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out of many lessons mob had taught him, of all the things he had learned about himself that day he stopped shigeo's rampage through the city, there was one thought that lingered in the back of reigen's mind—
he was tired of putting up a front.
it was a bad habit of his he needed to break, he knew. it's been months since shigeo's rampage, months since tome joined their business, months since serizawa has been working at spirits and such; and here he was, still trying to work through his inability to just be true to himself. and sure, he likes to think he's gotten a little bit better at being honest with his feelings, but he can't help but notice all the ways he's still closing his heart off, how he's still holding them at arms length.
serizawa especially.
it's not like he meant to push serizawa away if he got too close; it was a force of habit, driven by the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him this and that, telling him one thing and then another. "it'd be too unprofessional," it said, "you'd just be taking advantage of him and his kindness."
but, he's gotten better at reasoning with that voice.
professionalism was still a concern of his (of course it was, he didn't want to catch a case with hr or anything like that), but he knew it was okay to go out for drinks with serizawa frequently, he knew it was okay to spend time with serizawa because they were friends— and, if he may, because he almost seemed to like being around reigen.
not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help but notice the soft smiles serizawa flashed at him whenever he talked, the way he'd catch serizawa staring at him more often than not. (staring hard, may he add; sometimes it was hard to pretend that he didn't notice the way serizawa was staring him down from his little desk.) it was getting harder to ignore the fact that serizawa would make tea for him daily, just the way he likes it, as soon as he learned how to. it was getting harder to ignore the way serizawa would always protect him when he could on the job, stepping in whenever a spirit became particularly aggressive, sometimes even moving him out of the way with his own strength before exorcising the spirit that dared attack them. it was getting harder to ignore serizawa.
his presence was one that made itself known, a presence that filled the walls of the office when it's just the two of them, a presence that had become the keystone of the entire business that reigen ran.
once upon a time, reigen would've thrown up— and did, in fact— at the idea of loosening up around serizawa. a part of him would've rather died than let serizawa see his true self, the side of himself that he had confessed he hated to shigeo months ago. it was the part of himself he deemed ugly, the part of himself he hid in front of his suave, charismatic businessman facade. but after one moment of spilling his guts to shigeo, after one moment of slowly trying to open the floodgates of his repressed emotions, they pushed past it aggressively like an angry tide. (he supposed it was one way that he & mob were similar, and a large part of the reason why shigeo took root in the first place.) it was cathartic, yes, but hard to contain again. it was like a breath of fresh air, being honest about his feelings, and his oxygen-deprived self craved more. he wasn't drowning in his feelings anymore, but they swept him away like a riptide. it was hard to put a lid on them once more.
and you know what? maybe it's for the better.
slowly, reigen found comfort in the place he had once felt smiles were fabricated in. he found comfort in its atmosphere, its people, the very business he had built for himself. even the slowest moving days where neither tome nor mob were present was negated by serizawa's existence, sitting in comfortable silence with nothing but the sound of a keyboard or pen scratching at paper filling the space between them. he didn't feel the need to chat incessantly to fill the gaps or make up stories about himself just to look good in front of serizawa. he no longer felt the need to repress his little tics and fidgets, whether it be a bouncing knee or spinning a pen in one hand. the walls no longer felt empty and suffocating, but instead welcoming and safe. he didn't need to walk into work with a fake smile plastered on his face anymore, because every time he walked in, he'd be greeted with a gentle "good morning" from serizawa and a smile. and that was enough for him to smile and say, "good morning."
maybe that's where reigen gradually became more comfortable in spirits and such. maybe that's where reigen gradually became more comfortable around serizawa. if there's one way serizawa has always, and he means always been able to deconstruct the walls he had built around his heart, it was through his smile. warm and inviting, with nothing but kindness behind it. brick by brick, his heart's defenses were carefully taken apart one smile at a time. it was incredible, the power that one expression held. maybe it was a reflection of just how powerful serizawa really was. maybe it was just serizawa.
by the time his birthday rolled around, serizawa had finally turned over the last stone that blocked his heart with none other than his greatest weapon— you guessed it, his smile. but something about serizawa wishing him a happy birthday, something about serizawa's smile, his laughter after watching reigen faceplant straight into his birthday cake, something about it finally broke down the defenses to his heart completely. maybe it was the realization that "yes, you're not alone on your birthday anymore, you're surrounded by people that love you" that did him in on that very day, but something in him broke, and he knew.
finally, he's ready. he was ready for his walls to come down, he was ready to let himself be his true self. he's ready for serizawa— no, katsuya to see him, to meet him. he's ready. they're ready.
so, later that day, after the day was done and the others had left, and there was nothing left to do, reigen decided to invite serizawa out for drinks for the evening— no longer as co-workers, but as friends. luckily for him, serizawa was more than happy to accept. truthfully, they had been going out for drinks as friends for a while now, but tonight would be special. reigen couldn't explain why it was, but all he knew is that his heart was filled with tenderness that day. filled with love. and just as they were drinking, just as they were talking, reigen heard serizawa refer to him as "reigen-san," as he always did within the office. but reigen— he only smiled. he smiled, and said,
"you can call me arataka."
and serizawa paused. he paused, but then smiled at reigen, one of his fondest smiles yet, and responded,
"then, you can call me katsuya."
and so he was arataka, katsuya's newfound boyfriend, and katsuya, arataka's newfound boyfriend.
a soft epilogue. a new beginning, the beginning of the rest of their lives together.