Chapter Text
"Weird" is not the most accurate description of Teruki's current situation, but it's the one that comes closest to explaining it in one word.
Weird, yes.
It's weird how Reigen tells him to 'sleep well' every time he goes to bed. It's weird how he ruffles his hair everyday when it's time for school. It's weird how he makes lunch boxes for him, and even weirder how he leaves silly little messages in them.
Weird. But not bad.
It makes Teruki's whole body feel warm, like he's stepping into a bathtub that's just warm enough without being hot. Warm like drinking hot chocolate after a cold winter day. Warm like a tight hug and a hand combing through his hair.
Just warm.
Then there's the other side. The other 'weird'.
It's weird how he finds himself staring longingly at the old photo album. It's weird how he's contemplating to call his mother at 3 am. It's weird how he hopes that his mother will walk through the front door and announce that she's coming back.
He believed these thoughts would be long gone. It doesn't make sense why these feelings would be flooding his brain once again after years of silence. The feelings disguise themselves as warm hugs, hot chocolate, and steaming bathtubs but once he falls into their trap, it's all cold showers with icy water.
There is not one word that could accurately describe his situation, but he will have to do with 'weird'.
Kageyama came over to apologize.
Teruki feels guilty about that - Kageyama hasn't done anything wrong. Still, he wouldn't accept an 'it's okay' from Teru.
"If it makes you happy, I completely forgive you," he assures him. He stands up from the spot on his bed to walk closer to Kageyama.
Mob looks at the floor. "It won't happen again. I hope this doesn't make you trust me less, but I understand if it does."
"C-come on! Everything's okay, alright?" he takes one of Kageyama's hands. "I swear, okay? I was emotional and that's why I asked you to leave. I'm not angry."
"If you say so…" a hesitant smile forms on Mob's face.
"Of course I say so!" Teruki returns the smile with much more confidence.
In a rigid motion, one that surprises Teru, Kageyama wraps his arms around Teru.
"Huh?"
"I was just really worried about you, you know? But - but I didn't know what to do." Kageyama's voice is full of relief. "And, and I felt so hopeless! But then Master Reigen approached me and I knew that this is the only way for me to help and I…I-" the words clog up Kageyama's throat.
"Kageyama…" he returns the hug and let's his head rest on the other boy's shoulder. "You're a great friend. You know that?"
He doesn't answer, but Teruki can swear that the hug thightend after that.
The trees are shaking in the cold winter wind. Looking outside the window - it's dark already, even though it's not that late - Teruki is glad to be on the warm side of the glass.
Reigen comes home a little later, his message said as much. Well, now is later and he is still nowhere to be seen. Teruki isn't too worried though, Kageyama and the new employee should be with him. The only thing that's bugging him, is that he wanted to talk with Reigen about something - and Teruki doesn't know if he'll still have the courage to ask tomorrow.
As if he could read minds, the door unlocks and Reigen walks in. His wallet is lighter from treating his two employees to ramen but heavy enough to keep him content.
"Hey Reigen." Teru breaks his gaze away from the window. "What're you smiling about?"
"Nothing much, really. Things have just been great! Business is booming." he stretches his arms, an audible crack coming from his back. A little tired, he sits down on his sofa.
"It is?" Teruki joins him on the couch, already wearing comfy pajamas. He was ready for sleep but he wanted to wait until Reigen came home.
"Yup! Especially with Serizawa on my side-"
"Oh, your new employee!" Teruki still hasn't gained a lot of interest in Spirits and such, but saying that he isn't curious about that new psychic would be a lie.
"You haven't met him yet, right? Well actually, you might have." he puts a finger on his chin. "But I guess you wouldn't recognize him now."
"I met him?"
"Maybe. Probably. He was there during the whole Claw thing."
"Wait, who else was there?" he tries to remember. There where the guys from the old scar devision base, then there were the Awakening Lab kids plus Kageyama, his brother, Reigen, and the redhead kid.
