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“Arataka” Serizawa said with a somewhat accusatory tone. He sat up in the hospital bed he’d been laying on. He had suffered a concussion from Rusty, the spirit he’d tried to save Tome from. It wasn’t too bad, but the doctor wanted him to stay overnight for observation. Tome and Mob had been by earlier, but had gone home when it started getting late. Reigen had changed out of his suit into something more comfortable and was making a bed on the couch in the corner of the hospital room.
“Uh oh, what did I do this time?” Reigen asked, trying to keep things light.
Serizawa took a deep breath, in and out. “Tome and Shigeo filled me in on what happened. How you had the spirit attach itself to you then went into those cursed woods to get rid of it.”
“I had to protect Tome.” Reigen said matter of factly.
“Of course, I completely understand that. If I didn’t currently have a concussion I’d be beating the shit out of that stupid bastard who passed the curse on to her.” Serizawa’s fists clenched and then unclenched. “What I don’t get, is why you keep putting yourself in harm’s way.” His tone softened. “Part of me admires you for being so selfless, but mostly I’m worried that you’re just being reckless.”
“Me? Reckless? Doesn’t sound like me at all.”
“Come on, be serious.”
“I am serious.” Reigen said indignantly. “I took a calculated risk, I had things under control.”
“What if something had gone wrong? What if Shigeo hadn’t gotten to you in time?” There was a hitch in Serizawa’s voice, “There had to have been some other option. I’m mad at myself for not being able to do more.”
Reigen stopped what he was doing and looked up worriedly, “You did what you could and that was enough. I was also just doing what I could.”
“You really just underestimate the impact your life has on others don’t you.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve mentioned it before, and I know you don’t like the idea… but I really think you should seek therapy.”
“What?” Reigen said in a slightly higher pitch than normal. He coughed and readjusted his voice, “Katsuya, I’m fine.”
“Come here.” Serizawa said. Reigen complied, a bit reluctantly, and Serizawa took his hand. “Arataka listen, I’m just worried about you. You can try to convince me all you want, but I know what it feels like to hate your own existence.” He squeezed Reigen’s hand. “You don’t have to do everything alone and you deserve to get better.”
Reigen looked away but continued to hold tightly onto Serizawa’s hand. “Im glad you’ve been able to do well in therapy, but there’s no way anyone can help me.”
“Do you really think that?” Serizawa asked gently. “No one is beyond help, not even you.” He rubbed his thumb over Reigen’s hand. “Can you at least think about it? Even if you can’t do it for yourself yet, could you do it for me? For the kids?”
Serizawa could hear the quiver in Reigen’s voice as he said “Yeah I can think about it.”
“Thank you.”
“You were really that worried?” Reigen sniffed as his shoulders started to shake.
“Of course I was.” Serizawa said as he pulled Reigen in to embrace him. Reigen sobbed quietly into Serizawa’s chest as he started to cry too.
“I n-never wanted to hurt you or a-anyone. I’m sorry.” Reigen said between sobs.
“Shh, it’s not your fault.” Serizawa rubbed Reigen’s back and kissed the top of his head. “I’m just glad you’re ok. I’ll whatever I can to help you, as long as you’ll let me.”
Reigen didn’t say anything but held on tighter. Eventually his breathing slowed and Serizawa thought he might’ve fallen asleep before he whispered “Thank you.”
“Mhmm” Serizawa said, “You know how hard it is for me to be serious when you’re wearing that stupid shirt?”
Reigen laughed, “Shut up, it’s not that stupid.”
“No it’s pretty bad, I don’t know how I deal with you sometimes.”
“You say that as if you don’t own three pairs of crocs.”
“At least crocs are functional!” They both laughed. “You’ve been standing there a while, why don’t you come sit next to me?”
“Won’t the nurses get mad at me?”
“Fuck ‘em.” Serizawa said, already scooting over to make room.
“Well I guess I don’t have much of a choice.” Reigen said as he claimed the space.
They watched cute dog videos on Serizawa’s phone until they fell asleep, resting their heads on each other and fingers intertwined.