protect them. That is the least I can do. I should be fine. See you soon!

Ritsu:
...
Okay.
I'll be praying for your safety.

Mob:
Thanks?

    Mob didn't know his brother was religious.

     "Who's that?" Aizawa asked at the wheel.

     "My brother. He helped rescue me."

     "Hm...." He kept his gaze ahead on the road. "Older or younger?"

     "Younger." Mob smiled.

     "Must be powerful."

     "Yeahh, he is."

     "He thinking about becoming a hero?"

     "No.. Not really. Especially not after what happened to me... I'm sure he'll get over it, but right now he's very pessimistic about the heroes as a whole."

     "Heh.. Smart kid."

     "Huh?" Mob looked up at the hero teacher. The most he could see of him was the man's shoulder and a fraction of his face.

     Aizawa exhaled a long, slow breath. "There's a lot of things you kids don't know yet about hero work... I don't blame your brother for having his suspicions."

     "Ah.." Mob glanced down at his lap. "What is it then?"

     "Probably best I don't say... Better for you to find out on your own."

     "Is it really bad..?"

     "...Depends on the kind of person you want to be..."

     "Oh.." This certainly was curious. Mob had never even thought of another side. One that wasn't all black and white like everyone pretended it to be... Made him feel like there was something wrong all of a sudden...but he just didn't know what.

     The hospital where Eri was staying was actually really close. Only a five minute drive away. When Mob entered through the door, the girl's attention was first drawn to the man. "Aizawa Sensei? You're here early." She slid down from her hospital bed. Once about eye level with Mob, her brows shifted curiously. It took a good five or so seconds before she recognized him. "Oh! You're that boy I turned into a little kid. It's good to see you're okay. I'm sorry about what I did...by the way." An attempt at a smile was made. Mob smiled faintly.

     Maybe there was more in common between these two than he thought.

----------

     The three plus Mirio sat down together and had lunch. Mob was a good equalizer to the third year's very high energy personality. Both him and Eri were very reserved speakers. With Shigeo around, the girl didn't feel as pushed to pretend to be more energetic than she was inside.

     Mob was relieved to find someone more like him as well. Just like himself, Eri was very concerned about her powers acting out and hurting people. He had started to wonder if he was a terrible person simply for being the only one with this mindset, so it was nice knowing there were others like this girl out there. And just like her, he was assured hoping one day that he might learn how to control himself better eventually. All it took was time and being kind to yourself.

     "Hey, Aizawa, when do you think Eri will be ready to leave this place? I can't wait to go shopping with her!" Mirio announced.

     "She probably won't be ready until about a month or so.." He answered.

     "Oh, well in the meantime, what do you think you would want to get?? There's a pretty big mall around here full of toys, candy, clothes, e-everything!"

     The little girl swallowed her mouth full of apple juice and thought for a moment. "...I don't know."

     "Master Reigen and I are going to be visiting there later today to get me some new clothes. Maybe I can take pictures of things you might like." Mob offered. The girl's big, round eyes landed on him. She smiled ever so faintly and nodded.

     "Mhm, that sounds good." 

     "Sorry but can I hug you two?" ^-^ Mirio.

     "Sure." Eri.
     "No thanks." Mob.

----------

     "Alright, bud, I'm kind of low on cash, so we're gunna have to budget here.." Reigen told his student as the two of them approached the mall, the man double checking his wallet. Mob still wore his clothes but just tied up, folded, and hemmed however necessary to fit him better. So he was definitely in need of this.

     Reigen had his own motives for going here with his student as well. Maybe.. just maybe.. he could sneak in a little truth bomb to his student. But-but he planned to butter him up first a bit.

     After entering, the two wandered around for a while without much luck.

     "I- I have to go to the restroom real quick. Text me where you are when I get out. Just keep looking without me."

     "Okay.."

     Reigen slipped away. Suddenly, Mob felt so small in such a big place... The mall was actually a lot bigger than he expected it to be. Like an entire city crammed into one , massive building.

     There were a lot of people and the boy was too scared to interact with any of them. He ended up just standing stiffly in the middle of the walkway, like a deer in headlights waiting for Reigen to save him.

     "Heyy, lucky seeing you around here, Mob." A passing Mineta landed his hand on Mob's shoulder. The boy jumped a little.

     "O-oh, I recognize you!" He announced to himself.

     "Uhh, yeah you do. I'm in your class. Psh, now you notice me when you're my height..." The boy mumbled.

     "Do you know your way around here? I'm...kind of lost."

     "Yeah. What are you looking for?"

