Chapter Text
Serizawa walked alongside Mob and Dimple (even though the latter couldn’t necessarily walk) on their way back from their lunch break. A week ago Reigen had tried to argue that since Dimple wasn’t an official employee, he did not get a lunch break. Dimple had then extorted that logic and justified that since he was not an employee, and also dead, he didn’t need to listen to Reigen at all. So he didn’t. And Reigen never bothered to bring up the lunch debate since.
This Saturday had been busy with customers. Pre-scheduled appointments and walk-ins. They were easy for the espers but endless interaction, some pay disputes, and the heat had left the entire group a bit tired. Dimple was currently gliding through the air as he and Mob discussed something about a sleepover with Teru, Ritsu, and Shou. Serizawa was checking his phone planner to see how many appointments were left in the day.
“I don’t see why Reigen even gave you a lunch break, Shigeo” Dimple commented once they were reaching the street of the office. “Not that I’m complaining but you’re just going to get your stuff and go home now anyways.”
Mob looked forward in thought for a moment, “I didn't think about it before... but you’re right. Normally Shishou would try to make me stay since I’m not going to be in for the whole day.”
“Maybe he just wanted you to relax for your sleepover later? Plus, Reigen-san can handle most of the walk-ins by himself-” Serizawa was cut off as Dimple muttered something about how most walk-ins were not real spirits, “-And then we’ll continue appointments when I get back.” The older man scratched the back of his neck as he walked. Truth be told he also wondered why Reigen had let Mob off for lunch so easily too, but figured that there must have been some sort of reason. And maybe that reason would also explain why he didn’t join them for lunch himself.
Or, he noticed as they approached the building, why Reigen had flipped the sign to closed and was nowhere to be seen.
He stiffened a bit as Mob opened the door for all of them. He left it unlocked on purpose. So they could come back in easier. So I wouldn’t have to pull out the key, He hoped, Definitely not because something happened to Reigen and he didn’t have time to close the door. Was it a dangerously urgent client? One of the angry clients from the pay dispute earlier today?
Dimple gave a quick ‘hmm’ as Mob grabbed his bag and packed away his things. “Probably went to go get one of those coffees from around the block. One can only stand the same tea for so long…”.
Ah. That actually… makes a lot more sense.
Serizawa let out a nice sigh and let his shoulders slump. Reigen had been looking a bit tired and had burned through a couple of teas by the time the trio left for lunch.
Serizawa placed the take-out he had brought back for the man in question on his desk. He had fallen into the habit of going out for lunch with the office (which could consist of anywhere between 2-7 people, many of whom were not even employees). He had a chance to eat at practically every nearby place in the span of… 8 months? A year? It was hard to tell how much time had passed since he was hired and thrown back into society. But Spirits & Such helped make the transition easier, so he would repay his boss by picking him up some food before returning to the office. He had practically memorized Reigen’s orders by now. It was almost alarming how much the man liked to show off his knowledge of food.
It was nice to have someone you knew. He didn’t have that for a good portion of his life. But not only does he understand Reigen, he feels understood. By everyone at the office, he thought happily as Mob finished putting away his things and offered a simple goodbye. “Have fun, Kageyama-senpai!” He saw the hint of a small smile on the boy’s face as he stepped out with Dimple not far behind.
With that, he was left alone in the office. It wasn’t the first time. In complete honesty, these moments made him feel a little bit stronger. A little more confident because he knew he could handle himself if a customer came in with any sort of issue.
Ah wait… he thought.
-
C L O S E D
-
The sign on the door meant no customers for the time being.
Serizawa stretched his arms. Then his back. Then sat down. Got up to look at the office calendar. Sat down. Checked the time. Checked how long until the next/last appointment was.
45 minutes… normally it wouldn’t be a big issue but the bus leading to the location would be at the stop in 24 minutes. But Reigen shouldn’t take that long if he’s around the block. If. Without the presence of other people to keep his mind off of it, Serizawa’s worries took hold of his mind again. He revisited the different theories in his mind until he realized that the cafe was just around the corner. He can just check.
But would Reigen find that creepy? His thoughts pestered him until he realized that no. No he would not. Reigen has never indicated that he was weirded out by his worrying. It was only Serizawa who thought that.
He took off his blue suit jacket, because he was definitely not about to step back into the heat with it again, and walked out. As soon as he turned to the direction of the cafe, he saw Reigen. He felt himself relax for a second time until he saw that the ginger-blond was agitated.