"Uhm… he had curly hair?" Reigen looks at him. Teruki shakes his head. "And he wore crocs."
"I remember him!" Teruki immediately yells. Of course he couldn't have forgotten. There were others there, the no-eyebrows guy, the one with the bird pullover and the crocs man. They all were-
"Wait." it's not that unusual that Teruki didn't think of him as Reigen's new employee, considering- "But he was part of Claw. And really high up at that."
That's right. He came flying out the tower where the plant guy caught him, together with Reigen and the other boy. And as far he remembers, he was one of Claws top guys. Teruki sends Reigen a sceptical look.
"Are you sure you want to have someone like that working for you?"
"Whaddaya mean? Serizawa's great!"
Teruki's sceptical look still doesn't fade. "Well, alright. Just be careful."
"Of course kid, always." he ruffles his hair. "Anyway, something new going on? Maybe in school?"
"Um, actually I wanted to ask you something." he bites his lips. This was enough stalling. He doesn't know if he'll ever ask the question if he doesn't do it now. "This is kinda a weird question, I think."
"I don't mind, shoot." even though he says that, Teruki can still see sweat pool on his forehead.
"I wanted to ask you about your, about your real opinion on - you know."
"Huh?"
"What is your real opinion on my parents?"
It's a question he didn't know if he should ask, solely because he isn't sure if he'll like the answer. Yes, he knows that his parents aren't necessarily good parents but… It's something different to hear another person's full opinion on it.
It's barely visible, but Reigen tenses up. His fingers are stiff and his hands aren't moving like they usually do. "Well… first of all, what is your opinion on them?"
Reigen doesn't know what to say. Or he isn't sure how much he's allowed to say, Teruki guesses. But fine, maybe it's good too, to reflect on his own thoughts. "I think that - them going away was bad," he starts, very, very slowly. "Because leaving your child alone is not good."
Reigen nods, as if he said a correct answer in class.
"But-"
Reigen breathes in sharply through his teeth.
"I don't think they're bad people because - because I know that my parents love me."
Reigen looks at him, something akin to pity in his eyes.
"Now you."
"Alright." Reigen blinks, trying to find the right words. "I can't confirm or deny if your parents love you and… I honestly don't doubt that they may love you but. What they did is unacceptable. The fact that you went so many years without telling anyone is," he stops for a second. "It's of course not your fault that you never told anyone, because you didn't know any better. But the fact that it turned out this way, just screams 'manipulation'."
"Mani...pulation?"
"Yeah. Maybe something like 'I would be disappointed in you if you told anyone' or 'Mom and Dad would be very, very sad if you told anyone'. Or…" he eyes Teruki. "maybe it's more something along the lines of, 'you're so responsible, I'm so glad to have such a responsible son who can live alone.'"
The words slowly sink in while Reigen watches him carefully. But when they do - Teruki feels his chest burn. Or like someone kicked him in the stomach. Something about those words and hearing them come out of Reigen's mouth makes him horribly sick. His nails dig into the couch.
"Shouldn't have said that…" he hears Reigen's panicked whisper as he moves closer to Teruki.
"Manipulation? Is that what that is?" Teruki's voice comes out high-pitched, watery.
"Are you sure you still want to talk about this? You seem to be upset." he tries asking, calmly.
The wound was already opened, better rip it all off now than letting it heal again and delaying it for later. "Please explain it to me."
Reigen sighs. Not in annoyance, not in frustration. "Your parents were setting an unreasonably high bar for you, and since you were young and impressionable, of course you believed them. But once that bar is so high, you don't want it to go down again, right? You don't want to disappoint your parents." he lets the words sink in, before continuing.
"Your parents manipulated you into thinking that this is what's expected of you. Which of course, isn't right. They lied to you. They manipulated you."
"But-" Teruki tries to think rationally about this - which proves to be pretty hard. "I stopped caring what my parents told me at age 12. That doesn't make sense."
"But the seed was already planted. You didn't know how it was supposed to be, so you just thought it was the norm."
