Chapter Text
"You think it's a real one?" Serizawa asks, he and Reigen matching stride.
"Well," Reigen says, "It could be. The main issue she brought up was with her garden. She says she's seen strange things darting around, and had plants mysteriously torn up. I'm leaning towards a rodent problem, personally."
Serizawa hums. "It could be ghost rodents."
Reigen shudders at the mental image. "I hope it's not."
Their conversation pauses as they board the train and find their seats. Serizawa sits primly—back straight, hands in his lap—and Reigen slides into a lazy slouch next to him, kicking out one leg and crossing it over the other.
"I thought your thing was bugs?" Serizawa asks once they're settled.
"I don't have a thing," Reigen retorts as the train shudders into motion. "Either way, ghost or not, I'm going to need your help with this."
Serizawa pats his arm. "Don't worry. I won't let you wrangle rats all alone."
Reigen rolls his eyes, though he's smiling. "My hero."
The address they're headed for is a short trip away. Reigen thinks it's the nearest residential area there is to the office, even. As such, the very next stop is theirs, and he launches out of his seat, marching off the train before turning to wait. Serizawa's too used to his antics to bother rushing after him, and instead picks his way carefully around the milling crowds, approaching with an air of amusement.
He catches up, and they fall into step once more.
Reigen hopes this job is something spiritual. That way Serizawa can just snap his fingers and be done, nice and quick; he wants to get back to the office as soon as possible, to continue soaking up Serizawa's presence for as long as possible. That, and he doesn't particularly feel like crawling around in the dirt setting traps or boxing up vermin today.
It doesn't take much effort for them to hunt down the right address, but just before Reigen can stride up the brick walkway Serizawa's hand lands on his shoulder. He stops short and throws an inquisitive look back.
"It's a real one," Serizawa says, giving him a brief, meaningful look. "It's weak, but… just, be careful."
A wish come true.
"Alright." Reigen pats the hand reassuringly and steps away. It's endearing how serious Serizawa can get when there's any level of danger. He knows it's only due to his own absence of power, but he likes to flatter himself sometimes, to play with the idea that Serizawa's protective over him specifically.
Brushing off that indulgent train of thought, he approaches the door and knocks. A woman answers, possibly in her late sixties, with black hair cropped short—shorter than Reigen's—and a heft to her that speaks of strength, under the soft weight. She smiles up at him, and her face holds a conscious kindness, like she's made the choice to bear it. "Hello. You would be the psychics, I assume?"
Reigen helicopters his arm around just for the hell of it, and then jabs a thumb at himself. "Reigen Arataka, the one and only!"
"Serizawa Katsuya," Serizawa tacks on after, bowing next to him.
She pulls the door open wider, looking amused. "Aimi. Come on in." She leads them to a small, bright dining room, with a large window on each pale yellow wall. The majority of the space is taken up by a worn wooden dining table. "Would you two like some tea, or anything to eat before you get started?"
Reigen's ready to decline, his impatience already in full swing, but Serizawa beats him to the punch. "A cup while we discuss the details couldn't hurt."
"Wonderful," Aimi says, gliding off to the adjacent kitchen. "Go ahead and seat yourselves, I'll have it ready in no time."
She vanishes around the corner, and they're left standing there. Reigen drops his voice low. "Taking our time, are we?"
"It'll be ready in no time," Serizawa repeats to him, pulling out a chair and sitting. His tall, broad stature is out of place in the tiny room, but Reigen thinks it suits him; he looks domestic. "It won't hurt to spend a little longer here."
Reigen takes the chair next to him, leaning his elbows onto the table. "I don't think there are any more details, are there?"
"How would we know if we haven't heard them? And besides." He drops his own voice, matching Reigen's tone as he leans down and in, their heads almost touching. "It didn't look like anyone else lives here when we walked through. I thought she might just want to talk to someone."
Aimi reemerges then, bearing a tray with three mugs, and settles down opposite from them as Serizawa straightens out again. "Are you boys sharing secrets?" she asks, looking between them with a strangely deep-running fondness.
"Business secrets," Reigen tells her grievously.
"Mm, I see." She pushes the tray towards them. "I wasn't sure how you two like to drink yours, so I left it plain."
