Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Reigen sat on his couch, staring blankly at the ceiling, drunk off his ass after only a single beer. It wasn’t even good. 

Things have been… lonely. Actually, it’s only been a week, but the soul-crushing solitude has been eating away at him. The office hasn’t been open in two days, and with the rate his mental health and will to live is dropping, trickling away like sand in an hourglass, it won’t be likely to open ever again.

The kids haven’t been around. Now that they’re all in highschool, they couldn’t drop by the office the same way they could before. And Serizawa got mad at him a week ago for something, because he’s been alone for a week, and decided to finally take leave. He had… Reigen couldn’t remember how many days Serizawa actually had, and that didn’t really matter either. Dimple got mad too. He left and hasn’t been around either.

31 years old, yet he feels like he’s 23 again. Alone, wasting away. Alcohol was his only friend then, and it seems to be his only friend again now. 

Ah… He wants to die. 

In all honesty, despite being a self-sacrificial dumbass, Reigen hasn’t wanted to die in years , the last time being about… Hah. When he was 24. When he was about to shut down Spirits and Such and either kill himself or make a new business, only to have Mob walk into his life and then change it forever. For the better. Reigen smiled as tears welled up in his eyes. Man, he loved that kid.

Mindlessly, Reigen sat up and walked over to his fridge, which smelled more rancid that week - because fuck this week is messing him up; he couldn’t remember anything from that week, and not just because he’s drunk - and he took out one, two, three… another six packs of beers from his fridge. Why did he have seven beers total? Did he buy a six pack, drink five, forget one, and buy another pack? Or… a gift? He can’t remember anything, damn. 

He should write a note? He should write a note. Hahah, he should write the note while he’s dying. Would that be dramatic or what?

Reigen was an insult to actually depressed people who have problems to be depressed about. He should apologize. 

Reigen put down five out of six beers and pulled the tab off of the one remaining in his hands, walking over to his desk to grab a pen and paper. He takes a swig of beer and starts to write.

To whoever finds me, 

My name is Reigen Arataka. I’m 31 years  old and I was the owner of Spirits and Such

It was hard to write drunk, depressed, and sleep deprived. The words on the paper probably didn’t make sense. Reigen took another drink.

I’m alone and I don’t have anyone to love and I decided to kill myself 

How do people write suicide notes? Maybe he should leave specific messages to people?

To Serizawa, 

I love you. Romantically. And I’m sorry for fighting with you last week. I miss you.

To Mob, 

The beer can was empty. He grabbed another one and took a drink.

Yoi were the greatest thign that ever hap pened to me. Thank you for letting me be your shishou, and donmt let my death hild you back, okay?

Ah shit. He’s getting nauseous. Reigen gagged, some vomit going into his mouth but he forced it down, not wanting to give any chance at recovery (and not wanting to soil the paper). Instead, he sits for a moment and lets the nausea settle before eventually grabbing another beer and drinking it just as he had the last three. Genuinely, Reigen had no idea how he was still alive with how much beer he drank and the enzyme he lacked. However, he knew he didn’t have long. So, he abandoned the paper, having ran out of things to say and not wanting to risk it getting ruined, and returned to his beautiful, beautiful couch, where he sat down and stared at the wall. Out of the corner of his vision, the digital clock read 12:12 A.M. He almost laughed.

Soon, Reigen’s eyes fluttered shut as he let coldness sweep over him, only grateful that everything would soon be over.

Dying hurt. A lot. And he had to hold in his nausea just so that he didn’t risk saving himself by some chance (because while normally his inhuman ability to survive anything was a blessing, it was not wanted at that moment).

His consciousness faded, and it felt almost like… falling…asleep…

Chapter Text

Reigen awoke on the couch, not feeling much at all, really. Maybe a little annoyed and disappointed. It didn’t work. Here he was, still alive and kicking. Curse his inability to die.

“Well, I better clean up my apartment at least.” Reigen said to no one in particular, pushing himself off the couch to clean the messy room. There was no point in trying to commit suicide again. He probably would survive that, too. 

He started with the beer cans littering the table. Most of them were actually unopened, and so they were easy to clean. Just put them back in the fridge and done (though, the fridge also needed to be cleaned…) The opened ones though, they needed to be tossed out, so Reigen left them on the table and went into the kitchen to grab a trash bag, and maybe even clean his fridge out while he had the chance.

The strangest thing about this event, Reigen would have to say, is how good he feels. Like, his body doesn’t ache like it normally would, because him being bent over to pull out the rotting burgers, disgusting eggs, and spoiled milk wasn’t hurting his knees and back like they usually do. Plus, he felt more awake, like he just took a nap and didn’t drink himself to near death that night. Actually, he wasn’t even hungover.

But there’s something strange going on. First off, the house was still almost pitch black other than the lamp at the corner of the room, which shouldn’t happen because his blinds were not that good. Secondly, he couldn’t smell the rotten food items at all, and he didn’t feel sick so there was no reason for that. Still, Reigen shrugged it off, and lifted the trash bag off the floor to bring it to the next room.

He almost dropped it again when his eyes landed on the couch.

A man with greasy hair that looked like it was supposed to be some kind of strawberry blonde, who wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt covered in various stains and vomit soaking into the collar, whose mouth had vomit leaking out of it, and whose eyes were closed - no, not closed at all, they were partly open - and whose hands lay unnaturally limp at his sides.

That man… that was Reigen .

A strange feeling rose within Reigen, the one standing in the kitchen entrance, not the one lying on the couch. It felt… bubbly? Like it was trying to be happiness but was sucked into a void. Maybe grief? Delight? Both? 

Reigen put the bag down - didn’t drop it, thankfully - and approached the him laying down on the couch. Damn. He looked… sad. And that wasn’t just because of the tear tracks that were drying on his face. His eyebags were deep and dark, and his skin was several shades paler and greyer than it’s supposed to be. And again, there was vomit dripping off of his chin. Pitiful, really. Reigen felt bitter looking at himself. So pathetic, both in life and in death.

“I can’t just disappear, though…” Reigen said to himself, now knowing that yes, he was successful, but also failed completely because apparently he had enough dirt on his life and enough spiritual energy to bring himself back. And, not only was he acquainted and friends with several espers, but also a very annoying fart cloud of a spirit.

“Hey, I felt a huge amount of spiritual energy coming from your place and-”

Speak of the devil. 

Dimple stood (floated?) in the entrance of his apartment, eyeing the scene before him, mouth wide open in shock.

“What. The. Fuck .”

The green fart approached, and Reigen went defensive, unsure of what Dimple would do. Surprisingly, he was silent as he looked over between the two Reigens.

“It, uh… It was an accident…?”

Dimple only rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure it was. I can see the paper on your desk,” the green spirit pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself. “Of course he would attempt suicide, he was depressed all week! Why didn’t you check up on him! He’s impulsive and you know that…”

“Dimple? You good there?”

“You don’t get to ask that, asshole!” Dimple spat at him. “What do you think Shigeo is gonna think? Or Serizawa ? Fuck, he’s gonna think it’s all his fault…”

“It’s no one’s fault but mine.”

“I know but that doesn’t mean that Serizawa and Mob, or even all the other esper kids will take the blame for it! And-and you shouldn’t have to either because someone should have checked on you. You shouldn’t have been forced to think that this, ” Dimple gestures towards his dead body. “was your only choice.”

Reigen had nothing to say to that, and he couldn’t help but agree with what Dimple said. Yeah, he really shouldn’t have been left alone that week. Someone sticking around would’ve helped, probably. This was worse than the press conference. And yeah, he wasn’t thinking and now the kids and Serizawa would probably get all hung up over it. After all, he’s dead, and they’re the only ones who would know. Unless…

Reigen turned to his body again, ignoring Dimple’s panic from behind him, and looked at the time. Oh, it’s only 12:24 in the morning? No wonder it was still dark, it’s only been, like, 12 minutes since he died. 

“What if I pretended to still be alive?” He asked out loud, stoppign Dimple’s freak-out from behind him. 

“Excuse me?”

“Like, if I possessed my body and pretended like I never died.”

“Holy fuck, you’ve lost it,” Dimple whispers in shock, “You can’t possess a dead body!”

“I dunno… How powerful am I?”

“Wh- What? ”

“How powerful am I?”

Reigen felt… off somehow, but he didn’t particularly care at that moment. He just wanted answers.

“You can sense the spiritual energy of someone just by looking at them, right?” Reigen continued. “If I can maintain my form and was returned as a spirit, that means I’m pretty strong. But how strong am I?”

Dimple was silent for a moment, and Reigen felt himself growing impatient. How difficult was it to answer? It was a pretty simple question.

“You know what, I’ll just try it out.”

Not giving Dimple a chance to protest, Reigen sunk himself into his corpse, copying how Dimple did it with Mob and others, and sat there, trying to get control. It took some trying, but soon, his eyes, his actual eyes, fluttered open. Reigen looked down and saw that his hands were solid, and when he stood up, there was no body on the couch (and even better, there was none of that chronic pain he was carrying from when Mob destroyed the city). Reigen turned smugly towards Dimple, who looked both uncomfortable and flabbergasted. 

“Can’t possess a dead body, you said?”

“You are an enigma upon enigmas…,” Dimple said under his breath, frustration clear in his expression. “Both in life and in death.”

Reigen continued cleaning his apartment, Dimple no longer saying anything, opting instead to just sit back and watch, clearly in shock from the several bombs Reigen dropped on his head (or probably because he never got a chance to process that Reigen was fucking dead ). The fridge was cleaned (he could smell, but it wasn’t as bad somehow), the beer cans were tossed out, he even took the trash out into the curb and threw it into the wire basket (it was a cans and bottles only day, but he didn’t care. He never separated his stuff anyways).

When Reigen got to dealing with his suicide note, he didn’t just throw it out, nor did he burn it (even though he almost did). Instead, he kept it with the rest of his stationary: in a shitty pencil case that he bought for only 200 yen. A memento or something, he rationalized.

By the time he looked at the clock again, finally finished tidying up and cleaning the whole place spotless, two hours had passed, and it was nearing the beloved “witching hour”. How funny that he’d be one of those spirits said to roam during that time.

“Well, you’ve been hanging around for the past couple of hours, and the entire apartment is cleaned,” Reigen said as he settled on the couch (where he died. That’s still pretty strange). “And you never answered my question. Plus, I’m clearly possessing a dead body, and it’s already been a few hours, so it should be starting to decay but it’s not.”

Dimple sat down, actually sat down , beside him and put his face in his hands, groaning loudly and angrily. 

“You’re… stupidly powerful,” Dimple finally says, and Reigen feels… euphoria? Or fear? “Like, if I were to compare your spiritual energy to one of the espers that keep dropping by your office, I would say you’re almost as strong as Serizawa, or maybe Teru.”

Reigen sat silently, absorbing the information and thinking about how this would affect his life. He was… strong. Pretty freaking strong, actually. But he also knew that the power he had came mostly from his emotions. But still, he… he didn’t need the other espers to run his business anymore either. As a spirit, too, he actually would be risking his life (or… death?) hanging around the other espers, especially those who were less controlled like Mob or Serizawa or even Mob’s little brother (who he supposed wouldn’t hesitate to exorcise him). There was also the fact that he can’t generate his own energy, according to Dimple’s long explaination of why he eats spirits and whatever, meaning that he’ll have to figure out how to exorcise a spirit through consumption rather than letting Mob or Serizawa do all the work. However, that would be difficult because Mob believed, (or knew ?) that Reigen had no psychic powers. And… Serizawa knew that now too, hence why Reigen was alone in the first place…

“Okay,” Reigen finally said, having a better understanding of his situation. “I’m gonna keep running the office, for starters. I’m pretending to be alive so I need to keep money rolling in and keep my apartment and office up.”

“Why? What’s the point?”

“You said it yourself. If I suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth, then they’d only be more distraught. I-I can’t do that to them.”

“Okay, but you already know what changes you have to make, right?” (It was much harder to take Dimple seriously with his little legs and arms dangling on his couch).

“Yep. I have to do a lot of exorcisms on my own now, for starters. That way I can consume the spirits when I do.” Reigen explained, Dimple nodding along, no longer full of rage, it seemed. Just trying to figure stuff out. “I also need to be careful when I do take jobs with anyone else so I don’t accidentally get attacked. Collateral damage and stuff, you know?”

“You also need to be careful to not get corrupted.”

“Corrupted?”

“If you become too caught up in negative emotions or get messed up by an evil spirit, you can get corrupted,” Dimple explains. “And unlike just becoming an evil spirit, corrupted spirits are… they’re wild. Uncontrollable. Those spirits who only attacked and didn’t speak or anything? Those things.”

