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Chapter Text

Artificial blue light filled the room, causing Reigen to blink awake. Squinting, he groped around on his bedside table for his cell phone. Who in the hell...? And when in the hell...?

He peered at the name displayed on the small LCD screen. Serizawa Katsuya.

Reigen paused. He flipped open the phone.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"Reigen-san!" Serizawa's voice came across tinny on the phone's tiny speakers. "You're awake."

"I am now," Reigen said. "What's wrong? Where are you? Do you need help?"

"Ah-- no! I'm okay, I'm fine."

Reigen sighed. "For god's sake, Serizawa, you can't just call someone at--" he looked at the time-- "half past midnight unless it's an emergency."

"Ah, sorry," Serizawa said. "But... it is an emergency. Sort of. I couldn't think of anyone else to call."

Reigen sat up in bed, both curious and apprehensive. "...what is it, Serizawa?"

"...Can you answer your door?"

"What? You're here? Now?" Reigen jumped out of bed. Holy shit, his apartment was a mess. He couldn't let Serizawa see this, it'd be setting a bad example! He started hastily throwing the crap on his floor into his closet or shoving it under the bed. "Why?"

"Just open up, Reigen-san! Please."

Reigen went to the door, quickly stopping to clear the empty takeout containers from the table and put some old mugs in the sink. Wait, did it smell weird in here? He couldn't tell, he lived here. Damnit, Serizawa! There was no time to do anything about it.

Serizawa stood in the doorway, his arms wrapped around himself. Even with his shoulders hunched, he was still taller than Reigen by a good bit. What was he doing, anyway? His body language seemed.. off. He was still wearing his suit, too.

"I'm really sorry about this, but I didn't know what to do," Serizawa said. "See, sometimes at night I like to go for short walks-- it's nice out when it's dark and quiet--"

"Serizawa, please skip to the end," Reigen said, rubbing his temples. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, sorry!" Serizawa shifted his arms. "Well, I found something-- I mean-- uh-- well, look."

He opened his jacket, and Reigen could see that he was holding something close to his large chest. Reigen stared as the little thing... moved.

"Is that..." Reigen's heart caught in his throat. "Is that a dog?"

"Y-yeah," Serizawa said. "I found it on my walk and didn't know what to do. I know you like dogs."

"I love dogs," Reigen whispered, in total awe. Remembering himself, he straightened up and cleared his throat. "Ahem, um. Why didn't you just call me in the morning?"

"My apartment doesn't allow animals," Serizawa said.

"Neither does mine."

The two men exchanged a look. Quickly, Reigen ushered Serizawa inside.

Once Reigen closed the door behind them, Serizawa opened his coat fully and took out the dog. It was closer to a puppy, Reigen reckoned, with how small it was. The poor thing was trembling with fear, claws sunk into Serizawa's arm, but he didn't seem to mind. Its eyes were wide as saucers, and it yawned anxiously as Reigen approached.

"Don't worry, little one," Reigen said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

He held out his hand for the puppy to sniff. It seemed too terrified to even investigate him.

"How did you catch it?" Reigen asked.

"It was asleep between two garbage cans on the street," Serizawa said. "I thought it was probably lost, so I picked it up. It didn't do anything, didn't make a sound."

"Huh." Reigen doubted that this method would've worked for everyone. He had observed before that animals were strangely attracted to espers. Stray cats adored Mob, as did dogs and even wild birds. Once, he saw a robin just... land on the kid's head, and both Mob and the bird acted like it was no big deal. It was surreal.

Reigen gently scratched the dog's chin. It was a Shiba, he reckoned, black with white and brown accents. Its eyes were a watery brown, large and pleading. It was, in short, totally adorable.

The dog licked Reigen's hand. Holy shit, was that not the cutest thing ever? He looked at Serizawa, but the other man just seemed concerned.

"What should we do, Reigen-san?" he asked.

"Good question." Reigen folded his arms, resting his chin on his hand in thought. "We ought to take it to a vet, probably. Can I see your phone?”

“Sure.” Serizawa handed it to him, and Reigen quickly searched for veterinarian offices in Seasoning City.

He frowned as he scrolled through the results. “Huh. It looks like the closest office doesn't open back up until Monday."

"Monday?" Serizawa furrowed his brows. "But-- that leaves the whole weekend! What are we going to do with it until then?"

"Take care of it, of course," Reigen said, handing him back his phone. "I mean, we can't just put it back out on the street."

Serizawa nodded. "You're right. But... how?" 

"Well, it's just the weekend," Reigen said. "I don't have anything lined up. So I can keep it for a few days. I had dogs as a kid, I know how they work."

"That seems like a lot of work, Reigen-san," Serizawa said uneasily. "Can I be of any help?"

"Yeah, of course," Reigen said. He flashed Serizawa a smile. "We'll be dogsitters this weekend, eh, Serizawa? We'll take good care of this pup."

The dog, meanwhile, had fallen asleep in Serizawa's warm arms. Reigen stroked its head and it stirred, apparently unused to being petted. God, that was so sad. After a minute or so of being stroked, the little thing closed its eyes again, as if realizing how nice it felt.

"It seems comfortable," Serizawa said.

"Yeah," Reigen said. "We ought to stop calling it 'it', though. What sex is it?"

"Oh. I hadn't checked." Serizawa lifted the puppy up a little, peering underneath. "Looks like she's a girl, Reigen-san."

"Let's give her somewhere to sleep."

Reigen raided his closet for old sweatshirts and blankets while Serizawa sat down on the floor with the dog. It made for quite a sight, this huge man sitting cross legged, carefully watching a scrawny little dog. 

Once set on the ground, the dog stood up on thin, shaking legs. She looked around apprehensively, and then promptly peed on the floor.

"Puppy, no!" Serizawa scooped the dog up again, holding her far from his body. "Ah, Reigen-san! I'm so sorry--"

"Ah, great." Reigen shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Poor thing is probably scared to death."

He picked up a bundle of old clothes that he wouldn't mind getting soiled. "Here, use these and make her a nice place to sleep. I'll take care of the mess."

Reigen grabbed some papers towels from the kitchen. He debated on what to use for the smell-- surely he had some disinfectant spray around here, right? After digging for a little, he couldn't find any, and so settled on a can of air freshener as a temporary solution.

As he was headed back to take care of the accident, Reigen heard Serizawa speaking softly to the whimpering pup.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," he was saying in a gentle, low voice. "Don't be scared, girl. We'll take care of you. It's going to be okay."

The dog became quiet. Reigen didn't blame her. Serizawa had a very relaxing voice. Reigen was used to filling the room with his voice, and by all means he enjoyed talking, but more and more often he found himself stopping to listen to Serizawa instead. He sighed and got down on his hands and knees to clean up the mess.

After wiping up the puddle and spraying the fresh hell out of it, Reigen returned to the kitchen and pondered the contents of his refrigerator. Obviously dogs needed dog food, but it was one in the morning and he didn't have any dog food. Could dogs eat ramen...?

He eventually pulled out some fish, left over from who knows when, and filled up a small dish with water. That oughta tide her over, right?

Reigen went back to where Serizawa was still comforting the dog. He had taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves. He'd created a blanket nest for the dog and was trying to convince her to lay in it.

"Allow me," Reigen said. He placed the food and water in the middle of the blanket pile. The puppy looked at the food. She looked at him incredulously, then at Serizawa. Then she looked back at the food. Cautiously, she crept over to the dish and took a bite.

Once it became clear that nobody was trying to stop her, the dog ate more readily. Reigen folded his arms, satisfied. "Want to give her a name, Serizawa?"

"Me?" Serizawa looked uncertain. "If we name it, won't we, you know, get attached?"

"We've got to call her something," Reigen said. "We're grown men, we can handle it." Plus, he just wanted the little darling to have a name.

"Uh, okay. Let me think of something good for her." Serizawa scratched his chin and regarded the dog thoughtfully. Reigen didn't expect him to put this much effort into the name, but it was kind of endearing.

"How about Keiko?" Serizawa said after a few minutes of deliberation.

"I like it," Reigen said. "Keiko it is."

He crouched down next to Serizawa, watching the newly-named Keiko scarf down her food. Reigen had imagined she would be hungry, but he was caught off guard by how thirsty she was-- she'd emptied the bowl in no time. When finished, Keiko trotted back towards them. Her curly tail began to wag ever so slightly.

"Ah, she's grateful," Serizawa said with a smile. He held out his hand to Keiko, who sniffed it and then allowed him to pet the top of her head. She leaned in lovingly when he scratched her ears. "I--I think she likes me."

"She has every reason to," Reigen said. "You're the one who rescued her, after all."

Keiko sat, and then lay down, exposing her tummy for rubs. Serizawa complied.

"She doesn't just like you, she loves you," Reigen commented. "Dogs only show their bellies to those that they trust. Kind of like people, come to think of it."

Serizawa laughed. Keiko's tail wagged harder. Reigen joined in petting her, scratching her chest. Her fur was dirty, but she still had her puppy coat. He hoped she didn't have fleas. Now that would be a bitch to clean. 

"Animals are funny," Reigen said. "Show them a little love and they'll follow you to the ends of the earth."

"Kind of like people," Serizawa said.

Reigen paused as his words sunk in. Serizawa coughed. Keiko looked around, confused as to why they'd stopped petting her.

"I should... probably go," he said. "Are you going to be okay with her?"

"Oh, yeah," Reigen said. You don't have to go, he wanted to say.

He obviously wants to leave, he told himself. He's halfway to the door.

"How about I give you a call in the morning to update you on how it's going?" Reigen said. "Or you could come over... to see Keiko, I mean. If you want. If you're not busy. Up to you."

Stop acting like an idiot, Arataka! Just invite him over like a normal person! It's not weird in this situation!

"Uh, yeah," Serizawa said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yes to both."

"All right!" Reigen said, probably a little too cheerily. He scooped up Keiko and followed Serizawa to the door. "Get home safe, okay? It's late."

"Thank you, Reigen-san," Serizawa said, not meeting his eyes. "I'll... see you tomorrow."

He crouched down to Keiko. "See you soon, little one."

He waved awkwardly to Reigen, who, possessed by some demon of stupidity, made Keiko wave back by moving her paw.

As soon as the door closed behind Serizawa, Reigen groaned loudly. Keiko squirmed, so he brought her to the bed Serizawa made and put her down.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said to her. Why was it that he could talk his way out of handcuffs and worse, but when it came to basic interpersonal speaking he turned into an idiot? It was Serizawa, for god's sake!

Well. Maybe that was the problem...?

When he tried to lay down in bed and forget about everything, Keiko got up and began to whine and pace.

"Ah, someone's needy," Reigen said, begrudgingly getting up and sitting by the dog bed. He tried to stroke Keiko to calm her down, but she continued to cry. He watched as she ran into the kitchen and began to scratch at the door.

"What, do you need to go out already?" Reigen looked around for something he could use as a leash for her. An old belt, maybe?

Keiko yipped. Reigen quickly scrambled to pick her up and soothe her. "Shh! No pets allowed, remember?"

He decided to put on a overlarge jacket and smuggle Keiko outside. There was a patch of lawn outside the apartment complex, and he placed Keiko on it.

"All right, you can pee here," he said. "Not in my apartment."

Keiko looked at him, bewildered.

"What, now you don't have to?" He pointed to the ground. "Come on. Do your thing."

Keiko sniffed around for a little while, but didn't pee. Reigen sighed as he scooped her back up again and headed in.

As he went to put Keiko back in bed, he noticed that Serizawa had left his suit jacket hanging from his desk chair.

"Well, now he's gotta come back, right?" he joked to the dog. "You didn't pee on this as well, did you?"

Keiko cried softly. Reigen put the jacket down and sat by her.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly, trying to coax her to lay down. "It's okay. I know you're scared. But you're safe now."

But Keiko got up again. Reigen was trying to figure out what she could possibly need when she went over to where Serizawa's jacket was on the floor. To his astonishment, she laid on it, burying her nose in the folds and becoming quiet.

"Oh," Reigen said. "That's what you want."

An idea came to him. He went over and picked up both Keiko and the jacket. He carefully lay the jacket on Keiko's bed, the inner lining facing up.

Immediately Keiko lay down on it, again burrowing into it, resting her chin on her paws. Reigen closed his eyes gratefully. That jacket must've had some of Serizawa's smell or maybe his esper aura lingering on it. Either way, it was obvious that Keiko was attached.

"Good girl," he said, patting her head. "Now go to sleep, okay?"

Keiko blinked. At least she wasn't crying anymore. Reigen finally managed to flop back into bed at one forty five AM.

Chapter Text

He was awoken again by soft yips at three fifteen, then four forty nine, and finally at five thirty two AM. After the fifth time that Keiko began to whimper, Reigen gave up on sleep entirely. He refilled the water for her and gave her the rest of the leftover fish, which she ate gladly. The sun was just barely up when he took her outside, warily looking about for nosy neighbors who might have something to say about the dog that he was illicitly holding in his home. As he was walking back up with Keiko pressed close to his body, trying to conceal her, he noticed how gross she smelled: like a trash can filled with compost.

"I bet you've never had a bath in your life," Reigen said. "Oh, man, you're going to hate me."

He brought Keiko to his bathroom and put her on the floor while he ran the water, finding a suitable temperature— warm, but not hot. Keiko, intimidated by the sound of the splashing faucet, had curled up in the corner by the door. Reigen petted her generously, trying to coax her towards the tub.

"It'll feel good," he promised. “Come on, it’s okay.”

He picked her up and took her to the bath, slowly lowering her in. Keiko squirmed but he held her firmly until she was standing in the water.

"Good girl," he praised her. "Good girl, Keiko."

He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a washcloth, running it under the warm water. He stroked Keiko with it, until her fur was flattened to her body with water. She looked even thinner that way.

"Good girl," Reigen said softly, gently swabbing the outside of her ears. He methodically scrubbed her from top to bottom, washing off dirt until the water ran gray. Keiko stared at him with big, sad eyes, but he didn't stop until he'd washed to the tip of her tail.

He picked Keiko up and placed her on the tiled floor, but before he could towel her off, she was vigorously shaking all of the water off and all over the bathroom.

"Ah," Reigen muttered, shielding himself from the spray. "All right, well, that's one way to do it, I guess."

He grabbed a towel anyway and dried off the dog and the surfaces of his bathroom. When he was finished, Keiko had turned into a little black and white fluff ball.

Reigen was just leaving the bathroom when someone knocked at the door. He glanced over to his clock; it was six AM on the dot.

"One sec," he called, putting Keiko in her bed, out of line of sight of the door.

"Stay," he whispered to her. She stared at him, and then rolled on Serizawa's jacket, getting it all wet and smelly. Reigen rolled his eyes; he'd pay for the dry cleaning.

When he answered the door, Serizawa was standing there, his arms laden with plastic bags.

"Hey, Serizawa," Reigen said. "Busy, much?"

"Good morning, Reigen-san," he said. "I just went out to get a few things for Keiko."

A few things? He had like, three bags of stuff!

Reigen heard a skittering noise behind him. Keiko had abandoned her bed and ran to Serizawa. She hopped up on her back legs, scratching at his pant legs, tail going absolutely bonkers.

"Ah, Keiko!" Serizawa crouched down and petted her. "It's good to see you too! But... You're wet...?"

"I just finished giving her a bath," Reigen said.

"Oh, really?" Serizawa frowned. "But I bought dog shampoo that you could've used."

Dog shampoo? He hadn't even thought such a thing existed.

"What else did you buy?" Reigen asked.

"Food, food bowls, a collar and leash, dog bags, a proper bed, disinfectant spray, some treats and a couple of toys," Serizawa said, proffering the bags.

"You're joking!" Reigen shook his head in disbelief. "Serizawa, that's a lot of money!"

Serizawa scratched his head sheepishly. "Well... I thought it was necessary... mostly."

He definitely got carried away! Reigen thought.

"Tell you what, hold onto the receipt and I'll cover half of it," Reigen said. "Or we can write it off as work expenses."

Serizawa picked up Keiko. The pup snuggled into his chest, her tail thumping against his arm.

"How was the night?" he asked.

"She slept like a baby," Reigen said with a wave of his hand. "That is to say, she woke up every hour needing something."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Serizawa looked down. "I... I've asked too much of you, haven't I...? I should-- I should just bring her back to my place--"

"No, no!" Reigen shook his head. "Serizawa, don't. It's fine. It's nice to be needed, actually. I feel like a new dad, you know? All... proud, and stuff."

Was that weird? Shit, shit! Recover, Arataka! He rubbed his neck. "And... I think the reason she was so restless was because she missed you, Serizawa."

Serizawa blinked rapidly. "She... missed me?"

"Oh yeah," Reigen said. "She started crying when you left. You left your jacket here, so I gave it to her. After that she slept for like, an hour and a half straight!”

Keiko nuzzled Serizawa's arm, prompting a small smile. Serizawa petted her gently, stroking her head with his thumb. He seemed to be considering Reigen’s words carefully, absorbing their significance.

"Huh," he said finally.

"Yeah, she's totally attached to you," Reigen said. "She probably thinks your her mom!"

"And you're her dad," Serizawa said thoughtfully.

Reigen choked on his spit. He quickly turned away, determined not to let Serizawa see him flip his shit. "Can-- Can I get you some coffee or--or tea, or something?"

"Oh, sure," Serizawa said. "Black coffee. Thank you."

While Reigen busied himself with the drinks, Serizawa knelt on the floor and started to unpack the supplies he'd bought. He replaced the blanket pile with a new pillow, and carefully laid out the new collar and leash. Keiko sniffed the whole ensemble cautiously. Reigen pressed a button on the coffee machine and it started to brew.

"Where did you get all this stuff, anyway?" he asked over his shoulder.

"One of those twenty-four hour places," Serizawa said. "None of the regular pet stores were open at five AM. I had to walk around a bit to find one with a pet supply aisle."

"You were out shopping at five AM?" Reigen asked incredulously.

Serizawa shrugged. "I do all of my grocery shopping really late or really early anyway because of work and school. Also, the crowds aren't so bad."

"Hey, whatever works," Reigen said. "Though, I gotta ask... how did you know what to buy in the first place? Have you ever had a dog?”

"No," Serizawa said. "I just looked online. There are lots of websites about owning dogs."

Reigen nodded calmly, but inside he was screaming at himself. He locked himself in his room for most his life, idiot! Of course he's never had a dog! He just couldn't keep his foot out of his mouth, could he?

"I always wanted a pet," Serizawa continued, unaware of Reigen's mental breakdown. He took out a toy, a stuffed elephant, and offered it to Keiko. "I never had one, though. I was too afraid of hurting it with my powers."

Reigen stopped. He leaned against the wall and watched Keiko sniff and then gingerly take the toy. She didn't seem to know what to do with it.

"The president's son had hamsters, though," Serizawa said, his hands on his knees, eyes trained on the dog. "He really cared for them. The president didn't like it much, but he let him have them. When Shou ran away, they disappeared with him. I... I always wondered if he took them along or if the president... disposed of them... but I didn't ask."

Reigen was totally still. He had rarely heard Serizawa talk about his past, and yet, here he was telling him about his years in his room as well as his time with Claw. It was as if he'd forgotten Reigen was there at all. Reigen bit his knuckles to keep from speaking, not wanting to ruin the moment.

But before Serizawa could go on, Keiko located the squeaker in the elephant's belly. She joyfully bit it again and again while trotting around. Serizawa smiled, and that made Reigen smile too.

Reigen squatted next to Serizawa and picked up the collar he'd gotten. It was cute as could be, purple with little pink paw prints stitched on.

"C'mere, pup," he said, unbuckling it.

Keiko pranced over, wagging her tail. Reigen carefully fastened the collar around her neck and tightened it until it fit just right. Keiko shook her head, unused to the weight. She sat and looked at them curiously, her toy dangling from her mouth.

"Oh God." Reigen clutched his chest. "Holy crap."

"What's wrong?" Serizawa asked.

"I'm dying from how adorable this is," Reigen said. "My heart can't handle it."

He rolled back and Keiko rushed him, squeaking her toy all the while. Reigen grabbed the elephant from her mouth while she was distracted.

"Gotcha!" He tossed the toy across the room. Keiko raced after it.

"All right, now bring it back!"

Reigen clapped his hands. Keiko came partway back, but danced just out of Reigen's reach, unwilling to relinquish her prize.

"Ah, come on," Reigen said. He lunged for the toy, but Keiko backed up at the last second. He moved closer, and she backed up again, squeaking her toy maniacally.

"Seriously?" Reigen said.

"I've got it," Serizawa said, raising his hand.

The toy jumped from Keiko's mouth to his hand. Keiko stared at the stuffed elephant and tilted her head. Serizawa threw it for her again, and she ran after it.

"You know, if she's a stray, she's probably never played a game of fetch in her life," Reigen said. "This is probably the happiest she's ever been."

He clapped Serizawa on the back. "Another case resolved by the famous Spirits and Such Consultation Agency! Good job. Couldn't have done it without you."

Serizawa tossed the toy telekinetically. "She does seem better, doesn't she?"

He looked over at Reigen, a hesitant, hopeful smile forming on his face. Reigen was trying to think of something clever to say when the coffee maker beeped.

"Ah, coffee's done," Reigen said, tearing his eyes away from Serizawa's. "One second."

In the kitchen, Reigen poured two mugs of coffee-- one black, and one laden with cream and sugar. He brought Serizawa his mug.

"Thanks." He paused throwing the toy to take a sip, letting it drop to the ground. Keiko didn't seem to mind-- she grabbed the toy and went over to her old blanket nest, where she lay down.

"Hey, try this instead." Reigen put down his coffee and patted the new bed. She did not leave her pile, evidently not impressed.

"Come on," Reigen said. "This is way nicer."

Keiko looked at him quizzically, as if to say-- I disagree. Reigen raised his eyebrows.

"I think I know what'll get you to lay here," he said.

He scooted Keiko over with one hand and grabbed Serizawa's jacket with the other. Then, he lay the jacket over the new bed. Sure enough, Keiko went to the bed now and lay down on top of the jacket.

"I don't think you're getting that back any time soon," Reigen said. Serizawa nodded solemnly.

Reigen took a sip of his coffee— big mistake. The freshly-brewed drink seared his mouth like fire. He stuck his burnt tongue out of his mouth and waved cool air over it frantically with his free hand.

“Thit!” he lisped. “Hot!”

Serizawa laughed. “Cat’s tongue, Reigen-san?”

Reigen huffed. “You make it sound cuter than it is.”

“It’s pretty cute.” Serizawa picked up the remaining supplies and headed into the kitchen.

What! He looked at Keiko, and pointed to himself quizzically. Did you hear that? he mouthed to her. Did he just say I was cute? The dog dropped her head with a sigh.

He followed Serizawa into the kitchen, where he was unloading a huge bag of dog food.

“Y’know, we only need to feed her for the weekend,” Reigen said. “Unless you expect me to eat the leftovers.”

“This was the only size they had,” Serizawa said with a shrug. “Have you fed her yet?”

“Yeah, but she ought to eat some proper food,” Reigen said. “Here, I have some measuring cups… I think…”

While Reigen dug through his drawers, Serizawa brought out the bowls that he’d gotten. As he expected, they were also ridiculously adorable. Goddamnit, why did tiny paw prints make everything cute?

“Reigen-san, did you have any pets growing up?” Serizawa asked, filling up one of the bowls with water.

“Ah, yeah, two dogs,” Reigen said. “Sacchan and Mochi. They were two of the fattest, laziest little shits ever created. Loved them like crazy, though.” He wondered if he had any photos tucked away.

“Are they… you know…”

“Oh yeah, they died a long time ago,” Reigen said, retrieving the measuring cup. “We had to put Mochi down, and after that Sacchan just wasn’t the same. He didn’t last much longer. My mom always said that he died of a broken heart.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Serizawa took the cup.

“Eh, don’t be. Like I said, it was a long time ago.” Also, he was twenty-eight and he was not about to let his employee see him get upset over the loss of his childhood pets.

“So… you think dogs can have broken hearts?” Serizawa asked, scooping a bit of food into the bowl. At the sound of the kibble, Keiko trotted into the kitchen, her nails clicking on the tile floor. She sniffed the air curiously.

“Definitely.” Reigen set the water dish on the ground, but that wasn’t what Keiko was interested in. “Haven’t you heard that story about that one dog whose owner died, and every day from then on the dog would go and wait for him to get off the train? Why else would he do that, if not for a broken heart?”

