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Mob relaxed in his desk chair, turning on the fluorescent white lamp. The esper had hung out with his friends all day and just got back from karaoke. Even though he was usually the most shy among his friends, Mob was brave enough to sing a few songs; his friends (especially Tome) had cheered him on rather enthusiastically at this sudden courageous development. Before that, they had even all gotten crepes. Mob grinned as happily as the cat who got the cream as he recounted the day’s events.
Now, to cap off an already perfect day, he was about to read his new volume of Chainsaw Man. Mob was just flicking it open to the first page when his phone buzzed and the ringtone played. Not just any ringtone, however.
Master Reigen? The middle-school boy thought. It’s so late, why’s he calling me...? Oh, no, it could be an emergency!
Mob quickly flipped open his phone. “Yes, Master? Are you okay?” he asked in his soft, concerned tone. The psychic disciple felt anxious as bated breath was all he heard on the other line for a few seconds. Finally, a familiar voice broke the silence.
“...Mob,” Reigen said with what sounded like intense concentration. “At the office, there’s… Grrk! A very, very fierce and elusive ghoul. You need to come over immediately. Even with my power at near full-potential, this spirit is evading my attack–”
A loud metallic crash sounded as the phone line cut out with a chilling hum.
Mob’s face was as white as a Halloween ghost at this. “M… Master?” he said with shaky breath, launching out of his chair so quickly it toppled over.
70%.
“Shigeo, was that Reigen?” Dimple asked inquisitively as he coalesced out of thin air. The green wisp picked his nose, disinterested.
The esper gulped, turning to the spirit who had recently become familiar-adjacent to him. Mob nodded wordlessly. He tried to calm down, but a cold sweat broke out on his forehead as the boy quickly found a jacket to put on. The zipper sounded as Mob quickly fastened it up. He looked back to Dimple– who was eyeing the Chainsaw Man cover– and explained exasperatedly. “D-Dimple, it… Yes, that was him. Master could be in a lot of trouble.”
Mob was hurrying out of his room before Dimple could respond. Was Reigen okay? Had the ghoul hurt him, or–
Could it have killed him? Is Reigen being tortu–
80%.
Mob nearly jumped down his stairs as his mom watched him leave. Dimple quickly caught up, noticing the boy’s expression. “Whoa, Shigeo, calm down! Reigen could be perfectly fine– he might have lied! Think rationally, it isn’t good to stress out and run in blindly. Your so-called ‘master’ is a phony and best and completely idiotic loser at worst. How bad can this trouble be?”
Although Mob didn’t want to listen to what Dimple said, it might have had a little credit. The middle-school boy still ran to the office as quickly as he could, though.
76%.
Mob had finally made it to the office with Dimple in tow. When they got there, things were rather quiet. Dimple sighed in his gruff voice and rolled his eyes. “ See , Shigeo? Your stupid master was just conning you. As per usua–”
A loud metallic crash sounded again from inside the office; it was just like the one from the phone call. After that, a yell that sounded like Reigen carried through the office door. Mob felt his imagination go wild as the boy struggled with getting his personal Spirits & Such key in the door. 95%... 96%... 97%…
Throwing the key with such force it flung down a few streets away, Mob broke down the door and…
0%.
“Umm… Master Reigen? What is the emergency, exactly?” Mob asked in confusion, hearing rustling in the back where the kitchenette was. Dimple made a noise of frustration and flew away as fast as he could. Though a few things were scattered around the floor, there wasn't a sign of any struggle.
“Back here, Mob! Come quickly! The spirit… Grraaaggh!”
The disciple set his jacket on the flimsy coat rack and slowly stepped over some fallen pictures, suspiciously earned medals, and display pieces on the tile-floor. When he reached the back, Mob felt even more confused than before. “Master, I can’t sense any spirits here.”
Reigen was tousling with… a kitchen appliance? From his vantage point, the psychic disciple couldn’t discern any imminent danger.
The blonde man quickly flipped around to face Mob and his face looked contorted with stress before it soothed and relaxed away into relief. “Ah, Mob. You are here! This spirit of technology, it's shifty, Mob. The wires and buttons have been evading my planned courses of attack for at least a half-hour or more. Please, help with your esper powers!”
Mob felt as though a shadow of annoyance were cast over his face. “Master Reigen, is that… a new air-fryer?” he asked, much to his chagrin. The middle-schooler couldn’t believe he had gotten so distressed over a small issue Master was having with his new appliance.
Reigen nodded, his forehead and armpits visibly sweaty. His grey blazer was nowhere to be seen, and his pink tie was looser than usual, not to mention crumpled looking. “I bought this so I– so that we could try to cook food in-between clients at the office!” Reigen answered with a smirk and his hands on his hips. “But, unfortunately…” his head tilted down, his shoulders sagging as his face carried a downcast expression, “a spirit has haunted this particular unit.”
Mob refrained from walking out the way he had walked in, trotting over and examining the air-fryer. Reigen peeked over the boy’s shoulder with interest.
Upon further analysis, Mob realized why his master had been unable to get it running. The plug for power hadn’t been properly attached. “Clearly you’ve never owned an air fryer,” the esper commented in annoyance. “Though, Master, I don’t understand why you purchased one. We already have an oven back here. An air fryer is just a small oven.”
“It isn’t.”
“Yes, it is…”
“Is not!” Reigen yelled, his hands clenching into angered fists. He rapidly calmed down and looked as the display screen fired up. “...Sorry. Thanks for making it work, Mob. You are the best disciple an up-and-coming number one psychic could ask for!”
Mob brushed off his compliment, staring at Reigen again. “Seriously, why did you purchase this, Master? I thought you said the office couldn’t afford refurbishments since we lost money from when the last one burned down.”
“Haha, ahh, umm… Why I bought one? Well…”
“Clearly you don’t own an air fryer, Reigen,” Tome stated condescendingly as Teru laughed. Reigen stared at her inquisitively, not sure what she meant.
Are air fryers status symbols nowadays? Reigen thought, his chin resting on his fist like The Thinker . I need to get one for the office… Oh, no, Mob probably thinks I’m some cheap shill for not buying us one! Well… I am a cheap shill. But this is one investment I must make to guarantee the success of Spirits & Such.
Upon looking online, he had discovered they were too expensive and had instead entered an air fryer raffle content. Reigen had bought fifty of these raffle tickets to ensure he would win. Miraculously one day as he was checking his email, he discovered that he did win the air fryer. Two weeks later, it was shipped to the office.
Thinking back on it, buying the air fryer would have been cheaper than purchasing fifty tickets. Reigen looked at Mob and laughed awkwardly. “...It was on sale at a flea market. Anyways, want to try and make frozen takoyaki with it?”
Mob smiled and nodded at this. Maybe it was better that Reigen was having some stupid air fryer problem rather than fighting a very furious spirit.