Work Text:
"Please, pretend to be my boyfriend!"
Reigen's eyes widen in the fraction of a second and his jaw drops to the floor. When you, his co-worker, entered the office asking for a favour he didn't expect a twist of this kind. One of his hands clenches around the arm of his spinning chair.
"What?!"
Your face starts to burn from the embarrassment. You were so nervous that you forgot that you needed to at least explain your request.
"I-it's not a long term thing! I need it just for one night" you mumbled between your lips.
Reigen's body seems to melt. The fist around the chair relaxes. A puzzled expression extends on his face.
"Just for one night?" he asks. You can tell that he's still nervous by his leg bouncing under the desk.
"Y-yeah" you stutter "okay, I'll make it short. One of my friends at the modeling agency will get married. I'll probably be the only one without a partner and you know how it always goes, especially when you are a 28 year old woman. All my other colleagues will be there to ask me why I'm still single and when I'm going to settle with a family. I can't stand this stupid classism anymore and if you could pretend to be my boyfriend at the party it would be great".
Reigen pulls the neck of his white shirt, he feels hot "Yeah, I don't think I ever went to a party without people asking me why I don't have a wife and kids yet. But do you think I'll be a plausible partner for a, you know...photo model?"
You take a breath "Arataka, what I'm about to say will be cruel but you are taller than average, slim and blond, a modeling agency will accept you without the shadow of a doubt"
Reigen snaps his fingers and points at you with his index "Good point"
Still refusing to look at him in the eyes, you try a rather shy smile "So...is it a yes or no?"
The light pink colour of Reigen's cheeks darkens a bit, but he doesn't break his posture. Clearing his throat, he says "Alright, not a problem for me. When will the wedding be?"
"Next Saturday night"
"Good, I don't have any plans"
Obviously he didn't have any. Pretending to be the boyfriend of his co-worker wasn't his typical night either, but he didn't have nothing to lose. You, on the other hand, smile.
"Alright then"
There's a small, nervous laugh between you two that echoes in the air. Nervous, not embarassed. It's the same innocence of two kids, and the same awkwardness of two teenagers at a drive-in date. There's nothing more stupid and beautiful.
The night of the party, Reigen comes to pick you up. You open the door for him, almost hesitantly. He really wants to comment the beauty of the (f/c) dress that tightens around your body. Instead, he decides to swallow that impulse and just asks you to go. You nod your head and you follow him to his car, holding the hem of your dress to not drag it on the floor.
"You look good in that suit" you say, smiling behind him.
He stops for a second, surprised. Then, he adjusts his tie knot even if there's no need to.
"Thanks" he slurs in a low tone.
As you extend your hand to open the door of the passenger seat, you see Reigen's moving faster and doing it for you. The gesture amuses and flatters you. Your mind goes to the American movies you loved, the ones where guys show up in front of the girls' doors to accompany them to prom. Inside the car, there's a moment of contemplation, silent, beautiful and maybe one sided. It was probably just all yours. But you really liked Reigen, the same way you liked him in high school when he didn't look at you the way you did. Maybe he's not even looking at you now, but you're still happy just to do it yourself.
You like the black suit he's wearing and the way his always nervous hands wrap around the steering wheel as he drives. And you like his frown because it's obvious that he's not used to drive and he's nervous. You even like the small drop of sweat that is threatening to fall from the base of his freshly cleaned blond hair, because Reigen is a man that sweats and not just a little. He's a pretty man to contemplate and you liked doing so.
At the party, you and Reigen are at the last course of the dinner. Cleaning crumbs of cake off the corner of his mouth, Reigen talks to you.
"You know, we could have brought Mob with us"
You raise a very doubious brow "And why?"
"We could have pretended that he's our kid, to make this more convincing"
"Are you insane? Number one, a child outside of marriage for these people would be way worse than being single at my age. Number two, Mob's too grown up. And number three, he doesn't look like us at all! People will think that I had an affair with another man"
"But you have to admit that Mob could totally pass as a 9 year old"
"Reigen, no"
"Alright, alright"
Reigen plunges inside the white chair he was sitting on. He puts his hands in the pockets of his black pants. He looks around himself with the corners of his eyes. Although it's a party mainly maid for upper-middle class people, it's not too glamour. The restaurant is elegant but not pretentious. The backyard, full of blooming spring flowers, is occupied by round tables and chairs covered in pristine fabrics. The tabletoppers are also weirdly sober for a wedding. A lot of fairy lights light up the garden, snaking around trees or resting on top of bushes, some of them imitate constellations on top of the guests heads.