"That's fine." Reigen takes one of the offered drinks and sips at it. "So, is there anything we should be aware of before we get started?"
"Well," she begins, "my entire garden has been affected, but it's seemed particularly interested in my flowers. I've been finding them crushed, or dug out, or just gone entirely." She sips from her own drink, gazing above their heads as she thinks. "Beyond that, I've been catching movement out of the corner of my eye lately when I'm out there tending the plants. Ordinarily I wouldn't think much about it, maybe a trick of the eye, but the number of times it's happened in combination with all else…"
Reigen nods slowly. "Yes, I understand. It does sound concerning altogether." She meets his eye again, and he thinks she looks considerably serene for someone with a haunted garden. Then again, it hasn't been a threat to her personally yet—just a nuisance. "Have you had any experiences lately—any strange people you've come across, or sketchy purchases? Anything you think could have invited a presence in?"
She takes the question very seriously, peering down into her drink this time, brows pinching together. "I don't believe so. I haven't suffered from any… recent losses, or strange people, no."
Reigen glances at Serizawa, who tics his head just barely to the side when their eyes meet. Let's look around? He nods minutely back, and faces Aimi again. "Do you mind if we begin our investigation, then?"
"Oh, no, not at all. Go ahead and look wherever you need, I'll clean up in here." She stands as she speaks, taking their still mostly-full mugs onto the tray.
Reigen feels a brief stab of regret that he hadn't let them talk longer—she seems like a good person. "Thank you," he says, standing, "and thank you for the drinks."
"Of course." Her eyes wrinkle as she smiles again, still looking so endeared that she might as well have watched them grow up. She must be the sentimental type, he supposes. "You two are some lovely young men, entertaining me like that."
She passes them into the kitchen again after that, and Reigen ushers Serizawa ahead of him and out of the room, regret morphing into uncomfortable guilt now that she'd thanked them. He wouldn't ordinarily feel much turmoil over rushing a client, but something about her seems… familiar in a way.
No matter, though; work is work, and they have a job to do.
"So, anything stand out to you?" he asks, the two of them now in Aimi's living room.
"Not yet," Serizawa answers. "We need to check out the garden, don't we?"
They do, but as Serizawa turns and reaches for the back exit, the room next to it catches Reigen's attention. Its door sits partially open, and flashes of vibrant color peek out at him, bright and begging for attention. He creeps over and nudges it further. Something about the act feels shifty despite Aimi's blanketed permission, but he's curious about what he'd caught through the crack.
Then he gets a look inside, and his reservations are forgotten.
All he really thinks at first glance is, wow, that's a lot of pink. The room seems to be some kind of office with a desk in the corner, but there's hardly any walking space for the way it's filled to the brim with paintings. Dozens upon dozens of canvases are stacked up, strewn across the floors, propped against the walls. He has to pick through like a cat to get any distance in.
"Reigen?" Serizawa calls from the doorway.
"Just looking," he answers, turning in a semicircle, entranced by the endless shades of blush, and rose, and magenta—any hue of pink he can think to name. He picks one of the paintings up off the top of a stack next to him, fingers delicate around the edges, and takes a closer look. It's rough, but done in purposeful strokes—some form of impressionism, he thinks. It bears a vast and pink field that sits under a brooding, stormy sky.
It's an interesting contrast, but there's not much else about it to absorb, so he sets it back down where he'd gotten it. Then he turns and finds Serizawa had followed him in after all, holding a different painting and looking down at it. His back is to Reigen. There's a clear path between him and the door, likely made with ESP.
Reigen approaches and peeks over his shoulder. The picture is much the same composition as the one he'd just examined; bright and flowery scenery, all drenched in gloom. It's sort of depressing.
"These are all kind of… sad," Serizawa says.
"Yeah," Reigen agrees quietly. Now that he's had the chance to really look, each canvas in the room follows the same pattern.
Each light and whimsical landscape is offset by dark, despairing doom. He's beginning to feel concerned for Aimi when one particular piece, buried under several others on the desk, catches his eye. The corner of a blue sky peeks out, and he eases the other paintings off to uncover it, handing them to Serizawa so he can pick it up.
