Work Text:
"Camping?"
Reigen's bored, incredulous tone floats over the lip of his newspaper. The gray, crinkled pages cover his nose and chin but don't hide the questioning quirk of his eyebrow, pointed at his intern.
"Yes, camping!" Tome huffs and plants her hands on her hips, cocking them to the side. "That's the third time you've said that; is the idea THAT unbelievable to you?"
Reigen closes his paper and lets his head lull back and to the side. "Well, from what I understand about your old telepathy club, you're more into manga and video games rather than nature. That's not an insult," he has to press quickly as Tome begins to puff up, "just an observation."
"You're saying I'm lazy!" Tome's voice reaches a pitch Reigen can only describe nicely as irritating and she turns away from him, hunched and bringing balled fists to her eyes. So much for his damage control there. Loud sobs escape her and Reigen can only assume she's pushing them out so hard on purpose, based on previous displays like this. He looks over her shoulder to Serizawa for some kind of backup, only to be met with an accusatory stare from his subordinate. "What?" he asks with his hands up defensively.
"Regardless of Tome-chan's interest, she just wants to put together an activity for the whole office--including you." Being scolded by Serizawa is somewhat like being reprimanded in class for not completing an assignment: less anger and more disappointment. Reigen is somewhat surprised at his lack of anxiety, at the confidence he has in defending their young pupil. If the circumstances were more in his favor, he might have complimented Serizawa. Though, it seems he hasn't caught Tome peeking through her hands at him to gauge a reaction--as Reigen guessed she might do from the beginning--and doesn't realize she's subtly turning him against Reigen.
Conceding, Reigen throws his head back with an animated sigh. The irritated look Serizawa gives him at that sends a small shiver down his spine; he cares an awful lot about this girl's feelings, evidently. Reigen can at least admire his good, naive intentions and decides to humor Tome. "Alright, I'm sorry for being rude, Tome-chan. It's a lovely idea, but even so, you'd have to talk to your parents about it first."
"They really let me do what I want, as long as they know I'm okay!" She bounces back from being distraught awfully quickly, and Reigen glances to Serizawa to see what he makes of it. He only seems to be relieved that Tome isn't upset anymore, none the wiser to her ruse.
"Still," Reigen ponders, "I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it just being the three of us. Maybe you could extend the invitation to some of your friends; that way Serizawa and I can act more like chaperones and you have more like minds to share the experience with."
A ghostly sniff bothers the hairs on his neck and he turns to find Dimple looking on, deadpan, from behind his head. "Doesn't more kids mean more responsibility for you? Seems like a lousy trade-off to me."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to appear in the middle of a conversation?" Reigen challenges. Dimple ignores him and floats next to Tome, giving her a quizzical look and asking, "Why would you want him looking after you, anyway?"
"It's supposed to be an employee trip," she explains, "to boost morale. Reigen is a part of the office--and so are you, Dimple-san! Do you like camping?"
"Hell no," he scoffs. "Besides, it's not like I can hike or enjoy roasted marshmallows or anything."
"I'm sure you could use a change of scenery, though." Serizawa's interjection is more in service of making Tome feel better than it is convincing Dimple to go. The spirit rolls his eyes at the assertion and clicks his tongue; would Serizawa have preferred if he lied? All the same, Dimple thinks it over and sighs, crossing his short arms; he doesn't like seeing her so genuinely down, either, and is only somewhat threatened by the protective energy Serizawa gives off. "Fine, fine," he sighs, "I'll go, too."
"Perfect!" Tome springs up again, fishing her phone from her bag at the other end of the office. "I'll text some other friends to see if they wanna go, Reigen-san, and let you know." Dimple has disappeared again to wherever it is he goes and Serizawa has gone back to his own work. Reigen sighs, feeling slightly embarrassed at being ganged up on like that, and waves his hand in the air. "Just text me who's coming and when you want to go; I'll rent a car and take everybody. You can go ahead and go home to start planning properly." She smiles, thanks him and Serizawa again, and rushes out the door.
She leaves silence between the two men as Reigen is left to pick up his newspaper again. Flicking back to the page he left on, he comments, "I wonder if she misses being in charge of a club and organizing things. Well, from what I heard, there wasn't a single club event under her leadership, but perhaps highschool has matured her."
