Chapter Text
Reigen decided it’s time. He stares in contemplation at the middle-schoolers, who are oddly his only companions, comfortably settled in his office. Then, he opens his big mouth to utter something he never expected himself.
“How would you show interest in someone without it being romantic?”
Ritsu blinks, confused. “That’s what you wanted to ask us?” His expression shifts to one of usual disappointment— the one for anytime he’s interacting with the grown man.
Reigen realizes damage has been done when he feels regret seep in. In truth, he had recently taken note of how he had never sincerely expressed his appreciation for his coworker, Serizawa, despite them working together for a whole year. Despite him being the backbone of the business with abilities that earn them enough money to put food on their tables. He finally came to the realization that he can’t encourage him using only insipid phrases like “good job” or “great work” like he did with Mob, even though they seem to work quite well. He holds his breath as he braces himself for ridiculous answers to his ridiculous question.
Teru leans back against the couch like he’s a professional on said topic. “Well, I suppose you could buy them an extravagant gift, then friendzone them afterwards.”
Everyone shoots him a subtle look that says, ‘of course you’d say that’. It's immediately crossed off the list; Reigen prefers something that doesn't require him to empty his wallet.
Mob places a finger on his chin, seemingly deep in thought until he answers, “I guess.. just tell them how you feel.”
Ritsu scoffs, feigning indifference just because it’s Reigen. “They’ll end up hating you no matter what you say, probably.”
Ritsu is ignored by all.
“Why are you asking us anyway?” asks Teru. “Aren’t you the professional on this kind of advice?”
Reigen props an ankle onto his knee, his typical confidence returning as if he’s still the great mentor he claimed to be a year ago. “Obviously to test what you kids would say after learning from yours truly. You’ve still got a long way to go, but you’re getting there!”
This would have been believable for someone who has never encountered Reigen and his melodramatic attitude. The arrogant facade dissipates the millisecond Serizawa steps foot in the office, and a wide grin forms upon his face as he greets the teenagers.
“Sorry I’m late, boss!” Serizawa announces as he places his belongings in his designated work space. “I tried to get here as fast as I could.”
“It’s no big deal,” Reigen nonchalantly dismisses with a wave of his hand. “Also, uh, you do know you don’t have to call me ‘boss’, right?
Ever since Mob obliterated Seasoning City, life has been as if Reigen had never confessed he was a fraud. He doesn’t quite know if they’re avoiding that fact out of pity, or if they had just forgotten about it altogether. Still, he wouldn’t do anything to remind them again.
“Ah, right, yes!” Serizawa says, fumbling. It's odd, considering how their roles should have been switched in the first place.
“He’s asking us stupid questions about his love life,” Ritsu exposes, earning the exact reaction he sought out from the middle-aged man.
“It’s not a love life!” Reigen grumbles. His opp stifles a giggle in return.
Tome butts in the conversation all the way from the bookshelves, indulged in some underground supernatural book written in 1989. “They’re talking about how to ask someone out without being in love with them. Of course Reigen would ask something as absurd as that.”
“There’s a difference between expressing interest and asking someone out,” Reigen says through gritted teeth, then pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. As much as he appreciates these kids, he still doesn’t think he’s fully capable of bearing with their shenanigans.
“Who is this for?” Mob excitedly asks, and Reigen stiffens.
“Ah,” Reigen barely covers his nervousness with a hearty chuckle. He’s purposely avoiding everyone’s gaze, his own settling on the stupid poster of his stupid, cocky face— a complete contrast to him right now. “It’s no one, really.”
“Hmmmm." Serizawa, for whatever reason, is now deep in thought. “Well, I’m not an expert on that kind of stuff, but to answer your question, just speak from the heart. If they appreciate you back, then it doesn’t matter what you say, as long as it’s genuine.”
Reigen nods slowly in return, as though to make it evident he took the response into deep consideration. He taps his chin for extra emphasis. “Welp, there you have it. Very nicely done, Serizawa.”
The subordinate beams, then rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “Thanks so much, boss- I mean, uh, sir!”