It's full of pink, as every other painting in the room is. It's of a cherry tree, with innumerable petals cascading down that carpet the hill it stands on. The main difference is the bright, clear sky that'd caught his eye, and the crude quality it'd been painted with. Childlike, if not for the patient, albeit sloppy detail that had been put in, with each petal stamped deliberately down, one by one. No child would have sat long enough to accomplish such a thing.
It's cheerful on its own, but rings hollow surrounded by the rest of the room.
Reigen sets it back down and clears his throat, smoothing out his already spotless suit to busy his hands. "Let's get to the garden. There's nothing in here, right Serizawa?"
He says it like he knows, which he doesn't, and Serizawa knows he doesn't but rolls with it anyways. "Right."
He replaces the paintings that Reigen had handed off to him and carefully arranges the room behind them while they exit, leaving it as though they'd never been there to begin with. The door croaks pitifully when Reigen pulls it back to how it was.
Serizawa holds the garden door open for him after, and Reigen passes through, out into a clearing of wispy, seeded grass, brushing just past ankle height. It's surrounded on all sides by beds of flowers, save for the far corner where a willowing tree stretches up and out, hanging over a bench nestled between some bushes. It's clearly a place that's been loved and carefully maintained in spite of the damaged patches that stand out. He lets the gentle smell of the flowers wash over his unease.
"It's beautiful, even after some of it's been torn up," Serizawa says.
Reigen looks up at him, and the breeze rushes around them, the sound of shifting leaves making him forget for a moment that they're working. "It is," Reigen agrees, still watching Serizawa. His eyes stray to the side slightly, and just beyond Serizawa is a cluster of orange and white flowers that Reigen doesn't recognize. He decides to approach those, rather than staring until he's caught.
He brushes his fingers over them, and finds they're pleasantly soft under his touch. He turns, eyes lingering on them for a second, and opens his mouth to ask if Serizawa can feel the problem yet, and—
"Don't move."
And Serizawa stares just past him, hand outstretched and face serious. "The spirit's right next to you."
Oh. Reigen stills, and then his hair shifts, disturbed by unseen power as Serizawa exorcizes the threat. It only takes a second for him to deflate again, energy dissipating, and Reigen deflates with him. "Okay?" he asks.
"Yeah." Serizawa's arm drops.
Reigen reaches up to smooth his hair back down, slightly off-put, and spots Aimi approaching them from the direction of the bench. He hadn't realized she'd come through the door—must have missed it.
"How are things out here?" she asks.
"All done and dusted," he answers, stepping around Serizawa. "So, for payment, we have a few options…"
He launches into his usual spiel, so familiar to him he could recite it in his sleep. He wonders, in the back of his mind, what Serizawa thinks when he watches him handle the business side like this. If it ever leaves a sour taste in his mouth.
Aimi has to go inside for her bag before she can pay, and when he glances over his shoulder Serizawa is turned entirely around, staring at the orange and white flowers again. Reigen steps up to him and claps a hand on his shoulder. "See something interesting?"
Serizawa jumps and looks at him. "Oh—I was just thinking."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah…" He turns back away, facing the flowers. Again. Reigen kicks away the urge to press for answers.
"One of the flowers fell off when I took care of the spirit," Serizawa says.
"Hm?" He looks down, and sure enough, there's a fresh orange flower laying on the ground. Serizawa stoops to pick it up, and then faster than he can register any of what's happening, Serizawa brushes Reigen's hair back and tucks the flower behind his ear. Then he steps away, just slightly, and smiles. "It matches."
Reigen stares, brain function gone offline, and Serizawa clarifies, "Your hair, I mean."
"Oh." He bites down on his tongue. What the hell is he supposed to say to that!?
Serizawa, still mostly in his personal space, looks him up and down. Reigen hopes his face isn't as red as it feels. "You're okay, right? Not hurt?"
Reigen takes a step back, putting them closer to an arm's length apart. He's almost dizzy—almost. "I'm fine. Thanks."
Aimi joins them again, and Reigen's grateful for the excuse to turn away and slide back into business once more. Serizawa isn't making it easy for Reigen to let go by the time his graduation rolls around. He doesn't understand what it means, when he does these things; if he's meant to read into it, or if it's just a joke, or…
Aimi's eyes flick up as he takes the bills from her, and she smiles—and he realizes he'd left the flower in his hair. He's not sure if he was supposed to—if Serizawa expected him to just brush it away and laugh it off or not. He's never sure, with Serizawa.