"So what, does that mean that I'm delusional?" he asks bitterly. Does that mean he has no idea how the world works? If 'the seeds already planted', does that mean that he'll never be able to know 'normal'?
"N-not delusional." Reigen keeps backpadling on his words, like he never knows what is too much. "And you're already losing that view that you're completely responsible for everything, right?"
"So it can be unlearned?"
"Of course it can! You're proof number one that that can happen!"
"O-okay… I believe you." he nods slowly. Reigen knows a lot about how humans work, right? Probably. If he says that he's gonna be okay, Teruki will trust him. He will.
He excuses himself to bed, but he doesn't fall asleep until later, his mind running miles.
Thoughts about his parents, about Reigen and all the interactions with both skip through his head, and that one word keeps repeating and repeating and repeating itself.
'Manipulation.'
After two, three, sleepless nights, caused by his brain just not shutting up about his parents, he decides that the topic should just be off-limits. When he isn't thinking about all the times his parents complimented him - or as in Reigen's words, manipulated him - he's desperately searching for memories of genuine love. The one he actually remembers can be counted on one finger, but he heavily suspects that the rest are just buried somewhere in his subconscious, never to surface again.
Which is sad, yes. But now it doesn't matter anyway, because he decided to stop thinking about his parents.
If his 13-year old self is able to repress all the guilt he's feeling, it won't be so hard to just do the same again. And as long no one tries to talk to him about it, he'll be fine.
Just fine.
Reigen sits at the dinner table. He's holding up his head with a hand, and a complicated expression shows on his face.
"You look stupid. Did something happen today?"
He stares right through him, mouth half open. "Uhh. Sure. How was school today?"
"Today is Sunday. Also I asked you a question."
"You did?" he looks genuinely surprised.
"You're really out of it. I asked if something happened today."
His face turns red. "Wh- what? No, of course not! Where'd you, where'd you get that idea anyway?"
Teruki blinks. "I thought someone like you would be better at lying."
He huffs in frustration. "I have no idea what's that supposed to mean. Also I'm not lying."
"Sure, I guess." Teru shrugs.
"You - you still don't believe me!"
A laugh escapes him and he turns to walk into the kitchen. Reigen stands up and swiftly follows him.
"Also I found this when doing the laundry," he takes something out of one of the kitchen drawers, if only to change the subject. "Where's you get that? It's ancient!" he asks, holding up a small leather-bound book.
Teruki grabs it out of Reigen's hands and states at it, trying to figure out what it is.
"It was in your hoodie pocket." Reigen clarifies.
"Oh, that's--" Teruki's mouth presses into a thin line. It's his mother's old recipe book. But since her maiden name is on the front, Reigen wouldn't know that, would he? "It's just an old cook book I found in my apartment. I think the previous owner left it there, and I didn't want to just leave it there so…"
"You took it with you?"
"Yeah." it's not entirely a lie, it did belong to one of the old apartment owners. Just not in the sense Reigen's thinking of it.
He opens and looks through the pages. He might not talk about his parents anymore, but it would still be sad to leave these recipes to waste. As he turns the pages, his eyes landing on a recipe for brownies.
Cooking has been more fun since he started living with Reigen, anyway.
Reigen sits at the dinner table. He's holding up his head with a hand, and a complicated expression shows on his face.
Again.
"Reigen."
No answer.
" Reigen."
"Huh?" he looks up.
"Jeez, what's up with you? You've been like this since a week or something."
"Like what?"
"Like this." Teru holds up his hand to his chin, and tries to replicate his stupid expression. "Seriously, did something happen?"
"N-no…" he turns away his head, trying to hide the redness of his face.
Something clicks in Teruki's head and his mouth curl up at the corner. "Oo, does someone have a crush?"
"Don't call it that," he says, in a defeated tone.
"So you have one?"
"It's not a crush! That sounds like I'm in middle school."
Teruki crosses his arms. What other words are there? "So uh. You're in love?"
