Archive of Our Own ^beta

Serizawa had been anxious about the change in their relationship, naturally. Even with all the progress he’d made since he’d left his room, and later when he’d left Claw, Serizawa still had a resting level of anxiety that buzzed quietly at the base of his skull even in moments of calm. It was the background radiation of his life, and he was learning that the trick was to accept it and work with it, instead of frustrating himself waiting for it to magically disappear one day.

It was like Reigen always said: everyone had their own little traits. Some people had anxiety. Some people had psychic powers. Serizawa had both.

It was a testament to all the progress Serizawa had already made that Reigen going from stranger to boss to friend to... whatever they were now barely made his mental Geiger counter crackle on a good day.

In hindsight, though, maybe it had been too early in his and Reigen’s relationship to even mention it to his study group. After all, they hadn’t even had time to have The Conversation about what they should call one another. Was Reigen his boyfriend, or was he the type to prefer the more ambiguous partner? There could even be some secret third option that Serizawa, having avoided the whole dating thing his entire life, just wasn’t aware of.

Which is why, when one of his classmates jokingly-not-so-jokingly suggested he approach a woman sitting at the bar alone who seemed nice, as they did every time they all went out together for a drink, the answer that ended up coming out of his mouth was “Oh, I’m kind of, uh. Already with someone, now.”

He should’ve anticipated their sudden enthusiasm, how quickly they would pounce on that new information.

His study group had always been well-intentionedly nosy about his personal life, especially after all his deliberately vague answers about what he got up to outside of school, and what he’d been up to before he decided to go back to finish his studies. Their interest had only gotten more intense after a particularly late study session that had ended with drinks and a rather embarrassing game of Never-Have-I-Ever. What had started as a quick bit of fun to unwind had become a challenge for everyone else to find something, anything, that could make Serizawa take a drink. No one had been mean, not really, but one could only take so many Wow, never? Really? responses before feeling like something was wrong with them.

Still, his study group were kind people. When they went out for drinks now, as they occasionally did to celebrate their progress through the year, the others always made sure to offer some gentle suggestion for Serizawa to try talking to some girl or, after weeks of Serizawa not taking them up on it, sometimes some guy. Even if it caused a slight crackle of anxious pressure along his shoulders, he knew it came from a good place. They knew he was the nervous type, and never goaded him beyond their frequent little reminders to maybe put himself out there more.

The new barrage of questions about his mystery someone, while excited and genuine, quickly became too much.

“How’d you meet them?” asked one voice among many. Serizawa felt warmed at the lack of gendered assumption in the question but also couldn’t help bristling a bit at the note of surprise. He knew that he basically had no social life outside of work and school, but was it really that much of a surprise that he’d met someone? Maybe it was fair, given who he’d ended up with.

“He’s kind of... my boss,” Serizawa admitted.

The resulting shouts and wolf whistles had other patrons turning to look at their group, as if expecting to see someone already drunk and dancing on the table at seven in the evening.

“That’s bold!” said someone, too loud and close to his ear, at the same time as he felt a firm pat on his back. His anxiety was mounting, the faces of his friends beginning to blur into anonymity as Serizawa had to force down the instinct to throw up a protective barrier with his powers.

“Sleeping with the boss for a raise?” came another voice “I can respect the hustle.”

It was a joke. Serizawa knew it was. That didn’t stop his next words from coming out a bit short.

“It’s not like that!” He protested, a little too defensively.

Serizawa forced himself to take a deep breath. His voice came out a bit more gently when he continued, “Besides, it’s not like we’ve done anything like that yet, anyway.”

“How long have you two been together?”

Grateful for a straightforward question, Serizawa considered the dates in his head. “Three months, maybe?”

A surprised voice. “And you haven’t slept with him yet?”

Serizawa frowned, unsure. Before he could gather this thoughts enough to respond, another voice piped up.

“Okay, lay off, guys,” it said, “Serizawa is new at this. He’s allowed to take things slow.”

Slow?

“Let him bide his time,” the joking voice from earlier added “He’s waiting for contract negotiations to make his move.”

Everyone laughed, diffusing the tension. The conversation, and the spotlight, thankfully moved elsewhere after that. Serizawa felt his shoulders relax again, his powers no long crackling just below the surface like water on the edge of boiling.

His resting anxiety level, though, had not yet returned to his baseline. That mental Geiger counter whined and jumped for his attention, like he’d somehow swallowed uranium. He very well may have, the way his stomach was twisting.

Have we really been taking things that slowly?

...

The following Monday at Spirits and Such was shaping up to be a quiet one, in the end. Clients were few but steady, and none of them had needed an actual exorcism. After making careful eye contact with Serizawa and getting a slight shake of the head each time, Reigen had proceeded with his usual massages, salt showers, and vague-yet-encouraging words of advice. All in a day’s work.

By four o’clock, the working day seemed to be over, with everyone just waiting out the remaining time on the clock.

The only movement in the office was Tome, who had popped in for her shift after the high school had been let out, and was currently bustling back and forth doing – actually, Reigen wasn’t sure what she was doing. No one needed tea or coffee at the moment, which was basically the extent of her responsibilities. Reigen had assumed she was tidying up, but now that he was looking up from his laptop to focus on her, her movements were revealed to be completely without intent. She stopped at various points around the office in a loop, moving objects slightly, only to move them right back on her next time around.

It was busy work, to avoid Reigen noticing her idle hands and sending her out on a useless errand. From the bottom of his fraudster’s heart, Reigen was proud of her.

Mob was in the office as well, having also walked in after school. He was sitting quietly on the couch in the corner, doing homework. Mob wasn’t technically employed at the office anymore, but he still made sure to visit after school at least once a week to stay in touch. If an evil spirit happened to darken their door while Mob was visiting, forcing him to act, then he’d get free dinner out of it. Even if the office wasn’t nearly as empty as it had been when Mob had first wandered in years ago, still scared of his own powers, Reigen was always happy to see him back.

Serizawa was sitting at his own desk, looking nervous. More nervous than usual, at least. He has his homework laid out as well, but he hadn’t put pencil to paper since their last client had left nearly an hour ago. At least, not that Reigen had seen. It wasn’t like he’d been staring at Serizawa too intently.

Reigen hadn’t had a chance to see Serizawa over the weekend. Which was fine. They’d both had plans, and their free time just hadn’t lined up. It happened to everyone. They worked together five days a week already, so it wasn’t exactly the end of the world.

Still, looking over at Serizawa, who was staring blankly ahead instead of at his work, Reigen was regretting not trying harder to move things around.