Instead of standing there and continuing to wonder if he looks like an idiot, he bids Aimi an enthusiastic goodbye, and then pivots on his heel to exit through the back gate. He doesn't bother checking if Serizawa's following him as he heads in the direction of the station. He probably is, and Reigen's probably being kind of an ass right now, but he doesn't care. He's too busy employing his well-worn technique of running the hell away before he can say anything stupid.
He doesn't slow until they're back on the train and sitting next to each other again, and then he's back to debating if he should pull the flower from his ear or not. If it would be weird to grab it now after leaving it for so long. But maybe it's weirder that he'd left it like that in the first place.
Why does he have to go and make such a big deal out of it? It's only a flower. He's just getting it all tangled up in his unwarranted feelings.
"Hey," Serizawa says. There's a slight delay before Reigen registers the grab for attention, looking up. Serizawa stares at the wall across from them. "So, the old super five found out my graduation is coming up."
Reigen blinks. "You… still talk to them?"
Serizawa scratches the back of his neck, still staring off. "Well, sort of. Shimazaki made a group chat with everyone a few months after everything happened. None of us really know how he got our numbers…"
Reigen blinks again. Who?
"And we've never met up in person, but we know what the others are up to, somewhat. But—they want to celebrate. My graduation, I mean—and they invited you too."
Now he's even more confused. "Me?"
"You don't have to go if you don't want to." Serizawa finally turns to face him, and Regien realizes his startled silence is being interpreted as apprehension. Which, yeah, he's feeling that too—but he hadn't meant to leave Serizawa floundering. "It's just—well, I thought I would extend the invitation, since they asked—"
"I'll go," he interrupts. "It'll be good for, uh, morale."
"Right." Serizawa doesn't quite smile, though his expression warms. "They wanted to get together on Friday, if that's not too short of notice."
Reigen shakes his head. "No, that's fine, I'm not busy."
"Good," Serizawa says.
Then the conversation drops, just like that, and Reigen is once again left to his own internal devices.
The old super five, huh? He doesn't think Serizawa's brought them up to him before, but according to what he'd said, they've stayed in contact for years. It's pretty unexpected, but… he supposes he's not entitled to every part of Serizawa's life. Just because they work together doesn't mean he gets to know everything. Reigen just has a habit of getting ahead of himself, is all; of assuming he's more than he is.
The train lurches to a stop and he snaps out of his head. The rest of the walk is quiet, for better or for worse, and as they step into the office Reigen finally slides the flower from his hair. "Can't take clients like that," he explains, and Serizawa smiles mildly.
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't." He grabs his phone then and checks the time, and his smile drops. "Shoot, I'm—I need to get going. Class is soon." He turns and rushes through the room, gathering his things, and spits out a quick, "See you tomorrow!"
The door swings back shut before Reigen's moved a single step, and he's left standing alone, flower still clutched in his hand. He looks down at it and sighs. "Just you and me now, huh?"
It doesn't respond.
Staring at it, Reigen wonders why he's been invited. Not by Serizawa—but by his old group. Just to be friendly? But why be friendly to their old friend's boss? That's all he is, really—Serizawa's boss.
Whatever. It doesn't have to be a big deal. He shouldn't overthink it so much. It's just going to be one night, and if what Serizawa said is true, then it'll probably be a little awkward for everyone there, seeing each other again for the first time in so long.
He turns to retrieve one of their tea mugs and fills it with water, propping the flower up inside. "There. That should be more comfortable, right?"
It, again, doesn't respond.
He should probably just throw the thing out. But, he reasons with himself, it is a nice splash of color to liven up the office. He enjoys little things like that, like the pink tie sitting in the sea of gray that is his suit. He wonders if his hair could ever serve that purpose, from how Serizawa had compared the colors. Wonders if Serizawa has ever thought of it that way.
The idea only serves to fluster him, as though he hasn't already had enough of that today, and he rolls his eyes at himself. He doesn't need to think things like that. Detach, Arataka, he tells himself. Quit being clingy.
