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Working as a psychic was one thing. Working as a psychic while also having to supervise an insanely powerful, really psychic child during all after-school work hours, under the guise of not only providing him a job but also helping him control his powers? That was another thing.
It wasn’t that little Shigeo (or Mob, as he insisted he liked to be called) was bad in any sense of the word. In fact, he was one of the most well-behaved kids that Arataka had ever met. The difficulty came solely from the immense amount of responsibility that came when having to watch over a kid at all.
It was a part of Arataka’s own personal philosophy that the well-being of children should always be one’s number one priority as an adult, no matter what the circumstance was. It was like, the most bottom of the barrel moral responsibility you had as a human being. Which was fine enough for him to deal with until he found himself with an actual real child to watch over as part of his job . One who also looked up to Arataka more than any human should, in his opinion.
Not only that, but Mob was also an insanely powerful psychic. More so than Arataka initially realized. It certainly brought some benefits with having him around to actually exorcize the spirits they encountered, but Mob also wasn’t lying when he said he needed help controlling his powers.
It started off fine. Mob would occasionally use his powers to get something off a too-high shelf or from far away, but that was it outside of the exorcisms. But Arataka started noticing a pattern. Every so often, Mob would have these… outbursts.
It didn’t happen every day, but the circumstances varied when it did. Sometimes a high amount of stress would cause it. Other days, a minor inconvenience would, or even just when Mob got a little too tired. Like with any kid, the meltdowns could be stopped by just being patient with him. But every time it happened, his powers would spiral a little out of control, and that was when Arataka saw the most of his strange abilities.
One time Arataka had to talk with the manager of a store about a case, and everything had been fine until he realized he lost track of Mob in the crowd. Of course he was guilty when it hit him, but the guilt was only made worse when he actually found Mob, sobbing in the middle of an aisle and making the shelves around him glow and rattle.
Needless to say he kept a better track of his apprentice from that moment on.
Arataka did his best to help him with controlling his powers in those moments. Hell, that was what Mob had come to him for in the first place. But there was still a part of him that knew deep down he was sincerely out of his element with this case. Mob’s experience went beyond what any regular human could even imagine.
Despite this, he remained optimistic. He had a feeling part of what Mob needed was just someone who would treat him like a normal human being, and that was what he continued to do as the weeks of knowing him passed by. Because even if he couldn’t help Mob in any substantial way to control his powers, he could at least do that. And anyway, the two had already begun to settle into a routine.
Most days would see them go to a location and do away with a spirit or two. If the exorcism even required them to go anywhere at all. But when it did, Arataka always made sure to get Mob back to the office before the sun set.
Today, he failed at doing that.
“It’s getting dark out, kiddo. You got someone I could call to pick you up?” Arataka said, frowning as they stood in front of the office.
Mob shook his head resolutely. “I can walk home.”
“Then I’ll walk you back,” Arataka decided. The office was supposed to close soon anyway, he had no appointments for later, and there was no way he was letting a ten-year-old walk home alone in the dark. As long as he avoided the worst-case scenario, it would be fine.
Mob shrugged and led the way.
His house wasn’t too far, fortunately. Mob made sure to hold Arataka’s hand every time they came to a crosswalk, and navigated the route back to his house with practiced ease. Once the esper pointed out which one was his, Arataka stayed a safe distance away on the sidewalk. “Thank you, Shishou!” Mob called before dashing up the steps.
Arataka was just about to turn away as he heard muffled voices from inside the house. “Shige, where have you been? Did you walk home by yourself? It’s so dark!”
“No, Reigen-shishou went with me.”
He walked away faster. Behind him, he heard the telltale sound of a door opening.
“Ah, excuse me! Are you Shige’s shishou?” called a woman’s voice.
Here it was. The worst-case scenario. Mob’s parents were going to give him an earful and tell him to never use their son for his business ever again. As mortifying as it would be, Arataka supposed he had it coming. What with using a psychic child for his own gain.
He turned around and put on his best customer service smile. (But staying a good distance away at the same time). “Ah, good evening! That’s me, aha. It’s nice to meet you, Kageyama-san!”
“It’s nice to meet you, as well! Would you like to stay for dinner? We’ve heard so much about you from Shige.”
A home-cooked dinner… actually didn’t sound bad. It certainly sounded better than another night of takeout. And what was the harm in getting to know his employee’s family better?
“Well, if you insist,” Arataka replied, casually strolling to the front door, giving Kageyama-san a polite nod before entering.
The inside of the house was warm and well-lit, all but humming with a feeling of comforting hospitality. An unmistakable smell of curry radiated from somewhere beyond the front hallway. The smells blended together and enticed him toward the kitchen. It smelled better than even his mother’s cooking ever did.
“We were just about to sit down for dinner when Shige came back. Ah! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Sae Kageyama. This is my husband, Tatsuji.”
Tatsuji, who was cleaning up parts of the kitchen, waved at Arataka. “Nice to meet you!”
Arataka bowed. “Arataka Reigen. It’s nice to meet both of you, and thank you for having me.”
What was going on? Why were they being so nice to him? All Arataka did was keep their son after school and go on exorcisms with him every so often.
Arataka (in spite of Sae’s protests) insisted on helping set the table as the Kageyamas prepared to serve dinner. Mob came down the stairs as he laid out napkins and utensils. His hair was messier than usual, and he’d replaced his day clothes with a pink hoodie and striped pajamas.
