Work Text:
“Reigen-san?”
“Hm?” Reigen says without looking up from his computer. He’d gotten a fairly large collection of pictures to photoshop—err, digitally exorcize—and this curse seemed to only situate itself in the most finicky of places. Erasing it is easy enough, but finding photos to replace the empty spaces with is another thing entirely. If Reigen downloads another PNG with a transparent background that is, in fact, not a PNG with a transparent background, he is going to do something regrettable to his computer. He is fairly certain that Spirits and Such doesn’t have the funds for that.
It takes him a few more moments of clicking on his computer to realize Serizawa hasn’t spoken again. He finally looks up from his computer, opening his mouth to ask if there’s anything wrong, but the words dry up in his mouth when he sees Serizawa’s expression.
He looks… upset.
No, that’s an understatement. His eyebrows are drawn together, his mouth is pinched, his eyes are darting rapidly to every corner of the room, his hands are all but wringing themselves together, and frankly, Reigen is surprised that the potted plant in the corner of the office isn’t floating to the ceiling. Actually, nothing in the office is moving at all despite Serizawa’s visible anxiety, and Reigen finds himself faintly impressed with his coworker’s growth.
He’s getting distracted. His gaze pulls away from the rest of the office back to Serizawa. He doesn’t think he’s seen Serizawa so anxious since the time Reigen walked into a hurricane.
Reigen straightens in his seat, feeling vaguely apprehensive. It wasn’t often that Serizawa had such an expression, especially recently.
He’s been staring at Serizawa for some time, now. He clears his throat. Serizawa continues fidgeting.
“...Serizawa?”
Serizawa startles to attention, his eyes suddenly snapping to and staying on Reigen. He straightens to what Reigen thinks might be a painful extent, and his hands drop stiffly to his sides.
“I have something to tell you,” he blurts out.
This, if anything, makes Reigen more apprehensive. No one, Reigen thinks, has ever started off with anything on the lines of “we need to talk” and followed with anything remotely positive. He racks his mind for a few moments to see if he can guess what this is about. Is Serizawa quitting? If so, it was kind of long overdue, but Reigen isn’t actually prepared for the fallout. He’d had this grand plan that the second Serizawa started to show signs of disinterest in his work, he would whip up a half-hour presentation to convince him otherwise, and given the likely scenario it failed to do anything, offer Serizawa a hefty raise. But he didn’t have his presentation ready yet—
No, it probably wasn’t that. Reigen is actually pretty sure Serizawa has been enjoying his work more recently. He’d especially seemed to have fun with the last case they’d had with the wiggling flowers. On the walk back to the office, he’d been telling Reigen how he was going to show the pictures he’d taken of the flowers to his ex-coworker. Reigen had balked at the term ex-coworker, worried that Serizawa was returning to any association with Claw, but Serizawa had assured him Minegishi—Reigen thinks that was their name—was perfectly adjusted to civilian life. Or, at least, as close to civilian life as they could get.
So, no—while Serizawa quitting was certainly a possibility, Reigen is pretty sure it’s a rare one, at least right now. Then, what else could it be? Something about a curse? No, Serizawa wouldn’t be this nervous about a curse unless it was particularly awful, and while Reigen is still regrettably without spiritual powers, he’s spent enough time around espers to generally know what a high powered curse feels like. Usually, the presence of something like that would make the air static-y, almost like it’s been charged with electricity—but the only thing Reigen can feel in the air now is an awkward, silent tension.
Then, does it have something to do with their weekly nights at the bar? A few months ago, Reigen had worked up the nerve to ask Serizawa if he wanted to get drinks together after they had closed the office for the night on Friday. Somewhere along the way, it turned into a weekly thing. Reigen quite looks forward to those Friday evenings, but now he can’t help but overanalyze his behaviors during those meetings. Last Friday, had he done anything especially bad? His memory of the night is a bit fuzzy, but from what he can recall, he hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. He had been a little clingy, maybe, but no more than usual.
Hm. Reigen wonders if it might be a bit of a problem that he’s clingy at all, now that he’s thinking about it. Is that what Serizawa wants to talk to him about? It would explain Serizawa’s panicky disposition—who would want to confront their boss—well, Reigen was really more of a pseudo-boss, but, you know, semantics—about being too touchy?