“How did your thing go on Saturday?” Reigen tried. Both Mob and Tome looked up at the sound, but relaxed and returned to their work when it was clear Reigen wasn’t talking to them. Serizawa didn’t move. “You met up with your study group, yeah?”

Reigen waited a beat more before adding, “Eh? Serizawa?”

Serizawa jerked to attention, as if he’d been caught sleeping in class. Reigen noted some of the objects around the office swayed slightly in response to the psychic shockwave he couldn’t see, and reached out a practised hand to steady a cup of tea on his desk that had long gone cold.

“Oh, um. Sorry,” Serizawa said with a sheepish smile. “I guess I spaced out.”

There had been a time not so long ago when Reigen would’ve immediately launched into one of his speeches about making sure to get enough sleep, as sleep deprivation left you vulnerable to possession by spirits, and what a good thing Reigen had been there at just the right moment to scare off the one that had just nearly crawled into his ear. He didn’t need to perform for anyone but the clients these days, and he could afford to be a little concerned without any layers obscuring that fact.

“I just asked how the thing with your classmates went,” Reigen repeated. He aimed for casual, but his voice definitely betrayed him a bit when he added, quieter, “Everything go okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Serizawa assured him, looking even more nervous. Bingo.

Almost as important to the skilled con man as the mastery of words, was the mastery of silences. Sometimes, the best way to get what you needed wasn’t to ask directly, but leave a silence long enough to prompt a nervous client to voluntarily fill the space themselves. People were never as guarded about sharing information you didn’t directly ask for.

And so, Reigen only raised his eyebrow, waiting for Serizawa to go on.

“We actually talked about you a bit,” Serizawa admitted after a few moments.

“Oh?” Reigen prompted. Serizawa only stared back at him, waiting, until the full meaning caught up with Reigen. “Oh, right. That’s good. Great. Real great. All good things, I hope?”

Was that what was making Serizawa nervous, telling people about their relationship? That made sense. Serizawa was new to his kind of thing, after all.

Serizawa hesitated for a second too long, and Reigen wondered if anxiety was contagious.

“You didn’t tell them I snore, did you?” Reigen asked, voice getting a little strained.

Serizawa’s eyes widened, clearly realizing the vague answers were allowing Reigen to imagine worst case scenarios.

“Oh no, nothing like that. Uh,” Serizawa rubbed at the back of his neck. “They were just very... Curious. About you.”

Nosy, Reigen’s brain translated immediately. He huffed out a relieved laugh.

“Well I hope you weren’t too indulgent,” he said “I like to maintain some mystery.”

Serizawa flushed red, dropping Reigen’s gaze. The momentary relief was gone.

Serizawa was nervously rambling ahead before Reigen could even prod him.

“They were very nice, but,” Serizawa continued, wringing his hands where they rested on his desk, threatening to crumple his homework. “They were surprised we hadn’t, um.”

Serizawa looked around nervously, as if making sure Mob and Tome weren’t listening. They weren’t. Or, at least they weren’t openly staring. Reigen taught his disciples to be better eavesdroppers than that.

Once he was confident he wasn’t being observed, Serizawa made a quick, rude gesture with his hands.

“That we haven’t yet,” Serizawa repeated awkwardly, looking very much like he was wishing for an evil spirit to attack the office and stop this conversation.

“Katsuya!” Reigen exclaimed, louder than intended. In his shock, it came out as sharp laugh. It felt, absurdly, like catching your grandmother swearing for the first time.

Serizawa slumped further into his seat, but tilted his head slightly towards where Mob was still sitting quietly, as if Reigen had no clue. Inappropriate conversation for the workplace or not, Mob was fifteen now. He could handle being reminded that people sometimes have sex.

Reigen’s train of thought derailed, as the shock of Serizawa’s antics wore off and the meaning of what he’d actually said settled in. His friends were confused why we haven’t had sex yet.

Well, it looked like the grace period was finally over. It had been a good run.

Reigen didn’t date often, and admittedly it had been a good while since his last attempt, before Serizawa had come along. Still, from his limited experience, Reigen had come to understand the familiar progression of all his romantic relationships.

First, there was the grace period. This was the beginning of the relationship, where it was socially acceptable to not have slept together yet. Maybe his partner might want to, but they were usually pretty understanding if turned down. It was still early. They were still getting to know each other. Some people were committed to following the three-date rule. It was no big deal to wait.

With some skilled planning, this grace period could be stretched pretty far. Dates carefully planned to avoid having free time to themselves afterwards, and excuses ready to go to avoid spending the night. As long as they didn’t catch on that you were deliberately being avoidant, the grace period continued.

Then, eventually, came the confrontation. The point where he was asked, point blank, and was expected to answer directly. He would be forced to finally admit that sex just wasn’t something he was interested in.

Things progressed in one of two ways after that, but the end result was always the same. The first option was the anger and/or confusion response (what do you mean you’re not interested in me?) that ended the relationship pretty quickly. The second option was the misunderstanding (oh that’s fine. We can take things slow), after which the relationship progressed until the other person’s patience ran out, or they finally understood that him saying not interested had meant never interested, and the delayed anger/confusion response came.

Once the relationship reached the end of the grace period, without fail, the countdown to the inevitable end began.

Reigen had let himself hope that this time would be different. He already knew Serizawa. Serizawa, with all his anxiety and inexperience, had no frame of reference for how relationships were supposed to go. He seemed content to go along with whatever Reigen did. The grace period had stretched to a record three months, and the expected confrontation seemed a distant, unreachable horizon they kept walking toward without it appearing to get any closer.

Reigen felt guilt clog his throat and sink to the bottom of his stomach, like he’d accidentally swallowed without chewing. Even in his own head, he sounded like he was taking advantage of Serizawa. Serizawa, who had not been treated kindly by the world, and so had come to not expect what he deserved. He didn’t know what he was owed. Reigen felt sick.

Realizing he’d gone just a beat too long without responding, Reigen forced a smile back on his face. He managed a confident laugh.

“Yeah, I guess it’s true, we haven’t –” Reigen barely hesitated before Serizawa was finishing his sentence for him.

“– Filed taxes?” Serizawa suggested, another nervous glance in Mob’s direction.

Reigen would’ve rolled his eyes clear out of his skull if he weren’t so anxious himself. “Fine, yeah. Sure. We haven’t filed taxes yet. So?”

Serizawa smiled a bit, clearly grateful for the indirect route. He visibly swallowed, throat bobbing as he steeled himself.

“Sorry,” Serizawa said, “it just didn’t occur to me. I’ve never... filed taxes before.”

Reigen wanted to scream.

“I assume you’ve, uh, filed taxes before,” Serizawa continued, like a champ. “I wouldn’t mind some... assistance.”