He was far down the block, standing on the other side of the corner. He looked to be talking to someone, but with the angle Serizawa was at, he couldn’t see another person. But he knew Reigen’s customer service demeanor. If he was caught in a lie his hands would fly around and he would sweat. If he was trying to fool someone he was overconfident or mysterious (because according to Reigen ‘people expect mystery from a psychic’). If he was dealing with an angry customer he would act completely apathetic so his emotions wouldn’t make the customer more angry.
This seemed to be a situation for the latter. Reigen was standing up straight, except for the hand on his hip. This must have been what was keeping him then. Reigen’s hand would sometimes slip to his hip if he was annoyed. Whoever it was must have kept this up for a good couple of minutes and the heat didn’t seem to help. Reigen was holding his suit jacket over his shoulder and the sun was beating down on him.
Serizawa walked along the storefronts, which thankfully provided shade on his path, until he began to see the other man.
Reigen swiftly turned, he really must have had enough of this guy, which definitely agitated the angry man. The angry man who Serizawa now recognized as a client from yesterday. He didn’t have time to react when the client furiously picked up a rock from the ground and slammed it into the back of Reigen’s head.
Reigen hadn’t seen any of it happen. So he was confused and in pain. On his knees holding the back of his head with his right arm and supporting himself with the other. Serizawa watched the client wind his foot back for a kick to the gut-
He didn’t get the chance.
His leg froze where it was. As well as the rest of him. Serizawa stormed over, eyes not leaving the client. He bent down, “Reigen-san are you okay?” His nervousness showed through his voice. “Ah, Serizawa,” Reigen smiled as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, “I’m fine. Ju-Just need a second…” Reigen lowered his forehead closer to the sidewalk for a moment. Serizawa glared at the still frozen man. If he wasn’t frozen with telekinesis he may have been frozen in fear. “T-they are real-” the client stuttered.
“What’s the issue?” he interrogated the client. The rage he now held toward him was prominent. Before he could speak, Reigen supplied the answer. “It’s fine, he just heard about some old drama and thought I conned him,” he raised his head and turned it around at his assaulter, “But I doubt you think that anymore, right?”
As soon as the powers holding him in place vanished, he ran. Serizawa watched him turn a corner after running a block or so before returning his attention to his injured boss. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I will be. There’s ice at the-” Reigen stopped to examine the hand that he just took off his head. Blood was coating it and staining the edge of his palm pink. Both their eyes widened a bit and Serizawa said a quick “Lets go” as he grabbed his arm and paced back to the office.
-
He didn’t bother flipping the sign back to open. It was 16 minutes until they were supposed to leave. He finally let go of Reigen’s arm once they were inside. Reigen wobbled to the bathroom as Serizawa called the client to reschedule.
When he was done, he walked to the bathroom. The door was open and reigen was holding some paper towels to the back of his head.
“... Reigen-san we have towels.”
“Those are for massa- exorcisms. They are for body exorcisms and I refuse to get them stained.”
Serizawa huffed out a laugh as he left and came back with a first aid kit. “I’m surprised we haven’t used that before,” Reigen remarked from the toilet. Probably because when anyone gets injured in the office they tend to go to the hospital, he thought. “Let me see your head.” Reigen tried to crane his neck but winced for a moment. “Maybe I should sit on the floor.” Serizawa wasn’t too fond of his boss/coworker/friend sitting on the bathroom floor but didn’t object.
The bathroom was longer than it was wide. Kind of like a very small hallway with a toilet at the end. The bathroom mat would at least make it a bit bearable. “We should probably do this quickly if we want to catch the bus..” The hiss of pain he let out as his bottom finally made contact with the floor was soft, but loud enough for Serizawa to hear. “Huh? Oh I rescheduled that.”
“What? When?” He tried to turn to look back at him but stopped once his injury began to throb.
“Just now.”
Serizawa sat criss-crossed behind Reigen, knees to back. A hand full of clumped up paper towels were still holding onto the injury. He blushed as he slowly took hold of Reigen's hand. He didn’t realize how close he had been to his boss this whole time. He had been right next to him after securing the client. He held his arm while they rushed back (he supposed he could have used his powers but it’s probably best he didn’t in case anyone saw a flying bleeding man being rushed to an exorcism store).