"Don't call it that either!" he whines. He buries his face in his hands. "God, this is embarrassing…"
"Aw, come on Reigen, I want to know! I won't tease you either!"
It looks like he's contemplating on actually telling him, but then decides on, "I'll… tell you later, okay? Promise."
Teruki frowns. "Alright. But keep your promise, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Reigen waves him off.
That, turns out, seemed to be the last positive thing Teruki heard about that crush.
In his eyes, at least.
Reigen walks into the room, practically dancing. He takes off his jacket with a lot of huzzah, and noisily sits down at the couch, his eyes closed, and a big grin on his face.
It's like he's asking Teru to inspect.
"What's up, Reigen?"
"Oh, nothing-" he says, his tone teasing.
"Alright then, I'm gonna go to sleep. G'night!"
"Wait, wait, I was just joking!" he waves his arms around.
Teruki laughs. "I know. So, what happened?"
"This man," he points at himself, "has a friend."
"Uh, and-"
"A boyfriend."
"Oh." Teruki blinks. "Oh!"
"Yeah!"
"Congrats, Reigen!" He sways excitedly on his feet. "That's great!"
"I know, right? It was already kinda a thing, but we only made it official today," he clarifies.
"But you have to tell me! Who is it?"
He laughs, or more something akin to a giggle, but Teruki doesn't want to call it that. "It's Serizawa! You know, at first I was really worried because I'm his boss, right? And then I-"
Over his rambling, he doesn't see how Teruki's smile falls.
Serizawa? As in, the spirit and such employee? As in, the former Claw member? As in, one of the highest ranking members in the organization?
Reigen rambles on, and Teruki only tunes in again when he says, "I invited him over for dinner in a week, so you'll have a chance to meet him properly! Does that work for you?"
Teruki grimaces. It certainly doesn't, but he doesn't say that.
"I guess," he answers.
Teruki is glaring at Serizawa.
He isn't inspecting him, he isn't trying to form an opinion on him. He's glaring at him and he isn't trying to hide it from either Reigen or Serizawa.
Reigen was the only one to talk during their whole meal, with a few words from Serizaws and utter silence from Teru.
Serizawa offers a shaky smile but Teruki's frown only deepens. He hasn't touched his food for 4 minutes in favor of staring angrily at the man across the table.
It isn't necessarily a good or kind skill to have, but over the years, he refined his passive-aggressiveness and he will put that into use here.
Serizawa tugs at the napkin on the table. "So, um. Teruki, how is school going?" he tries smiling again. Teru's eye twitches.
"Good." he manages to put a glimmer of emotion in his voice, so Serizawa wouldn't be able to call him out on his rude behavior.
"Ah, that's. That's great, yes." his eyes stick to his plate and he's fiddling with the fork. The smile slips away, and instead a- well, Teruki couldn't exactly place which expression it was, but surely not a happy one.
Reigen's eyes jump between the two of them. He sits up a little straighter and takes a deep breath through his nose, managing a small smile. Teruki feels almost bad about giving him such a hard time, but it's for the best.
"Teruki, why don't you tell Serizawa about the new recipe that you found? He's also quite fond of cooking and baking."
The blond boy forces all the muscles in his body to stay stationary. He really wanted a friend or something that shared at least a glimmer of passion for cooking, one of his new found hobbies. But this is neither a friend, nor someone he will talk to again after today, so there's no need to get excited.
He still has to answer though. He settles on, "it's a good recipe."
Awkward silence fills the room as the two men wait for Teruki to continue. Teru uses the time to take a bite out of his food.
Serizawa clears his throat. "Oh, well, that's… that's good. Yeah…" the awkward silence only stretches longer.
Reigen sighs. He leans back in his chair and drags a hand over his face. "This obviously isn't working-" he looks at Teru. "Stop being so passive-aggressive."
Teruki stops in his tracks. He should have known that Reigen wasn't gonna put up with this. Worry builds in his gut, but it's overshadowed by his general frustration and pride. He didn't start with this, just to stop when the gig is up. His head feels heavy, clouded.