"Do you think she might be learning from you?" Serizawa's question throws Reigen off guard. He only blinks quietly to invite Serizawa to explain further. "I think she really looks up to you, Reigen-san, and she wants to imitate you--be a leader--and learn from your example. Even though you can really be clueless sometimes, you're a good role model." There's a warmth to Serizawa's tone that leaves Reigen shocked into silence. The conversation is left there as Serizawa resumes his work, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a light smile. Reigen only straightens the newspaper out and hides behind its pages, his face contorted into something strained at the thought of being ANOTHER kid's role model (and at the sight of Serizawa's lopsided smile...). His heart swells and he has to threaten it back down to keep it from bursting with pride and affection: in himself, the kids he looks after, and Serizawa, who has grown into himself so well under Reigen's tutelage that he can openly and fearlessly call his boss "clueless".
One day, they'll all rise up against him, he knows it, and he'll be powerless--in strength and resolve--to stop them.
---
"If I hear another bubblegum pop back there, I'm turning this van around and we're going home!"
The chatter in the back seats dies down only long enough for Reigen to shout his warning, then resumes at full volume. Another deafening pop! sounds from somewhere in the back and Reigen decides it has to be Ritsu and his friend messing with him. He silently growls at the giggles behind him as his threat is not carried out. He can see Serizawa shaking ever so slightly with laughter out of the corner of his eye and has half a mind to punch him in the shoulder, but elects to keep both hands on the wheel.
Tome's friends from the old telepathy club, the Kageyama brothers and Shou, and a girl who introduced herself theatrically as Mezato Ichi are piled into the two rear rows of seats, all entrenched in their own involved conversations. When Reigen suggested inviting friend's, he didn't expect it to become a class field trip!
All the same, he takes a deep breath and hooks left to drive around a cliff face. The kids ooh and ahh at either side of the van as they putter along the road and Reigen reminds himself that kids will be kids, and he can handle that. They're sure gonna make it difficult for him, though.
A tap to his shoulder pulls his attention to Serizawa, who no longer looks amused at Reigen's agitation, but somewhat concerned. "I think Shigeo is trying to be kind, but he looks like he might be car sick."
"He's not barfing in my hoodie again!" Ritsu seems mostly joking, as he and the other kids laugh, but something about his tone tells the adults in the car that something similar must have happened once. Reigen huffs a deep sigh and pulls them over where it seems safest to help Mob out of the car and rub soothing circles in his back. They are parked safely away from the cliff face and on the border of the woods that they'll be staying in, a few more miles out from the campgrounds. Reigen sniffs. Not much longer in the van... Once everything's been expelled, Mob utters a shaky "Thanks..." and heads back to the car.
Before Reigen can even finish turning around to follow, Dimple is floating an inch from his nose. "Serizawa needs to take a leak." The man in question is already out of the car and wandering towards a swath of thick trees.
"Oi!" Reigen shouts in his direction. "You couldn't tell me yourself? How old are you?" He is promptly ignored and drags himself back to the van.
It's only one night. You can keep it together that long.
---
A piercing shriek cuts through the thick trunks of oak trees. The sun has just begun to set and a pair of frantic footsteps run in the direction of the orange light. Breath huffs unevenly into the air and a loud click! sounds just over the pounding footsteps. The frightened voice approaches a broad body and clings to the thick jacket hung over its shoulders.
"C-c-cockroach!!"
Serizawa is close to laughing but holds it in out of politeness; to him, Reigen's reaction is silly (as well as cute and endearing), but he'd feel awful if someone told him claustrophobia was silly while he was panicking. The kids a few feet behind them aren't as kind, Shou doubled over and Ritsu leaning against him. Even Mob is smiling behind his hand. Reigen is trembling against his front, yelling, "Get it! Get it!" into his jacket, and he has to pry the man away to approach the thing.
It's about half the length of his finger and just sitting, eye-level, on the trunk of a tall conifer. It doesn't move as Serizawa comes closer, just wiggling its antennae every few seconds. A slight unease begins to settle over him at the thought of killing it. It'd be different if it were in the office or some other civilized place, but here, the campers are the invaders. But if he doesn't do it, Reigen would never continue on or forgive him. He begins to raise an unsteady hand, not quite ready to do the deed, and--
Thunk!
He blinks at the small, plastic box pressed over the roach, and the small hand holding the box. He backs off and looks down at Ichi as she ushers the lid under the box to close the roach inside. "I can take this back home and get some good shots for a nature article!" she explains.
"Wouldn't you get better shots out here IN nature?" Tome tilts her head. Ichi giggles as she pockets the box and fluffs out her hoodie against the rising chill. "I already took one picture of it on the tree. Now I can get some pics of it in my snake tank!" she explains.