Reigen shivered, thinking about some of those spirits they have faced, and yeah, quite a few of them weren’t evil at all, were they? Evil has a mind, but those things were just… animalistic.

“Most of them are suicide victims.” And oh, that explains Dimple’s concern.

“I’ll try my hardest not to get corrupted.” Reigen reassures 

“You’re not gonna try,” Dimple says as he floats back upward to see Reigen face-to-face. “You’re just not going to.”

Reigen had no rebuttal to that answer. Instead, he grabbed the remote (not floating it because he had no idea how much he could do at the moment) and turned the T.V. on, flipping through the channels and settling on a cartoon one, a dubbed version of an American T.V. show playing (one he didn’t recognize, meaning it was probably newer). He still had about five hours before he had to open the office, so he took the time to relax and get used to his new situation, keeping his body safe from decay.

‘It was going to be a long day …’ He assumed, sinking tiredly into the couch cushions.

Chapter Text

“So…,” Reigen started, fixing his tie and brushing down his suit, trying to flatten out some of the wrinkles (which really needed to be ironed out with how awful his posture and everything is). “Corruption? Uh, what are some signs for it?”

“You’re not gonna get corrupted.” Dimple stated bluntly, trailing behind Reigen as the two made their way out of the apartment, the sun not even fully up yet. The cool wind would’ve felt nice, as Reigen knew for a fact that his apartment was incredibly stuffy, but he couldn’t feel much anyways. Still, he supposed it was the thought that counted.

“I don’t plan on being corrupted,” Reigen replied, somewhat annoyed by Dimple’s assumption. Was he really that bad? ( ‘I mean, I did die, so…’ ). “It’s a safety precaution. You know, I committed suicide, most suicide victims get corrupted, so that means if I know what’s going on, maybe I can… stop it? Prevent it? Something along those lines, ya know?”

Dimple sighed angrily, though his face seemed more pained than upset. He was really stressed out, wasn’t he? Reigen felt somewhat guilty.

“Fine, I’ll make it simple.

 One: Your emotions get condensed into just one. So for example, you stop being able to feel things like joy, fear, and sadness, but you can only feel anger. 

Two: You notice a major change in your appearance, like your hands are bigger or you get more than two eyes. Though, it would be harder for you to tell since you’re possessing a body.

And three: insatiable appetite. You keep feeling a need to eat other spirits, and you can’t stop it. That’s pretty much the point of no return, though.”

As Dimple finished his rant, Reigen was unlocking the door to the office, wincing at how dreary it looked. And, oh god, there was a cockroach on the wall. Two days was really enough for this place to become a wreck, huh? Well, not a wreck, but certainly uninviting. 

“Dimple, can you go get that roach for me?”

“Why not try, I dunno, levatating it? You technically have psychic powers, you know?”

Reigen didn’t take his eyes off the roach, in fear that it would disappear if he looked away for even a milisecond. “I’ve never had psychic powers before, and I still wouldn’t use them to pick up a roach.” 

Dimple, very “elegantly” picked up the bug and promptly put it in his mouth, exagguratedly crunching it in front of Reigen and forcing him to see all of the little bits and pieces. Reigen shuddered, and nearly backed away, but the need for cash was stronger, and he forced himself to walk by Dimple and into the bathroom, where he pulled out a can of Lysol from under the sink. With this, he sprayed the spot where the bug once stood, before then spraying Dimple, who sputtered and shrieked like a cat being sprayed with water.

“WH-What was that for!”

“You’re gross. Stop it.” 

Despite being uttery disgusted by Dimple, his intervention was exactly what Reigen needed to feel some semblance of normalcy, and he decided to spend some of his extra time cleaning the office up. Make it more pleasing and clean, especially after it had been abandoned for a while (and the fact that the last time he even cleaned up was about a month ago).

Soon, the clock read 8:00, and seeing as it was a weekend, at least Tome should be coming in. Reigen didn’t know where he and Serizawa stood at the moment, nor did he know if Mob would come in or not. He actually didn’t mind all that much if  no one came to work that day, strangely enough. He was more anxious about it, in fact, because what if he wasn’t good at acting enough? Or what if his emotional state gets heightened because of their presence? Or what if he suddenly gets corrupted and hurts them? There were too many variables, too many possibilities.

“Boss!” Tome cried out as she bursted through the door, surprised to actually see him there. “Wait! You’re actually here?” 

“Yep! In the flesh.” Reigen wanted to laugh at his own joke. Dimple rolled his eyes.

There was a tension that seemed to wash off of Tome as she took in the fact that Reigen was back and alive (not really). Suddenly, she came up to him and hugged him tightly around his waist, trapping both of Reigen’s arms against himself.

“Woah, kid! Are you okay?” He said, unsure of what to do now that his main form of expression was gone. Tome nodded her head and then looked up at him, her eyes red. 

“I was scared when the office was closed for two days straight! You’re stupid and impulsive, and I was terrified that you… I dunno… got killed or something.” 

‘ Ah fucking hell, stop reminding me ’

“Well as you can see, I’m just fine, Tome! I just… I just needed a break, that’s all.”

Tome finally released him, and rubbed her eyes, making her way back to her tiny desk and pulling her laptop out, though she seemed to be in a rather good mood. Still, he felt the need to reassure her, at least a little bit. 

“Hey, if you ever think that I’m in danger, or even if you want to just talk to me, you can always call or text, alright?”

Tome looked up from where she was working, and nodded, and Reigen felt… strange. Just like earlier, when he had no idea how to feel about his own body. He knew that he was supposed to be happy, or at least proud, but it felt dull. Numb, even. Like there was nothing there… 

Still, it was probably him being confused. He made sure to keep it in the back of his mind, however, in case it happened again, or in case it meant anything.

—-------

Surprisingly, there were quite a few clients that day, probably because they were waiting for his office to open up but he was… uh… out of commission . Still, they allowed for Reigen to have a better understanding of his new spiritual powers, mostly Dimple showing him how to eat curses, which gave him an even greater purpose to keep the massuse aspect of his business. He felt some kind of pride of being able to help with actual spiritual problems on his own rather than having to call on Mob or Serizawa in order to handle it. 

Serizawa… How would he react to seeing Reigen now? Would he be upset? Would he blame himself? Blame Reigen, or Dimple? Or would he not notice at all? Reigen hoped it was the last option. The guilt would be too much.

“How you feeling after all those exorcisms?” Dimple asked when Tome left the office, done for the day. 

“Honestly, a lot better than earlier,” Reigen said as he looked through his emails, deleting some of the hate-mail. “Though, it is kind of weird eating something that tastes like nothing.” 

“You’ll get used to it.” 

The two fell into comfortable silence, Dimple hanging around the small kitchen, digging through the hidden snack drawer (hidden, because he didn’t want the kids eating his snacks) as Reigen sat at his desk, busy with his computer. The sun was starting to set, and he should be heading home soon.

As he worked, he received a new message on his phone, which surprised him. He hasn’t gotten any messages lately, since… 

Reigen flips his phone open to see who the text came from, and he felt… strange, similarly to when he saw Tome. However, he also felt cold fear run through his soul, unsure of how to respond to the message.

From: Serizawa 

I’ll be coming in for work tomorrow. But we need to talk, ok?

Dimple seemed to notice Reigen’s change of demeanor as he stared at the phone in his hand, concern evident in his face. He floated over and looked over the conman, reading the ominous message sent by Serizawa. Though, from what he knew of the man, that was a message of worry, not a threat.

“He’s just worried about you. I don’t think he’s mad anymore.” Dimple told Reigen, trying to reassure him.

“I know,” His voice sounded tight. Nervous. “I just… I don’t think I’m ready to talk to him. I mean, what if he sees right through me?”

That was true. Reigen was never good at being honest, even after Mob’s explosion, and this was a lie that would not be so easy to get out of. If he was lucky, Serizawa would either not notice, or he would notice but wouldn’t say anything (though that seemed unlikely based on Reigen’s current circumstance).

“If it would make you feel better, I’ll back you up when you guys talk.” 

Reigen’s face was relatively blank, and his eyes told nothing, as they were part of a corpse and unconnected to his soul. However, Dimple could tell that the conman was grateful for the offer, based on the way he perked up when he said it. 

“Yeah, I’d… I’d like that,” He said, smiling, though it didn’t seem genuine. “Thanks, Dimple.”

Things were never going to be easy again, were they?

Chapter Text

For the first time in a week, Serizawa put on the suit which he always wore to Spirits and Such. He fixed his orange tie around his neck with relative ease. His shoes, though a bit more of a struggle, he slipped on, and with a small bag slung over his shoulder containing his school work and his lunch, he headed out the door and began to make his way towards the office. 

In all honesty, Serizawa missed Reigen a lot, and regretted leaving him so suddenly, and on a bitter note, too. He didn’t mean to be gone for a whole week, but his anxiety and anger from thier argument had kept him from returning much sooner. 

It went like this:

The job was simple on paper, a job which they had completed thousands of times. A spirit has been sighted at a certain place, this time a high school, and they had to go in there and exorcise it. Neither of them knew that it would be a real spirit, but even if it was, Serizawa could take care of it. Easy peasy.

Except, not really. 

When they entered the school, Serizawa could feel something faint, yet there wasn’t much he could tell from the aura signature, and the two had to wander around for a bit before they could do anything. 

“It feels like there’s something a little closer upstairs? On the third floor, I think.” Serizawa informed Reigen, who simply nodded in response before running up the stairs. Normally, it would’ve been endearing, the eagerness in Reigen’s action, but this time, he only felt… annoyed. He didn’t exactly know why, but he shrugged it off and followed behind. 

He made his way upstairs, panting heavily. Embarrassing as it was, Serizawa hadn’t worked out in years, and so even a little bit of effort, like walking up two flights of stairs without stopping, was exhausting. 

“Oh, Serizawa! You’re here!” Reigen said with enthusiasm, his face sweaty and flushed, clearly tired. Again, normally such a face would get Serizawa all flustered and shy, but once again, he only found himself becoming irritated at how he jumped so quickly towards potential danger. “Do you sense anything nearby?”

“There’s something in the one classroom over there,” Serizawa said, squinting to read the signs. “Classroom 3-F I think,” 

Reigen nodded, and started to head off on his own, but Serizawa grabbed his arm before he could run off for a third time. 

“Let’s stick together. This one feels dangerous.” 

Reigen nodded in response, and the two continued forward. Serizawa refused to take his hand off of his arm, even if it made him feel somewhat flustered. 

The classroom looked relatively normal from the outside. The windows were clear, and inside all the desks were neatly aligned and the chairs stacked on top of them. The chalkboard was clean, too, and there was not anything strange, or even unclean, about the room from the windows. 

When they entered, it was a different story. The tables and chairs were all toppled over, all except one, which had a white flower resting on top of it, strangely beautiful amongst the mess. Heavy dust coated the floor as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years, and there were bloodstains on the floors and walls. The chalkboard had the name Aiko Yamaguchi written repeatedly in red chalk. And, despite the heavy spiritual pressure which Serizawa could feel emanating from the room, there was no one there. 

“You think this name has a clue to it or something?”

“Well… Some ghosts only choose to show themselves if you say their name. And I’m guessing that’s her name on the board there…”

Once again, without much precaution, Reigen jumped the gun, repeating the name Aiko Yamaguchi over and over again, until a blast of energy nearly knocked the two to the ground. They both whipped their heads around to find a young student with black, chin-length bob hair and a bloody seifuku floating behind them. Her bangs made her pure-red eyes stand out starkly against her pale, grey skin. On her arms were several, jagged cuts, which looked to be self inflicted based on the neatness of their pattern. What hurt Seirzawa the most was that she looked to be only 15, the same age as Shou. 

“Hey, are you Yamaguchi-chan?” Reigen asked the spirit, his voice steady and confident. The spirit did not answer, but her form instead rippled grotesquely, her limbs stretching out, long and spindly, and more arms appearing out of her back. She looked almost like a spider as she was transforming, and although her face showed anger and resentment, her voice and what she said as she morphed displayed fear and pain.

“ HeLP mE ….!”

A guttral scream escaped her as her back bent upwards at an impossible angle, and her face split into two, a bright red liquid which looked not too dissimilar to blood pouring out of the gaping wound in her face, her tongue flopping to the left side of her mouth. Her hair  grew out long and covered her skin, making only her glowing, red eyes visible from underneath it. She grew in size, almost filling up the entire room, and some of her limbs even sticking out of the doorway. 

