Work Text:
Reigen had always been a hard worker. It was not uncommon for Reigen to stay after work way later than he needed to, filing away paperwork, writing countless emails, and whatnot. Even when he and his new co-worker began to date, Serizawa would have to pull the younger man away from his work if they wanted to go out for drinks or dinner after work. Not too long after they began to get serious, the two began to discuss the matter of moving in together- which wasn’t exactly a thing that was easy to talk about, since neither one owned a big enough flat. So it was no surprise when Reigen finally brought up the topic one day that he had acquired a realtor and was looking on the market for flats that they could move in together. Spirits and Such had seen an increase of new and returning customers recently, and their days were usually packed. Reigen had been putting money away ever since they began discussing the whole ‘moving in together’ thing, and now he was setting things in motion.
Although he was busy, he wasn’t too busy to start to realize that Serizawa had begun to act… different. It began about a week after his announcement of his search for the flat.
“Hey, Reigen, I actually have to leave about an hour early today. I have some things I have to attend to.”
This caught Reigen off guard, as Serizawa almost never deviated from his regular schedule. Sure, things came up, but he was much too busy with school and work and socializing to add something in the mix. Plus, this was extremely sudden.
“Oh, uh, alright. Are we still on for that movie later tonight after you get back from class?”
“Aaah, sorry. I’m afraid I’m going to have to miss it. You can go ahead without me! I’d hate for you to miss something like that because of me,” there was genuine regret in his voice, but this seemed like something that just could not be avoided.
Reigen pushed aside the pang of hurt he felt and put on a straight face.
“Nah, that’s totally fine. Can you at least text me when you get home?”
“Of course”, Serizawa replied, smiling.
That at least made Reigen feel a little better. He went back to work that day, knowing there was nothing to get in a tizzy over.
____________________________________
Not only was Serizawa’s one time ‘thing’ he had to attend to not ‘one time’, but they were becoming more and more frequent. Serizawa would be in the office typing away at his computer, even when they had zero customers and nothing planned. He began to make frequent phone calls where he would constantly have to leave the office to take them. And each time Reigen asked what was going on, he would shoot his boyfriend’s questions down without fail. Not only that, but Serizawa became increasingly more distracted when they were together. Reigen racked his mind of all the possibilities of what it might be, but in the end, one stuck out the most. His whole core went cold to the fact that the man he loved had finally found someone else. Maybe it was someone from school, maybe it was a client… whatever it was, that nagging feeling of being replaced ate away at Reigen until he couldn’t sleep at night. Why else would Serizawa act like this?
He put on his mask, as he usually did each and every day, only now, it was extremely difficult to hold the act as he physically watched his relationship potentially crumble before his very eyes. There was SOME silver lining in all this, though. Ever since Serizawa started to act all weird, Mob frequented the office more and more than usual. Him and the taller man seemed to act friendlier, and even began to whisper even more. Was it about the affair? No, Mob was not the kind of person to hide that kind of secret. In any case, the mood at Spirts and Such was anything but drab. Reigen was at least thankful for THAT.
Due to the fact that the other may be seeing someone else (as well as being less and less affectionate overall), Reigen felt no obligation to show any kind of affection of any sort or return any that was given to him. Whenever Serizawa would lean in for a kiss, he would lean away, patting his hand dismissively or something similar in nature. The taller one always made a hurt face whenever that happened, which made Reigen feel guilty, but he kept having to remind himself that this was the man who was potentially going behind his back and sleeping around. (He felt?) No sympathy for that kind of behavior.
“Hey Reigen, you want to go out for dinner tonight?” Serizawa had asked out of the blue.
What, one of your side hoes cancel on you? Reigen wanted to reply.
“No plans?” he asked instead, keeping it all together.
“Not tonight! I actually have some time to myself. I know I’ve been kind of busy recently, and I wanted to make it up to you by taking you out.”
He was throwing some curveballs, Reigen thought. He wasn’t sure how to respond. He really did want to spend more time with Serizawa, and there was no solid evidence that he was actually cheating on Reigen, but it all felt so wrong. He cast away judgement and let the lonely side get the better of him.
“Oh, sure. Why not.”
They closed up soon after and went to a fairly chic restaurant that had caught the attention of food critiques recently. Weird choice in cuisine, but Reigen wasn’t about to complain.
The whole meal, Reigen tried to loosen up and just relax, to just spend time with his boyfriend, but those nagging thoughts just would not let him enjoy the evening.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been awfully quiet this whole time.” Serizawa finally spoke, as they were finishing up their dinners.
“It’s… nothing.”, Reigen didn’t want to broach the topic just yet, since pointing fingers this early on was downright rude. Yet, he couldn’t find the words to explain it.
The esper gave him a worried look and placed a hand on Reigen’s current on that was resting on the table, but Reigen quickly snatched his away. Serizawa got a hurt look on his face.
“Arataka, you’ve been quite distant recently. Is there something I did wrong?”