Reigen realizes, once again, that he’s been staring silently at Serizawa for quite some time. This probably does not help his case.
He leans back in his chair with feigned nonchalance. “Yeah?” he asks. “What is it?”
Serizawa visibly swallows. “I…”
He’s really going to kill Reigen if he makes him wait any longer. Reigen leans forward, his hands clasped together on his desk, his eyebrows raised. “Yes?”
Serizawa makes a strange noise. Reigen is mildly concerned. Just as his hand begins to inch towards his phone to maybe call an ambulance, Serizawa finally speaks up.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
Reigen opens his mouth. Nothing comes out.
Reigen closes his mouth. He stares at Serizawa. Serizawa stares back.
After a long, long stretch of silence, Reigen finally speaks up.
“You think?”
“Yes,” Serizawa says, before shaking his head. “Uh, no. I mean—” He hesitates. “No. I know. Um.” He takes a breath. “I’m in love with you.”
“Oh,” Reigen says. “I see.”
Well, no wonder Serizawa looks so upset.
Being cursed to fall in love with your boss—especially when your boss is someone like Reigen—that really is awful.
“Since when?”
“Huh?”
“Since when have you been…” Reigen waves a hand in the air, “feeling like this?”
“Um,” Serizawa says, evidently a little taken aback by the question. “I’m not… sure.”
That wasn’t a good sign. Neither was the fact that Serizawa seemed to have no idea that he was cursed at all.
Well. Best to be direct about it.
Serizawa’s mouth opens. Reigen quickly speaks before Serizawa can unintentionally dig himself deeper into the hole.
“I think you’ve been cursed.”
Serizawa’s mouth closes. A moment passes.
“What?”
“Yeah,” Reigen hums, bringing a hand to his chin. “I know there was something up with those flowers. Hey, that’s right.” He snaps his fingers at Serizawa. “Didn’t you sneeze really hard from one of them?”
“I… have allergies,” Serizawa says weakly.
“Sure,” Reigen says with a shrug. “Or, more likely, you were cursed.” His voice drops to a mutter. “Or, there was that client last week with the ex-boyfriend… we broke that one vase, so maybe…” He trails off and shakes his head before standing from his desk. “Anyway, it shouldn’t be a big deal.” He glances around the office, but there’s no sign of Dimple. Where was the green menace when you needed him? “Dimple isn’t here now, but I bet he can eat the curse in no time when he’s back.” He rounds his desk to clap Serizawa on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, okay?”
Serizawa has spent most of Reigen’s spiel gawking at him. Reigen can’t really understand why this news is so surprising to him—it certainly wasn’t the first time Serizawa had been cursed while on the job, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
“No,” Serizawa eventually says. “Uh, Reigen-san, no, I’m—“ He shakes his head. “I’m not cursed.” When he sees Reigen’s obviously skeptical look, his expression turns a little more panicked. “Really. I’m not—I haven’t been cursed.”
Reigen stares at him. It certainly wasn’t the first time Serizawa had been cursed while on the job, but it was the first time he’d so adamantly tried to deny it.
This probably would have been easier if Serizawa still thought Reigen was a psychic. Unfortunately, Reigen had let the truth slip during one of their Friday night outings, so he doubts waving a hand around and proclaiming Serizawa was 100%, definitely, absolutely cursed would do the trick. Reigen considers his other options.
After a pause that stretches well into awkward, Reigen claps his hands together. The noise is enough to make Serizawa startle.
“Sure,” Reigen says, only because he’s fairly sure that arguing the matter any further while Serizawa’s still under the influence of the curse will amount to nothing. He’ll play along, at least until Dimple comes back around. “Okay. You’re not cursed.”
Serizawa looks immensely relieved at this statement. God, this really was a strong curse, wasn’t it?
Serizawa continues fidgeting for a bit. It takes Reigen a few moments to realize he’s probably waiting for a response to his original confession.
Reigen clears his throat. “Let me, ah, think about it, okay?”