The bride and the groom can't take their eyes off of eachother. A small, minuscule smile. peaks from Reigen's face, but he suppresses it quickly.
For an instant, Reigen looks at you as you poke the rest of your cake in the plate. You liked it, but you eat painfully slow. Your (f/c) eyes seem like they are analyzing every spot of cream, every colour of the piece of cake. The make up you have on highlights your face, and the soft lights in the garden touch you with delicacy.
Even if you are not saying a word to each other, Reigen would have felt really lonely if you were at a table with anybody else but him.
"(Y/N)!"
A really tall and bulk man gets close to your table. With his right arm, he holds a woman by her waist. She is breathtakingly beautiful. She waves at you with her hand and a smile, which you reciprocate by doing the same.
"Komatsu, good to see you" you smile.
Reigen seems a little bit embarrassed as he presses his lips together, his gaze flashing between you and the man.
"Who is this handsome man and why am I meeting him just now?" the other man asks, smiling fully.
You straighten your posture, as if you were trying to give yourself a tone "This is my boyfriend, Reigen"
Reigen takes his hand out of his pocket and offers it to Komatsu. He smiles and gestures with his head "Reigen Arataka, pleasure to meet you"
He also introduces himself to the girl who escorts Komatsu, who squeezes his hand with elegance.
"Reigen, Komatsu is the creative director at my modeling agency. He organizes a lot of my photoshoots and marketing campaigns"
For a second, you've got this feeling that Reigen doesn't really know what to say and that he just feels like nodding his head. However, a second after, he makes a theatrical expression, as if he just remembered something that had been on the tip of his tongue the whole time. He snaps a finger in the air.
"So it's thanks to you if that giant billboard sign of (Y/N) posing for Dolce and Mobbana appeared in Seasoning City?" he asks.
Komatsu's expression lights up "That's right!" he replies.
"Great decision" Reigen says, grinning.
"Yeah, and Dolce and Mobbana's director couldn't say no to a shoot as beautiful as (Y/N)'s! Arataka- I can call you Arataka right? -why don't you come with me to take a drink at the bar? I think you know a whole lot about business!"
Without even waiting for Reigen to respond, Komatsu already has the brightest and most ecstatic smile, so shiny and positive that it was difficult to refuse. Even someone like Reigen, unmovable, is overwhelmed by it. However, before taking any decision, Reigen turns around to look at you. You giggle and nod towards Komatsu, inviting your playdate to go with him.
"Sure, let's get something to drink" Reigen answers.
He turns around to look at you one last time before getting up.
"Ehrm...I'll be back in a minute, darling"
You see his hand hesitate for a second. Then, Reigen caresses your back for a quick instant, and you feel his rough but pleasing touch on your exposed skin. An inevitable shiver runs through your spine. You look at him walking away next to Komatsu, his hands shoved inside his pants pockets again. You always thought that he was attractive, even in his sketchy grey suit and pink tie, but right now Reigen feels new and different. Your pupils can't help but dilate as you watch him holding a drink in his hand, a cigarette between his middle and index finger with the filter touching the glass. Sometimes he would stop gesticulating wildly with his free hand to take the cigarette and put it between his lips, taking long drags of tobacco. Reigen always does these facial expressions that manifested all his self-confidence that marked his persona, even while talking to Komatsu.
"You like him"
You turn around in a flash, your eyes wide open. The woman who stood by Komatsu before smiles slyly.
"Yuko!" that was the other woman's name "what are you even saying?"
She just keeps smiling cunningly, then she sits down on the chair that was previously destined to Reigen.
"(Y/N), c'mon"
"O-of course I like him, he's my boyfriend"
Your face burns everywhere, you don't even know where to look and your face darts everywhere rather than on Yuko's stare.
"That's not your boyfriend, honey"
Yuko always had that look on her face. Elegant, malicious, beautiful.
Yuko is Komatsu's wife, your photomodel colleague at the agency, and your closest friend in Seasoning City. She has been recently initiated to the runway world, so she made enough money to not have to look for a part time job. Yuko it's undoubtedly the most beautiful model at the agency, even tonight. Her black dress mixes with her long, sinuous black hair that plung into the fabric. Even though her hypnotic beauty kinda intimidates you sometimes, you answer back.
"And what makes you think such an absurdity?"
"Because you would have told me that you got a boyfriend. Plus, everytime we meet up you can't stop blabbering about your boss at your second job, you couldn't have another man. Tell me, is he your boss?"