     "J-just some new clothes!.. Now that I'm smaller.."

     (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠) "Follow me." Mineta lightly tugged on Mob's baggy sleeve. "You're around my size. Lemme show you where I get my drip."

     So Mob followed Mineta through the mall. The boy easily wove between legs and through large crowds like it was a sport to him. Mob tried to follow just as easily but he got caught on something and fell behind.

     Finally, they made it to a clothing section for little boys. Impressive. "Hey, Mineta. How do you know this place so well?"

     "My dad gives me a pretty big allowance to make up for being away all the time, so I come here quite often to pass the time. There are some polo shirts over here that should fit your budget." He pointed to a distant wall.

     "Thanks, I'll have a look around."

     "No problem." Mineta wandered off to do his own thing.

     Mob scanned over the many clothing options. There was so much that it was hard to concentrate. So many options... He was never good at shopping.

     "Hello, little boy, are you lost?" An older lady asked Mob. He turned to her and shook his head.

     "No ma'am."

     "Then..." She had a brief look around. "Where are your parents?" The boy caught his breath and glanced down.

     "My...parents?" They were in a whole nother city. How was he supposed to explain that to this lady? He really didn't want to lie to her, but the truth wouldn't help here either.

     "Come here, boy." The older woman, probably in her late fifties, grabbed Mob by the wrist and pulled on it so he would follow. "Let me take you to the front desk." The woman was being a little rude about it. Mob fought back a little simply because he didn't want to be humiliated like that.

     "No, wait- they're close! Please!" He yanked on his wrist, but the lady's grip was strong.

     "No they aren't. You're just making excuses-"

     "Excuse me ma'am, but is that your child..?" Mob couldn't believe his eyes, or his ears. Elyse in her casual attire stood over the two, hands firmly placed on her hips. Half a glare on her face as she peered down at the situation.

     "No!.. But he's lost, so I'm taking him to the front desk!" Mob and Elyse locked eyes and the woman knew exactly what needed to be done.

     "That won't be necessary... I'm his mother. Ya hear?"

     The older lady quickly dropped Mob's wrist. "Glad to know he didn't wander off... -but you shouldn't let him out of your sight!"

     "You shouldn't be touching little kids with those grubby little hands of yours!" Elyse pointed back. The lady stumbled back with a hand rising over her chest, shocked. She gasped but Elyse spun around and called for Mob to follow her before the lady could erupt any further. "Hhhh, women like that always annoy me... Reminds me of how my mom used to be.." Elyse sighed once the two were out of sight.

     "Thanks, but... How did you know I needed help?"

     "Pretty simple, actually. My brother's visiting and he brought his kids with him. His daughter s### herself so -- oops, sorry for the language -- so I was just in the girl's section getting her a new outfit. That's when I thought I heard you and came over here to check it out." The woman explained with a faint smile.

     "Wow... What great timing... Also, you have a brother?"

     "Yep! A younger one named Davie. Used to have an older sister too but she, um... We don't really talk about her."

     "Oh... I'm sorry I brought it up."

     "Nothing to worry about. I was the one who brought her up anyways. She's the reason I moved to this country and changed my d##### last name in the first place... Man, I really can't bite my tongue today, can I..?" She chuckled at herself.

     "Wow, is she really that bad..? Is she a villain??"

     "Hah, that would honestly be much more fun, but no. She just ran away from home, abandoning the two of us, and moved here. A few years later, we got news that she died in a car crash. I visited because I heard she had a daughter but no husband. Was gunna pick the girl up and raise her myself but, um... She...just...vanished.... Heh. Sorry, I don't talk about this much. I really shouldn't be trauma dumping here."

     "Oh no-no, that's okay... Your story is actually pretty interesting. And I hope your niece is okay..." When the two entered the girl's side of the room, they ran into a large shopping cart full of kids toys and clothes. Elyse grabbed it by the handle and started pushing as though all of it was hers. "Woah... That's a lot."

     "Heheh, I like to spoil my niece and nephew as much as I can." Elyse blushed.

     "Aww, that's really sweet of you."

     "Shut up." Still blushing but this time trying to hide it under a stoic expression. "You here to get clothes, right? I'll buy a total of two outfits."

     "Uhh- uhh, that's so nice of you. But-but I don't even know what to wear.."

     "Eh, I can help you out I guess. They make it pretty easy for kids anyways. Now don't look at the price and just let me buy you something, alright."

     "Oh-okay.."