Silence.
Then,
Reigen clears his throat.
Tome, accustomed to their awkward interactions, scoffs. “You adults are so weird.”
Not wanting to be involved in the scene any further, Teru and the others begin to make their way out the office.
"It’s been fun being back here! We actually have plans so, yeah… see ya!” Teru waves, his bright blonde hair disappearing through the doorway.
“Bye,” Mob warmly says, oblivious—as per usual— to the situation.
And, as expected, Ritsu doesn’t even look back before slipping out the room.
Somehow, the absence of the teens amplified the awkwardness, with only the faint hum of the air conditioning barely filling the silence. Reigen’s eyes darted between a displeased Tome and a tense Serizawa, who could only stand there and anticipate his boss’ next orders.
Reigen drags a hand down his face.
“… Let’s just get back to work.”
. . .
Later that night, Reigen could only let himself merge with the twin-sized mattress that he noticed was becoming too small for comfort. It had already been hours since he closed Spirits and Such for the day, and instead of mentally preparing himself for the next, he’s indulging in his own pitiable thoughts. Specifically Serizawa’s advice, as it replayed in his mind against his will. It’s accompanied by an image of his benevolent face, and it wasn't getting any fainter, either. His head sinks deeper into the musty pillow, and his gaze settles on the ceiling as he envisions himself following said advice.
He could just do that—after all, it is what Serizawa would appreciate. It's already bizarre enough for Reigen, who neglects even his own advice, to be taking some from another person.
He pulls the cover over himself, finally deciding to get some shut-eye.
He’ll know what to say, eventually.
. . .
It's a rare sight to see Serizawa more composed than Reigen.
The blonde reads the room with a gulp. The pure silence and absence of Tome established tension, and it's further amplified by Serizawa's concentrated expression. They're sitting across each other in the familiar office, supposedly about to discuss a serious topic just after closing time. Reigen fixes his posture to reflect Serizawa's.
“What did you want to talk about?” Reigen kicks off the conversation. The whole ‘appreciation talk’ he forced to the back of his mind just a few nights ago was slowly creeping its way back up.
Serizawa starts, “I was thinking,” He clears his throat to rid of any nervous blabber itching to make its way out. “… What if I got another job?”
Reigen stills. “I’m sorry, what?” The question came out sterner than intended.
That statement alone was enough to have Serizawa return to his usual distressed state. “I-I mean! I love this job, but… I think there’s more to me than exorcising spirits.”
He pauses, then when Reigen doesn't respond, he locks in. “I'd like to meet and help even more people. And I want the opportunity to try new experiences.”
Everything from that night hits Reigen at full force. “Hold on-“
“I’ll keep working here if you want me to," Serizawa declares, gripping the dark blue fabric at his knees. “It was only a suggestion!"
Reigen is torn between gatekeeping his employee and having to tear away from his selfish needs. He's aware that if he comes off as too controlling, he’ll end up scaring Serizawa off even more. “If that’s what you want, then go for it. You may work for me, but I don’t control your life. Do whatever makes you happy.”
Reigen temporarily screws the ‘appreciation talk’. He instead focuses on trying not to think back to that time he didn't have a handy dandy esper to work alongside with. He prefers to avoid that incident at all costs, let alone have it happen again. Serizawa must know by now that Reigen isn’t one, if he ever once regarded the fact it was him doing all the exorcising while Reigen just watched from the sidelines.
Serizawa grins ear to ear. “Really? Thanks, boss. I’ll think about it some more!”
With a strained smile, Reigen watches Serizawa bow to the ground, gather his belongings, and clock out. Usually, Reigen would not make any attempt to linger in that smelly office any longer than 5 minutes after closing time. But here he was, remaining seated on the couch, processing everything Serizawa just bombarded him with.
Just a few months ago, probably neither of them ever imagined that Serizawa would consider working for someone else, especially how every interaction consisted of him treating Reigen like he was the greatest being to walk the planet.