He reconsidered. “Unless his master became a ghost. Dogs can smell spirits, you know.”

“Is that true?”

“I swear on Sacchan and Mochi’s graves,” Reigen said.

Serizawa put the food down, which Keiko immediately began to devour like a vacuum. The two men watched her, endeared.

“I wonder what kind of dog she is,” Reigen said.

“What kind?”

“Like what breed. She looks like a Shiba, doesn’t she? With maybe a little something else mixed in.”

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the different dog breeds.”

“Heh, well, neither am I,” Reigen lied through his teeth. In reality, he was very familiar with the different dog breeds. He always got a little excited when he stumbled across a dog show on TV. Fuck, I’m such a loser! “They all look like Shibas to me.”

When Keiko finished eating, Reigen grabbed her leash (which matched her collar… of course).

“All right, house training 101 with Reigen Arataka begins now,” he declared. “No more pissing in the apartment.”

“Why don’t we just take her for a walk, Reigen-san?” Serizawa suggested.

“Good idea.” Reigen looked around for his shoes, at which point he realized that he was still wearing his godawful pajamas. “Well… let me get changed, before we go out in public.”

He surveyed Serizawa’s outfit: his work attire. “Oi, Serizawa, why are you wearing a suit? It’s Sunday.”

Serizawa blinked. “Well, you’re my boss, I thought that if I was going over to your house I ought to dress appropriately.”

And here I am in this weird-ass pajama shirt! Not mention the sweatpants… “I’m not your boss on the weekend, though. I’m just your friend.”

“Friend? Uh— yeah!” Serizawa nodded. “Sure, Reigen-san.”

“And you don’t have to call me Reigen-san, you’re my age.”

“I’m actually older than you, Reigen-sa— Reigen.”

“Exactly, you can call me Arataka.”

“Okay… Arataka-kun. You can call me by my first name as well, if you like.”

“Sure thing, Katsuya.” Reigen kept his voice casual, but he bit the inside of his cheek. Saying Serizawa’s first name felt… oddly intimate. He went to his closet before allowing that thought to develop further.

Usually he’d just change in the open, but with Serizawa there he thought better of it and ducked into the bathroom. It was still a wreck— black and white fur was everywhere in the tub and on the floor. Reigen grimaced and changed into his customary gray suit.

As he emerged, Serizawa was putting the bowls into the sink while Keiko ran back and forth, dragging her leash behind her. For a rebellious moment, he imagined that this scene was one from his daily life— he and Serizawa and a dog, coexisting domestically like this. They’d have coffee and walk the dog together and go to work— maybe Serizawa would stick with Spirits and Such, maybe he’d use his education to get a better job, but at the end of the day they’d end up back here together because— well— because—

“Rei— Arataka-kun?” Serizawa said. “Your buttons don’t match up.”

“Oh, thanks.” Reigen busied himself with the buttons, hoping that Serizawa wouldn’t see the blush that had risen to his face.

Get a grip, Arataka, he scolded himself. You’re getting ahead of yourself.

Yeah, he was, but at the same time— who was the last person that had come to his apartment and called him by his first name? His mom, probably. But besides her— he never had visitors. He hadn’t had a girlfriend or a boyfriend or even a friend in years. (Mob didn’t count.)

“Let’s go,” Reigen said, straightening up. “What’s the weather like?”

“A little cold.” Serizawa frowned. “You think she’ll be okay?”

“Please tell me you didn’t buy her a sweater. That’s where I draw the line.”

“No… I wasn’t sure if she was a small or a medium…”

“Katsuya!”

Chapter Text

Serizawa hid Keiko in his coat as they made their way out of the apartment building. Once a safe distance away, he placed Keiko on the ground, holding tightly to her leash with the other hand. It was a fixed length, not one of the retractable kinds, so Keiko had to stay within a radius of a meter or two. That was a challenge, considering that she wanted to explore every square inch of the path that they were on.

“Let’s walk to the bridge,” Reigen said. Serizawa nodded in agreement.

Walking Keiko was a mess— she either was straining to run off ahead, or she had to be pulled not to fall behind. She stuck her nose into every available nook and wanted to become friends with every other dog that they passed, regardless of whether or not they wanted to become friends with her. About halfway to their destination, she decided that she was done walking entirely and lay down in the middle of the sidewalk, her tongue hanging out.

“Keiko.” Serizawa tugged gently on the leash, but the dog would not move. “Keiko.”

“Just give her a little pull, she’ll be okay,” Reigen advised.

“I am pulling—“

“Serizawa Katsuya?”

Both men looked up. A man in an apron was speaking to them. He was standing right outside of a flower shop, holding a large potted fern. Reigen gave him a once over; he had tired eyes and thin blonde hair that was parted down the middle. He didn’t have any eyebrows— or if he did, they were too lightly colored to see.

“Minegishi?” Serizawa said.

“You know this guy?” Reigen asked.

“We used to work together,” Serizawa said with a grimace.

“You mean with Cl—“

“It’s been a while,” the man, Minegishi, said. He took his hands off of the plant and it floated gently to the ground. Reigen realized he had been using telekinesis to carry it. “I hardly recognized you with the haircut.”

“Ah, yes, well, you know,” Serizawa said. He appeared to be beginning to sweat, even in the cold. “Just… reintegrating into society…”

“I can see that.” Minegishi regarded Reigen with as much judgement as Reigen had just regarded him. “Is this your boyfriend?”

Boyfriend?

“Um,” Reigen said.

“N-no!” Serizawa stammered. “No, no, this is my boss, Reigen-san. I mean, Arataka-kun.”

If Minegishi had eyebrows, he would’ve raised them. “Isn’t this the man who punched Shimazaki in the face?”

“I don’t recall doing that, and if I did, it was self-defense,” Reigen said quickly. He gave a desperate look to Keiko, hoping she’d pull them away from this situation, but she seemed to be enjoying the break from walking and wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

“He offered me a job, and I took it,” Serizawa said defensively.

“What kind of job?”

“Consultation,” Reigen said, at the same time as Serizawa said, “Exorcisms.”

Minegishi’s lidded eyes widened. Reigen cringed.

“You do exorcisms,” he said skeptically. “That’s what you’re using your powers for, Serizawa? Exorcisms?”

“We, ah, consult people with problems that may or may not be related to spirits and offer various solutions,” Reigen said.

“So, fraud,” Minegishi said. “Even better.”

Well, you don’t have to scream it to everyone!  Reigen could punch this guy in the face, that was for sure.

“Arataka’s agency legitimately helps people,” Serizawa said.

“I’m sure it does,” Minegishi said dryly. “You’ve gone from following one conman to another. Some things don’t change, do they?”

Serizawa squeezed his hands into fists. “Please, don’t,” he said through gritted teeth.

Reigen looked at him, concerned. For once, he didn’t know what to say or do. This man was obviously pushing him to his limit, but Reigen suspected he would just make it worse if he spoke up.

“I just don’t want to see you be taken advantage of again,” Minegishi said. “Have you had any contact with the others?”

“No,” Serizawa said.

“With the President?”

“No,” Serizawa said, more emphatically. “No. Never.”

“Good,” Minegishi said. “That’s how it should be.”

He lifted the fern again with a flick of his finger, and sent it to sit next to other various shrubs in front of the store. With another tilt of his hand, the plants perked up, as if watered. Flowers turned their faces towards the street, and leaves became greener and fuller. Reigen recognized that he had the power to control plants— Mob possessed it as well.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Serizawa,” Minegishi said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

He bowed his head, then turned and went back into the store. The plants seemed to wilt a little with his departure.

Serizawa was frozen, his jaw twitching, his hands clenched into fists. He looked ready to tear the awning off of the flower shop with his bare hands, if not with his psychic powers. Reigen put his hand on his arm.

“Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s go home.”

Serizawa’s body relaxed, but his face remained set in a pained expression. He allowed Reigen to take the leash from him as he picked up Keiko and headed back in the direction that they came from.

They walked in silence for a while. Keiko was still panting in Reigen’s arms as he stroked her absentmindedly. Serizawa made her look small, but she was actually kind of heavy. He welcomed the silence so he could focus on breathing.

“I’m… sorry about that,” Serizawa said.

“I’m sorry,” Reigen said. “I didn’t know that some of your… former coworkers still lived here. We won’t walk that way again.”

Serizawa walked with his eyes trained on the ground. He didn’t look up. Reigen knew, because he walked with his eyes trained on Serizawa, trying to read his face.

Reigen sighed. “You know… I think I do remember punching someone.”

“Shimazaki?” Serizawa looked up briefly. “Reigen… you do know that he’s blind, right?”

“Yeah,” Reigen said. “Good thing, too, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get close.”

Serizawa snorted, and Reigen smiled. He put Keiko down.

“Let’s see if she’ll walk now,” he said, tugging the leash.

Keiko walked a few meters, but then sat again. Reigen rolled his eyes.

“I’ll carry her,” Serizawa said, scooping her up. He really did make it look easy. Keiko licked Serizawa’s face; he closed his eyes and smiled a little. Reigen wasn’t sure who made his heart melt more, the man or the dog. He decided it was a tie and kept walking.

Back at Reigen’s apartment, Keiko seemed content to take a nap on her new bed (with Serizawa’s jacket, of course). Reigen ate a quick breakfast, something that had slipped his mind earlier. Serizawa insisted that he had eaten before he came, but Reigen wasn’t sure that he believed him. Regardless, he didn’t press the issue.

“Thank god she’s finally asleep,” Reigen said as he cleaned the dishes. Serizawa had offered to help, but Reigen told him to sit and drink some tea. Washing the dishes together would be a little too domestic, even for him.

“You said she didn’t sleep much last night,” Serizawa said. “You must be exhausted.”

“I think I’m on my second wind, actually,” Reigen said. “We’re free until she wakes up again. What do you want to do?”

Serizawa scratched his head. “Well, I have some homework at home.”

Reigen deflated a bit. Of course he didn’t want to stick around. Reigen was his boss, after all. He probably felt weird sitting in his kitchen, drinking his tea.

“Would it be okay if I brought it here?”

Nevermind! Reigen beamed. “Sure, no problem. I’m just going to, you know, check some emails…” Or just browse the internet when my inbox is empty…

“All right.” Serizawa stood and pushed his chair in. So polite. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Before she notices you’re gone, hopefully,” Reigen said.

Once Serizawa had left, Reigen shrugged off his jacket and undid his tie. He sat down on the floor next to Keiko, who was sprawled on her bed looking quite comfortable. Reigen was envious.

“Ah, what am I doing, Keiko?” he said softly. “I can’t possibly understand what he’s been through. I don’t know why I even try. It’s probably just painful for the both of us.”

Keiko stirred slightly. Reigen scratched her ears, and she leaned into his touch.

“Is it wrong of me to be attracted to him?” he whispered. “He’s my employee, for one. And he just got out of what was basically a cult. And before that, he lived in his room for some ungodly number of years. He’s an adult, but… he’s only really lived in the real world for a few months now.”

He frowned. “Would I be taking advantage of him?”

Keiko sighed, and Reigen echoed it.

“The plant guy was right,” he said. “Even if he did feel the same way… I’m still a conman, just like Claw’s boss. I’m not the kind of person that he needs right now.”

He pressed his lips into a tight line. “Damn it. Why am I such an asshole?”

He resigned to petting Keiko’s belly, waiting for Serizawa to return. The dog happily accepted the belly rubs, stretching on her back. Reigen felt a seam under his fingers— an old scar.

“Hm?” He peered at her stomach. His old dog, Mochi, had a scar in the same place. It was from when she was fixed.

“Are you spayed, Keiko?” Reigen asked. “So… you’re not a stray?”

Keiko just stretched her legs out, nearly rolling off of the bed. Reigen inspected the dog, feeling for irregularities all the way from her back legs up to her head, carding her hair with his fingers.

Around her neck, hidden by her hair, Reigen felt a dry and flaky patch. Keiko tensed and flipped over. She curled up into a ball, regarding Reigen with wide, cautious eyes, and let out a low sound, almost like a moan.

“Sorry,” Reigen said, pulling his hand back. “What was that, girl?”

He hadn’t noticed it when he was bathing her because of her hair. It felt like a scab, like she recently had an open wound on her neck, up around her chin. He was glad that the collar sat low on her, otherwise it would’ve chafed up against it.

Keiko snuffed and curled up tighter. Reigen got the message.

“I guess I don’t know what you’ve been through, either,” he said, getting up and sitting at his desk. He opened his laptop to— unsurprisingly— no emails. There was nothing to update the Spirits and Such website with, either. Business had been slow as of late, not very many cases that required anything besides a few carefully-chosen words and maybe a quick massage.

He decided to browse a local message board, to see if anyone posted a flyer for a lost dog. He was surprised to see that there were a lot of lost animals— not just dogs, but cats, birds, small mammals, even a reptile or two. What was even more surprising were the lucrative rewards offered for locating these animals. 35,000 yen to find an old lady’s beloved cockatiel? What a windfall! Why wasn’t Reigen outside with a handful of bird seed right now? He’d find that goddamn cockatiel—

“I’m back,” Serizawa said, opening the door. Reigen slammed his computer shut.

“Katsuya!” He spun around in his desk chair. “Welcome home! I mean, welcome back to my home!”

Keiko, predictably, went nuts. She grabbed the stuffed elephant and bounded over to Serizawa, who crouched and let her jump into his arms.

“Gee, you’d think that you’d been gone for years by the way she acts,” Reigen said.

“Time goes fast for dogs,” Serizawa said, holding Keiko at arm’s length while she wriggled to lick his face. “Isn’t one year for a dog the equivalent of seven years for a human?”

“So ten minutes is the equivalent of an hour and ten minutes?” Reigen said.

“That would make sense, wouldn’t it?”

He put Keiko down and tossed her toy for her. While she scrambled after it, Serizawa sat at the kitchen table and started unpacking his homework. Reigen picked up his laptop and went to join him.

“I’ve been looking to see if anyone has put out a bulletin for a lost dog,” he said. “I haven’t found any that sound like Keiko.”

“I thought she was a stray,” Serizawa said, opening a book. 

“Yeah, I thought so too, but she has a scar that looks like she was spayed.”

Serizawa furrowed his brows at the word. “Spayed?”

“Yeah, you know, fixed,” Reigen said. “For female dogs, they do an operation where they take out their… I don’t know, reproductive bits?”

Serizawa coughed in discomfort. “That sounds… unpleasant.”

“No kidding,” Reigen said. “Anyway, I can’t imagine that she’d be fixed if she’s been a stray all her life. So it seems more likely that she got lost, right?”

“I guess,” Serizawa said, frowning as he looked down at his his book. He was quiet for a moment, and then looked up again. “You think someone’s looking for her?”

“Possibly,” Reigen said. “If she’s spayed, she could also have a microchip.”

“Microchip? Where?”

“In her skin,” he said. “Nowadays, lots of people get chips implanted in their animals so that if they ever get lost without identification, they can be returned. All the vet has to do is scan it.”

“Wow,” Serizawa said. “So… she probably has an owner.”

“Probably.”

“Well, in that case, they’re not very good,” Serizawa said. “I mean, how do you lose a dog? It’s a living creature! You’d have to be really irresponsible! And what, they aren’t even looking for her? Do they even care?” 

He had raised his voice a considerable amount by the end of his thought. Reigen raised his eyebrows, surprised to see him so impassioned. “Gee, Serizawa. Tell us how you really feel.”

“Ah— sorry.” Serizawa clasped his hands together. His voice went back to normal, but there was a shadow over his eyes. “I just think Keiko deserves better.”

“Agreed,” Reigen said. “Her owners might be looking for her another way besides the Internet. I wouldn’t give up hope.”

Serizawa lifted his head, tilting his face up like he was looking to some higher power. He closed his eyes and nodded.

“You’re right,” he said. “Not giving up hope.”

Chapter Text

The two of them worked in silence, the only noise being the occasional dejected cry of Keiko’s elephant as she chewed on it in the other room. Of course, for Reigen, “work” consisted of checking his email again (still empty) and doing touch-ups on his latest “graphic exorcism,” followed by a lot of pointless internet browsing. Every once in a while, he would look up with just his eyes and watch Serizawa.

Serizawa was a steadfast worker. Rarely did he look up, or check his phone, or sip from the tea that had long since gone cold. His focus was entirely on his work and the careful notes that he took.

Way better than me when I was a student, Reigen thought. But he knew things were different for Serizawa. He wasn’t a traditional student who had time to fool around due to youth. Looking back at his own idle adolescence, Reigen wished that he could give Serizawa some of the time that he’d wasted.

Reigen grimaced at the game of online solitaire that he was currently working on. Hell, I’m twenty-eight and still wasting time.

Serizawa sighed and tapped his pencil against his chin thoughtfully before continuing to write. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he worked. Reigen ducked behind his computer screen— that was… way too attractive. He exhaled sharply.

“Arataka-kun?”

Reigen feigned like he wasn’t paying attention. “Hm?”

“Is something wrong?” Serizawa tilted his head. When he did that, he kind of looked like a puppy himself. “You… kind of look like you’re in pain.”

Boy, am I ever. “Oh, well, thinking about all the lost pets out there… it just hurts my heart, you know?”

“Ah, yeah,” Serizawa said. “Me too.”

Serizawa returned to his homework, and Reigen returned to his pining.

What was the worst that could happen, if he did decide to ask Serizawa out? He could say no, of course. He could quit— ah, shit, how would he explain that to Mob? He’d make something up about another job, he supposed. Mob would buy that. And even if he didn’t, he probably wouldn’t say anything. He always gave Reigen the benefit of the doubt, even though god knew he didn’t deserve it. What was I thinking about, again? He couldn’t even think straight.

Oh, yeah. Asking Serizawa on a date and all the possible consequences thereof. As much as he would hate to lose Serizawa as an employee, it’d be worse to lose him as a friend. That was why he couldn’t ask him. He ought to just be happy to have a friend, and not try to ruin it with his dumb feelings. He stood up, closing his laptop. He needed to get some air.

“I’m going to see if Keiko needs to use the bathroom,” he said.

“Oh, good idea,” Serizawa said, without looking up.

Keiko was laying on Serizawa’s jacket again. She wagged her tail when she saw Reigen.

“All right, let’s see what we can get out of you,” Reigen said. He tucked her into his jacket. On his way out, he saw that his trash can was getting kind of full. Well, while he was going out… He grabbed the bag of trash and headed outside.

When he got outside, he put Keiko down. “All right, go ahead.”

Keiko started sniffing, which Reigen took to be a good sign. He tied off the garbage bag and went around back to the apartment dumpster. He threw the bag into the dumpster, closed the lid again, and headed back to the front.

“Okay, Keiko, I think you’ve had enough time,” he said. “Let’s go—“

He froze.

Keiko was gone.

“Uh, Keiko?” Reigen went to where he’d left her and looked around in the bushes. No black and white dog to be seen. “Pup?”

He looked up and down the path that went past his apartment building. In his mind, he saw how eager Keiko had been to smell/eat/pee on everything on their walk. The only reason that she couldn’t was that they had her on a leash— and she wasn’t on a leash now.

“Oh shit,” Reigen murmured to himself. He rechecked the bushes. He looked around the dumpster, in case she’d followed him. Nothing.

“Fuuuck,” Reigen said, wringing his hands. Had he really managed to lose the freaking dog? In what— two minutes? How far could she have gone in two minutes?

She could still be moving, he thought. Panic began to build in him. She could be far off and getting farther with every passing second. What if she chased a bird, or a stray cat? Who knew where that would take her?

He looked back up at his apartment door. Serizawa was still in there, doing his work, oblivious to Reigen’s plight. But Reigen couldn’t tell him that he’d lost Keiko— he’d think that Reigen was another irresponsible ass, just like the owners who’d lost her first! He’d gotten totally pissed off at them, and he didn’t even know them! Reigen was on his own.

He circled the building, looking low and high for the dog. He looked over and under fences (just in case). He went down the street a block in one direction, and then the other. Oh god, if she crossed the street he’d have a fucking heart attack. Against his will his brain began to conjure up images of a black and white ball of fluff lying in the road. He banished them as soon as they arrived and paced up and down the block again.

“Keiko,” he called. “Come here, pup…”

If I were a dog, where would I go? he thought. He squatted and looked around critically, analyzing the world from a dog’s view. A woman passing by with a stroller looked at him like he was insane. Reigen suspected she was correct.

With every passing minute, Reigen’s heart fell further. He wandered further down the street, peeking surreptitiously into other people’s yards. He went down a couple of different alleys, until he’d almost gotten himself lost.

If only I had something to get her attention. Some treats or something.

Reigen snapped his fingers. Her elephant! She loved that thing. She’d come running if she heard it.

But it was inside with Serizawa…

He scratched his chin. What lie could he come up with? Why would he return to the apartment without the dog…?

Oh, hey, Katsuya. Just ran up to… to…

It hit him. Bags! He could say that Keiko pooped and he had to pick it up. Perfect! He’d be in and out of there in a minute, and he could covertly grab the elephant on his way.

Reigen jogged home, ran up the stairs, and collected himself outside the door. All right, Arataka. Now, sell it!

He opened the door. “Oh, hey, Katsuya—“

His entrance was met with a barrage of squeaking. Keiko trotted out to meet him, chewing her toy. Reigen blinked, stupefied.

“Hi, Arataka-kun,” Serizawa said, casual as could be. “I was wondering where you were. Keiko was scratching at the door so I let her in.”

She went back to the apartment? Reigen’s eye twitched.

“Oh, I was just coming up to let her in myself,” he said, quickly recovering. “She’s fast, eh? Good thing I kept my eyes on her!”

He glared at Keiko, who innocently squeaked her toy.

Some time later, Serizawa set his pencil down. “What time is it?”

Reigen checked his computer. “About half past noon.”

“Ah.” Serizawa rubbed his jaw. “Feels later.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.” Reigen stretched in his chair. He was feeling the lack of sleep right about now. “You hungry? We could grab some lunch.”

“Good idea,” Serizawa said. “What do you want? I’ll go get it.”

“No, no,” Reigen said, waving his hand. “You’ve gone out enough. I’ll get it.”

“Please, I insist.”

“You’re my guest.”

“You’re obviously exhausted. Let me go.”

“You know what?” Reigen snapped his fingers. “Let’s go together.”

You’re a genius, Arataka, Reigen thought to himself. He’d basically asked Serizawa on a date! Granted, he hadn’t actually implied any feeling besides friendship, but he had to start somewhere, right?

But Serizawa looked uncertain. “And leave Keiko alone?”

“We’ll only be gone for like, fifteen minutes,” Reigen said, continuing to wave his hand. “There’s a MobDonald’s three blocks away. It’s a five minute walk, tops.” He knew because he walked there quite frequently when he was looking for something super cheap to take home.

“I don’t know—“

“And besides, she’s asleep!” Reigen went on, his gestures becoming even faster. He pointed to where Keiko was sprawled on her bed, napping. “She won’t even know that we left.”

He put his hands on his hips. “So, what do you say?” 

Serizawa closed his book. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. Why not, right?” 

“Why?” Reigen moaned. “Keiko, why?”

Serizawa clutched the bag of food to his chest, surveying the damage. In the fifteen minutes they were gone— Reigen had estimated the time correctly— Keiko had terrorized Reigen’s apartment. The curtains to the balcony were shredded, as well as the pillow from his bed, and scraps of fabric were everywhere. The trash can by his desk was overturned, so the floor was strewn with crumpled papers and old napkins. There were teeth and claw marks on the door, as well as scratch marks on the carpet. A pair of Reigen’s shoes had been mutilated and left in a suspicious puddle.

Defeated, Reigen knelt on the ground. Keiko, oblivious of the distress she had caused him, trotted around him, trying to lick his face. Serizawa just shook his head.

“I guess we shouldn’t have left her alone,” he said.

“Reigen, you are truly an idiot,” Reigen muttered. “How can one little dog cause this much destruction, huh? She only weighs twenty pounds, for crying out loud!”

He shook his head. Keiko paced in front of him, confused as to why he wasn’t paying her any attention. She whimpered, pawing at him.

Serizawa awkwardly patted Reigen’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Arataka-kun. I’ll help you clean up.”

Keiko yelped softly. Reigen sighed and begrudgingly stroked her ears. “Thanks, Serizawa.”