----------

     Reigen got lost in the mall and ended up wandering around searching for his student for a whole hour. He was really beginning to freak out when the next hour shot by. What if Mob had been taken again, or worse, scared out of his mind and feeling completely abandoned?? Dang it he really didn't want to be the dad gone with the milk meme here.

     Then he felt a buzzing in his pocket. "He-hello?!" He assumed it was Mob right away.

     "I can see you, lil maze runner." It was Elyse's voice.

     "HUH?!" The blond frantically looked around.

     "Up. We're waving at you." As promised, Elyse and Mob sat at a table on the story above, both waving down at him with big pretzels in their hands. "You have five minutes to complete your quest." Elyse spoke with her mouth half full. "Come up here before I finish my pretzel and start eating yours."

     "You got me a pretzel?" His right brow rose, not sounding all too interested. "Wait.. did it come with strawberry jam?"

     "Negative. But I can get some for ya."

     Reigen started speed walking, snickering as he hung up the phone. That was sure to buy him a few extra seconds at least!

     The con man was done with walking around everywhere today. When he approached the table the two sat at he spotted the shopping cart full of clothes and such, feeling cheated now that the hero had shown him up. The woman offered him his pretzel with a smirk on her face.

     He snatched it from her hand. "Mine." Then after he bit into it, eyes fixed on nothing in particular, his frown faded. "Thanks.. by the way."

     "No problem." She offered a more genuine smile, then plopped the last bite of her pretzel into her mouth. "Look at how dapper your little man is now." She gestured to Mob with pride, who was still seated across from her eating a full kids meal. Reigen turned and smiled at the boy's new, simple but cute outfit. Brown shorts with a white and blue shirt and a simplistic frog design on the front.

     "Oh wow. Is all of this for him too?"

     "Hah! Nope. Most of this is for my niece and nephew. They're visiting for a couple weeks and I just couldn't help it.. heh." Again, she blushed for whatever reason.

     "Hu... I was starting to wor-wonder if you had kids of your own!" Reigen managed to make himself blush. "I- I mean, you-you're so good with them-" He shoved the rest of his pretzel into his mouth to make himself shut up already. Elyse cupped the back of her neck with her hand and laughed awkwardly. Mob had no idea what was going on with the two of them...but it was weird. He decided to ignore it.

     "Heh-heh, yeah, sorry to steal your thunder. I only bought him two outfits in case you wanted to buy him anything else." She sighed. "Two outfits and a hat, that is!" To demonstrate, Mob picked up he cap hanging on his chair and put it on his head. On the front read "#1 hero."

     Reigen: 'Must...resist...parental instinct... to pick up child!'

     "Awwh. Well that hat..." Picking it off of Mob's head. "is mine now." When he slid it on, the hat was obviously too small, resulting in a funny fit. Elyse laughed aloud and Mob chuckled a little. Reigen joined in as well.

     What absolute children these two were...

----------

     Mob and Reigen helped carry everything Elyse had purchased to her car. And since they had ridden the train to get there, Elyse offered to drive them to their respective locations. She dropped Reigen off first, since his apartment was closer.

     "So... this is where the villain's secret lair is~" She pretended to admire the building as she slowed before it.

     "Oh, but this is just my office tower..~ Wait and see where I hide my secret weapon!" The man played along. That earned him a playful slap on the shoulder and he hurried to open the door.

     "Get outta here, ya crime boss! Before I storm the place myself!" The lady threatened, laughing all the way. The man fell out of the car and laughed as he picked himself up. Elyse tried to lean over and close his door for him, but he closed it for her before she could reach it. "Bye!" The two waved. Reigen disappeared into the building as Elyse drove off. A smile was still spread wide across her face as she entered onto a main road. "Ohhh, man! My cheeks hurt!" She tried to stretch them.

     "It looks like you two had fun." Mob smiled from the back seat among the many toys and clothes at his side.

     Elyse's hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, a sudden realism settling onto her face.

     "Uh-m...Mob.... You wouldn't consider that a date...would you..?"

     "I...don't think so..." From what he had seen on TV, a date had a lot more to do with chocolate, flowers, and kissing than what had gone on before him. Elyse sighed a big one and leaned back in her chair.

     "WHEW... Good, because I don't want him to get the wrong idea.."

     Mob's head perked up. "About what?"

     Elyse gave him an 'are you serious?' glance through the rear view mirror. "...Your dorms are on the UA campus, right?"

     "Correct. But, wait, is there a problem with Master Reigen?"

     "O-of course not! I'm just...you know..."

     "..Married?"

     "No!" A bright blush formed on her cheeks that even Mob could pick up on. "I'm just-- ...Wait, how old is he?"