She screamed again, though this time there was anger in it, not just pain or fear. Three pairs of hands went to grab the two of them, and they were just barely able to make it out of the way as she broke the blackboard behind them through sheer force. They had to make this exorcism quick before she breaks any more of the room. 

He turned his head to call out to Reigen, but the man was entirely focused on facing down this creature (which he clearly saw, meaning that this thing was most likely quite powerful), and was quickly approaching it. In his hand was a flimsy metal pole, which seemed to have come from the now-broken chalkboard. Serizawa tried to call out for Reigen to stop, but was unable to with the spirit’s attention on him, and it trying to grab him or squash him. 

Reigen was still running toward the spirit as Serizawa was running away, letting out beams of psychic power to try and hurt it, or at least keep it off his track. Suddenly, Reigen is on the thing’s head, smacking it over and over again with the flimsy piece of metal, screaming. Serizawa groaned in annoyance, but took this as an opportunity to strike. Pulling out his business cards from his breast pocket and alighning them like a blade, Serizawa approached the creature and slashed at its limbs, the spirit screaming out in pain, its stumps flailing wildly as blood spilled out in waterfalls. Suddenly, one of these stumps struck its head, not only stunning the creature, but also knocking Reigen off with a hard thwack .

“Reigen!” Serizawa cried out, dropping his business cards in order to catch Reigen with his psychic powers before he could hit the ground, bringing him towards Serizawa. The man was still conscious, though probably had a concussion or something based on his confusion and dazed appearance. Serizawa cussed under his breath before sitting Reigen down behind him and setting up a kind of barricade using the toppled desks. 

Now that Serizawa didn’t have to worry about Reigen’s well-being and stupid choices, he could focus on exorcising the spirit, who was now growling and struggling to keep its balance with its missing limbs. It finally took notice of him and screeched, stretching its neck out at him and trying to bite down on him, rather than relying on its limbs. Although it would’ve been more dangerous, facing against a giant, well, face , it actually made Serizawa’s job easier. Now he only had one thing to focus on, which he easily dodged and maneuvered around, picking up a chair from the ground to use in place of his currently-scattered business cards. He leapt into the air and landed on top of the creature’s head, screeching and using its still-bleeding stumps to try and knock him off, like it did to Reigen, but Serizawa was able to avoid getting hit. Using the chair and embedding it with more power, he slammed it into the creature’s gaping hole in the center of its face repeatedly, until it stopped fighting. Then, with a final blast of power from his hands, Serizawa exorcised the creature, the spirit disappearing with a final shriek. 

He used his powers one final time to gently float himself downwards and land on the classroom ground. Slowly, the room began to fix itself, all the damage seemingly artificial, before it returned to looking like it had through the window. Stacked chairs on top of desks, a clean chalkboard, now without a hole in the wall, and an almost dustlesss floor. The main difference was that single desk in the center of the room, which, while it was cleaner, still had its chair sitting pushed in against the desk and a white flower on top, this time in a plain, white vase. 

A groan came from his side, and he turned around to face Reigen, who still seemed out of it and was swaying on his feet. He tried to take a step forward, but almost landed face first onto the classroom floor. However, he didn’t, as Serizawa had his arms around him, holding him up. 

“Heh, nice job, ‘Zawa” He slurred, still clearly out of it. Serizawa looked him over and didn’t see any physical injuries. They probably disappeared when the classroom got fixed, leaving behind only the pain. 

“Let’s go. I’ll talk to the client when we get downstairs, and then I’m calling a cab.” He sternly told Reigen.

“Ah, y’ don’ hafta do that…” 

“No, I will.”

 Reigen didn’t argue after that.

As calmly as he could, Serizawa talked to the client, as he said he would, and called a cab, which showed up much sooner than anticipated, and carefully set Reigen inside before sitting down beside him, only feeling a little guilty for not sitting beside the driver. He told the man the address for the office and fell into silence as he stewed in his frustration.

-------

“You can’t keep doing this!” Serizawa said as he slammed the door shut and flipped the sign to closed . He was completely fed up with Reigen’s behavior that day, and he could not handle the stress of a potential client walking in on him yelling at his boss. 

“Keep doing what ?” Reigen asked as he pulled out some Advil and water to treat his current headache.

“ THIS! This whole thing where you act like you have to die like a martyr. This whole thing where you keep sacrificing yourself without reason even though you know that it would devastate us!”

“I’m not trying to die, Serizawa,” Reigen said, clearly stressed by the accusation. “I-i just.. M-my powers, you know-?”

“You don’t have powers, Arataka ! You know this, I know this, Mob knows this!”

“Wait- what-”

“Yes! I know you don’t have powers! Sorry you tried to hide it, sorry for revealing that I knew your secret, but any sensible esper within a twenty-mile radius could easily tell!”

“Well, I’m sorry that I’m not a real esper-”

“It’s not about powers , Reigen!” Serizawa yelled, shutting the conman up. “I am so sick and tired of having to run into the danger to lodge you out of it because ‘I’m Reigen Arataka, Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century !’ ” Serizawa felt mean, mocking Reigen’s voice like that, but he was already far too deep into this argument to stop anytime soon.

“It’s draining , Reigen. It’s so fucking draining to see you running into danger because you think you have something to prove. It feels like I can’t leave you alone for a second , because if I look away for even a moment, I’ll find you dead on the ground, and I can’t fucking handle that !”

“Well, if you’re so tired, then leave ! Just get out of here if you’re done with me! I’ve ran this business for far longer than you’ve been here, so go! I don’t need you!” 

Reigen clasped his hands against his mouth, both him and Serizawa wide-eyed at his words. A suffocating silence fell over them, and Reigen felt the need to break it.

“Serizawa, wait, I didn’t-”

“No, no. I-it’s okay. I’ll… I’ll see myself out.”

Reigen tried to follow him, but was stopped by an unseen force, which he recognized as Serizawa’s powers. Serizawa didn’t want him to come close to him, and he was forced to watch as his employee, his friend, left.

 That was the last time the two saw each other for a whole week.

When Reigen went home the night before, he didn’t take into consideration that as a spirit, although not impossible for him to fall asleep, it was extremely difficult, and staying up was a much better option than trying to fall asleep.

Which is why Dimple said for him to practice some of his newfound psychic powers. Something simple, something relatively harmless, and something that pretty much every esper can do (besides see ghosts).

Needless to say, Reigen was not holding a cup of piping hot tea directly in his hand, but instead, it was floating right beside him as he stared listlessly at his emails. The cup was more than just practice or him not wanting to burn his hand, however (though even if he did burn his hand, he wouldn’t feel it). The levatating cup was a distraction. A distraction from Serizawa finally returning to work after a whole week. A distraction from the looming dread of the conversation they’ll have later. A distraction from the dread of whether or not Serizawa will notice his situation. A distraction of the strange feelings he’s been having lately. Dimple did his best at trying to console him, too, talking through how the conversation would most likely go and trying to reassure Reigen that, hey, Serizawa is kind and gentle, even when he’s extremely angry, and that it won’t be as bad as Reigen thinks it would be. Still, he couldn’t help but worry. Plus, a disappointed Serizawa, or a sad Serizawa, would be a million times worse than an angry Serizawa…

The levitation, in all honesty, was not working as a distraction, and neither were Dimple’s words, because everything else was floating a little bit off of the ground. Reigen gave up on trying to put everything back on the floor because the more he tried, the more sporadic things became. A little levitation is better than a complete mess after all.

Suddenly the door clicked, and Reigen dropped the green tea on the floor, the ceramic shattering and tea spilling everywhere. He jumped at the sound of glass breaking and bent down to pick up the shards scattered across the linoleum. 

“Hello, Reigen-san. I’m…” Serizawa stopped speaking upon entering the office, and Reigen looked up at him, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. Rather than asking if he was okay or how the tea broke, he instead let out a sigh of exasperation and used his powers to clean the tea and ceramic. 

“S-Serizawa! I, uh, wasn’t expecting you to come in so… so soon…”

“It’s already eight-ten, sir. I’m actually late.” Serizawa said pointedly. His politeness felt more bitter than it should’ve, in all honesty.

“Oh. So you are…”

The two fell back into awkward silence as Serizawa threw out the broken ceramic and tea. Then, they both made their way to their desks and sat silently, waiting for a client to walk in.

-------

There were only 2 clients that had actual spiritual problems, which Reigen allowed Serizawa to take care of just so that he didn’t think there was anything wrong with his boss (even though he probably already thought something was wrong with him). The rest were either massages or simple consultations where he could run his mouth and do some fancy hand motions. The day almost felt normal, and Reigen was even able to make a stable amount of cash after each consultation. The only difference was the quiet between them and the looming dread of their conversation at the end of the day.

Soon, it was 6:30, meaning that the office was officially closed for the day, and that also meant that he and Serizawa would have to talk. Still, there was a way that Reigen could escape this discussion, and maybe ignore the possibility of ever having it forever. 

“Well, that was quite the eventful day,” (It was not). “And you have school later, right? Why don’t we just head out and take it easy-”

“Reigen-san, remember? We need to talk.” Serizawa asserted, and away went Reigen’s last hope.

The pair sat directly in front of each other on the couches, both stiff and awkward. It made Reigen feel a little bit better that Serizawa was also somewhat stressed about the conversation they’re about to have. He twiddled with his fingers as he waited for Serizawa to speak up. Dimple made his way near the two and out of Serizawa’s sight where he would be able to silently support Reigen during the conversation. Reigen would have thanked him, but he tried his best to ignore the ghost’s presence entirely. Serizawa either didn’t notice him or didn’t care.

“I first wanted to say that I’m sorry for losing my cool last week,” Serizawa started. “It was wrong of me. I should have tried to be more polite and I shouldn’t have stormed off so suddenly.”

Okay, okay. Just match his tone. Don’t make him feel bad. It’s just a talk.

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have lied to you about having powers. You’re also an adult and I should have trusted you more,” (though wasn’t he lying now about not having powers?). “I’m also sorry for shouting at you and telling you to leave. That was rude and uncalled for.” (That was the easiest apology, actually). “And… I-I’m sorry for always running into danger with little regards to my own life. It’s unfair to you that you would have to be the one to deal with the aftermath if anything were to happen, and it’s incredibly selfish of me to-” (how do you apologize for being a self-sacrifical idiot ?) “- possibly leave you to deal with the aftermath if something were to, uh, go…wrong.”

Serizawa nodded in thanks but did not outright forgive him. Honestly, that made Reigen feel better than anything, especially considering …recent events which directly contradicted his apology. Actually, forgiveness would have just made Reigen feel worse tenfold.

“I also, uh… This conversation wasn’t just for apologies or anything. Um…” What was he gonna say? ‘ Hey, are you suicidal?’ ‘How was the week like when I was gone?’ ‘I think I’m gonna quit this job.’ ‘You’re actually a horrible person and no one likes you and yes, by the way, I know that you killed yourself and how dare you-’

“Reigen-san, based on your actions and stuff lately, uh, starting as far back with Mob’s explosion, I wanted to ask if you’re, uh… Have you had thoughts of suicide?”

Reigen wanted to laugh because not only did he get Serizawa’s question right the first time, but there was also the irony of the whole situation. Half of himself was tempted to say “I’m a dead man walking!” or something similar, but he knew that that would just dig him a deeper hole. So, he answered as honestly as possible.

“Yes. I’ve had some… thoughts before. In, uh… When I was twenty-three years old, I almost killed myself, actually,” It felt weird to be honest, but he owed Serizawa as much. Plus, he didn’t have much to lose, now did he?

No, that was wrong. Serizawa was everything to lose. 

“I was low on funds, I just quit my job and opened up this office and had no idea what else to do with my life. Then, Mob walked into the office and he… he changed all of that,” Reigen said with a fond smile on his face, the most real one he’s had in… a while, really. Dimple also smiled from behind Serizawa. “I, uh, haven’t had any real suicidal thoughts, actually, until this week. But I didn’t act upon them or anything, I promise!” Liar liar liar liar . Weren’t you supposed to be honest ? “And… yeah,” 

They sat in silence for a moment, Reigen sweating with anxiety (but not really because he couldn’t sweat. Not anymore.) Why did he end on a lie? Is Serizawa going to see right through him? Stupid, stupid, stupid-

“I’m sorry that you’ve felt that way,” Serizawa said finally, and Reigen had a feeling that the words should have made him swoon, but they didn’t. The weird emptiness thing was back suddenly. “And I wish that I could’ve helped you with that. I-If only I hadn’t run away…”

“Woah, stop right there. The thoughts were my stupid brain not regulating its chemicals correctly, okay? Don’t blame yourself.”

