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It was a bright day in Seasoning City, with the sun glowing warmly on the streets, and Shigeo Kageyama was graduating middle school.
Around two in the afternoon, the ceremony began. Five minutes into the principal’s speech, there were still a couple people hustling in late, parents and grandparents searching the large crowd for seats. Among them was Reigen Arataka, who was late only because his third massage of the day had gone a little longer than expected, and he’d built up a sweat from all the work. He just knew that he was starting to smell. And so he’d run home after closing the office, showered in record time, and redressed in his fanciest suit, a darker grey than his usual that he saved only for special occasions. He wore the same pink tie as usual, which wasn’t a surprise. And somehow he was able to find his way to Salt Middle School only a few minutes after the graduation ceremony began. “I still don’t know how you do it,” Dimple said over his shoulder as he scanned the crowd for a spot. “I mean, your ability to act like you know what you’re doing is honestly amazing.”
“Shut up,” Reigen whispered very quietly under his breath, so nobody standing near him would hear. It was then he spotted a single open chair only three rows from the front, miraculously vacant. “Aha!” he said. A man nearby looked at him strangely.
Reigen carefully made his way through the crowd, mumbling a couple excuse me’s until he’d acquired the beautiful seat. He sat down between a sniffling old woman and a little boy, probably a younger sibling, playing a game on his Nintendo switch. Reigen let out a sigh of relief.
“The Kageyamas are over there,” Dimple said, pointing to the right. Reigen followed his gaze to see Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama, as well as Ritsu, sitting in the second row a few meters away. Reigen had phoned them earlier to let them know he’d most likely be late, so they wouldn’t fuss over saving him a seat. They insisted on it, but Reigen told them not to worry, that he’d see them after the ceremony anyway. Now, Reigen watched them smiling at the principal’s speech, Ritsu looking close to falling asleep beside them.
Reigen was incredibly lucky, that Mob’s parents were the people they were. If they were anybody else, they’d hate Reigen for sure. But for some unknown reason, the Kageyamas had always been nothing but kind to him, even in the beginning. They still invited him over for supper every couple months, even though Mob didn’t officially work at Spirits and Such anymore, and always treated him so fondly. “Thank you, for everything you do for Shigeo,” they’d always say at the end, when Reigen would be grabbing his overcoat and stepping outside the door.
And Reigen would always respond the same way: “Thank you both, but in all honestly, I don’t really do much.”
The most recent time, Mrs. Kageyama only smiled, placing a comforting hand on Reigen’s shoulder. “You be there,” she said, her voice gentle, almost soothing. “You’ve always been there, for Shige. And that’s all that matters.”
And it hit Reigen then, really dug into his heart, that these people were truly so grateful, genuinely so, even though he didn’t deserve such trust. Their care for him was so undeserving, yet so strong, strong enough that Reigen felt something swell in his chest at Mrs. Kageyama’s words, something akin to pride.
Out of all the lies in his life, maybe this one he could actually believe himself.
So Reigen hadn’t disagreed with them. He only waved and said, “Well, Mob’s always been there for me, as well. So it’s only fair, after all.”
Back at the ceremony, time passed slowly. Reigen tried to pay attention but he didn’t really care about the speeches. He could barely even remember his own middle school graduation; high school was the important one, anyway. This didn’t mean he wasn’t happy for Mob, however. He just wanted the ceremony to get to the part where he actually saw Mob. Suppressing a groan, he ultimately took to watching the kid next to him play his video game, some cutesy adventure storyline, for the next forty-seven minutes. “You’ve got the attention span of a seven-year-old,” Dimple mumbled above his head. Reigen ignored him.
Finally, finally, the graduates began to walk the stage. Reigen waited in barely-contained anticipation for Mob to appear, for him and his iconic bowl-cut to appear from the side of the stage.
