Chapter Text
Making his way through the warmly nostalgic streets of Seasoning City, it occurred to Mob that it had been a little over a year since he’d stepped foot inside Spirits and Such. It was an odd realization to have, that this place where he had spent so much time as a child was no longer part of his daily life. Passing by a little café that stood where a bookstore had once been, he wondered if the office had changed at all. Were the couches the same? The bookshelves? The desks? Even if they were, would it feel the same?
Mob had met up with Reigen a few nights before for ramen. He’d only just returned home that day and he’d been tired from the trip. No matter how many times he took it, the multi-hour train ride to and from university never got easier. But it had been nice to see his old master, his friend. Despite how long it’d been and how much they’d both changed, it had felt the same as always. And… different, at the same time. A familiar tune, with maybe some new lyrics. When Mob had gotten himself a drink, Reigen had exaggeratedly shaken his head and clicked his tongue.
“Ah, you’re getting too old, Mob. You know that? You’re what… Twenty?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Seriously? Sheesh. How old does that make me?”
“Forty?”
“Oi, watch it.”
Mob smiled to himself at the memory. He was glad Reigen had invited him to visit the office today. Though that was, in itself, an odd change. He had gotten invited, not called. Odd indeed, but nice. Maybe he would get the chance to help them out with a client. It had been a while since he’d done anything rigorous with his powers. University life didn’t allow much time for that sort of thing.
Mob had never exactly thrived academically. But university had been better than he expected. He enjoyed meeting people and getting to know his professors. Studying Physical Therapy was a challenge but deeply rewarding at the same time. He was happy at school. He was also often painfully homesick. Sometimes break could not come soon enough.
But even when he came back, sometimes he caught himself missing a home that didn’t truly exist anymore. When you leave for university, things at home don’t just stand still and wait for you. They change. Eventually, you come back to find the home you left behind is gone. Quietly, Mob hoped that that would never be true of Spirits and Such, that he could always come home to find Reigen, Serizawa, and Dimple exorcising, massaging, and helping people in that shabby little office.
Mob’s parents had moved out of his childhood home a few years ago, but he added a few minutes to his walk to trace the more familiar path he’d taken daily all those years ago. Some streets looked the same. Some were unrecognizable. Still, he couldn’t break the smile that’d been stuck on his lips since he’d left. It was a humid summer day, but not so unpleasant as to make walking a chore. Underneath the distance squeals of cars and bustling of people, the cicadas hummed vigorously. The sun shone down unimpeded by any clouds. A light breeze swept down the street every so often. It was exactly the sort of day he and Ritsu would’ve spent at the park when they were kids. Mob wasn’t too far from the office when his phone started buzzing. He pulled it out. It was Serizawa. Maybe they’d gotten a job and wanted him to meet them there. He answered, still smiling.
“Hey Serizawa.”
"Shigeo." Serizawa's voice was quiet, tense. "Reigen is dead."
Mob stopped. "What?"
"He- he's dead. Reigen's dead."
Intellectually, Mob knew what those words in that order meant. But in the long, heavy moment after they were spoken, he could not comprehend what Serizawa was telling him. He pulled the phone away from his ear a little, feeling cold.
"Wh... what?"
"It was a curse. Old and very powerful. It must’ve lain dormant in him for years.” Serizawa’s voice began to tremble. “I don’t know what finally triggered it. This morning, he was just-"
"No." Mob said definitively. “If there had been a curse on him for that long, I would have sensed it. No. No, he couldn’t-"
"I know. It doesn’t make sense. I- I should have sensed it too but somehow it-"
"No!" Mob snapped, the creeping cold replaced with a sudden flash of anger. "No, I'm stronger than you and I just saw him a few days ago. I would- if there was- I couldn't miss it- there's no way! You have to be wrong."
There was silence. "I'm so sorry. Shigeo."
"You're wrong!" Mob shook, buzzing with a sickening sensation he hadn't felt in years. "He's not-"
"He is. I know you-"
The phone flew out of Mob's hand, slamming against the pavement with an echoing crack. What few people had slowed to watch him scream into his phone, frantically scrambled away as the ground began to tremble, air alight with energy. Mob sucked in heavy, shaky breaths, hands balling into fists.