So Reigen's gonna be direct, huh? He's not gonna play his game? Well, then Teruki just has to follow Reigen's example. Be direct.
He zeroes in on Serizawa again. "Then I won't be passive-aggressive. Serizawa, I don't trust you. That is all." he slams his fork onto the table and noisily pushes out his chair. He makes sure not to look back when he slams the door to his room behind him, even with the two voices calling out to him.
He locks the door. It feels like the weight in his head is shifting to his legs.
With slow and unsteady steps, he sits down on his bed. He grabs the blanket and hides his head under there.
Maybe that was too much. Maybe he was overdramatic.
Why did he even think that he has a say in this? This is Reigen's life, not his. If Reigen makes a wrong decision, a mistake, that's not on him. And besides, if Teruki keeps acting like that, maybe Reigen will just-
He wouldn't just kick him out, right? He isn't like that, is he?
Reigen didn't seem angry, he seemed more frustrated than anything. But things are still shaky regarding Teruki's situation, and there's Teru's old apartment that technically still belongs to him and…
He shakes his head. It's not something he really wants to imagine, so he doesn't. Instead he tries listening in on the conversation going on outside his room.
The voices are muffled, so he can't really understand what they're saying, but from what he makes out, Reigen seems to be speaking quietly to Serizawa.
There is a small pause, and then shuffling. The front door opens and closes again.
For a second Teruki thinks that Reigen left him alone, but after a short silence, he knocks on his door.
"Teruki?" he simply asks.
Teru hums in response. There's no need to keep up the annoying act. He doesn't want to be angry at Reigen. And he isn't, he really isn't. But why does he have to, to-
"Can I come in?"
He pulls away the blanket from his face and stares at his door. Teru will have to come out sooner or later. With a sigh, he unlocks the door with his powers. "Yeah."
Reigen opens the door and peeks in. He doesn't look angry or annoyed. His mouth is down turned into a frown and his eyebrows furrow together in worry, but there's no frustration.
He leans against the wall opposite of Teru's bed, who sits up with the blanket on his shoulders.
He ducks his head, expecting anything.
"I'm sorry I was so harsh back there. That was mean of me." Reigen looks at the floor, his hands behind his back.
"What?" Teru blinks. "Why? I was being annoying."
"I'm not gonna say you weren't but…" he says quietly, "you're clearly not just doing that to give me a bad time. You have a reason for it. Or am I wrong?"
Now it's Teru's turn to frown. This isn't something he imagined would happen. He still expects Reigen to tell him in a cold, polite tone to leave his house.
Reigen sits down next to him. "Um, so. You don't like me hanging out with Serizawa."
"Not hanging out. I don't like you dating him," he mumbles. It sounds stupid. It is stupid. Why should Reigen even listen to Teruki.
"And what makes you feel that way? Can you explain it to me?"
Teruki's throat closes up. "Because - because he's not trustworthy. He'll, he'll use you and your connections to powerful espers."
"So it's because you're worried about me? Is that the only reason?" his voice isn't patronizing. He doesn't make fun of Teruki's fears.
"Mostly because of… that."
"Mostly? Can you tell me the other reason?"
He shakes his head. No, he can't.
Reigen makes himself a little more comfortable on Teru's bed. It doesn't seem like this talk will end anytime soon.
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you not want to tell?"
"It's stupid."
"Well it can't be that stupid if it's bothering you."
There's this part of him, this horribly petty, revenge-wanting part, that is so angry at Reigen for just - dating a former Claw member.
He doesn't care if he had to work alongside other Ex-Claw members to defeat Touichirou. He didn't care too much when Reigen and Serizawa were just coworkers. There is this certain professional distance that has to be kept with both.
But dating? It's like a punch to the face knowing that Reigen cares so much about someone who was part of the group he hates so much.
"You know that I'm not here to ridicule you. You can talk to me if something is troubling you, especially if it has to do with me."
Well, it's only fair to tell Reigen, isn't it? He can't just tell him half of the reason, because then only half a solution will come out.