Your eyes spread wide again and your jaw drops a little in surprise. Yuko, without effort, uncovered your plan. She's a hundred steps ahead of you and you sigh.
"Yes, he's my boss"
Yuko throws her head back and starts laughing. You cover your face behind your hands from shame.
"(T/N), you got your boss to pretend to be your boyfriend. You're a badass!"
Your hands slide from your face, still burning. You scroll your shoulders.
"Our relationship is not that professional"
"You sleep together?"
"Yuko!"
"It's a serious question!"
You sigh as you feel the pressure of Yuko's expectancy on you, she always loses her composure when it comes to her friends' romantic relationships.
"We were childhood friends"
"Tell me more"
You swallow, nervous. But then you remembered that everything that happened between you and Reigen is real and that maybe it was worth to tell. It's not a secret to keep with jealousy.
"We were best friends in high school, literally inseparable. And I loved him. I'm not choosing my words just for the sake of it, I really loved him"
Now you glance at Reigen at the opposite side of the party, hand-gesturing and talking excitedly with Komatsu. Always with that self-confident smile, you feel like you're back to your high school self, always looking at him longingly from the other side of the class.
"But I wasn't reciprocated, this is for sure. Reigen talked to me about other girls, and I talked to him about other boys and all the confessions I received, maybe to kick back in some way. I ended up feeling so bad, and after graduating I left the city. Both for work possibilities and because I couldn't stand not being his in that way. We tried to keep contact but it was useless, we drifted away from eachother for 10 years. Then we met again when I moved back here and now he's my boss"
Yuko never stopped looking at your face when you were speaking. The delicacy you had when you confessed that you have loved Reigen, your regret when you said that you lost contact, and your relief for meeting again in the world. She smiles, this time not wittingly but calm and confident.
"(T/N), answer the question from befo-"
"Yes, I like him"
Reigen, from the other side, turns around and looks at you for a second. He reciprocates your smile before returning to his conversation with Komatsu.
"I thought I wouldn't have fallen in love once again but I still like him"
Yuko looks at Reigen along with you, even though nobody could ever look at him like you do.
"Of course, you can't stop eating him up with your eyes"
You answer with a resigned sigh and a comforting smile. Reigen, in the distance, keeps changing facial expression every two seconds, excessively like he always does. He always knows what to say, how to say it.
"I think I understand you" Yuko says, resting her head in the palm of her hand "he's really hot, in a pathetic way"
"Oh yeah, he is"
Even Komatsu is extroverted and charismatic, really attractive and persuasive even. But there's an abyss between him and Reigen, in the way they do things. Reigen is exaggerated and a dream-chaser.
Suddenly, the lights at the party get dimmer. The guests look at each other in confusion when the music stops. Then, the DJ announces the slow dances. A sweet and calm music spreads in the garden as couples form. Reigen interrupts his conversation to look at you. His face is sort of saying "what now?", as if you were supposed to do something about that slow dance. Then, he looks away. Yuko is impatient and yanks you by your arm, away from the table.
"Yuko, what are you doing?!" you yelp, following her quickly to the other side of the celebration.
"Just come with me" she says abruptly.
You reach Reigen and Komatsu. They look at you curiosly before Yuko lets you go. You feel a strong embarrassment, especially when Yuko gives you a little but firm push towards Reigen.
"C'mon lovebirds, why don't you go for a dance?!" she asks, smiling from side to side.
You look at her with shocked eyes, Reigen straightens his posture as if he was alarmed. You see his adam's apple running down as he gulps.
"Uh, I don't know..." you mutter "I'm not a good dancer"
"Me neither" Reigen agrees.
"Ugh, who cares! It's a slow dance, nobody does them properly. C'mon! Otherwise what kind of couple would you be?"
Yuko pushes you once again towards Reigen, just enough to make him jump a little in surprise. You start sweating cold as you try to find the words to get yourself out of this situation. However, a hand opens in front of you. Maybe it's a little sweaty, and unsure, but Reigen extended it just for you. You look at him in the eyes, he's really sure, just a little embarrassed. You take his hand. Yuko smirks, satisfied. You follow Reigen in the middle of the garden, his back moving under the black jacket as he guides you. You're hypnotized, and you feel his hand shaking under your fingers even though he's trying too look composed.
He straightens himself "Ehm...can I?"
You look down and see now both of his hands open towards you "Yes" you say, smiling.