Reigen looks ready to throw up at the thought and Serizawa offers a sympathetic pat on his shoulder.
"Woah, Icchan, you have a snake?" Shou was on his phone during the initial roach theatrics but his attention is drawn to the odd conversation topic. The other kids also clamor around to listen to tales of feeding it--Puppy-chan is its name, somewhat ironically--live bugs and letting it slither over her arms.
Reigen is still trembling while he tries to straighten out his jacket and coughs, embarrassed. A hissing snicker next to his ear tells him he isn't out of the frying pan just yet.
"What's the matter, Reigen? Roach got your tongue?"
"I'll have your ass!" He throws a wild punch at Dimple while the kids are distracted, but his fist only meets warm air as it passes through the spirit. Admittedly, the sensation is welcome as he'd forgotten to bring gloves and his fingers were shaking even before he got scared, but he knew only more teasing would come from letting that show.
He grits his teeth as Dimple laughs heartily in his face and Serizawa has to stop him from swinging again. "Come on," he chuckles, "the kids are starting to get cold standing here." The spirit pulls an insufferable face at Reigen and chimes, "C'mon, coward," before disappearing again and he huffs.
The kids wander ahead under the adults' watchful eyes. Reigen is still pulling a pout at being made fun of and doesn't notice the amused smile on Serizawa's face.
"I think he might have been flirting with you."
"Wh-wh-what?!"
A flock of birds burst from the nearby treetops at the cry.
---
"Come on, old man, keep up!"
Tome's voice barely reaches Reigen's ears, being so far ahead of him. The mountain took a not-quite-steep but not-quite-shallow incline a while back and it's left Reigen struggling for breath. Sitting at a desk, checking emails or Photomobbing spirit pictures all day didn't leave him in the best of shape and his body wouldn't let him forget that.
"Oi!" Shou's call echoes further beyond Tome. "I can see the campsite! Last one there's a lumpy old geezer!"
The thunder of children racing away to beat the setting sun has Reigen hanging his head in defeat. Why couldn't they pick a site closer to the road? He lets his sleeping bag fall to the forest floor and holds his knees, puffing for breath.
"Shishou, I can carry that, if you'd like." Mob's voice only makes him feel lousier as it reminds him that a kid with anemia slowed himself down to keep pace with the likes of him.
Before he can posture up and start blowing air about how he was okay, Serizawa saves him the embarrassment and gives Mob an encouraging pat on the back. "Go on ahead, Shigeo-kun, I'll help him out. Besides, I don't know if the rules of the race applied to us adults." Realizing he doesn't want to be a lumpy old geezer, Mob throws a quick apology over his shoulder to Reigen and dashes over the ridge.
"You know they do," Reigen wheezes as he straightens out, "at least to me."
"If it's any consolation, this isn't exactly easy for me, either."
He certainly doesn't show it outside of a few heavy breaths. With his gear strapped to his back and towering stature, Serizawa looks more powerful than a bear; a real mountain man, Reigen admires.
Ah! And he's just thought of the perfect accessory for a mountain man (as well as the perfect distraction from his own shortcomings).
"I know just what'll help, then!" He scans the forest floor and kicks around a few dead leaves to find... "A walking stick!"
It's the perfect length to be comfortable when held at Serizawa's side and a beautiful dark brown. His eyes sparkle as he reaches to pick it up, gripping it firmly in his palm--
"Ow!"
He drops the stick and examines his hand: a small sliver is stuck in the heel of his palm. Serizawa looks over his shoulder worriedly and he is quick to yank it from his skin, biting his cheek to hold in a yelp. A light blush dusts his cheeks and he shakes out his hand. "Did I ever mention I hate nature?"
Serizawa hums and smiles, relieved to see Reigen is okay and still his cranky self. He spots the stick lying next to some mushrooms and decides it is perfect for something.
Focusing his aura, he lifts the stick with his telekinesis and it begins to spin in the air. Reigen looks on in slight awe at the purple light reflecting on every nearby surface, contrasting against the last pale afterthoughts of orange and pink in the sky beyond the treetops. He's seen Serizawa's power before but it always manages to be impressive somehow. Warm, pure energy crackles in the air and a light whirring sound buzzes out of the spinning stick. It only remains suspended in the air a heartbeat longer before dropping into Serizawa's hand.
He turns to Reigen with a twinkle in his eye and extends his hand out. "I worked out all of the rough edges, like sanding it down, so there are no more splinters. It should be okay to hold now."
