Chapter Text
“So, uh...what do you think?”
It was hard to say exactly what it was about this whole mess that was making him so nervous. Reigen might be at an age where he was old enough to have kids if he wanted, but he sure as hell hadn't put any serious thought into it before now. If he was being honest, it was more like the thought hadn't crossed his mind. Except maybe those few times he got messages from his mom along those lines...
That was exactly why he'd never offered to take Mob in before all of this. A kid, living full time in his one bedroom apartment? There's no way Mob would've actually wanted to live in a cramped space like that anyway.
Still...something like guilt had settled into his chest, and was constantly nagging at the back of his mind. He swallowed hard – trying to ignore the feeling. Because maybe he should have asked, or at least put some thought into it. But in the grand scheme of things...considering the past few weeks or so, he was glad it hadn't happened until now. Maybe it was one of those good old 'blessings in disguise'.
Reigen twiddled his thumbs together - palms clammy with sweat as he watched Mob's face while the kid took his time to read over the adoption forms. It wasn't official, not signed or anything yet. This obviously isn't the type of thing to do behind someone's back, no matter what the intentions were. What if Mob really didn't want to live with him? It's not like he could deny there'd be some part of him that'd be relieved at not having to dive headfirst into parenthood. But...the alternative? Mob deciding that he'd rather be forced to move to a whole new neighborhood, away from his school, his friends, his brother...? Rather that than live with him? Yeah, no pressure. And that wasn't even touching the idea of Mob actually being out of his life like that, in the blink of an eye.
Eventually though, Mob tilted his gaze up away from the pages and opened his mouth to respond. In that exact moment, Reigen could feel a jolt go through his whole body, making him sit up rigidly straight.
“Shishou...you're adopting someone?” Mob's eyes widened with curiosity, full of innocence. Reigen, in turn, was given a feeling -...almost... almost exactly like his head was smacked directly into a brick wall.
“Wha-...You, Mob! I'm talking about you coming to live with me!”
“...huh?” Mob's eyes zipped back down to the pages he was holding – scanning the text again, and probably looking for his name. His hands trembled, almost imperceptibly, but just enough for Reigen to catch it. The look on Mob's face was enough to take him back, once again (as his mind had been doing all too often after that press conference), to the day they first met. Those same old 'brimming with hope' eyes.
Damn...of course a kid would be excited to be adopted out of an orphanage, huh? Even if it was with a guy like him, in a place like his. It was stupid of him not to think of it that way, and it was clear as day after he'd watched the realization hit Mob.
“Yeah, you heard me. So – what do you think?” Said with a little more confidence this time. “I didn't want to make anything...you know. 'Official' before we talked first.”
Mob just kept on flipping through the pages, and Reigen made no move to rush him. Maybe Mob just wanted to spot his name and make sure it was the real deal. Eventually though, the kid slowly lifted his gaze up. “Shishou...I thought you said we should stay professional...? That it wouldn't be good for business if you had your own kid as your employee...?”
Reigen flinched. His blood ran cold-...no, it was more like ice. The whole situation wasn't too unlike one of those “deer in the headlights” sort of moments when a client seemed like they were catching onto him.
They'd already talked about this before?!
It wouldn't be a stretch to say so, even if Reigen couldn't remember saying a single goddamned word Mob just repeated back to him. But thinking on it...it really wouldn't too unbelievable. It sounds like the sort of off-handed comment he might've made around Mob when they first started working together. Maybe to save himself from having to deal with a situation where Mob got any ideas about staying with him. Nipping it in the bud.
Reigen cleared his throat and straightened himself up again.. “W-well!” One hand moved in the air, gently waving back and forth as if he were brushing the comment right off. “That was...a lot's changed since then, you know! The business changed, and...we could use a new strategy, huh? A new us, a new look!”
It was always easy to slip back into that familiar pattern of bullshitting stuff about work. Although this one felt like a lot more bullshit than usual. It made Reigen bite down on his lip – forcing his blabbering to stop short before he could keep on going with it. He'd been trying to do better by Mob, and this wasn't some dumb inconsequential job at the office. Even ignoring everything between them...this was still a kid's future he was dealing with here. There was no way he could let it be a repeat of his last screw-up. It wasn't like he needed to save face here, so much as be upfront with the boy he was offering to invite into his life.
“And...uh...”