     "Twenty-eight."

     "Oh.... I thought he was younger than that."

     "How old are you?"

     "Twenty-eight as well..."

     "Wow, you look very young too."

     "Th-th-thanks?... I was just... Ya'know what? Nevermind." Her eyes fixed themselves straight ahead on the road. "...When's his birthday?"

     "October...tenth..I think."

     Elyse gasped. "You're kidding me!" She abruptly stopped before a red light. "Sorry!"

     "Wh-why are you surprised?!"

     "Because that's my birthday too! Wait.. That means we were born on the same DAY!"

     "Woah, you're like twins."

     "Don't make this weird."

     "Huh?"

     After they got on the move again, Elyse sighed into another relieved chuckle. "That is... Wow... Quite the coincidence... Only one out of three-hundred sixty-five. Heh." The boy didn't really have anything to add to her comment. "...Don't tell your boss this...but I kinda think he's a bit of a hot b###### personally-- ugh, why do I keep swearing in front of you?! I'm sorry!" Elyse nervously tapped the wheel, her face a brighter red than ever before.

     "It's okay. Reigen swears sometimes too.." Mob reassured her. Elyse exhaled another relieved sigh.

     "Well, just, um... Let me know if he needs another suit or anything... I've got a lot of extra cash I need to burn and, um.. I noticed he wears the same one every day..." Instant regret. The woman's head sunk a little between her shoulders. Mob just smiled.

     "Thanks by the way for the clothes you bought me. I'll ask Reigen if he wants--"

     "-Wait don't ASK him! Just-just text me if he mentions it or something! I gave you my phone number, right??... And measurements. Make sure to send me his measurements if you can... It'd be a shame if I f#- you know I'm not even going to finish that thought; you get what I mean!" Mob nodded. Man... He never knew women could be so nervous! She was a mess by the time they arrived in front of the UA gates. "...Please just forget my nervous breakdown..alright?" Elyse pleaded with Mob as he opened the door to leave.

     "Alright, ma'am... -Oh wait, Ms. Elyse?" The woman stopped mid shifting gears and turned over her shoulder to meet his eyes through the still open door. "If it makes you feel any better...I think Reigen kind of likes you too."

     Her cheeks slowly faded back to a cherry pink. Blinking, "That much is obvious." She turned her head to the road again. "...But it's nice to have a second opinion of course."

     "Bye."

     "Byee!"

     Mob shut the door and Elyse drove off. The sun was setting already... Man, what an eventful day this had been..? Grr, that meant even more cram time for homework.

----------

     Mob was in the middle of texting his parents when he received a notification from someone new. Huh? He checked it out. A completely new number.

???:
Heyy, you're Shigeo Kageyama, right? This is Tsubomi. Just wondering if this is your number.

     The boy's heart stopped mid-beat. His hands shook a little. How...did? It was like a dream and a nightmare come true, wrapped into one wonderful mess of 'I better not mess this up.'

Mob:
Hello, yeah. You have the right number. How did you get it, by the way?

Tsubomi:
My parents still had your home phone number. I called your mom and asked for your current number.
Just wanted to make sure you were alright.
Is it true that you were turned back into a kid??

     Mob snapped a picture of himself next to the calendar on the wall for proof and sent it to her.

Mob:
You bet!

Tsubomi:
Wow! That's crazy strange.
So a villain did that to you?

Mob:
Nope.
It was the little girl we saved. She did it on accident.
Her name is Eri. I just talked to her today. She's really nice!

Tsubomi:
Aww!
So you actually saved a little girl?! That's so heroic of you, Mob! You're saving people already!

     The boy felt a blush heat his cheeks a little and he realized he was smiling.

Mob:
To be honest, I really didn't doo all that much. I don't have my heroing license, so I was just there to make sure none of my classmates who already had theirs got hurt.
Even then... I was kind of useless...

     Tsubomi took a while to type her response.

Tsubomi:
Still a TON more than most kids your age!
Even if you don't believe in yourself, just know that I do.
You can do it, Shigeo!

Mob:
Thanks, Tsubomi!
That really means a lot!

     There was a warmth in his heart that Mob hadn't felt in a long time.

     Having Tsubomi as his friend again was such a wonderful thing...

-----

     She felt the same way... It had been too long. As she put her phone down, the girl returned to her studies. Not a break to be found.

     At least...Mob was there to be a true friend. No girls just wanting to be popular. No boys fondling over how pretty she was.

     Just an old friend with ambitions of his own. No annoying crushes or drama attached.