Serizawa nods quickly. “Yes. Of course.”
Great. Reigen had bought himself some time.
Now, if only their resident poltergeist would deign to show up…
Reigen spends the rest of that day staring a hole into the door, willing Dimple to show up. He does not.
The morning of the next day, though, the green apparition lazily floats through the door with a short burp. Reigen stands up immediately, almost managing to upturn half of the things on his desk in the process. He ignores the scattering of his pens to jut a finger in Dimple’s direction.
“Where were you yesterday?”
Dimple stares at him like he’s grown another head. He scratches his nose.
“With Shigeo.”
Well, Reigen could have guessed that. He shakes his head before aggressively slapping his desk twice. He’s pretty sure he’s got a splinter now.
“You keep this lax behavior up, and I’m firing you.”
“Please do,” is Dimple’s dry response before he floats over to Serizawa’s shoulder. “Don’t know why I bother to spend half of eternity with you two.”
Reigen opens his mouth to retort, but Serizawa beats him to it.
“I think it’s very sweet of you, Dimple.”
That… was not what Reigen was going to say.
Anyway, Dimple’s reaction is quite funny to watch. His face contorts between a few different expressions before he turns away altogether and crosses his tiny arms.
“Whatever,” he huffs. “Don’t go thinking I actually like you guys or anything. I only stick around as a favor to Shigeo.”
In Reigen’s opinion, Dimple is just asking to be teased, but Reigen refrains—if only because he needs the spirit’s help for whatever’s wrong with Serizawa. He sits down, only to spring up again a moment later.
“I just remembered,” he blurts out. “There’s a client I couldn’t meet with yesterday since you didn’t show up. I rescheduled her to today. So. Let’s go.” He grabs his bag of salt and heads for the door, but pauses when he sees Serizawa stand up. “What are you doing?”
“...coming with you to see the client?”
“What?” Reigen shakes his head. “No. No, no, no. No. Uh—” He coughs. “No.”
Serizawa stares at him with mild concern. “Is… something wrong?”
Reigen barks out a slightly strained laugh. “What!” He waves his hands in the air. “No, no. It’s just, uh, you’ve got that big paper coming up, right? The history one?” Serizawa nods slowly. “Yeah, yeah, so—” Reigen spreads his hands in front of him. “You should work on that, okay? This client is, uh—I mean, her case, it’s, ah, really very straightforward, you know? And—and!” He snaps his fingers. “We need someone in the office in case a new client comes in. Yeah?”
“Right,” Serizawa says slowly.
“Right,” Reigen repeats.
They stare at each other for a few moments. Reigen is the first to break his gaze away.
“Alright, bye, this shouldn’t take too long, we’ll be back soon!” Reigen spits out in a rush before turning on his heel and marching out the door.
It’s only once they’re on the street that Dimple speaks again.
“What sort of client’s got you this worked up?”
“There is no client,” Reigen says shortly, only coming to a complete stop once he’s turned the corner and he’s sure he’s out of sight from their office. He turns to face Dimple and wastes no time in getting to the point. “Serizawa’s cursed, right?”
Dimple stares at him. “What?”
Reigen’s not sure what part of this is confusing.
“Serizawa,” he says slowly. “He’s cursed, right?”
“...no?”
It’s Reigen’s turn to stare at him. “What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, he’s not cursed.” Dimple wrinkles his nose. “At least as far as I could tell. And I can usually tell.”
Reigen brings a hand to his mouth. Damn. Then this curse really was worse than Reigen thought. To be undetectable not only to Serizawa, but also Dimple?
“Why do you think he’s cursed, anyway?”
Reigen lets his hand drop. He presses his lips together.
“Well,” he says, before pausing. “Well.”
Dimple stares at him. Reigen coughs.
“Well,” Reigen says again. “Serizawa seems to be under the impression that he's in love with me.”
Dimple doesn’t blink. “And?”
“And…?” Reigen trails off into a confused silence. “And nothing?”
Dimple raises his eyebrow impressively high. “That’s it?”
Reigen’s mouth flaps open and closed a few times. “What do you mean, that’s it—it’s not like that’s normal behavior for Serizawa, you know, to say something like that—” He waves his hand in the air. “Obviously, something’s wrong.”