"I don't know if it makes sense but… it just feels so unfair that someone who used to be a member of, of this horrible group, is also really close to you, you know?" his voice sounds distant, like another person is talking for him. "E-especially because… he was so high up in Claw."
He can feel Reigen's eyes on him. "So the problem lays with Serizawa being in Claw, right?" he asks slowly, as if he's trying to figure it out still.
"I guess."
"Alright, that's - that's alright. I understand."
"So, you won't date him anymore?" he asks timidly, unsure.
Reigen stares intensely at the wall. Teruki can tell that he's thinking hard.
"You know…" Reigen sits up straight at the edge of Teruki's bed. "I understand where you're coming from. But you have to know that, that Serizawa was a victim in this too."
Teruki doesn't say anything.
"He… before he got recruited into Claw, he was at his lowest. Serizawa told me he was too vulnerable and Touichirou used that against him, of course." Reigen looks over his shoulder to see eye to eye with Teruki. "I'm not saying that all his actions are excused with this but - he was being manipulated."
'Manipulation'. There's that word again. He's kinda sick of it by now.
"Serizawa is a kind, compassionate and caring man. I want you to give him a chance, at least." there is, without a doubt, something akin to fear in his voice. He really doesn't want to give up on Serizawa but also wants to keep Teruki content.
Teru feels even worse than before all of a sudden. Reigen seemed so happy the last few weeks and now Teruki just comes along and acts like he has any say in this, like Reigen didn't take him in just because of his own kindness.
"I will try," he finally says.
Reigen lets out a short laugh. "I'm glad." only now Teru can see the sweat on his forehead. He rubs his eyebrow, a sigh escaping him. "I really am."
Teruki keeps looking at Reigen. He doesn't understand. Why does he act like that? What's he getting out of it? Serizawa is clearly important to Reigen, and the only problem in that is Teruki.
"C'mere, kid. What's still bothering you?" he pats the space next to him. Teruki obglies and crawls out of his blanket.
"Do you want to tell me?" he asks. There's no must for Teru to answer, he realizes.
"No, not really." at least not today. He can ask Reigen another time why he invests so much time and energy into keeping him happy. Instead, he just leans into Reigen, the man's arm instinctively warping around his shoulders, like half a hug.
Reigen frowns but doesn't prod any further.
There's a time and place for everything, and Teruki simply decided that it wasn't the right time.
Well, since he promised Reigen that he will try giving Serizawa a chance, he needs to do it. He may be a sore loser, or someone who is too proud for his own good, but keeping promises is something Teruki can be good at.
Upon being asked if he wants to come with Reigen and Serizawa to the local diner, he impulsively said yes. He really wants to show Reigen that he's trying to get along with Serizawa.
Maybe it won't go as bad as he's thinking it will go. Maybe, maybe it'll be just fine. He crosses his arms over his chest, a swirling feeling building in his stomach.
Reigen told him to meet up after work ended. He's walking alone through the cold winter streets, the sun slowly sinking into the earth. It's not that late but the days are seemingly getting shorter everyday.
He checks his phone again. According to his app, he should be there already. He turns around a little, trying to find the shop in the busy street.
That's when bright orange hair catches his eyes. He joggs up to the two men, who seem to be talking to each other.
This is fine. He's able to do this. The problem was always that he saw Serizawa as a member of Claw, and not as a human with his own morals.
He'll be fine, he'll be fine. Talk to Serizawa like you talk to everyone. He'll be fine.
He catches up to the two.
He won't be fine.
His entire body turns frigid, maybe defensive even. The two turn to him and look down at the frozen boy.
"Hey, Teru!" Reigen smiles warmly, with a hint of confusion and worry hidden behind his eyes. Serizawa tries to smile as well, but he looks more sad than happy.
"Hello, H-hanazawa."
Teruki is still frozen, but he manages to give the two of them a short nod. Reigen puts a hand on his back and ushers him inside the warm building. He pats him twice and Teruki feels himself slowly unfreeze. This is fine. He can do this.