“Still, just… Next time you feel like that, even if I’m not around or anything like that, please just… Just call me, or text me, or anything, okay? I don’t… I don’t want you to be alone like that.”

Emptiness… Emptiness clawed at him again, and he recognized what he should’ve felt at that moment, which was unending adoration, but was instead a strangling emptiness . 

“I promise I will,” Reigen said to him finally, after realizing that Serizawa was waiting for an answer. “And I want you to do the same with me, okay?”

“Okay. I will.” 

The two men then stood up, and Serizawa made his way to his desk to gather his things while Reigen stood around, wanting to give Serizawa a proper goodbye for the day since it was the first time they'd seen each other in a week. 

Soon, Serizawa was ready and at the door, with Reigen opening it for him as he made his way out. 

“See you tomorrow, Big guy-”

Suddenly, Reigen was enveloped in a tight hug, and he floundered for a bit, not knowing exactly what to do or say. Instead, he figured that the best course of action would be to return the hug, so he did. After a minute or two, Serizawa finally let go. 

“See you tomorrow, Reigen.” And with that, Serizawa left. Again.

Reigen put a hand over his chest, almost feeling for a heartbeat although he knew there wouldn’t be one. There should have been, however, a feeling of some sorts. One he was familiar with.

Love.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried to feel that love he had, the love he had for Serizawa, there was nothing. 

There was only emptiness .

Serizawa selected the familiar number in his contacts and pressed the call button, putting his phone against his ear as the phone rang. He felt bad for calling so suddenly, but the boy was used to sudden calls, wasn’t he? Plus, at least he didn’t have to leave the house.

“Hello? Serizawa-san?”

“Hello, Mob-kun. I just wanted to ask if you could come into the office tomorrow?”

There was shuffling from the other line. “Sure, I have some time tomorrow,” Mob paused for a moment before continuing. “But, why would you need me to come in? And, is Shishou okay?”

“Actually, that’s why I called. Something’s wrong with Reigen and I can’t figure out what,” Serizawa explained, sheepishly. “I was hoping that maybe you could pry it out of him somehow?”

Mob paused for a long moment before a shuffle was heard, then a little “oh right” . 

“Yeah, I’ll come in tomorrow,” Mob finally replied. “Thank you for telling me.”

“It’s no problem. Thank you for answering, and sorry for calling so late.”

“I don’t mind. See you tomorrow?” 

“Yes. See you tomorrow, Mob-kun. Goodnight.”

“‘Night.”

The phone beeped, and Serizawa closed his phone before pocketing it. Hopefully… Hopefully Mob could figure out what was wrong with Reigen.

Chapter Text

Reigen was at home, sitting on his couch in his dimly lit apartment, and thinking deeply about the conversation he and Serizawa had just a few hours earlier. The conversation itself wasn’t the problem though.

“So you said you’re feeling strange?” Dimple asked from beside him, taking the TV remote and turning it on, making sure the volume was low so that the two of them could talk. “Like, what kind of strange?”

“Uhh, okay, don’t freak out,”

“I’m probably gonna freak out.”

“But I’ve been feeling… numb, I guess?” Reigen couldn’t find the exact words to explain his situation. “Like, I’ve been feeling empty or something?”

Dimple’s face scrunched up, both in concern, for obvious reasons, and annoyance because Reigen was being too vague. “You gotta be more specific about that.”

“Like, uhh,” Reigen clicked his tongue, unsure of exactly how to word his predicament without embarrasing himself. However, he found that embarassment was inevitable, and swallowed his pride. “So, I’ve kinda had this crush on Serizawa for a while, right? You probably already knew about it since you’re… you’ve possessed me before and stuff.” 

“Yeah, but what does a crush…?” Dimple trailed off as he thought through his words. “It’s gone?”

“Not just… gone . There’s still something there whenever there’s something I’m supposed to feel.” Reigen explains. “I-It’s like a pull? Like, I’m supposed to be feeling love and like a crush, right? But instead of that, there’s something tugging on my feelings where I can feel the emptiness, not just that there’s nothing there.”

“Shit… Shit, ok, is this the only time this has happened?” Dimple asked, becoming more and more panicked the more Reigen explained. Reigen stiffly shook his head and Dimple shot him a look.

“Uhhh, remember when we first came into the office? Well, when Tome hugged me, I recognized that I should’ve felt, like, happy or something, but it was… It was the same,” Reigen shot his hands up when Dimple opened his mouth to scold him. “But! Don’t get mad at me for that one, okay? Because I thought I was just regular depressed or something!” 

Dimple groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering a couple of swears under his breath.

“Okay, listen up you stupid piece of shit,” Dimple said, getting close to his face. “You cannot apply living person rules to being a spirit. Whatever sadness you feel? That’s you , not brain chemicals. Happiness? That’s you . Anger? You .”

Reigen waved Dimple away to get some of his space back. “Okay, I get it.”

“No, just fucking listen. Usually, numbness is normal for new spirits, right? There’s no chemicals, no body, so the spirit regulates its own feelings with its soul and that’s why they are usually numb at first. It’s the universe’s way of saying ‘Hey, don’t fuck yourself over’!” Dimple ranted, gesturing wildly and clearly extremely agitated. “ But , suicide victims, like you, die full of different emotions like fear and sadness, right? So if you die with those emotions, they’ll be harder to regulate.”

“Like Mob or Serizawa?”

“Something like that, yeah. But basically, normal numbness is just a general absence of emotion. There’s nothing there in the first place.” Dimple pauses for a moment, seeming to think about what his next question will be. “But when you noticed those other feelings, did you feel them at all beforehand? Post-death, I mean?”

Reigen tried to recall when he felt those specific feelings that he had when he first saw Tome, and then Serizawa. He felt…

“I felt the joy or whatever it was when I first saw Tome walk into the office. But a little bit after she hugged me, I felt the pull.”

“And what about love?”

“When… I think about when I first woke up, maybe a little bit afterwards,” Reigen told him. It was extremely difficult, actually, to say when exactly you felt an emotion. “But it definitely existed.”

“Okay, shit…” Dimple seemed to get more and more distressed throughout this whole conversation, but Reigen thought that if he were to try and comfort him, Dimple would only scold him more. Like a parent, or an angry therapist. “Okay, what emotion have you felt the most ?”

Oh, easy question. “Anxiety. Definitely anxiety.”

“Okay, so what we’re going to do is try and limit how much anxiety you feel, and also hopefully, maybe try and induce those feelings which you are missing.” Dimple paused again, thinking through his plan under his breath. Reigen could make some of it out. “Wait, but if we try to induce the ‘pull’ or whatever… could lose some more of his emotions…”

“I’ll be fine, Dimple. I told you I wouldn’t get corrupted, right?” Reigen reassured. It did not work, obviously, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.

“You better not, because I don’t want…”

Silence fell over the two for a moment, and although Dimple didn’t say it, they both knew what he meant.

I don’t want to lose you .

Reigen was, in all honesty, extremely anxious ( already going back on my word, huh? ) and extremely overwhelmed. Still, it would have been cruel to leave Dimple distressed like that, so Reigen did the one thing he could think of.

Gently, he grabbed the little green spirit and pulled him close to his chest, wrapping his arms around him as gently as he could. And, although they were both dead, they felt… warm.

(Reigen tried to ignore the small tugs at that feeling, too, more worried about Dimple’s wellbeing than his own.)

Chapter Text

Mob, now 17 years old and in his second year of highschool and still struggling in his classes (especially math, because math is for people who can actually read and think, which he cannot), could not visit the office as often as he used to. Plus, with Serizawa (and Tome) being hired to work at Spirits and Such, Mob was able to focus more on both his schoolwork and his athletics.

Still, that did not mean he avoided the office entirely. Every once in a while he would drop by for various reasons: do a quick job, practice his psychic powers, help Reigen out with something, or simply because he misses being in Spirits and Such and hanging out with everyone. Highschool truly is much more lonely than middle school (though a lot less life threatening). He hadn’t been able to drop by recently, however, nor did he feel any need or obligation to.

Until now.

There was something wrong with Reigen, according to Serizawa’s phone call last night. And, because Mob has known Reigen for much longer (as well as the fact that his abilities are more acute than Serizawa’s, though that was unstated), the older man believed that Mob might be able to get his shishou to open up, and maybe even help find a solution for whatever problem he’s having. 

So, Mob stood outside the doorway to the office, still in his school uniform, and prepared to knock on the door when he felt the chill of a powerful spirit inside of the office. He muttered a quick apology before slamming the door open, ready to fight off whatever it was inside of the office that may, or may not, be haunting his Shishou.

…Only to find that the only spirit in the office when he entered was Dimple, who was sitting on top of Reigen’s head, the man in question hunched over his laptop and was clearly typing something when Mob came in. Serizawa was sitting at his desk, looking over his homework, while Tome was on the couch playing on her phone. Everyone looked up at him when he suddenly opened the door, the loudness causing everyone to jump in surprise, and Mob could even feel some of Serizawa’s (and another, pinkish, almost familiar ) aura pick up before calming down again. 

“Mob! Y-you’re here?” Reigen said, clearly not expecting him to show up. Though Serizawa was the only person who knew he was coming in that day, so he shouldn’t be surprised by his reaction. Actually, now that Mob was paying closer attention, he could sense that second aura completely shrouding his shishou’s body. And, it felt anxious… 

“Hi. Um, yeah, I’m here. I missed you guys,” Mob said, unsure exactly how to explain his sudden appearance. Despite being partly raised by a liar, Mob was not very good at lying. Half-truths were slightly easier, he supposed. “I also need to ask Serizawa-san something, real quick. Is that…?”

“Oh, yes, what is it?” Serizawa said, turning his full body to face Mob.

“It’s, uh… A private conversation. Let’s talk outside.” 

With a knowing look, Serizawa nodded and followed the boy outside, excusing himself and thanking Mob for holding the door open as they stood in front of the office door. 

“Serizawa-san, can you sense that aura, too?” Mob asked before elaborating. “The one surrounding Reigen-shishou?”

Serizawa nodded frantically, and Mob could now recognize just how anxious and stressed out Serizawa seemed about this situation. “Yes, I have. Actually, it’s even stronger than yesterday.”

“It was here yesterday, too?” 

“All around him, like it was now. And it felt scared or… anxious.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Mob said thoughtfully. “And the strangest thing about it is that it feels like Reigen-shishou’s aura.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you could see everyone’s aura, even non-psychics,” Serizawa stated. “Wait, it feels like Reigen’s ?” 

Mob nodded and opened his mouth to say more before closing it again, unsure of what exactly to think of this information. 

“I’ll try and ask him, but it doesn’t feel like a psychic aura, which is concerning. It feels like a spirit, and I… don’t know how to… think about that.”

“Yeah… That’s what I was worried about, too,” Serizawa said somberly. “But we could be wrong, you know? Maybe he’s just… possessed?”

“That’s true. Not much better, but manageable.” Mob opened the door of the office, making his way back inside, holding it open for Serizawa to come in. 

“You two were out there for a while,” Tome said, as she opened up a bag of chips and set them out on the table. “What were you even talking about?”

“Don’t worry about it, Tome-san.” Mob said, nervously looking over to Reigen, watching as the mysterious aura flicked around nervously. It made Mob himself nervous, too, and he tried his best to ignore it, just in case it was a separate and, more importantly, malevolent entity from his Master. 

“Oh yeah, we have an exorcism outside of the office today in about… 30 minutes.” Reigen said, leaning back in his chair. “Tome, do you wanna come with?” 

Tome jumped out of her seat and pumped her fist in the air. 

-------------

The gang made their way to the location listed by the client, which seemed to be an old ramen shop. The place was surprisingly big, and he could only imagine how many people have come and eaten here. Mob felt a craving for ramen when they entered the dilapidated building and considered asking Reigen if they could eat out at their usual spot later. But for the time being, it was business time.

Speaking of Reigen, as soon as the group entered the restaurant, he wordlessly wandered off into the kitchen, no one except Mob noticing somehow. And, Dimple was following him, equally silent, and even looking over their shoulder, wary. 

The aura flicked around frightfully.

Once they were out of sight, Mob trailed behind them, sending a silent signal to Serizawa and Tome to not follow him. 

The spiritual energy in the kitchen was the strongest in the whole building, and Mob was actually fearful about why his Shishou, who had no psychic powers, was entering the most active place in the building. 

