Chapter Text
“Welcome to Spirits and Such! How may- WOAH!” Reigen yelped when Teru walked in.
Teru’s hand was loosely wrapped around the doorknob, but it seemed it was the only thing keeping him upright.
“You alright, kid? Looks like you got scared by a ghost and then it possessed your corpse.” Reigen muttered as he put his tea down.
Teru managed a laugh, although after a polite flash of a smile, the teen rushed to the couch and pulled out his compact mirror. He hunched over it and analyzed his makeup, surprised to see that his eye bags and stress wrinkles were still nowhere to be seen. He glanced back at Reigen, who seemed to have finished a quick conversation with Serizawa. How was that man able to see right through him? He feels like he does a pretty solid job at hiding behind his put-together mask. Or maybe he’s just around less analytical people. Reigen was an odd one, but you had a hard time keeping stuff from him.
“So, what brings you in?” The consultant asked, sitting down on the chair across from Teru, crossing a leg over his knee, “Could it be about…you know who?” He asked, whispering the last part.
Teru blushed slightly. He shook his head and placed his bag in his lap. “Uh, ahem, no. Sort of. I’m not sure.” He tucked a blond lock behind his ear that quickly slipped back out. “I had a weird dream last night. I was wondering if you had some insight?”
“Ah, a nightmare, could that be why you seem...not fully there?” Reigen asked, Serizawa tapping up to his side with two cups of tea.
“Well, that, and having to stay up getting my schoolwork done. Just because of an unusual occurrence doesn’t mean I should let my perfection slip. You know how it is.” Teru responded, nodding a thanks to Serizawa and grabbing a cup of tea.
“Boy, do I,” Reigen said unfondly, recalling similar experiences from his youth. “So why don’t you tell me about th-”
“I’m here, Mr. Reigen! Sorry I’m a little late, there was this one girl who was interested in my keychain, not the saucer one but the other one with the little green alien on it-” Tome ranted as she burst through the door, paying no mind to the meeting as she tossed her bag to the side of Serizawa’s desk, “And she seemed so nervous so of course I had to make her feel comfortable to ask! Anyways, turns out there are other believers such as me…”
She trailed off when she finally approached Reigen, who gave her the all too familiar face of “I’m in the middle of something right now, but I’ll wait until you’re done talking.”
“Oh, Hanazawa! Well, this is a surprise…Did Ritsu call you in for round two of questioning or something?” She asked as she scanned the room for another person.
“Nope, came in on my own accord. Sorry to disappoint.” Teru said smoothly, tiring himself out more by holding back a fierce tongue click towards Tome’s visibly disappointed expression.
“OOOoo! Is it something to do with Mob?” Tome asked, throwing herself over the couch, shifting her eyebrows up and down, “Did he finally give in to your charm?”
“No, no, Kageyama doesn’t have anything to do with this…sort of. Okay, he kind of does, but not in that way.” Teru said, brushing his bangs to cover the side of his face.
“Leave him alone, kid’s going through something right now.” Reigen told her with a shooing motion, “I know you have homework you’re not gonna do, so go bother Serizawa or tell Dimple about your school stories.”
“You called?” Dimple asked, appearing out of the blue beside Reigen. The spirit’s purple lips twisted into a grin as the dirty blond yelped.
“Dimple! Were you eavesdropping? I told you not to do that with meetings like these!” Reigen scolded.
“Yeah, I was going to ask if he could leave…” Teru mumbled as he noticed the spirit was floating around since he walked in.
“Well, make yourself useful and find something for Tome to do.” Reigen ordered, getting a matching “eugh” expression from both Dimple and Tome.
“Who are you to shoo me away? I thought giving her chores was your and Serizawa’s job.” Dimple argued, forming airy arms and crossing them sternly.
“Do you want me to?” Serizawa asked, stepping back over to join the conversation.
The overlapping arguing continued. Reigen turned to Teru. The teen gripped his bag to his chest and twirled his hair with his other hand, a solemn look in his solid eyes. Reigen took a deep breath.
“Okay, everyone!” He announced, shushing the overlapping voices, “I have a job to do. So, if you’ll excuse me, I believe that’s the most important priority right now. There’s a job in the shopping district a few blocks down, something about an unhappy shopper who died while being locked in the store. Would the three of you take care of that? Maybe get some food while you’re there, I dunno.”
