Work Text:
“You have to see my kids!” Reigen exclaimed as he fwipped out a chain of photos from his wallet.
All the photos were clearly taken with a disposable camera: Mob wincing from the flash… Ritsu scowling and covering his face… Teru with a serious case of red-eye… an extremely blurry Shou… somehow the quality kept getting worse.
“Oh they’re all yours?” the client said, more exclamation than question. About ten middle schoolers, understandably, seemed like a lot.
“Well I just mentor some of them, although I do consider them all part of the family.” Reigen folded photos back into his wallet as he asked, “So now, which course are you interested in?”
The client took a moment to think, “I guess I’ll take the all-out course.”
“Ah, good choice!” Reigen smiled as he took the 12,000 yen. The client had indeed chosen the most expensive course, all according to plan.
“Are you still telling clients we’re your kids?” Tome strode into the room, placing her school bag down on one of the sofas in the office, “That lady I just passed by seemed a little overly friendly.”
“Well I-”
“You know someone’s going to see right through you one day. They’ll wonder why a 29-year-old single man has adopted so many middle schoolers and you won’t have anything to say. You won’t be able to get out of that one. You’ll be revealed as some weirdo who hangs out with a bunch of teenagers.” She walked up to Reigen’s desk, placing her hands on top of it and stooping down to eye level. “And that’s why you should pretend to be married to Serizawa, it would clear up a lot of questions.”
Reigen stared, eyebrows raised, as Tome stood and put her hands on her hips, looking satisfied with herself. Ever since she’d started officially working at spirits and such, she’d been trying to make little “improvements” wherever she could. Tome also just liked to mess with Reigen. Waving his hand dismissively Reigen said, “That’s not necessary. And I’m pretty sure that would raise a lot more questions.”
Tome narrowed her eyes at him, still looking smug, “Uh huh, sure. Well you should at least use a better picture of me! I’m only half in frame in that one. If you’re going to use me for profit, I should at least get a say in how.“
“I’ll think about it if you- “
Creeeak, the door opened and in walked Serizawa. “Hey everyone,” he said with a warm smile. Suddenly Reigen’s heart was caught in his throat.
Tome smirked at Reigen as he gave her a look that said don’t you dare.
“H-hey Serizawa, it’s been a slow day so there’s not much to do. I think Tome needs help with her homework, though.” Reigen was hoping to distract her, but on second thought maybe it was risky to put the two of them together.
“Sure! I need to study for a quiz today, so we can help each other.”
“Only if Reigen helps me with my salt aim later!” Tome yelled as she and Serizawa found a space to sit and work.
Crisis averted? Reigen turned back to his laptop and continued “working” (browsing twitter). He started tapping his foot subconsciously as he kept glancing toward Serizawa and Tome every few minutes. At some point, Serizawa’s eyes met his and he smiled awkwardly as he started tapping his foot faster. Oh, that’s definitely audible. Serizawa didn’t seem to notice, though, and smiled back before continuing some math explanation he was giving Tome.
Serizawa was always willing to help wherever he could, it was… admirable. He said that Tome and he helped each other equally and that explaining concepts to each other helped them both. You could tell that he really cared about her and that he wanted to see her succeed.
It went on like this for a few hours until Tome suddenly got up and said, “Oh it’s almost time for my date with Keiko.”
“You ready for your first date?” Serizawa asked.
“I think so…” Tome wrung her hangs together.
“You’ll do great! I’m sure you and Keiko will have a good time together.”
Reigen gave a thumbs up as he said, “How could you go wrong with my signature romance tips?”
“You just read a trashy magazine article to me.”
“It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“Alright, I’m gonna head out. See you guys tomorrow.”
“Wait, before you go,” Reigen got up and crossed over to Tome, placing his hands on her shoulders, “About the photos… you know I actually do care about you and everyone else right? I told that woman that I consider you all part of the family and I meant it. I know I’m not the most open person, but I just want you to know that I care about you and want the best for you.”
Tome rolled her eyes and brushed him off. “Yeah okay dad,” she said sarcastically as she reached for the door.
She paused a moment, then turned around to envelope both Reigen and Serizawa in a hug. “Yeah I care about you guys too.”
Serizawa patted her head, “Good luck on your date, make sure to let us know how it goes.”