“Or,” Dimple says pointedly, “he just likes you?”
Reigen has refused to let this possibility even cross his mind. His expression twitches.
“That’s not it.”
“How can you tell?”
“I just—I just can, listen, that’s not the point here—”
“Yeah, but how?”
“His expression,” Reigen finally blurts out. “He looked—upset, when he was telling me, and—” He presses his lips in a thin line. “Yeah. Of course he’d be. Who’d want to be cursed to confess their love to their boss?”
“He looked upset,” Dimple repeats skeptically.
Reigen nods. “Like he didn’t want to be saying it.” He crosses his arms and looks away. “That’s… that’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
As if Reigen knows at all what it’s supposed to be. The last time someone confessed to him was in middle school, and even that, only by accident. But that was beside the point. Reigen didn’t know what it was supposed to be, but this—this didn’t seem right.
And anyway—it was Serizawa. There’s simply no rational universe where he would confess to Reigen of his own will. Reigen figures it’s not worth it to voice this sentiment to Dimple.
“Okay,” Dimple eventually responds slowly. “But Serizawa is a nervous guy, right?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“This might be crazy, but,” Dimple spreads his arms out, his eyebrows raised, “maybe he was just nervous?”
Reigen blinks at him. “About what?”
“About… confessing to you?”
“Why would he be nervous about that?”
“Because it’s a big deal?” Dimple says incredulously. “Seriously, Reigen, you haven’t considered that at all?”
After a pause, Reigen lets out a short breath. “You’re not being helpful.”
“You’re not listening.”
Reigen ignores him to turn away. “Since you can’t see the curse, I guess you can’t get rid of it. I’ll call Mob later this week and see if I can—”
He turns back. Dimple is nowhere to be seen. He blows out a breath.
“Ridiculous,” he mutters to himself, before beginning the walk back to the office.
The office for the rest of the week is… tense, to say the least. Reigen tries not to seem overly affected by the situation, but he can feel Serizawa’s furtive glances at him throughout the week, and sometimes, they even make eye contact as Reigen tries to figure out how exactly the curse is functioning. Time doesn’t seem to have any effect on it, nor does location. Earlier in the week, after pacing in his apartment for a few minutes or maybe a few hours, Reigen had sent Serizawa a text along the lines of ‘haha are you still in love with me or’ and waited and watched the typing bubble pop up and disappear from Serizawa’s side for a good half hour before a final, simple ‘Yes’ was sent. Reigen had clutched his phone hard enough to make the screen crack.
Reigen has spent so much time thinking about what could be causing this behavior that he has yet to actually think about how it makes him feel—well, aside from the whole Dimple thing. When he does think about it, when he thinks about Serizawa standing in front of him, blurting out an undeniable confession—
Well. He doesn’t know what to think.
If he pushes past the immediate denial and confusion that rises to his mind, he guesses that the tentative emotion that remains is something maybe like joy. Maybe. Reigen doesn’t really know why. Did he want what Serizawa was saying to be true? Or was he just excited to be on the receiving end of any type of romantic attraction at all?
Reigen finds himself frowning at just the thought. Not for the first time, he’s grateful that Takenaka isn’t a regular at Spirits and Such. The last thing he needed was for a telepath to read his childish thoughts.
Then, maybe it was joy. Not that it really mattered, though.
Reigen’s plan after his unhelpful talk with Dimple was going to be getting Mob to exorcize the stubborn spirit still clinging onto Serizawa. When his texts and calls to the esper had gone unnoticed, though, even a few days into the week, Reigen had gotten worried enough to call Ritsu. After three calls in a row, he had finally picked up and bluntly informed Reigen that his brother was on a school trip for the entire week before promptly cutting the call. Reigen had been surprised that Ritsu had picked up at all, but the information still left him at square zero. Mob certainly wasn’t the only esper Reigen knew, but he was one of the only espers Reigen knew that was stronger than Dimple—he was one of the only espers Reigen knew that could possibly see a spirit that Dimple couldn’t.