It took everything in his power not to just burst out right then and there. Once again, he muffled his feelings.
“Nah, I’ve just been feeling overwhelmed recently.”
They didn’t say anything for the rest of the night, and Reigen didn’t even invite him back to his place like he normally did after their dates. He went home that night, curled up in his bed, and cried himself to sleep, feeling so used.
____________________________________
“You ever wanted kids, Reigen?”
“Eehhh, maybe.” Reigen took a swig of his fruity drink. Serizawa, still on his antics of acting strange, offered to take Reigen out once again the following night, except this time, it was at a bar that recently opened. Which would have been fine if it weren’t for the fact that he kept buying the smaller one drinks, despite knowing full well how much of a lightweight he was. Reigen was suspicious, but who could say no to free drinks?
“I mean, if we stayed together, I’d be down for adoption. You’re dad material, and DEFINITE husband material.”
Serizawa’s face turned a bright red and he looked away and coughed, obviously very affected by Reigen’s comment.
“What would you want them to be named?” the esper asked, sipping at his beer, trying to move the conversation along. .
“If I had a girl, I would probably name her Chie. It’s such a pretty name……”, he replied, trailing off.
“And for a boy name?”
“Hmmmmm…… maybe Touma? Never really thought of it. Why, what brought this up?”
“Oh, no special reason.”, Serizawa replied nonchalantly.
“Seriiiiizawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Stop being so vaaaaaague.”, Reigen moaned, sliding up against the taller man.
“What? I can’t ask my own boyfriend a few questions about himself?”
Reigen once again wanted to press his boyfriend on this matter, but the alcohol was preventing him from any kind of reasoning. He decided to not press the matter as he downed more booze, trying to forget the agonizing feelings inside him.
He didn’t remember much after that, aside from being carried in big, warm arms and tucked into bed. He could have sworn he felt a kiss being placed upon his head, but that could have been his imagination.
____________________________________
“Hey Dimple.”
“What do you want, fuckface?”
It had been a few days since Reigen and Serizawa went out for drinks, and the latter was back to the cryptic behavior once more. It was getting under Reigen’s skin and he didn’t want to confront his boyfriend just yet. He needed some insight and maybe another set of eyes to make sure he wasn’t being paranoid. Thankfully, he knew just the right fart cloud to do the job. Everyone had left for the day, and it was only Dimple and Reigen getting ready for closing time.
“Listen, this is important. I need you to find something out for me.”
“I’m not your personal private eye, you know.”
Reigen gave him a serious look.
“It’s about Serizawa. I have an inkling he may be seeing another person. Just this once, can you maybe follow him around or something, just to either confirm or deny my worries?”
Dimple rolled his eyes and sighed, departing from the office.
“Alright, give me some time. You owe me BIG time for this”, he said before he disappeared.
Reigen chuckled to himself as he began to pack things up. Although he could be a handful, Dimple was somewhat reliable at the end of the day.
____________________________________
A few days went by, and each second felt like hours. Reigen paced his apartment back and forth, waiting with baited breath for Dimple to return with SOME kind of news. The anticipation was excruciating for him, and he felt like they were just toying with him. He tried to throw himself into other things, like busying himself with household chores, but no matter what he did, that nagging feeling just would not go away. He decided it was no us, no matter what he did, so he just rode with the anxiety until the weekend was over and waited til he was back in the office to address this whole matter.
Monday finally came, and much to Reigen’s dismay, Dimple came back empty handed. He pulled the spirit aside that morning just before Serizawa arrived.
“Sorry, Reigen, I got nothing. I tried to be inconspicuous as possible, but he caught on pretty quick.”
Damn it.
“Was he doing anything weird or out of the ordinary?” Reigen pressed, wanting as much information he could get out of the annoying ghost.
Dimple froze up and he suddenly became anxious.
“Well, uh, ya know, nothing too special, really, ahahah.”
“Dimple.”
“I mean, he’s just going about doing his normal routine, that’s all!”, he nervously replied, obviously hiding something.
Reigen closed his eyes and sighed.
“Fine. If you won’t say anything, I know someone who will.”
Dimple’s eyes became the size of saucers.
“NO! DON’T ASK SHIGE!”
“And why not?” Everything about this whole situation was just smelling super. Had Dimple seen something that solidified Reigen’s doubts?
“Oh, you know how the kid is. Putting pressure on him, asking him these tough questions.”
“He’s a smart kid. He can handle some intense situations.”, Reigen replied nonchalantly.
Dimple tried to talk him out of it, but Reigen’s mind had already been made up. As soon as Mob walked through the door that day, he pulled the kid aside. Thankfully, Serizawa had stepped out of the room to take one of his ‘phone calls’.
“Heeeeeeey Mob”, he said, trying to be unassuming as possible.
“What is it, master?”
“Aaah, well. You seem to be really close with Serizawa!”
“Mhmm.”
“Mind telling your ol’ master what’s been going on with him recently?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know… the phone calls he’s been taking, the constant whispering between you two, that kind of stuff.”