Silence stretched for a few heartbeats. It's wasn't like being upfront with Mob was impossibly hard, but talking about something like this and trying to find the right words was like pulling teeth. Reigen could feel a drop a sweat roll down the back of his neck.
“The...the truth is...I want you to stay, Mob. I don't...really know if I'm ready to be someone's guardian or not-” (saying “dad” still felt a bit too bold right now) “...but...this is our best option, right? So, I want to give it my best shot. And if that's what you want too, then...come and stay with me.”
Once he'd finished talking, Mob just stared at him, wide-eyed. And now that everything was all out in the open, Reigen suddenly felt breathless with panic. Maybe he shouldn't have been quite so honest. He was the adult here, he was supposed to be the one taking responsibility. For fuck's sake, that was the one thing he shouldn't be screwing up on already.
He waved both hands around, a bit frantically – trying to backpedal a bit. “A-ah, not that I mean I can't handle it, you know! It's just...kind of sudden, that's all! But we should be able to get some support from your school, and maybe a bit from your kid brother's foster parents, and...we'll make it work, ok?”
It's then that the tears started rolling down Mob's cheeks, and he knew he was a dead man. His body seized up, like was ready to just stop functioning right then and there. He could only sit in frozen horror and watch while Mob reached an arm up to wipe his eyes off onto the sleeve of his school uniform. And there wasn't much movement after that – Mob kept his face pressed into his arm, and his shoulders gently shook as he started to cry more.
“............”
“............”
The silence stretched on for a while.
And it felt like it finally enlightened Reigen to all those people who'd say pretentious stuff about silence being loud. Or heavy. But everything in the office felt still as stone except for the quite sobbing of the boy sitting in front of him.
No matter how much he'd grown, Mob really was still a kid in the end.
“............”
“.....H-hey....”
Reigen reached out a tentative, shaky hand towards Mob's shoulder. But his hand flinched at the sound of Mob's voice – soft, and muffled from being pressed against his sleeve.
“Sh...shishou...”
For a moment, neither of them moved. Reigen's hand stayed outstretched. Mob's face was still turned down, his arm trembling now too.
“I-I'm listening, Mob.”
There was sort of underlying hesitation from Mob that Reigen could sense more than anything. But he forced himself to wait, as patiently as he possibly could manage. And eventually, Mob moved his arm – slowly descending down to rest his hand on his lap. His cheeks were red, and tears streaked down his face – some still forming in the corners of his eyes.
“C...could we...go today...? Back to where you live...Could I...stay today...? Is that okay...?”
A jolt of understanding rocketed through Reigen all at once, and it felt like enough to knock him over. The realization that Mob was saying 'yes'. That he wanted to know if this was real, badly enough to ask Reigen to go to his apartment right away. Or maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of being stuck in that orphanage one more night if it meant a risk of being separated from his brother, and from his life here.
A feeling of something that must've been joy started blossoming in his chest – so strong that it was kind of shocking. Like the feeling of a weight being lifted, and then the weightlessness you're left with is overwhelming too. It was a dizzying happiness, coupled with pure exhaustion. The type of happiness that came with relief.
Reigen shook himself a bit, feeling lightheaded. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was still panicking. Ever since he knew the adoption center in town was closing, he'd been working nonstop. Trying to learn if it was even feasible for him to take Mob in. And then, what he'd have to do to get it done, to qualify for adoption, to get ready for it all. He sure as hell hadn't had time to get his apartment ready to have Mob over yet.
But the part of him that was panicking had to get shoved off to the side for now. It was something he'd just have to deal with later. There was no way he was going to tell Mob no. Not for something like this. No matter how sudden it was.
Reigen felt himself smiling. An emotionally exhausted, but truly genuine smile. His hand traveled the rest of the way down to sit on Mob's shoulder – holding it in a gentle, but firm grip.
“Let's go get your things, Mob.”
He could see Mob start – felt the jolt in his hand. But then Mob looked up at him for what seemed like the first time in a small eternity. After a moment, understanding flashed across his face, and he nodded with so much enthusiasm that Reigen had to tighten his grip on the kid's shoulder to steady him a little.
Maybe he was in way over his head. There was no real way to know for sure, not until they were already headlong into the whole situation. But as he looked down at the kid in front of him...somehow...he knew it would all be ok.