Work Text:
Foible
/ˈfoib(ə)l/
noun
a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character.
"they have to tolerate each other's little foibles"
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“Shishou,” Mob closes the office door, sweating slightly, “you really need to be more careful about your clients.”
It wasn’t the first time a client had gotten violent. How it always happened, Mob wasn’t sure. Were they unhappy with Reigen’s service? Why? He usually ended up having to help his mentor when they did, though his presence was usually enough. Most people didn’t want to fight in front of a kid, you know?
But this client hadn’t been one of those people. Reigen and the client had been in another room when the yelling started. Mob waited a minute, thinking that maybe it was part of the new service. After the sound of glass shattering rang through the office, though, he could tell something was wrong.
When he entered the room, the man had Reigen pressed against the wall and was shouting loudly. A mixture of annoyance and fear – mostly fear – was present on Reigen’s face. His hands were held up, and he kept trying to calm the man down, but his words were quickly drowned out.
Mob stood, frozen, watching as his mentor’s face became an increasingly concerning shade of red. Reigen’s eyes widened slightly when he spotted the boy, and Shigeo considered his options. Fighting the client was almost completely out of the question, because using his powers against someone was a no-go, and he wasn’t particularly strong.
Would Reigen ask him to fight? He seemed pretty desperate. And if he did, what then? Would Mob be able to say yes?
But those questions were useless, because Reigen would never ask that of him. It had been he who told Mob not to use his powers against people in the first place, that his powers were nothing more than knives that should never be pointed at another.
“Mob! Get out of here!” His voice was strained from the effort of speaking while his windpipe was slowly being crushed. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused, and Mob briefly wondered if he had hit his head. It was only then that he noticed the blood dripping down Reigen’s arm, and his eyes drifted towards the shattered vase right below his feet.
“I–”
The man’s eyes snapped towards him, and a shiver of fear ran through his body.
“Oh no you don’t… I don’t need you rattin’ me out before I get my revenge!” He emphasized his last words with a shake of Reigen’s body before he dropped the man, turning towards Mob instead. The boy shook slightly, all color draining from his face as the man advanced.
There was no time for a reaction, though, as a sudden yell was heard from behind the man.
“Self defense rush!” Who he was yelling that too was unclear, because Mob wasn’t going to say it was anything but that. The man fell to the ground with a thump, and Reigen doubled over shortly after. It was less so that the client was stronger than Reigen, and more likely that he had caught the man off guard. He was surprisingly good at self defense, after all.
“Mob..” Reigen panted, forcing himself into a sitting position, “Please… bring this guy outside… and call the police.”
“Okay.” He had already lifted the man into the air and was ready to exit without any further questions. But Reigen was clutching his arm, and his breathing was heavy. Not to mention the red indent that had been left on his neck; it was already starting to turn a mixture of purple and green. “You should go to the hospital, shishou.”
“I’ll be fine, Mob.”
Now that he has returned, Reigen still doesn't look any better. His back is turned to Mob, hunched over his desk. He doesn’t reply to the boy’s words, and his suit has started to stain red in small patches.
“Shishou?”
“Gah!” Reigen turns back around, his arms up as if to fight. Mob flinches slightly, but both relax when they realize the situation. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, okay!?” Mob nods curtly, but then returns his attention to Reigen’s obvious injuries.
“Aren’t you going to wrap that up?” He asks, gesturing towards Reigen’s arms. “And your head… You really should go to a hospital.”
“I told you it’s fine, kiddo. Don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure to get checked out at some point.” The last part is muttered, but Mob supposes that’s the best he’s going to get.
“What were you looking at?” He peers around Reigen, stepping closer to his desk. “Is that the client’s wallet?” Mob frowns, noticing that some of the money has been taken out and placed on the desk. “Shouldn’t you return that?”
“Well he’s got to pay for something!” Reigen replies, his tone exasperated. He glances back at his desk, grabbing one stack of yen. It isn’t much, but still more than Mob was expecting. “Your pay for the day.”
Mob accepts the money, a little confused. “But I didn’t help with a job today.”
Reigen rubs the back of his neck, a guilty look crossing his face. “You did enough.”
“...Why didn’t you ask me to help?”
Reigen’s eyes widen once more, and he exhales deeply. “That was a grown up fight. You shouldn’t have even seen it.”
“It wasn’t the first time.”
“I know.” He sounds frustrated, but not with Mob. “Next time that happens, you run. Especially if someone threatens you directly. Leave those fights to the adults!”
It was strange. Reigen is powerful, Mob knows that much. But he has no abilities suited to fighting as far as either of them know, nothing that works against living human beings. So why insist on fending for himself when they both know it’d cause him more harm than allowing Mob to handle it.
Still, Mob is grateful. Part of him feels relieved when Reigen says that, because shouldn’t it be true?
Even so, he worries for his master sometimes. He’s too reckless, too confident. So far things have worked out, but what if they don’t one day?
He hopes that day never comes.