Chapter Text
-- Arataka Reigen --
Reigen clacked away at his laptop, replying to emails and planning out reservations made for the next week. Business at the Spirits and Such office was going well. Unbelievably well actually. Reigen was worried that the departure of Mob would cause a loss in profit, but ever since Serizawa started working at the office a year ago they'd been collecting quite a large sum of funds.
He sighed deeply and flopped back in his chair. He was horribly bored. If he hadn't sprained his leg chasing after Mob's storm earlier in the year, he could've been up and around the office dusting the shelves and tidying up. The doctors told him to put the least amount of pressure possible on it, and he wasn't about to go against their directions. He couldn't wait to get the damn thing off.
A familiar bell chime rang out in the otherwise quiet office. It was the door bell.
Great, another client. Reigen thought to himself. "Terribly sorry, but you'll have to come back another time. Our--"
Serizawa stepped into Reigen's view, visibly beaming. "Just me, boss."
Reigen perked up. "Ah! Welcome back! How was your first job without me?"
When Serizawa had first started working with him, he was an anxiety-riddled mess. He let Reigen do the talking with the clients while he dealt with the exorcisms and what not. Reigen took pity on him and began helping him with his issues, and a few months later he was now given the opportunity to work with a client by himself. The main reason was that Reigen couldn't be bothered to strain his leg more, but he couldn't tell Serizawa that obviously. He played it off by saying this was a 'test' to see if Serizawa had been paying attention to Reigen's lectures and guidance.
"It was great! I froze up a bit in the beginning, as I'm so used to you leading the way, but I managed to make small talk with the client to really understand what was going on."
Reigen smirked and popped a ball of Takoyaki into his mouth. Food delivery was his new best friend thanks to his leg. "That was the client who said her dog was talking and walking on its hind legs, right?"
"Yeah," Serizawa replied whilst taking his baggy black coat off and hanging it on the coat hanger. It may have looked strange since it was almost summer, but the client said she kept her home super cold for her blood pressure, so Serizawa had to accommodate. "It was a simple case really. The spirit just liked pranking old ladies by possessing their pets."
"I think I've heard of that one before in ghost stories," Reigen continues to chew, "Well, I'm glad it was a success!"
"Does that mean I passed my test?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. With flying colors. Here." Reigen grabbed his wallet and scrounged around in it before he pulled out a ten-thousand yen note and slid it across the table.
"Wha-- Ten thousand yen?! Are you sure?"
"I'm always sure. You did a great job today, and the offices got plenty of funds already."
"Th-thank you boss." Serizawa bowed and took the money.
Reigen laughed. "You know, you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Reigen. Think of you and I like co-workers."
Whenever he said this, a funny feeling kicked up in his stomach. Perhaps he ate too much food? No, this was different. It was familiar.
"No, really, we're just co-workers."
"Uh, Reigen, are you alright?" The word 'Reigen' sounded weird coming out. Serizawa clearly wasn't used to calling him this.
Reigen snapped back into reality. "Huh?"
"You zoned out a bit there. Are you tired?"
"Tired?! I've been sitting in this damn chair all day. I was just thinking about business, that's all." That was a lie. His stomach now felt even weirder.
"...Alright. Well, it's about time to close up," Serizawa said while he looked at his phone, "Let's get out of here."
"Finally." Reigen groaned while getting out of his seat and began to stretch. He slowly limped over to the wall, where his crutches sat.
Serizawa grabbed them before Reigen was even in arm's length of them and handed the crutches to him. "Not too much pressure, remember?"
"Uh, right." Reigen's stomach was now doing somersaults. What the hell was this feeling?
They walked out of the Spirits and Such office together.
"Hey, I'll walk you home." Serizawa offered, turning back to look at Reigen.
Reigen shook his head. "I don't need to be completely babied, ya' know."
"I'm not babying you," Serizawa laughed, "I'm just worried you'll trip over something and sprain something else."
"Alright, fine." Reigen gave in.
"You sure you can make it back safe?" Reigen asked from his apartment complex balcony. Because of how slow he was on his crutches, it was almost pitch black out when they arrived.
"Yes, I'll just call for a taxi or something. Now go get rest." Serizawa smiled, his face illuminating from the dim outside lights.
"I will. See ya' tomorrow, Serizawa."
"See you, bos-- Reigen."
Reigen scoffed quietly before heading inside.
He followed Serizawa's advice and sat down on his couch lazily. The feeling in his stomach partially vanished. This had been happening quite often in the past few weeks and it always involved Serizawa. He never brought it up to him, though, because it would sound weird to just blurt out that he felt butterflies in his stomach any time he was around his employee. Or, co-worker.
That word. That damn word. Many times, he could remember clients coming in and seeing how close the two were. Of course they had to be, they were business partners. But many thought they were in a relationship, and each time he was asked that his heart skipped a beat. He always replied saying, "No, really, we're just co-workers." It hurt inside to say that each time.
Those feelings toward Serizawa, he couldn't tell if it was truly love or he was just acting stupid. Reigen's 'crush' on Serizawa started pretty much in a few weeks of knowing him, and Reigen constantly wondered to himself if he liked him back. Reigen decided to not confess, though, because if the feelings weren't mutual, he was sure that Serizawa would quit the job and Reigen would be back at square-one. He couldn't have that. He also felt bad for falling for him so quickly, but it wasn't his fault that man was so attractive. His little stubble, his broad shoulders, his overall towering figure, his personality...
What the hell am I doing? Reigen shouted at himself in his head. He carefully got up from the couch and slowly walked into his tiny bathroom to brush his teeth and do other businesses.
He tried to keep his mind off things, but as he looked at his reflection in the small cabinet mirror it made things worse. He curled his hands which were laying on the counter into balls of anger.
He's grown so much and learned so much these past months. It took me years to be so open with everyone, be so fucking sociable... Why's it different with him?! Why's he so much better than me?! Why do I have these stupid one-sided feelings for him, and why--
Reigen hung his head low, so low he almost hit it on the sink. He felt horrible for thinking those things. It wasn't even Serizawa's fault, it was his own.
He decided to go to bed right away. He thought maybe he was just cranky from sitting in that stuffy office all day.
Before he could get comfortable in his bed, which was almost impossible because of his cast, Reigen's phone buzzed and a notification popped up.
( 1 ) new text message from ' serizawa ' .
Wonder what he wants. Reigen unlocked his phone.
( serizawa : I made it home safe
reigen : good to hear
serizawa : Are you fine yourself?
reigen : quit worrying so much
reigen : im in bed now and i was about to sleep until you texted me
serizawa : Oops, sorry
serizawa : Well, good night and see you at the office tomorrow?
reigen : goodnight and yeah )
Reigen gave something of a grunt and shut off his phone. His messages dryness probably seemed rude on Serizawa's end, but he was too tired and confused to fix it or explain himself or anything.
I'll just have to apologize in person tomorrow or something. He thought while barely grasping conciousness. He soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.