“Woah, there’s a lot here, actually.” He heard his Shishou say in amazement as Mob ducked down behind one of the sinks. ‘ Wait, when could he see spirits? Dimple wasn’t possessing him, either. ’ “They’re kind of skittish though.”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to eat them all,” ‘Eat?’ “Leave some for me, though.”

Mob poked his head around the leg of the sink and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Reigen picking the small spirits by the tail and putting them in his mouth, swallowing them whole.

Between Dimple and Reigen, the number of spirits (which was around 20 - 30) reduced to zero. Having had their fill, the two turned toward the main dining area and started to make their way back. Mob, not wanting to get caught, started to make his way back to the main room before they did. But, in his haste, he bumped his head against a hanging pot, making a loud sound ring out. 

“What was that?” Reigen asked, alerting Mob that he had been heard. Once again, the aura whipped around, searching. Frightened.

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to escape as silently as he thought, Mob decided instead to show himself and lie as best as he could. And so, he popped out of his crouch, causing both Reigen and Dimple to jump in surprise.

“Hi Dimple, Shishou. I just, ah, felt some spiritual energy back here,” This was also easy. Half-truths… half-truths. “Though it seems like it's gone. I guess it wasn’t very strong?”

Dimple seemed to catch onto the lie, but didn’t relay this to Reigen. Instead, he played along with Mob’s lie. “Yeah, they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle.”

“Oh, that’s good. So, I guess we’re done?”

“Yep,” Reigen answered, patting Mob on the head as he walked by. “Let’s get going.”

The trio made their way out of the kitchen area, Reigen relaying the words that came out of Dimple’s mouth to the other two. Tome groaned in frustration, upset that she couldn’t see the ghosts again (but she couldn’t really see them anyway), and the group made their way out of the restaurant and back to the train station. Serizawa and Mob, however, hung around behind them in order to quietly talk to each other.

“I think Reigen-shishou is…,” Mob started before realizing just how hard this was to say. “I-I think Shishou is dead .”

“ What?” Serizawa said just a little bit too loudly. Tome, Reigen, and Dimple all whipped their heads around to see what was up. The two espers waved them off, saying that it was nothing. They didn’t believe them, but they didn’t argue, either.

“What do you mean you ‘think he’s dead’?”

“In the restaurant, when I went to the back. I-It wasn’t Dimple eating the spirits, it was Shishou.” Mob whispered to him. “Either he’s dead, or he’s really really desperate to get psychic powers.”

Serizawa straightened himself upwards as they went down the stairs to the train, just a few minutes earlier than the next train would arrive.

“I hope he’s just desperate.” Serizawa suddenly whispered, though he did not tilt his head to face Mob.

“Yeah… I hope so, too,” Mob replied. “I’ll try and talk to him when we get back.”

Serizawa only gave a small nod before the announcer loudly echoed through the station, saying that the next train had arrived. Mob did not talk anymore on the train, trying to think of how he would find out what his Shishou was hiding.

-------------

“Shishou, can I talk to you? Um, privately?”

Reigen seemed surprised by this sudden request, but he did not immediately shoo Mob away. He looked over at his watch instead, struggling to look at it as it was sitting beside him on the countertop while he washed the teacups in the kitchenette.

“Well, it is closing time. Sure, we can talk.” He finally said after a solid minute.

Hearing this, Serizawa whispered something into Tome’s ear, and both of them made their way out of the office, saying some quick goodbyes as they left. However, Dimple refused to leave. Instead, he crossed his tiny arms and gave a pout.

“Why do I also have to leave?” Dimple questioned. Although he said it somewhat angrily, his face showed nervousness. Reigen shared this feeling, but he still followed as Mob wished (much to his relief).

“Mob said he wanted to speak in private , Dimple. If he wants to, we should let him have this, right?”

Dimple contemplated these words for a moment before shooting a nervous look in Reigen’s direction. However, without much fight, he wordlessly followed behind Serizawa and Tome. Mob could feel that he just hung around the door, but he didn’t really mind. Finally, Mob and Reigen were alone, and the boy could confront his Master.

“Shishou,” Mob called as he sat on the couch. “Can I, um…”

“What’s up, Mob?” Reigen said, making his way to Mob from the small kitchenette they had in the office, his hands still slightly damp despite rubbing them rigorously with a hand towel to dry them.

“Can I have… Can I have a hug? Please?”

Reigen was startled by this question (the aura flicked around anxiously), but he plopped himself down on the couch and opened his arms, inviting Mob into a hug.

The boy, both anxious from having to watch that damn aura the entire afternoon, as well as happy to be back into the office and have some time with his shishou, practically jumped into Reigen’s arms and held onto him tightly, pressing his head against his shishou’s chest. Reigen, in response, wrapped his arms around Mob and stroked his hair, like a parent with their child. 

The two sat in relative silence for only a minute before Mob pulled away. However, what Reigen saw instead of something like contentment or joy or any kind of positive emotion, was pure fear. He felt that same tug on the fondness he felt just a moment ago and was overwhelmed with anxiety.

“Sh-shishou… shishou, y-your heart,” Mob stuttered, struggling to get the words out. The tug became stronger, almost hurting. “It’s… it’s not beating!”

The tug became a tear as all the fondness was snatched from him.

Reigen, despite making the promise 3 years ago to not lie to Mob, fell back into old habits. Part of him hoped that he wouldn’t feel the guilt of gaslighting the kid.

“What are you talking about, Mob? Of course my heart is beating!” He said, the lie falling far too easily from his lips. “You must be imagining things.”

His student was far too used to Reigen’s lies at this point, however, and was able to see right through him. He violently shook his head and pushed himself further away, still staring Reigen straight in his eyes. 

“No, you-you can’t lie to me anymore! Shishou, what did you do? Why is your heart not beating? Why…?”

There was only despair on his student’s face, and although the guilt would’ve been painful, it was better than the crushing, overwhelming anxiety and swirling emptiness filling him. 

“Shishou, please… What happened to you?” Mob asked him, his voice quiet and his eyes filled with desperation. 

Anxiety filled him. It consumed him. 

“M-Mob, nothing happened, I promise,” LIAR LIAR LIAR . “Why do you think something-”

“Shishou, I saw you eating spirits at the restaurant!” Mob said, practically shouting. Reigen’s anxiety and fear grew tenfold the more Mob revealed about what he knew and saw. But he also felt… hungry… “Shishou, why are you dead? How did you die?”

For one of the very few times in his life, Reigen was speechless. He couldn’t lie his way out of this, he couldn’t gaslight the kid, he was unable to say anything that could get him out of this situation. So, he did the only other thing he was good at. 

He ran away.

Mob watched as Reigen, looking guilty and terrified, abruptly stood up off the couch and made his way to the door, wordlessly grabbing onto the handle with a shaking hand. 

“Shishou-!” Mob cried out as he approached his shishou, only to be repelled by a powerful wave of spiritual energy. Suddenly, he felt his heartrate spike and it felt like he couldn’t breathe. ‘Why am I having a panic attack?’ . Tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried to call out again to Reigen. However, he couldn’t catch his breath, and was forced to focus on controlling his breathing as the door slammed, leaving him alone in the office.

-------------

Reigen was not aware of himself. He could vaguely tell he was walking down the street, but he could not feel his feet or his hands, or anything. 

He was nothing. 

Reigen thought that he should have been guilty for pushing Mob away and for LYING to him, but all he felt was FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR.

He was hungry… He was very hungry…

He was scared… He was terrified…

F E A R F E A R F E A R F E A R F E A R

Vaguely, Reigen? could make out someone beside him, saying something to him. But, it was all static to him. However, he could tell that they were a spirit.

And a little w e a k l i n g, too. 

And Reigen? was h u n g r y . He was hungry and the spirit was w e a k .

And so, he reached out.

And so, he grabbed the little spirit.

And so, he opened his mouth w i d e  o p e n…

Until a blast of energy hit his face, causing him to release the little spirit. He whined, but did not want to be further attacked by the esper who hurt him.

And so, he did the only thing that he was good at.

He r a n  a w a y .

Chapter Text

Serizawa and Tome walked side by side as they left the office. They both commuted on the same bus to get home from Spirits and Such, leaving them plenty of time to make conversation. Dimple floated nearby them, having been kicked out by Reigen, and was pouting because of it. “ Private conversation , '' Dimple explained to them.

Which is why it confused Serizawa when Reigen suddenly walked to their group

Well, it looked like Reigen, save for the blank, white eyes and tears floating up his face (‘ Like a spirit ’ his mind supplied), and the weird lumps sticking out from under his suit, looking almost as if something was growing there.

“ Oh no ,” Dimple muttered, staring wide eyed at the thing that looked like Reigen.

Before Serizawa could ask what was up, Reigen suddenly reached over and grabbed Dimple, lowering the spirit into his too-wide mouth. Serizawa didn’t think before acting, sending out a psychic beam, hitting Reigen in the face and causing him to drop Dimple. He let out a small whimper in pain, looking back at him with unseeing, sad eyes, before suddenly disappearing right in front of them. Serizawa stood stunned for a moment before turning his attention back to Dimple, who was frozen and wide-eyed.

“Dimple! Are you okay?” Serizawa asked as he made his way to the spirit. When he got close, Serizawa could see just how shaken and terrified Dimple was. But more than that, he saw somber recognition. He knew what was wrong with Reigen, didn’t he?

“Dimple? What… What happened to Reigen?” Serizawa asked him in a low voice, quiet to where Tome, who was right beside them, almost did not hear him. Dimple, now put on the spot and still in shock, was silent and refused to face anyone else. 

It was annoying, actually, how Serizawa seemed to always be left out of things. Always in the dark. Not this time.

“Dimple,” Serizawa said more sternly. “What happened? What was that thing and why did it look like Reigen?”

Dimple pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, clearly uncertain of how to explain the situation. 

“We don’t have much time, but basically: Reigen killed himself, he became a spirit but because he is unstable, he’s being corrupted right now.” 

“KILLED HIMSELF?”

“CORRUPTION?”

Dimple suddenly gasped. “Shigeo! We need to check on Shigeo, something could’ve happened to him-!”

“I’ll go,” Tome said, already running off. “You guys handle Reigen-san!”

Serizawa struggled to understand what was going on with how fast paced everything was, and so when Dimple possessed him, it was actually a relief, letting him take control and move for him.

“Thank God, you’re less resistant than Shigeo,” Dimple said aloud with his voice. “Let Tome take care of Shigeo. We don’t have much time, and I think possessing you is the best way to tell you what happened and move at the same time.”

Serizawa did not answer, though he did not need to answer as Dimple started to summarize what happened these past few days.

Apparently.

-------------

Tome needed to work on her athleticism, clearly, because even the short run back to the office caused her to be completely winded. However, she didn’t care, and burst open the door and ran into the office, where she found Mob struggling to pull himself up on the floor. He almost looked like he was the one running back to the office, not her (though that would’ve been more concerning, seeing as he was incredibly fit and can almost run a mile without stopping). 

She ran to his side, helping him up as much as she could, but it was difficult due to his height and body mass. 

“Tome…san?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Shit, Mob sounded tired . “What happened?”

“I was talking to Reigen-shishou and… Wait,” Mob suddenly shot up. “Shishou! We-we need to find him, his aura, it’s wild, he’s not-”

“Serizawa and Dimple are making their way to Reigen right now. You need to rest for a second. Let them handle it for now, okay?”

“O-Okay,”

“Here,” Tome plopped Mob gently onto one of the couches of the office and turned around to head into the kitchen. “Just rest for a bit and I’ll make some tea, okay?”

“...Sure.” 

“Don’t worry, Mob. Reigen will be okay,” She reassured, sitting beside him. “We’ll go once you can stand on your own, okay? Everything will be okay…”

-------------

The pair made their way to Reigen’s apartment, and Dimple nearly did a 180 upon feeling the powerful and corrupted aura surrounding the place. He could see, even, that many spirits were cowering and hiding away in fear, frozen so that they could not be sensed.

“Dimple?” Serizawa called, confused as to why they stopped when he felt the aura right in front of him. ‘ Oh, he must be scared. Well, he isn’t all that powerful at the moment.’

“I can hear your thoughts in there, you know,” Dimple said, and Serizawa quickly apologized. “But yeah, do you want to take back control?” 

Serizawa accepted, knowing how terrified Dimple felt at the moment. He’s not even a spirit and even he fears he’ll be consumed by this powerful aura that is in front of them. Without hesitation, Dimple relinquished his control over the body back to Serizawa, and the esper took a deep breath before moving towards the aura. 