He narrowed his eyes at the dog. “I shouldn’t even be petting you right now.” But he continued to scratch her head. She was beginning to sound sorry, anyway.

“You’re not mad at Keiko, are you?”

“Nah.” Reigen got to his feet. “It’s my fault for leaving her alone. I should’ve considered that she might have separation anxiety.”

“Separation anxiety?”

“Some dogs don’t like to be left alone,” Reigen said. “When they can’t be with their owners, they get upset. Sometimes they destroy stuff.”

Reigen winced as Keiko yelped again. Serizawa didn’t say anything. He put the food on the table and bent to pick her up. He walked with her over to the balcony, cradling her against him like a baby. Her whimpering stopped as she burrowed into Serizawa’s thick arms.

“Oi, don’t go praising her, now,” Reigen said, following him. “I know I said I wasn’t mad, but this isn’t the type of behavior that we ought to encourage…“

He trailed off, seeing Serizawa illuminated from behind by the light from the balcony in such a way that he seemed to glow. He spoke in a low voice to the dog that he held so carefully. Reigen bit his lip and listened.

“It’s okay, Keiko,” he was saying. “I know. I know.”

Reigen opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. At least they’d thought ahead and gotten disinfectant spray.

Chapter Text

He and Serizawa cleaned up and ate their lunches, after which Reigen refilled Keiko’s food bowl. She was less ravenous than before, but still eating well. He was just thankful that she wasn’t destroying anything.

“What a day,” he said. “I need a smoke.”

He fished in his jacket pocket for his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Luckily, he still had a few left. He went out on the balcony and started to light up.

Suddenly, the lighter was plucked from his fingers by an invisible force.

“Oi, Katsuya!” Reigen turned around to see Serizawa pocket his lighter. “What’s the big idea?”

“You probably shouldn’t smoke around the dog, Arataka-kun,” Serizawa said.

“That’s why I went outside!”

“You’ll bring the smoke in on your coat.”

“I’ll take my coat off.”

“Then it’ll just stick to your shirt!”

I guess I’ll just have to lose the shirt, then, Reigen thought, suppressing a smirk. He kept that to himself.

“Can I have my lighter back?” he asked.

“You don’t smoke in the office, do you?”

“No, I keep the office smelling like lavender. It helps relieve tension. Also, I’d hate for Mob to breathe in secondhand smoke, it’d be bad for his health.”

“What about your health?”

Reigen shrugged. “I’ve more or less accepted the fact that my internal organs are going to completely shut down by the time I’m forty.”

“Arataka!”

“That’s not meant to be morbid. Really, I’m at peace with it.”

“Reigen-san.” Serizawa’s voice became serious. “Don’t say that. You’ve still got a lot of people to help.”

Reigen rolled the cigarette between his fingers. Countless people had told him to quit over the years— his mom (more than once), former coworkers, the other patrons at the bar, even Mob’s little brother. Each of them had said that he was shortening his lifespan (except for the little brother, whose objection was that Mob could pick up the habit, which Reigen knew he never would). None of them had really said why he ought to try and live long.

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “You can’t help everyone.”

“But you have to help who you can,” Serizawa said.

Reigen turned around. Serizawa was crouched down, scratching Keiko’s back with intense focus. The dog rubbed against his legs in adoration, tail thumping against his knee.

You have to help who you can. Reigen wouldn’t consider what he did to be ‘helping’ people. He was helping lighten their wallet, maybe. He thought of himself as more of a conductor for the people who really were doing good— people like Mob and Serizawa. The difference between him and them was greater than just powers. Reigen was confident that powers didn’t really give you any particular advantages; he’d seen them be disadvantageous more often, in fact. No, it wasn’t the fact that they were espers— it was the fact that they were kind, truly and selflessly kind, expecting nothing in return. Reigen didn’t think he was a bad person, but he wasn’t that kind of person. Without them, what help could he really be?

He sighed and pushed the cigarette back into the package. As long as he wasn’t doing bad… he could live with himself, he supposed.

As he came back inside and shut the door behind him, Keiko surprised him by leaving Serizawa, her clear favorite, and coming to him for pets instead.

“Hey.” Reigen scratched the top of her head. “I guess I’ll hold off smoking for you.” Even if it made him a little jittery.

Reigen took a seat on the edge of his bed, which also served as a couch in his small apartment. Keiko followed him, pawing at his pant leg. She looked at the bed and then at Reigen with pleading eyes.

“Ah, what the hell,” Reigen said. “Jump up here. You already ate my pillow.”

Keiko did so, hopping up onto the low bed. She stood on Reigen’s lap in order to lick his face. He pushed her off gently, turning his face away.

“Dog breath,” he said.

He scratched Keiko’s back right at the base of her tail. She wiggled happily and rolled onto her back for belly rubs, which Reigen provided. Her tummy was soft and warm, the hair there somewhat finer than elsewhere on her body.

“Still like Serizawa more?” he asked her.

Serizawa blushed. “She doesn’t like me more.”

“I don’t know, you’ve got a way with her.”

“So do you,” Serizawa said. “Look at her. She’s in heaven.”

Keiko’s tail wagged in agreement. Reigen grinned and scratched under her chin.

“Look at this dog,” he said, half to himself. “What a great dog!”

“She is pretty special.” Serizawa came over and sat on the other side of Keiko, whose whole body began to wag with the force of her tail. He stroked her ears, a little smile playing on his face. She rolled onto her side, pushing her paws out towards Reigen and her back up against Serizawa, wedging herself firmly between them.

“I think she likes us both,” Reigen said. Serizawa laughed.

He couldn’t help but notice how close Serizawa was, only the small Keiko separating them. He could feel his warmth, hear the soft huff of air as he breathed. While they were both petting her, their hands briefly overlapped.

Reigen snatched his away, feigning a cough. He sneaked a look at Serizawa to see if he’d noticed. To his horror, Serizawa was looking at him with a bemused expression. Once their eyes met, Reigen couldn’t look away.

Holy shit, this is so dumb! he thought. Why was his heart racing? Why were his palms getting clammy? He felt like a stupid teenager with a crush. You’re going to freak out because your hand accidentally touched his? Really, Arataka? Really?

“How’s school going?” he blurted out, pulling his eyes away. “Must be a lot of work.”

“Oh, yeah.” Serizawa nodded, like nothing had just happened. “I like being busy, though. It makes me feel like I’m on track to accomplishing something.”

“Ah, yes,” Reigen said. “I try to keep busy myself—“

That’s totally not true! Don’t just try to relate to him with empty words! The problem was, that was how he usually related to people, mostly clients. It enabled him to ingratiate himself with them and gain their trust. But he didn’t want to do that to Serizawa.

He sighed. “Actually. I do nothing a lot.”

“That’s okay,” Serizawa said. “After all, you’ve already made something of yourself. I’m still becoming part of society.”

“I’d say you’re doing pretty well,” Reigen said. “I mean, you have your own place, you’ve got a job, you’re independent— that’s really all there is to being part of society.”

He gestured to Keiko. “Heck, you’ve even got a dog! Temporarily.”

“I want to contribute to society, though,” Serizawa said. “I want to find something that I’m good at and use it for a good purpose.”

“What about your powers?” Reigen asked. “You can use those.”

Serizawa’s face darkened a little. “I didn’t earn my powers,” he said. “For most of my life, I didn’t even know how to control them. And when I did, I didn’t use them for good. I know it may seem foolish, but… I need to find something else, build some other skill. I want to have a good quality besides just the fact that I have these abilities… I’m just not sure what that quality is yet.”

I know what it is, Reigen wanted to say. It’s that you bring home stray puppies and give them food and shelter and love. It’s that you like to watch the clouds in the sky, or the water in the river, or the people on the street, and you wish them all well as they pass by. It’s the very fact that you want so badly to be good, and you don’t even know how good you already are— that’s what you have. That’s why I—

“You’re good with animals,” is what he said instead.

Serizawa cocked his head. “…you think so?”

“Yeah!” Reigen grinned. He had to commit to it now— 100%, the Reigen Arataka way. “You’ve been so good with Keiko, and look how much she loves you! That’s a gift.”

“Huh,” Serizawa said, petting the dog. “I… guess so.”

Reigen yawned. “Geez, I guess it’s time for more coffee.” He moved to get up. “Want anything, Katsu—“

Suddenly, an arm flew across his chest, bracing him. “Arataka-kun, wait.”

Reigen sank back down, surprised by the touch. Did he have something he wanted to say? Did he… want Reigen to stay? “What is it?” 

Serizawa’s eyes were fixed on Keiko. The dog was stirring slightly, but after a moment she settled back to sleep.

“Sorry,” Serizawa said. “I just… don’t want her to wake up. If you get up…”

He pulled back his arm sheepishly. “Sorry.”

He was thinking about the dog! If that wasn’t the cutest thing ever…

“You’re right, you’re right,” Reigen said, leaning back against the wall. “It’s all right. I don’t mind sitting here. I might fall asleep myself, though.”

“Was your night really that rough? I’m sorry.”

“I mean, I wasn’t expecting it to be easy,” Reigen said. “To be honest, I’m getting pretty good at babysitting. Did I tell you what I spent New Year’s doing?”

“No, what?”

Reigen chuckled. “I took Mob and his friends on a search for aliens.”

Serizawa smiled. “And how did that go?”

“We found them.”

“All right, Arataka-kun.”

“You think I’m joking.” Reigen raised his eyebrows. “I’m not.”

“About… finding aliens?”

“Yeah,” Reigen said. “We met actual aliens.”

Serizawa blinked. “You’re… serious?”

“Yeah. So taking care of a dog for a couple of nights is no big deal to me.”

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes while Serizawa continued to look stunned.

“So… aliens are real?” he asked.

“Yeah, apparently.”

“Huh. You have a… very interesting life, Arataka-kun.”

“Yeah. I guess I do.”

Chapter Text

Reigen had intended to close his eyes for just a moment, just to soothe the ache in them. But when he opened them again, the world outside his apartment had gotten considerably darker.

“Fuck,” he muttered, rubbing his face. His mouth tasted like old socks. What was he doing…?

When he tried to get up, a weight on his lap reminded him. He looked down to see Keiko sprawled over his legs (which were beginning to become numb). She was fast asleep.

“Ah, me too,” Reigen said, scratching her ears. She gave a low, contented sigh and yawned. If she’s here… where’s Serizawa?

Did he leave? Reigen wondered. He couldn’t blame him. He was sure that Serizawa was tired of hanging around here. Especially if Reigen had fallen asleep— god, what kind of host was he? He’d allowed himself to become too comfortable, too familiar. He’d—

“Arataka-kun?” Serizawa poked his head out from behind the partial wall that separated the rooms in Reigen’s apartment.

Reigen blinked. He hadn’t left.

“Hey,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Sorry for dozing off like that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Serizawa said. “You and Keiko make quite a pair. I think she was just as tired from staying up all night as you were, Arataka-kun.”

Reigen stretched his arms above his head, careful not to disturb Keiko. God, he felt like he was made of wood with how stiff his joints were! He wanted to stretch his legs out too and get some feeling back in them, but he wasn’t about to move and wake up the dog. “What time is it, anyway?”

“About five.”

Five? Holy shit, he slept for a long time! “Fuck, I’m so sorry. That was totally rude of me. You could’ve woken me up.”

“No, it’s okay,” Serizawa said. “You needed the rest, and so did Keiko. I’m not offended.”

“You, uh.” Reigen coughed. “You didn’t have to stay, either.”

“Oh, well.” Serizawa looked everywhere but at Reigen. “I… didn’t want Keiko to… get upset or anything. I wanted you— you and the dog— to rest.”

“Well, then… thanks,” Reigen said. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Ah— sure! N-no problem!” Serizawa ducked behind the wall again, disappearing back into the kitchen.

Reigen sighed and continued petting Keiko. Her little body put out so much heat, consuming so much energy even as she slept. It amazed him how non-stop young animals and children could be. He was only twenty eight, so his youth wasn’t that far behind him, and yet he couldn’t remember the last time he felt like he really had a lot of energy. Well, there was that one time at the Seventh Division— but that didn’t really count, since that energy was given to him by Mob. He’d also felt pretty shitty afterward, once he’d gotten the kids home safe. It was obvious that his body wasn’t cut out to handle psychic powers. Or much of anything else. When was the last time he went to the gym…?

He carefully maneuvered the dog off of his lap, laying her down on his bed. She’d slept enough, he reckoned, so if she woke up now it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Sure enough, Keiko blinked awake as he got up. She yawned again, her pink tongue curling, and hopped down from the bed to follow him into the kitchen, where Serizawa was sitting at the table.

“Did you get all your work done?” Reigen asked, nodding to his bag on the floor.

“Yeah, a while ago,” Serizawa said.

“So…” Reigen took a seat across from him and leaned back in his chair. “What have you been doing for the past few hours?”

“Oh, well.” Serizawa shrugged. “Just… thinking, I guess. Looking out the window, sometimes. I’m very good at keeping myself occupied.”

“You hungry at all? ‘Cause, I kinda am.”

“Yes, a little,” Serizawa said. “What should we do? We can’t leave Keiko.”

“Yeah, we learned our lesson there,” Reigen said, scratching his chin.

“I can go out and get something for the both of us—“

“No, you’ve already spent enough of your paycheck,” Reigen said. “I can always make something.”

He got up and peered into his refrigerator. He knew he had plenty of rice, but what else was there…?

“You don’t have to do that,” Serizawa said.

“Nonsense,” Reigen said, waving his hand. “Consider it an apology for falling asleep on you.”

“That’s all right, it was only for a few minutes.”

Reigen paused. “Huh?”

“That you were asleep on me,” Serizawa said, patting his shoulder.

Eh? He actually fell asleep on Serizawa? Fuck! Reigen wanted to slam the refrigerator door on his head. Holy shit, he’d never been so embarrassed in his life! He stuck his head further into the fridge, hoping that the cool air would reduce the redness in his face. He spotted some eggs near the back.

“How’s omurice sound?” he asked without looking back, his voice constricted.

“Oh, I love omurice,” Serizawa said, brightening. At least I got something right.

“All right, great,” Reigen said. He finally managed to tamp down his mortification enough to pull his head out of the refrigerator, and he flashed Serizawa a smile. “Give me twenty minutes.”

Serizawa took another bite. “This… isn’t bad, Arataka-kun.”

“Eh?” Reigen looked up. “You think so?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I don’t usually cook for others,” Reigen said. “You sure that your tastebuds are working?”

“No, it’s actually rather good,” Serizawa said.

Keiko sat expectantly at Serizawa’s feet, her tail wagging. Serizawa went to give her a spoonful, but Reigen waved his hand.

“Oi, don’t do that,” he said. “People food is bad for dogs. Plus, you’ll teach her to beg.”

Serizawa looked at Keiko, and then at Reigen. He gave her the spoonful anyway. Reigen couldn’t help but laugh. Finishing his plate, he got up to feed Keiko something suitable for dogs.

After dinner, Serizawa insisted on helping Reigen clean the dishes. Reigen washed while he dried.

“We should take Keiko out again,” Reigen said.

Serizawa paused. “Another walk?”

Unlikely, after what happened that morning. “There’s a park nearby. Why don’t we take her there?”

“Do you think she’d like that?”

“Oh yeah,” Reigen said, rinsing off the last plate. “We’ll let her off the leash and she can run around as much as she wants. She’ll have a field day.”

He handed it to Serizawa to dry. He was looking down, smiling with the drying rag in his hand.

“Good,” he said. “I want her to have the best day ever.”

Reigen nodded, smiling himself. “Yeah. Let’s give her the best day of her life.”

With everything put away, Serizawa clipped Keiko’s collar on while Reigen got her leash.

“Good girl, Keiko,” he said.

“Will you carry her out?” Reigen asked.

“Sure.” Serizawa picked up the dog and pulled his jacket around her. She squirmed a little, but then settled.

The three of them quickly left Reigen’s apartment. Once they were out of sight of the block, Serizawa let Keiko walk on her own. She seemed excited to be back outside, running back and forth, sniffing everything that she could.

“Nothing like a little bit of fresh air,” Reigen commented.

“It is really nice out,” Serizawa said. “I don’t usually go for walks during the daytime.”

“You go at night?”

“Yeah,” Serizawa said. “That’s how I found Keiko.”

“You mentioned that. But why?”

Serizawa looked up. There were a few clouds passing by. “I like when it’s dark and nobody’s out. It feels like the whole world belongs to you… like the sky is showing you something special, something that nobody else will get to see.”

Keiko stopped to sniff a tree. They waited while she dutifully peed next to it, marking it as her own.

“That sounds nice,” Reigen said.

“You should come with me sometime,” Serizawa said.

He and Keiko continued walking. Reigen busied himself with trying to suppress the actual heart attack that he was having.

“Arataka-kun? Is everything all right?”

Reigen made an effort not to twist up his face. “Oh, yeah! Just… enjoying the day.” He hurried to catch up with them.

They made it to the park: a nice expanse of green grass with a few benches here and there. There weren’t very many people out now, since it was getting to be late. Once they found a bench in a good place under a tree, Reigen bent over to let Keiko off of her leash.

“Is that a good idea?” Serizawa asked uncertainly. “She could get lost.”

She won’t go far, Reigen thought. He knew from experience. “We just gotta keep an eye on her, right? If she gets too far, you can bring her back in with your powers.”

“My powers?” Serizawa frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt her accidentally.”

Reigen turned to him, looking him right in the eyes. “Katsuya, you’re not going to hurt her. Your control on your powers is ten times better than it used to be, plus you really care about Keiko. She’ll be safe if you want her to be.”

Serizawa blinked, and then nodded quickly. Reigen unhooked Keiko’s leash.

At first, she didn’t seem to know what to think. She went between Reigen and Serizawa, looking at them expectantly.

“Why don’t you throw something for her, Katsuya?” Reigen said.

“Like… what?”

Reigen looked around. He spotted a stick lying on the ground. “Dogs like sticks, right?”

He crouched down and offered the stick to Keiko, whose tail began to wag enthusiastically. “Hey, Keiko! Look at this! New toy!”

Keiko lunged for the stick, but Reigen held it just out of her reach. “You want it? Go get it!”

He threw it as far as he could—not very far, but it was fine. Keiko sped after it, tripping over herself to pick it up and run back.

“All right, now give it here,” Reigen said. He went to take it, but Keiko scooted back just far enough that he couldn’t grab it. Her whole body wiggled along with her tail.

“Again with this?” Reigen said. Serizawa laughed as he tried again, almost falling on his face when Keiko sidestepped.

He sighed. “You two are mocking me.”

“Sorry, Arataka-kun,” Serizawa said. “We should try to teach her some obedience.”

He telekinetically brought the stick to his hand. Keiko chased after it, jumping up on Serizawa to try and grab it.

“Sit, Keiko,” he said, holding it up. “Sit.”

Keiko tilted her head one way, then the other. Reigen pushed her butt down to help her out.

“There, she did it,” he said. “Good girl, Keiko!”

“Good enough,” Serizawa said. He reached into his pocket and gave something to Keiko. She hopped with excitement, slobbering all over Serizawa’s hand as she readily ate what he held out to her.

“Hey, you got treats for her too?” Reigen asked. Gee, he spoils her.

“Yeah,” Serizawa said. “I think it’ll help her learn.”

He wound back and threw the stick. It flew way farther than it did when Reigen threw it, and Keiko tore after it. Reigen whistled, impressed.

“Nice throw,” he said. Although anything looks impressive after my wimpy attempt!

Again, Keiko brought the stick back— almost. Serizawa held out a treat for her to see, trying to bait her into coming closer, but instead she just dropped the stick where it was and ran to eat up the treat.

“Sit,” Serizawa instructed. He brought the treat slightly above her head. As her eyes followed it, Keiko’s butt automatically went down and she sat.

“Good girl!” He gave her the treat. “Want to go get the stick again?”

But she’d forgotten about the stick. She just wanted treats, now. She stood up and sat down again multiple times, hoping that he’d reward her.

“What else can you teach her?” Reigen asked.

“I don’t know,” Serizawa said. “How about— down, Keiko.”

He gently pushed her until she was laying on her side. Then, he gave her the treat. After a few repetitions of this, she was able to do it on command.

“She’s a prodigy,” Reigen said.

“She is pretty smart, isn’t she?” Serizawa said. “It only took her a few tries to get it.”

The two of them sat on the park bench while Keiko chewed on her stick, tearing off strips of bark. The sun was beginning to set in the west, tinting the sky a warm orange as it slowly fell. Reigen sneaked a look at Serizawa. He looked so beautiful as the sun faded, the lines on his face smoothed over with buttery light, his short dark curls aglow. It was times like this when Reigen was most attracted to him: when he quietly held his head up, suggesting the incredible strength that thrummed under his skin. He wanted nothing more than to lay his hand on that skin, a couple of shades darker than his own, and feel how the light warmed him so generously— as if it, too, loved him. He wanted to feel that strength of his. There was so much power bound up in his body, in every twitch of muscle and every fleeting thought. It didn’t seem right for one man to bear that burden. That was why Reigen longed to touch him, to tell him that he didn’t have to do it alone.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Serizawa asked. “With Keiko?”

Reigen looked away. “We’ll take her to the clinic first thing. After that, it depends on whether or not she has an owner.” 

“What if she doesn’t?” Serizawa asked.

Reigen sighed. “I guess we’ll have to take her to a shelter.”

They were quiet for a moment, the only sound being Keiko’s determined chewing as she reduced her stick to splinters.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Serizawa said quietly. “Even though she’s done nothing wrong, she may still end up in a shelter.”

“It’s not,” Reigen said bluntly. “But life’s not fair.”

Serizawa lowered his head. “I guess not.”

His voice sounded so defeated. Reigen grimaced.

“What matters is that we made her happy for a little while,” he said. “Look at her. She’s having the best weekend ever. She won’t forget that.”

Keiko briefly looked up at them, tail wagging, and then returned to destroying her prize.

“I suppose,” Serizawa said. “Although— don’t you ever worry that, when things are good… that it’ll only be worse when they get bad again?”

“How do you mean?”

“If you’re happy for a little, and then go back to being unhappy, wouldn’t you be better off if you were never happy at all?” Serizawa asked. “Because if you can remember what it was like to be happy, you’ll miss it. And you’ll suffer more.”

Reigen folded his hands thoughtfully. “I don’t know. I think the good times can help you get through the bad times. And the reverse is true, too— if you’ve suffered, you’ll know how good it is to be happy. You’ll appreciate it more.”

Serizawa nodded slowly along with Reigen’s words, eyes never leaving Keiko. She was now chewing quietly on her stick, the end of her tail twitching. She seemed perfectly happy. Reigen envied her a little bit, actually (and not just because she got a lot of attention from Serizawa). Despite having been picked up from the street, she acted like nothing bad had ever happened to her and that was the way things were always going to be, forever. She didn’t anticipate or dread the future. She didn’t even know what the future was until it became the present. She was always moving forward.

“Are you happy, Arataka-kun?”

Serizawa’s blunt question took him by surprise. He… hadn’t really thought about it. Was he happy? Did he enjoy the life that he was living? On one hand, he was still a conman with a smoking problem. But on the other hand, he felt like he was getting closer and closer to doing what he was meant to be doing. Sure, he wasn’t always thrilled to go to work in the morning, but who was? At least he was doing some measure of good. At least he could look forward to seeing Mob and Serizawa. Especially since Serizawa came along— he finally had something resembling friendship in his life. Something resembling… Well. He was getting ahead of himself. As usual.

Reigen took a deep breath. “Yes. I think I am. Are you?”

Serizawa looked at him and smiled softly, the corners of his mouth just barely pulling up into a serene expression. He was one of those people who smiled with his eyes— they got all crinkly and bright, and Reigen couldn’t help but smile too because how could he not when he looked that damn beautiful?

“I think I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been,” he said.

Chapter Text

They walked back to Reigen’s place in silence. Keiko walked alongside them, which was evidence enough that she was exhausted. With the dog on his right and Serizawa on his left, Reigen had to agree with Serizawa’s evaluation of life.

Of course, he’d gotten flustered when Serizawa admitted that he was happier than he’d ever been before. Was it because he was with Reigen? No, no, he wasn’t so egotistical. Well, he was, but not like that. When he thought about it, it was only natural for Serizawa to be so happy, since he finally had some semblance of a normal adult life. That had nothing to do with him, right?

