Work Text:
Shigeo always wondered why his brother didn’t like Reigen. He had recently chalked it up to just being a moody teenager (he was like then when he was 13 too, oh-so long ago,) and moved on. Their invisible drama was also too absurd for him to keep track of. He barely noticed it at first, but it had become much more obvious after the Claw incident.
Although, in the middle of a family dinner, after Shigeo relayed his day at work, Ritsu muttered something about money under his breath. Shigeo raised an eyebrow and hesitantly continued talking. Curiosity gnawed at the cobwebs in his head as dinner finished up and he got to go to his room once more. Now that Ritsu had mentioned money, Shigeo was a little irritated with how much money he was earning. How do people live like that? 300 yen a week is nothing, it’ll barely get you something from the corner store. Maybe that’s why so many people get married. To combine their profits. 600 yen a week. You might be able to get something from the corner store!
Maybe money varied from job to job. Hm. Exorcising spirits is pretty tough work, he’d say, so shouldn’t he earn a smidge more than just 300 yen? He couldn’t go up to his parents and ask how much they make, that wouldn’t be kind. It would be rude. He’d learned that a long while ago after getting chastised by his mother the first time he asked someone how much they made. How much did people normally earn at their job?
He fumbled around his pocket for a moment, trying to get out the flip-phone Reigen had given him. With a hum, he flipped (obviously) it open and mashed the buttons on it as gently and precisely as he could, entering a question into Mobgle.
“Average wage in Japan”
It only took a glance to notice; the regional minimum wage was 750 yen. Industrial wage was about 800 yen. Ah. Shigeo had no clue whether his salary counted as industrial or regional, but he knew for certain that he was a few hundred yen short. Wouldn’t that be a crime? Maybe. Shigeo vaguely remembered seeing something on the news a few weeks ago about a man who got arrested for paying his workers less than he was supposed to. Reigen probably shouldn’t get arrested. That would not be fun.
Shigeo snapped his phone closed and shifted back onto his futon. He’d ask about it at work tomorrow. He pulled the covers up to his chin and got comfortable.
. . .
“Shishou, I looked up the minimum wage yesterday,” Silence filled the room. Reigen stopped typing whatever it was he was typing on his laptop. Probably an email. He looked at Shigeo for a moment, analyzing, a nervous grin stuck on his face.
“You did, did you?” He glanced around for a moment, swallowing quite literally nothing. “Anything interesting about it?” There was a beat of silence. Reigen tapped his index finger on his desk. He had learned to wait for responses from Mob, sometimes he just took a minute, not unlike a computer with low memory. This time was a bit more stressful. He could feel the sweat beading on his forehead.
“The results said that the average wage for someone is around 800 yen.” He was reaching a bit high on that one, admittedly. Reigen also took a pause after that.
“For adults, right, Mob?”
“Huh?”
“Adults tend to have wages like that. 700, 800, sometimes even 900 yen. Unless they have their own jobs which charge a bit more, like me. You’re just a middle schooler, I can’t pay you as much as I would an adult worker!” Reigen gesticulated, speaking in his usual this-is-very-obvious-Mob-you-should-know-this tone. Shigeo nodded along. “How about this. You’re 14, aren't you?” Another nod.
“I’ll give you a 10 yen raise. Hm? Sound good? I might even raise that every now and then!” Reigen grinned. Shigeo tilted his head to the side slightly. Literally weighing his options. “By the time you’re 15, the money will have added up by a ton.” Reigen tacked on as well. Not even he was sure that was true. Maybe?
“I mean, I think that sounds good.” Shigeo didn’t want to work out the math either. He looked back up at Reigen and nodded. Reigen gave a thumbs up. “I’ll give you your 300—and ten— yen tomorrow. Payday!” He did little jazz hands to emphasize his point. Shigeo simply nodded and offered a smile.
They both forgot about his raise after 2 weeks.