When he entered the field of spiritual energy, he felt his heartrate pick up, though Serizawa brushed it off, believing it to just be nerves. However, as he got closer and closer, he couldn’t help but feel like it was hard… it was hard to… to breathe…?

“D-Dimple? I think some…something’s wrong?” Serizawa said, trying to suck in air. “I-I can’t… breathe…” He could rationalize that this wasn’t a natural panic attack (he’s had far too many of those to not know what one was) but it was still as terrifying as one. 

“Just take long, deep breaths, remember? Slowly.”

Serizawa tried to recall his breathing techniques, the ones he learned from Reigen. They have always been the most helpful ones. He took a few, deep, shuddering breaths as he continued walking, becoming a little lightheaded due to the unnatural breathing style. 

“Here, let me help you with that.” Dimple said before using some of his own energy to calm Serizawa down as well as get rid of some of his lightheadedness.

“Thanks Dimple.” Serizawa muttered as he continued to make his way to Reigen’s apartment, not needing Dimple to tell him which number it was. The sheer strength of Reigen’s aura alone told him where he was.

The apartment was unlocked and Serizawa opened the door with ease, Dimple still hiding inside of him. The flat was a mess. The watercooler was toppled over with the jug separated from it and spilling water all over the floor. The couch was flipped upside down, and the computer screen lay scattered beside it. The desk itself was also thrown to the side, pushed against the bathroom door, and the shelf was completely destroyed. Only the bed remained intact, and right on top of it, pressed against the corner of the room, was a terrified, anxious looking spirit who looked like it was trying to shrink itself down as much as possible. And from the aura, which was much, much clearer up close, he could recognize that the spirit was Reigen. Undeniably so.

He looked different than he had when they saw him outside. For starters, his actual flesh and his clothes were scattered on the floor, torn up as if something bursted out of them. Most likely because his spirit did. His actual spirit was a blend of pink and orange, with hundreds of arms protruding from his back and in place of his legs. And like he saw before, Reigen’s eyes were blank white and tears floated upwards, just as spirits often cried. 

“Reigen…” Serizawa slowly made his way towards Reigen’s spirit, making sure to be quiet with his approach so as to not startle him. Despite this, the spirit gave a little shriek, pushing himself closer to the wall.

“Reigen, it’s Serizawa and Dimple. We won’t hurt you, we promise.”

His aura pulsated, and Serizawa could feel just what Reigen was feeling, as if the man were telling him directly.

FEAR! FEAR! FEAR! NOT SAFE! I’M NOT SAFE! H U N G E R…STAY AWAY! YOU WILL HURT ME! I WILL HURT YOU! H U N G E R…

Another wave of panic came over him, this time expected, yet more powerful and uncontrollable than the last one. Dimple was able to keep Serizawa from getting lightheaded but could not slow down his breathing for him.

Suddenly, control was taken from Serizawa once again, and Dimple was in the body’s front seat.

“Don’t worry about me,” Dimple reassured him from his mind. “Just try to relax yourself.”

Serizawa listened, and while the esper focused on calming himself down, Dimple tried getting closer to Reigen.

“Reigen?” Dimple called, taking another step forward. The closer he got,  the more Reigen tried to push himself against the wall and make himself smaller. However, while the main body slinked away, trying to hide himself, the thousands of hands protruding from its back and legs reached out for them, as if begging for help. Dimple reached out for one of these hands, grasping it, and a shockwave of panic and despair shot through Serizawa’s very being.

NO! NO! I WILL CORRUPT YOU TOO! H U N G E R… I WANT TO DIE! I DON’T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

Suddenly, Serizawa had an idea.

“Dimple, give me control.”

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me, okay? I’m gonna try something.”

“You’re gonna do something stupid, aren’t you?”

“Dimple! Please!”

Dimple internally grumbled. “Fine! But don’t you dare die on me!”

Serizawa slowly felt himself coming to, which also meant he could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. He was surprised he hasn’t passed out yet or anything, which really says how hard Dimple was working with what little power he really had. Though he was probably stronger than he felt. 

Once he gained full control of his body, Serizawa began to make his way to Reigen and grabbed tightly onto one of his orange hands, trying to shut out the panic rising in his chest. It wasn’t his panic, it was Reigen’s, and so he didn’t have to worry. All he had to do was calm Reigen down. 

Serizawa let himself get closer to the hands and, using his own powers, tried copying what Mob did when they first met, and he sent wave after wave of his own feelings, hoping that maybe they could reach Reigen’s soul. He closed his eyes and let his feelings envelop them in the room.

Safe… Safe… You’re okay…. We love you… I love you… Safe…

Slowly, the panic began to ebb, and Serizawa could feel Reigen begin to calm down and get closer to him. Soon the two were face to face, Serizawa looking deeply into Reigen’s empty, white eyes, his tears still floating.

“ Seri…zawa…?” He heard Reigen say despite his spirit having no mouth.

Serizawa held Reigen’s hand tighter. “Yes! It’s me! A-and Dimple is here, too!”

Serizawa felt Dimple shift to front alongside him and he let the spirit speak with his mouth.

“Hey, Reigen! You there?”

“ Dimple…? ‘Zawa…?”

Reigen’s form suddenly started to shrink in size, becoming closer and closer to his regular form again, and Serizawa could not contain his excitement. Without warning, the older man grabbed Reigen into a firm hug, and faintly he could feel Reigen hugging back.

“I promise I will never ever leave you again.” Serizawa said quietly to Reigen, a twinge of guilt running through him. It was his fault that Reigen died, wasn’t it. He should have been there for him.

However, Serizawa had forgotten that he was still using his power to share his feelings with Reigen, and he could feel the younger man’s aura suddenly spike. Not just in fear this time, but in guilt and despair. Serizawa’s powers were quickly snuffed out as Reigen’s aura crashed over him. It felt as if his heart shattered in his chest, and he could feel tears that were not his own well up in his eyes.

NO! NO! DON’T APOLOGIZE! NO! I’M WRONG! NOT YOU! NOT YOU! H U N G R Y…. 

Reigen’s form grew in size and in limbs once again, and his eyes cried upside-down waterfalls. His spirit became a darker hue, more reddish than pink, and his feelings of despair pulsated through the air, far stronger than his panic from earlier. Serizawa could not help but fall to his knees and sob, even though it was not him that was feeling this pain.

Reigen was not blind to this action, however, as his internal screaming only grew louder.

NO! NO! NO! I HURT HIM! I HURT AGAIN! I CAN ONLY HURT! BAD! BAD! BAD!

Reigen’s form suddenly began to glow brighter and brighter, which both Serizawa and Dimple could recognize as him starting to teleport.

“A-Arataka, wait!” Serizawa called out, reaching a hand towards where Reigen floated in front of him. However, the moment the words left his mouth, Reigen was gone.

Serizawa felt himself get pushed to the back of his consciousness again, and Dimple wiped away their tears and forced their shaky legs to stand.

“Nice job finding a way to bring him back,” Dimple praised as he made his way to the door. “But we need to be fast or it might not work again.”

Serizawa nodded internally, and Dimple jumped onto the rooftops of the buildings, hopping over each of them and tracking Reigen by following his ever-growing spiritual energy.

Hopefully Mob was okay. They need his help to subdue Reigen with how powerful he was becoming.

-------------

Tome was talking about some video game in order to distract Mob from his worries when he felt a miserable and powerful aura pierce through the air and tears suddenly began welling up in both teens’ eyes.

However, Mob could recognize that that aura they just felt was undeniably Reigen’s.

“Tome-san, we need to go.” 

“I’m right behind you.”

The two rushed out of the office, hastily wiping the tears out of their eyes. Mob used his senses in order to find where Reigen, and the pair soon found themselves in front of a small, seedy bar, the neon sign reading “Happy Trails” above the door. And he could feel from inside the bar that his Master was inside. 

Upon opening the door, Mob saw Reigen curled against the floor in the middle of the bar. Except his Master looked different than when he last saw him. His entire body was a deep, reddish-pink and was mostly made up of hundreds of arms. He had no mouth anymore, and his eyes were completely blank white and endlessly crying, his tears floating upwards in waterfalls.

The patrons of the bar were all confused as to what was going on. There were women against the corner chairs sobbing against each other, a man leaning against the bar table with his shoulders shaking and his head against his arms, and even the bartender was manning the bottles, clearly trying to conceal his own tears.

“Tome-san, get everyone out of here,” Mob instructed her, his voice croaking with emotion. “I don’t want any of them to get hurt on accident.”

Tome had given up on trying to keep the tears from escaping her eyes, her cheeks now dripping wet. Some of her tears dripped away as she nodded and sniffled, approaching the bar patrons and practically carrying them over her shoulder, their misery making them limp and mostly incapable. 

This movement was not unrecognized by Reigen, however, and Mob noticed how his Master flinched at every little shift in the room and when someone just got a little bit closer. It made his heart wrench in a genuine way, not in the way that it was under the influence of Reigen’s aura.

“Shishou?” Mob called, making his way into the bar. It was strange seeing Reigen so… out in the open like this. His walls are the furthest down that they’ve ever been, to the point where everything was overflowing into everyone else. “Shishou, it’s me. It’s Mob. Can you hear me?” Mob asked quietly as he got closer. 

His Master’s spirit curled in on itself, his hundreds of hands covering his face as he quietly sobbed. Every step closer Mob got to him, his Master took another step away. Mob could faintly hear his thoughts through his aura. 

DON’T COME CLOSER! I WILL HURT YOU! PLEASE LEAVE! SO… HUNGRY…. PLEASE! NO! I WILL HURT YOU! 

“Shishou, I promise that you won’t hurt me. And even if you do, it won’t be your fault,” Mob tried reassuring Reigen. It didn’t work, as another wave of misery washed over him, and he couldn’t bite back the whimper that escaped his throat.

Reigen suddenly turned slightly orange as panic shot through his soul, shifting the feelings being emitted by his aura. Mob, still unused to feeling such strong emotions despite it being years since he was hiding how he felt, could not handle being subjected to these feelings. Coupled with his instability from his panic attack mere minutes before, collapsed beside Reigen, struggling to get his bearings. His heart felt as if it was being pulled and forced back together again, and his mind was overflowing with Reigen’s screams and cries. 

NO! I DIDN’T MEAN TO! NO! I’M HURTING HIM AGAIN! I ALWAYS HURT!

“Mob!” Tome cried out from behind him, and pulled him upright, his body now dead weight as he stared blankly into the distance, trying to keep himself together. Tome was glad she was not an esper at that moment because despite Reigen’s feelings being intense for her to handle, she did not hear his cries as loudly as Mob was probably hearing them. However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t loud.

SORRY! SORRY! STOP CRYING! I’M SORRY!

As Reigen screamed, he flew up into the air and started to flail around wildily, whirling around in distressed circles and causing the air to pick up in the room, causing some of the furniture and bottles to shift and fall over. Tome tried to focus on Mob first, however.

“Mob, you need to leave. You can’t handle this much stress!” She told him, trying to keep her voice as level as possible

“N-no! I n-need to h-elp him!”

“Mob, you can’t help him like this,” Tome said, lifting him over her shoulder. “Sometimes, you just need to back out. We don’t even know how we could help him without exorcising him.”

With that, Mob gave up on fighting. He understood what she was saying and yeah, he couldn’t figure out how he would be able to get his master to calm down without getting rid of him entirely, which was not an option.

“Y-you’re… you’re right, Tome-san,” Mob stuttered, removing himself from Tome and swaying on his feet a little, trying to keep himself upright. “We should find Serizawa-san and Dimple. They’d probably know what to do.”

“Shigeo! Tome!”

The two whipped their heads around to find Serizawa standing at the doorway of the bar, clearly possessed by Dimple if the red cheeks on his face have anything to say about it. And judging how Mob was called “Shigeo”, it would be no surprise if Dimple was the one in control at the moment. 

“You need to share your feelings with him!” Dimple said to them as he made his way into the bar. “You need to actually touch him and release your thoughts and feelings to him!”

“How do we do that?” Tome asked as a bottle flew past her head. “And we need to do this soon because the place might fall apart!”

Mob thought about it for a moment and then perked up in understanding. Wordlessly, he moved a little bit away from Tome and Serizawa, standing directly below his Master’s spirit.

“Shishou, can you come down please? Shishou?” 

Reigen did not come down, nor did he slow down. In fact, his spinning got even faster, more bottles and debris getting tossed into the air. And was he getting brighter?

“He’s gonna teleport!”

“He can teleport now?”