Despite the questions buzzing around in his head, Reigen didn’t press Serizawa to explain. He needed to stop projecting. He just nodded and allowed a warm silence to develop between them. After a few more minutes, Keiko stood up and whimpered. Both of them interpreted that as a sign to walk back. They set off without saying anything.

Now that the sun was setting, a chill had come over them. A brisk wind began to blow. Reigen wished that he’d brought more protection from the elements than just his suit jacket— he shoved his free hand into his pocket, the other occupied with holding Keiko’s leash. Of course, the dog was totally unaffected. Again Reigen envied her, but this time for a much less sensitive reason. Would it be unacceptable for me to put her on my shoulders and wear her like a scarf? Yeah, no, that was totally out of the question.

Serizawa glanced over as Reigen shivered. “Are you cold, Arataka-kun?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Not really. Would you like my jacket?”

Reigen cleared his throat. He wanted to say yes, but… again, he was getting ahead of himself. “I don’t want you to get cold.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Serizawa said.

Reigen smiled. “Someone has to.”

Serizawa smiled back. When they resumed walking, Reigen noticed that Serizawa stayed closer to his side, their shoulders brushing periodically. For warmth, of course. Reigen allowed himself to lean in a little bit as well. For warmth. Of course.

It was all too sentimental. Walking home together, side-by-side, the thought of happiness still hanging in the air. Keiko’s nails clicked on the asphalt path, her tail waving back and forth steadily. Every once in a while, she would look back at them with such adoration that it made his chest tight. It was the sort of scenario that Reigen would kick himself for imagining— but he wasn’t imagining it.

I’m glad that you’re happy, he thought. You deserve it. The sentiment went to both of his companions.

When they arrived back at Reigen’s apartment, Serizawa unbuckled Keiko’s collar and rubbed her up and down.

“You’re a good dog,” he told her. She licked his hand.

“You think she’s hungry again?” Reigen asked, eyeing the bag of kibble. What the hell was he going to do with all this dog food? “Well, she’s probably always hungry, but— do you think we should feed her, Serizawa?”

No response. Reigen paused. “Serizawa?”

He poked his head into the main room. Keiko was curled up in her bed, her eyes wide. Serizawa’s back was to him, his hand hovering over the dog. He was no longer petting her.

A wave of something hit him, something that raced over his skin and gave him goosebumps. Reigen wasn’t psychically sensitive, and he didn’t pretend to be around Serizawa (or even Mob, really, anymore). But it didn’t take an esper to feel the unsettled energy in the room.

“Katsuya?” Reigen said. “Katsuya— talk to me.”

“She’s hurt,” Serizawa said quietly. “Someone hurt her.”

His hand was over Keiko’s neck. Reigen knew in an instant that he had found the patch of raw, rough skin there, which he himself had discovered earlier.

“What do you mean?” Reigen asked slowly, feigning ignorance.

“She has a wound on her neck, an old one,” Serizawa said. He still did not look at Reigen. “She cried when I touched it. Someone hurt her.”

Keiko was huddled in a ball, and when Serizawa spoke she huddled up tighter. Reigen grimaced. This was the last thing that he wanted to happen.

“We don’t know that,” he said gently.

“What else could it be?” Serizawa snapped. “I’m not stupid, Reigen. I know abuse when I see it.”

Something in the corner of Reigen’s eye caught his attention. Keiko’s stuffed elephant had begun to move on its own accord, floating just barely above the floor where it had been lying. As he looked around, he saw it was not the only thing affected— small objects all over his apartment were shuddering with psychic power.

“Katsuya,” he said. “I think you’re right. But there’s nothing that we can do about it right now.”

“We can’t give her back to her owner, whoever they are,” Serizawa said. Reigen’s potted plant trembled and began to rise, as did his desk chair. Reigen put one hand on the wall to ground himself.

“We won’t,” he said reassuringly. “We won’t, I promise.”

Serizawa said nothing. Reigen reached out to touch his shoulder, but then thought better of it. Instead, he crouched next to him, keeping a safe distance. Serizawa’s face was strained, but at the same time oddly blank. He did not seem to see what was in front of him.

“Katsuya, look at me,” Reigen said.

Serizawa blinked. He looked at Reigen, who held his gaze evenly.

“Let’s stand up,” he said, offering his hand. Serizawa took it, and they stood together. The floating objects gradually settled back to the earth, gravity taking hold of them once more. Reigen released Serizawa’s hand.

“Do you want some water or something?” he suggested. “I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of thirsty. Or I could make tea.”

“Uh, yeah,” Serizawa said, scratching his head. “Water is fine. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Reigen said. He led him into the kitchen and poured them both glasses of ice water. Serizawa took a sip from his, but for the most part just kept his hands wrapped around the cold glass.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” he said finally. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I understand,” Reigen said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Serizawa nodded and stared into his glass of water. Reigen went ahead and finished his own glass— he actually was kind of thirsty, now that he thought about it. He’d been more active today than pretty much all of last week.

“About tomorrow,” Serizawa said. “What are we going to do?”

Reigen folded his hands. “Well, there aren’t any appointments at the office until noon. The closest clinic opens at ten. I figure it wouldn’t hurt if we stopped in before work with Keiko, see if she has a chip or something.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“We should probably ask for the vet’s opinion,” Reigen said. “I’m sure that they know of a good place that we can take her so that she’ll get adopted.”

“And what if…” Serizawa cleared his throat. “What if she does have a chip? And an owner?”

Reigen chose his words carefully. “We ought to meet the owner and see if we can get some answers. It might not be the way we think it is— I mean, she could have gotten that injury while out on the street, or she might be a recent rescue. There’s no way to know right now.”

Serizawa nodded, but his unease was obvious. “And… what will we do if they… are the way we think they are?”

“Well.” Reigen swallowed. “In that case, I’ll…”

Think of something convincing! What would he do? Or, what could he do? What would be the best thing to do? It didn’t have to be true— it just had to make Serizawa feel better! Right?

But as his bullshit mechanisms worked overtime, Reigen caught Serizawa’s gaze. He was looking at him with such intensity, listening intently for his answer. His eyes were so trusting, trusting that he’d come up with a good answer.

He couldn’t. He couldn’t just lie.

Why not? You lie all the time. It’s how you make money!

But this wasn’t about money! It was about Serizawa. If he said something gallant now and failed to follow through, he would never trust him again. Somehow, that was much more important than anything else.

“I don’t know what I’ll do,” Reigen said. Honesty burned his tongue. “I don’t know what I’ll do yet, but… I’ll figure something out.”

He gave Serizawa his best, most confident grin. “Don’t I always figure something out?”

To his surprise, Serizawa nodded solemnly. “Okay. I trust you, Reigen-san.”

The formality of his statement only made Reigen’s task more daunting, but he was glad to have Serizawa’s trust. Reigen released the breath he had been holding. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Serizawa resumed staring into his glass, as if it could give him answers. If it could, Reigen would gladly stare alongside him. But nothing was ever that easy, even for psychics. For all the strange powers in the world, nobody had the power to know what was the right thing to do all the time. That was something that everyone had to gauge for themselves, powers or no.

But what about when there wasn’t a right thing to do? If Keiko’s former owner did abuse her, they couldn’t give her back to him in good conscience. But that left them with no choice but to give her to a shelter— and there was no guarantee that she’d get adopted into a good home, or that she would get adopted at all. Both options made Reigen’s skin crawl.

Something pulled at his pant leg. With them both deep in thought, neither man noticed Keiko slip back into the kitchen. She pawed Reigen’s leg again and yawned. He reached down and scratched the pup’s head. Serizawa hadn’t noticed her yet, still transfixed by the ice in his glass. Reigen withdrew his hand and pointed Keiko towards him.

“Go,” he mouthed quietly. He tried to protect his thoughts into her head: if you understand even a fraction of what’s going on, go and comfort him.

Without Reigen petting her, Keiko had no reason to stay. She made her way over to Serizawa and began pawing at him.

“Oh?” Serizawa looked down. Reigen sighed thankfully when a small smile formed on his face. Despite being the source of their worries, Keiko still somehow managed to relieve Serizawa’s anxiety.

“She just wants to be the center of attention,” Reigen said.

“Like you,” Serizawa said. He picked Keiko up and sat her on his lap. She licked the condensation on his glass of ice water.

Reigen snorted. “Hey.”

“I mean that in a good way,” Serizawa said, scratching Keiko’s ears. “It allows you to bring people together.”

“Is that so,” Reigen said. He tried to take a drink of water, but his glass was still empty.

“Yes.” Serizawa continued to pet Keiko. Reigen considered pointing out that his question was rhetorical, but decided against it. Something else was on his mind.

“Hey, Katsuya?”

Serizawa looked up. “Eh?”

“I want to tell you something.”

Serizawa paused, his fingers curling in Keiko’s hair. “Y-you do?”

“Yeah.” Reigen scratched his head. “I, uh… I almost lost Keiko earlier.”

“…Lost her?”

“Yeah. I took my eyes off of her for like, three seconds, when I was taking the garbage out, and she disappeared. She went back up to the apartment, but— I thought for sure that she’d run off. And she totally could have.”

“But she didn’t,” Serizawa said.

“But she could have,” Reigen repeated. “And, uh. I’m sorry for being irresponsible with her.”

“Oh, well, it’s okay,” Serizawa said. “But… why are you telling me this?”

Yeah, Reigen, why are you telling him this? “I, uh. I thought you should know. For future reference. She… she sometimes… runs off, when you’re not looking”

“Oh. Okay.”

Reigen stood up abruptly. “I’m… going to run to the bathroom, if you’ll excuse me.” He didn’t wait for a response— he literally ran to the bathroom, shutting himself inside and locking the door.

He stared at himself in the mirror, his face glistening with sweat. What the fuck is wrong with you, Arataka? Why did you do that?

He had no idea! He’d totally gotten away with the whole losing-Keiko thing— it wasn’t an issue! So why the fuck did he bring it up again out of nowhere like that? It was just— when he said that he trusted him— Reigen had felt so— so— vulnerable. Even though it was Serizawa saying it to him, he still felt like he was the one being laid bare. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to lie to Serizawa. He couldn’t.

That made him the only one. The only one in the world that Reigen couldn’t lie to.

He was powerless.

This crush was getting out of control. He needed to do something about it, or at least stop encouraging it. The past few days he had let himself have too much fun, get too comfortable. They’d just been spending so much time together— but that was only out of necessity. Serizawa felt responsible for that dog, and it was clear that he was coping with some stuff through her. Reigen was just helping him do that. When they gave Keiko up tomorrow, all of this would be over. His stupid little fantasies would no longer have any ground. He couldn’t go on pining, especially not at work when he had to be at his best.

He splashed cold water on his face and flushed the toilet, just to make it seem like he actually had to use the bathroom. Then, he straightened out his suit jacket and headed back into the kitchen.

Serizawa still had Keiko on his lap, but he put her down when Reigen re-entered. “Are you feeling all right, Arataka-kun?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Reigen said bluntly. “It’s getting kind of late, isn’t it? And we have work tomorrow. You should probably get some rest.”

“O-oh.” Serizawa frowned. “So, uh, you’re okay to take care of Keiko for another night?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” Reigen said. “She ought to be exhausted, right? She’ll sleep like a log.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’re right.” Serizawa bent down and scratched Keiko’s head one more time. “Be good for Reigen-san, okay, Keiko?”

He stood up and looked like he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. Reigen avoided his eyes.

“I… guess I’ll be going, then,” he said.

“Okay,” Reigen said. “Be safe.”

“Okay.”

Awkward silence stretched between them. Reigen tried to get Keiko to come over to him, but she stared up at Serizawa with her tail wagging, waiting for more pets.

“She’ll be okay,” Reigen said.

“Yeah,” Serizawa said. “Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Serizawa frowned again, but didn’t say anything. Without another word, he put on his shoes and went out the door, Keiko following him all the way. When he closed the door behind him, her tail immediately stilled. She looked at Reigen, her eyes full of questions.

Reigen groaned. He threw off his jacket and tore off his tie.

“Okay, it’s official,” he said. “I’m an asshole.”

He collapsed on his bed, still mostly dressed. Keiko hesitantly followed him, casting glances back towards the door. Seeing Reigen lying face-down on the bed, she whimpered.

“I know,” Reigen said into the mattress. “I don’t want him to leave either.”

He rolled over and sat up. “But what else am I supposed to do? I work with this guy. I can’t… you know. Feel things for him.”

Keiko whimpered again, as if to say— I don’t care, bring him back!

“You’d do the same thing if you were me,” Reigen said. “And if you were a human. And an adult, with a job. But you’re not. You’re a dog, who I am talking to, as if you were a human.” He fell back again. Pathetic.

Keiko gave a short yap and hopped up on the bed. She licked Reigen’s face. He didn’t even bother to push her off, just rolled onto his side. She licked his ear and then curled up next to him, kind of like a particularly small little spoon. He stroked her head.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Reigen said. “I like you a lot, Keiko. But you’ve made things very difficult for me.”

Keiko snuffed and moved closer to Reigen, her body like a warm ember against his abdomen. It was actually a rather pleasant, familiar warmth, like sitting under a kotatsu. He petted her and sighed.

“Okay, I guess I shouldn’t blame you,” he said. “It’s my fault, after all. I gave him the job. I don’t even know why. He just… he wasn’t like the other Claw guys, you know? I knew that from the way he treated Mob. He wasn’t in it for money or power. He just wanted… I don’t know. It seemed like he wanted something to hold onto. Plus, he did save my life.” 

He paused, adjusting his position. When he settled again, Keiko also adjusted herself, ensuring that she was right next to Reigen. He rested his hand on her, scratching absentmindedly.

“If he hadn’t been there, Suzuki would’ve fried me,” he said. “Even though he didn’t know me. Even though he was directly disobeying his boss. He risked… everything. And I… I was just…”

Reigen shook his head, his hand stilling. In that moment between Suzuki firing his charge and Serizawa stepping in front of him, he thought about all of the things that he wished he had done, the person he wished he had been. He wished he never started smoking. He wished he’d tried harder to make friends. He wished he’d done more to protect Mob, that he’d never lied to him in the first place. He wanted to have been more patient, less greedy, more compassionate. At that moment, he was sure that he would die, and he longed for one more chance to change.

Then Serizawa opened his umbrella and death missed him. He gave him that chance, without even knowing it.

“You and I have a lot in common, Keiko,” he said softly. “He saved you, and you love him for it. I guess it’s the same for me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to stop thinking about it— stop thinking about him. The more he dwelt on his feelings and how they’d come to be, the worse they would become. That was the opposite of what he needed.

He forced himself to get up and change into pajamas. Keiko watched him with wide eyes. She did not make any sound, surprisingly. When he got back into bed, intending to retake his spot next to the dog, she got up and went to her own bed, still covered with Serizawa’s jacket.

Reigen sighed. That was fine. He was used to sleeping alone.

Chapter Text

Throughout the night, Reigen found himself secretly wishing that Keiko would whine or cry or bark. If she had, he would’ve had a reason to call Serizawa. But she didn’t. She was defeated after Serizawa left, occasionally sighing but making no other noise. Despite her silence, Reigen barely slept.

The next morning, he showered, shaved and got dressed in an anxious hurry. Keiko followed him throughout his apartment like his shadow. Finally, he caved and dialed Serizawa’s number.

Thankfully, he picked up right away. “Hello?”

“Hey, Serizawa,” Reigen said. “You ready to go?”

“Oh, good morning, Reigen-san,” Serizawa said. “Yes. Should I come by?”

“…No, that’s okay,” Reigen made himself say. Separate yourself. “It’ll be quicker if I just meet you at the clinic. You got the address?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“All right, perfect,” Reigen said. “See you there.”

He hung up without waiting for a goodbye and shoved his phone into his pants pocket. Then, he turned to Keiko and put his hands on his hips.

“Okay, Keiko,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”

The veterinary clinic was a squat gray building with a few bushes out front, an overall drab looking place that Reigen wasn’t looking forward to going inside. Keiko didn’t seem to mind, though— especially not after she saw Serizawa waiting by the door.

She nearly tore the leash out of Reigen’s hands. Reigen stumbled to keep up with her as she ran and launched herself at Serizawa, her tail moving so fast that it was a black and white blur. Serizawa laughed and picked her up.

“Hello, pup,” he said. “Did you miss me?”

“I think it’s safe to say yes,” Reigen said. He handed the leash to Serizawa. “She was good, though.”

“She was?” Serizawa looked up at him. “Did you get any sleep?”

Not really, but that wasn’t Keiko’s fault. “She was much better last night. Only had to get up to take her out once.” That was true. The other times he got up, it was to pace around in aimless frustration.

“That’s good to hear,” Serizawa said, scratching Keiko’s ears. His eyes flicked to the clinic door. “Do we have an appointment?”

“We don’t need one,” Reigen said, checking his watch. It was ten fifteen. “It’s a Monday morning, they just opened, and the parking lot is empty. If we’re the first and only ones here, they ought to be able to slot us in.”

He straightened his jacket. “All right, let’s go.”

They walked into the clinic. The interior was about just as interesting as the exterior, a square countertop dominating the back of the room. In the waiting area, there were a few old wooden chairs that looked like more than a few cats had used them as scratching posts. There were some posters on the walls about topics like why it was necessary to spay and neuter your pets or how to tell if your dog or cat had ringworm, as well as a few “lost pet” flyers. Reigen scanned them, but none of the lost dogs pictured resembled Keiko. He hoped they got home safe.

There was one receptionist behind the counter. She seemed surprised to have customers at this time.

“Hello,” she said. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Reigen said, putting on his best regretful voice. “It’s just— we found this poor thing on the street a few nights ago, and we’re hoping to reunite her with her owner as soon as possible. You were the closest clinic that we could find.”

Serizawa stiffened a bit, holding Keiko closer, but he nodded. Reigen knew he wasn’t planning on “reuniting” Keiko with anyone. He gave the receptionist a concerned half-frown.

“So we were wondering if someone could check if this little one has a microchip,” he said, leaning slightly over the counter. “Is that possible, do you think?”

The receptionist blinked rapidly. “You could… make an appointment?”

“What about right now?” Reigen pressed. “It doesn’t look very busy in here. Are there any appointments going on right now?”

The receptionist looked around, as if she didn’t believe him, even though it was obvious that the waiting room was empty. “I… could you give me a moment to check?”

“Certainly.” Reigen rested his elbows on the counter expectantly. The receptionist bit her lip as she clicked around.

“It… doesn’t look like there’s anything,” she said slowly.

“Perfect.” Reigen clapped his hands together and smiled brightly. “Can I make an appointment, then? We call the dog Keiko.”

“For… right now?”

“Well.” Reigen checked his watch. Ten eighteen. “Ten twenty?”

She looked at the clock incredulously. “In… two minutes, sir?”

“As soon as possible,” Reigen said, taking out his credit card. He’d absorb the cost this time.

The receptionist didn’t seem to know what to do with his cheerful demeanor. This was one of Reigen’s tactics— not quite on the level of an official Technique, but a trade skill nonetheless. He just had to be so pleasant and confident that it was basically impossible for the target to say no to him. “Is— is ten twenty-five okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Reigen said, beaming. “Ten twenty-five it is.”

“O-okay,” she said, clicking a few more times. She scanned Reigen’s card, still in a state of partial confusion. “Thank… thank you?”

“Sure,” Reigen said.

He turned back to Serizawa and nodded to a bench. The two of them sat down. Serizawa set Keiko on the floor, holding onto her leash, and leaned over towards Reigen.

“How did you do that?” he asked.

“Just asked nicely,” Reigen said, folding his arms. “I only wish I could’ve gotten it for ten twenty.”

They waited. Keiko paced back and forth, apparently beginning to feel wary of this place. Eventually, a vet assistant emerged from behind a pair of double doors. “Keiko?”

Reigen and Serizawa (and Keiko) followed the assistant past the double doors into a sterile-looking hallway. She took them down the hall and gestured to a door.

“If you could just wait here,” she said. “Kurosawa-sensei will be with you shortly.”

Behind the door was a small examination room, with a metal table and two chairs. Again, the two men took their seats. This time, Serizawa kept Keiko on his lap. She burrowed into his jacket with wide eyes.

“This is strange,” Serizawa said. “I’ve never been to a vet’s office before.”

Reigen nodded thoughtfully. “It’s always a little unnerving. Like a doctor’s office, even though it’s not for people.”

“I’ve never been to a doctor’s office, either. At least, not that I can remember.”

“Oh.”

A few minutes later, a woman in scrubs and a coat entered the room. She had a smart bob haircut and square-framed glasses, and carried a clipboard. She looked Reigen and Serizawa up and down with something like amusement.

“Hello, my name is Kurosawa,” she said.

“Hello,” Reigen said. “Thank you for seeing us.”

“Well, I figured it must be important if you were so eager to weasel your way into an appointment,” Kurosawa said. She reached out and allowed Keiko to sniff her hand. Keiko looked at her apprehensively, and luckily she didn’t push the contact. “And who do we have here?”

“We call her Keiko,” Serizawa said. “I found her in a gutter on Saturday night, and we’ve been taking care of her ever since.”

“I noticed she has scars like she was spayed, so she’s probably not just a street dog,” Reigen said. “We thought she might have a microchip.”

“Good thinking,” Kurosawa said. “If she’s been spayed, her vet almost certainly would have also chipped her. I’ll scan her and see if we can find her owner. Just give me a minute to get my scanner.”

She patted Keiko’s head and began to head for the door. Serizawa cleared his throat, and she stopped.

“One last thing,” he said. “Could you… take a look at her neck? She has… something there. I don’t know what.” 

“Sure,” Kurosawa said. She fished out a pair of gloves from her pocket. “Can you put her up on the table?”

Serizawa got up and placed Keiko on the exam table. Reigen crossed his legs and bit his thumbnail as the vet felt her neck.

Keiko whimpered, and Kurosawa pulled her hand away. Serizawa stroked the dog, trying to soothe her.

“There does seem to be an old wound there,” Kurosawa said, taking off her gloves and tossing them in the trash. “It’s scabbed over, but not totally healed.”

“What do you think caused it?” Serizawa asked quickly. “Another animal, or…?”

“Probably not,” Kurosawa said. “It’s more like a bad brush burn. It’s consistent with what I’ve seen on animals who’ve been tied up improperly or wore the wrong size collar.”

“Do you think someone… had her tied up?” Reigen asked, choosing his words carefully.

“Hard to say,” she said. “Considering that you don’t know her history, it could be any number of things. While I have seen injuries like this on animals that have been neglected, it’s also possible that something tore her collar off, or she accidentally got something around her neck. It isn’t necessarily intentional.”

Serizawa shifted his weight. Reigen could tell that the weight was not totally off of his shoulders. “Thank you, doctor. That is… important to know.”

“Agreed,” Kurosawa said. “Let me get that scanner.”

When she left, Reigen patted the chair next to him, gesturing for Serizawa to sit once more. He did, putting Keiko on the floor in the meantime. His shoulders were stiff.

“So,” Reigen said. “What are you thinking?”

“This doesn’t tell us anything about the owner,” Serizawa said, his voice tight.

Reigen pressed his lips into a tight line.

“Listen, Katsuya,” he said finally. “I trust your instincts. Your suspicions have ground. But like Dr. Kurosawa said… it’s possible that whatever happened to her was just an accident.”

Serizawa took a deep breath. “Arataka-kun, I know that you’re trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it. But it’s more than just her neck that makes me suspicious. It’s her behavior, too. The way she follows us around, how she acted when we left her alone— it’s not normal.”

Reigen watched as Keiko slipped behind Serizawa’s legs. She yawned, exposing her small, sharp teeth. “I believe you, Katsuya,” he said.

Kurosawa returned a few minutes later with a laptop and what looked like a mix between a barcode scanner and a large bubble wand, with a big open circle head. She placed the laptop on the table.

“Most microchips are placed between the shoulder blades,” she said. “If I can’t find it there, it’s safe to assume she doesn’t have one.”

She beckoned to Keiko, who stayed behind Serizawa. He tried to move his legs to push her out, but she kept backing up and ducking behind him again.

“Sorry,” Serizawa said. “She’s… nervous.”

“I can tell,” Kurosawa said, reaching into her pocket. “Well, what do you think about this, pup?”

She opened her palm, revealing a half of a small dog biscuit. Keiko peered out from behind Serizawa’s legs, her nose twitching.