Reigen slowly accepts the reverse-gift (wasn't he supposed to give it to Serizawa?) and runs his fingers along the side of it. Just like Serizawa said, there are no jagged pieces or bumpy textures, only smooth bark. He glances up from the handiwork and catches the taller man looking down at him with an unnamed fondness.
It takes him a few seconds of awkward silence before he can cough into his hand and bury his bashfulness to properly thank his employee. "Er, it is perfect now, Serizawa; thank you."
"You're welcome. And if the kids ask about it, you don't have to mention me making it for you; we can keep that between us." With a final warm grin, he claps Reigen on the shoulder and jogs to catch up to the kids.
Reigen is left standing, dazed, with the stick resting in both hands. He watches Serizawa's travel gear bounce behind him as he heads towards the campsite until he finally disappears over the ridge. The chirping of evening bugs hums in the air around him and he isn't even bothered by it a little bit. Holding the gift close to him, he feels a sense of security, one that dulls his fear of the insects around him. He wonders if Serizawa held this warm, safe feeling in his chest when he wielded his umbrella (or if it truly granted him any real security at all)...
After another few heartbeats of confused, content silence in the growing darkness, a familiar green shape appears in his periphery and a snarky voice sounds next to his ear.
"I think he might be flirting with you."
Reigen feels like he could faint.
---
A sizeable fire crackles and spits flecks of light into the air. The light casts dancing shadows across the circle of tents set up around it and illuminates the features of the campers crowded around its warmth.
"Inukawa-kun, that was the worst ghost story I've ever heard," Tome sighs. Her marshmallow is nearly burned completely to a crisp and, off to the side, Mob looks like he wants to warn her before she ruins it. She doesn't pull it from the fire for another fifteen seconds.
"It was a REAL story!" Inukawa tries to defend himself. "You guys did leave me behind on an alien ship!"
Tome rolls her eyes. "Duh, I know it was real; that's why it was bad! Ghost stories are supposed to be scary, not necessarily real!" She points her stick accusingly at Inukawa and has to quickly pull it back to catch her charred marshmallow from falling.
Shou bounces up and exclaims, "Then get ready for this story! It'll blow you away!" Ritsu, still seated next to him, groans and hides his face in his free hand. "Not this again," he mumbles before Shou launches into the story.
"... then, there's a scratching noise and an eerie voice says 'Let me iiin...', but the woman doesn't listen. She falls asleep inside the car and doesn't wake up again until the morning. Her boyfriend is still nowhere to be seen, and she starts to feel scared again. She decides she can't sit and wait for him forever, so she slowly opens the door, and... man door hand hook car door! Ahahaha!"
The campfire light exaggerates the features of the unimpressed campers; Ritsu looks like he wants to die.
"Suzuki-kun," Kijibayashi sighs, "I think everyone's heard that meme story."
"C'mooon," Shou whines. "It's still funny!"
Tome groans around her marshmallow, the blackened crust around the gooey center crunching between her teeth. "Ghost stories need to be SCARY, not funny! Doesn't anyone have a good one?"
A dark chuckle sounds over her, and she tilts her head back to see Reigen standing just behind her. "You kids are adorable with your fairy tales and viral stories. Listen to me, the Master Ghost-Storyteller, Reigen Arataka, and you won't be able to sleep tonight."
Finally, a chance to redeem myself in front of the kids! Once I whip them up with some true bone-chilling horror, they'll forget about wanting to tease me and start showing me some well-deserved respect!
"My God, you're pathetic." He didn't even have to say it out loud for Dimple to realize his plan. The spirit deftly avoids being swatted by Reigen as he passive-aggressively says, "Oh dear, a lot of annoying mosquitos out tonight." Dimple rolls his eyes and darts to Serizawa's side, mumbling, "I'm not pulling any poltergeist stunts to bolster his shitty story." Serizawa motions for him to be quiet, his attention solely on how Reigen is going to handle this.
"Anyway!" Reigen claps his hands loudly, making Saruta jump and Ichi fumble with her roasted marshmallow. "We're very lucky that Tome-chan picked this campsite: has anyone noticed how unseasonably cold it's been this evening?" A few perplexed nods answer him and he grins. "Very perceptive. It isn't the weather acting up: this very campsite is haunted!"
While the likes of Ritsu and Shou have seemingly abandoned interest in the stories to play mobile games on Shou's phone, Saruta is staring at Reigen intently, frowning and rubbing his arms. He's leaned forward to listen. Tome groans and lightly smacks his shoulder. "We've already heard one bad true ghost story--" she reasons, "--this won't be any better."
"That's where you're wrong, Tome-chan."
