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"It's gotten quiet." Reigen's voice cuts through the warm silence of the car and Serizawa looks up from his book. With the sunset fast approaching, light streams through the windows, casting a golden glow around them. He turns around in his seat, eyes sweeping over the other passengers of the car. Just hours earlier, it was chaos with shrieks of laughter, snacks being thrown, and arguments over music. Now, Tome's DS rests in her lap as she slumps against the window. Shigeo leans against a snoring Teru, paper bag still clenched in his hand. Even without straining his neck Serizawa can tell that Ritsu and Shou's whispers have faded into silence.
Serizawa hums in agreement, "They've really tired each other out. And themselves."
"I never thought they'd run out of energy." Reigen sighs fondly, "Absolute gremlins."
"And whose idea was it to buy them candy?" Dimple says from his perch on the dashboard, "Because I'm pretty sure the one who did that shouldn't say anything."
"You said you weren't going to talk until 'we inevitably got lost.'" Reigen wags a finger at the ghost. "Hush now."
"I can tell you're going to miss the exit." Dimple responds, "I'm warning you in advance out of the kindness of my heart." Reigen glances at the GPS and groans. Serizawa tries to stifle his laugh behind his hand.
"Don't you start now, 'tsuya!" He complains. "This isn't easy, ya' know? When are you going to learn to drive? I wanna take naps during car rides too!"
"Maybe when you finally invest in buying a car, I'll consider it." He says without missing a beat. "As Deputy Director, I'd like to point out that this has been our fifth out of town job this summer and our third with the kids."
"I acknowledge your point, but I'd like--"
"You are going to miss the exit." Dimple interrupts and Reigen swears under his breath. They make it and the next few minutes are filled with the automated voice of the GPS.
As they drive through winding roads, darkness blankets their surroundings. The occasional streetlight casts a momentary artificial brightness over them and quickly retreats. Serizawa is putting his book away when Reigen speaks again:
"We can always cut expenses by finding an apartment to move in together."
Serizawa freezes and looks at Reigen. He sees a hint of nervousness in his smile before they are plunged in darkness again.
"You--"
"We're almost there." Reigen says far too quickly and puts his blinkers on, pulling them into the motel parking lot. Before Serizawa can even process the last minute, he's slipped out the door and entered to check in.
Dimple is oddly quiet, staring at the empty driver's seat judgmentally.
"He's trying." Serizawa says, feeling the urge to defend Reigen. Dimple floats over to hover near his shoulder.
"I guess he is."
They wait together in a comfortable silence until Reigen comes back, twirling a key his finger.
"Got us a discount." He grins triumphantly and drives them closer to the room. They park and they turn to each other, glancing back at the sleeping teenagers.
"We can't wake them up." Serizawa frowns, "They look so comfortable, 'taka."
"What are we going to do? Carry them?" Reigen asks and Serizawa steps outside, walking over to Tome's door. "Katsuya" He groans, dragging out his name in a way where Serizawa knows he's going to help him.
Serizawa opens the door, careful to quickly grab Tome with his powers since she was leaning against the door. While he's unbuckling the seatbelt, Reigen opens the door on the other side.
"C'mon Reigen, don't break your back." He hears Dimple say.
"Why don't you help me then?" Reigen shoots back, but Serizawa focuses his attention on the task at hand.
Tome stirs as he lifts her up, but remains fast asleep. When he's straightened out, he looks up to see Reigen staring at him, one red check obscured by Shigeo's head.
"The key's in his pocket." They say and Serizawa sighs, shifting Tome to one arm awkwardly. She flops a bit and he apologizes to her. Reigen and Dimple snicker at him, but freeze as Shigeo mumbles something.
"He just told us to shut up!"
Serizawa laughs and reaches into Reigen's pocket to grab the key.
"You could have done that with your powers." They, mostly Dimple, complain.
"I could have." Serizawa agrees and opens the door. There's a small kitchenette but most of the room is tatami. He flicks his fingers and the sliding door to the storage room opens and the futons, blankets, and pillows swirl themselves into order on the ground.
He kicks off his shoes and places Tome down on the nearest futon. She rolls over, snatching a pillow from another set and hugs it tightly. He stands up, back protesting slightly, but feels an odd sense of satisfaction.