Reigen didn’t want to think about what assistance meant in this context. He infused all of his fake confidence into his next words. “Yeah, no problem. I do it all the time. No big deal.”

It wasn’t a lie, technically. It wasn’t his fault Serizawa refused to use his big kid words in the presence of teenagers. But the dishonesty still felt slimy in his throat, the sour aftertaste of a drink the morning after.

Serizawa looked somehow both relieved and more anxious at his assurance. He nodded enthusiastically, thanking him, while his hands trembled through the motions of sorting the pages of homework on his desk.

“Master, do you and Serizawa want us to leave?” Mob asked bluntly.

Reigen was ashamed to admit he jumped just as much as Serizawa did, turning suddenly to look at Mob. He was still seated in the corner, but very much listening in. Tome was straightening a picture frame nearby, making a valiant effort to pretend she hadn’t noticed she’d been included in the “us”.

Mob looked thoroughly unimpressed with them, but then again, that could still be his neutral expression.

“Bored by grown-up talk, kiddo?” Reigen teased him.

And there it was – a slight frown on Mob’s face. Exasperated with him, but fond enough. Serizawa had all the subtlety of a freight train, yes, but Reigen was still surprised by how perceptive the kid could be. He’d grown a lot since they’d met, and was clearly still growing. It made Reigen feel old.

Reigen couldn’t help but laugh, equally fond. “Serizawa and I can behave. Don’t worry about us.”

He gave Serizawa and exaggerated wink, and Serizawa looked as embarrassed as Reigen felt on the inside. Mob looked at them skeptically, but returned to his work. Tome scoffed dramatically, mumbling something to the wall.

The grace period was over, and the countdown to the end of their relationship had officially begun. Reigen was, strictly metaphorically speaking, fucked.

...

Serizawa wasn’t sure if talking to Reigen had made him feel better or worse about things.

As he walked home to his apartment from the office, he tried to focus on the positives. Reigen certainly hadn’t seemed upset at him, beyond some eye rolling at his choice of words. He said he was fine helping Serizawa through his inexperience, that he didn’t mind. Reigen also hadn’t pressured him at all before this, at least that Serizawa had noticed.

Still, Serizawa worried.

I do it all the time, Reigen had said. No big deal.

Serizawa hadn’t thought of it before, but now he felt like an idiot for not considering it. Reigen had probably been in a lot relationships already. He was confident, charismatic, extroverted. He owned his own business. He seemed to be the kind of person to, well, put himself out there, as his classmates said. While Serizawa had been wasting his life hiding, whether in his room or behind his umbrella, Reigen had probably been living his to the fullest.

With experience came expectations, expectations that Serizawa wasn’t sure he could meet.

Lost in his own head, Serizawa didn’t notice the person approaching behind him until he felt a hand grasp at his elbow.

Serizawa’s powers, pulled taut like a rubber band, suddenly snapped back. The hand on his arm was sent flying backward, before Serizawa even had time to turn to see his assailant. When he did though, he saw a familiar figure skipping across the sidewalk like a stone on the surface of a lake. Serizawa raised his arm as fast as he could, catching the figure mid-air.

It was Reigen. He’d been frozen in place above the sidewalk, completely upside down. His pink tie was floating in front of his face, forcing Reigen to try to peer around it to look at Serizawa.

Serizawa began to apologize, but was cut off.

“No, no, no. It’s fine. I should’ve seen that coming.” Reigen said, sounding strained. He frowned, looking at his hands, as if just realizing he couldn’t wave them around much while being held in place like this. “You could also answer your phone, you know? I called you like, five times. And shouted.”

Serizawa pulled out his phone and, sure enough, was met with multiple texts and missed calls. He really must’ve been lost in his own head.

“Sorry.” Serizawa shoved his phone back into his pocket. “What’s going on?”

“Well, you know,” Reigen said, putting all the dramatics into his voice that he couldn’t put into his hand gestures “Nothing much. I just wanted to know what you were up to and decided to call you multiple times before sprinting after you.” A beat. “Also, completely unrelated, but we got an urgent call about a spirit right after you left.”

“Oh. A real one?”

“Objects are flying around rooms, so it sounds like it needs more than a pep talk, yeah.”

It still sometimes surprised Serizawa how honest Reigen was about his lack of psychic powers these days, when clients weren’t around to see. Not that Serizawa hadn’t already known, which he suspected had been true of Shigeo as well, but Reigen had been dedicated to maintaining the persona regardless. There was a different energy in the office these days, when clients weren’t around, even without considering the recent change in their relationship. Reigen trusted them.

Reigen coughed.

Serizawa blinked, before realizing that he was still holding Reigen above the ground. He released him immediately in a panic, causing Reigen to crash headfirst into the pavement.

Reigen waved off his apologies again as he dusted off his suit. He winced, clearly sore.

“It’s not a far walk,” he admitted, sounding a bit miserable. “Not worth paying a cab for, anyway. C’mon.”

...

The client had not been downplaying the carnage.

A short (yet slow) walk had led Reigen and Serizawa to a small, one-bedroom apartment. They were welcomed in by a timid young woman, who apologized about the mess about two seconds before a TV remote was sent flying just past Reigen’s ear. It crashed against the wall behind him, its batteries rolling along the floor.

“Ah, I see,” Reigen, forcing himself to sound calm. The client didn’t need to know that the only reason he hadn’t jumped three feet in the air was because his legs were still sore from running after Serizawa and getting thrown onto the pavement. “Would you say this is... typical spirit activity, for you?”

The woman nodded solemnly. “Every time someone else comes into the house. I had to pack up all my kitchen knives and take them to my mother’s.”

Well, if that didn’t say everything that needed to be said. “Well, just let me and my associate take a look around and exorcise –”

Reigen cut himself off with a shout as yet another object came hurling his way. This time, a flash of purple light came from behind him, and the object froze about twenty centimetres from his nose, revealing it to be a small tube of hand lotion. It bobbed harmlessly in the air. The client gasped as the shimmer around the lotion flickered out, and it crashed to the floor at their feet.

“Thanks, Serizawa,” Reigen said, a little more breathlessly than he would’ve liked. He cleared his throat before turning to the client. “As you can see, you’re in good hands.”

They began their slow tour in the main room, Serizawa dutifully deflecting the regular projectiles as they went.

“Are you sensing anything in here?” Reigen asked, looking under the couch cushions for no reason in particular.

“It feels...” came Serizawa’s voice behind him “...angry.”

Reigen fought the urge to smile, instead nodding sagely. “Yes, I was picking up on that as well.”

Their next stop was the bathroom, which didn’t accomplish anything besides Reigen nearly getting a toothbrush in his eye. Every bottle of soap, every makeup container, and a hair brush were already sitting in the bottom of the bathtub, with no sign of the spirit responsible.

