Chapter Text
Reigen checked the clock.
10:13 am.
The day wasn’t going any faster. Mornings had been slow recently, which wasn’t very odd, but that meant Spirits N Such was more likely to encounter a disheveled, middle-aged man or woman begging in the doorway around 8, right as they were closing. Don’t get him wrong, Reigen could never pass up an opportunity to make more money, but his overly charismatic business (scammer) personality tended to waver more towards the end of the day. There were a few times during which Serizawa offered to handle the job so Reigen could leave, but it was hard to tell whether it was out of the kindness of his heart, or to avoid the ever-approaching scenario in which he would have to hold Reigen back from strangling a client.
Serizawa was currently reorganizing the bookshelf so the books were in alphabetical order. Reigen had told him it was unnecessary, but Serizawa had replied that he needed some way to entertain himself, and he also wanted to practice organizing to get in the habit of keeping his apartment clean. He was like that, always looking for some opportunity to better himself. Reigen might’ve felt a bit jealous.
In addition to the last minute clients, Tome was prone to eliciting a similar reaction out of Reigen recently. She had the annoying habit of forgetting to let the two know when she would be able to make it to the office, which could mean a quiet and relatively manageable day for the two, only for her to barge unexpectedly and make a racket about school or a recent discovery she had come across watching a dated documentary on aliens or an urban legend of some sort.
Reigen and Serizawa loved her, but weren’t always in the mood to deal with an excited highschool girl. Especially now that she had taken every opportunity to tackle Reigen from behind when he stood up to stretch after slumping over his laptop for a few hours. At first Serizawa would rush over to pry her off, but now he just scolded from his humorously small desk and lifted her off with his telekinesis. Which would then get her even more excited after witnessing his psychic power and then she’d shift her pestering over to him. Reigen had no idea how Mob had become friends with her.
Speaking of Mob, it was strange to not have him around as much. Reigen would find himself glancing over at that small desk, only to find Serizawa sitting there instead, chewing on a pencil whilst trying to figure out some math problem. And then Reigen would make his way over, offering to help, despite the two knowing well that Reigen was terrible at math and he’d probably offer some offhanded and very unhelpful advice instead.
Dimple had also stopped showing up daily, too. But it warmed Reigen’s heart to know that it was because he was sticking around with Mob instead. Although he tried to deny it, Dimple loved that kid and made sure to look out for him. He still popped it every so often to, unsurprisingly, pester Reigen.
Reigen smiled. Despite the annoyance both the clients and sometimes his own friends brought him, he was so grateful for those he had met over the years. Reigen tried to sneak a genuinely heartfelt statement along with his clapback to let them know he still appreciated them.
Reigen was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that Serizawa had navigated over to the window, and was absent mindedly fidgeting with the blinds. He must’ve noticed Reigen was staring at him because he spoke up.
“It’s been a year…”
“Huh? What d’ya-”
“Oh! I mean…since Claw…disbanded”.
Reigen raised an eyebrow.
“You‘ve been counting?”
“Yes. I mean, it was a pretty big turnaround in my life.”
Serizawa watched the street below.
“I guess that’s true.”
Reigen swiveled in his chair, turning his body more to face Serizawa, who still had his back turned.
“You’ve changed a lot…I remember the days when you’d play with the bookshelf just to avoid starting a conversation”.
Serizawa chuckled.
“Yeah…”.
“You’ve grown..even though you said you couldn’t…I’m proud. Of you”.
Serizawa turned to face Reigen, and smiled softly.
“Thank you”.
Oh Serizawa…Reigen felt something strike his heart a little.
Reigen rushed to fill the silence and quickly shifted the mood.
“Hey! Do you wanna get drinks after work? I mean, to celebrate?”
Serizawa rubbed his elbow.
“Uh! Well I…”
“Oh! Is that not.. I mean that is something to celebrate right? Or are you busy-“
“No, no! Drinks would be great!”
“Oh. Alright!”
“Drinks. Yeah…to commemorate…um, at eight?”
“Sure! Sounds good!”
Reigen returned to typing on his laptop.
Serizawa cringed and returned to his desk. Gosh, that was awkward. He didn’t want to return to his old habits.
But spending quality time with Reigen would be nice. And, it had been a year since the two had met as well.
Maybe that was something a little more worthy of celebrating.