The look on Mob’s face dropped to a similar one that Dimple had earlier that day. Uh oh.
“Oh, it’s really nothing. He’s just, ah, busied himself with some things.”
“What kinds of things, Mob?”
Sweat started to bead Shigeo’s face. This was clearly stressing the kid out. Reigen noticed a few items begin to float in the room. Before he could interrogate the poor kid any longer, Serizawa returned to the room, breaking the tension.
“Uhhh… am I missing something??”
Everything that was floating dropped and Mob quickly went back to his desk, returning to his work. Reigen sighed in defeat.
“No, nothing at all.”
____________________________________
The rest of the day was unbearable. Mob and Dimple kept exchanging glances that did not go unnoticed by Reigen. Serizawa was becoming increasingly more and more distracted, and it was driving Reigen up the wall. Finally, he put his foot down.
The next day they were swamped with clients, but Reigen was just going to confront Serizawa himself. As soon as the last customers left that day, Reigen tensed up and the atmosphere changed.
“Are you cheating on me?” his voice was barely above a whisper.
“Huh?” Serizawa replied, looking up from his paperwork.
Reigen spun around to face the taller man, anguish and anger painted on his face and tears threatening to fall in his eyes.
“I said… are you cheating on me?!” His voice was full of pain and betrayal.
“N-no! Why would you think that?”
“BECAUSE I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING!” Reigen slammed his hands on his desk, tears now falling down his face. “Going behind my back, acting all shifty, leaving earlier than usual, answering your phone often…. I’m not an idiot! You and I both know very well you deserve better than ME! But if you found someone else, why didn’t you just leave me?! I know I’m really not the greatest person in the world, but don’t I deserve to at least be dumped??? I mean, hell, it would have hurt SO much less than this.”
By this point, tears were streaming down and Reigen’s face was all red from being worked up.
“Oh, Reigen, so that’s why you’ve been acting so hostile recently. I am so sorry you felt that way.”, the esper softly replied, as he walked over and pulled his boyfriend close, feeling him sniffle into his chest. He ran a hand through Reigen’s hair, “No, it’s nothing like that. I hoped I was more discreet, but I guess I wasn’t so subtle after all.”
“Then, what exactly is going on?” the strawberry blond asked, pulling away slightly and looking Serizawa in the eyes.
The older man beamed, “It’s a surprise!”
“A… surprise?” the smaller man questioned, arching a brow.
“Yeah! I can’t tell you now, but I promise you’ll find out soon enough.”
There was a moment of silence between them. Reigen didn’t know if he really believed what he just heard, but something in his gut told him that Serizawa was telling the truth. After all, before this whole event, he did nothing that made Reigen’s trust in him even waver slightly. So why would he start now?
“I-I’m sorry I doubted you. That I made myself believe that you could actually do something that heinous.”, he quietly said, embarrassed at his own actions.
Serizawa laughed.
“It’s alright. You really had every reason to. I was acting weird there for a while.”
Reigen felt like a fool for acting like he did, but now everything made sense. He went to bed that night, feeling more loved than he did in a very long time.
____________________________________
“So, I actually have a confession.”, Serizawa admitted, as they were coming back from their celebratory dinner. Reigen and the realtor had finally found the perfect apartment, and the day before, they had closed on it. Serizawa wanted to celebrate by taking him out to a very upscale restaurant.
“Oh?” Reigen’s ears perked up.
“So, the REAL reason why I was being all suspicious these past few weeks is because while you were getting everything ready to buy the new flat, I had my own ‘project’.”
“Katsuya….”
They reached the door and before Reigen could reach into his pocket to fish out his keys, Serizawa held out a hand to stop him.
“Let me go in to make sure everything’s ready.”, he assured, unlocking the door.
“Okay. Just don’t make me wait long.”
Serizawa barely opened the door and slid in between the crack, making sure Reigen’s eyes didn’t wander inside. He heard some shuffling and weird scratching noises and… was that Mob’s voice?
“Okay, come on in!” Serizawa called.
Reigen swung the door open to reveal Serizawa and Mob with a baby corgi puppy!
“OH MY GOD!!”
The puppy became very excited at Reigen’s reaction and bolted from Mob’s hold, running up to the strawberry blond and jumping up at his ankles.
“Her name is Chie. She’s 3 months old and she’s all yours.”
“YOU GOT ME A PUPPY??!!” Reigen exclaimed, scooping Chie up into a hug as she gratuitously licked his face, wagging her tail.
“You’ve been working so hard for our own place and I know how much you love dogs, so this is my Thank You gift.”
Reigen was speechless as he held the excited dog close, peppering her head with kisses.
“I-I don’t know what to say… thank you.” he croaked, getting all choked up.
Serizawa laughed and pulled Reigen and Chie into a hug. Neither of them really knew what home was, but in that moment, it occurred to them that it wasn’t just four walls. It was here, with the one they loved, and a very hyper puppy.