As they moved to the bedroom, even Reigen could pick up the shift in energy. Nothing flew across the room at him, but everything seemed to be trembling slightly, at the ready.

Reigen felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It was Serizawa’s.

“I think it’s coming from in there,” Serizawa said quietly, his free hand gesturing to the sliding closet door at the other side of the room. Like everything else in the room, the door was rattling slightly.

“Still angry?” Reigen joked, even as he felt sweat beading at his temple.

“More than that,” Serizawa answered seriously. “It feels... possessive.”

“Well, let’s hope we’re not the ones it wants to possess. Go ahead, Serizawa.”

Serizawa raised a hand and, with a faint shimmer of light, the closet across the room began to slide slowly open.

Even after Mob had temporarily given Reigen his powers, it was still hit-or-miss whether Reigen could see any spirits beyond Dimple. He could generally see any spirits that wanted to be seen, or spirits manifesting so powerfully they could not help but be seen.

So when Reigen spotted the figure in the closet, so obviously wishing not to be seen, he only began to sweat more.

The spirit was in the bottom left corner of the closet. It was more humanoid in form, looking more like a weirdly translucent young man than an evil spirit. He sat crouched in the corner, arms wrapped tightly around his knees like a child. His dark hair, just long enough to cover his eyes, fluttered despite the lack of breeze.

The air in the bedroom, which had already felt charged with energy, suddenly felt sharp. It felt like the air in the dead of winter, the kind that made the skin on your face sting a bit as you moved, but without the sensation of cold. Reigen was certain that reaching out to touch anything right now would give him a static shock.

Despite having been revealed, there was still no movement from the spirit.

“Should I...?” Serizawa asked anxiously.

Before he could give Serizawa the affirmative, Reigen thought, oddly, of that family of spirits Mob had refused to exorcise in that old house outside of town. Clearly, the spirit here wasn’t as committed to the whole leaving-people-alone thing, but still. Reigen looked at the spirit’s hunched posture again, and paused.

“Wait a minute,” he said. He gave Serizawa’s hand on his shoulder a few exaggerated pats of assurance before shrugging it off and stepping closer to the closet. He heard Serizawa make a strangled noise behind him, but he let Reigen go ahead.

“Hey, kid,” Reigen said, voice loud but even. “Thanks for those little gifts you sent my way earlier. You wanna tell me what all that was about?”

The figure did not move, but his hair began to flutter more violently. Reigen still couldn’t see his eyes.

“You want to tell us what you’re angry about?” Reigen tried again, still walking forward as casually as he could manage. “Me and my partner here, we’re psychics. We might be able to h–”

“You’re not psychic.” The voice was flat, monotone. Still, it seemed to pierce the air with all the discomfort of nails on a chalkboard.

“We’ll see about that,” was all Reigen said, aware of the client peeking around the door frame, trying to see what was happening in the bedroom.

“Look, kid,” Still a metre away from the door, Reigen crouched closer to the ground. He tried not to wince as his sore legs protested. “It’s outside regular hours, and I kind of want to get home. If you don’t want to talk this out, we’ll have no choice but to exorcise y–”

“You’re not psychic,” the voice said again. It was getting louder. “Are you the new boyfriend? Did she replace the last one already?”

Before Reigen could even start to process what had been said, the figure began to move.

Reigen had thought the spirit looked like a child before. It reminded him of himself, even. He remembered crouching just like this in the back of his mother’s closet, trying to evade his sister at hide-and-seek. As the spirit stood, though, Reigen noticed that its limbs were much longer than he’d thought. No, they weren’t longer – they’d become longer. The child, if it had ever even been a child, was growing.

Startled, Reigen fell from his crouch, and began scrambling backwards on the floor in a clumsy crabwalk. The spirit loomed over him, now tall and unnaturally thin. Reigen was reminded, bizarrely, of those inflatable figures at used car dealerships, and had to clench his teeth around a manic laugh.

“I chased the last one away already.” The voice shook the walls now. Reigen could feel the floor vibrating from where his sweaty palms were still pressed to the floor. “If I can’t have her, no one can!”

“Serizawa!” Reigen yelled “Anytime now would be great!”

Serizawa was already ahead of him, and a flash of purple light struck the spirit square in the chest before Reigen could finish his sentence. The spirit jerked backwards, but did not disappear. It let out a howling wail, letting its long arms flail around it. Everything still on the client’s side table and dresser was swept into the air, circling the spirit like a tornado.

Reigen saw movement in his periphery, and suddenly Serizawa was standing in front of him. He’d dug his business cards out of his pocket, and was forming them into a glowing blade for his next attack.

The spirit cried out again, before sending all the floating objects hurling in Serizawa’s direction.

Just as Serizawa raised his business cards to strike, completely focused on the barrage headed his way, the spirit stretched out one of its long arms across the floor. It grabbed at Reigen’s leg, not with its fingers, but with the entire arm itself coiling around his calf like a snake. The arm yanked Reigen forward so suddenly, Reigen felt his head hit the floor as he was dragged.

Reigen scrambled for purchase as he went, but his fingers just slipped along the wood flooring. The spirit lifted him up by the leg, dangling him upside down like a cat toying with a mouse.

“Arataka!” Serizawa yelled. Reigen could barely hear him over the wind whipping around the room.

Then, a flash of light. It started out as Serizawa’s usual shimmering purple of psychic energy, but soon the entire room was blanched in a wave of nearly pure-white light.

Reigen fought to keep his eyes open, even as they began to water. Through squinted eyes, he watched as the spirit began to lose shape. Like a sand castle suddenly subjected to typhoon-strength winds, the spirit was blasted apart.

Reigen felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. He mistook it for relief, until he saw the ground rising to meet his face for the second time that day.

...

The client insisted on helping Serizawa carry Reigen onto the bed, even after witnessing him float objects with his mind and vaporize a ghost right before her eyes. People could be strange, but people were also kind, Serizawa supposed. He was grateful for the help regardless, still feeling a bit drained from the exorcism.

“Is he going to be alright?” she fretted, hovering over the bed. “Should we take him to the hospital?”

“He should be fine,” Serizawa assured her, trying to convince himself just as much. “He’s just unconscious.”

Serizawa had launched himself at Reigen as soon as the light from the exorcism had dispersed, revealing him crumpled on the floor. Even lacking psychic powers, Reigen still gave off an energy as all living things did. That energy had been quiet with unconsciousness, but it was a steady hum. He was fine.

“Oh, that’s good,” the client nodded, not questioning Serizawa’s assessment. “If you want, you can stay here until he wakes up. I can make some dinner. It’s the least I can do.”