Without a second to lose, Mob grabbed onto Tome’s arm and used his powers to propel himself upwards and grab onto one of Reigen’s hands, Serizawa following suit. The sudden force of being subjected to Reigen’s cries - 

NO! NO! NO! NEED TO RUN! LET GO! NEED TO LEAVE!

—  partnered with his flailing and pushing made it hard to hold on tightly. The world shifted around them in a blinding light of pinks, reds, and oranges, and Mob felt nauseated as they appeared on top of a grassy, secluded mountain top. He looked around and recognized it as the spot they summoned the aliens.

Suddenly, he felt himself get shaken off by Reigen’s now-massive form, his entire spirit swimming in pink, red, and orange, unlike the single, bold red from inside the bar. His body also seemed to be engulfed by his arms, as the rest of him could no longer be seen over the entanglement of limbs. Mob looked beside himself, head spinning, and saw Serizawa and Tome also on the ground, groaning and trying to push themselves upright.

“Everyone okay?” Tome asked, brushing herself off. Mob and Serizawa/Dimple grumbled in response, which was good enough for Tome. She grabbed the two of them by the hand and dragged them upright, pulling them behind her as she approached Reigen’s spirit. 

“Okay, I’m not an esper, so you three are gonna have to school me through this.” Without warning, she grabbed onto Reigen’s spirit, hugging it tightly. A sob tore through her throat as she held on and her breathing picked up, but she did not let go. 

“C-Come on you guys! You-you’re the o-ones with powers!” 

Both Serizawa and Mob nodded at each other, copying Tome and wrapping their arms around Reigen, who was trying to get them off. They held on as tightly as they possibly could, making contact with Tome, channeling some of their powers through her as well. Then, they concentrated their feelings as much as they could, pushing through Reigen’s own miserable aura and trying to pierce into his soul. 

Shishou, I love you. We all love you. We care about you. You did not hurt me. I will always forgive you. You are a good person.

Come back to us, boss! We’re not done yet! Don’t you see how much everyone cares for you? We want you with us. You still haven’t promoted me yet, either!

Reigen, you did not hurt me. I’m sorry for leaving you. I will never leave you, so please don’t leave us! We love you, Reigen!

Hey, Reigen. Come back. I know you can do it. You’re an anomaly, you know? Everyone here cares about you. …I care about you…

Every time they tried to push their feelings to Reigen, he tried to push back twice as hard, and three times as loud. 

I AM NOT A GOOD PERSON! I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND! YOU WILL LEAVE ME SO I WILL LEAVE FIRST! I WILL EAT YOU! I WILL HURT YOU AGAIN! GO AWAY!

“God, his head is harder to get through than yours, Shigeo.”

“Wh-what else can we do?” Mob cried out, trying to send as many positive thoughts to Reigen as possible. This was extremely difficult, however, given the situation, and based on Serizawa and Tome’s auras and faces, they were feeling the same way.

“I-I don’t know! I don’t even know how I’m doing this !” Tome replied, her face clearly showing physical pain, not just emotional pain. They’d have to check on her later, but they couldn’t worry about that now.

Suddenly, Serizawa perked up, his eyes shining with determination.

“I have an idea!” He announced to everyone before pulling Mob to the center of all of them, putting both the boy’s hands on Tome and Serizawa’s outstretched arms.

“You said once that you were able to enter a girl’s mind for a job, right Mob-kun?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“We need to be able to get into Reigen’s head and talk directly to his soul , but you can’t remove us from our body or he might try to eat our souls.”

“What? Serizawa-san, I-I don’t even think I can do that!” Mob cried out.

Another wave of Reigen’s aura came over them, and they were nearly pushed off his form.

“I don’t think we have a choice, Mob!”

“I’ll help you, Shigeo!” Dimple said as he jumped from Serizawa and over to Mob, easily slipping in due to Mob’s trust in him. “You can do this, kid. We can’t run while we’re so close.”

“I believe in you, M-Mob!” Tome cried, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the energy in the air.

“We can get him back,” Serizawa reassured him. “Reigen will come back.”

“Are you ready, Shigeo?” Dimple asked aloud with his voice.

Mob took one more look around him, first at Tome’s pained face, then at Serizawa’s determined one, before getting one last look at Reigen’s miserable spiritual form. Then, steeling himself, Mob let another wave of psychic energy run through him.

“Let’s bring him back!” He cried out, extending his powers to the two beside him. He felt his power grow even stronger as Dimple lent his little spiritual energy to him,  Serizawa soon doing the same. Then, to bring them to Reigen without removing their souls from their bodies, Mob extended this power into Reigen like they were before.

The quartet soon found their consciousness becoming enveloped by frantic pinks, reds, and oranges as they travelled to the culmination of Reigen’s being. To Reigen’s soul.

-------------

The soul sat inside the center of the spirit, sobbing alone. His mind was hazy with despair and fear. Fear that he would hurt those he loved. Despair that he was .

He’s tried pushing them away, tried running away, and warned them over and over again that he was dangerous, yet they kept coming. Their determination was admirable, but also painful. They almost made him believe he was something.

Reigen! Please come back to us! We love you, Reigen.

He was certain they were lying. And he really wanted to eat that one spirit he’d been feeling around, but it had been hiding inside the body of one of them, and he didn’t want to hurt them.

Reigen, are you there? Reigen, please! We care about you!

He probably doesn't want to be alone. He just…he’s not safe to be around! Why don’t they understand that? 

Reigen… Reigen…

“Reigen!”

The spirit looked up and was shocked to find three people and a spirit standing behind him. 

The weak spirit that he had been craving for. 

He moved quickly to grab the spirit, his mind screaming YES! YES! YES! as he reached out for the spirit. However, his hand did not make contact with the spirit, so he tried again. And again. And again until he realized that it was futile, the spirit and people weren’t actually there. He must be further gone than he thought…

“Reigen, what are you trying to do?” The tallest one asked. He felt like he should’ve… felt something when seeing him, but all he got was a spike of anxiety. 

NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE.  

“He was trying to eat me,” The weak spirit explained, though he could sense there was something… sad about how it said it. “He might be too far gone...”

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

“Shishou, you remember us, right?” A young boy with a black bowlcut and gakuran asked.

Did he remember them? Was he supposed to? Well, there was something familiar about all of them, but… whenever he tried, it mostly came up blank, save for some recent events. 

“Mob, I… I don’t think he remembers us.” The girl with a red uniform spoke quietly to the bowlcut-boy. It was strange. He felt like he should know these people.

“No! No, there is… There’s no way that he doesn’t remember us!”

“Shigeo, look at him! He doesn’t recognize us at all!”

“Shishou, you’re still there, right?” The bowlcut-boy suddenly came close to him, gripping onto Ŗ̵̥̦͙͚̔̀̓̾͑̕ḛ̵͈̣̬̥̦̻̉͛ì̶̥͔̳g̸̗̪͍̫̿̄͊͆̋͝ë̵̡͙n̷͙̎̌̐̊̿͘͠’s arms, making him uncomfortable. “Y-you have to remember us! Please!”

TRYING! TRYING! CAN’T REMEMBER! LET GO OF ME!

“S-See! He’s trying! Th-there’s still a chance!” 

“Shigeo…”

“Mob…”

R̸̗͊̉̀͗͊e̵̖͔̮͕̰̓̈́̀̃i̵͕̿͑͋g̷̺͇̙͚̘͓̓e̴͖̣̝̯̿̈́̄̐͠n̸̡̠͔̪̗̦̎̓̔ ? tried to shake the boy off of him, but found himself trapped underneath his grip. It was as if the boy was physically there somehow, but touch only went one way, and not the other. It frustrated him.

“W-wait, do you think I could sh-share my memories with him? Like I did with Serizawa-san?”

“You can try, but I don’t think our powers work here, Mob-kun.”

The boy’s grip got tighter on him, and his face turned into a grimace. The air shifted slightly, and  R̶͔͕̆e̵̛̠í̵̥̦ġ̷̥e̶̪͆͜n̸̜͆ thought that maybe he could feel something growing inside him. However, before the feeling to bear fruit, it was gone. 

What was that? What? Felt something? Where…?

The boy repeated this action, only to grow more and more frustrated the more he tried. It… hurt.

“Shigeo, please stop. He’s not coming back.”

“Mob, just let him go.”

“No! No, he’s not gone! I know he’s not gone!” M̷̜̦̙̝̍̈́̔̓͝͠͝ͅǒ̵̭̥͚̱͈̹̲̭̔͑̄͘b̶̢̬́̆͆̽͌̅́͠ cried out, falling to his knees. “You’re not gone. I know you’re not gone. Please, come back…”

R̶̺͛e̴̪͆i̸̕ͅg̵̦͗e̷̹͗n̷̹̓ didn’t know what possessed him to do so, but he soon found himself crouching beside M̴̖͕̎͜͠ó̷̫b̶͙͕͇̀ and pulling him into a loose hug, unable to really touch him. The boy recognized the motion, and decided to hug back. The air shifted again as the boy sobbed against him, and R̴e̸i̶g̵e̴n̵ ̸̸͓͛ could feel his head becoming clearer and clearer…

“Hey, Reigen-san. Will you give me a raise? Pretty please?” She always asked that, yet he knew that she wanted him for more than just a paycheck.

“Reigen, do you wanna go out for drinks later?” He always was so anxious, but despite everything he went through, he trusted him. Now look at him. He thinks he loves him.

“Shigeo’s grown up well, Reigen. Don’t worry about him so much.” He acted like he didn’t care about anything besides power, but he was never afraid of being softer around them.

“I know that Shishou is a good person.” And him… he had trusted him from the very beginning, despite everything. He believed in him.

They all did…

And suddenly… Reigen Arataka remembered. 

“Mob?” He said quietly, shifting his head to get a better look at the boy in his arms. 

Mob’s sobbings stopped for a moment before he looked up at Reigen’s face, his eyes widening in shock. 

“Shishou!” Despite already hugging him, Mob found a way to knock him over. “You remember me? For real?”

“Yes, I remember you.” Reigen said with a chuckle before feeling even more weight fall on top of him.

“Boss!”

“Reigen!” 

Part of him was grateful that not only were they not really dogpiling him and that he didn’t need to really breathe because otherwise he probably would’ve died a second time with the amount of weight on top of him.

“O-okay, guys! Let go for now!”

Thankfully, they all backed off without argument. 

“How are you even doing this Mob? I mean, I know that you can enter people’s minds, but without your soul?”

“Serizawa-san, Tome-san, and Dimple helped me. It was really hard, though…”

Reigen let out a light laugh. “Yeah, I bet. You guys should probably head out then, right?”

The group collectively agreed after realizing their situation.

“Then I’ll see you guys outside!” Reigen said with enthusiasm despite his emotional exhaustion.

“We’ll see you!” Tome replied with equal energy.

“Don’t get stuck.” Dimple added.

And, almost as quickly as they all appeared, they left.

“I guess I should go and join them, huh?” Reigen said aloud to himself. However, he hesitated.

 Part of him really did want to see them, especially now that he’s much calmer. But another part of him, still running on his high of anxiety and depression, wanted nothing more to run away. Running away meant that they were safe. Running away meant that he wouldn’t have to face the consequences of his actions.

But running away meant that he would never see them again. That they would be left to pick up the pieces. Alone .

And that was enough to get him to come back to his mind. For one of the few times in his life, Reigen will not run away. He will face the consequences head on.

Everyone was on the ground, still unconscious if their body language had anything to say about it. Dimple was also still in Mob’s body, so he probably won’t be waking up until Mob does. It felt almost shameful to admit that he had to fight with himself to keep him from leaving with the opportunity granted to him.

As he waited, Reigen allowed himself to get a grasp of his new form. Besides his two, regular arms, he now had hundreds of other ones in place of his legs. His body had a pinkish-orange glow, and he certainly was not wearing any clothes, either (which would normally be a problem, but he had nothing to cover up so that was okay). His new appearance was… strange to say the least, but it wasn’t anything too unusual.

Slowly but surely, everyone began to stir, waking up one by one. Mob was the first one to fully reach consciousness, Dimple soon unpossessing him as the boy sat up, followed by Serizawa. Tome was the last one to awaken, but she did not push herself up so quickly, and it worried the group a little.

“Tome-san? Are you okay?” Mob asked, looking down on her splayed out form.

A sniffle and a whimper escaped from her, and soon she was bawling her eyes out, lying down on the dirt and grass. Mob suddenly started crying too, helping her out as the two loudly sobbed. 

“M-Mob? Tome? What’s wrong?”

The two crying teens pushed themselves up and off the ground (Tome struggling considerably more than Mob) and ran over to him and enveloped him in a tight hug, similar to inside his spirit. 