He carries the mug over to the coffee table and sets it there. It looks sort of unprofessional—like he'd just plucked it off a bush on his way to work—but he decides he doesn't care.
Just as Mob had outgrown the office, just as Tome had outgrown the office, Serizawa, too, is on his way out. The kids both still visit, obviously; Spirits n' Such had been an important place to the both of them throughout their adolescence, and that's not the kind of thing a person can just let go of. But he shouldn't expect that kind of sentimentality from Serizawa. He'd offered him this job as a tool to broaden his horizons, and it's his own fault that he keeps hoping it means more to him.
Serizawa is going to graduate, and Serizawa is going to move on, and the sooner he can put that through his own thick skull the better.
Friday morning comes to him sluggishly. He has to drag himself through a few more layers of grogginess than he ordinarily would when his alarm goes off, and figures he must have slept poorly.
The strange bout of fatigue continues to hang over him as he gets up and ready for the day, though, and he decides to get himself some coffee on his way to work. He's not usually a coffee person, but it might help with the way he just can't seem to shake the last of the sleep from his body. He ends up having to run for the train after, and then he's sweaty, and jittery, and the caffeine is cinching his chest up tight, and isn't today shaping up nicely?
He makes it to the office on time, at least. The orange flower still stands tall in its mug as he lets himself in and sits on the couch, leaning forward and setting his coffee next to it.
He hopes tonight goes well. He honestly has no clue what to expect—or how many of the super five he'll recognize. Or if he'll be expected to call them by that ridiculous name. He can probably get away with just finding a seat and staying quiet, he supposes. They'll most likely be more interested in Serizawa than him.
Almost like he'd been summoned, Serizawa walks in. "Oh—good morning." He sounds surprised at finding Reigen on the couch instead of posted behind his desk as usual. His eyes rove curiously over him, and then the table. "Coffee?"
"Yeah," Reigen says, grabbing it and taking a swig. "And good morning."
"I didn't know you liked coffee." Serizawa settles into his desk and is straight to business, pulling papers from his bag and spreading them out. Ah, the grind.
"Not typically," Reigen answers, figuring he should head to his own desk and quit putting the day off. Tired as he is, there's an office to be run. "I just thought I could use the boost this morning."
Serizawa looks up from his work immediately, watching Reigen as he strolls across the room and sits. "Are you coming down with something?"
"No, I'm fine, I guess I just didn't sleep the best." Reigen's laptop wheezes loudly at him as he waits for it to boot up. He should probably pop it open and clean the vents out sometime. He waves his hand at Serizawa, who's still staring at him with concern. "Go on, do what you need to do. I'm fine."
The laptop stutters to life and Serizawa relents, going back to his homework. He's been swamped in it, lately; an attribute of the school year drawing to a close. Reigen would like to leave him to it, but an email draws his eye as he opens up his inbox. It's Aimi again—she'd put her name directly in the subject line.
"Huh," he says out loud. Serizawa looks up. "Aimi's still having issues, apparently."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I've got the email right here." He starts to turn his laptop, and then realizes Serizawa wouldn't be able to see it all the way from his desk and abandons the movement. "Whatever's bothering her got right back to it this morning."
"Oh." Serizawa looks confused, and then it eases into something more thoughtful.
Whatever he's thinking about Reigen will have to poke at later. He shuts his laptop back down, downs the rest of his coffee, and stands up. "Well, let's get going. We can't have unfinished business."
"So, it's the exact same thing as before?" Serizawa asks, the two of them leaving the station.
"Yeah. She said she came outside after she woke up and found her garden messed up again. Maybe it is some kind of rodent, after all. You did take care of that spirit…" he trails off as they round the corner, heading up Aimi's street.
"Actually…" Serizawa speaks up after a minute, sounding almost timid. "I didn't think it was that important yesterday, but the ghost we got rid of didn't actually seem like the type to… do all of that?"
Reigen stops. They're in front of her door now. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know, it just seemed… weak, for something that was tearing out plants like that. But it was the only presence there, so I thought maybe it was just—" he pauses, searching for the word. "Deceptive?"
Reigen hums. "It could have been an unrelated spirit."