Serizawa made sure to put up a token resistance, before relenting when she insisted. It had been something he noticed Reigen did, when grateful clients offered up more than the standard payment as thanks. You didn’t want to look too eager to accept – that was basic business etiquette.

Serizawa followed her back into the main room, glancing back at Reigen still out cold on the bed. She drew his attention back as she began apologizing. In her hands were a stack of ready-made single-serving meals, the kind you could buy at most convenience stores, complete with disposable utensils. She gave Serizawa a sheepish look.

“To be honest,” she admitted “All my utensils are back at my mother’s house. For safety.”

Serizawa nodded in understanding, hoping he looked supportive enough. He couldn’t imagine being stuck in the house with no psychic powers at all to defend yourself, not knowing when something potentially deadly might be thrown at you. He waited patiently as she began opening the meals.

Serizawa heard the plastic packaging crinkle under her fingers. After a few moments, the sound did not change. Serizawa looked down at her hands, to see if he could offer to help, only to notice they were trembling. The packaging shook in her hands, unopened.

“Are you alright, miss?” Serizawa asked, startled.

She began to nod, but after a few wobbly movements, it slowly transformed into a shake. She placed the ready-meals on the counter behind her, and lowered her face into her shaking hands.

“I’m fine,” she said, contradicting herself again. “It’s just, that was the first time I’d actually seen the... the spirit, since everything had started. I hadn’t been expecting that.”

That made sense to Serizawa. That exorcism had been intense, even for him. He almost wished they’d brought Shigeo along, even if it was a school night. “It can be scary, seeing that for the first time.”

“No – I mean, yes, that was scary – but,” she lowered her hands from her face, so her arms wrapped around his chest instead “I just hadn’t realized the ghost was.... That it was my ex-boyfriend.”

“Oh,” was all that came out of Serizawa’s mouth. He didn’t know what else he could say to that. He almost glanced back towards the bedroom, eager for Reigen’s easy way of reassuring people right now.

“It was a while ago, now,” the client continued without prompting, seeming relieved to get it off her chest. “I was sad when we broke up, we both were, but it was amicable enough. We just wanted different things.” She chewed on her lip. “But then he just kind of disappeared after that and didn’t keep in touch. Honestly, I hadn’t even heard he’d passed away.”

Serizawa had no real frame of reference for a bad breakup – or any breakup, for that matter – but it wasn’t hard to imagine that suddenly seeing your ex-boyfriend’s ghost might be a horrifying experience.

Serizawa didn’t know what he was supposed to say, so instead he said, gesturing to the meals still sitting on the counter “Do you want some help with those?”

The client nodded gratefully, letting Serizawa step into the kitchen.

...

Reigen’s first thought was that he more more hungover than he had been in years. His body ached all over, his head even more so, and he had no idea what he’d been doing previously.

But, no – his mouth lacked the sour taste of a hangover. He also wasn’t nauseous. Instead, he was absolutely famished.

He picked up on the smell of food at the same time as the muffled sounds of conversation. Reigen opened his eyes. He wasn’t in his apartment.

It wasn’t graceful, but Reigen managed to haul himself to his feet, and shuffle towards the main room. He leaned on the doorway to the living room, where he had full view of the couch.

Serizawa and the client were seated closely together, talking quietly. Two styrofoam bowls from ready-meals had been left on the coffee table in front of them. Reigen felt a pang in his stomach that wasn’t from hunger, as he heard Serizawa begin to laugh at something the client had said.

Serizawa paused mid-laugh, catching sight of Reigen. His face fell into a concerned frown as he leapt to his feet.

“Reigen!” Serizawa said as he crossed the room, stopping at at arm’s length away. He hovered, clearly not knowing what to do. “Are you alright?”

Reigen waved off his concern with the hand he wasn’t using to prop himself up on the door frame. “I’m completely fine. See?” He gestured to himself as if he wasn’t struggling to stay upright. “Right as rain.”

The client appeared beside Serizawa, bowing her head. “I am so sorry for everything. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“All in a day’s work,” Reigen assured her, trying not to sound like he was gritting his teeth. “We’ve handled much worse.”

Serizawa gave an awkward chuckle, but the client shook her head. “At least let me get you something to eat.”

Reigen’s head throbbed, and all he wanted was to be back in bed. “It’s fine, really. We’ve imposed enough.”

“Please, I insist,” she said, placing a hand at Serizawa’s elbow “Your associate was already kind enough to help clean up the apartment and make dinner. It’s the least I can do to repay you.”

“It was nothing,” Serizawa added, rubbing at the back of his neck bashfully “I just know how to use a microwave.”

“I’ll include a housekeeping fee in the invoice,” Reigen said, at the same time his stomach gave a growl of betrayal. It was getting hard to keep up the customer service voice. “We really must be going.”

The client didn’t bat an eye, thanking them again for their help, but Serizawa shot him a disappointed frown. Or maybe he hadn’t – Reigen’s vision had started to swim a bit by that point.

They managed to make it out of the apartment without incident, but Serizawa finally broke the silence between them after Reigen caught himself against the railing of the stairs for the third time, narrowly avoiding tumbling forward.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Serizawa asked. He placed a tentative, supportive hand on Reigen’s upper arm.

Reigen shrugged him off with more force than necessary, grasping for the railing again to avoid losing his balance.

“I’m fine,” he said stiffly. “I’m just tired. I really need to get home.”

Finally making it safely down the stairs and outside, Reigen was only more disoriented by the black sky that greeted them. He realized he had no idea how long he’d been out for, or how long it had been since he’d last eaten. How long had Serizawa stayed with the client, waiting for him to wake up? How long –

“Is the train even still running?” Reigen thought out loud, looking around at the surprisingly few illuminated windows overlooking the street.

“I don’t think so,” Serizawa admitted sheepishly. “It’s gotten pretty late.”

No wonder the client had let them go without more protests. She had probably gone right to bed as soon as they’d left.

“I’ll have to pay for a cab, then,” Reigen sighed, moving to fish his cell phone out of his rumpled suit jacket.

Serizawa put a hand on his arm again, even more gently than before. “You know, you could just... my apartment isn’t that far from here. You could stay the night.” A beat. “If you want.”

“It’s fine, I just need to –” Reigen cut himself off when his phone screen, despite him jabbing at the buttons, remained black. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Hopefully, the thing was just out of battery, and hadn’t just broken completely from being thrown around with him all day.

“You should have someone to keep an eye on you,” Serizawa said carefully. “In case you really did hit your head too hard.”

“Really?” Reigen snapped “You didn’t seem too worried about that earlier.”