And then he was there, walking out, as the principal announced, “Kageyama Shigeo.” Reigen had been told beforehand not to cheer like a maniac (by Ritsu, who had made him pinky-promise not to do anything embarrassing), so he took to clapping as loud as possible, biting his cheek to not say anything. Mob shyly crossed the stage and accepted his certificate from the principal, bowing and shaking her hand. When he turned around, Reigen watched him smile at his parents and little brother, and in the last second turn to make eye contact with Reigen himself. How the hell did he know where I was sitting? To a normal spectator, Mob’s face didn’t change at all, but Reigen noticed the deepening of his smile and the crease of his eyes, of course he did. He gave his former student a little wave before the teenager exited stage left.
And then it was over. Reigen sniffled. All at once he realized he’d been crying for at least a minute now, ugly-crying, at that. The woman next to him wordlessly passed him a few tissues with a comforting smile. “Thank you,” he whispered in a warbled voice. Somewhere behind his ear, he heard Dimple cackling like a madman.
Even after a couple minutes, the tears were still coming. Ah, damn it. This is starting to get a little embarrassing now. He tried to discreetly blow his nose while looking over at the Kageyamas, only to immediately make eye contact with Ritsu, who was already glaring at him. Ritsu sighed, like a parent disappointed in a child, and very slowly, with emphasis on each word, mouthed, “I. Told. You. Not. To. Be. Embarrassing.”
In better conditions, Reigen would have stuck out his tongue at him, or maybe even flipped him the bird, but all he did now was laugh guiltily, like he’d been caught committing a crime.
——————
*Click!*
“Beautiful, beautiful,” Reigen was saying from behind the camera. He lined up the shot to take another of the Kageyamas, who were standing in front of the ceremony’s photo space, a corner of the auditorium decorated with gold ribbons and balloons reading Happy Graduation! Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama stood with Mob between them, he holding up his certificate proudly, while Ritsu stood on his left. “Ritsu, can you smile?” Reigen asked, mostly to tease the kid because he already was smiling. He was looking at his older brother with pride, with utmost love.
Ritsu immediately snarled at Reigen. “But I already-“
“Joking, joking.” Reigen held his hands up in defense. “Okay, you guys should come look at these, see if you like ‘em.”
Reigen passed the camera to Mob, who looked at the photos with his parents. “Those are very nice, Reigen-san,” Mr. Kageyama said. “Thanks for taking them.”
“They look like basic pictures to me,” Ritsu muttered.
“Ugh! I’m so offended,” Reigen lamented, though his smile gave away that he really wasn’t.
Mob was smiling silently at the photos, but suddenly he looked up and towards a woman standing next in line for the photo spot. “Excuse me, Mrs. Kaboyashi?” he asked. “Could you please take one more picture of us?”
Reigen gawked, turning towards Mob. “Wait, do they actually look that bad?!” He handed the camera over to the teacher somewhat resentfully. “I could just stand farther back, or more forward, if that’s the issue!”
But Mob was laughing, truly laughing. “You’re funny sometimes, master,” he said. “Come on.” He gestured for him to come forward onto the photo spot, and all at once Reigen knew exactly what was happening.
“Oh, I…” he took a step and paused, watching the Kageyamas line up for the photo again. “I shouldn’t intrude-“
“Please join us, Reigen-san,” Mrs. Kageyama said, with that gentle voice of hers. “You’re basically family, anyway. You’re not intruding.”
You’re basically family, anyway.
You’re basically family.
It took all of Reigen’s strength for him not to fall into the meaning of those words, especially when Mob said “Exactly,” with such confidence, like he believed it with all of his heart. Reigen drew in a deep breath, not wanting a repeat of his rather emotional experience during the ceremony, and exhaled all of the other things out of him. Suddenly his shoulders felt lighter, his head clearer. He walked over to the family, and they cleared a spot for him, right behind Mob.
“Thank you,” he whispered to his former student. Mob looked back at him with a shiny smile, charged with pride, pride for both himself and for his master, it seemed. Mob looked back towards the camera, and Reigen placed a firm hand on his shoulder, strength passing between them like fire, and as the camera clicked Reigen felt his entire face light up, brighter than it ever really had before.