Chapter Text
Everything blurs together. He doesn't know what happened after, doesn't know where he is or how he got there. Voices are yelling, screaming. Is it at him? Maybe.
"Oi! Reigen, we need to get you to the hospital. What happened?"
That is directed at him.
Reigen's eyes start to focus. There's a soft green glow and he slowly turns towards it.
He's slow to respond, still struggling to keep focused.
"What....what happened?" He's not sure. What did happen?
Thinking back he remembers blood. Soft breathing growing quieter, a pulse weakening. His fingers brush against something in his hands as it comes back to him.
That's right. They were in an alley. Two thugs had cornered them. Reigen was so sure of the shortcut but when they turned into a dead end...that was when it went wrong.
He remembers now. He relives it, sees a body underneath his hands. His ear is pressed to Mob's chest and it's quiet. It's so quiet.
"....Mob?"
His heart is pounding, his breathing is quick and shallow.
"Mob. Shit, Mob! Hey!" Reigen grabs his shoulders and shakes him. Mob's head rolls gently. His arm falls to the side, limp. He's not moving.
"Shit. Okay. You're-no. You're not doing this. I won't let you!" Reigen yanks his jacket off. His sleeve is nicked from his fall. It's easy to tear.
He's already undoing the buttons on Mob's jacket, mumbling apologies.
A gasp, a split second pause.
His undershirt is soaked, more red than white.
Reigen grits his teeth, bunches the sleeve at the cut and ties the rest of his jacket around Mob. He's ignoring how little it's bleeding now. Have to hurry, can't hessitate.
"Mob, you dumbass why would you-No. You're not allowed! You're-look don't do this. Listen to me! You can't..." His voice catches, tears start falling. He feels his panic rise, heart pounding, gut sinking. Too slow, too slow he's moving too slow!
He feels for a pulse, a heartbeat. Anything. Just. Anything, he needs something.
But there's nothing.
"Mob! Shit-Shigeo! Please don't-you can't. You can't be-you can't do this!" Reigen runs his hand through his hair. He needs to do something. He needs to do anything.
CPR! Shit why didn't he-
There's a twitch. Reigen sees it. His hand! He doesn't know how, doesn't care. It's something.
"Mob?! Mob you're-"
"Uuuuuugh, damn." Mob sits up. He rubs his eyes and rolls his head, cracking his neck.
"Oh, no. No you don't." Reigen reaches forward, trying to push him back down. "You're not going anywhere till I call an ambulance."
Mob rolls his shoulders, shrugging Reigen off. When did this kid get so strong? Reigen stands up with him. Something is wrong. Alarm bells are going off in the back of his head. Something is very wrong. But Mob was alive. That pushes everything to the side.
"Man, this is weird." Mob's shaking his hands in the air, blood flicking off.
"We need to get you to a hospital." Reigen grabs his shoulds and tries to steer him away.
"Oh, shut up. How stupid are you?" He doesn't look at Reigen. Ignores him as he slowly flexes each of his limbs. Like he's testing, trying it out.
He stretches, a grin instead of a wince. "Wow! Kid sure can take a beating! Most can't take this kinda shit. Kinda refreshing though, gotta admit. Been a while since I've felt pain."
"Stop! Just! Listen to me. We need to get help. You need to-"
Mob laughs. He throws his head back, body shaking. It's loud, raucous and grating. It's nothing like Mob. It's wrong.
"Hah. Get a clue, dumbass. Your kid's dead." He looks up and Reigen finally sees his eyes. They're glowing, red shinning. A grin that doesn't reach his eyes, teeth glinting. Reigen sees the red stains.
"Good job, old man." The thing raises its hand. "You killed him."
It flicks his forehead and he's thrown back. Hands scrape the pavement, he slides into the street.
"Mob! Wait!" He's scrambling up, have to catch him, have to stop him.
It laughs and walks into the dead end, a single wave goodbye. When Reigen reaches the alley there's nothing there. Just a bloody jacket.
Shaking hands pick it up and everything fades again.
He's back in his office. He feels Dimple's stare even if he doesn't see it.
"It's not mine."
"What are you talking about?" Why is he so quiet? Reigen's too quiet and barely talking. He doesn't really care. But it still makes him uneasy.
"Blood. It's not..." Reigen looks down at his hands. His vision blurs, watery this time. But he still sees the dried blood on his shirt, under his nails. It covers his hands and clumps in his hair. "It's not mine."
"What do you mean?"
He's still staring at his hands, doesn't move.
"Reigen. Where's Shigeo?"