Reigen and Dimple cover Shigeo with a blanket before patting Serizawa on the back. "Two down, three more to go."
They head back to the car, propping the door open as they leave. Serizawa opens the trunk while Reigen leans in further to get Teru. Serizawa ponders between grabbing the bags, Ritsu, or Shou when the familiar denseness of psychic abilities suddenly presses into the air. Ritsu frowns in his sleep and Shou is utterly still. Serizawa quickly turns to the source. Teru's aura is bright around Reigen, crackling sluggishly, but dangerous as ever. Reigen looks too calm for someone with a half asleep but startled teenage esper in his arms.
"Reigen-san?" Teru slurs, a hand up defensively, "What's happening?"
"It's okay, kiddo. Sorry for grabbing you. We got it. You can go back to sleep."
Teru squints, but his eyes fall back shut, tipping back and almost knocking Reigen over if it weren't for Dimple's balance. Yellow aura sinks back under his skin, leaving behind a faint green glow around Reigen who continues his nonchalant pace to the room. Serizawa watches this all, relieved when he doesn't have to step in. He turns back to the trunk and observes the situation. Ritsu is curled around his backpack. Shou is awake. He's pretending to be asleep though. His aura dances around him in a way too relaxed to be natural. Serizawa is briefly reminded of a younger Shou in a similar position, but shakes the memory away. He scoops up Shou in a single motion and walks back. Shou is stiff in his arms as if not used to being carried. He doesn't flop against him like Tome did, but he eventually relaxes a bit into Serizawa's shoulder.
He puts him down carefully and Shou turns his face into the pillow. Serizawa covers him with a blanket and steps back to admire his handiwork. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Reigen, just Reigen now since Dimple has nestled himself into the blankets Tome kicked off, watching him with a soft expression.
Reigen notices he's been caught with a flustered flourish, "Dimple abandoned me!" He whisper-shouts.
Dimple opens an eye from his nest, "Even I couldn't save you from the back pain."
"Does your back really hurt?" Serizawa asks just to be sure.
"I think that’s his way of calling me weak." Reigen sticks his tongue out at the ghost and gestures for Serizawa to walk back to the car.
It's just Ritsu and the bags now. Serizawa may have overpacked again and he begins moving suitcases to the ground. Ritsu abruptly sits up, batting Reigen's hand away. Reigen and Serizawa look at each other in surprise.
"I'm getting up now." Ritsu announces, eyes still closed and most certainly not getting up. Instead, he lets go of his backpack, leans against the wall, and his breath evens out again. Reigen snickers and tries again, but is batted away again.
"I'll grab him." Serizawa offers, handing Tome's alien shaped backpack to Reigen.
"I don't think he's going to---oh that's just cheating."
Serizawa has his aura surrounding Ritsu, who seems to not mind, and floats him carefully towards the room. He follows the floating boy and gently releases the hold when he is on the futon.
He steps back out to see Reigen trying to carry every bag at once.
"Arataka," he says, unable to keep the mirth from his voice, "What are you doing?"
"My best."
They split the bags evenly and Reigen locks the car as they head back inside for the final time. They place the bags near the kitchenette, miming and pointing to arrange them to best utilize the space. It's hard to get it done in an efficient way for tomorrow, but Serizawa doesn't mind too much.
He pauses in the organization effort to look around. Shou is actually asleep now while Tome has managed to steal back her blanket from Dimple who has instead decided to curl up like a disgruntled cat at Shigeo's feet. Ritsu has a hand in his brother's blanket, but otherwise, is peacefully on his side. Teru has sprawled out a bit, left arm and right leg out of the blanket.
Happiness surges in his chest intensely, alarming, but welcomed. He turns to Reigen, tears pooling in his eyes. Reigen's eyes widen and he reaches out to cup Serizawa's face.
"Katsuya, what's wron--" He starts to say, but Serizawa beams at him.
"The answer is yes by the way."
"What?" Reigen asks and Serizawa tries to contain the way his emotions spill out of him so that the items and people in the room don't start floating.
"I'll move in with you."
Reigen smiles back at him and laughs. "I'd like that a lot." He says and he's telling the truth.