Reigen wrote down the information and placed it in Serizawa’s hand. The three other workers tossed around some gazes before mumbling an agreement, except for Serizawa, who gave a hearty “Yes, sir!” and hasty bow. Teru and Reigen waved them goodbye. Once the door was swiftly closed, Reigen made his way back and got himself comfortable again. Leaning back in his chair and taking a good swig of his tea, he finally got back into consulting mode.
“Where were we…right, what was this dream about?” He asked, trying to relax the teen back into conversation.
“Well…before I say anything, I haven’t really told anyone about some of this stuff. Isn’t it a consulting policy? That anything that’s shared stays between them?” Teru asked in a calm voice, but with a soft plea in his serious eyes.
“Of course! I may talk a lot, but I wouldn’t just go around sharing with the blabbiest people we could surround ourselves with.” Reigen told him confidently.
Teru gave a swift sigh of relief, taking a sip from his own cup. He set down the cup gently, the bright aura fully fading from his body as he looked back up at Reigen.
“It…It was Kageyama and I hanging out. And then…my parents showed up.” Teru began, looking at the list of things he had written down the other night on the paper in his sleeve.
“Your parents, huh? I don’t think anyone’s heard much about them.” Reigen commented, remembering the time Teru roomed with him after the events of Toichiro’s fight with Mob. Anytime Reigen asked about his parents, he would always brush it off; he seemed to get gloomy when “they’re on a business trip, so it’s fine” wouldn’t end the conversation.
“Yeah, I mean, I thought I was over it for a while now, I’m not sure why my brain decides to bring them up now,” Teru muttered, leaning his head onto his hand, “But that’s not all. After my parents showed up, they were like, scolding me for having a crush on Kageyama. And then, Kageyama heard and pushed me away. Suddenly, I was in this barren field, and my past self was standing over me.”
Reigen silently nodded, his hands crossed under his head. It seemed like a combined gesture of analytic listening and getting caught up in school gossip.
“Anyways, he started calling me a loser, we started fighting,” Teru continued, recalling it more as a crazy “you had to be there " story than the thing that buzzed around his mind for almost a whole day now. “And he started fighting me…the same way I fought Kageyama that day.” He didn’t want to look up and see the face of his friend’s teacher, being reminded of that day. Little did he know Reigen was just giving an understanding glance back.
“He, uh, my past self, kept saying all these things to me. About how after doing all that, y’know, why would he ever want to be with me?” There was a small hitch in Teru’s voice; no matter how sad it sounded or how much it hurt, it wouldn’t stop it from being correct. “And so, I blamed him for everything. The fight, the outcome, the feelings. But at the end of the day, it’s still me that caused it, hah.” The blonde said with a defeated smile. “And…and then…the dream ended with me, uh, hurting Kageyama.”
Just because he was dumping out all of this stuff no one else has ever heard didn’t mean he had to get into specifics, right? This was already hard enough; he didn’t absolutely need to tell his crush/friend’s brother/teacher figure about just how traumatizing that fight was for both participants.
“Mhmmmm,” Was the only answer he got from Reigen, who was simply nodding with a neutral look. “Well, uh, I’m hearing a lot of unresolved issues.”
“I guess,” Teru muttered in a surprisingly fond way, “I mean, I know what bothers me, but would you know any way to…get over it quickly?”
“‘Get Over’ past trauma?” Reigen said, baffled, “Hanazawa, I don’t think there’s a way to just do that overnight. Wouldn’t you rather resolve it or something?”
“I mean, if that’s the only way to do it, but I mean, even with the whole ‘crush’ thing, my life still went back to normal. Just usual days and usual Kageyama things, now I know I have feelings for him. Right when I get used to that, then this happens, y’know?”
“Well, I’m not really sure ignoring is the best solution. You sure you don’t want to just talk about it more? I mean, that is how your life got back to ‘normal’ originally, after the whole realization ordeal.”
Teru winced, “Do I have to?”
Reigen then remembered what kind of teen he was dealing with, “I’m not forcing you to, but for your best interest, it might serve you well, is all.”
“I mean, well, okay,” Teru muttered before rubbing his eyes, “Where should I start then?”
“Hmm, how about your parents? Or is that too big a leap?”
Teru didn’t want to admit how deep he had to dig up to start this conversation, but if Reigen thought it would help, “No, I can talk about them. However, it will probably be a little brief. I don’t remember too much about them.”