So, Reigen’s been forced to have a very, very awkward week. At least he finally managed to find a transparent PNG for that one digital exorcism. It’s about the only win Reigen has had all week.
Finally, though, it’s Friday. Maybe the weekend—two whole days away from Reigen—will be enough to shake off this curse, but if not, at least Mob would be back to exorcise it the following Monday. Feeling vaguely optimistic, Reigen shuts his computer and leans back in his chair with a sigh. He doesn’t have much to look forward to for the rest of the evening other than a bowl of instant noodles in his apartment.
“The usual place?” Serizawa asks when he sees Reigen stand from his desk. It takes Reigen a moment to realize what Serizawa is referring to.
“Ah—for drinks?” Serizawa nods. Reigen coughs and adjusts his tie. “I don’t know about tonight, er, I’ve got some—things—to do at home. Yeah.”
Not Reigen’s smoothest fib. All he knows is that he can’t go to drinks with Serizawa, not when things are like this.
Reigen expects Serizawa to take the obvious lie for what it is and drop the matter, but instead, Serizawa’s eyebrows furrow. He watches Reigen for a few moments. Reigen stands, paralyzed under the searching gaze.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
Reigen startles at that. “What?”
Serizawa frowns. His shoulders drop. “You still think I’m cursed, don’t you?”
Reigen’s mouth opens. Reigen’s mouth closes.
“I didn’t—”
“You do,” Serizawa says, and Reigen’s mouth snaps shut. He watches as Serizawa brings a hand to his forehead. “Reigen-san, I’m not cursed.”
“I… I know you think that,” Reigen starts carefully. Serizawa shakes his head.
“I am not cursed,” Serizawa repeats emphatically. “I don’t know—I don’t know how to convince you, but I’m not—this isn’t just—” He makes a frustrated noise and puts his head in his hands. Reigen stands there staring at him for a few moments.
“It’s… okay, it’s not—”
“You think this is new, right?” Serizawa interrupts suddenly, looking up. “You think I’ve been cursed because you think this happened recently, right?”
Reigen is a bit taken aback by the interruption. He blinks a few times. “Y…es…?” Among other things, he doesn’t add.
“Okay,” Serizawa says. “Okay.”
To Reigen’s continued bewilderment, Serizawa pulls out a notebook from one of his desk drawers. He flips through a few pages before pausing at one. His eyes skim the paper, and he frowns.
“I didn’t… want to have to show you these,” Serizawa mutters, mostly to himself. “But I’m…” He trails off. He looks back up to meet Reigen’s eyes. “I don’t know how else to convince you.”
Reigen can only watch silently as Serizawa approaches him to hand over the notebook. For a few moments, he stares blankly at the pages before looking up to blink at Serizawa.
“What—”
Serizawa taps the top of the page. “February 12th.”
“That’s… a few months ago,” Reigen says stupidly out loud. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Read the rest of it.”
Reigen forces his gaze back down. It’s a diary entry, or, at least, it looks like one. It’s definitely Serizawa’s handwriting, and Reigen can tell from the texture of the pages that the notebook has been well-used. His eyes trail to the words just below the date.
I think I wonder if This isn’t really the best way to Maybe I should start
Below this line of scratched out phrases, another line has been fully scribbled out—enough that Reigen can’t make out a single word. Below this, finally, begins the unmarred writing.
No one else is going to read this. I guess it’s fine to be straight-forward with it. I think I’m in love with Reigen-san.
There’s more after it, but Reigen’s eyes are stuck on the one line. It’s not the first time he’s seen it—hell, Serizawa has been telling him as much for the entire week, but something about seeing it on paper, something about seeing it undeniably there—
He wrenches his eyes back to the date. February 12th.
I think I’m in love with Reigen-san.
“Ah,” Reigen eventually says. “I see.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Reigen says, and with some difficulty, he manages to pull his eyes away from the notebook back to Serizawa. “I got it wrong. You’re not cursed.” He nods. “You’re just confused.”
Serizawa’s mouth fully drops open. “What?”
