Chapter Text
Reigen Arataka's pain had been a, slowly worsening, constant in his life. At first he could ignore it, maybe take a painkiller or two and be good. But lately, that just wasn't cutting it, the pain would still linger and break through the meds.
He really didn't want to make a big deal about it, or make anyone else worry. Mob was busy with school and friends, and Serizawa was also juggling the work and school life. Neither of them needed to be bothered by Reigen's pains. It wasn't their job to watch after him, he's an adult!
He did what he could do to manage the pain. He'd take steaming hot showers to ease his aching muscles and joints, he would then apply a soothing balm to the high pain areas he could reach. Some nights he would even fall asleep with a timed heating pad going. He was getting good at this.
That was until his routine just wasn't cutting it anymore. He woke up on a Wednesday morning as his alarm went off at 6:45 am. Enough time to lay in and then get up to start the day. But on this day, as soon as he hit that off button on his phone's alarm, he knew he was done for.
Reigen felt like he'd run a marathon then slammed his entire body into a wall at least 4 times over. Letting out a sigh and raking one of his hands over his face, "Fuuuccckk, today's going to suck."
Taking a deep breath, he got himself into a sitting position on the side of the bed. From there he stared at a plain black cane that he had bought on a whim a few months back, right when everything started getting worse. "Well, looks like today will be your long awaited debut. Wonder how this is going to go."
He knew his friends wouldn't be horrible, but he was still scared of their reactions. What if he didn't really need it and he was faking? What if they didn't believe him? Different worries swirled in his head as he got ready for work, painfully slow that is. At the last moment, he almost decided to leave the cane at home... But he opted against that.
With the amount of time it took Reigen to get ready, Serizawa had already made it into work and had flipped the sign to 'Open'. He took a deep breath and walked in, cane in hand.
Serizawa looked up from his desk to greet Riegen, "Good morning, Reigen! Did you sleep in?" His eyes landed on Reigen's left hand, gripping the cane. His face showed a small amount of shock, that he quickly covered up and smiled at his boss.
Reigen averted his eyes, giving a half true excuse, 'Oh!! Uh! Yeah! Hahha sorry, I had a very slow start this morning, but don't worry! I'm raring to go!" He of course, blabbed on, talking with his hands as always. Until, of course, his cane clattered to the floor.
Two pairs of eyes flew to look at it. For a good ten seconds no one made a move. "Let me get-" "Oh! No! It's ok! I got it!" Reigen interrupted, stopping Serizawa who was halfway out of his seat now.
See, reaching down to get it was the easy part. Standing up though? That was the real challenge that Reigen found himself in. He was stuck in a crouch, not able to gather enough strength to stand again. After struggling for a good amount of time, he looked up at Serizawa, who was trying not to stare. "Uhm, hey, could you, uh, maybe give me a hand? Hhaha, can't seem to stand up." Riegen kept his gaze averted. More so than usual.
Serizawa got up so fast he knocked over a few pens in the process. Nothing that couldn't get cleaned up later. "Of course!!!!" He offered Reigen one hand, and gently held his elbow to help lift him off the ground. "Here, let me help you to your desk!"
"No, its ok! I'm ok!"
"Just this once!'
"Ok, ok, fine."
Once Serizawa made sure Reigen was securely in his seat, he cleared his throat and lingered in front of his boss's desk.
"Just spit it out already" Reigen said through a sigh
"Oh! Uhm. What exactly is going on? Are you okay? Did something happen?" Questions flowed out of the anxious Esper like he had a never-ending pile. Realizing he should actually give Reigen a moment to answer, he clamped his mouth shut suddenly.
Defeated, he, once again, dragged his hands down his face and sighed. Looking at a spot on the wall behind Serizawa, he decided to just tell him the truth, scared of what could happen if he didn't know and Reigan found himself alone in the office with no help.
"I- I don't exactly know what's going on. I've kind of kept putting off doctor's appointments, you know, since we've been so busy here!! I didn't want to fall behind. But, I've just slowly been getting worse. Every day, something new hurts. Or, I have less energy than I should, even after doing nothing all day. Just, everything hurts all the time! I can barely even walk right now!!" Frustrated and holding back tears, he looked up at Serizawa like he would magically have all the answers.
Serizawa laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We'll figured this out together, you don't have to be alone Reigen. Let me help you, okay?" Not giving any time for a response, he headed towards the office's small kitchen. "I'm going to make us both some tea. I'll reschedule the clients for today, you'll rest here for a bit. And I mean real resting, don't start any projects. And I'll do some research okay?"
Reigen's response was a watery smile and a thank you