Reigen simply nodded and drank the rest of his tea before slamming down the cup a little too hard, “No problem, share however much you want. But y’know, I could’ve sworn you had talked about showing your grades to your mom before. Before meeting Mob and all.”
“Oh, right, about that,” Teru said awkwardly as he twirled his hair, “My mom hasn’t been around since I was like, ten, I think?” He ignored how Reigen’s jaw accidentally dropped, “Both of my parents left for their overseas business around then, so those next couple of years, I had a few housekeepers take care of me. I liked one of them a lot. She would always ask how my day at school was and would congratulate me for my grades. I called her ‘mom’ because people wouldn’t ask me as many questions.”
“Your family had housekeepers?” Reigen responded, completely glossing over the original point of the answer, “Sheesh, no wonder you would complain about your back after sleeping on the floor when you stayed with me. You were probably used to silk or somethin’.”
“Silk? We weren’t that rich.”
“Kid, your apartment is twice the size of mine.”
“I’m still right, though. Also, what’s the point of having such a big apartment if it’s lonely all the time, right?”
Reigen quickly shut up. He forgot he was talking to a kid for a moment. Serizawa was usually there to keep his side tangents in order; maybe he should’ve kept him around.
“Right. Did that ever get hard to deal with?” Reigen asked, focusing back on the original topic.
“I was already used to my parents not being around, so usually not. I always had someone around, at school, it’s practically impossible not to be swarmed by people.” Teru said simply, not noticing the subtle brag he included, “But when it came time to come home after school or a hangout, it did weigh down a little sometimes, I guess.” Teru admitted. He didn’t even realize that the feeling was loneliness until now. “But it’s fine. Just another thing I got used to.”
“I see. What were your parents like?” Reigen asked softly.
“They weren’t abusive by any means if that’s what you’re thinking. They were just very busy…and obsessed with each other.”
“Ah, rich, honeymoon-phase parents. I’ve seen those before.” Reigen recalled, thinking back to a few clients.
“That’s correct, I suppose. I don’t remember too much about them because they weren’t around much, but I remember my dad being a bit overbearing; he wouldn’t talk to me all too much, just expected a lot. My mom was okay, I guess. She brought me places sometimes, and I have a few nice memories with her.”
“Still awful of them to leave their child all alone for so long.” Reigen thought. He’d never be annoyed by kids coming to him for help, but he did get annoyed hearing how they’ve been mistreated before. Reigen straightened up and tried to unfurrow his eyebrows, “So, you said they were yelling at you about your crush? Do they know about that?”
“No, we don’t call much. I just know they had pretty high expectations for me, y’know, giving my last name a good purpose or whatever. I’m sure they wouldn’t be happy if they found out, though.” Teru responded casually.
“Mmm,” Reigen mumbled, “Do you think it could be that you feel guilty about your crush?”
“I mean, I’d rather not have it, that’s for sure. It would save me a lot of trouble.” Teru admitted, “I dunno if guilt is the right word. I’ve been able to treat it as a regular crush, but I still forget I like a boy at times. I’d say it’s mainly the fear of people treating me differently, obviously, mainly Kageyama, but I mean, you guys haven’t yet. Even Kageyama’s little brother hasn’t gotten on my case all too much.”
“Uh-huh, would you be offended if I said we all kinda had time to prepare since…we might've seen it coming?”
“Yes. But I’ll choose to forgive you for now.” Teru huffed, with a leg cross. While he’s still a little ticked that a lot of his friends were theorizing about his romantic relations, at the end of the day, they were still right. And they’ve been fairly supportive about it. Also, he was a gentleman; he scolded them at the appropriate times.
“And, if I remember correctly, you fought with your past self in this dream?” Reigen asked quickly, choosing to end that topic on an abrupt but fine note.
“Oh, yeah. But I won in the end, sorta. So I thought it was probably well-dealt with.” Teru responded with a finger on his chin.
“Sounds like something to look into, don’t you think?”
“Maybe.”
“C’mon, it’s fine, I know it’s weird to talk about, but you’ve been able to admit you were wrong before. And that Hanazawa is long gone-”
“I know it was wrong, but what if that me is still here?” Teru said glumly, “Even if I use my powers for good now and obviously don’t involve myself in delinquency, it was still me as a person.”
“Well, Mob and I can relate to having another part of yourself that you don’t enjoy all too much,” Reigen reassured, “But from the sound of it, that you isn’t a part of who you are anymore. You’re better now, aren’t you? Just like Mob. We all improve, look at how far you’ve come, kid.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I just hope Kageyama doesn’t think about it all too much.”