“W-we were so worried about y-you!” Tome wailed against Reigen’s form. Mob did not verbalize his thoughts the same way, but based on him tighlty pressing his face against Reigen’s chest, he shared this sentiment. 

From behind them, Dimple and Serizawa both approached and joined the hug, the two also with tears in their eyes. And unlike before where Reigen felt nothing, he felt…

Guilt.

Sadness.

Relief.

Joy.

Comfort.

Fear.

Love.

And Reigen started to tear up as well, though his emotions were not as violent as before. He let himself be vulnerable by choice and he let out a broken cry, holding on to everyone with each of his arms.

No matter what happens, no matter what changes, and no matter what Reigen would now have to face, he knew that he wouldn’t have to bear the weight of it on his own.

Reigen was loved.

Chapter Text

The gang was not looking forward to the long walk (or flight) back to Seasoning City. Luckily, Reigen remembered how to use his teleportation, saving them the trip. They stood in front of the office, finally able to properly catch their breath.

“Well, we’re back,” Reigen said aloud. “And now you kids gotta go home.”

Both Mob and Tome looked at him with an incredulous stare.

“But w-we just got you back! And you want us to leave?” Tome cried out, Mob nodding along furiously.

“I know, and I’m really happy about that,” Reigen answered back. “But you guys need to go home and rest. We’ll see each other tomorrow.” He patted both their heads with his (regular) arms.

“You promise?” Mob asked, voice small.

Reigen only smiled. “Of course. Remember, you can always come in whenever you want to.”

The two teens looked at each other once more before jumping onto Reigen again, hugging him tightly.

“See you tomorrow.” They said in unison before walking back home, waving goodbye at the three adults who remained. 

Suddenly, Serizawa spoke up. “We should probably go check on your apartment.”

“Why? What’s wrong with my apartment?”

“Well…”

-----------

When Reigen saw the state his apartment was in, he almost wanted to cry. Everything was strewn about everywhere, his carpet was completely soaked due to the broken water cooler, his desk was toppled over, several of his books were knocked down, his poor plant was slightly damaged, and its pot was shattered. His walls were slightly scratched up, the paper and paint coming off in flakes. Really, the only thing that survived was his bed (though the mattress still needed to be replaced. 

“I am so glad I don’t have to pay for food anymore.” Reigen said as he walked around his broken house. “I did all this?”

“Yeah. It was… not pretty.” Dimple said with somber in his voice.

Reigen looked around some more in the small space, and he couldn’t help but feel terrible as he did.

“Do you think we can fix this?” Dimple asked.

“I mean, we could have Shou’s friends come in and help rebuild the place, but I don’t want to bother them.”

“Maybe we can try and help clean up a bit? Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks.” Serizawa offered.

“You’d do that for me?” Reigen asked, genuinely surprised.

“Of course! It’s the least we can do.”

 Reigen felt his heart flutter a little. Huh. Maybe my feelings aren’t gone. “You’ve already done a lot for me, though…,” he muttered under his breath. “Yeah, let’s do this!”

The three of them set off to work, first by picking up the broken water cooler and setting it outside for later disposal (much to Reigen’s dismay). The rug was brought outside by Serizawa, who used his psychic powers to scrub it as throughouly as possible before leaving it out to dry. Dimple gathered any trash and tossed them into the bins. Finally, Reigen was reorganizing everything, deciding that he needed to do more than just put everything back in place. By the time they were done with small jobs, the apartment already looked infinitely better than when they first arrived. They just had to finish sweeping and going through a few more things, then they could call it a day. The wall could wait until tomorrow anyways. 

As they made their final rounds, Reigen noticed Serizawa standing over his desk, holding a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Curious, Reigen got closer and looked over Serizawa’s shoulder (floating slightly to do so), and felt guilt run through him.

His note was almost illegible, given that he was both depressed and drunk as he wrote it. His normally neat handwriting was scribbled, with several spelling and grammar mistakes. Still…

“I’m so sorry that I left you alone last week,” Serizawa said with tears in his eyes. “I wish I could make it up to you somehow-”

“Hey, no. You’ve done so much for me already,” 

“Still…”

“Serizawa, look at me,” Reigen said, turning Serizawa’s head to face him. “You managed to calm me down after I blew up, you took care of Tome, Mob, and Dimple while I couldn’t, and you helped me clean my whole apartment. You’ve done more than enough. I promise.” 

“O-okay…” 

For a moment, Reigen thought the conversation was over, and he was ready to return to his work until Serizawa spoke up again.

“Is this true what you wrote in here, though? That you like me? Romantically?”

Despite having no blood or flesh, let alone body heat, Reigen felt his cheeks go warm and his heart give a little flutter. 

“Y-yes? No? It’s actually kind of complicated right now, actually, because I…” Should Reigen tell him? He already kind of knows. It should be fine. “I think I do, but I lost my feelings a few days ago… That includes my feelings for you…”

“Oh…”

“But I’m not sure. I mean, my other feelings have been coming back, so there’s a chance.”

“Well even so… Would you like to go on a date?” Serizawa asked before adding on, “Whenever you’re ready, of course.”

And oh that’s why Reigen loved him, regardless if it was romantic or not. The man was so considerate of him despite how terrible Reigen really is. 

“Yeah,” Reigen responded bluntly. “I’d love that.”

“Hey, you two! Stop flirting and help finish up in here!”

--------

The apartment looked more like an apartment by the time they were done for the day. Tomorrow, Serizawa had to go to the store to buy wall caulk and a new wallpaper since Reigen and Dimple couldn’t exactly buy it themselves.

Speaking of…

“How am I gonna work tomorrow?” It was a rightful question. His body, being completely broken after his “meltdown” and dead for almost a week, immediately began decomposing once Reigen’s aura was not protecting it, so they had to bury it in the back of his apartment (where hopefully no one would find it). This meant that Reigen himself could not exactly be… present at work.

“Well, I had a friend about thirty years ago who could shapeshift. Maybe try that?”

“How do I do it?”

“It’s pretty easy,”

Dimple talked him through the steps. Focus his energy on the parts of himself he wanted to change and imagine what he wanted them to look like. Then just manifest that idea.

“It’s probably easier if you’re touching that part of your body. Makes it more… tangible.”

Reigen tried (and failed) many times to the point where Serizawa was starting to doze off. However, after much hard work, Reigen was finally able to put away the hundreds of hands and form a single leg!

Just one though.

“You’ve got this! You’re halfway there!” Dimple cheered on Reigen. He struggled to focus but soon, after another five minutes or so, he was able to form his second leg, appearing almost like a normal human person.

“Yes!” Both Dimple and Reigen cheered loudly, causing Serizawa to startle awake.

“Wh-What time is it? Did I fall asleep?” Serizawa asked, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get his bearings. After a moment, he noticed the change in Reigen’s form, and a massive grin split on his face.

“It worked?”

“Hell yeah, it did!” Dimple cheered, shaking Reigen’s shoulders in pride. 

Serizawa shot up out of the couch and wrapped his arms around Reigen’s waist, picking him up with ease and twirling him around in pride. Dimple joined in, latching onto Reigen’s hair and tousling it a bit as they all laughed and congratulated him. ‘

“Looks like I’ll still be able to go to work tomorrow!” Reigen exclaimed. “But wait, how will clients see me?”

“You’re strong enough,” Dimple said nonchalantly. “As long as you want them to see you, they’ll see you.”

“Ah, okay then.” I just hope they don’t get freaked out, talking to a spirit and all that… “Oh yeah, Serizawa, do you wanna stay over or go home?”

Serizawa became visibly red and he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I think I’ll go home. I don’t want to be a bother or anything. Plus, your apartment is kind of small.”

Reigen wanted to push further and beg Serizawa to stay, but he recognized that Serizawa wasn’t super comfortable, so he decided to let it go.

“Alright then. Do you want either of us to go with you or will you be alright on your own?” Reigen asked. “I just want you to stay safe.”

Serizawa simply smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be okay, Reigen. Don’t worry about me.”

Reigen and Dimple walked with Serizawa to the door, chatting as he put on his shoes before wishing him goodbye. Then, it was just Reigen and Dimple once again.

Dimple couldn’t help but notice Reigen’s somber expression.

“What’s up? You okay?”

“I just…,” Reigen said quietly, staring blankly at where Serizawa just stood. “It’s just kinda starting to hit me how much I messed up…”

Dimple said nothing, but he gave him a small look, asking him to elaborate.

“I died , Dimple. I’m dead and I can’t just… I can’t just come back to life!” Reigen said, tears forming in his eyes. He rubbed at them, trying to stop them from leaking out, but his attempts were futile. “Oh god, what if I’m stuck here forever? I-I had way too much shit in my life, there’s no way that I could just pass on and get reincarnated. Wh-what if everyone else is g-gone and I-I’m still here? What if-”

“Hey, stop it,” Dimple said, smacking him on the side of his head. “Don’t worry about all that stuff yet, okay? Just worry about right now.”

Reigen sniffed and nodded pathetically. 

“Yeah, you did a dumb thing. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it or anything. But, you’re still here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not planning on disappearing anytime soon, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then don’t worry so much.”

Reigen was trying not to, but his emotions were still rather fragile after the day’s activities. Still, the words were reassuring, and he was… happy to hear them.

“Thanks, Dimple…”

-----------------------

It was an early day and Dimple and Reigen were the first ones in the office. They took the time to tidy up the office before the kids and Serizawa came in. It was the weekend, so the kids would be coming in early (Mob was coming too!) and so he wanted the place to look decent so that they didn’t have to worry about cleaning up for him. The clock soon struck eight and he flipped the sign to ‘open’ from his desk, typing away at the computer with Dimple resting on his head again. His hundreds of arms were gone, leaving him looking relatively normal besides his skin, and he prepared himself to explain to customers why he looked the way he did.

The door slammed open, but he already knew who it was. 

“Hey, boss!” Tome shouted excitedly as she ran over to the couch, pulling Mob behind her. “Woah, the place looks cleaner than before.”

“Yep. I was actually thinking of reorganizing the office entirely, but that’d probably have to be another day.”

“When you do that, can we help out too?” Tome asked with a glimmer in her eyes. And looking over at Mob, Reigen could tell he was excited as well.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?”

Tome let out a little “Yes”, pulling out her laptop and starting to look up decorations that could be put in the office.

“Oh, Master. Are we doing anything today?”

Reigen looked over his schedule. “Just a few clients scheduled for later in the afternoon. Why, what’s up?”

“Well, I just wanted to ask if we could go and get ramen together? Just like before?”

This kid… “Of course, Mob.” He said as he patted his head.

Not long after, Serizawa came into the office, along with their first customer, and the group fell into a peaceful normalcy, one that Reigen realized he hadn’t felt in a long time. Even when the client fell out of his seat in surprise at talking with a spirit, Reigen couldn’t help but bask in the tranquil and cheerful atmosphere. It wasn’t long before he was flipping the sign to ‘ closed’ and walking with his employees and friends to the ramen shop they regularly visited. The owners, used to the weirdness between him and Mob (and now Serizawa and Tome) did not pay any mind to the fact that Reigen was glowing orange and instead welcomed them and started to prepare their usual orders.

Reigen stared down into his ramen bowl (because although he didn’t need to eat, he could so he will ) and then looked around at the rowdy group beside him. How could he have tried to abandon something as beautiful as this? It made his heart swell to think that he was so lucky to have found a group - a family - like this one.

“Reigen, you okay?” He heard Dimple ask from his shoulder, catching the attention of the rest of the group beside him.

“Woah, Reigen, why are you crying?”

“Shishou, please don’t be sad!”

“What’s wrong, Reigen?”

Reigen sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, overwhelmed with emotion again. But they weren’t destructive this time. 

“I’m okay guys, really,” He choked out. “I’m just… really happy to be here.”

It was silent for a moment before he heard the scraping of a chair and felt arms wrap around him. 

“I’m glad you’re here too, Shishou.” Mob mumbled, pressing his face against Reigen’s chest. Soon, Tome and Serizawa also joined in, and soon they were all together in a crowded, awkward group hug. Still, it was warm and it was comforting. 

------------------

Serizawa never got a chance to buy that caulk and wallpaper, but it was okay. They could try again tomorrow. Now, it was just him and Dimple, making their way back to his apartment. The kids and Serizawa had to return home, so the pair walked in relative silence.

 “I think… even though I messed up really badly and that I feel awful and stuff…”Reigen said suddenly. “I think I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah. I think so too.” Dimple replied, floating beside him.

Reigen smiled at that, and inside, he felt warm.