Still, this doesn't change the fact that Reigen appreciates the man and his efforts, and only God knows if it would make any difference telling him that.
. . .
The next day proceeds like usual; Tome is rearranging books to make it seem like she’s doing something while Serizawa is hyper focused on a laptop.
“I think your shelf’s missing something,” Tome says after inspecting the limited collection of books propped on the bookshelf. Some works in the previous collection had burned away in the fire when the office had a short circuit. When renovating the new office, the books were at the least of their worries, but they were completely forgotten about in the end. “It’s all just about ghosts, you should add some variety!”
She dashes out the room without being questioned.
Reigen peers over at Serizawa, who is typing away about who knows what. He somewhat struggles initiating small talk. “Hey, what’cha doing there? Let me guess, responding to emails?”
Serizawa calmly smiles, and Reigen is almost offended at his newfound attitude. Or maybe he was just jealous he's able to take the situation gaily.
“I’m researching different jobs! What do you think I should do?" He asks a bit too excitedly for Reigen’s comfort.
That's when a wrinkle forms in Reigen’s brain. He speaks thoughtfully, “Well, you’re not only cooperative, but you're also quite considerate. I'd say a social worker is a fitting job for you, but that’s just me personally."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too!” Serizawa agrees. “You truly are a genius.”
Reigen is taken aback when Serizawa completely overlooked his perfect compliment. After he thought he delivered it so smoothly. He develops a new tactic on impulse. “Well, I’m sure this new company you’ll be working for is sooo great.”
Serizawa’s optimism wavers. "Um, I can just keep working here if you’d like. It’s fine, really!”
“What?” Reigen nearly loses it. He can’t tell if he’s delivering the wrong messages, or if Serizawa is just a horrible interpreter. He starts to grow desperate. “I meant it would be great because, you know, it would have, uh, you in it! Obviously!” His voice cracks on that last bit.
The other man frowns further.
“Boss, if you don’t want me to work anywhere else, you could just say so,” Serizawa reassures, and he's somehow coming off more mature than Reigen himself.
“No no, that’s not what I meant at all!” Reigen defends, waving his hands around in denial. “Do whatever you want! I literally don’t care.”
Serizawa’s lips press into a thin line, brows furrowing. “You… don’t?”
Okay, that was on him this time.
The door busts open revealing none other than Tome herself, now possessing a huge box of books containing different topics; aliens, theories, video games, and whatever weird things Tome is into that has no correlation to their business whatsoever.
“I’m back!” Tome skedaddles back to her spot near the bookshelf. “I got these from the library! Surely this would make the office more interesting. It really is a bit boring here.”
Inevitably, she picks up on the atmosphere. “Uh, did something happen?”
“Nothing!” Reigen says. He makes a feeble attempt at relieving the tension, folding his arms behind his head with a sigh. When it’s followed by silence and Tome’s judgemental look, he continues, “... We should probably prepare for our next client.”
As expected, they arrived for nothing more than a quick treatment, and soon does the last for a similar reason. Tome had been long since gone due to urgent matters, so the tension returned during the appointment with the last client. Reigen had insisted on handling this one alone, but he was met with Serizawa's disapproval, which had inadvertently intensified whatever was in the air.
By the time they closed the office, Serizawa was already silently preparing to leave. Before he could step out the office, a hand drops on his shoulder.
“By the way,” Reigen starts, clearly sheepish. “Uh, I do care, alright?”
He pauses, trying to settle on a lousy excuse that would further justify his actions. “I’m just, um, not feeling myself. 3 hours of sleep without coffee really does things to your body, you know?” That’s not entirely false.
The sun had begun to dip into the horizon, its rays peering through the cheap blinds and illuminating the room with its warmth. It turned the air wistful.
Serizawa softens at this, and the way his eyes brighten give Reigen relief. “Thank you, boss. I really appreciate it.”
Reigen doesn’t comment on the formal addressment this time. “Yup, no problem."
He pats Serizawa’s shoulder a bit harder than necessary, as if to say ‘forget this ever happened.’ But despite everything, he’s one step closer.