“That’s a good girl,” Kurosawa said, proffering the biscuit. “Come on out.”

Finally, Keiko emerged from under the chair, creeping forward with her eyes darting between Kurosawa, the two of them, and the biscuit. She extended her neck and nibbled on the biscuit.

“Okay, stay right there,” Kurosawa said, lifting the scanner. She positioned it so that the open circle was over Keiko’s upper back. After a few seconds, it beeped.

“Got it,” she said. She gave the rest of the biscuit to Keiko and went over to the exam table with her computer. She tapped on the keys while peering at the scanner’s small monitor.

“The number of the chip corresponds to a entry in a database with contact information,” she explained while typing. “Let me call.”

She took the office phone and dialed a number. She listened to the phone for a minute, and then shook her head.

“The line’s been disconnected,” she said. “Odd.”

“Is there a name that goes with it?” Reigen asked. “Or an address?”

“There’s a name,” Kurosawa said. “Yamamoto Akane. There also appears to be an address.”

She read the the address aloud, which Serizawa copied into his phone. It was, luckily, a Seasoning City neighborhood.

“Thank you so much, Kurosawa-sensei,” Reigen said. “I think we’ll be able to locate her owner with this.”

“You can always leave her with us and we can try to locate them,” Kurosawa said. “In fact, that’s probably more standard—“

“No, no,” Reigen said quickly. “We’ll take care of it, don’t worry. Thanks again.”

He gestured for Serizawa to collect Keiko, and the two men slipped out of the room before the vet could say much else.

“Yamamoto Akane, huh?” Reigen said, rubbing his hands together. “You got that address, right? Maybe we ought to pay Yamamoto-san a visit.”

“Arataka-kun, it’s almost eleven,” Serizawa pointed out. “What about work?”

Reigen paused. He’d almost forgotten that it was a Monday.

“After work, then,” he said.

Serizawa shook his head. “I have school. I mean…you could go without me…”

“No,” Reigen said firmly. “We’re going to drop her off together. We’ll just have to do it tomorrow morning, then.”

He threw his hand up in the air, gesticulating wildly. “So go ahead and set your alarm!”

Inwardly, Reigen sighed. So much for separation. 

Chapter Text

They arrived at Spirits and Such at eleven thirty with Keiko in tow.

“Are you sure it’s okay to bring her here?” Serizawa asked.

Reigen waved his hand. “Hey, it’s my office. I make the rules, and I say it’s okay.” 

“But the customers…”

“People love dogs,” Reigen said.

“You love dogs.”

Reigen shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”

Inside the office, Keiko sniffed around like a maniac, exploring every minute nook and cranny that she could stick her snout into. Reigen collapsed into his desk chair and opened the blinds, allowing light into the office. He closed his eyes and relished the warmth on his face.

“We’ve got a client at noon,” he announced. “She asked for a medium consultation to speak with a lost loved one. I told her to bring something that the departed owned. If you could just give the thing a quick scan and tell me anything that you can learn about its owner, that’d be great.”

“You should know that I’m not clairvoyant, Reigen-san,” Serizawa said. Reigen cracked open one eye. Back to formalities with the names, it seemed. Though they were at the office, so, he supposed that was appropriate. Honestly, he never should’ve started using Serizawa’s first name in the first place. Maybe he could just pretend like that exchange didn’t happen.

“Right, right,” Reigen said. “In that case, don’t worry about it. Unless there’s something to exorcise.”

“Got it,” Serizawa said. He began preparing cups of tea.

Once she’d finished exploring the office, Keiko hopped up on the office sofa and sat down, watching Reign and Serizawa go about their business attentively, her tail wagging just a little bit. She was like a ball of positive energy. Reigen couldn’t help but smile at her, her tongue slightly out of her mouth. How cute.

Right at noon, the doorbell rang as the client entered. It was a harried-looking young woman with a tote bag. She smiled when she saw Reigen.

“Oh, thank god you’re here,” she said. “I’m not late, am I?”

Reigen was about to cheerfully reassure her that she was on time when the woman’s eyes fell on Keiko. She became dead still. Then, she burst into tears.

Both Reigen and Serizawa jumped out of their skin. Reigen began to sweat; he didn’t even think that someone might be afraid of dogs!

“Serizawa, do you mind stepping out for a moment?” He pointed to Keiko. Serizawa quickly gathered up the dog and went to take her outside, but the woman waved her arms frantically. Her crying had subsided.

“No, no!” she said, sniffing. “No, I’m fine, you don’t have to take her out. It’s just— I recently lost my dog, and—“

She wiped her eyes. “Well, that’s actually why I came here today. My name is Minami Hina.”

“Reigen Arataka.” Reigen stepped back and offered his hand, which Minami shook. “You’re here about your dog?”

“Yes,” Minami said. “Like I said, my dog Aimi passed away suddenly about a month ago. I wanted to know if it was possible for me to see her or speak to her again, just one more time. Every other psychic in the city has turned me down.”

So this woman wanted to speak to the spirit of… her dog? Reigen rubbed his chin. This was certainly unconventional. He had an idea.

“I’m sorry to hear that you have been so cruelly rejected,” he said smoothly. “What were their reasons?”

Minami shrugged. “One told me that dogs don’t have souls and therefore can’t pass over to the other side. Is that true?”

Reigen shook his head. “I’m afraid that whoever said that was simply a charlatan wishing to prevent you from realizing that they didn’t truly possess the powers that they advertised,” he said. “I can assure you that not only do dogs have souls, but they are incredibly in touch with the spiritual world. In all likelihood, it would be easier to contact a dog’s spirit than a human’s!”

“Oh, thank heavens,” Minami said, clasping her hands together. “So— you’ll help me?”

“Of course!” Reigen pointed to himself and grinned. “I, Reigen Arataka, accept this case!”

He nodded to the tote bag. “You brought something of Aimi’s, I hope?”

“Yes, a few things,” Minami said. She set the bag on the coffee table and rummaged inside. “I have some of her favorite toys, the kind of treats that she liked, her collar and leash…”

“Perfect,” Reigen said. “Allow me to introduce you to some important players.”

He gestured to Serizawa with a sweep of his hand. He was standing awkwardly by the door, still holding Keiko. “This is Serizawa Katsuya, my employee and resident animal expert.”

“Animal expert?” Serizawa said with a puzzled expression.

“And this—“ Reigen petted Keiko’s head— “is Keiko, the one and only dog medium in Seasoning City, and perhaps all of Japan.”

“Dog medium?” Minami and Serizawa said in unison.

“Yes!” Reigen snapped his fingers. “Keiko, much like myself, was born with a rare and supernatural gift— the ability to channel spirits. With her assistance, I believe that we will be able to contact the spirit of your dearly departed Aimi.”

Serizawa’s eyes widened. Minami clapped her hands over her heart, tears springing to her eyes anew.

“Oh, is it true?” she said. “Please— please let me speak to Aimi one last time! I just need to know that she’s okay!”

Some people really love their pets, Reigen thought. Well, it wasn’t his place to judge. He had some candles to light.

A few minutes later and the setup was complete. Serizawa drew the blinds and turned the office lights off while Reigen lit a handful of tea candles and placed them around the room, making sure to agonize over their position in front of the client as if it was really important that he had them in the correct places. Really, he just wanted to make sure that Keiko wouldn’t accidentally get into any of them.

Seances were difficult, probably one of the most complex frauds that he offered. They required quite a bit of cold reading and some creative thinking. Usually, he was able to pin down the general attitude of the departed and say some comforting words to the client (unless, of course, they were looking for the pass to a bank vault, in which case he would resort to other means). That was all that people really wanted— closure. In this case, it would be a little more complex. But as Reigen was bustling around the room setting up, he surreptitiously reached into the bag Minami brought and got a handful of Aimi’s favorite treats, which he was sure that Keiko would also enjoy.

He instructed Minami sit on the floor, cross-legged. She did so eagerly.

“I can’t thank you enough,” she said. “I really can’t. Aimi… was my best friend. My confidante, you know? I could tell her anything, and she wouldn’t judge or interrupt, just listen.”

Reigen nodded sympathetically. He gestured for Serizawa to sit in a similar manner across from her. Serizawa pointed at himself and mouthed, me?

Reigen nodded. You’ll be fine, he mouthed back. He gave him a thumbs up.

“You have Aimi’s collar, Minami-san?” Reigen asked as Serizawa awkwardly sat, still holding Keiko.

“Yes,” Minami said. She held up a small leather collar.

“Good, hold onto that,” Reigen said. “Picture Aimi in your mind. You may want to close your eyes.”

Minami did so, holding the collar to her chest. Meanwhile, Reigen gestured for Serizawa to remove Keiko’s collar, and he nodded. He seemed to be catching onto what Reigen was trying to do.

“All right, you can open your eyes,” Reigen instructed. He turned down the thermostat in the room and stood behind Minami. “Go ahead and put the collar on her.”

Serizawa put Keiko on the ground, and Reigen showed her a treat behind Minami’s back. Keiko automatically came forward and sat at the sight of it. This allowed Minami to put the old collar on her.

“Good girl,” Minami said, her voice trembling. “Good pup…”

Keiko licked Minami’s hand. She sucked in a sharp breath and began to pet Keiko’s head. Keiko leaned into the scratches happily, her tail wagging.

“Is this her?” she asked.

“You tell me,” Reigen said softly.

“I…I think so,” Minami said hoarsely. “Aimi always would lean like this…”

She sniffed, overcome with emotion again. “Oh, Aimi…”

“You can speak to her,” Reigen said. “Go ahead. Talk to her.”

Minami took a deep breath. “Aimi, I’m really sorry,” she said. “You had always been so good about staying on the lawn, I didn’t even think that you’d go out into the street. I should’ve been there…”

Tears had begun to run down her face freely now. Keiko cocked her head and approached Minami, climbing up on her lap and beginning to try and lick her face. Minami continued to cry, but she smiled.

Dogs like salt, Reigen thought. That’s all.

“I miss you so much,” Minami said. “You got me through everything.”

She broke into a sob. Reigen was about to say something when Keiko whimpered, like a little plea, and continued to lap up her tears. It was almost as if she was asking her not to cry. Reigen stayed silent.

Minami shook her head. “I know, I know. It’s just hard since I miss you so much.”

She put her arms around Keiko, who nuzzled her. Reigen and Serizawa looked at one another, and Reigen raised his eyebrows. Keiko was plenty affectionate, but usually not this affectionate. She was actually acting like she belonged to Minami, comforting her.

Minami spoke quietly to Keiko for a few minutes, before Reigen felt like he had to step in.

“Is there anything else?” he asked in a gentle voice. He didn’t want to push the charade for too long, given that Keiko’s good behavior wasn’t guaranteed. “The connection may break up soon, so whatever is on your mind… you should say it now.”

Minami nodded. She gave Keiko a few more strokes and then wiped her eyes. “Goodbye, Aimi, my sweet girl. I love you.”

Reigen signaled to Serizawa, who beckoned Keiko. She bounded right back over to him and sat on his lap while he switched the collars back. Meanwhile, Reigen supplied tissues to Minami.

“Thank you so much, Reigen-sensei,” she said, standing and bowing deeply. “I… just… thank you.”

“It’s our pleasure,” Reigen said. “My assistant will write up a receipt for you.”

After Serizawa had given Minami the receipt and she paid it, she gave Keiko one last scratch on the head.

“Thank you, too, Keiko,” she said. She bowed once more to Serizawa and then left.

Reigen breathed out a sigh of relief and offered Keiko the treats that he’d been showing her. She gobbled them up eagerly.

“There’s your cut,” he said as he went back to his desk.

“Good girl, Keiko,” Serizawa said, patting her back. “You did very well.”

“Yeah, she did amazing,” Reigen said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without her, honestly. I probably would’ve had to say there was nothing I could do.”

“I’m glad we could help that woman,” Serizawa said. “She seemed really upset about her dog.”

“Yeah,” Reigen said. He put the money into his cash box. “It sounded like that dog really helped her get through a tough time.”

“How do you suppose it did that?” Serizawa asked.

“Sometimes just having someone to talk to is all you need to keep moving forward,” Reigen said. “I used to talk to my dogs all the time when I was younger. They’re pretty great for that. No matter what you say, they’ll still love you.”

“What did you talk to them about?” Serizawa flicked on the lights and began to blow out and collect the tea candles.

Reigen thought back to Mochi and Sacchan and his school days. They used to sit by him as he did his homework under the kotatsu, one on either side, soaking up warmth while also helping to keep him warm. He always wondered if that was on purpose.

“Anything that was on my mind, I guess,” he said. “Things that happened at school, complaints about my parents, people that I fancied…”

He remembered talking to Keiko the night before about Serizawa. I guess things really don’t change, do they? He shook his head.

“It’s not like they could actually understand me, though, or offer advice,” he said. “They just wanted to be fed and petted. It was mostly my projecting that made me feel like they were listening.”

“You don’t think they knew when you were upset?”

“Oh, I’m sure they did,” Reigen said. “But not because of what I said. They could probably tell by how I acted. Like doing a cold reading, you know?”

He pointed to Keiko, who had curled up on the couch to nap. Apparently her acting gig had taken a lot out of her. “You saw how Keiko reacted when the client started to cry. Dogs can tell when we’re upset.”

He was glad that Keiko had acted appropriately to Minami’s tears— although he suspected that no matter what what she’d done, Minami would’ve found a way to interpret it to be her lost dog. Reigen understood that most people didn’t actually care or notice if there was actually a spirit, and would contort their expectations to fit whatever Reigen presented them. All they really wanted was to say the things that they were too afraid to or didn’t get the chance to say before.

“She really seemed to know what to do,” Serizawa said.

“Yeah,” Reigen said. “She’s so good, we could start offering dog seances as a special service. You think other people would buy into it?”

“People love their animals.”

“No kidding,” Reigen said. “But…”

He trailed off. Serizawa folded his hands and looked away.

“We can’t offer that, can we?” he said. “Because Keiko doesn’t belong to us.”

Reigen sighed. That was the unfortunate truth. “Yeah.”

They were quiet after that.

Chapter Text

They had a few more clients with the standard complaints: curses, haunted objects, spirits following them. None of them were actually psychic problems, according to Serizawa, so Reigen put on his best showmanship and ‘exorcised’ them all himself. In the meantime, Serizawa kept Keiko occupied, taking her out every once in a while. All of the clients seemed to accept her presence, surprisingly, and one even asked if she could smell ghosts, to which Reigen proudly said yes.

He had just sent another customer off after a rock salt massage and was dabbing the sweat off of his face when Mob arrived, school bag in tow. Reigen sat up in his chair.

“Mob!” he said. “Good to see you.”

“Hello, master,” Mob said. He set his bag down at his work station.

Moments later, Serizawa came back in, carrying Keiko under his arm. “Oh, hello, Shigeo-kun.” He unclipped her leash from her collar put her down.

“Hello, Seriza—“ Mob paused when he saw Keiko. “…a dog?”

“Ah, yes,” Reigen said. “Mob, meet Keiko.”

Keiko was already hopping around at Mob’s feet, and he crouched down to pet her. He was smiling a little— a rare expression from the typically passive boy.

“Hello, Keiko,” he said. Keiko wagged her tail.

Mob looked up. “Master, where did you get a dog?”

“Serizawa found her on the street,” Reigen said. “She got separated from her owner somehow. We’re looking after her until we can get her back home.”

“Huh,” Mob said, continuing to pet Keiko. She showed no sign of leaving, and Mob showed no sign of stopping. He sat on the ground next to her and scratched her in her favorite spot. Reigen shook his head. Espers.

“I think she likes you, Shigeo-kun,” Serizawa said.

“She’s a good dog,” Mob said.

Keiko went from sitting to laying on her side. Mob scratched her belly and she kicked out her legs in contentment. Mob, too, seemed pretty happy. Even though he was sitting right in the middle of the entryway to the office, blocking potential customers, Reigen let him and the dog enjoy themselves.

Eventually, Keiko sprang up and ran over to the couch. She grabbed her stuffed elephant (Reigen brought it in for her to chew on if she got bored) and raced back over to Mob.

“You want me to play with you?” Mob asked. Keiko shook the toy at him.

Mob looked up at Reigen. “Is that okay, master?”

“Sure, sure,” Reigen said, waving his hand. “Nobody’s coming in anyway. Go ahead.”

“All right.” Mob took the toy from Keiko and tossed it across the room. She tore after it, running so fast to grab it that she almost hit the wall. As usual, she ran up to Mob but stayed just out of reach of his arms. He extended his fingers and tried to pry the toy away telekinetically, but Keiko held on tight. Mob gently tugged on the toy, which prompted Keiko to tug back herself. They went back and forth like this in a game of tug of war for several minutes.

“Careful not to tear that elephant, it’s her favorite,” Reigen warned.

Mob paused, allowing Keiko to win the round. “How long have you been taking care of her?”

“Since Saturday night.”

“And… how much longer are you going to take care of her?”

“We’re not sure,” Serizawa said. “It depends on when… when we can meet with the owner.” He fidgeted slightly.

Mob nodded thoughtfully, his gaze fixed on Keiko, who had retreated with her prize and begun chewing on it.

“Not today, though,” Reigen said. “So I’m gonna need your help taking care of her when Serizawa leaves for school, all right?”

“Oh, sure,” Mob said. “Ritsu and I always wanted a dog. But our mom is allergic.”

He got up and relocated next to Keiko, resuming petting her. Reigen and Serizawa looked at one another and smiled.

“She has a rather magnetic personality,” Reigen said. “Maybe I ought to start putting her on advertisements instead. People love dogs.”

“Again, Reigen-san— you are the one who love dogs.”

“Yeah, but I’m hardly alone!”

If only we had her for longer, Reigen thought. He proceeded to immediately banish that thought completely, because it was dangerously close to attachment. He had to accept that while having a dog might be nice for a little, ultimately they couldn’t take care of her forever. Stay realistic, Arataka.

The office was quiet for the next half hour until Serizawa packed up his things. Reigen sat back, closing out of his game of online solitaire. He was losing, anyway.

“Off already?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Serizawa said. “One of my classmates offered to check homework answers with me before class. I figured I should take her up on the offer.”

Her? A pang of discomfort poked at Reigen’s heart. “Oh, well. Good luck, I suppose. Mob and I’ll hold down the fort. And Keiko, too. We’ll take good care of her.”

“Thank you, Arataka-kun,” Serizawa said. “See you tomorrow morning.”

He shouldered his school bag and left the office. Reigen watched him go, wondering who this woman was that he was seeing before class.

“He addressed master by his first name,” Mob said quietly.

Reigen flushed red. “E-eh? What was that, Mob?”

“Nothing,” Mob said, focused on Keiko. “I just did not know that Serizawa-san addressed you by your first name.”

“W-what about it?” Reigen said. “That’s just how adults address one another! You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Okay,” Mob said.

The next client to arrive had an out of office exorcism request. This time it was an older woman with deep bags under her eyes.

“My apartment is haunted, I’m certain of it,” she said. “I hear voices in the walls every night, all night. I can’t sleep, I can barely stand to be in there. I need that thing exorcised, ASAP— I won’t go back until it’s gone.” 

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” Reigen announced. “I, Reigen Arataka, accept this case!”

He pointed to Mob. “All right, Mob. Put Keiko’s leash on, we’re heading out.”

“We’re bringing Keiko?” Mob said. “Why don’t we just leave her here?”

“She doesn’t like to be alone,” Reigen said.

“I could stay and watch her,” he said.

And potentially face a ghost on my own? Hell no! To be honest, this sounded like a case of faulty wiring, but Reigen wasn’t about to risk it. “No, no, that’s not necessary. You ought to get out and get some work experience, right?”

“Um, okay,” Mob said. He got Keiko’s leash and hooked her up. She seemed excited to go for a walk.

“I don’t live very far,” the woman said as they left the office. “You’re the first ones I came to, since you’re in the area.”

She eyed Keiko, all leashed up and ready to go. “You’re bringing the dog?”

“Why, of course!” Reigen said quickly. “Dogs are incredibly talented at detecting spirits. She’ll help us locate this ghost in no time.”

The woman sniffed. “All right, fine.”

They walked with her to her home. She talked Reigen’s ear off the whole time, describing every instance of potentially spiritual activity that she’d encountered since she moved in several years ago. It was clear that she had not gotten much sleep. Mob held Keiko’s leash as she darted back and forth, smelling all around. The two of them tended to lag behind.

“Mob, hurry up.”

“Sorry. Keiko found something.”

“What?”

“I said she found something.”

“I mean, what is it?”

“I don’t know. She’s eating it.”

“Well, can you take it from her?”

“It’s too late. She swallowed it.”

“Mob!”

“Sorry.”

“…It’s okay, just keep moving.”

Luckily, it wasn’t a long walk. They arrived at the woman’s apartment complex, at which point the woman stopped walking entirely, planting herself outside in the parking lot.

Reigen also paused. “Ma’am?”

“I told you, I’m not going back in there until the ghost is gone,” the woman said, folding her arms. She cast a nervous glance towards the apartment.

There’s probably not even a ghost. Reigen set his teeth, but smiled.

“All right,” he said. “I can’t blame you. Exorcisms are serious business. Let’s go, Mob.”

Mob held up the leash. “What about Keiko?”

Reigen leaned in and cupped his hand to his mouth to whisper to Mob. “Listen, this sounds like she needs the pipes in her house fixed, not a ghost. She’ll be fine.” He pulled away and smiled at the woman. “Besides, with her sixth sense, she’ll be like an alarm.”

“Okay,” Mob said apprehensively.

The three of them approached the apartment that belonged to the client. Reigen unlocked the door with the keys that she gave him and went inside. Mob began to follow, but Keiko suddenly balked. She wouldn’t cross the threshold.

“Huh?” Mob and Reigen turned around. Keiko yawned anxiously, resisting Mob’s gentle tugs on the leash with her whole body. When Reigen bent over to pick her up, she barked at him, and then barked down the hall. He pulled back. All of the hair along her spine was raised, bristling.

“What’s gotten into you, Keiko?” Reigen asked, crouching by her. “You a scaredy dog, huh?”

Keiko barked again and then whimpered, bowing her head. Reigen furrowed his brow. “Mob, maybe we ought to—“

All of a sudden, a landline telephone flew through the air, missing Mob by mere inches and careening over Reigen’s head. Its cord trailed behind it, like it had been ripped right out of the wall, and it crashed on the pavement outside. Reigen raised his eyebrows while Mob raised his hand.

“There’s an evil spirit here,” Mob said solemnly.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” Reigen said. “Go and uh, exorcise it!”

“Okay,” Mob said.

“But— be careful!”

“Okay.” He went further into the apartment.

Reigen looked back at Keiko. “You sensed it, didn’t you? Before Mob, even.”

He scratched her ears. “Thank you for warning us. Now, stay put.” He had to give his student some back up. He began to creep down the hall, Keiko whimpering after him.

“Get out of here!” a shrill voice cried from inside the apartment. It had to be the spirit. “This is my place! Nobody is allowed inside!”

“You can’t keep tormenting the woman who lives here now,” Mob said, his voice even. “It’s not fair. You should move on.”

Reigen advanced down the hall. It sounded like the confrontation was taking place in the woman’s bedroom at the back of the apartment.

“Life isn’t fair!” the spirit howled. “And neither is death, come to think of it!”

Reigen quietly poked his head into the bedroom. Inside, Mob was facing a corpulent ghost with eyes that were rolling down its head like they were set in melting wax. He reached into his pocket for some salt. One of the eyes rolled around and caught sight of him.

“Someone else is here?” the ghost screeched. “Why? Why are there always more?”

The door slammed behind Reigen, startling him. He heard Keiko barking frantically down by the entryway.

“A dog?” the ghost screamed, its mouth opening gruesomely wide. “And a dog, too? I hate dogs, I hate them! I hate them so much!”

It pointed in Keiko’s direction. “Get it out of here, or I’ll snap its little neck!”

Before it could say another word, Mob flicked his wrist.

“No,” he said sternly. “Leave Keiko alone.”

The ghost flickered, and then contorted, like an image on a TV with bad reception.

“What?” it cried. “You brat—“

And just like that, it was like the TV was turned off. The ghost was sucked into a tiny pinpoint of light and banished. Mob inhaled deeply, and then exhaled again.

“Master,” he said, turning around. “Is Keiko okay?”