Reigen nods and puts his hands on your hips. You feel every single one of his fingers tightening delicately around your flesh, it's perfect. Reigen looks at his hands and your hips, his hands on the red dress you're wearing. You cross your arms around his neck. A shiver goes down Reigen's spine as his skin touches yours. You look at eachother in the eyes, at that eye contact you start slowly swinging from side to side. You clear your throat.
"So..." you say, now avoiding his look, he's doing the same "what did you talk about with Komatsu?"
Reigen shrugs his shoulders, moving your arms too and making your bracelets tingle "I think he likes me, he offered to make an ad campaign for me"
"Really? For Spirits and Such?"
"No, for the fake agency in which I told him I am a salaryman for"
Your eyebrows frown, you are perplexed. Now you're looking at him, but he's looking at the ground with a weird, melancholic smile.
"Reigen" you say.
He's still not looking at you. You move forward, just a little and still dancing. Feeling you closer, he finally moves his gaze upwards.
"Why did you lie?" you ask.
"I don't want to talk about my job too much. If someone finds out that I'm a con artist you would get involved and I don't want to"
You shake your head "That's not like you"
Reigen chuckles, ironic "What? Lying? That's exactly like me"
"No" you insist "it's all this lack of confidence"
"Explain yourself"
"We all are insecure sometimes, but there's no need to pretend to be someone else"
"Isn't that what I always do?" he asks you, he's looking at you dead serious "pretending to be someone that I'm not? You're the only one that knows that I have no psychic powers, and only because you were my friend long before I started this act. In another life I would have lied to you too"
You shrug your shoulders. Then, you tilt your head a bit and smile, calm "You're the greatest Psychic of the 21st Century. You wrote it in your ads and on the sign in front of your office. You really are, by now. So there's no need to hide, not as long as you make your clients happy. You may have no psychic powers and you may be a liar, but you never did any harm. I think that's enough to be a good person"
You and Reigen, since you were in middle and high school, had this private language. Hermeneutic, intimate. You lost it as the years passed by, because Reigen didn't look at you the way you wanted him to. But now it's back. It's all in the way he's searching through your eyes, and you're searching through his.
Reigen is looking at you, his mouth half-open. He had already realized that you were the prettiest that evening, no matter how many beautiful women filled the party. The dim lights spread across your face and light up your eyes. Reigen remembers the way you looked at him in high school, with the same glow in your irises, the same smile.
His heart starts pumping in his chest and he feels his cheeks heating. Reigen thinks about how you never judged him, not even when you entered his office by accident after so many years without eachother. Not even when he confirmed that he was, as you thought, a con artist with no psychic powers. You never took him for granted, or thought that he should be less self confident. His breathing gets heavier imperceptibly. He feels every inch of your skin making contact with his, he's afraid of burning you.
You were always like this, he's realizing it just now. Always so beautiful, so kind with him even though he thought that he didn't deserve it. You were always unconditionally by his side both in middle and high school, and you didn't hesitate to come back to him when you met again. Now you are dancing with him, swinging slowly as if you were scared of breaking an invisible balance between the two of you.
Reigen didn't tell you about what Komatsu said to him just some seconds before you and Yuko came along.
"It's clear by the way you talk about her that you're really in love, Arataka"
Reigen didn't make anything up about you two, he just talked about what went through between you two during your lives, and what he genuinely thought about you not necessarily as a fake girlfriend, but as a person. He's still looking at you as you smile to him.
Yes, I really do love her.
Some lemon sours after, you decide to drive in order to take Reigen back to his apartment, keeping his car for a night. You had told the bartender to not put even a drop of alcohol in those cocktails, but nonetheless Reigen still launched himself in the front seat of his car with a drunken laugh. He immediately started snoring loudly. At red lights, you look at him to make sure that he's okay, sometimes even taking some time off the green lights because there was nobody on the streets at night and he's so pretty under Seasoning City's night lights. You arrive at your destination and stop the car in front of his apartment.
Reigen opens his eyes by himself, squeezing them so much that it hurts.
"Here we are, I'll take this home with me" you say, patting the steering wheel "take the bus tomorrow morning, okay?"
Reigen nods.
"Thanks" he says, mumbling "by the way, you were really pretty tonight, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before"
You see your pupils dilate in the reflection of the rearview mirror "Thanks"
"No, no" Reigen replies, stretching his back "thank you for the ride"
Before getting off the car, Reigen looks at you with the full awareness that he's in love with you. He smiles and gets back into his apartment.