He blushed and felt himself get hotter. The small, crowded, and already hot bathroom was not helping. He unbuttoned his collar and loosened his tie a bit as he finally got to see the injury. Or not. Reigen’s hair was in the way. “I just have to- umm-”, he carefully held the smaller man’s head in his hands and began parting his hair with his thumbs. In front of him, Reigen’s cheeks darkened.
“It’s actually not so bad. Wait- unless it's a concussion. You don’t have concussion symptoms right?” Reigen tried to stretch his upper back a bit and move his head again. “Not sure yet. I think I’m just sore. Actually- get your phone.”
Serizawa was a bit surprised. He wouldn’t expect Reigen to be ready to call 911 over this when he had been reluctant to get treatment for much worse injuries in the past. “Turn the flashlight on in my eyes. See if my pupils dilate.” That makes more sense. He pulled out his phone and turned on its flashlight. Reigen had been slowly turning 180 degrees so he was now knee to knee with him. Reigen’s cheeks reddened a bit before reaching out to Serizawa’s arms. He held his wrist, guiding to where he would need to shine. Serizawa knew what he needed to do… but he couldn’t complain about this. “They umm… t-they dilated”. He quickly focused his attention to his flip phone to turn off the light.
Looking into Reigen’s eyes as he held him was proving to be a bit much for him.
“Good, good. I think it is just sore then.” Reigen let go of his arm and looked away.
“I still need to clean and bandage it. You’re gonna have to turn back around.”
He gave a miserable puppy look to his caretaker but complied. Slowly. Now that the adrenaline, of both being hit and being held by his crush and then also holding his crush, was fading things began to hurt more. He felt a bit stiff, swollen, and was consistently bothered by his head throbbing. And now he could feel his shirt stuck to his back.
“I didn’t get anything on my shirt did I?”
“Hmm? Oh you did. But we can handle that later.”
Beginning to part his hair again, both men flushed. “It looks like just a bad scrape…” Serizawa mumbled. “Not surprised. Head injuries can bleed more than they should.” They both let out a relieved laugh. “Since when did you become a doctor?” Serizawa joked as he began to clean off the blood. “Oi, you’re the one who’s taking care of me.” He watched as Reigen’s hand began to move around. It was cute. Like watching an injured bird lift up its wings again. He smiled at the idea. “Also,” Reigen continued, “I need to know some basic stuff. I’ve had Mob in here since he was little. Even more little than now.”
“Ah, very fatherly.” Serizawa loved to tease Reigen about the kids. None of them were his, but he didn’t act like it. Reigen’s hand fluttered up even more, “That’s not what I mean! You see the injuries we get around here.”
It’s mostly you but sure.
“Should I bandage it?”
“Yeah. Normally I would let it air out…” He trailed on as his hand rolled, “...But it’s throbbing like a bitch. I’ll need to put ice on it.”
Serizawa nodded before realizing Reigen couldn’t see his head and responded with an “Alright.”
The next couple minutes was Reigen walking through how to bandage it. After the first attempt failed, Serizawa got it right on his second try. Getting up and returning with an ice pack, Serizawa got a look at the side of Reigen’s face for a moment. He saw that Reigen’s hair had been pushed up by the wrap-around bandage and he was given a temporary bedhead.
Serizawa thought it was the cutest and most domestic thing he had seen in his whole life.
He had had dreams at times. Where he was warm and his friend was in his arms as they woke up beside each other. But then he would actually wake up. And realize he was actually about to be late to work. Fortunately, he was less anxious about those things now. He knew Reigen would be forgiving. But it was always disheartening to wake up from a dream. He had been experiencing that since he was young.
Dreaming of being able to play outside. To have friends. Go to school. But as he put the ice to his boss’s head, he realized that those dreams had come true. He could go outside. He was in school. He had friends.
He really needed to thank Reigen more often. He knew to credit himself for his recovery, but there was no way he would be doing so well without the opportunity given to him by the man who he saved.
The man who he saved. He didn’t like to think of what could have happened if he wasn’t in time. The intense power the president had shot at him. At Reigen. “Ow! Serizawa!” He almost wanted to be mad at Reigen too. For getting into that position. But the past is the past. “Serizawa!” He was brought back to the present. “You’re pressing too hard!” Guilt overcame him as he lightened pressure of the ice “Oh! Sorry! Just lost in thought for a moment.”
“What are you thinking about?” He asked as both lowered their voices (to Reigen’s relief, as his head was still hurting). Serizawa didn’t want to bring up his thoughts so he figured a white lie might be alright.
“Just wondering what to do about your shirt.”