His answer was the scratch of tiny claws at the door that had been slammed shut. Reigen opened it, and Keiko came rushing in, jumping up at both Reigen and Mob. Now that the ghost was gone, she was no longer afraid to enter the house.

“She looks just fine,” Reigen said. “And you? You okay?”

Mob nodded. “Yes.”

He crouched to pet Keiko, methodically smoothing down the hair along her back with long strokes. “She sensed the spirit before I did.”

“Yeah,” Reigen said. “I told you, dogs can smell spirits.”

Mob paused, thinking. “Maybe we should always have a dog with us.”

Reigen snorted. “Ha. I wish.”

“Well, why not?” Mob asked.

“Because—because—“ Reigen stammered. “There’s nowhere for us to have a dog! Neither Serizawa’s nor my apartments allow dogs, and you can’t have one either. It’s just not practical! Try and think realistically, Mob.”

The three of them left the apartment, but not until after Reigen spread a little bit of salt around to make it look like he’d done something. The woman sighed in relief when he told her that the ghost was gone.

“Finally,” she said. “He couldn’t stop complaining in life, either, so it shouldn’t surprise me that he was complaining in death.” 

“In life?” Reigen repeated.

“Yes, that was probably my ex-husband’s ghost,” the woman said. “He was a hoarder and a recluse, hated seeing anyone or letting them in the house. He died about a year ago and left me this place, so I moved in.”

“Wh-why would you move into your dead ex-husband’s apartment?” Reigen asked.

The woman shrugged. “Rent was cheap.”

Sounds about right, Reigen thought. Jeez, you never knew with these cases.

The woman paid handsomely and Reigen, Mob, and Keiko started to walk back. Reigen observed that it was growing late. It was probably no use to go all the way back to the office now.

“Ramen?” he offered.

“Ah, no,” Mob said. “I told my mom that I’d be home. So… I’m going home.”

Ever the eloquent one. “All right. I doubt we’d find a good ramen place that would allow dogs anyway.”

“Master,” Mob said, “if you and Serizawa-san can’t find Keiko’s owner, are you going to adopt her?”

Reigen sighed. “I told you, Mob, neither of us can have dogs in our apartments.”

“But you both really like her,” Mob said.

Reigen was silent. Mob may not have been a wordsmith, but he could get to the heart of a matter. His total inability to get a clue meant that he wasn’t afraid to say what everyone else talked around. Reigen, for one, had been talking circles around the kid for years now, and yet Mob was able to cut right through his circumlocution (even if he didn’t know what words like ‘circumlocution’ meant).

“Yeah, we do,” he said finally.

They continued walking.

Chapter Text

Reigen parted ways with Mob and headed home with Keiko in tow. The day at the office acting as a medium and detecting ghosts must have taken a lot out of her, because she practically dragged her paws. That could also be because Serizawa wasn’t around— his presence always seemed to perk her up.

“You want to be carried?” Reigen asked her. Keiko looked up at him, panting. He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

He scooped her up. Could it be that she was heavier already, after a few days? He was sure he was imagining it. But her fur was fuller and softer, which gave her a good bulk. She was definitely on the upswing with his and Serizawa’s diligent care.

We did really well, Reigen found himself thinking. That was… unexpected, to say the least. They did something right, for once. They were still doing it right! It was like the ultimate sign that they had their shit together.

Is this why people get pets? Reigen wondered. So that they know that they’re functioning members of society? So that other people know?

Well, he couldn’t deny that there was more to it than just proving something. In a short time, Reigen had grown remarkably invested in Keiko’s growth and happiness. When she was happy, he was happy. He just gained so much vicarious joy through her, his heart thumping like her persistent and sturdy tail.

It seemed like she brought out something good in him.

Reigen hugged Keiko close to his chest. Maybe he got too attached too quickly, but he was… really grateful for her. He understood Serizawa’s desire to protect her.

Are you going to adopt her?

Ah, Mob. He asked what Reigen was too afraid to ask himself. The thing was, adopting her just wasn’t possible. He couldn’t keep her hidden forever, and neither could Serizawa. He didn’t have the time or money to take care of another living creature. Hell, a dog was like a kid, and shit, god knew he wasn’t ready for that. He couldn’t take her even if he wanted to.

When he made it to his apartment, he put Keiko down and surveyed his empty kitchen. It was looking like another takeout night, or maybe leftovers. He flopped down on his couch with his laptop and started to browse the internet, as was his typical routine. Keiko, for her part, lay down on her bed. It was quiet.

He decided to go with leftovers. After he ate, he poured a bowlful of kibble for Keiko, and went to sit down again, maybe watch some TV. He flicked on the TV and cycled through the channels, not feeling particularly moved by any program. However, he hadn’t been sitting for five minutes before Keiko returned and nudged him with her wet nose.

“Need to go out?” he asked.

He got up and snuck her down to the outside, but once they got out there Keiko acted like she had nothing to do. Reigen tsked at her and brought her back in. He went back to the couch.

And then there was Keiko again, head-butting him. Reigen frowned.

“What is it now?” he asked.

She butted him once more and whined a little. Reigen sat up and scratched her head. She turned in a circle and whined again, planting her butt on the ground right in front of him.

What do dogs want? Reigen thought. She ate, she went out, I petted her…

It came to him. “You… want to go for a walk?”

At that, Keiko jumped up, her tail beginning to whip back and forth. Reigen sighed.

“I thought you were tired,” he said. “I know I am.”

But Keiko was pacing now in excitement at the thought of a walk. Reigen groaned and made himself get up. If he was going to take care of this dog for one more day, he wasn’t going to slack off. He owed Keiko that much.

So he put his jacket on, put Keiko’s leash on, and headed out. Walking Keiko wasn’t nearly as enjoyable without Serizawa by his side, though he did suppose the fresh air was good for him. Unlike earlier, Keiko was a rocket full of energy, pulling forward ahead of him. He sort of let her pull him along, not paying close attention to where he was going. He wondered how Serizawa was doing— he was still at school, surely. Reigen knew that objectively his schooling was going well, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever asked him if he liked it. He seemed happy to be doing something to better himself, and he apparently had friends there. Reigen wondered if he liked his time there more than he liked Spirits and Such.

It doesn’t even matter, he told himself. He wasn’t going to let himself get all insecure over that. He had to accept that he wasn’t the only important thing in Serizawa’s life— if he even was an important thing at all. He thought he was, but at times like this when it was just him, he started to doubt himself—

“It’s you again.”

Reigen paused, registering where he was and who was speaking to him. He did not like either answer.

He was standing outside a flower shop. The one speaking to him was the eyebrow-deficient plant man. What was his name again? Mizushima? No, that wasn’t it.

“Uh, hi,” Reigen said. He made to keep walking.

“Hold on,” the man said. “I want to talk to you.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” he said. “Please. Come inside.”

“I don’t know,” Reigen said, shifting his weight. Minegishi, that was his name. Whatever, he was creepy. Luckily, Reigen had a way out. “See, I have a dog. Can’t bring her into the store.”

“Dogs are welcome,” Minegishi said flatly. Reigen swallowed. He was sure that Minegishi had just made that rule up on the spot, but he had nothing with which to contest it. He wished Keiko would just pull him along and he could act like he had no choice, but she was sniffing a potted plant with some interest.

“Okay,” he finally said.

Minegishi nodded and led them inside. It was a rather small shop, warm and humid like a greenhouse with rows upon rows of pots that contained all sorts of plants. They all looked pretty healthy, and only perked up more when they passed by, no doubt due to Minegishi’s aura. He led Reigen back towards the cash register, where he took a seat behind the counter and steepled his fingers.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions,” he said.

“All right,” Reigen said. “Shoot.”

Minegishi did not hold back. “What are your intentions with Serizawa?”

Reigen nearly choked. “W-what?”

“As I understand it, you two have become quite close,” he said.

“How would you know that?”

“That’s not important,” Minegishi said. “Listen to me, Reigen Arataka, because this is important.”

He folded his hands. “You understand that Serizawa and I worked for Claw.”

“Yeah,” Reigen said. “I know.”

“He probably does not talk about it much.”

“Not— not really?” Reigen said. Where is this going?

“There’s a reason for that,” Minegishi said. “Claw was not a nice place to work.”

“I can imagine,” Reigen said dryly.

“You were not expected to get along with your coworkers,” Minegishi continued with no regard for his comments. “You were expected to weed out the weaklings and retain loyalty to one man— the President.”

Did he just say ‘weed out’ with a straight face? Reigen felt like he was watching this conversation take place from outside his body, it was so surreal.

“Every day was a contest of strength against strength, power against power, will against will,” Minegishi went on. “Nowhere was the competition tighter than in the Super Five. Myself and the other members found our way to the highest echelon not only by being the most powerful, but by being the most ruthless. It was all in the pursuit of our goals.”

He narrowed his eyes. “My goal was to take over the world, of course,” he said. “It’s one thing to control the forces of nature. To control society itself— to control humanity— that is a much greater power. That was the power I desired. Many of Claw’s members wanted power like this. If not that, they wanted money, or enjoyment, or simply wanted to take out their frustration on the world.”

He paused. “But not Serizawa.”

“Wh—“ Reigen began to ask a question, but Minegishi continued over him.

“Serizawa’s goal was only to serve Suzuki. He was not ruthless, not on his own accord. He earned his place in the Super Five through his unwavering loyalty— and his immense power, of course. He was the only one trusted to protect the President at all times, because the rest of us were too ambitious. We all would have gladly deposed Suzuki and taken his place if we could have. Not Serizawa.”

Reigen felt cold. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

Minegishi sighed. “Don’t you understand? Serizawa was as close to the President as any man could have been. The reason that Suzuki had even a sliver of trust in him was because Serizawa put all his trust in him. And do you know what the President did with that trust?”

Reigen did know. He bowed his head and said nothing.

“I want you to know this now,” Minegishi said. “What you’ve got going on is very cute, with the dog and everything. But it can’t go on. Because if you’re not genuine…”

He placed his hand on a vase of cut roses that sat on the counter. With his touch, the roses grew unnaturally large, pointy thorns, and the flowers turned from burgundy to scarlet red— blood red. Reigen bit his lip.

“I am not as gentle as Serizawa,” Minegishi said. “The next person to betray his trust may not feel his wrath. But they will feel mine.”

Keiko whimpered and pawed at Reigen’s leg. Reigen took a deep breath.

“I understand that you’re concerned about Serizawa, but you need to give him more credit,” he said. “He’s not helpless. In fact, he’s doing really well on his own right now.”

Minegishi blinked. The roses seemed to shrivel a bit.

“Let him decide for himself whether or not I’m genuine,” Reigen said. “Please. You need to have some trust in him.”

Minegishi was quiet for a moment. Then, to Reigen’s surprise, he laughed. And he kept laughing, for quite a while. It was unnerving and frankly a little annoying.

“I don’t see what you find funny,” Reigen said, crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry,” Minegishi said. He wiped his eye. “It’s just that I realized— you’re the one who’s hopelessly in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Um, what?” Reigen gripped the edge of the counter. “What— what do you know?”

“I thought it was the other way around,” Minegishi said. “I can’t believe how foolish I was. You’re no threat.”

“Hey, nobody said anything about love!” Reigen said indignantly.

“You didn’t have to say it,” he said. He turned his back to Reigen and waved his hand. “Good luck, Reigen-san.”

“Hey, hold on a sec!” Reigen leaned over the counter, shaking his fist as if he could grab Minegishi. “What’s it to you, anyway? Why do you even care?”

Minegishi turned around, a little smile on his thin lips.

“As far as I’m concerned, Serizawa is the only one of the Super Five who deserves a happy ending,” he said. “And he was the only one who I would consider my friend. You know what that’s like, don’t you?”

Reigen pulled back. Minegishi turned around once more and headed into the back room that was emblazoned with an “EMPLOYEES ONLY” sign, which he shut behind him.

He stood there, stunned, for a while— until Keiko whined at him again. That snapped him back to reality. He quickly stroked her head to reassure her.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

Back at the apartment, Keiko sprawled out on her bed, so Reigen was fairly sure that she was done for the night. Reigen decided to follow suit, changing into his pajamas and taking a seat on his couch. He turned on the TV and navigated to one of his favorite channels, where they played old B movies 24/7. It was another haunted house special, which Reigen had a tumultuous history with. He used to be terrified of ghost stories, since he believed that ghosts were real and therefore any story about a ghost could conceivably happen in real life. But now, he couldn’t care less, seeing as two of his closest companions were able to banish spirits with a flick of the wrist. It was funny, how some problems got solved.

As usual, Reigen didn’t really watch the movie. He was busy thinking about what Minegishi had said.

Were his feelings so obvious that even a stranger could discern them? He was totally taken off guard by Minegishi’s declaration: you’re the one who’s hopelessly in love with him. Did he really seem hopelessly in love? Was he hopelessly in love?

Reigen didn’t like the word love. He didn’t trust it. As sad as it was, he even feared it a little bit. It was such an unimaginable, amorphous thing that nobody could really agree on what it even meant, and yet it held such power. It wasn’t hard to hurt someone with the word. It was a bludgeon that could beat a man bloody, and it wasn’t even heavy to lift.

He tried to focus on the TV again. In the movie, the characters were performing an exorcism— a complicated affair with lots of sigils, holy icons, and chanting. That’s unrealistic, Reigen thought. For real espers, exorcisms were nearly effortless. Everyone else seemed to overestimate the power of ghosts. Like with the youkai, for example— the hunter guy seemed to think that youkai were impossibly powerful creatures, and maybe to regular humans they were, but even when faced with the strongest of the demons Serizawa had easily banished them and how was he already thinking about Serizawa god damnit!

Reigen dropped his head into his hands and let out a low groan. How could he be in love? He didn’t even know what love was. He had never experienced it in that way. All he knew was that he couldn’t lie to Serizawa and he couldn’t stop thinking about him. Was that it? Was this love? Because it really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

As he agonized, he heard the click of little nails and felt the brush of fur and the weight on the cushion next to him as Keiko hopped up on the couch beside him. He took his hands off his face to see her curl up by him, resting her head on his leg. He stroked her soft, warm fur. She licked her nose and snuggled closer to him.

“I have no idea what I’m doing, Keiko,” he said. “I don’t even know what I’m feeling, let alone how to tell him. What if I’m just desperate to have someone, anyone? What if I’m getting too attached?”

He rested his hand on her back. “Just like I’m getting too attached to you.”

He felt Keiko sigh, and he echoed it with one of his own. He grabbed the remote control and turned the TV off.

Chapter Text

They’d agreed that nine AM seemed like a good time to meet up before they stopped by this Yamamoto’s house, so Reigen set his alarm for eight. However, he woke up at seven in anticipation of that alarm, and his anxiety kept him from sleeping again.

He got up from the couch, regretting his decision to spend the night there based on the state of his back. Keiko woke up as well, and she stretched, bowing with her front legs out and then extending her back legs in turn.

“You getting up?” Reigen asked her. She went to her dog bed and lay down again with a yawn. Reigen raised his eyebrows. “Apparently not.”

This was good, actually. While Keiko was laying down, Reigen hopped in the shower, relishing the warm water on his sore back. He toweled off, shaved, and got dressed before Keiko decided that she was hungry and started to whine a bit.

“Hold on,” Reigen said. He started a fresh pot of coffee and then poured Keiko her kibble, which she eagerly ate. Reigen had learned that she treated every meal like her last and even though she was small, she could really pack it in.

Maybe I should have more for breakfast than just a cup of coffee, Reigen thought. He didn’t buy into that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” stuff, since he’d been functioning on coffee alone as his first meal for basically all of his adult life. But watching Keiko eat made him a little hungry for something more than just a cup of dark roast. He decided to make himself some toast, just for the hell of it. Why not mix it up, right?

By the time he and Keiko were both done eating, it was just turning eight, the time that he had planned to wake up at. He shot Serizawa a text— Ready when u are— and took Keiko out.

“How about a little walk?” Reigen asked Keiko. Her tail started to wag, and he took that as a yes. He decided to take her around the block, a jaunt that only took about fifteen minutes. As they walked, some of Reigen’s neighbors actually waved to him. He’d never noticed them before, but in the last few days of walking he’d seen them pretty often, going about their routines just as he went about his new one. He waved back.

As he and Keiko made their way back to his apartment, he saw that Serizawa had arrived. Keiko began to pace in excitement at the sight of him, which made Reigen smile.

“Katsuya!” he called. Serizawa looked over and smiled back.

“Hello, Arataka-kun,” he said as they approached. “Hello, Keiko.”

“How’s it going?” Reigen asked. He offered Keiko’s leash.

Serizawa’s smile dropped as he took the leash. “I’m ready to meet Keiko’s owner,” he said, a shadow passing over his eyes. Reigen patted his shoulder.

“I feel you, I really do,” Reigen said. “But in this case, we’re going to ask questions first, yeah? If we don’t like the answer, then we can have a little, eh, intervention.”

Serizawa looked up. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

The address that they’d gotten from the vet was a local one, not far from Reigen’s place. The three of them walked there together, Reigen and Serizawa shoulder-to-shoulder while Keiko was out in front leading the way. There were lots of other people out— exercising, or commuting, or walking their own dogs. Reigen saw a couple walking holding hands, and he had to shove his own hands into his pockets.

They walked until they approached a more suburban area. Reigen thought about the possible scenarios that they would encounter— Yamamoto could be a well-meaning if not somewhat neglectful owner, or they could be a total psychopath, or any number of variations between the two. He considered himself well prepared for any of these outcomes.

He wasn’t prepared to come to the address given and see a house condemned.

Reigen and Serizawa stood on the sidewalk, staring at the house. It looked to be in mild disrepair, like whoever lived there either couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of basic chores. But nobody lived there, as evidenced by the NO TRESPASSING sign on the door and the boarded windows.

Keiko, on the other hand, was not put off. She pulled on her leash, whining a little as she tried to get closer to the house. Serizawa looked at her uneasily, not sure whether he should let her go or not.

“It’s empty,” Reigen said. “Why would Keiko’s chip have the address of an empty house?”

“Maybe they don’t live here anymore,” Serizawa said. “Keiko seems like she knows the place.”

He was right. She was sniffing around the yard like she hadn’t been there in a while and was eager to reassert herself.

“Let’s talk to the neighbors,” Reigen said.

They started towards the next house over, but Serizawa hesitated. Reigen understood he was anxious and put his hand up.

“Do you mind staying back?” he asked. “They might be afraid of dogs, for all we know.”

“Yes, of course,” Serizawa said quickly. He flashed Reigen a grateful smile.

Reigen strolled up to the front door casually and rang the doorbell.

“Hold on!” he heard a voice inside call, followed by some footsteps. Soon, the door opened, revealing an older woman with a suspicious look on her face.

“Listen,” she said. “I’m not buying anything—“

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Reigen gave her his patented smile, the one that worked particularly well with older ladies. “I’ve actually got a question about the house next door.”

The woman did not seem charmed. She frowned. “Are you from the government?”

“Um, no,” Reigen said, dropping the smile. Better luck next time. “We’re just trying to find Yamamoto Akane. Does she not live here anymore?”

“Yamamoto-san?” The woman’s frowned deepened. “No, she doesn’t live here anymore.”

“Do you happen to know where she lives now?”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “Well, she doesn’t live much of anywhere anymore. Yamamoto died last year.”

“O-oh.” Reigen drew back. “I, uh. I didn’t know.”

“Who is that?” the woman asked, pointing to Serizawa. “You’re not looking for her delinquent son, are you? He doesn’t live here, so stop asking! This is a nice neighborhood.”

“What? No,” Reigen said quickly, sensing that situation was quickly spiraling out of his control. “We just found this dog—“

“Tell that Noritaka to stop sending his debt collectors to his poor mother’s house!” the woman snapped. “Her spirit is probably already in pain because of his behavior, no need to torment her neighbors too!”

She slammed the door shut. Reigen took a deep breath and turned back to Serizawa.

“All right, well, that was a conversation,” he said.

“Did it not go well?” Serizawa asked.

“Probably as well as it could have gone,” Reigen said. “She said Yamamoto died.”

Serizawa frowned. “Died? How long ago?”

“A year,” Reigen said. “You don’t suppose that she was Keiko’s owner?”

“I didn’t think that Keiko was that old,” Serizawa said.

The two of them looked at Keiko, who was still looking at the house. It was impossible to discern what she was thinking.

“I wish she could just tell us what the deal was,” Reigen said. “That would make this much easier.”

“Me too,” Serizawa said. “We should probably get going to work.”

“Yeah.” Reigen rubbed his chin. “We probably should.”

The client had been there twice already, and frankly, Reigen was getting sort of tired of dealing with him. This time, he brought a tarnished old silver locket with no picture inside.

“I think this one is part of the curse, too,” the client said. It was a middle-aged man with a bald spot. “The one that’s making my hair fall out.”

Reigen raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He looked to Serizawa, who shook his head. Not cursed, then. Just like the other three hadn’t been cursed. Not for real, at least. This guy kept bringing in vaguely creepy items and claiming that they were responsible for his “sudden and uncharacteristic hair loss”. The first time, Reigen had done an “exorcism” on his object (a dusty photo album) and sent him home with a “spiritual tonic” that was actually a hair-growth formula. Apparently, that hadn’t worked, because he came in again, complaining that the spirit was still tormenting him. At that point, Reigen had bluffed up some explanation about a “multi-part curse,” and warned him that multiple objects might be responsible. That had been a huge mistake on his part. Ever since then, this guy had been coming in with more and more junk, claiming it was giving him a creepy feeling and demanding that Reigen exorcise it without his having to pay more, “since it was all the same curse.” Reigen didn’t care if the same person came back time and time again, but when they started to refuse paying, that was when he got frustrated. 

“I can feel a negative energy coming from this,” he said in a flat voice. “Where did it come from?”

“Same place as all the other stuff that you exorcised,” the man said. “I inherited a bunch of my dad’s trash when he died. I don’t know if the old man had a grudge against me or what!”

Serizawa suddenly perked up. Reigen cocked his head, to which Serizawa made a wavy hand gesture that indicated I’ll tell you later. Reigen sighed and turned his attention back to the customer.

“Well, if you ask me, this particular curse may be working up a resistance to my exorcisms,” he said.

“That can happen?” the client asked.

“Oh, certainly,” Reigen said. “It’s a risk that I run by performing so many exorcisms. Some curses and spirits are like bacteria— they pick up resistance to the antibiotics that they’re treated with over and over again.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid this might be all that I can do for you, my friend. However, I can recommend you to another psychic who may decide to take on your case and begin battling the curse anew, now that I’ve weakened it.”

The client nodded eagerly. “Do you have a card?”

Reigen quickly jotted down Shinra’s contact information and handed it to the customer, who took it, thanked Reigen, and left. Once he had gone, Reigen collapsed into his chair.

“That ought to get rid of him,” Reigen said. “Shinra can thank me later.”

He lifted his head up. “So, Serizawa— you looked like you had an epiphany.”

Serizawa nodded and stood up. In the corner of the room, Keiko looked up sleepily from where her bed was situated.

“Something the client said got me thinking,” he said. “About how he inherited that stuff from his father— I thought, what if Yamamoto had kids? Maybe Keiko went to one of them after her.”

“The neighbor woman did mention something about a son,” Reigen said.

“Yes, so I started looking up obituaries,” Serizawa said. “I think I found our Yamamoto.”

He showed his phone to Reigen. The woman pictured was a smiling, grandmotherly figure, who actually looked quite friendly. Reigen quickly read the text.

“‘Yamamoto Akane, 64, passed away at home on September 2nd,’” he read. “‘She is survived by one son, Yamamoto Noritaka, and one daughter, Fujioka Chouko.’ Hey, the neighbor mentioned a Noritaka— it must be the same one.”

“So, one of them could have inherited Keiko,” Serizawa said. “But the question is— which one?”

You’re not looking for her delinquent son, are you? Reigen’s stomach dropped.

“I think I have an idea,” he said. “You think you could find this Noritaka’s phone number online?”

Serizawa nodded. “I can try.”

“Then we’ll investigate him first,” Reigen said. “I mean— gotta start somewhere, right? Let’s find out the kind of person that he is.”