"That's probably it," Serizawa agrees.
Reigen shakes his head and scratches an itch on his arm. "We'll just have to scope it out and see." And then he knocks.
Aimi answers, just as welcoming as the last time. "Hello, come in. Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"Of course." Reigen places a hand over his chest, as though he's swearing an oath. "It's our responsibility to ensure the job gets done right."
Something flashes over her face then, and it's gone before he can identify it. He writes it off as Aimi just not knowing what to say as she turns and guides them to her garden once more. She pushes the door open, and Reigen has to stop himself from openly gaping.
"Well, the problem is here, as you can see," she says softly, gesturing out.
And see he does; the orange and white flowers he and Serizawa had appreciated just a few days ago look like they've been plowed straight through, half of them crushed beyond repair, while the rest that still stand are struggling to do so.
This… definitely is not the work of a rodent. They're lucky she seems to be the forgiving type. He can't believe she'd thanked them for returning after they'd left this to happen to her garden.
She watches while he steps up into Serizawa's space, inclining his head slightly, and then Serizawa shakes his own back. "Was that everything?" he asks, turning back to face her fully.
"Yes, the only problems I've been having are the ones cropping up out here." Her hands are folded together as she speaks, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. Reigen realizes how close he's still standing to Serizawa, and steps away. His leg itches.
"Okay, then." He claps his hands together, wondering if he's having some kind of allergy. "Do you mind leaving my employee and I here to investigate?"
She shakes her head and gets an oddly wistful look, like what he'd said means anything besides get out of earshot so we can figure out what the hell is happening, please and thank you. Her eyes still move between the two of them like she can't decide who she wants to settle on, even though Reigen's been the only one speaking to her. "I don't mind at all. You gentlemen take as long as you need to, I'll go make some tea."
Reigen waits until the back door latches shut again behind her, and then bends to the side and scratches at his leg. "That was weird."
Serizawa pats his shoulder when he straightens back out. "I think she's nice."
"Yeah, but she looked at us like—I don't know. Like we said something touching."
Serizawa shrugs. "Maybe businessmen make her sentimental."
"Maybe," he snorts. "Maybe she has a scummy salesman for a son."
"You think I'm scummy?" Serizawa elbows him lightly.
Reigen rolls his eyes and elbows him back. "The scummiest thing about you is working for me, probably." He steps up to the flowerbed, leaning his hands on his knees to take a closer look. "So, are you getting anything off of this?"
Serizawa follows his lead, coming closer. "Faintly. It's not much, but it's definitely coming from this area." Then he adds, "I don't think you're scummy, by the way."
Reigen laughs, not entirely sure why. Maybe because he is scummy, being a fraud and all. Serizawa can believe what he wants to, though. "Thanks." He crouches momentarily to pick up one of the flowers, a white one, dirtied from laying in the mud. If there's an aura, but no distinct source…
"Hang on," Serizawa says and takes his wrist, the one connected to his flower-holding hand. Reigen stills, and Serizawa looks down at the flowers, expression intense. He's probably just trying to piece something together. Serizawa can have… kind of a resting bitch face, at times. It used to unnerve Reigen now and then during his first couple weeks, before he figured out it only meant the guy was thinking.
Serizawa reaches out with his other hand, brushing against the flowers that are still rooted, and then hums to himself. "Touch those again?" he asks. "The ones that are still alive, I mean."
Reigen slides his wrist out of Serizawa's hold and drops the limp flower, brushing his fingers against the living ones as Serizawa had done just a second ago. "What're you thinking?" he asks.
"I don't know what it was, but…" Serizawa's eyes jump around the flowers, like he's looking at something beyond. "Something… shifted, when you grabbed that flower."
That… is not comforting. "Shifted like… an energy spike?"
"No," Serizawa shakes his head, still wearing that severe expression. "I don't know how to explain it. It was just sort of different for a second."
Reigen shuffles minutely away from the flowerbed. "Is it something you can exorcize?"
Serizawa shakes his head again. "I don't think so. I can't really feel… the root of it, I guess. Where it's stemming from."
"Looks like we've got a mystery on our hands, then." Reigen places his hands on his hips, and then turns around to observe the other end of the garden.