Reigen regretted the words even before he saw Serizawa’s face fall. Of course Serizawa would’ve stayed with the client, who had probably been scared out of her mind after the exorcism. Serizawa was a kind person, who cared about others, even without being drilled with Reigen’s customer services standards. Reigen was tired, he was sore, and he desperately needed something to eat before he said anything worse.

If I can’t have her, no one can, the spirit whispered in his mind. The two of them really were pathetic, desperately clinging to people they couldn’t keep.

“Yeah, okay,” Reigen deflated a little, letting himself lean a bit into Serizawa’s hand. “Lead the way. Honestly, everything’s a bit dark and fuzzy right now.”

Serizawa looked torn between relief and concern, but still obliged. The hand on Reigen’s arm slid down until Serizawa had clasped their hands together, tugging him gently along.

Reigen didn’t comment on the faint purple glow he noticed in the corner of his vision, making each step down the street just a bit lighter.

...

Reigen had been to Serizawa’s apartment before, just as Serizawa had been to Reigen’s. This had been become normal in the past year of their working relationship turned friendship, even before Serizawa had mustered up the courage to admit his own feelings to Reigen three months ago. Staying overnight wasn’t new either, especially at Serizawa’s apartment. Serizawa slept on a futon, and now kept a spare in his closet, which was much better set-up for having a boyfriend (partner?) over than Reigen’s, with only his narrow bed and a couch in the other room.

Yet, Serizawa felt a new kind of tension as he helped Reigen up the last of the stairs, and led him into his apartment. It was awkward in a way their dynamic hadn’t felt in a long time, when Serizawa was still figuring out how to have a (relatively) normal job and trying not to overwhelm Reigen with how grateful he was to have it.

Reigen was quieter than usual as they went through the motions of getting ready for bed. He sat at the low table in Serizawa’s main area, silently eating some instant ramen while Serizawa dragged out the spare futon. He didn’t say anything besides a thank you when Serizawa handed him an old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants to sleep in, not even bothering with his usual jokes about how big Serizawa’s clothes were on him.

Reigen was clearly tired and sore from the events of the day, but Serizawa didn’t think that was entirely it. The furrow in Reigen’s brow as he ate his dinner, the hard look at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror as he brushed his teeth, not looking at Serizawa beside him. Reigen wasn’t out of it – he was thinking about something. Something specific.

Even without any evidence, Serizawa’s own anxiety dragged him back to the conversation they’d had earlier today at the office about their sex life. Or, their lack of one, Serizawa supposed.

Reigen hadn’t seemed bothered at the time, and frankly hadn’t seemed that bothered by it before Serizawa’s nosy friends had forced the topic, but Serizawa was beginning to doubt himself. He’d never been the best at reading social cues, and maybe someone that hadn’t even thought about sleeping with his boyfriend three months into their relationship wasn’t the best authority on the subject.

The tension in the air as they rolled out their futons beside one another and silently slipped under their blankets was new. At least, it was new to Serizawa. The most miserable part of him wondered if this weird feeling between them, like they were both just waiting for something to happen, had always been there, and that Serizawa had just been to naïve to notice. How long had Reigen put up with it? How much longer could he put up with it? With him?

Serizawa could feel the sweat beginning to form on his palms, could feel the quickening heartbeat in his ears, and suddenly needed to know right now.

“Arataka?” Serizawa asked, turning his head to look at Reigen beside him.

Reigen was lying on his back, just like he was. He opened his eyes, looking at Serizawa without turning his head. He looked exhausted. “Hmm?”

“I just wanted to ask,” Serizawa forced the words out, trying not to shake with the effort. He feared Reigen could feel it through the floor. “About what we were talking about today. At the office. Um, about taxes.”

“It’s late,” Reigen said with a sigh. “Can we do it tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course!” Serizawa responded, too quick and too loud. “That’s fine. Goodnight!”

Reigen seemed to finally sink fully into his futon with a relieved sigh. “Thanks. Night, Katsuya.”

It didn’t take long for Reigen to fall asleep. Serizawa, however, was unable to relax enough to try.

What did can we do it tomorrow mean? Was Serizawa allowed to ask tomorrow, or...? Suddenly the blankets felt too hot.

Whatever happened, it would be fine. Serizawa needed to remind himself of that. He cared about Reigen, and he knew Reigen cared about him, too. They could talk about it, and Serizawa could work up the courage to do what he needed to. It would be just as scary as confessing his feelings, but ultimately worth it if it progressed their relationship. Right?

Serizawa’s anxiety chased its own tail around in circles, until it eventually collapsed in exhaustion, letting Serizawa finally sleep along with it.

...

Reigen woke up expecting to be sore, and he most definitely was. However, he wasn’t expecting the pins and needles sensation running up and down his right arm. He forced his eyes open to look at his right side, only to find Serizawa had rolled over onto Reigen’s futon (and arm) sometime during the night. It was still night, judging from the darkness of the room.

He couldn’t help but smile, deciding that maybe it was worth giving up blood flow to his arm until morning.

He rolled closer to Serizawa and fell back asleep.

...

Serizawa scrambled to turn off his alarm as soon as it went off, determined not to wake Reigen yet. When he turned back to the futon after wrestling with his phone, he was relieved to see Reigen still splayed out, unconscious.

Serizawa always set his alarm too early, leaving him an extra hour of time that he didn’t technically need to get ready in the morning. At first, it had been an anxiety thing. When he first started working at Spirits and Such, he needed a good hour each morning to procrastinate starting the day, just to psych himself up enough to go to work. He was still late a lot, in those early days.

He kept the earlier alarm out of habit, finding that he liked having the extra hour to relax and take his time. But Reigen needed the sleep, so Serizawa left him to it. He’d wake him later.

Not wanting to wake Reigen up by banging around the kitchen yet, Serizawa settled back into his futon and fiddled with his phone. He spared another glance at Reigen, making sure he was still asleep, before taking a deep breath and putting some truly personal questions into an internet search bar.

He was disappointed but not surprised when his queries led him to the sites of magazines for teenage girls. Beside the main article he was currently on, which was laying out tips for dealing with your first real boyfriend, Serizawa was being recommended some less helpful articles offering to determine which member of a boy band was his ideal partner with just one short quiz.

Still, the contents of the article seemed solid, if a bit unhelpful to Serizawa. Don’t let your boyfriend pressure you into doing anything you’re not ready for, the article said. Good point, but not really the issue here. Remember to be confident, the article also said. More helpful here, maybe, if it wasn’t for the fact that Serizawa was always trying to be more confident in every aspect of his life, to varying levels of success.