“Okay, I will.” She smiled and left.
Serizawa turned to Reigen, “Well that was sweet.”
“She’s certainly full of surprises.”
“Seems you’re full of surprises too.” Serizawa said, catching Reigen from the corner of his eye.
“Don’t give me that look,” Reigen chuckled, “It’s just that… I’ve messed up before with Mob and I… I want to be a better friend and mentor and… all that. You know?”
“I can understand that.”
“Yeah so… anyway, you have to go to class soon don’t you? How much more time you got?”
“You think you can get rid of me that easily? Well… you can actually, it is time for me to go.”
“Well dang. Good luck with that quiz today, I know you’ve got it.”
“Thanks.” Serizawa reached out to touch Reigen’s shoulder. Reigen instinctively went in for a handshake. Serizawa redirected his hand and they shook hands. “Okay, well… see you in a few hours.”
“See you!” Why did I go in for a handshake? What even was that?
Serizawa stepped out into the day, taking in the fresh air and sunshine. It had been spring for a few weeks now, but it still felt so good to be done with winter. The world was in bloom again, and he felt like he was finally blooming with it.
He had grown a lot thanks to support from his new friends. Just a little over a year ago, this level of independence wouldn’t have felt remotely possible to him. He finally felt like he could be proud of the person he was becoming.
Serizawa started to hum, tapping his fingers on his bag as he walked. The tune wasn’t really based on anything, but it felt nice to make a pleasant sound. He was honestly feeling pretty nervous about the math quiz he’d have to take in class. Humming helped distract him from the urge to pull out his hair.
Lost in thought, mentally going over what he remembered from his notes, Serizawa made it to the train station before he knew it. He took a seat on his train and pulled out a chain of photos, similar to the one Reigen showed to clients.
Even if I don’t don’t do well, I can always do better next time. There are still people who love and support me. The photos we a nice reminder of what was real and important to him when he was feeling overwhelmed. It would’ve been easier to just keep pictures on his phone, but he found that keeping a tangible item was more helpful for him.
Feeling reassured, Serizawa put the photos away and pulled out his notes to go over again.
Meanwhile, back at the office, Reigen paced around the room. Occasionally he would absentmindedly push a book into place, straighten out a picture on the wall. The place was already clean, but he needed something to do with his hands.
Eventually he plopped back down at his desk with a sigh. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath before reaching into the bottom left drawer and pulling out a manila envelope. Inside were several smaller envelopes containing various pictures: some trips he’d been on, documentation of his transition, more pictures of the esper kids and Tome. He opened the last envelope.
Reigen actually really enjoyed photography, he just didn’t have a nice camera. He also thought it was a good idea to show clients the pictures with more "character.” He thought he’d gotten pretty good at framing the shot just right and with his editing skills he could come up with some nice results if he wanted to.
Inside the envelope, among the Kageyama brothers, awakening lab kids, and everyone else were a few pictures of Serizawa. They were mostly candid shots: him studying, laughing at some joke, dozing off after a long day. There were also some pictures of him posing with the kids. He really did look like a dad, maybe Tome was onto something…
Reigen gently touched Serizawa’s smile in the photo. Oh I’m really in it, huh. Tome can tell… Serizawa probably knows too. Maybe he just doesn’t know how to let me down easy.
“Hey that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Amane, a friend of Serizawa’s, asked him. Class had just ended.
“Guess I was nervous for nothing.” The quiz had been much easier than expected.
“It may have been easy, but that’s still a win in my book!” Amane said with a big smile and a thumbs up. Serizawa smiled back, then gathered up his stuff and joined her in walking to the train station. They walked in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. Eventually Amane broke the silence. “You seem a lot less anxious this semester, what’s your secret?”
“Well, uh, therapy. Also - this is going to sound silly but… I keep a bunch of pictures on me to… y'know… remind me of what’s really important. It reminds me that the things that worry me are only temporary.”
“That’s great! Is that why you’re always taking pictures with your phone?”
“Yeah, I’ve really gotten into photography lately. I don’t know if I’m any good, but I like to take pictures of my friends and birds and flowers and all kinds of stuff.”
At this point they had made it to the station and checked in before finding a place to wait for their train.