Reigen's eerie, serious voice puts her on edge and catches all of the campers' attention, even Ritsu and Shou. He looks each of them in the eye for about three seconds each before continuing the story.
"They say that one warm night, decades ago, three friends camped on this site. It was only meant to be a single night's stay, but at some point in the dead of night, one of the campers suddenly disappeared. The other two woke in the morning, the temperature dropped lower than the coldest hour of the night, to find their friend missing. They panicked, running into the woods to find him. There were no footprints; there were no broken twigs or crushed leaves; there was no sign of him anywhere.
"The temperature kept dropping. Then, one of the remaining campers heard the third's voice, somewhere in the trees. He couldn't see the missing camper, but he sounded like he was hurt, beckoning his friend over for help. He ran away from the last camper, who begged him not to separate the search party, but he didn't listen.
"It became mindnumbing-ly freezing. The final camper never found his way back here, to their tents and supplies. He never found the exit of the woods. He wandered under the trees for hours, until he finally collapsed from the cold. He never got back up, freezing to death where he lay. Some believe he heard his friends calling to him, to welcome him to the afterlife; others say they are the ones that kept him lost and cold until his final breaths. No one can say for sure, though, and no psychic has ever been given the chance to ask before they disappeared, too, found frozen to death more than a week after getting lost."
Silence hangs heavy over the circle of bodies, some now shivering under the cold night air. Everyone, even skeptical Ritsu and Dimple, has their eyes on Reigen. He begins to smile triumphantly, get ready to ask them what they thought of his story, but a small voice cuts him off.
"Shishou, you can feel them, too?"
Eyes fly to Mob, sitting inconspicuously behind Reigen.
"Wh-what, Mob?" A bead of cold sweat rolls down Reigen's temple.
"The spirits of campers that were lost in the woods and never found; there's more than three. 27... 81... 243... All across different decades. They aren't angry, but they aren't happy with being disturbed, either. They won't let us go without something in return."
Mob's tone is serious. Reigen, trembling, turns to face Serizawa and see if he can verify. Oh no... Serizawa's face is pulled tight in concentration, his eyes staring at the trees, through the trees, like he's looking at something Reigen and the others can't see. A quick scan of the campers shows fidgety legs and eyes darting back and forth between the shadows. Saruta is shaking like a chihuahua, eyes glued to Reigen and pleading for some kind of security; Kijibayashi and Inukawa look uncertainly at each other, and then to Tome, who is clenching Ichi's shaking sleeve; Shou has scooted closer to Ritsu; Mob sits, unblinking.
The fire has started to die down. Bugs chirp and hum uncomfortably loud against a pitch black sky. Reigen swallows a thick lump in his throat.
"Just kidding!" Mob's voice lightens up and a small smile pulls at his lips. "I hope that was scary for everyone, especially senpai."
Silence.
"Mob, that was amazing!"
"When did you get so good at storytelling?"
"Can we publish that story in the school paper?"
All of the kids jump to Mob's side to praise him and pat him on the shoulder. His face and ears are completely flushed, humility rolling from him like waves.
"Oh!" Serizawa exclaims. "Those numbers were multiples of three! I was wondering why they were so specific." He had been trying to do calculations in his head the whole time.
"I've been trying to work on my multiplication recently." Mob's sheepish response is lost on a pale Reigen, still standing like a statue in the middle of the circle. He finally finds the strength to drag himself next to Serizawa, falling onto the log seat with a shaky, high-pitched exhale. All apprehensions lost with his mind thoroughly shaken and his heart running a marathon against his ribs, he collapses against Serizawa. A brief oof! escapes him before he wraps his arm snuggly around Reigen to offer more solid comfort.
"What a baby," Dimple chides. "Your part of the story wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, though," he admits, perching as well as a spirit could perch on a shoulder it can't interact with physically.
Ritsu turns away from the chatter and notices Reigen's state, leaning against a wobbly-smiled Serizawa like a corpse, and a normally testy Dimple hovering inches from Reigen's face, eyes soft. He chuckles knowingly into his hand. Serizawa catches his gaze as he turns back and flushes, embarrassed to be seen through like he's transparent by a teenager.
"They've got it bad for that phony," he whispers to Shou, muted against the other kids trying to convince Mob to become a horror novelist.
---
Stars dance in the inky black sky, conducted under a half moon. The soft light blankets the campgrounds in a cozy ambiance. The air carries the lull of gentle snoring from the childrens' tents: Tome and Ichi; Mob, Ritsu, and Shou; Inukawa, Kijibayashi, and Saruta.