He had nearly scrolled to the bottom of the article when Serizawa heard Reigen begin to stir. He snapped his phone shut reflexively, putting it to the side as Reigen blinked his eyes open.

“’Morning,” Reigen said, voice low and muddled. He blinked a few more times, looking around as if he had forgotten where he’d fallen asleep.

“Good morning,” Serizawa said, keeping his voice low “How’s your head?”

Reigen hummed a bit as he sat up, pushing the covers down until they only covered his legs. “Better.”

“All better, or better than yesterday?”

Serizawa tried not to laugh at the annoyed look on Reigen’s face, absolutely hating being fussed over. The potency of Reigen’s displeasure was somewhat diminished by how much he was drowning in Serizawa’s shirt. Sometime in the night, the neck hole had shifted to the side until it exposed a bare shoulder. He looked ridiculous.

Seized by a whim and a surge of confidence, Serizawa leaned in to give Reigen a quick peck on the lips. His exit was ruined by Reigen, who decided to follow him back into his space in retaliation. Reigen’s kiss was more forceful, seemingly unconcerned with knocking their teeth together a bit. It was like Reigen knew what Serizawa had been thinking about his stupid shirt, and Serizawa let himself laugh at being caught.

It wasn’t long before they were kissing in earnest, Serizawa pressing forward until Reigen was lying back on his own futon again. It was slow, softened by sleep. They both had morning breath, but they were lazy and it was bearable. They were comfortable where they were.

Serizawa felt Reigen’s fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck – he really did need to trim it again – and suddenly wondered if this was it. Reigen said they would deal with it tomorrow, right? They had time.

Be confident, Serizawa reminded himself.

Hovering over Reigen on his futon, one of Serizawa’s hands was resting by Reigen’s head, helping Serizawa prop his weight up a bit, while the other has been resting on the other’s waist. Steeling his courage, Serizawa slowly began lifting at the hem of Reigen’s oversized shirt, until it became bunched up enough for him press his palm to the warm, bare skin of Reigen’s stomach underneath.

Serizawa felt Reigen’s breath stutter against his lips at the touch, and took that as a good sign. Still, he waited for Reigen to escalate next. His signal to continue came as Reigen’s hands moved down from Serizawa’s neck until they were pressed against his chest. Reigen’s hands were twisted in the fabric of Serizawa’s shirt, as if tugging him closer.

In response, Serizawa let his hand travel farther up Reigen’s torso. Palm to stomach, he felt Reigen’s diaphragm expand and contract with his quickened breaths. His hand went higher, ghosting over the slight bump of a rib. Eventually, Serizawa’s hand came to a rest on Reigen’s chest. Serizawa took another deep breath before letting his thumb tentatively graze a nipple.

Reigen gasped against Serizawa’s lips this time, like the air had been knocked out of him. Serizawa couldn’t help but feel a little smug about it. He pulled back by a hair, just far enough to teasingly ask if the other was alright. The joke died on his tongue.

Even after Serizawa had ended the kiss, Reigen’s eyes remained closed. They were screwed shut, even, with Reigen’s face twisted into an uncomfortable expression. Reigen’s hands were still gripping Serizawa’s shirt, but only now did Serizawa realize his hands were shaking. Serizawa felt as if he’d been running down the stairs and suddenly missed the last step.

“Arataka?” Serizawa said, trying for gentle but sounding more than a little panicked “Are you alright?”

Reigen opened his eyes, looking around as if only just noticing Serizawa had stopped. He laughed, a forceful, nervous thing, letting Serizawa know his next words were a lie before they even left his mouth. “Who, me? Yeah, I’m fine. Perfectly fine. Are you alright? Looking a bit red, there, Katsuya.”

“I’m fine,” Serizawa said calmly. “Do you want to stop?”

Reigen shrugged, but his hands were still twisted in the fabric of Serizawa’s shirt. He felt the tug on it with the motion of Reigen’s shoulders. “You can stop if you want to. I don’t mind.”

Serizawa frowned. “You’re shaking.”

“Oh, am I?” Reigen’s voice was beginning to audibly crack under the forced casualness of his tone. He dropped his hands from Serizawa’s shirt suddenly. He waved them aimlessly in the space between their bodies as he continued talking, clearly not sure what to do with them now. “Guess it’s colder in here than I thought. I’m shivering a bit. Maybe we could uh, continue what we were doing and warm things up, huh?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“You’re right. It is getting close to when we need to leave. Damn. Ah well, guess we’ll have to continue this another time.”

“Wait.” Reigen had moved to roll out from under Serizawa and leave, but Serizawa grabbed him by the arm before he could. He regretted it as soon as he saw the startled look on Reigen’s face. He removed his hand and rolled off Reigen a bit, so that he was no longer hovering over him, but Reigen stayed where he was.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Serizawa tried, “If I did anything wrong, you can tell me and I won’t do it again.”

“No!” Reigen began to wave his hands in a frantic dismissal. “You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just –” Reigen stopped himself, clearly having not meant to start the second part. He sighed, deflating against the futon. “It’s just me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t really... do this sort of thing,” Reigen admitted. He gave a self-deprecating laugh before adding “Filing taxes, I mean.”

Serizawa felt his lip curl into a smile, relieved. “Me, too.”

“No,” Reigen shook his head, backing up a little. Serizawa hadn’t realized he’d leaned back in. “It’s not that I haven’t – well yeah, that, too – but it’s more like I... can’t.” Reigen shook his head again, clearly frustrated. “It’s more like I don’t really want to, I guess.”

“You don’t want to?” Serizawa felt both relieved at all expectations being removed, and hurt.

“It’s not just you,” Reigen added hastily, trying to reassure. “I haven’t ever wanted to. With anyone. I’m kind of... asexual.”

Reigen continued his rambling explanation, leaving Serizawa to zone out a bit as he processed what was happening. Serizawa knew vaguely what the word meant, at least enough to know that what Reigen was describing was just a facet of many. He’d spent most of his life online, where people seemed more open about talking about these kind of things, shielded by anonymity. The word sounded almost strange to his ears now, though, said aloud for the first time. It felt more real.

He tuned back in to Reigen’s rambling when he heard him cut himself off abruptly, mumbling out “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Serizawa said automatically. He winced, realizing he may have said it a bit too forcefully. He mind wandered back to that teen magazine article, realizing its advice on boundaries had been a little lacking the other way around. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, that’s not really fair to you, is it?”

“I don’t understand.”

Reigen squirmed against the futon. He was wringing his hands in his lap, clearly trying not to wave them around. “You deserve to have a boyfriend that give you what you want, right?”

Well, at least that answers one question, Serizawa couldn’t help but think. He was still confused, so he’d take what he could get.