"I think having fun with it is the most important thing. Do you mind if I look?”
“That’s fine.” Serizawa said, pulling out his stack of pictures and handing them to Amane.
She looked them over while Serizawa watched nervously. “These are wonderful Serizawa!”
“You think so?”
“Definitely, and I see that picture of me turned out great,” she said, using her free hand to frame her face as if she were posing for a photo. This elicited a chuckle out of Serizawa. “Who are some of these other people? Who’s this kid with the bowl cut.”
“Oh that’s Shigeo, we call him Mob, though. He’s a good kid, we use to work together. He was one of my first real friends if you can believe it.”
“He sounds sweet. What about this sweaty guy?”
“Haha, that’s Reigen. He’s my friend but I also kind of work with him? He’s done a lot for me… I wouldn’t even be here without him,” Serizawa absentmindedly touched his face. “He’s a good man. He doesn’t believe it sometimes, and he definitely isn’t perfect, but he is - he is a good man.“
"You really care about him, huh?”
“Of course! He’s my friend, I just wish he could see the him that I see.”
“I feel the same about my wife. The people we love never seem to see themselves the way we see them.”
“Oh,” Serizawa whispered to the ground, a slight bit of color tinging his cheeks. “Oh…”
Hearing sounds near the door, Reigen quickly put away his pictures. He went to go open the door, but Serizawa came in before he could reach it.
“Hey,” Serizawa said, a nervous energy affecting his tone.”
“Hey! How’d that quiz go?”
“Oh, it was easy. I’m glad I put in extra time to study but I didn’t really need to.”
Something else is on his mind?
Bzzt Reigen’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “Tome texted in the groups chat.”
“I forgot to charge my phone, mind if I look?” Serizawa said as he came up behind Reigen’s shoulder.
“S-sure” Reigen said, repositioning his phone so they could both read off of it.
Tome: date went great :D I just walked Keiko home and I’ll tell you guys all about it tomorrow
Tome:ty for the advice! even if Reigen’s was bad :p
Reigen started typing.
Reigen: hey at least you knew what not to do from me
Reigen: glad it went well! can’t wait to hear about it
Reigen handed his phone over to Serizawa
Reigen: hey it’s seri :) I’m so happy for you! I knew you could do it d(OuO)b
“She’s growing up so fast, isn’t she?” Serizawa said as he handed Reigen’s phone back.
“She sure is.” Reigen turned and their eyes met, their faces mere inches apart. With a slight gasp he said “I think I’m in love with you.” The words had escaped his lips before he could think.
“What?”
“Nothing! What? I didn’t say anything.” Reigen looked away and tried to cover his face as if that would help. Oh god what have I gotten myself into?
Suddenly he felt a hand cup his chin as Serizawa turned Reigen’s face to look at him. Serizawa’s hands were so warm and soft and gentle. It took everything Reigen had to not melt into a puddle right there on the floor.
“You really feel that way?” Part of Reigen thought he heard a bit of hopefulness in Serizawa’s tone, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Reigen could barely hear over the pounding of his heart as he stammered out “Maybe? Well… yeah. B-but it’s ok if you don’t feel the same! I-”
“Oh,” Serizawa said quietly, “W-well I do feel the same. I, uh, kind of just realized I did in the last hour. I don’t really know how this is supposed to go… would it be ok if I…” and suddenly his face was very close Reigen’s.
Reigen had been staring in shock, scarcely breathing through this. Without thinking, he leaned in so hard he almost broke both of their noses.
“Aw jeez sorry ah… sh-shit.” Reigen tried to regain his composure. “I don’t really know how this goes either, but could we try that again?” He tried to smile confidently but the pain in his nose was making his eye twitch.
Serizawa smiled playfully as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, but if this keeps up you might have to start paying my medical bills.” And he leaned in close again, a bit slower this time.
When their lips touched it felt like the world had stopped around them. Reigen felt Serizawa’s thumb rub against his cheek as he ran his hands through Serizawas hair. It felt so good, so right, so ethereal, so- and suddenly it was over.
“Wait, are you okay? Sorry I didn’t even a-”
Reigen laughed as he threw his arms around Serizawa’s neck. “I’m just fine,” he said as he pulled Serizawa close again.