He decides to leave Serizawa to think and wanders over to the stone bench that's there, appreciating the ornate design and the moss creeping up its columns. The dappled sunlight that plays on it through the willow tree adds to the serene atmosphere, in contrast to the devastated plot of flowers he'd just left behind.
He turns around to return to Serizawa, stalling complete, and instead shouts and jumps back when he nearly walks straight into Aimi, who stands directly in front of him with two cups. The backs of his knees hit the bench and he has to swing his arms to keep from crashing down into the bushes behind it.
"Oh!" Aimi startles, somehow managing to not spill anything. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry. I only wanted to ask if you'd like something to drink."
He doesn't, but he takes the cup when she holds it out anyways, not wanting her to feel worse. "Don't worry about it, accidents happen. I appreciate the hospitality."
"It's no problem." She smiles up at him, right back to being at ease, and then turns to stand so they're shoulder to shoulder, both watching Serizawa poke around.
Reigen takes an absentminded sip.
"Do you and your husband enjoy this sort of work?"
Reigen chokes on his absentminded sip.
It goes down into his lungs and he's coughing immediately, turning away from Aimi and trying not to slosh his drink everywhere at the same time. He fails, and it soaks the end of his sleeve, and then he feels one of Aimi's weathered hands slip the cup out of his own, the other alighting on his back and rubbing soothing circles while he hacks up the rest of the liquid.
When he finally catches his breath and looks back up Serizawa is staring at him, eyes wide. Horror runs through him for a split second, thinking he'd heard what Aimi had said—but Serizawa only takes a short, abortive step, seeming unsure if he should cross the garden or not.
Just concern, then. Reigen waves him off, and Serizawa turns hesitantly back to… whatever it is that he's been doing. Reigen's not sure, actually. Mostly it seems to involve staring at the flowers.
"I'm sorry," Aimi repeats herself. "I didn't intend to startle you. I wasn't aware it was a… covert relationship?"
Reigen shakes his head vigorously. "It's not—it—we're coworkers," he wheezes.
Aimi leans in slightly, and lowers her voice. "I'm not against that sort of relationship, if that's what's worrying you. I'm a part of the family myself, actually."
Reigen clears his throat loudly, getting out the last of the misplaced tea. "No, no—I mean, that's lovely to hear, but… there's really nothing beyond… professionalism, here."
Confusion shines through her as he fruitlessly flaps his wet sleeve. "Well… if you say so," she relents. "He seems like a very nice man, though, doesn't he?"
How would you know? Reigen thinks, between the other thoughts of I'm not that obvious, and don't you sit there acting like you know more than me. She hasn't spoken to Serizawa once, after all—not past him accepting her offer of tea yesterday. He recalls Serizawa noting that she seemed to live alone, then, and tells himself to lighten up a little. "Yeah, he's uh… a great employee to have around."
Aimi hums, turning and looking at Serizawa again, and Reigen gets the feeling that she still thinks she knows something he doesn't. She settles onto the stone bench. "Well, I'll wait over here and let you two do your job. It looks like he's waiting for you."
Reigen glances up, and sure enough, Serizawa's idling awkwardly in place next to the flowerbed.
"Go to him," she urges gently, like it's life advice, and not her releasing him from the conversation.
He goes, nonetheless.
"I think I got it this time," Serizawa says as he approaches. "I'm… not sure, though."
"What'd you do?" Reigen nudges one of the fallen flowers.
"I sort of… combed my aura over it a few times. It seemed to kick something into the air, and I was able to exorcize that, and… well, I don't feel an aura anymore." His foot comes up next to Reigen's, poking at the same flower. "It didn't really feel all that… final, either, though. There's usually sort of a sensation of release after an exorcism. I didn't get that this time."
Reigen steps away from the flowerbed and claps Serizawa's shoulder. Then he remembers Aimi's too-knowing looks and pulls his hand away. "If you don't sense anything more then there's nothing else we can do. We'll just have to come back again if there's still a problem. I wasn't planning on charging her today, anyways."
"I guess that's all we can do," Serizawa agrees. "Hopefully her flowers can grow back now. It's a shame they all got torn up."
Reigen nods. "Yeah. Hopefully."