“But you don’t want to, so that doesn’t matter,” Serizawa said. “We can just continue with how things were.”

“You can’t possibly be satisfied with that,” Reigen argued.

Serizawa stayed silent for a moment. “I didn’t know there was anything ‘missing’ until my classmates mentioned it was weird we hadn’t slept together yet,” Serizawa admitted. “I was happy the way things were.”

“You’ve never been in a relationship before,” Reigen countered “You didn’t know what you wanted, yet.”

There was only so much self-sabotage Serizawa could take. He let his voice be sharp. “I’m not a child.”

Reigen flinched, but only slightly. “Yes, of course. You’re right. Sorry.”

Before Serizawa could decide what to say next, Reigen had started talking again.

“Just, promise me something, okay?” Reigen said. His hands were back to twisting in Serizawa’s shirt. The fabric was sure to be all stretched-out and baggy on his chest by now. “You don’t have to stick around if you’re not getting what you want. I’m not trying to be possessive.”

Serizawa though suddenly of the spirit from yesterday. He wondered if Reigen was thinking the same, judging from the miserable look on his face. As if him being afraid to assert a boundary was in any way comparable to what that young woman had been put through.

“I promise,” Serizawa said. “As long as you do the same. You can tell me if I do anything wrong.”

“Sure,” Reigen replied, like he could hardly believe it would happen. Serizawa narrowed his eyes, causing Reigen to backpedal, waving his hands defensively. “Yes, yes, I promise. Jeez.”

“Good.” Serizawa smiled.

Taking a chance, Serizawa leaned down into Reigen’s space slowly, giving him every chance to protest. He didn’t, and Serizawa placed a gentle kiss on his lips. As Serizawa pulled back, he raised an eyebrow in question, giving Reigen a final chance to comment.

Reigen rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, too. He have Serizawa a quick kiss in return, before shrugging off his hold and standing up.

“C’mon,” Reigen said, able to stretch out fully now that he was standing. His oversized shirt fell even further down the slope of his shoulder, and Serizawa once again fought not to laugh. “We’ve slept in long enough.”

Serizawa nodded, rising to start breakfast.

...

Tuesday at Spirits and Such was shaping up to be another quiet one. Clients trickled in at a steady pace with the kind of problems that didn’t require leaving the office, which Reigen was grateful for. His body still felt achy and worn out from yesterday, and he couldn’t help but wish he were the one receiving the massages today. Maybe he could ask Serizawa about it later.

By four o’clock, Tome and Mob had settled in their usual spots and waiting for the office to close for the day.

“Two days in a row, Mob?” Reigen asked, when Mob had finally set aside his homework, and was sitting quietly on the office couch. “Trying to take over the business?”

“It was a half day today.” Mob said simply, in between sips of his strawberry milk “And I was worried about the client from yesterday.”

Oh, right. Reigen had tried to ask Mob to come along for that one, after all his calls to Serizawa had gone to voicemail. Reigen was glad he hadn’t now, given what had happened.

“No need to worry, Mob,” Reigen waved him off. “Serizawa handled it just fine.”

Mob nodded. “That’s good.”

Silence fell for a moment before Mob continued. “I just didn’t know since you didn’t answer your phone.”

Mob’s tone was as flat as always, but Reigen swore he could judgmental prickle in there. Right, the phone.

“My phone, uh, died last night,” he admitted.

Reigen glanced back to the outlet behind his desk, where his phone was still plugged in. The cord, not long enough to reach the desk, was looped around to where the phone was balanced carefully on its own adapter. It had been plugged in since Reigen and Serizawa had arrived at the office this morning, and the screen was still stubbornly black.

Mob looked up at him curiously. “Oh?”

“The uh, spirit kind of. Broke it.” Reigen said, quietly. “I need to get a new one.”

“You should be more careful, Master.”

Reigen had to fight the urge to laugh, reminded suddenly of a much younger Mob receiving the same lecture from him. The kid used to always leave his phone at home or forget to charge it, not used to the responsibility, and defeating the entire purpose of Reigen getting him one for work. The memory made him smile.

“What do you mean? I’m always careful,” Reigen said, but it didn’t come out with as much bite as he intended.

“Don’t worry, Kageyama,” Serizawa interjected gently, looking up from his desk. “I’ll keep him out of trouble.”

Before Reigen could even protest the coddling, Mob visibly brightened and gave Serizawa a grateful nod.

The kid had been worried about Serizawa and I getting along, Reigen realized. He really had picked up on more yesterday than Reigen had given him credit for. He felt a strange mix of pride and profound embarrassment.

“I’m perfectly capable of keeping myself out of trouble,” Reigen said. He tried to ignore the snort he heard from the other side of the room, where Tome was fiddling with the coffeemaker. “And I’m pretty sure you’re the one that actually broke my phone. You know, when you slammed me on the ground?”

It was a testament to how far Serizawa had come that he just smiled sheepishly. “I guess you can take it out of my paycheque, then.”

Reigen was already waving his hand, ready to continue their banter, when Mob piped up.

“Did this happen during the exorcism?” Mob asked, skeptical.

“Or did this all happen while you were filing taxes?” Tome called over her shoulder, hands raised to mime quotation marks. The way Mob ducked his head, breaking eye contact, made it clear she had correctly finished his train of thought.

“Hey!” was all Reigen could get out. He flailed his arms, which did the rest of the talking for him. “I really don’t think that’s an appropriate joke to make at your age.”

Tome rolled her eyes. “I’m in high school.”

“I’m your boss.”

“You’re Serizawa’s boss, too. He said it first.”

“Yeah, well.” Reigen plopped himself back into his desk chair, not sure at what point he had stood up. “Serizawa’s not allowed to make those kind of jokes now, either.”

“I thought being your boyfriend came with special treatment?” Serizawa asked. The rhythm of the joke was slightly off, the words tumbling clumsily from Serizawa’s mouth as if he was uncertain about whether he was allowed to tell it. It made it even more endearing.

“You thought wrong,” Reigen said, turning back to his laptop, where he had been browsing for a cheap replacement cell phone for most of the afternoon. “I run an ethical company, here.”

Tome laughed, a sharp bark of a sound that nearly drowned out Mob’s softer chuckle.

“Oi, what’s so funny?” he asked, knowing it would just make them laugh harder. He clicked through another page of results. “No respect with kids these days.”

Reigen caught Serizawa’s gaze over the top of the laptop screen. Serizawa offered him only a small smile, but it couldn’t take away from how comfortable and content he looked in that moment, so different from when they’d first met.

Reigen smiled back. Even with everything out in the open, the seemingly inevitable end was nowhere in sight. The days stretched ahead of them, sure as anything.