Serizawa set about finding Yamamoto, while Reigen anxiously stared at his desktop, unseeing. He wasn’t about to tell Serizawa that he already had an idea of what kind of person Yamamoto Noritaka might be. The neighbor could be exaggerating, though, right? She seemed sort of uptight. Maybe Yamamoto wasn’t actually a delinquent. She probably would describe himself and Serizawa as delinquents, too, but that didn’t make them the kind of guys who'd hurt dogs. It was all just hearsay.

“I think I found something,” Serizawa said. “Yamamoto Noritaka, Seasoning City. That’s probably him, right?”

“Sounds about right,” Reigen said, getting up. His legs were getting jittery, anyway. “What’s the number? I’ll call.”

Serizawa read the number aloud and Reigen plugged it into his phone and lifted it to his ear. Keiko watched them both with a look of mild curiosity, not strong enough for her to get up.

It rang twice. “Hello?” a gruff voice on the other end said.

Reigen narrowed his eyes. It was an affectation, he could tell, an attempt to seem tougher than reality. “Hello, sir. I’m looking for a Yamamoto Noritaka?”

“What do you want with him?” the voice said.

Combative, much? “I’m calling about a lost dog that I think might belong to you.”

The man on the other end paused. “Black and white shiba? Yeah, that’s mine.”

Reigen grimaced. He was afraid that might be the case. 

“Well, then, I’m glad I called,” Reigen began to say.

“Must’ve gotten out from my backyard. I’ve been looking for it,” Yamamoto interrupted. “You still have it?”

It? Yeah, Reigen didn’t like this guy. “Yes. Is there a time we can meet…?”

“Nine thirty. I’ll give you the address.”

Reigen looked at Serizawa. His classes ended at ten. He had a feeling he would want to be there.

“Is ten thirty doable?” he asked.

“Sure, whatever works,” Yamamoto said. He gave Reigen an address and hung up rather brusquely. Reigen shut his phone and took a deep breath.

“How’d it go?” Serizawa asked.

“Tonight at ten-thirty,” Reigen said. “Does that work for you?”

Serizawa thought for a second, then nodded. “I can make it work. For Keiko.”

“Yeah,” Reigen said, glancing at his phone. “For Keiko.”

Chapter Text

Mob arrived and Serizawa left shortly after. Not that it mattered— business was slow.

“You know, you can go home if you want,” Reigen told Mob. Mob was sitting by Keiko’s bed, scratching her ears, and she was loving it. Her curly tail wagged lazily.

“Okay,” Mob said, but didn’t make a move to leave. He just continued petting the dog. Both seemed content.

Reigen put his head in his hands. They had Keiko for one day, and his whole office now revolved around her. They all loved her. How was he supposed to turn her over to some asshole?

The thing was, he didn’t have a choice. Not only could he not accommodate a dog for much longer, but now that Yamamoto knew that they had his dog, he was going to want her back. He couldn’t pretend like he didn’t have her anymore.

Why does he even care? Reigen thought. He didn’t even seem to like her that much. What was the point of even having a dog if you didn’t like dogs?

Nobody came in for the rest of the day. Reigen printed out directions to the given address, only to find it wasn’t a house, but a spacious parking lot. He narrowed his eyes. This Yamamoto really was a delinquent, wasn’t he? If not for Serizawa, Reigen would never agree to meet a shady guy in a shady place to exchange anything, especially not a dog. 

“Give Keiko your best,” Reigen told Mob as he was leaving. “Serizawa and I are returning her to her owner today.”

“Oh?” Mob frowned and crouched down to Keiko. “Goodbye, then, Keiko. You’re a really good dog.”

Keiko wagged her tail at the praise. She hopped up and gave Mob’s nose a lick. Mob smiled.

Reigen nodded. “She is a good dog,” he mused.

Mob left, and Reigen locked up the office. As he was leaving, he made sure to grab all of Keiko’s stuff from around the room, a task that was harder than he imagined— there was stuff high and low, like a toy under the couch or a box of treats on a high shelf. She had somehow managed to become omnipresent already.

He and Keiko went home. Keiko walked along happily, unaware that this would be her last time at Reigen’s apartment. Unaware of what she was going back to…

Reigen shook his head. There still wasn’t any proof that Yamamoto had hurt Keiko. Or maybe, after losing her, he’d come to his senses and realize that he had to take better care of her. He had to be optimistic. The dog certainly was.

But still, Reigen gave Keiko a portion of his dinner instead of the usual kibble. She excitedly wolfed it down, and curled up on Reigen’s lap when he sat down on the couch. He rolled his eyes. This was really not helping him detach from her. But he petted her anyway, running his fingers through her soft, dark fur. It seemed even softer today, for some reason.

As the meeting time drew nearer, Reigen got antsy. He took Keiko out, then brought her in, then took her out again just to walk around the block. He had half-hoped to see someone, anyone, that he could talk to, just to run his mouth about silly and inconsequential things. At this time, however, not a lot of people were out. They’d all retired for the night. Reigen imagined those people, those happy families with their kids and their pets, secure and loved in warm homes, unafraid. The streetlights flickered on one by one as the neighborhood became dark.

At ten, he texted Serizawa to let him know he was heading out. The address Yamamoto gave wasn’t far from his mother’s house, actually, so Reigen decided to walk there with Keiko. He bundled up in a coat and scarf to protect against the night’s cold and the two of them set off.

They were the first ones to arrive at the meeting spot. It was just an empty warehouse parking lot, by the looks of it, which gave Reigen a bad feeling. He swallowed his apprehension and tried to look casual, not like a total outsider. He leaned against a chain link fence and considered lighting up a cigarette, but decided against it for now. He could start smoking again when he got home, when it was just him enduring the smell of smoke. Keiko paced at his feet, confused as to why they’d chosen to stop here, where there weren’t even any trees or grass to sniff.

“Hey,” a voice said.

Reigen stood up to his full height, holding Keiko’s leash tightly. The source of the voice emerged from the shadows. He was a young man, probably younger than Reigen, with his hands shoved into his pockets and a slight scowl. At the sight of him, Keiko hunkered down behind Reigen. Her hair was slightly raised. Reigen swallowed over the lump in his throat.

“Hello,” Reigen said. “You must be Yamamoto-san. I’m Reigen Arataka.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Nice to meet you. You found my dog?”

Reigen suddenly felt foolish, holding Keiko’s pink and purple leash. He had a plastic bag filled with all of the supplies that Serizawa had bought, but he couldn’t imagine himself handing it over to this guy. He probably didn’t care that Keiko’s favorite toy was in there.

“Yeah,” Reigen said.

“Right,” Yamamoto said. He held out his hand. Reigen shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m kind of waiting for my associate,” he said. “He… wants to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” Yamamoto frowned.

“To the dog,” Reigen explained. “She, uh. She’s very well behaved.”

Yamamoto furrowed his brows. “Listen, man, can I just have my dog back?”

He reached out for Keiko’s leash, but Reigen pulled it away.

“He’ll be here in a minute,” Reigen said.

“I don’t got a minute to wait,” Yamamoto said. “Give me my dog.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Reigen said. “What do you call the dog, by the way? Like, what’s her real name?”

“What kind of question is that?” Yamamoto snapped.

“Reigen-san!” Footsteps quickly approached from behind. Reigen turned around to see Serizawa running towards them, still holding his school bag. Keiko strained to go to him, yipping softly. He smiled and picked her up.

“Sorry I’m late,” Serizawa said as he came to stand next to Reigen, panting. Keiko tried to lick his face. “Hi, Keiko.”

“Who are you?” Yamamoto asked, eyeing Keiko in his arms.

“I told you, he’s my associate,” Reigen said. “He’s been helping me take care of Ke—the dog.”

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes. “…Okay, well, can I have my dog now?”

“Sure,” Reigen said. “Serizawa…”

Serizawa nodded. “I understand.”

He lifted up Keiko and touched his nose to hers. “Thanks for being a good girl, Keiko.”

He turned to Reigen and held her out to him, looking expectant. Reigen couldn’t help but smile and pet her head.

“Yeah,” he said. “You’re all right.”

Serizawa put her down and Reigen handed the leash over to Yamamoto.

“Thanks,” Yamamoto said.

“One thing,” Serizawa said. “We’ve been calling her Keiko, but— what’s her real name?”

Yamamoto frowned, wrapping the leash around his fist. “Yeah, he already asked me that. It’s just Inu.”

Reigen folded his arms. “You named your dog… Dog?”

“It’s just a dog,” Yamamoto said. Serizawa frowned.

He bent down and unlatched Keiko’s collar. “You two can keep the stuff, by the way. I already have one.”

He produced a spiked chain, which he put around Keiko’s neck. Reigen felt a little sick. Serizawa stiffened, and his jaw clenched.

To make matters worse, when Yamamoto turned around and made to leave, Keiko did not go with him. She planted her butt down and would not move, even as he tugged on her leash.

“Come on,” Yamamoto growled. He gave her a yank; the spikes dug into her neck. Keiko yipped in pain and went after him, her tail between her legs. She looked back with pleading eyes. Serizawa’s hands curled into fists.

Oh no, Reigen thought as Serizawa took a step forward and put his shoulders back. He seemed to grow twice as tall when he did that. It didn’t seem like it most of the time due to his demeanor, but Serizawa was a rather large man, tall and broad. Reigen understood why Suzuki recruited him to be his bodyguard.

“Hey,” Serizawa said in a deep, gruff voice. “Wait a second.”

Yamamoto stopped and turned around, a sneer on his face. “What?”

He was faced with Serizawa looming over him, glowering. He easily had four or five inches on Yamamoto. The other man’s disdainful look dissolved under Serizawa’s glare.

“You hurt that dog, didn’t you?” Serizawa said.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yamamoto said, backing up. Serizawa took another step forward. Keiko cowered between them, whimpering.

Reigen inserted himself between the two men. “Hey, hey, let’s talk about this civilly,” he said. “Serizawa—“

“You know he did it,” Serizawa growled. “You saw.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Yamamoto said. “It’s my dog, anyway. It’s my fucking dog.”

“You don’t even care about her!” Serizawa said. “You ought to give her back. If you know what’s good for you.”

“Serizawa, come on,” Reigen said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.

“Are you threatening me?” Yamamoto said. “I’ll call the fucking police on you, psycho!”

“Serizawa!” Reigen couldn’t let the police get involved. Not with Serizawa’s history. They’d try to arrest him for sure if they found out he’d been part of Claw.

He took a deep breath. “Serizawa, it’s— it’s his dog.”

Serizawa paused. He looked at Reigen, his expression softening with confusion.

“What?” he said.

Reigen fidgeted. “We should— we should just go. She’s his dog.”

Serizawa’s brows lowered. “Arataka, what are you saying?” 

“I’m saying there’s nothing we can legally do,” Reigen said.

“You’re fucking right,” Yamamoto, using the time to back up a few more steps as Reigen held Serizawa back. “It’s my property, so just fuck off and mind your own business, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Reigen said. “We’re going. We’re going.”

He grabbed Serizawa’s forearm and pulled him back— not very far, seeing as he was bigger and stronger than Reigen. Yamamoto sneered at them and headed off in the other direction, still dragging Keiko. Once he was sufficiently out of sight, Reigen released Serizawa.

“Katsuya, you have to be careful,” he scolded. “If the police showed up—“

Serizawa whirled on Reigen, and Reigen could feel his aura flaring, ice-cold. He was breathing heavily.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he said, his voice constricted.

Reigen staggered back at the force of his words. He rarely heard Serizawa swear, especially not at anyone. “W-what?”

“I asked, what’s wrong with you?” Serizawa snapped. “You just gave up our dog to an abusive asshole!”

“She’s not our dog,” Reigen said defensively. “There’s nothing we can do—“

“There was something we could’ve done!” he said. “We could’ve refused to hand her over. It would’ve been easy, Arataka!”

He grit his teeth. “Instead, you gave her up! You gave her up! And you promised you wouldn’t. You promised!”

Suddenly, Reigen felt like he was hit with an invisible swinging door. It knocked him off balance, and as he stumbled back his ankles crossed and he fell on his ass, skinning his palms on the concrete. Something wet and warm ran down his face. His nose had begun to bleed.

“Shit,” he said. He looked up, and saw that he’d been knocked back at least ten feet by the invisible force. “Shit.”

All of the blood had gone out of Serizawa’s face. All the anger had gone out of his posture, replaced with shock. He stared at his hands, and then at Reigen.

Shit!

“Arataka,” he whispered. “Did I… did I hurt you?”

This is bad…

Reigen said nothing, but the blood kept dripping down his face. That was Serizawa’s answer. His shoulders curled in, his hands trembling as he went to cover his face. Gravel on the ground rose up around him, shaking in the air. His breath began to come in fast and sharp, and Reigen felt the air crackle. 

“I… hurt… you…” Serizawa said.

This is really bad!

Reigen went to him swiftly, wiping away the blood, gesturing to show that he was uninjured. “Katsuya, it’s okay. I’m fine. Just a nosebleed, that’s all.”

“I hurt you,” Serizawa repeated.

“It was an accident!”

There was the sudden screech of distorting metal as the chain link fence next to them suddenly warped, as if someone were pulling it apart. The streetlamp shook as it twisted, and cracks ran through the concrete under their feet.

Serizawa sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes wide and wild, like a cornered animal’s.

“My powers,” he gasped. “I can’t— I can’t control them—“

“Yes, you can!” Reigen put both hands on Serizawa’s shoulders. “You can control it. I believe in you.”

“I can’t!” Serizawa cried out. “You— you need to get away— get away from me!”

Reigen gripped his jacket as he felt himself become weightless, his feet leaving the pavement by a few inches. He tried to maneuver his way down, but found no purchase in the air. Several rather large chunks of concrete joined him as the sidewalk was broken down.

“You can,” Reigen repeated, trying not to let the fear seep through his voice. He thought of all the times that Mob, when he was younger, had trouble controlling his powers. Reigen had no idea what it was like to be psychic, but he knew Mob. He knew people.

“Please,” Serizawa said, wrapping his arms around himself. “Please, get away.”

“No,” Reigen said. “I won’t. I’m not going anywhere.”

He held on tighter as the wind howled around them and the ground shuddered. Serizawa’s breath was rapid and sharp, and Reigen had an idea.

“Just focus on your breathing,” he said.

“What?”

“Breathe with me!”

He inhaled loudly, and Serizawa followed his lead with shaking breaths. They breathed together for a few minutes, until Reigen’s head felt as light as his feet. But by the time they’d finished, his feet weren’t so light anymore— he was placed back on the ground gently.

“Look at me, Katsuya,” he said softly. “Look, you put me down safely. I’m okay, I’m right here.”

Serizawa’s anger had subsided into silent tears. He wrapped Reigen in a hug, burying his face in his shoulder. Reigen hugged him tightly back.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Serizawa made no sound. It seemed to Reigen like he was used to crying quietly.

“Let’s go back to my place,” Reigen said. “I’ll make you some tea.”

They walked back to Reigen’s apartment in silence, Reigen’s hand on Serizawa’s shoulder the whole way. His nosebleed quickly subsided. Once inside, Reigen changed out of his slightly bloodied shirt and got busy making the tea while Serizawa sat on the couch, his head in his hands. When Reigen brought the two mugs out on a tray, he looked up. His eyes were streaked with red.

“I’m so sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“I forgive you,” Reigen said, handing him a cup. “Here. It’s chamomile.”

He sat down next to Serizawa and blew on the hot drink. They were quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Serizawa repeated. “I…”

Reigen lowered his cup. “I understand. And I’m sorry, as well. I did promise that we wouldn’t give her up to that guy, and I broke that promise because I was scared.”

He sighed. “I’m a coward, Katsuya. Always have been.”

Serizawa shook his head. “You’re not.”

“I am,” Reigen said. “And I’m sorry.”

Serizawa took a sip of his tea, even though it was still way too hot for Reigen. He inhaled the scented steam and closed his eyes.

“She looked so sad when he put that chain on her,” he said. “She looked defeated.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t think about that right now,” Reigen suggested, but Serizawa shrugged.

“I’m going to think about it anyway,” he said. “I can’t stop thinking about it. She trusted us. She trusted us to help, and we let her down.”

Reigen wanted to argue, to say that it wasn’t that simple, but he forced himself not to. To Serizawa, it was that simple.

“She did trust us,” he said.

“And we broke that trust,” Serizawa said. “And people who do that… are the worst kind of people in the world.”

Suddenly, with that sad statement, Reigen’s conversation with Minegishi came flooding back to him. Everything that he’d said about trust— about Suzuki— it all made sense, now. He understood Serizawa’s anguish. Or at least, he understood why.

Reigen put his tea down. “Katsuya. You know you can talk to me, right?”

Serizawa nodded.

“About anything.”

He nodded again.

“Okay. Just making sure.”

They were quiet for a few minutes more, before Serizawa spoke:

“I… saw myself in her.”

“In Keiko?” Reigen asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “How scared she was. How small. When I found her, she was so quiet, lying next to a pile of trash. She didn’t fight, not even for a second. It made me think of… of me, in my room, of all the fear and helplessness I felt. That was why I picked her up in the first place. It seemed like the right thing to do.”

“It was,” Reigen said softly. “It was the right thing.”

“But then today, when we gave her back—“ Serizawa’s voice broke, and he took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I betrayed her trust. I hurt you with my powers. And I… I…”

His fingers curled up into fists. His voice was barely above a whisper.

“I felt like the President,” he said.

He fell silent, curling in on himself even further. Reigen put his arm around his broad shoulders. He didn’t know why. It felt like the right thing to do.

“You’re not, Katsuya,” Reigen whispered to him. “You’re not the President. You’re nothing like him.”

“How do you know?” Serizawa asked. “At one point, I wanted to be like him, Arataka. I looked up to him. Who’s to say that I still won’t turn out like he did?”

“I am,” Reigen said. “I’m saying it right now. You’re not like him. You want to know how I know?”

Serizawa looked up. His eyes were shining wet, like he had dewdrops on his lashes. Reigen squeezed his shoulders.

“You picked Keiko up in the first place,” he said. “You brought her home, took care of her, played with her, loved her. And you didn’t do it as part of some plan. You didn’t do it because she had anything to offer you. You did it because it was the right thing to do. And I guarantee that Suzuki has never done something just because it was right.”

Serizawa covered his face with his hands and nodded furiously, tears running between his fingers. His shoulders trembled with each suppressed sob.

“Thank you,” he muttered. “Thank you, Arataka.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true,” Reigen said. He put his other arm around Serizawa and pulled him into a hug. Serizawa hugged him back tightly.

“Why can’t I just put it behind me?” he asked. “I just want the past to go away.”

“I know,” Reigen said. “I think we all do, for one thing or another.”

“I want to— to put him behind me.”

“He is, Katsuya. He’s far, far behind you.”

“Except he isn’t.” Reigen could feel his jaw trembling. “I… I think…”

He became quiet. Reigen patted his back.

“You can say it,” he said. “It’s good to talk about this kind of thing. It helps with healing.”

“I’m ashamed,” Serizawa whispered.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. Especially not of how you feel.”

Serizawa’s chest expanded as he took a deep breath.

“I think… I think I loved him,” he said, slowly, like each word was a piece of glass in his mouth. “Claw was everything to me. He was everything to me. And I… I thought I might’ve meant something, the tiniest thing, to him. But I was nothing, in the end.”

Reigen swallowed thickly. He was glad that Serizawa couldn’t see his face as he processed this information. He had suspected as much, but had been afraid to think it, probably due to his own feelings. He understood that there was only one way that Suzuki could have hurt him so badly: Serizawa gave him his entire heart. It almost made Reigen mad to think about it, how Suzuki had so callously wasted Serizawa’s love. He didn’t understand how lucky he was to even know this man.

You mean something to me, Reigen thought, but he didn’t say it.

“I’m… sorry,” he said, instead. “You deserve better.”

“I don’t know about that.” Serizawa pulled back and wiped his eyes. “I was part of it all. I did things for him— bad things. I hurt people because he asked me to. I don’t know if I can ever make up for that.”

“You’re doing good now,” Reigen pointed out. “Think of all the people who come to us asking for help. You help them.”

“You help them.”

“I couldn’t do it without you,” Reigen said. “Katsuya, my business would be nothing without you and Mob. I can’t actually exorcise a ghost or lift a curse, not like you can. You’re the real asset at Spirits and Such.”

Serizawa blushed. “I don’t know about that.”

“Well, in any case, you’re doing good now,” Reigen said. “That’s all that matters. The past is the past, and you’re doing more than enough to make up for it.”

He clapped his hand on Serizawa’s shoulder. “You can be a good man if you want to be, Katsuya. That’s what are you are Keiko. That’s what you are to me.”

Serizawa looked at him, and for a moment their faces were barely an inch apart. Reigen’s breath caught in his throat. He could easily pull him in and kiss him, if he wanted to. And god, did he want to. He wanted to show Serizawa that he was wanted. But he knew it was the wrong time. Things were too uncertain and vulnerable. He wouldn't put Serizawa in that position.

“Do you mean that?” Serizawa asked.

Of course I mean it, Reigen thought. I can’t lie to you, Katsuya. I can lie to everyone else. I could lie to God if I had to. But I can’t lie to you. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to say that, either. He could only nod solemnly and turn his face away.

The two of them sat together for a little longer as Serizawa calmed down. Reigen waited until his breathing was normal once again. Then, he removed his hand from Serizawa’s shoulder and stood up. He collected the empty tea cups and took them back into the kitchen.

“It’s kind of late,” he said, observing the clock on the microwave. It was almost midnight. “You’re welcome to sleep on my couch if you want to. Or, I can sleep on the couch. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“I… I shouldn’t,” Serizawa said, standing. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I need to… to be alone for a little while.”

I want you to stay, Reigen thought. But what he wanted didn’t matter right now. He nodded.

“Thank you for the tea,” Serizawa said with a small bow. “And… for everything else.”

He rubbed his neck anxiously. “I… I’ve never really talked about this with… anyone. Ever. But I’m glad I was able to talk to you.”

“Anything for a friend,” Reigen said with a wave of his hand.

Serizawa smiled and dipped his head. “Thank you.”

He put on his shoes and shuffled out the door. Reigen smiled as he bid him farewell, but as soon as he closed the door his face fell. The tension in his body flooded out like a dam had just been opened, and he nearly sank to the ground. He was able to throw himself on his bed, his thoughts swirling like a building storm.

This is all my fault, he thought. If he’d just stood up to Yamamoto, told him he couldn’t have the dog, none of this would’ve happened. He probably wouldn’t have actually called the police, not a n’er-do-well like him. And what’s more, he should’ve known that Keiko was helping Serizawa cope. She’d been helping him cope, even, and he didn’t have half of the trauma that Serizawa did. Right now, he wished that he could talk to Keiko. But it was too late…

Slowly, Reigen pushed himself up on his elbows.

Was it too late?

Chapter Text

The next day at Spirits and Such was quiet. The customers were slow, and neither Reigen nor Serizawa had much to say. It seemed that there was a tacit agreement between them not to talk about the night before, or at least not at work.

It took all of Reigen’s willpower not to ask about the rest of Serizawa’s night. He looked like he hadn’t gotten any sleep, his gaze unfocused and his shoulders slumped. Luckily, none of the customers they did have actually had any supernatural problems, so Serizawa stayed in the background during the consultations, making tea for clients or working quietly.

“You all right?” Reigen asked him during a lull.

Serizawa smiled at him. “As good as I can be, Reigen-san.”

Reigen could only imagine what had kept him up all night. If Serizawa was anything like him, he’d have been consumed with thinking about the night’s events and wondering if Keiko was okay.

Reigen cracked his knuckles. He was going to fix this. He would fix everything.

Mob arrived around three. If he noticed the weirdness in the office, he didn’t say anything, but just sat at his makeshift desk and read manga. On occasions like this, Reigen was thankful for his disciple’s inability to read the room.

Serizawa bid them both farewell around four. Reigen smiled, but watched him carefully as he left. A minute after he’d left for school, Reigen got up and began to pack his things away.

Mob looked up. “What are you doing, shishou?”

Reigen closed his desk drawer and took a deep breath.

“I’m setting something right,” he said.

As it turned out, you could find anything on the internet. It was true that part of Reigen’s night had been spent thinking about Keiko’s plight. But the other part, he was formulating a plan.

The first part of the plan involved obtaining the contact information of a certain Fujioka Chouko. He managed to find a work number that looked like it was from the correct area.

After Serizawa left, Reigen picked up the phone and dialed that number.

A woman picked up. “Hello, this is Chouko.”