“I understand,” Reigen starts, closing the notebook and pressing it back into Serizawa’s hands, “it can be, you know, a lot to, uh, experience the real world after so long, and…” He trails off for a moment. “Listen, I appreciate the feeling, obviously, I’m, ah, flattered, I guess, but—” He pats Serizawa on the shoulder twice. “What you’re feeling, it’s just gratitude, okay?”
“You can’t know that—”
“It’s okay! It’s okay, really. Just, you know, we’ll put a hold on the Friday evening things for a bit, you know, I wouldn’t want to confuse you any more—”
“Reigen-san, stop.”
Reigen’s mouth snaps closed.
“I am not—” He exhales shortly. “I am not confused. I am not cursed. I’m…” He clutches his notebook. “I don’t understand why this is so hard for you to accept. I know… I know my own feelings, and I’m not going to let you—to let you stand here and tell me they aren’t real. I’m not a child, Reigen.”
Okay. Well, when Serizawa puts it like that, Reigen thinks he might have been a bit unfair to Serizawa. Before he can think too long about it, Serizawa continues.
“Why… why is this so hard for you to believe?”
This is a question Reigen really would rather not answer to Serizawa himself, but pinned under such a stare, with the knowledge of how he’s been treating Serizawa all week for no real reason makes the words tumble out of Reigen’s mouth before he can think about them.
“You… looked like you didn’t want to say it.”
Serizawa blinks at him. “What?”
“When you.” Reigen pauses and huffs out a short breath before crossing his arms and pretending to inspect something on his desk. “When you—confessed—that one time—” He pauses again. “You looked like you didn’t want to be saying it. So, I thought, maybe you were—being forced, or something.”
“Oh,” Serizawa says after a pause. Reigen continues to inspect the incredibly interesting pencil on his desk. “I guess I was a little… nervous, but…” He trails off. “That’s not all, is it?”
Reigen laughs, a bit off-kilter. “What else would it be?”
“You wouldn’t be this stubborn about it if it was just that.”
Damn. Damn. Reigen forgot Serizawa isn’t one for dropping subjects that easily anymore.
“Is it just…” There’s a note of hesitancy in Serizawa’s voice. “Did you not want to hear it that badly?”
Reigen can’t help the way he spins around at that, eyes wide. “What? No.”
Serizawa stares back at him with similar wide eyes. Reigen feels his face flush, and he pulls back.
“I mean, I didn’t—it’s not like I didn’t want to hear it, if anything, I kind of—I guess I—”
Shit. Reigen is digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. He swallows.
“I didn’t… want to…” His excuses dry up on his tongue under Serizawa’s gaze. His shoulders drop. “I… thought it was too good to be true.”
Serizawa’s eyes widen even more. “Too good to be true?”
“I mean, no one actually…” He weakly waves a hand in his own direction. “This? Really?” He lets out a short laugh. “That’s what you choose, Serizawa?”
“Yes,” Reigen is surprised to hear Serizawa say immediately and emphatically. “No one else. I’m not saying this because of a curse, or because I’m confused, I…” His voice becomes softer. “I’ve thought about this a lot. I am grateful to you, but I know what that feels like. This isn’t it. This is different, this is… warmer.” He seems to get a bit embarrassed at this, and turns his head away to clear his throat. “I hope… you can believe me when I say that.”
Reigen is terribly, terribly grateful that no one else is currently in the room to watch Reigen’s face turn an unflattering shade of red. It takes him a few moments to find his words again.
“I think… I think I’m… starting to,” Reigen admits finally. “It’s going to—take me a bit of time, though.” He pulls at his tie. “I know that’s not—ideal. And I’ve made you wait this long already. But—”
“Yes,” Serizawa says before Reigen can finish. “I’ll wait.”
“Really?” Reigen can’t help but ask, his eyebrows raised. “After—all of this?”
“You… finally believe me, right?” Reigen nods after a pause. “Then… yeah. I’ll wait. As long as you need.”
“Oh,” Reigen says stupidly. “Wow. Okay.”
Serizawa smiles. And that, right there—Reigen thinks he might understand that warmth Serizawa was talking about, after all.
“...the usual place?” Serizawa asks after a stretched out pause.
Reigen huffs out a laugh.
“Yeah. I think a drink sounds good right now.”