“He’s all about improvement. C’mon, where’s that usual confidence you have?”
Teru chuckled tiredly, “I suppose it was easier when I didn’t know I had a crush on someone.” The blonde finally gave a genuine smile; they were always brighter than his usual ones. “Thanks, Mr. Reigen. How much for the consultation?” He asked as he began to unzip his bag.
“Mm, take care of Mob for me, and consider it even.” Reigen smiled, "But also, take care of yourself too."
Teru blushed slightly before a sincere nod of agreement. “I will, sir.”
_____________
“It’s rare that you call me randomly anymore,” Shigeo said as he entered Reigen’s office, “Any particular reason?”
“I just thought your friend should talk to someone his age, y’know, talk about things teens should be thinking about,” Reigen said, not even turning to face him as he looked at his phone.
Shigeo quirked his head. While still staring at his phone, Reigen pointed towards the couch. Teru was snoozing on his bag with Reigen’s blazer over him.
“What’s Hanazawa doing here? He usually walks home with me after school today.” Shigeo said as he loomed over his sleeping friend.
“We just chatted, that's all,” Reigen replied, shutting his phone and stretching.
“Ah, seems you guys have been chatting a lot lately,” Shigeo said with a nice smile, “I’m glad he feels comfortable sharing with you as I do. Is he alright?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it, I just thought he could use a familiar face to walk home with him.”
“Hm, he does seem tired,” Shigeo said as he shook his friend’s shoulder lightly.
Teru stirred a bit before opening his eyes. Flinging up his torso and stretching, his mouth also stretching into a smile. “Thanks for letting me nap, Mr. Reigen! I feel much better…” He trailed off after seeing Shigeo standing next to him, “K-Kageyama! When did you get here…?”
“Master Reigen told me to stop by. I was wondering where you were anyway. I was waiting for you to “accidentally” show up at my school today.” Shigeo chuckled.
“Ah…how long have you known?” Teru said with an amused smile. Shigeo’s sass was new yet very fun to experience, even if he did feel a little embarrassed. He was mainly celebrating in his head that Shigeo was waiting for him.
“Hm, maybe on the fourth week or so,” Shigeo said with a hand on his chin, “But you could’ve just said you wanted to walk home together those days. I always like it.”
“Right, right, sorry. I like walking home with you, too. I just…I dunno.”
“It’s fine, feel free to continue meeting me,” Shigeo said nicely, holding his hand out. "We can walk home now if you like.”
Teru grinned and immediately grabbed the hand held out to him, being brought to his feet. “That sounds nice.”
“It’s getting late, you two, might wanna start heading out now.” Reigen said smugly, waving his eyebrows up and down. “Do you know what you’re having for dinner, Teru?”
“Uh, I’m not too sure,” Teru mumbled, giving a confused glance to Reigen, who was simply smirking as he drank tea.
“Oh, that’s right. It’s late, and you’re tired,” Shigeo said as he watched Teru sling his bag over his shoulder. His eyes suddenly sparkled a little, “You should come by for dinner!”
“At…your house? With your family?” Teru asked, eyes wide and cheeks pink.
“Yeah, I’ll ask my mom real quick, but I’m sure they’d be happy. Ritsu will support it too,” Shigeo explained, his smile wide and excited. “I know you’ve wanted to come over for a while.”
“I mean, yes! I’d love to.” Teru replied happily, only now realizing that he still had his hand in Shigeo’s. Shigeo followed Teru’s eyes down to their hands. Teru quickly withdrew his hand and ran it through his hair, chuckling nervously. He picked up Reigen’s blazer and brought it to his desk.
“Thank you, sir,” Teru said with a bow, “I’ll see you soon!”
“Mhmmmmm,” Reigen said, waving them both off.
Reigen had already sent Tome and Serizawa off for the day. And Dimple was annoyed that he missed everything and had come back just to be met with Teru taking a nap while Reigen looked at his emails. It was now completely quiet. Even with one kid moving on from needing his help, in comes another. He just wanted to make sure they could focus on being kids. Reigen did feel a sense of accomplishment when he peeked through his window blinds and saw the two of them chatting it up. As much as he wanted them to be alright on their own, he wanted to hear everything during a future meeting.
“I’m rooting for ya, Teru.”