It had only been a few days. They’d gone out for ramen just like always. Reigen had been fine. He’d been totally normal, healthy, happy. There hadn’t been a curse. Mob would have noticed. Mob would have stopped it. Reigen couldn’t just be gone. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t possible. No. He wouldn't let it be possible!
A swarm of energy bubbled up inside him, itching for an outlet, for an enemy to attack. The pavement beneath his feet cracked, splintering out in a circle around him like a spider web. Nearby windows shattered. Streetlamps bent towards him, creaking loudly in protest. Mob’s chest heaved, unable to contain the agony and energy that threatened to burst his very soul. He hadn’t felt this way since-
Something snagged inside of him, a string pulled taut. The energy broiling in him vanished, like air sucked out of a balloon. Mob’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, vision going black. He tipped backward, a sudden harsh wind rushing around him. In his final fleeting moments of consciousness, instead of hitting the unforgiving pavement, he felt as though he fell into the cold, welcoming arms of a net.
-
“-ay? Sir? Can you hear me?”
Cold.
“Sir?”
Mob was so, so cold.
“Oh, I think he’s waking up.”
The sky was overcast, dark grey clouds making promises of rain. Still, Mob’s eyes strained against the light. The air was calm. Dry. And cold. He shivered, every muscle in his body protesting the movement. A groan bubbled out of him. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking words that sounded fuzzy and distant.
“Are you alright?”
Mob’s eyes sought out the source, landing on the blurry face of a stranger bent over him. The man’s expression was pinched together in a mixture of discomfort and polite concern. With considerable effort, Mob sat up. This alone seemed to relieve the man greatly and the rest of the small crowd surrounding him took it as their cue to leave.
“Yeah, I’m- I’m okay,” Mob muttered, not sure if that was true. His head was killing him, and he couldn’t stop shaking.
“Well, I didn’t see you fall so I don’t know how long you were out. You should probably go to the hospital, just to be safe,” The man said gently.
“I will.” When the man hesitated, Mob waved him away. “I really am okay now. You don’t have to stay.”
Looking guilty, but also probably running late, the man nodded and rushed off. Mob stayed where he was, sitting on the cold pavement. His thoughts came muddled and disconnected. Where was he? On his way to the office, right? Wasn’t he talking to someone? He reached for his phone only to realize it was gone. It’d fallen out of his hand. The pain behind his eyes increased and he bent forward. Wasn’t he talking to Serizawa? He said… he said…
Reigen. Mob clutched his chest as reality slammed into him once again. Reigen was gone. He was gone and… and Mob had lost control of his powers. It had been so long since they’d burst uncontrollably out of him like that. What if he’d hurt someone? Mob lifted his head, nervously scanning the little street. There weren’t many people around, but they all looked fine. The glances they kept shooting him were probably just because he was sitting on the side of the road like a weirdo. He sighed in relief. No one was hurt. The area didn’t even look too damaged either. Actually, as he really took in his surroundings, everything looked completely untouched. Hadn’t he bent those streetlamps?
Muscles groaning, Mob got to his feet. Wind whipped down the street, biting at the exposed skin on his arms. How long had he been passed out that it’d gotten this cold? He wrapped his arms around himself. Every other pedestrian seemed prepared, decked out in full winter layers, putting Mob in his t-shirt and jeans to shame. How had they known? Wasn’t this cold a little ridiculous for summer? It didn’t matter; he should call Serizawa back. He was probably worried. Unfortunately, Mob’s phone was nowhere to be seen. Though, even if it had been, he was pretty sure it’d been thrown hard enough to break.
He tightened his grip on his arms. Now what? What was he supposed to do? He thought about going home. His feet began to carry him towards the office. It was slow going, the residual pain in his legs forced him to stagger. But something was urging him to continue. Maybe he’d find Serizawa there. Maybe Dimple. Maybe an explanation for how-
Mob rounded the corner and slowed to a stop. He could see the office sign in the distance. It looked the same as it did in his memories. The whole street did. He could imagine himself walking up to that building, climbing the stairs, greeting his master as he stepped inside, and setting his schoolbag down beside his desk. Mob tipped sideways, leaning against a building for support. That would never happen again. He would never see his master, his friend again. Clutching the front of his shirt, he tried desperately to breathe, to not lose control of himself again. Reigen wouldn’t want that. Reigen wouldn’t want him to hurt people. Reigen…
Reigen was walking down the street towards him. He was chatting animatedly to Serizawa about something, smiling. They were returning from a job. Alive. Perfectly alive and happy. Mob pushed himself upright, mouth falling open. Was he hallucinating? No, it was them. It was really them. Nervous hope and relief bloomed in his chest, and he took a few wobbly steps forward. Reigen patted Serizawa on the back.