They sit down at a small table, Reigen next to him and Serizawa across. Teruki doesn't realize how wide-eyed he looks, before he catches his reflection in his spoon.
He shakes his head, and takes a few deep breaths. He tries sorting himself out, the outside noise around him turning into static. There's no need to be anxious. Reigen's right next to him - he bonks with his knee against his leg to make sure - so he'll be okay.
He repeats that like a mantra, and only tunes back into the real world, when the waitress approaches them.
She gives all of them a big smile. "Are you ready to order?"
Teruki hasn't said anything since he met up with the two. In a way, it's the same to that first disastrous dinner. Just, the first time, Teruki did all the 'no talking' stuff on purpose. Now he actually wants to join into the conversation, but every time he tries, it's like someone glued his mouth shut.
And it's not like Reigen doesn't try to involve him in the conversation. It's just, the best answers he can manage are a nod, a shrug, a short hum, and a weak smile.
Why is he so anxious? It wasn't like that the last time Serizawa was over. Is there - is there something else?
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," Reigen cleans the corner of his mouth with his napkin before standing up.
"But-" that's the first word that came out of Teruki's mouth this evening. Reigen just gives him a confused look, and when Teru doesn't clarify, he just ruffles his hair and proceeds to go. Teruki looks as he goes, disappearing behind the bathroom door.
His eyes snap back to Serizawa. The man gives him a smile.
Is Teruki scared of Serizawa? Is that it? But why wasn't he scared of him earlier? Is it because-
The man in front of him idles around, taking a few bites out of his foot now and then. He isn't actively trying to start a conversation, but to be fair, Teruki wasn't really open for conversation this whole evening.
"Are you angry with me?" the words tumble out of his mouth before he could stop it. He leans forward in urgency, both of his hands pressed against the table.
"What?" the expression on Serizawa's face is pure confusion.
"Because I - I, because of the. Because I did-" he stumbles over his words.
"N-no, I'm not angry," Serizawa blinks a few times, as if he couldn't understand how Teruki could think he was angry.
"Not, not even a little?"
"I - I don't understand why-"
Teruki sighs and leans back again. "I'm sorry for the other day." he doesn't really know if he should trust Serizawa, but if he's trying to get along with him, that also means that he'll have to apologize. "That was mean of me."
“You think I'm angry because of that?" he asks.
Teruki stares at his plate. He shrugs.
"I mean, I'm glad that, that you apologized but I wouldn't be…angry." his eyebrows are furrowed in worry. "Did I - did I come across that way?"
Teruki shakes his head. No, he didn't, but you never know with people. Some are able to hide their anger pretty well. But upon learning that Serizawa isn't angry, he feels the anxiety seep out of him like a small plastic pool with a hole in it.
"But Serizawa," now that he's actually able to talk, he has to ask something important.
The man hums, a little nervous, uncertain what's to come.
"I have a… a question." Teruki waits a few seconds. He might not be frozen in fear anymore, knowing that no one is angry at him, but he's still not back to his usual confidence level either. "Why do you - like Reigen?" It might be a personal question, but maybe Teruki can find it in him to trust Serizawa when he hears the answer.
"Um." Serizawa needs a second to understand the question, but Teruki can't blame him. Maybe he should've thought of a better way to segway into the topic. "Well. That's, that's a pretty hard question." he laughs nervously. "I'm not that good with… with words but. I'll try to explain?"
Teruki nods.
"Um, so well. First of all, I'm just really grateful that he suggested that I'd work for him. But that's not why I - why I like him." he's looking at a point besides Teruki, his cheeks heating up. "I like him because, because he's kind! And smart. And he, he-" Serizawa huffs in frustration. "I'm sorry, I just can't put it into words."
Teruki's head tilts. "That's okay. It's a pretty hard question, I understand why, why you couldn't…" well actually, Teruki doesn't really understand. If he looks back at his crushes, he remembers being able to always wax poetically about them until his throat turned sore. Not that he had a crush on many people, but in those rare instances… but that doesn't really matter, considering that Serizawa isn't like Teruki, and Teruki isn't like Serizawa.