“Hello, Fujioka-san,” Reigen said with his smoothest voice. He really piled on the charm in this call— after all his plan depended on it. “My name is Suzuki Taro. How are you?”

“Fine,” Chouko said. “Can I ask why you’re calling?”

“Yes, of course,” Reigen said. “I’m trying to find a Yamamoto Noritaka, actually. He has some outstanding debts with my agency, and this is the number he gave as his.”

“Seriously?” He heard Chouko sigh. “God, I’m so sorry. Noritaka is my good-for-nothing brother. He’s been trying to avoid his debts forever. I guess he’s not able to shrug it off on our mother anymore, so he’s trying to pass it off on me.”

“Ah, I see, that is unfortunate,” Reigen said. “But while I have you, is it possible that you could give me Noritaka’s most recent address? So we can reach him properly?”

“Sure, one sec—“ she paused. “Actually— what is your agency, again?”

Reigen smiled. He thought she might ask this.

“I’m from a sarakin, ma’am,” he said without missing a beat. “Your brother took a loan from us that he hasn’t paid back.”

“Oh my god,” Chouko said. “Ugh, I’m so sorry. Let me see if I remember his address right.”

She gave him an address, which he wrote down.

“Thank you so much, Fujioka-san,” Reigen said. “Sorry to bother you. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”

“Knowing my brother, it probably will,” Chouko said. “Thank you. Goodbye.”

She hung up, and Reigen grinned, holding the piece of paper with the address written on it. I’ve got you now, Yamamoto.

He turned around. There was one more call to make.

Yamamoto’s house was near his mother’s. It was a rundown old place that he seemed to be sharing with a few other people, a wooden fence running around the perimeter. Reigen peered over it, but saw no sign of Keiko. He went up the stairs and knocked on the door.

“Coming,” he heard Yamamoto say from the other side of the door. When he opened the door, he scowled. He was wearing a dirty white t shirt and ripped jeans, and looked like he hadn’t washed his hair in a few days.

“You again?” he said. “What do you want?”

“Hello, Yamamoto-san,” Reigen said pleasantly. “How are you?”

“I asked you what you want,” Yamamoto said. “Is it about the dog?”

“Yes, but no,” Reigen said. “Listen, owning a dog is a lot of hard work. Hard, expensive work. Now, I know you’re pretty deep in debt—“

“What’s it to you?” Yamamoto spat. “Get off my property.”

Reigen backtracked. “I’m just saying, if you let me take the dog off your hands, you won’t have to worry about feeding her, taking her out, anything.”

“That dog belongs to me,” Yamamoto said. “It was my mom’s, and now it’s mine. It guards my backyard. I’m not about to give it up for nothing.”

“All right, well, I can do better than nothing,” Reigen said. He made a show of reaching for his wallet, and raised his eyebrows. “How does… 5500 yen sound?”

“5500 yen?” Yamamoto laughed. “You’re gonna need to do better than that.”

Reigen frowned. “All right. 10,000 yen.”

“As if.” Yamamoto grinned at him. “The dog has sentimental value, eh? You’ll need to go higher.”

“How high?” Reigen asked.

“At least 30,000.”

Reigen’s eyes popped. 30,000 yen? He didn’t have that kind of money just lying around. He wasn’t even totally sure how he’d get a hold of 10,000 yen, to be honest. He’d have to make a withdrawal.

All right, well, it looked like money wasn’t going to work. Reigen had one more trick up his sleeve.

“Listen, Yamamoto,” Reigen said, leaning in. “I like you. That’s why I’m making these offers. But there’s something I have to tell you about that dog.”

Yamamoto smirked. “Oh yeah, what is it?”

“That dog…” Reigen took a deep breath. “…is haunted.”

He produced his business card and handed it to him. “See, I’m a consultant for psychic troubles, among other things. I see a lot of strange things in my line of work, and I’m afraid that a wayward spirit may have latched onto the dog. Now, that spirit seems to be inhabiting your home. Before it latches onto you as well, Yamamoto, I advise you get rid of the dog.”

Yamamoto was quiet for a moment. Then, he laughed in Reigen’s face.

“A haunted dog?” he guffawed, tossing the card onto the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding me! That’s the dumbest bullshit I’ve ever heard!”

Reigen frowned. “You might not want to say that so loudly, Yamamoto. The spirit is probably listening.”

“There’s no such thing as spirits!” Yamamoto said. “Get out of here, you conman. You made me laugh, so I won’t call the cops, but don’t you dare come back here spouting ‘haunting’ bullshit at me again.”

“Yamamoto,” Reigen said, a strain in his voice, “I beseech you, listen to me. This ghost… I think it may be targeting you.”

He cocked a brow. “You didn’t happen to… lose someone, did you? Recently?”

Yamamoto sneered. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Reigen raised his eyebrows. “It was your mother, wasn’t it?”

Yamamoto stopped laughing. He stared at Reigen. The air seemed to crackle between them. “How… How did you know that?”

Reigen pressed two fingers to his temple and closed his eyes. “I can sense her presence,” he said. “Akane… are you here?”

At that moment, a low rumbling began. Yamamoto’s eyes widened.

“What the hell?” he said.

“Akane, give us a sign that you’re with us,” Reigen said gravely.

The door behind Yamamoto slammed shut. He jumped a foot in the air, suddenly going as white as a sheet. He spun around and stared at the door, and then back at Reigen.

“How are you doing that?” he said.

“I’m not doing anything,” Reigen said, not removing his fingers from his forehead. “It’s the spirit of your mother.”

“Bullshit!” Yamamoto said.

The door opened again slowly, and then slammed once more. The whole house seemed to shake, and Yamamoto’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Mom?” he said. “Is that you?” 

The door opened with an agonizing creak.

Reigen bit his lip, pressing even harder on his forehead. “She’s trying to get something across to me. Something about the dog.”

He opened his eyes. “She says that was her dog.”

“Y-yeah, it was,” Yamamoto said. “W-what does she want with it?”

“She doesn’t like the way you’ve been treating it,” Reigen said. At that, another rumble shook the house. The front windows opened and shut on their own angrily, and the door opened and closed repeatedly. Yamamoto was shaking.

“I-I’m sorry!” he yelped. “What— what can I do?”

Reigen opened one eye.

“I’ll give you 5,500 for her,” he said.

“Deal!” Yamamoto said. “Take it away! Just— take it, please!”

He led Reigen to the backyard as the walls continued to tremble slightly, the furniture jumping around on its own accord. Yamamoto’s “backyard” was a dug up garden, muddy and overgrown, with a wooden fence surrounding the perimeter. There was a metal stake in the ground at the center. Attached to the stake was a chain, and attached to the chain, hiding under the stairs, was a black and white Shiba Inu.

Keiko barked when she saw Reigen, and her tail started to wag slightly. Reigen had to do his best not to smile.

“I think I’ll be taking her with me,” Reigen said. “Akane, would that please you?”

The house stopped shaking. The chain that held Keiko broke in two, letting her free. She ran to Reigen’s legs, jumping up at his knees. He didn’t even care that she left muddy paw prints on his slacks— he picked her up.

“She says yes,” Reigen said. “And she says— Noritaka, get a real job, and stop playing pachinko!”

“Y-yes, mother!” Yamamoto exclaimed. He bowed furiously to Reigen. “Th-thank you!”

The slight electric charge to the air subsided. Yamamoto refused to look Reigen in the eyes as he handed him the appropriate bank notes. The frazzled young man escorted him back to the front and closed the door quickly behind him, locking it with a click. Reigen smiled at the extremely dirty dog in his arms and headed off down the block.

He turned the corner with Keiko, and the stopped. “All right. You can come out.”

From the bushes at the side of Yamamoto’s house emerged two figures— one boy in black, and one in purple.

An hour earlier, Reigen made a phone call. Well, actually, he had Mob make a phone call.

He knew what his plan entailed. To effectively fake a haunting, he would need some sort of supernatural occurrence, like a poltergeist phenomenon. That was easy enough to replicate with an esper’s help. However, he didn’t like asking Mob to do stuff like this for him. He knew Mob was strongly against using his powers to harm others in any capacity, and he wanted to respect that. But he happened to know that there were other espers who didn’t have such reservations. And he also happened to know that Mob was friends with some of these other espers.

“I need your blonde friend’s help,” he said. “Hanazawa, right? Is he busy?”

“Hanazawa-kun is busy a lot,” Mob mused. “But usually he’ll answer if I call.”

So he did, and sure enough, Teru answered. Mob greeted him and handed the phone over to Reigen.

“Hello, Hanazawa,” Reigen said. “Care to help Mob at work today?”

“Hello, Reigen-san,” Teru said. “Sure, but— what’s the problem? Surely Kageyama-kun can handle it.”

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than normal cases.” Reigen explained Keiko’s situation. Teru was quiet as he listened to the story. At the end, he spoke.

“I see. So you’re looking to intimidate this guy, and you called me because Mob’s too nice to do it.” 

“I think there are gentler ways of putting it,” Reigen said indignantly.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Teru said. “I’ll do it, sure. I like dogs. And, to be honest… I consider myself an expert at intimidation.”

Reigen didn’t ask what that meant for a fourteen year old. “Perfect. Listen, I’ll take you and Mob out to dinner to repay you.”

Teru seemed to like that idea. “Yakiniku?”

Reigen pursed his lips. “…maybe.”

So he had Teru come over to the office, and took both boys to Yamamoto’s house. Before he approached the front door, he conferred with the two young espers.

“You two stay just out of sight of the front door and let me handle the talking. I’m going to see if I can buy her off of him first, and if that doesn’t work, then we’ll move onto plan B,” he said. “When I ask if the spirit is here, that’s when you can start doing your thing. Do whatever you think is appropriate to make it look like a haunting. But don’t hurt the client, of course.” Even if he kind of deserved it.

“Easy,” Teru said, cracking his knuckles. “I used to spook people using my powers all the time when I was younger.”

He eyed Mob and amended his statement. “Of course, I don’t do that anymore. Unless it’s a good cause, in which case I’ll make an exception.”

“Great,” Reigen said. “This is a good cause.” 

Afterwards, the two middle schoolers brushed themselves off and rejoined Reigen.

“Did it work?” Teru asked.

“Like a charm,” Reigen said, petting Keiko. “Thank you, Hanazawa.”

“Sure,” Teru said. He grinned. “Was he scared?”

“Out of his wits,” Reigen assured him. Teru snickered. Mob just frowned a little but didn’t say anything. Reigen knew this probably didn’t sit well with his strict moral code. He cleared his throat and straightened up.

“In all seriousness, there’s an important lesson to be learned here,” he said. “Yes, you should never point your powers at a person. However, there are two cases in which it’s okay— when you’re defending yourself, or when you’re defending someone or something who cannot defend themselves.”

Both boys nodded, rapt by Reigen’s life lesson despite the sweat running down his face and the muddy dog in his arms.

“Today, you two helped me rescue a helpless animal,” he said, gesturing to Keiko. “That’s a good enough reason if I ever encountered one. Thank you both.”

He nodded to Mob. “Take the rest of the day off. I’ve got to get this little one cleaned up before Serizawa is done with school.”

Teru tilted his head. “Serizawa, your employee? You did this for him?”

Reigen laughed nervously. “Uh, well, she’s— for the office. So it’s for all of us. Think of it as a business investment!”

“Keiko can sense spirits,” Mob explained. Teru raised one eyebrow.

“All right,” he said, but he gave Reigen a knowing look, to which Reigen grimaced and looked away. How did kids these days get so perceptive?

The boys said farewell and parted ways. Reigen carried Keiko back to his place.

“Sorry that you had to go back there,” he whispered to her. “I promise it’s the last time you’ll ever see that awful man.”

He took the chain collar off of her and threw it into a dumpster that they passed by. Keiko snuggled into his arms, seeming grateful to be back with him. He was glad to have her back.

Chapter Text

All of Keiko’s things were still at Reigen’s apartment, waiting for her to return. He bathed her (with the dog shampoo that Serizawa bought over the weekend, which felt like a lifetime ago), put her pink collar back on, and fed her a generous portion of kibble. Her tail did not stop wagging the whole time.

Finally, she looked like her old, happy self. Reigen gave her her elephant, which she was delighted to see and immediately set on chewing it up in joy. Meanwhile, Reigen sat down at the table and took out his phone. He took a deep breath and opened a new message to Serizawa.

Can you come over really quick after school?

He sent it and left his phone on the table, not trusting himself not to check it every passing minute for a reply. He knew Serizawa was in class, so he couldn’t expect an instant reply. Instead, he busied himself by playing with Keiko and giving her all the attention that he could offer.

Eventually, Keiko got tired out and went to lay on her bed— which still had Serizawa’s jacket draped over it. Reigen got up and went back to check his phone. Serizawa had replied a few minutes ago:

Is something wrong?

No, but it’s important, Reigen texted back.

A moment later, he got a response. Ok.

Reigen also had another text from a number that he hadn’t plugged into his phone’s contact list yet. Ok, sounds great! Can’t wait to see her! He sighed, relieved. So that was taken care of, too. That was important.

He put his phone down again and set about cleaning his apartment a little, fixing up the bathroom and putting away his muddy jacket. He’d probably have to get that dry cleaned. Whatever, it was worth it.

He took Keiko for a walk around the block again, which she seemed happy to do. She smelled all the newest smells, peed at her favorite spot, and trotted on ahead, slightly pulling Reigen along. He smiled and let her tug him. It was good to see that she was bouncing back and ready to take on the world.

They returned to Reigen’s apartment, and after both of them had something to eat, Keiko snuggled up next to him on the couch while he browsed the internet on his laptop. Compared to last night, this felt good. It felt right.

Some time later, Reigen had dozed off slightly when he heard a knock on the door. He blinked awake and looked at his watch. Sure enough, it was nearly eleven.

He carefully maneuvered himself out from underneath a sleeping Keiko, whispered “stay” to her, and went to the door. He took a deep breath and opened it.

It was raining outside; a storm must have rolled in while he was napping. Streams of water ran steadily down off of the roof outside. Serizawa was standing there, somewhat wet, looking concerned.

“Reigen-san,” he said in a low voice. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, I just have something I wanted to show you,” Reigen said. “Come on in. You must be cold.”

“Thank you,” Serizawa said, stepping inside. Reigen folded his arms as he took off his shoes.

“I’m glad you could make it,” he said.

“Sure, but what is it?” Serizawa asked as he straightened up. “You said it was important.”

“It is,” Reigen said, allowing himself a small smile. He whistled.

It went just as he planned. There was the sound of movement on the couch, and then little clicking feet. Keiko trotted out from around the corner, yawning and stretching. When she saw Serizawa, her tail immediately picked up tenfold, and she ran to him, jumping up on his legs. She yipped in excitement.

Serizawa, on his part, was silent. His eyes were wide as he stared at the dog, and he blinked slowly. Water dripped off of his hair.

He bent over like he was moving underwater, or in a dream. Keiko leapt into his arms, and he lifted her up, like he was holding her up to the light to get a better look at her and verify that she was real. She tried in vain to lick his face, but he just stared at her. Then, he brought her to his chest and wrapped her in his arms. She wriggled around and lapped rainwater from his cheeks.

“H-hello,” he said shakily. “Hello, Keiko. Hello.”

Reigen’s heart was pounding. He felt like he was about to burst with jitters. When he spoke, the words poured out of his mouth.

“I wanted to keep my promise,” he said. “And not leave Keiko with that asshole.”

“How?” Serizawa asked. He never took his eyes off the dog. “How did you convince him?”

“Oh, you know,” Reigen said, waving his hand. “Just a little bit of charm.” And a little bit of telekinesis. He’d tell Serizawa about that later.

“I can’t believe it,” Serizawa said. “I…”

He looked up at Reigen. “Thank you.”

“Ah, don’t mention it.” Reigen scratched his neck. “I mean, I know how much she means to you.”

Serizawa tilted his head. “You did this… for me?”

Reigen froze up. “Well! I mean! Yes? I mean, I love her too, she’s a great dog, and also she can smell ghosts, did you know that? She can actually sense spirits, I discovered, and that’s pretty useful in the business, you know, so it was also an investment in a way, and—“

While he was rambling, Serizawa put Keiko down on the ground again. He took a step forward, and without a word he enveloped Reigen in a fierce, yet gentle hug. That shut him up real fast. 

“Thank you, Arataka,” Serizawa said emphatically.

Reigen coughed a little bit and patted him on the back. “You— you’re welcome, Katsuya.”

Serizawa released him and crouched to pet Keiko, who was still excited over him. She had retrieved her toy elephant and was shaking it. “I have to ask— where is she going to live, if your apartment doesn’t allow pets? A shelter? I suppose there’s a chance that she’ll get adopted into a really good home. Unless the apartment policy changed—“

“No, nothing like that,” Reigen said. “You remember that client we had who wanted to contact her dog’s spirit, Minami? I gave her a call and explained the whole situation. I said that I knew she’d really connected with Keiko, and asked if she’d be interested in adopting her. Well, she was! So I said she should come by the office tomorrow and meet her properly, and I got a text a few hours ago that said she’d do it. After that, she says she’ll make her decision, but I think that she’ll take her.”

Reigen was extremely proud of himself for having made this arrangement. Minami sounded like she was going to cry from joy when he called earlier. She admitted that she was looking for a dog to fill the space that Aimi left in her home, and she would be happy to adopt Keiko. She was local, so that also made it easy for Reigen and Serizawa to visit Keiko or to bring her to work. Reigen also offered to cover some costs for the dog, just to sweeten the deal. He was confident that it was going to work out in everyone’s best interests.

Serizawa shook his head. “You’re… amazing, Arataka-kun. You really are.”

He stood up, and a somewhat awkward silence ensued. Both of them seemed like they had something to say, but were thinking twice about saying it. Reigen’s heart was still racing, and he sensed a sort of tension that he couldn’t place.

Finally, Serizawa spoke:

“There’s… something I need to tell you.”

With that, Reigen’s heart nearly stopped. That was never a good thing to hear from anyone. Was he going to quit or something? Had he found another, better job? He swallowed, fearing the worst. “Yeah?”

Serizawa folded his hands behind his back and looked at the floor. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I don’t think I can just ignore it anymore. I know I’m your employee, and you’ve shown me so much kindness, and I just— I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“What— what do you mean?” Reigen stammered. His whole body had gone numb.

“I just! I think you should know that I… I…” Serizawa wouldn’t meet his eyes. “How do I put this…?”

He trailed off, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. Reigen could feel his own palms becoming damp.

“What is it, Katsuya?” Reigen asked. He was barely able to keep his voice steady.

Serizawa pursed his lips and clasped his hands in front of him, gaze trained on the floor. His jaw was clenched. Every second that he didn’t speak was agonizing for Reigen, whose chest was getting tighter and tighter. He wasn’t sure if he could take it much longer.

“I have feelings for you!” Serizawa burst out finally. “And I— I don’t know how to ignore it anymore. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, as my boss. You— you can fire me, if you want, I just— I had to say something! Because…”

He wrung his hands. “Because, you’re just so— so good, and whenever I see you my, my heart races, and— I don’t know what else to do at this point. I can’t just— go on, like this, pretending that nothing is wrong. I had to say something.”

He bowed, arms stiff as boards at his sides. And Reigen…

Reigen didn’t know what to do.

As he inhaled, warmth rushed back into his body, as if he was coming inside from a blizzard. He felt his muscles melt, and his knees turn to jelly. His body was like a slinky, swaying a bit with the force of this confession. He had no idea how to tell Serizawa that he thought he must be reading his thoughts, because he had said exactly how Reigen felt. That was Reigen that Serizawa was describing— he was the one who had embarrassing feelings, he had fallen for Serizawa and not the other way around. How could it be the other way around?

“Katsuya,” he managed to choke out. “Look at me.”

Serizawa did so hesitantly, looking up and into Reigen’s eyes. Reigen smiled.

“I feel the same way,” he said, holding out his hands. “Exactly like you said, Katsuya. Word for word. I feel that way too.”

Serizawa’s mouth dropped open. He took Reigen’s hands gingerly as he straightened up, like he was nervous that Reigen was a bubble that he’d pop if he wasn’t careful.

“Really?” he asked in a squeaky voice. “You do?”

“Yes,” Reigen said. Then, it was his turn to wrap Serizawa in a hug. Serizawa didn’t take long to return it. A laugh bubbled up between them.

“I can’t believe it,” Reigen said, tightening his grip a little. “We’re so stupid.”

“Yeah,” Serizawa said, squeezing him back. “Yeah, we are.”

Reigen pulled back slightly, so they still had their arms around one another but he could see Serizawa’s bright red face. He laughed a little again and repositioned his arms so that they were around Serizawa’s neck. Serizawa swallowed, his eyes flicking to Reigen’s lips, betraying his thoughts.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Reigen teased. “If you’re going to do something, go ahead and do it.”

Serizawa smiled. “Of course.”

He leaned in, but hesitated. Reigen waited for him to make a move, but he didn’t.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” Serizawa said. “I want to, I just… I don’t know how.”

Reigen smiled. “Me neither.”

And with that, he kissed him.

Serizawa gave a small noise of surprise at Reigen’s move, but he didn’t complain. In fact, he pulled Reigen closer, sending a thrill up his spine. He may not have known how to kiss, but he seemed eager to learn.

By all measures, it was a pretty bad kiss. Their noses bumped together, their teeth clicked, and there was entirely too much tongue. Neither of them had any idea what they were doing, and neither could have possibly been happier doing it.

Eventually, they broke apart. Reigen rested his forehead against Serizawa’s, and they both grinned. Serizawa didn’t let go of Reigen’s waist, and that was fine with him.

“I’ve waited such a long time to do that, you have no idea,” Reigen said in a low voice.

“I think I might,” Serizawa said. “I’ve felt this way… for a while.”

“Me too,” Reigen said.

“Really? I had no clue.”

“I thought it was obvious!”

Serizawa blushed. “I guess I wasn’t looking. I didn’t think there was any way.”

“I didn’t think there was any way!” Reigen exclaimed. “Like I said. Stupid, old men.”

They laughed, nervous but relieved. Reigen loved Serizawa’s quiet, deep laugh, how it rumbled quietly throughout his body like a shy earthquake. He ran his fingers along his clean-shaven jaw. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this intimate with someone, if he had ever been. He was fucking terrified.

“Do you want this to… be something?” he asked.

“Like what?”

“Like.” He bit his lip. “Do you want a relationship with me?”

Serizawa thought for a moment. “Yes, I think so,” he said. “Do you?”

“Of course,” Reigen said.

“Okay.” Serizawa laughed. “I guess that’s it, then?”

Reigen fidgeted a bit. “Just so you know, I have no idea what I’m doing,” he said. “About relationships, I mean. No matter what I say or do. I’m clueless.”

“It’s okay,” Serizawa said. “I am too.”

Reigen stared at him— perhaps because he’d always been afraid to before, feared being too direct. Now, it didn’t matter. He could stare all he wanted, drinking in the view of the slightly damp, nervous man that he was in love with. He felt like the luckiest man alive.

Serizawa furrowed his brow at Reigen’s intense gaze. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Reigen said. “You’re just beautiful.”

A shy smile pulled on Serizawa’s lips. “Can I kiss you again, Arataka?”

Reigen grinned. “Please, do.”

This time, Reigen allowed Serizawa to do the work. He was still nervous, his lips only ghosting over Reigen’s the first time. The slight touch gave him chills. Then, he pressed with more confidence, and Reigen’s eyes fluttered shut. He was glad that Serizawa was holding him firmly in place, because he was certain that the room was spinning around him.

They lost track of time, caught up in the push and pull of the kiss. Reigen’s hands were lost in Serizawa’s beautiful, dark curls while his mind was lost in his beautiful, warm mouth. He was hollow with want, blissful, content…

Something scratched at his pant leg and whined. Reigen blinked and pulled back. It was Keiko, seeking attention.

“Ah, how could we forget?” He bent down and picked up the dog, ruffling her fur. “What do you say, Katsuya? I know we haven’t been dating long, but… do you want to get a dog with me?”

Serizawa smiled, scratching Keiko’s ears the way she loved. “I think we already have one, Arataka.”

Teru and Mob were walking home.

“So, your master has a dog, now?”

Mob nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“And… he has a boyfriend?”

“Mm-hm.”

Teru whistled. “He really is amazing.”

Mob smiled. “Mm-hm.”