“Shishou! What are you doing here?” Mob said, his dark red eyes lighting up with a rare smile.
“Ah, hey Mo– er… Shigeo! Your parents were nice enough to invite me to dinner.”
Mob smiled and excitedly took a seat at the table, his short legs swinging.
Behind him followed a boy who looked almost identical to him, only slightly taller and with spikier hair. The boy eyed Arataka suspiciously.
“Nii-san, who is this?”
( Nii-san? This kid was Mob’s younger brother?)
“Ritsu, this is Reigen-shishou. He’s a really powerful psychic. He’s been helping me control my powers, remember?”
At that, Ritsu’s eyes shot wide open. He protectively seated himself firmly next to Mob, moving his chair ever so closer. The gaze turned into a glare
Before Arataka could ponder the interaction, Sae and Tatsuji came in and set plates out for everyone, serving themselves last and sitting down with the three of them. Arataka made a point of audibly saying thanks before digging into the curry and vegetables with rice, which tasted better than any meal he’d had in maybe months.
He continued to eat as Sae asked Mob and Ritsu about their day and as Ritsu told his mother about all the good scores he’d received. Arataka pitched in to help when Mob struggled to describe their exorcism trip. Fortunately Sae only looked slightly concerned when they got to the part with the abandoned town in the middle of the woods. Tatsuji just laughed.
Mob was a weird kid. Arataka had known that as soon as he’d met him. And he knew that the only reason the esper had gone to him for help was because he had no one else in his life who was capable of dealing with such an outlandish problem as psychic powers.
But despite this, it was still clear watching Mob and his family eat and talk and laugh that he was loved. No doubt about it.
Once everyone was done, Sae stood up and began collecting plates to clear. Arataka did so as well, taking Tatsuji’s and his own into the kitchen after her.
“Oh, you don’t need to help with those. You’re our guest!” the woman said sternly.
Arataka wasn’t having it. “All the more reason to help clean up.”
The two stood at the sink side by side and began scrubbing the dirty plates. (He respected her cleanliness. Having dirty dishes in his kitchen at any moment bothered him to no end.) Arataka opened his mouth to make some more insignificant conversation when suddenly Sae spoke.
“Thank you.”
He was taken aback. “Oh… uh… for what? I mean, you were the ones to have me over for dinner. I should be the one thanking you! ”
“No, I mean… for helping Shige all this time. For…” Sae turned to look at him. There was a strange, sad look in her aged eyes. “You know.”
Arataka forced himself to turn back to the plate in his hand, suddenly very interested in the small spot of dirt in the center. “Ah, well… it’s nothing. It’s my job, you know? Helping with problems like… his. Even if it’s a bit different than being haunted by a ghost, heh.”
Sae nodded. “It’s just… Shige’s had some trouble in the past with his powers. I’m sure he’s told you about it…”
He thought about his next words carefully. “He’s… told me he’s had some trouble controlling them in the past. He’s never told me the specifics, but I think he mentioned… hurting someone, once. But M– Shigeo doesn’t seem like the type to do that, you know? I don’t think he’s ever hurt a fly, not even by accident.”
“It’s true,” Sae forced out, like the words were rocks stuck in her throat.
Arataka put his plate on the drying rack and waited with apprehension as she formed her next phrase.
“Shige and Ritsu… they were walking home from school one day and some… delinquents tried to rob them. I don’t know exactly what happened. But Shige tried to fight them off, and he got hurt and it triggered… something .”
Her voice was trembling. Suddenly the laughter coming from the dining room seemed miles away.
“Ritsu swears that whatever he saw that day… it wasn’t his brother. It wasn’t Shige. But whatever it was, it hurt him. He had to go to the hospital.”
Arataka was stunned. When he imagined the boy having trouble controlling his powers, he figured it was just a case of making books float off shelves or something. He didn’t imagine that .
It was suddenly no wonder why Ritsu was so protective of his brother – why he seemed to despise Reigen so much. There was no way a kid that age would be able to live normally with his big brother after an incident like that. The only way he could keep on loving him was to try to separate his idea of Mob from his powers entirely.
To Ritsu, anyone who made Mob use his powers was an enemy. He wasn’t a brat, he was just… afraid.
“Which is why it’s been so nice having someone who can help Shige with that,” Sae continued, startling Reigen out of his thoughts. “He’s been so much more talkative and, well… happy since going to see you. It’s the first time he’s seemed that way since… it happened. So thank you. That’s all.”
Arataka felt a lump form in his throat. He’d taken in Mob on a whim, just to better his business model. Any “help” he’d given him was simply Arataka pulling generic advice out of his ass. What had Arataka ever actually done to help him control his powers? Arataka had lied to Mob, from the moment the boy read his advertisement posters. There was no point in trying to help beyond the bare minimum, so why try?
He reached for another plate to clean only to realize that they had finished already in the time they spent talking.
It would be time for him to leave soon. He was in no rush, but it was what he felt was politest. Arataka followed Tatsuji into the living room, about to announce his departure, only to feel his voice hitch as he saw the image in front of him.
Sae looking kindly upon her husband, who cracked jokes to his sons. Ritsu, smiling and talking to his brother with an admiring, content look in his eyes (Arataka figured his absence probably contributed to that).
And Mob, letting out his little breathy laughs he only did when he was really happy.
Maybe, if it allowed his student and his family to keep existing as they were now, Arataka decided, it would be worth it to help Mob out with his powers for a little while longer.