"If I had to describe it…" Serizawa starts again, not wanting to let go of the question. "maybe it's like, like he's complementary to me, to my traits. It's hard to, to see the good traits in you sometimes but I feel like, with Reigen by my side I'm becoming aware of them more and more everyday."
"Oh."
Both Serizawa's and Teruki's head snap to the side, where Reigen stands.
"A-Arataka!" Serizawa's face is more akin to a tomato by now, his wide eyes looking at Reigen. "How long have you been standing here?"
Reigen's usually dancing hands are stationary, clasped together, making him look like a kid who was caught stealing cookies. "L-long enough, I think."
"Long enough, huh…" Serizawa presses his palms into his eyes. "That's embarrassing."
Reigen sits down at his seat again, taking one hand off Serizawa's face to carefully intertwine it with his own. "You don't need to be - embarrassed." there's a dopey smile on his face. "I'm just glad that you, that you feel the same as I. I also think that you are… complementary to me."
Teruki stares at their intertwined hands. It's weird, he won't deny that. He's never seen Reigen be affectionate with someone like that, and Teru doesn't think he's gonna get used to it fast.
The two are still looking at each other, mirroring the happy expression off each other's faces. It's like they're lost in their own little world, Teru realizes. Serizawa's expression… no actor could replicate that if they tried. It's impossible that he's solely doing this for some bigger scheme.
And despite his own pride, despite him being against Serizawa at first…he can't find it in himself to keep that up.
Even though he doesn't know if he really has a say in it, he decides to accept Serizawa.
They're walking home again.
Reigen insisted on accompanying Serizawa to the train station, but he insisted that he won't mind going on his own, and that the two of them should rather go home earlier than later.
The cold winter night is making itself known with its minus temperatures, but Teruki has thick clothes and psychic powers to keep him warm, and Reigen is too caught up in his own head to notice.
A big, stupid grin is on his face, and Teruki would hate to make it dissappear. So instead he takes out his phone to deal with the slight boredom.
His face lights up when he sees that he got a message from Kageyama.
"Hey Hanazawa :)"
And then, 10 minutes later.
"Oh, you're probably still third wheeling right now?"
Teruki forces himself to keep down a snort.
"Wow Kageyama, kinda rude"
He adds a silly emoji.
"Yeaaaah, I was kinda third wheeling but it was mostly fine!! :)"
He pockets his phone again, not expecting a text back until later. Reigen is still gazing stupidly into the air, but at this point Teruki's afraid that he'll get run over by a car he didn't see.
"Reigen?"
"Huh- what?" he snaps out of his dream world and turns his head to look at Teru.
"I'm… sorry for acting so childish." Teru looks at his shoes, not wanting to meet Reigen's eyes. His pride had been stepped on so much the last few days, but he can handle that. He's trying to be a good person after all.
"What do you mean?"
"You know the whole… thing. It's childish of me to act like I can decide what happens in your life."
"To be honest, Teruki, it didn't come across that way at all for me." a gloveless hand lands on his shoulder. "It seemed more like you were worried for me."
"But I was wrong. And all I did was make you and Serizawa upset."
Reigen sighs. "That, that happens sometimes, sadly. Most of the time you should trust your gut feeling, but there are just times where it's wrong. If it were right every time, there'd be a religion about the 'holy intuition' or something."
"I guess, but…"
"It's normal that you may need more time to trust new people. That's not necessarily a bad thing." he squeezes his shoulder. "Just, don't be as passive-aggressive about it next time, alright?"
Teruki nods. "Alright."
"Now let's get out of this cold, I think I'm freezing to death!"
He laughs. Trusting new people is a working process, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Maybe it'll take longer with Serizawa, solely because he was part of Claw. Maybe it won't.
Whatever it will be, if Serizawa makes Reigen happy, he will try with all his might to trust him.
He will definitely try.