That leaves the adults' tent. Serizawa did most of the setup while Reigen "supervised", but he didn't mind it. The work kept his hands and mind occupied, and now he lies, half asleep in his sleeping bag, free to let his mind wander while Reigen is out using the restroom.
His gift to Reigen keeps coming back to him. Was it too forward? Was it not forward enough? Is it normal to give such a personal present, with a year's worth of silent affection poured into crafting it, to your boss? His lack of experience haunts him and begins to conspire against him with his anxiety, creating awful scenarios of being fired, rejected, laughed at, in sudden and jarring bursts. He doesn't feel so sleepy anymore.
"Oi, what's with that face?"
Dimple's voice startles him from his thoughts and he sits up. The spirit's energy lights the tent like a weak glowstick. Serizawa hadn't realized he was making a face until it relaxed back into a confused frown. "I'm thinking," he evades the question.
"Clearly." Dimple rolls his eyes. "If you're that desperate for him, you have to say so to his face, you know."
Serizawa's eyes widen.
"I'm not desperate!" His hard features soften after the initial defensiveness fails to dissuade Dimple. "How would you know what to do, anyway? Did you have... relationships when you were alive?"
Dimple hovers, idly scratching his red cheek. "One or two that I don't remember well enough to draw experience from. But I can draw experience from knowing Reigen, and even though he's quite perceptive, matters of the heart--especially his own--soar right over his head. He's kind of an idiot that way," he sighs, smiling.
"Dimple, do you have feelings for Reigen?" The shock in Serizawa's voice tightens the sounds as they are produced.
The spirit's eyes slide to the left and he bashfully rubs his nose.
"I hope you don't plan on saying anything before me, Dimple, because if you do, I'll..." He isn't sure what he'd do: burst with rage, weep himself a river, lock himself away in his own mind as he had all those years ago. As unreasonable as the thoughts are, only the worst comes to mind at the thought of missing his chance.
"H-hey, I didn't say I would! Relax: the man's got two hands, anyway."
Serizawa's perplexity (and slight curiosity) dampens his negative feelings towards Dimple's placid confession of his feelings. "Regardless," he starts again, "I don't know what I'd even say to him. I've never felt or done anything like this before."
A mischievous grin spreads across Dimple's face. "If you let me possess you, I can walk you through the whole process~."
Serizawa rolls his eyes and wonders why he expected any help from the dubious spirit.
Just then, the tent flap is pushed aside to make room for Reigen to step through. Serizawa, being caught off guard, presses his lips into a thin line and wonders if Reigen had heard any part of his conversation. "God," Dimple recoils from the man settling down into his sleeping bag, "you reek! Were you smoking out there?" The blond remains wordless as he pulls the cover over his chest, closing his eyes.
His odd calm leaves Serizawa and Dimple slightly wary, exchanging a glance. It'd be devastatingly embarrassing if he'd heard their conversation. Seemingly to evade any interest in the topic being raised, Dimple disappears and leaves the tent unlit, filled with darkness once more.
Serizawa lies back down and stares up at the canvas ceiling. He doesn't feel the chill on his burning cheeks. It's not like he can ask Reigen if he heard anything because if he didn't, he'd ask about it; if he did, there would be a lengthy, awkward conversation about workplace romances and how inappropriate they are, he bets. He begins to wish that Dimple hadn't bothered him, that he hadn't said anything, that--
His heart stops dead in his chest.
Reigen's arm has extended close to his own, and their pinkies are now intertwined. The long, slender digit of the other is trembling ever so slightly and it's impossible to tell whether it's the weather or anxiety causing the reaction. The notion that Reigen might be excited barely crosses Serizawa's mind, but he doesn't pay attention to his uncertainty and lack of clarity of Reigen's true feelings. Instead, he focuses on their pinkies: Reigen's is freezing cold and Serizawa can feel the heat transferring from his skin to Reigen.
They don't exchange words. They don't dare look at each other. They lie together in silence, electrified tension crackling over their heads.
Serizawa holds his breath, closes his eyes, and slides his hand under Reigen's. There's a moment of nothing, no movement until Reigen slowly knots their fingers together. His palm is slicked with sweat and Serizawa briefly wonders how he could sweat so much in this cold.
Neither party wants to move anymore. Going farther would be too awkward, too fast: both silently agree that such a small gesture works perfectly well as a mutual confession. A quiet, shared breath is slowly released into the air and the two, both with their eyes closed, can't see the other's dumb smile.