It was them. But- Mob hesitated. He looked down at his shoes, one hand holding his head. His thoughts were still struggling through a haze of brain fog. Still, he knew this didn’t make any sense. How could Reigen just be okay? Why had Serizawa said he wasn't? Surely he wouldn’t lie about something that serious. Was he just mistaken? Had they managed to undo the curse? Why was it so damn cold?
“Hey Mob!”
At the sound of his name, his head snapped up. But Reigen was looking across the street, waving at someone else. A kid. A middle school student crossed the street to meet them. It was hard to see his face from where Mob was standing, but something... Reigen placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder, just like he always used to with Mob. He smiled like he always used to smile at Mob. He spun with a flourish and led the way like he always- The kid turned to follow and it became obvious. It looked like Mob. It looked just like him when he was a kid. As the three of them headed into the office building, Mob stumbled back around the corner.
How could there be a younger version of him here? Was it some kind of trick? No, the aura radiating off that kid was exactly like his, nothing like a spirit. A man in a parka nearly ran into him, muttering out an apology. Mob grabbed his arm.
“Wh-what’s the date?”
The man stiffened, eyebrows furrowed, but answered “Um, November 2nd.”
Mob let him go. It was supposed to be the middle of summer. Reigen was supposed to be dead. Mob was supposed to be standing right here, a university student, not walking into the office, a middle schooler.
This was the past. It had to be. Based on the fact that Serizawa was here and Mob was still in middle school, this was probably around the time he was 14 or 15.
Aimlessly, Mob started walking again. There were two possibilities. Either this was some kind of illusion, maybe a fake world like the one Mogami had trapped him in. Or Mob had traveled to the past. Or maybe he'd gone insane, but there was no point in chasing that thought. He couldn’t say for certain it wasn’t the first option. But reaching out with his powers to poke at the environment around him, it all felt too solid. There was no pressure at the back of his mind, no subtle inconsistencies, no voice whispering in his head. Mob had found many ways of testing reality, and this place passed them all.
The only other option was time travel. How had it happened? He didn’t know. He hadn’t thought that was something his powers were capable of. But surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that he ended up here after he lost control of them. Maybe there were still parts of himself that were a mystery, parts of his power he didn’t understand.
If it was his powers, there was only one possible reason he was here: to save Reigen. It had been the only thing on his mind before he’d passed out. He was supposed to save his master. He was supposed to keep his friends safe. Somehow, that deep, burning desire had pushed his powers further than they’d ever gone before.
Still, he didn’t understand why now? Why had his powers sent him back to this time? Why not just a few hours or days before Reigen died? Couldn't Mob have found the curse right before it went off and removed it? Surely, that would’ve been easier than sending him back seven years. Plus, right now, he had no way of knowing whether Reigen had the curse yet or when he might get it. Unless, somehow, his powers had sensed something he couldn't? Or...
Mob slowed to a stop. Or maybe he hadn't been sent back by his powers at all. It could've been someone or something else. Really, for all he knew it could’ve been unrelated to what had killed Reigen and totally unrepeatable. He could be here for any number of reasons. He could be stuck here permanently.
Sighing, he dug around in his pockets. All he had was his wallet and a slightly crumpled unopened band-aid. But it was alright. He’d make do. Because, in the end, it didn’t really matter how or why he ended up here. It didn’t matter if he was stuck or if there was a chance of getting back. All that mattered was that he had an opportunity to save his master. And he was going to take it. He hadn’t been actively looking for the curse before, hadn’t been paying close enough attention. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. He was going to find the curse and destroy it before it could so much as give Reigen a headache. No matter what.